The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Twenty concave and convex lenses could only assemble one long tube and three short tubes, with the remaining lenses failing to meet the standard.

He tossed the lenses to Carter, “Mr. Carter, have a look and see which pair of lenses can magnify the image. You can use it to read books when the time comes.”

Carter was old and his eyesight was somewhat poor; giving him a magnifying glass, wouldn’t that be delightful?

One long tube was kept in the castle; three short tubes, of which Liszt carried one with him, Marcus’s Knight Squad received one, and Karl’s Patrol Team got one.

With that, the distribution was complete.

Liszt had originally planned to retain the crystal craftsman Brad with a high salary, but the latter refused without hesitation—Fresh Flower Town was indeed booming, but compared to Coral City, the difference was still vast and could not attract these freemen artisans of good social standing.

The same was true for Isaiah’s family.

Isaiah’s family had visited Fresh Flower Town to see him, but when Isaiah urged them to stay, they refused without hesitation—his son even bluntly said, “What a joke, there isn’t even a brothel here!”

Goltai’s family also visited Fresh Flower Town, stayed for two days, and then left.

Being nobles, their children and grandchildren were living a decent life and had no desire to reside in the countryside. His wife did plan to settle in Fresh Flower Town, but Goltai refused, with a lofty reason that Fresh Flower Town was too barren and he did not want his wife to suffer.

In reality, he was afraid she might discover the existence of Freya—Freya’s belly was already swelling.

“Lord Landlord, I heard that you’ve invented a telescope that can see great distances?” Captain Kostor, upon hearing the news, hurriedly came to the castle. “I wonder if the Fresh Flower Vessel could be equipped with a telescope? We need excellent visibility at sea, and a telescope would be of great help to us.”

A very reasonable request.

Liszt was somewhat torn. The telescope suitable for navigation was probably this one long-tube “Liszt Telescope” in the castle, but this was his equipment for exploring the universe.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “Captain Kostor, you go back and train your sailor apprentices first. The lumberjack team will soon clear the path to the dock, and Fresh Flower Town’s own dock is about to be established. You can familiarize yourself with the surroundings of the dock first. As for the telescope, there will be one.”

Sending Kostor away,

Liszt, with a bit of heartache, took out a crystal and handed it to Thomas, “When the Fresh Flower Town transport team returns, give it to the person in charge. Tell him to ask Brad the crystal craftsman to carve two sets of 3 and 17 lenses.” Lenses number 3 and 17 were the types used to assemble the long tube.

To Liszt, the matter of the telescope was more like a playful hobby.

After figuring it out and playing with it for a while, he actually lost interest in telescopes—he could not discern any secrets of the universe’s movement from constantly observing the moon and stars.

So,

He took Douson out to inspect the work of the lumberjack team, taking it as an opportunity to relax.

North of the dairy farm, a vast area of thorn bushes, this was a region covered by Thorn Cordyceps. In addition to the regular thorns, the predominant type was the rapid growth variety—including the Rapid Growth Poison Thorn and Rapid Growth Spiky Thorn—whether the Thorn Bug chain task would have a follow-up was uncertain.

The thorny bush stretched northeast to where the lumberjack team was working.

The site was bustling with activity.

Smoke billowed.

Countless serfs were sweating as they cut down large trees. Some wielded axes to chop through trunks, others sawed off branches with saws, some hacked at leaves with machetes, and still, others piled up the trunks and branches, then carried away the leaves to burn on the spot.

The burning of piles of debris served not only to intimidate wild beasts and magical beasts but also to accumulate ash for future use as compost when cultivating wasteland.

Clerks and patrol members constantly weaved through the serfs, frequently scolding and cursing them in order to urge them to work diligently. Goltai, Isaiah, Blair, and Karl each commanded a large group of serfs, maintaining order at the site. Marcus, leading the Knight Squad, patrolled the perimeter seriously.

Upon seeing Liszt’s arrival, Goltai hurried over, “Lord Landlord, good afternoon.”

“Good afternoon, Teacher Goltai,” Liszt greeted, “A quarter of the town’s population must be here chopping trees. How long do you think it will take to clear all the trees in Thorn Ridge?”

“If we had enough tools, we would only need twenty days, no, perhaps only two weeks. But we’re short on tools, Lord Landlord. Many people are sharing one axe, one saw, one machete. It’s terribly inefficient. Even though the serfs are enthusiastic in responding to your call, they’re still not able to work to their full potential.”

“I’ve already instructed the Fresh Flower Caravan to purchase tools from various cities. Ironware is too expensive, bone utensils too fragile… I hope my father can plunder a batch of iron ore; otherwise, Coral Island’s lack of iron will remain unresolved.”

Without metal, without gemstones, even the number of elves was sparse.

One of the reasons nobles were keen on contending for the mainland, rather than peacefully staying on their islands, was oftentimes out of necessity. If they had the foresight of a prophet, perhaps they would develop technology to make up for this shortfall, but they didn’t, so plundering resources from the mainland to compensate was their only solution.

Why had the Eagle Kingdom been repeatedly harassed by the Sapphire Kingdom? Because they had the White Maw Iron Dragon, capable of producing a large amount of iron ore.

Iron is perhaps the most utilitarian metal of all.

As such, as soon as the Steel Ridge Kingdom called for warfare, the Sapphire Duke instantly issued the Pioneer Mandate, and the nobles swarmed forth—burn everything, kill everything, loot everything.

Occasionally, Liszt would think, “Why do I always feel that the Duchy of Sapphire is like the pirates of a Different World?”

They took advantage of having established a nation overseas, with a developed fleet, to brazenly attack kingdoms on the mainland, seizing and fleeing. They repeated this script yearly, quite contentedly. Although not very technical, it still succeeded each year, and the Earl had been to the mainland countless times.

Bit by bit, they accumulated such a substantial heritage for Coral Island.

“Lord Landlord, because of the lumbering job, the construction of the town and the roadworks have temporarily ceased. Autumn harvest is approaching, and we may be short on workers in Barley Hamlet and Little Wheat Village.”

“Once we determine the harvesting date, we can assign workers to go back, there’s no hurry,” Liszt suddenly thought of something and glanced at Goltai, “Teacher Goltai, how long have you been with me in Fresh Flower Town?”

Goltai was startled, then replied, “Lord Landlord, you were bestowed the Baron of Fresh Flower Town on March 9th, we set off the next day, and we arrived in Fresh Flower Town that same afternoon. Today is September 23rd, which means it has been six months and two weeks.”

“Six and a half months, time flies.”

“But today’s Fresh Flower Town is absolutely not the same as it was six months ago; it radiates vigorous vitality everywhere.”

“That’s right, I am very satisfied with the development of Fresh Flower Town,” Liszt, riding his Li Dragon Horse, walked slowly through the world unfolding before him, now a part of him, “The change in thinking pleases me the most, Teacher Goltai. Six months ago, you used to clamor for alcohol all day, now you know to finish work before drinking, even delaying your drink for work.”

Goltai gave an embarrassed smile, “As one grows older, a person tends to slack off. Fortunately, I came to Fresh Flower Town, where I found the confidence and drive of my youth once again.”

“I am glad to see these changes in you.”

Liszt looked into the distance and said, “In a few days, a group of five hundred serfs will arrive, and I need you to prepare a placement plan. It’s not just a matter of arranging for the serfs individually but requires an overall coordination, a blueprint for the future of Fresh Flower Town—as an advisor.”

Upon hearing the word “advisor.”

Goltai’s pupils suddenly widened.