Chapter 35

Due to the potential coming turmoil, Sakavi had no interest in attending any of Vendsa’s events; after discussing the specific actions, he hurried back to Agreik.

Suddenly remembering that the Shadow Intelligence Bureau was now entirely controlled by drow elves, Sakavi believed it was essential to introduce outsiders—no department could be fully dominated by a single race or region. Small cliques were unavoidable, but that didn’t mean ignoring the situation.

Sakavi summoned Verna to discuss the reorganization of the Shadow Intelligence Bureau. In the new structure, he decided to split the intelligence agency into three branches: the Veil’s Eye, the Silent Hand, and the Loyal Shield.

Within the Veil’s Eye, responsible for intelligence gathering, Sakavi planned to introduce deep gnomes, gnolls, and swamp toads to enhance efficiency in reconnaissance, infiltration, and undercover operations, and to leverage the deep gnomes’ sensitivity to mathematics in designing a specialized communication system.

Within the Silent Hand, he would bring in goblins, bat beasts, gnolls, and swamp toads to further strengthen assassination capabilities and diversify methods, reducing the risk of exposure or countermeasures.

In the newly formed Loyal Shield, he would introduce gnolls, harpies, goblins, gray dwarves, and lizardfolk, fully utilizing their cunning and perceptiveness, along with the gray dwarves’ meticulous work ethic. Before the reorganization, there had been no internal surveillance.

Verna expressed support for the reorganization—her authority remained untouched, and she now had more personnel under her command. Besides, the drow elves had always come from everywhere; she had never been able to fully control them. This reorganization actually increased her influence.

After discussing the Shadow Intelligence Bureau’s reorganization with Verna, Sakavi summoned Grap to clear a patch of swamp land to house the swamp toads arriving soon. The area was cold; by all logic, cold-blooded creatures like lizardfolk and swamp toads shouldn’t appear there.

But after the drastic climate shift along the Bladaso Road, the swamp tribes that couldn’t migrate in time had to adapt as best they could. Lizardfolk learned charcoal-burning from goblins to endure the cold winters. Swamp toads, unable to stay out of water for long, eventually faced extinction.

After eight years of urban development, lizardfolk and fishfolk cities had perfected cold-resistant technology, ensuring that winter production and daily life across the swamp remained largely unaffected.

Sakavi specifically purchased cold-resistant belts from the Astral Plane to ensure his lizardfolk guards could carry out missions in winter without hindrance. These belts were engraved with magical inscriptions and could be recharged repeatedly.

After finalizing the Shadow Intelligence Bureau’s reorganization and the reconnaissance mission against the Rosen Empire, Sakavi traveled to the Duchy of Modus—to gauge Priglin’s stance on interfering in Rosen’s internal affairs, and to borrow troops. If the plan had been conceived by those reckless youths, he couldn’t afford to get involved further.

Fortunately, Prince Priglin admitted he had initiated the matter; hearing this, Sakavi finally relaxed. He then raised his second purpose: relocating some swamp toads to his territory.

He offered full reimbursement of travel expenses and ten gold coins per swamp toad. Priglin immediately approved the relocation of ten thousand swamp toads—not because he was generous, but because swamp toads were natural slave-masters, universally praised for their management skills; no one wanted to give more.

The thirty swamp toads Grap had brought years ago had, after over a decade of breeding, grown to five thousand—but they were needed everywhere and still insufficient.

Swamp toads laid eggs once a year, twenty to thirty at a time; in the wild, only one or two survived to adulthood. They could join hunts at five years old and reached full maturity at six. Sakavi had prepared a complete ecosystem for them in the swamp, with full fishfolk services—better treatment than even his own.

After confirming Priglin’s stance, Sakavi visited the Black Forest to assess Riedna’s position and discuss commercial cooperation. The gray dwarves settled in the Dragonback Mountains had discovered copper and magic crystal veins—both essential resources for Black Forest.

The Black Forest’s exchangeable asset was knowledge: whether administrators or magic apprentices, they all required the wood elves’ full teaching. Sakavi felt he needed more instructors, so deeper cooperation was necessary.

Regarding the gray dwarves’ discovery of the mineral veins, Sakavi believed that if they controlled everything, the Dragonback Mountains would slip from his grasp. He decided to transport copper to Black Iron City for smelting, assign gray dwarves to fine processing of iron and copper goods, and have minotaurs handle rough processing.

