The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 745: Chapter 0742: The Big Pea (First Update)
 

The Light Green Gemstone Dragon still lay in a slumber on Dodo Island, hardly a candidate for the Eagle Kingdom’s Dragon Knights to ride!

“They’re probably afraid of losing the dragon, causing instability in the kingdom, so they’re intentionally spreading false news. And considering that the Eagle Kingdom sent out a large fleet to sea even though they knew they couldn’t defeat the Sapphire fleet, it seems they weren’t just harassing the trade routes, but secretly searching for the Light Green Gemstone Dragon, right?”

Liszt quickly understood.

Because the Eagle Kingdom released fake news in time, it didn’t allow the situation to deteriorate. After all, the Dragon Knight had died, but the dragon was still there, meaning that the combat power had not diminished too much.

A Dragon Knight is certainly much stronger than a dragon, but not to the point of complete domination; otherwise, Dragon Knights would be slaughtering dragons everywhere, and evil dragons could not possibly survive.

Strictly speaking, the knight aspect of a Dragon Knight is more about leveraging the strength of the dragon to train.

In the Dragon Knight system, the knight is the leader, but the dragon is the manifestation of combat power. Even the Dragon Dou Qi Manuscript relies on a dragon for its release. A dragon without a knight’s assistance can probably exert only seventy percent of its full strength, but with a knight’s support, it can exert a hundred and ten percent.

“Carlo was originally stationed on the frontier bordering the Blast Furnace Fortress Kingdom. Now, the Eagle Kingdom claims the Light Green Gemstone Dragon is still around, and coupled with intermarriage between the two royal families, it has indeed stabilized the Blast Furnace Fortress Kingdom… The Steel Ridge Kingdom probably also has no chance to join forces with the Blast Furnace Fortress for an attack.”

“Should I reveal the information about the Light Green Gemstone Dragon?” Liszt pondered in secret, wondering if it was time to make a big move.

The advantages of making a big move were clear: it would disrupt the calm of the Eagle Kingdom, forcing them to be preoccupied, naturally unable to spare attention for the sea.

But he definitely couldn’t say that he himself had obtained the Light Green Gemstone Dragon—then the three great kingdoms might unite to wage a dragon-slaying war, to prevent him from becoming too powerful. Nor could he say that the Light Green Gemstone Dragon fell into the sea and died, as that would bring all the kingdoms to the sea to salvage the dragon’s corpse, given its immense value.

“Forget it, continuing to provoke or disrupt the Eagle Kingdom might bring disaster upon the innocent; I am still too weak now. Slowly laying claim to the throne is the real strategy. Stable development and waiting for the Light Green Gemstone Dragon to recover its vitality, then gathering the power of two dragons and an Archmage before announcing dominance over the sea is not too late.”

The combined power of a Dragon Knight and an Archmage could certainly threaten the Continental Kingdoms, but not to a great extent.

It was exactly enough to make the Continental Kingdoms very wary, without being worth initiating another dragon-slaying war.

Adding another dragon would break the balance, and the Continental Kingdoms would definitely not want to see another kingdom rising from the sea. A kingdom’s rise would inevitably swallow up the Sapphire, and then gathering three dragons and an Archmage’s power, the coastal kingdoms would be in constant fear, prompting an even larger dragon-slaying war.

Maintaining the current balance of power was more beneficial.

“Anyway, I should by now have made a name for myself in the Continental Kingdoms.” Liszt felt a bit proud of himself; who would have thought that the country baron from the past would become such a sensational figure, “The Steel Ridge Kingdom has sent an envoy group to visit me—what could their purpose be, to win me over?”

The Duchy of Sapphire is a vassal state to the Steel Ridge Kingdom, and perhaps Steel Ridge has the same idea this time, hoping that Liszt will form a kingdom that will become a vassal state to Steel Ridge.

“Should I accept if that’s the case?”

Vassal states need to pay tribute to their suzerain to receive protection. Sapphire was able to dominate as king over the sea before, largely because Steel Ridge continually restrained the Eagle Kingdom, preventing them from retaliating against the Sapphire. Otherwise, the Eagle Kingdom would have plotted against the Sapphire long ago.

Even so, Sapphire almost perished, which shows the disadvantages a duchy has against a kingdom.

