The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Igniting Fire Dragon Bones seemed to be a colossal enterprise, and Liszt even doubted whether collecting all the Fire Dragon Magic Power from Black Horse Island would be sufficient to accomplish the ignition.

"I hope that with the help of the Smoke Mission, it can be lit as much as possible!"

However, the exploitation of Fire Dragon Magic Power had to be postponed, as he did not currently have enough serfs arranged for production. When construction on Black Horse Island began, there would undoubtedly come a significant labor shortage.

After one last look at the Fire Dragon Bones, Liszt returned to the port town.

Since he had to attend an ennoblement ceremony the day after tomorrow, he did not have time to stay on Black Horse Island any longer, and he needed to return to Fresh Flower Town tomorrow. That night in the port town, he convened a brief meeting.

"Measuring the island simply involves taking measurements around its perimeter, but the Court Envoy and Tulip Fort Envoy will definitely land on Black Horse Island and stay in the port town for a few days. Therefore, the secrecy must be well maintained. Consultant Goltai, how have you arranged this?" asked Liszt.

"My lord, there are four places of concern on Black Horse Island. One is the pasture with the Black Blood Treasured Horses, which must be strictly guarded to prevent discovery," Goltai reported.

"Second, the bones in the Burial Grounds—regardless of what creature they belong to, discovery would inevitably lead to prying eyes; third, the Fire Dragon Brick Factory, where the slab, culvert, and pottery formulas must be carefully guarded; and finally, the Rubber Garden, as rubber is just too important."

Liszt turned to Karl Ironhammer.

Karl immediately stood up and reported, "The Patrol Team has completed its training and has set up a defense layout for the port town and Black Horse Port. When the envoys are stationed on Black Horse Island, I will deploy the Patrol Team to monitor them all day to prevent them from leaving the areas of the port town and Black Horse Port."

"Very good, this is exactly what is needed. Black Horse Island is my territory; they can measure its area, but they must not set foot an inch inside it!"

Goltai asked, "Lord, what if they want to hunt here or take in the scenery?"

"Tell them if they want to hunt, go to Coral Island. Black Horse Island has neither game nor scenery," Liszt pondered and said, "You could also discreetly offer some gold coins to the Court Envoy, so that when they measure the size of the islands, they might report the size of Black Horse Island to be as small as possible."

The size of an island on paper was linked to military exploits; a larger area naturally required more military exploits to be credited, while a smaller area would mean a significant reduction in military exploits.

In reality, whether Black Horse Island was large or small didn’t matter—it was all Liszt’s fief anyway.

Therefore, he hoped that it could be measured a bit smaller—just like a house worth a million could be contracted for eight hundred thousand. The house would still be the same, and the money paid to the homeowner would still be the same, but it would save a lot on taxes.

After setting up the security measures,

Liszt then asked, "Aside from the Little Wheat Bug that I just contracted, have there really been no other Elf Bugs emerging?" After returning to Fresh Flower Town, he immediately formed a contract with the plump Little Wheat Bug, then placed the Barley Bug in Barley Hamlet.

All nineteen Elf Bugs were comfortably settled in their new homes.

Based on the frequency of Elf Bugs awarded before the Smoke Mission, he should have been able to foster one or two more Elf Bugs during his more than a month of campaigning.

Goltai spread his hands and said, "My lord, the Knight’s glory has already favored Fresh Flower Town and Black Horse Island immensely; the number of Elf Bugs we’ve found far exceeds that of any place on Coral Island... Indeed, over this past month, we did not detect any signs of new Elf Bugs being birthed."

...

The following morning, just as the eastern sky began to show the pale light of dawn,

Liszt took the triplet Rubber Bugs to the Rubber Garden, unleashed the Tri-Phase Force, and restored the Rubber Trees that had been heavily tapped.