When Grap first discovered the mineral deposits two years ago, Sakavi ordered him to relocate a portion of the kobolds to the Dragonback Mountains to mine magic crystals, while gray dwarves mined copper.

To facilitate transport, Sakavi invented a golem train—a vehicle running on fixed rails, powered by burning magic crystals, capable of automatically refueling, detecting obstacles ahead, and responding to simple commands like “forward” and “stop.”

Goods were delivered to the pigmen’s dock—the former Mud Anchor, now Black Stone Dock—reconstructed by pigmen and no longer the desolate ruin it once was. Pigmen handled loading and unloading; fishfolk operated screw-propeller ships fueled by magic crystals, transporting goods to Minotaur’s Great Stone Port or Black Iron City.

Under Sakavi’s deliberate planning, no single race could independently complete production. Even without goblins to clean waste and excrement, no race could tolerate the city’s stench.

Under Grap’s active promotion, every industry formed its own guild—forging guild, smelting guild, urban sanitation guild, etc.—which further dismantled the old racial divisions. Grap strictly followed Sakavi’s orders: minimizing administrative interference while enhancing public participation and self-regulation.

Although the smelting guild repeatedly argued that traveling to the Dragonback Mountains was too time-consuming and labor-intensive, and suggested gray dwarves open smelting plants nearby, Sakavi never yielded—maintaining balance was essential.

Guilds were merely subordinate units of the Processing and Manufacturing Office. Any time a guild’s leadership or branch chair needed re-election, the Processing and Manufacturing Office supervised and appointed.

If they deemed the election fraudulent or a candidate unwilling to obey management, they had the authority to refuse signing the appointment. Guilds could appeal to the Court of Judgement, but the stubborn gray dwarves showed no favoritism—indeed, the gray dwarves themselves oversaw the guilds.

According to Grap’s report, another hundred thousand pigmen students would join the farming ranks in the Bohe Plain this year. Vast tracts of land along the Bohe River remained fallow—there simply weren’t enough races capable of farming, and even fewer skilled farmers.

Lizardfolk labor on the eastern bank of the Bohe River had increased to three hundred thousand. Lizardfolk had long growth cycles—seven years from egg to maturity—but they laid five to fifteen eggs at once.

When Sakavi had once mobilized one hundred fifty thousand lizardfolk from a tribe of only two hundred thousand to the eastern Bohe bank, he nearly crippled the tribe and sparked rebellion. Since then, raising and training lizardfolk hatchlings had fallen entirely to the fishfolk.

The lizardfolk population in the swamp had now grown to around one hundred thousand; within a few years, it would return to its former level. Seeing all races settling into order, Sakavi decided to visit the fishfolk city.

Fishfolk were a constant headache: they reproduced prolifically, were numerous, yet possessed low intelligence. A single fishfolk could lay fifty to two hundred eggs, mature in four years, and live twenty years.

After standardized urban development, fishfolk juvenile mortality plummeted. Had Sakavi not years ago enforced strict gender segregation through salt production reforms, the beaches would now be swarming with fishfolk.

Fishfolk were short, only 1.2 meters tall—unable to defeat even a middle schooler—but Sakavi’s vassals had found them work: maintaining pipes, constructing and repairing underwater infrastructure. The physically strong were integrated into the lizardfolk-led aquatic defense and port security system.

Fishfolk assault teams armed with short crossbows or poison darts operated across the territory’s waters, conducting reconnaissance and harassing hostile forces. They had proven remarkably effective, capturing numerous subterranean factions.

Though fishfolk were a headache, their salt industry accounted for half the territory’s revenue. After years of reform, their salt production was now far more efficient and yielded high-quality edible salt.

Sakavi knew nothing about salt production and hired expensive orc engineers from the Rosen Empire to assist. Fortunately, Rosen’s trade routes were severed and their salt demand was high; they threw themselves into developing the salt fields. Fishfolk became the only race to fully control their entire supply chain.

Sakavi decided to inspect the salt fields. From above, the vast salt field known as “Silver Staircase” was no longer a chaotic tangle of ponds, but a massive, precise, strictly divided geometric zone. The air carried the briny scent of sea wind and earth; countless figures moved through it, yet little noise was heard—only the rhythmic sounds of labor and the rush of water, like a grand machine’s symphony.