“Logically speaking, becoming a vassal state isn’t a bad thing if the conditions are favorable. However, I must also consider where my kingdom’s territorial waters will be located. If it’s too far from Steel Ridge, becoming a vassal state is meaningless… I’ll wait until the envoy group arrives to discuss it in detail with Marquis Bull Tail.”

…

Snowflakes fluttered down in the cold air as only half a month remained until the New Year’s festival.

Good news kept coming, the Thorn Bug was successfully bred, and Liszt had smoothly formed a contract with it. Over a hundred knights had come seeking allegiance, although they were all Common Earth Knights; magicians on pilgrimage followed one after another, signing up to join the Magic Guild, preparing to exchange their research achievements for the chance of being instructed by an Archmage.

At the same time, a new species of Thorn from an outer island was quickly transported back to Black Horse Island, and Liszt immediately had Jela collect the pheromones of this Thorn species.

But, as expected, completing the Smoke Mission was still beyond reach after the collection.

Clearly, one new species of Thorn was not enough; more were needed.@@novelbin@@

The trading plan for the Abandoned Cordyceps was also rapidly progressing, with three well-selected noble families already sending people with the Abandoned Cordyceps strains and serfs to Black Horse Island for trading. The three new kinds of Abandoned Cordyceps were the Earth Attribute Large Chicken Fir, the Water Attribute White Ghost Brush, and the Wind Attribute Green Agaric.

The trade went very smoothly, as none of the three families wanted to miss out on the new Abandoned Cordyceps.

However, the Ice Snow Flame Mushrooms could only be planted in winter, and even though their quality was better than the Common Flame Mushroom, their value was still much lower.

This time, not only did Liszt not earn any Gold Coins from the trade, but he also lost five hundred Gold Coins.

At this point,

the territory possessed ten varieties of Abandoned Cordyceps.

Water Attribute Blue Pine Mushrooms and White Ghost Brushes, Earth Attribute Golden Cordyceps and Large Chicken Fir, Wind Attribute Green Agarics, Thunder Attribute Horse Bladder Fungus, Ice Attribute Monkey Head Mushroom, Dark Attribute Black Truffles, and Fire Attribute Flame Mushroom and Ice Snow Flame Mushrooms. With eight kinds of magic attributes, only one kind of Light Attribute Cordyceps was missing.

Once all varieties of Abandoned Cordyceps reached a critical scale, the production of Magic Potions would definitely not be much lower than the output of a Greater Elf. However, the cultivation of Abandoned Cordyceps required far more labor than ordinary plants. Even though the number of serfs in the territory had exceeded one hundred thousand, there was still a gradual labor shortage.

The White Paper Workshop and the Glass Workshop were expanding, and the production of salt from seawater was also being promoted.

In an era without industrialization, these industries all required a massive amount of manpower, and one hundred thousand people were merely a drop in the bucket.

“Iron Hoof City still has one hundred thousand serfs that are not used for elf agriculture; perhaps I should transfer them all to Black Horse Island and develop it fully,” Liszt said, looking at the continuously growing serf labor demands reported by the Territory Officer, and eventually made a decision, “Zavier, notify Isaiah to make arrangements for receiving the new serfs.”

Isaiah had already been reassigned as the Administrative Officer of the port town, taking over Blair’s vacancy.

Goltai and the former Administrative Officer Blair had gone to Iron Hoof City to take up their new posts, and Liszt planned to write a letter to Goltai, asking him to make arrangements to gradually transfer fifty thousand serfs from Iron Hoof City.

Iron Hoof City could focus on developing commerce and trade. As for those lands, he planned to lease them to the Tulip Family for farming.

While the Flame Territory was bustling with activity, a group of knights bearing the flag of the Yu Huashi Family, following the fleet of the Tulip Family, arrived at Black Horse Port.

The leader was Dean Rainstone, the eldest son of Marquis Nuta.

Liszt received Dean at Thorn Castle, accompanied by Marquis Nuta, Dimaria Yuhua Stone, and a Great Elf who lay soundly asleep in a Jade Box.

The Great Elf was plump and a vibrant green color, with a small pea shoot on its head bearing green pods.

This was a Pea Great Elf.