Chapter 318: Wherever There Are Witches, There Will Never Be a Shortage of People

According to their calculations, the New Year festival from Blue Star was fast approaching.

Granted, the Kalim Continent might not host any grand celebrations, and it likely lacked even a hint of that familiar New Year atmosphere.

However, the members of Tarot Manor were planning to have a proper gathering.

Especially since Empress Jiang Lan, Sun Riesling, Lovers Frena, and Pope Nemo were providing the ingredients, while Emperor Gu Xiaobei was personally preparing the feast. Surely, no one would turn down such an invitation.

"By the way, Clan Head, there is one more thing."

"Huh?!"

Having just handed the documents over to Diana, Lan Qingyou was completely dumbfounded before she could even breathe a sigh of relief.

She felt utterly speechless, but who could she blame when she was the Clan Head?

To be completely honest, Lan Qingyou was filled with regret.

Brewing Potions every day, drying out ingredients in the sun, and living a peaceful, secluded life while carefree and leisurely admiring the scenery—what a beautiful existence that would have been.

But now, such a lifestyle had evidently become a luxury.

"Spit it out, what is it?"

Lan Qingyou tossed aside the Crystal Pen in her hand and slumped weakly against the backrest of her chair.

"We are running out of space in the Witches' Forest."

"Hmm?"

Lan Qingyou froze once again.

"Wait, a territory with a diameter of five kilometers cannot house a few hundred thousand people? You have to understand, the city I used to live in probably was not even this big, yet it had a permanent population of one or two million, maybe even three million."

"Please, you are talking about towering skyscrapers. Aside from the giant tree hollows here that can meet those requirements, how could any other building possibly achieve that level of density?"

Diana stared at Lan Qingyou with a look reserved for utter fools.

While this young Clan Head was undeniably brilliant in certain areas,

it had to be said that she not only lacked basic common sense, but she also operated on a completely unique wavelength.

Although this trait was incredibly useful in a magical world like Kalim, even granting her an innate advantage in academic fields like Alchemy,

it severely held her back when it came to management—a discipline that fundamentally remained the same no matter where you went.

Fortunately, the Clan Head preferred to take a hands-off approach, preventing her from becoming a "micromanaging disaster."

"Hmm... I actually have a good solution in mind, but what about your side? Do the advisors working under you, our esteemed consul, have any good suggestions?"

"We do."

Diana immediately pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Lan Qingyou.

"Everyone believes that we can just expand outward by placing new magic arrays right next to the old ones."

Lan Qingyou took the paper and reviewed it.

Good heavens.

Was not this essentially building a second ring road entirely around the existing borders of the Witches' Forest?

Although it looked perfectly feasible on paper, in reality, such a structure was entirely unreliable.

As a master-level expert in magic arrays, Lan Qingyou naturally spotted the pros and cons at a single glance.

The advantage, of course, was akin to enjoying the shade beneath a massive tree.

By acting as satellites on the periphery of the large-scale magic array, they could simultaneously expand the territory of the Witches' Forest.

However, the downside was incredibly glaring: the software simply did not match.

After all, these magic arrays had not been included in the original design, nor were they inscribed at the same time.

Therefore, hoping to achieve the exact same operational efficiency was completely impossible.

What did they think would happen if a bicycle rode shoulder-to-shoulder with a heavy freight truck down the highway at a hundred and twenty kilometers per hour?

Without a doubt, the bicycle would be flipped over by the wind pressure generated by the truck, or sucked under the chassis and crushed into dust.

Of course, that was only the case for other people.

For Lan Qingyou, this sort of issue was not an issue at all.

Thus, already having a rough plan forming in her mind, Lan Qingyou gave a gentle nod.

"That aligns with my thoughts. I will draw up a design first, have someone deliver it to you later, and then we can select the sites and begin construction."

"As for site selection, we have two directions to consider. One is to the southeast, facing the Abandoned Harbor, and the other is to the northwest, directly facing the Abandoned City."

"By doing this, we can even establish some villages along the way, cultivate fertile fields, and grow herbs."

Diana circled two locations on the small map resting on the desk.

In doing so, she naturally factored the future development of the Witches' Forest into the equation.

Compared to major agricultural powerhouses like Riesling and Jiang Lan, the Witches held absolutely no advantage in crop farming.

Therefore, without even needing to consult them, Lan Qingyou laid out a developmental track focused entirely on Potions and medicinal herbs.

After all, the Witches possessed an inherent advantage in this field.

"I have no objections to that. The real question is, will people actually move to these small villages?"

"Wherever there are Witches, there will never be a shortage of people."

Diana declared with utmost confidence.

"Wherever there are Witches, there will never be a shortage of people."

The general idea was that as long as Witches were present in an area, other people were bound to flock there.

Because right now, across the entire continent, only Witches were capable of crafting magic arrays capable of withstanding both Mana Turbulence and the Mana Tide.

These safe havens inevitably attracted crowds of desperate survivors longing to settle there.

Thus, that exact saying was born.

In reality, however, this was a complete reversal of cause and effect.

After all, the Witches only traveled to those locations after receiving an offer, proceeding to build magic arrays on land chosen by others.

Still, it was not hard to see from this saying that because the Witches were constructing magic arrays far and wide, they had effectively become synonymous with terms like "professional," "safe," and "reliable."

"In fact, there are already a few settlements in those areas, but they only consist of a dozen or so Witches gathering together. They have not yet formed any significant scale."

"After all, a proper village needs supporting infrastructure. That is easy enough to understand."

Lan Qingyou dismissed the concern with a wave of her hand.

Places where only a handful or a dozen people gathered felt much more like a group of close girlfriends living together. It was completely divorced from the structured village lifestyle Diana was hoping for.

Whatever the case, as long as they were happy living there, it was fine.

"Let's just let nature take its course with these matters. I think it is best if everyone has a little freedom. As long as they can live happily in this world, that is enough. There is no need to force anything else."

Fearing that Diana might implement some sort of mandatory policy, Lan Qingyou voiced her true feelings.

More accurately, these had always been her guiding principles.

At first, it was simply about surviving. Then, it became about living comfortably. Now, the goal was to live happily.

Otherwise, what was the point of securing such a massive territory?

Only with the hustle and bustle of everyday life surrounding her would she stave off the loneliness inside her Shelter.

After all... when gazing down from the peak of a High Tower, one would often succumb to loneliness.

...

Meanwhile, in the World Channel.

Initially, upon hearing the name "Typhon," everyone had been completely baffled. However, since it was a major event broadcasted by the World Will, everyone kept their ears open, hoping to glean some sort of benefit from the announcement.

But as they kept listening, things started to sound very wrong.

Especially when they heard the words "Witch Clan" near the end—their desperately hanging hopes finally flatlined.