After several releases of the Tri-Phase Force, the Rubber Bugs showed no clear sign of stunted growth; on the contrary, they seemed more lively after recovering from fatigue—this seemed to prove that releasing the Elf’s unique magic did not affect their growth or evolution.

Afterwards.

Before the sun had risen.

They set sail on the Fresh Flower Vessel towards Mangrove Island.

He was headed to the mangrove forest to conduct a field observation of the Green Caterpillars and Green-headed Ducks. The boat quickly approached the shores of Mangrove Island. In the blazing summer heat, the peak season for plant growth, the mangrove forest seemed denser than before. Many seabirds could be seen flying around Mangrove Island or nesting in the canopy of the mangrove trees.

"Lower the boats!" Captain Kostor bellowed.

The sailors immediately lowered several sampans, also dropping ropes so that they could slide down to the sampans. These sampans, small wooden boats, were made of thorn ironwood bonded with rubber—very sturdy and capable of fishing in the coastal waters. They were a product Liszt was planning to promote.

The first step towards the sea was to conquer the coastal waters and develop the fishing industry.

Combining the Dragonbone Stabilizer Technique with the yet unborn Longitudinal Sailboat Technique, he would eventually establish a deep-sea fishing fleet capable of whaling and even hunting sea monsters.

At this moment.

He slid down the ropes to a sampan and swiftly paddled toward the mangrove forest, startling a large flock of seabirds.

Liszt was constantly vigilant of the deeper parts of the mangrove forest and soon saw the Green Caterpillar rewarded by the Smoke Mission—indeed a plump, green caterpillar as long as a finger, covered in curved hairs. At a glance, it was evident, the green hair somewhat resembled animal fur.

"Put on gloves and catch this Green Caterpillar to feel its hair," instructed Liszt to the rowing sailor.

The sailor readily extended his arm and caught a Green Caterpillar on a mangrove branch: "Lord Landlord, it feels like soft green hair, very comfortable to touch." He even took off the gloves to feel it with his skin and repeatedly mentioned how comforting it was, as soft as the fur of a kitten or a puppy.

Liszt nodded and then ordered, "Collect a batch of Green Caterpillars, and go back to study their nutritional and fibrous value."

He then continued to row deeper into the mangrove forest.

The mangrove forest had a complex root system, entangled and knotted. Thankfully, there were some waterways left through which, by bending down and lying on the sampan, one could barely pass.

Twisting and turning, by the time the sun rose in the east, Liszt finally set foot on the ground of Mangrove Island.

The ground was soft mud, clearly often washed by the waves, and many freshly sprouted mangrove seedlings could be seen—not only mangroves but a variety of other trees as well. Although they belonged to different families, they coexisted in much the same way, forming the mangrove forest.

"These trees are truly peculiar, not just the roots, but the flowers are even more strange." Marcus snapped off a tree branch and handed it to Liszt, "Lord, look at this. Their flowers actually look like this, like a bunch of sticks."

Liszt took the branch and quickly recalled some knowledge about mangroves: "These aren’t their flowers, they are the seedlings; the seeds have already developed into seedlings. Once they fall, they instantly grow into new mangroves."

"Seedlings? Seedlings growing on the tree?" Marcus was somewhat skeptical.

"Mangroves live by the sea. If the seeds were to germinate on the ground, they would quickly be washed away by the waves. However, once they grow seedlings on the trees, as soon as they hit the mud, they quickly take root, preventing them from being swept away by the waves. This is probably why mangrove forests can continuously propagate."

After a brief explanation.

Liszt tossed away the branch. His main goal was to collect duck eggs and watch the Green-headed Ducks.

And to look for the Mangrove Minor Elf’s cordyceps, perhaps he might even encounter Nami. Now that he was confirmed as the Viscount of Black Horse Island, the announcement of another minor elf would likely set off another wave of "Knight’s glory favors" sort of overwhelming flattery—though the current Nami seemed of little use.

Just then.

The sound of a duck’s "quack quack" echoed.