Chapter 257: Patrolling the Territory, Planning Paper-making

The corpse seemed to have undergone a Positive Energy Baptism and had not yet decayed. Xia Duo only took one look before putting it out of his mind, then turned his head to ask Laidun, "I remember there is a carpenter among the slaves, right?"

"Yes, my lord."

"The first phase of residential housing in Linshui Village can begin. Pick a group of people for him and have him start in the area north of the Altar and south of the camp," Xia Duo instructed.

The number of people in the Territory was now nearly one hundred. Xia Duo had noticed this when he returned; apart from the formal residents who had some wooden houses similar to large dormitories, the slaves were still living in grass sheds.

Just those conical grass sheds made by propping up a few branches and hanging some dried grass over them—very crude. If it rained, they had almost no ability to keep the rain out.

As the saying goes, "Those without permanent property have no permanent heart." If Xia Duo expected these people to work for him with peace of mind, the necessary material incentives were essential.

"By the way, let's start by building a few rows of small wooden houses; they need to be suitable for long-term living," Xia Duo added.

Laidun looked toward the north, pondered for a moment, and said, "My lord, it takes about seven days to build one wooden house. If you require several rows to be built, it might take a very long time."

The wooden houses currently in the Territory were only temporary structures, and they had used quite a few materials transported from Savile Territory. Laidun felt that spending a large amount of time on housing during the initial stage of the Territory's development was not very cost-effective.

"Cleric Laidun, the residents followed me here; they cannot be without basic housing. That is how it will be. Furthermore, it is not just for the current residents; future residents must also be allocated housing."

Xia Duo understood the importance of a house all too well. It was not just a place to shelter from the wind and rain, but a home where one could feel at ease.

Although the promise of the future was dangled in front of them and the residents were currently quite motivated, one cannot satisfy hunger by always painting a picture of a cake.

He needed some short-term incentives, and the only thing Xia Duo could think of was housing. In any case, the residents would be building them themselves; he was merely doing the work of allocation.

"Yes, my lord." In front of Xia Duo, Laidun took a Scroll from his waist and scribbled down Xia Duo's requirements on it.

……

After patrolling the area near the Altar, Xia Duo discovered another problem.

On the eastern development line, several large bonfires were burning fiercely, and from time to time, residents or Slaves would add fuel to them.

Xia Duo hadn't paid much attention before, but now he suddenly realized that these bonfires were actually burning money!

The few great treasures for a transmigrator to crush the natives: Paper-making Technique, white sugar, glass, and perhaps one more could be added: "Salt."

Seeing the dried grass and wood being burned away for nothing, Xia Duo thought of paper-making.

Although Netheril also had paper made from grass and wood, because it could not carry Spells and the price exceeded the cheapest Parchment, it had not circulated.

But Xia Duo knew the potential of this kind of paper. If even earth, stone, and metal could carry Spells, there was no reason why grass and wood paper could not.

What's more, Xia Duo was very clear that the key to actually carrying Spells lay in the ink, or rather, materials capable of connecting to the Magic Net.

He believed that in the future, there would certainly be grass and wood paper that could be used to make Magic Scrolls.

Besides, unlike Parchment, which required animal hide (high cost), grass and wood were everywhere. Once the technology matured and costs dropped, it could explode rapidly.

This was a powerful weapon for the popularization of Knowledge.

The popularization of Knowledge had no downsides for Xia Duo; he only needed to restrict the key technologies. The popularization of Knowledge would promote exchange and lead to an explosion of thought and theory.

Xia Duo was truly fed up with the conservative style of Netheril; being able to guide an ideological revolution was something he was very willing to do.

As for whether it would make others stronger, that was not actually in Xia Duo's consideration, unless they were enemies. His goal had always been himself; as long as he was constantly improving, what was there to worry about!

Look at the big picture, start with the small details; perhaps he could try his ancestral 【Paper-making Technique】 now.

However, specifically for the present, Xia Duo couldn't do much. He just kept the matter of paper-making in his heart, waiting to try it when he had the opportunity later.

Now, he could only try his best not to look at those bonfires burning "money." Fortunately, what was burning there was just some dried grass and branches pruned from trees.

The main trunks were still being kept!

"Cleric Laidun, go ahead and get busy; I will go take a look at the east."

"Yes."

……

The positions that the Territory soldiers needed to defend were mainly in the east; there was an Altar in the south, a river in the west, and fences and 【Magic Alarm】 in the north.

However, Xia Duo was worried that going too far east would affect the Mythallar. In the actual planning, they only needed to clear up to about 100 meters from the riverbank.

After that, they could set up fences and expand to the south.

"The key is still the lack of people!"

Crossing the eastern development line, Xia Duo continued forward. He walked for nearly a hundred meters before seeing the simple "defense line" set up by Qiaoqi's squad—

A thin line running from south to north through the forest, using branches less than half a meter high as stakes, with a small bell hung every 20 meters or so.

Not seeing anyone from Qiaoqi's squad, Xia Duo deliberately tripped as he walked past, and the bell closest to him immediately rang.

Immediately following, the thin line was tugged, and crisp bell sounds rang out all along this line. Soon, Xia Duo heard an angry roar from the east:

"Node 3 has been triggered! Ha De, you brat, are you slacking off? Hurry back and take a look!"

Having been away from the Territory for a while, Xia Duo was a bit unfamiliar with this voice, but it wasn't hard to guess who it was. If nothing went wrong, it was Qiaoqi.

Such a loud voice, it sounded so resonant even from far away in the forest!

Soon, Xia Duo saw Ha De running over from the east, carrying a sword and shield. Seeing the lord who had disappeared for more than ten days, Ha De seemed stunned.

"That—Lord Lord!"

Just then, Qiaoqi's voice came out again, "Ha De, Ha De, you brat, answer me!"

Ha De finally reacted and shouted toward the southeast: "Captain, it's the Lord! The Lord is back!"

After shouting, Ha De looked at Xia Duo somewhat awkwardly, hesitating whether to return to his guard position or stay and wait for the Captain.

Xia Duo looked at this thin-line bell warning line with interest. The effect of this warning line should be quite good for ordinary wild beasts, it was just a bit far from the camp.

It would be even better if the people in the camp could hear it too, as that would allow the camp side to be alerted in advance.

Soon, Qiaoqi also rushed over, likewise carrying a sword and shield. He trotted all the way to Xia Duo and said sternly: "My lord! Qiaoqi is here to report!"

Xia Duo nodded and pointed in the direction he had come from, "Let's go, talk as we walk."

"Yes, my lord."

Qiaoqi dismissed Ha De and walked in front to lead the way for Xia Duo, while reporting the recent situation: "My lord, in these ten days, we have pushed the warning line to here. During the day, we are outside the bell line, and at night, we are inside the bell line."

"Are there many instances of the warning line being triggered?" Xia Duo asked.

"There were many at the beginning, but after clearing out the two Goblin settlements nearby, it has become much less."

"A Goblin settlement?"

Xia Duo thought of the Goblin settlement he had dealt with when he first arrived here, which had even contained a Bugbear, so he hurriedly asked, "Were any Bugbears discovered?"

"None were discovered, but Captain Jibu judged that there were traces of Bugbears having lived there."