Intake and Primary Evaporation Zone: Under the command of deep gnome overseers, they operated sluice gates to channel brackish water from the Bohe River estuary into a series of broad, muddy primary evaporation pools. They were dirty but efficient, using crude tools to clear channels and ensure seawater flow.

Purification and Crystallization Zone: This was the technical core, a stark contrast. Primary brine was channeled via aqueducts into neatly arranged secondary and tertiary evaporation pools of stone slabs. Lizardfolk directed fishfolk artisans to monitor water levels, measure salinity, and add coagulants prepared by swamp toads to accelerate impurity settling and crystallization.

Harvest and Coarse Processing Zone: A region brimming with raw power. Under minotaur command, swarms of fishfolk wielded specialized wooden shovels and carts to harvest wet salt from crystallization pools. They chanted rough work songs, piling salt into mounds before hauling them to vast, stone-paved drying fields.

Fine Processing, Purification, and Packaging Zone: Under gray dwarf supervision, fishfolk operated water-powered stone grinders designed by deep gnomes, grinding coarse salt into fine, snow-white powder. On the other side, under strict oversight, fishfolk packed refined salt into standardized wooden barrels or ceramic jars stamped with the Black Dragon emblem.

Water and Land Transport Zone: Here, deep gnomes verified receipts, then kobolds loaded barrels and jars onto flat-bottomed barges. Fishfolk piloted them to Norlasien or Bohe River docks, where local kobolds unloaded them onto centaur carts for distribution.

Currently, most dock laborers were kobolds, with a few gray dwarves handling heavy cargo lifting. Kobolds also managed construction and repairs in all cities. Centaurs handled all land transport—their strength and speed gave them a decisive advantage.

Core Hub: Central Dispatch and Monitoring Tower: The salt field’s highest point, guarded by a minotaur overseer who monitored and directed the entire operation. A massive map displayed salt levels, output, and progress across each pond, marked in different colors.

Core Control: All material flows, brine mixing, finished product storage, and loading require orders issued from this tower. Drow elves simultaneously conducted covert surveillance to prevent collusion or corruption.

After the tour, Sakavi summoned the head overseer—the minotaur in charge of the Central Dispatch Tower—and the drow deputy overseer, asking how security was handled. They replied that the Constabulary’s officers managed it, along with fishfolk assault teams under the Swamp Garrison Command Center.

Sakavi fell silent. He feared any race growing too powerful—and now fishfolk were assigned to guard them? He immediately ordered the formation of a Salt Field Guard Corps, recruiting elite goblins. He also established a Security and Guard Command Center, appointing harpies as chief overseer and deputy of the Central Dispatch Tower.

He then ordered Grap: all five salt fields must implement this command. Why goblins? Primarily because salt fields were hazardous—goblins were expendable, yet still possessed combat capability.

Upon returning, Sakavi personally oversaw the design of goblin organization, uniforms, and weapons.

Uniforms: Main colors were deep blue and gray-white. Stud-punched leather armor: hardened leather reinforced at chest and shoulders, embedded with thick rivets—offering basic protection while appearing rugged and formidable.

Dust- and water-repellent cloak: Short cloak, treated for water resistance, lined with bright crimson. Worn with deep blue outward for camouflage and salt-dust protection; when needing to intimidate or make arrests, it could be flipped instantly to reveal the crimson lining—a stark visual warning to all witnesses.

All members must wear a uniform armband: a black dragon claw gripping a pure white cubic salt crystal, against a deep blue background.

Long-range weapons: Poisoned blowpipes, heavy shortbows. Blowpipe tubes hung at the back; shortbows carried on the back. Long-range suppression: blowpipes delivered potent paralytic poison for silent takedowns; shortbows fired blunt-tipped arrows to stun or inflict pain.

Close-combat weapons: Short swords, serrated daggers, spiked gauntlets. Short swords for melee; daggers for cutting ropes—serrations caused greater wounds; gauntlets enhanced bare-handed striking power. Brutal close-quarters combat: used for ruthless suppression and killing in extremely confined spaces.

Special equipment: Reinforced nets, alarm whistles, bright-light crystals, custom manacles. Tactical use: to entrap targets, sound alarms, blind, and detain prisoners.

The guard unit consisted of five-person squads, thirty per company, one hundred per battalion. The Salt Field Security and Guard Center commanded five battalions.