Chapter 683: New Mission, Spread

"Boke! Boke—"

Jiabasi had just been freed from his petrified state and seemed a bit dazed, but upon seeing the familiar face before him, he subconsciously shouted, though he immediately realized the situation.

His last memory was being inside the ruins, but in the final moment, he felt he had triggered some kind of hidden danger mechanism; he had subconsciously turned to push Boke away, while he himself lost consciousness.

And now, he had woken up, but what about Boke? Shouldn't Boke be safer and healthier than him? How could he be lying here without any reaction at all?

"Boke!" Jiabasi shouted again, unable to believe it.

But Boke had just been released from his petrified state by Bishop Anbulier and then soothed; it would be abnormal if he had any reaction now!

"Jiabasi, Boke is fine. If you keep shaking him, I can't guarantee he will stay fine!"

Seeing Jiabasi wanting to shout again as if no one else were around, Xia Duo could not stand it anymore and spoke up to remind him; there were other people here!

After Xia Duo spoke, Jiabasi finally realized what he was doing as if waking from a dream. He didn't even bother to stand up from the ground, but used his hands and feet to turn his body around, knelt before Xia Duo in the direction of the voice, and said with tears in his eyes:

"Lord, thank you for saving my and Boke's lives!"

At this moment, he understood in his heart that if it weren't for the Lord, he and his son would have been buried in the ruins.

"Get up first. You are my territory's people after all. Now that something has happened, I certainly have to save you. As long as you work hard for me in the future, I guarantee you will all have a bright future!"

These words from Xia Duo moved Jiabasi even more, and at the same time, for the first time, he had the thought that he did not regret coming to Daxia Territory; ordinary lords would not care so much about their people.

Of course, they also wouldn't oppress their people too much.

But Jiabasi had never seen a lord like Lord Xia Duo who could personally rescue two ordinary people. Once this thought arose, he couldn't help but worry about whether the Lord would face exclusion from other territories because of such generosity and benevolence.

At this moment, Jiabasi's mind was a mess, filled with the confusion of having just been freed from petrification and the bewilderment of worrying about the future of the territory; he didn't even notice when a person had left this tent.

It wasn't until Xia Duo asked again that Jiabasi was startled out of his personal daze, instantly breaking into a cold sweat, and stammered:

"My Lord, what did you say?"

"..."

Xia Duo was speechless. Just a moment ago, he was in tears, and now he was staring blankly again. If it were any other lord, they would certainly punish Jiabasi for the crime of being disrespectful.

In fact, if Bishop Anbulier were still here, Xia Duo wouldn't even need to speak; the Bishop would have counted Jiabasi's crimes. In that situation, even if Xia Duo didn't want to punish him, he would have had to punish Jiabasi a little to respect the Bishop's face and Faith.

Fortunately, Bishop Anbulier had seen that the father and son had recovered and had proposed to walk around Daxia Territory, otherwise, Jiabasi would likely be in trouble now.

Xia Duo repeated the question, asking Jiabasi, "What did you find in the ruins? Why were you petrified? Was it because of that scale-armored Statue that hasn't been dug out at the very end of the passage?"

"My Lord, I only found some fragments of clay tablets with unknown character carvings, and that scale-armored creature's Statue. As for why I was petrified—"

Jiabasi wore a blank expression, "I don't know either. If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't even know I had been petrified. At the time, I just felt something was wrong, and then I suddenly lost consciousness. So it was Petrification!"

Speaking later, Jiabasi showed a look of lingering fear, not just because of being petrified in the ruins, but also because of the extremely slim hope of rescue for an ordinary person like him after being petrified.

Seeing that no useful information could be obtained from Jiabasi, Xia Duo decided to go see for himself, so he said: "Jiabasi, I will give you two teams of men now. Dig out the ruins as soon as possible, understand!"

The population of the territory had increased, and although they were still developing, since there were indeed ruins there and there were indeed things in the ruins, it was not a problem to temporarily pull out two teams of people to specifically excavate the ruins.

As for the risks, Xia Duo was now confident in lifting the Petrification by using the details of the Petrification Magic he had already collected. Even if he couldn't do it himself, he could still ask Bishop Anbulier for help.

As for other dangers, even without considering that the ancient relics that might exist in the ruins could still have research value, the fact that these ruins were located in the future core area of the territory meant Xia Duo could not leave them unresolved, lest a more serious disaster occur when the population increased in the future.

If he hadn't discovered or confirmed it before, he could have pretended there was nothing and continued to develop and build on this land, but now that the ruins were confirmed, Xia Duo could not turn a blind eye.

After Xia Duo gave his instructions, although Jiabasi was a bit worried about the unknown dangers in the ruins, he agreed immediately.

Xia Duo nodded with satisfaction; having such a subordinate could indeed save him a lot of worry, so he was generous again:

"Forget it for today, stay here and take care of Boke. Starting tomorrow, dig out the ruins for me as fast as you can! Go find Jiefu from the Development Department for manpower; I will have him reserve enough people for you."

After speaking, Xia Duo didn't wait for Jiabasi's answer, walked straight out of this temporarily erected tent, and then left the Military Camp.

Linshui Village, Canteen.

Xia Duo found Bishop Anbulier here, who was tasting braised pork while gnawing on a steamed bun. Only then did Xia Duo remember that it was past noon, and he had actually forgotten to arrange lunch for the hardworking Bishop!

However, seeing the Bishop eating meat and the bun in large mouthfuls, looking like he was enjoying it, the apology in Xia Duo's heart subsided slightly.

He stepped forward and said: "Bishop, what do you think of the food in Daxia Territory?"

"Hmm—very good! This cooking style reminds me of a delicacy I had in Keman when I was young. It's somewhat similar, but not as delicious as yours! If that Elf girl knew that human Chefs could make such delicious food, she would definitely pull those long ears of mine off!"

Bishop Anbulier said with a sense of nostalgia.

Xia Duo did not respond to this; it seemed there was something between the Bishop and that Elf, only they hadn't ended up together in the end.

"If the Bishop likes it, you can send people over to learn. I think Kuke will definitely teach them diligently!"

As soon as Xia Duo said this, Kuke, who was on the side, hurriedly echoed: "Yes, yes, I will definitely teach them with all my heart, never holding anything back, and guarantee to teach the people sent by the Bishop!"

"This—"

Anbulier saw that Xia Duo was not joking, but was speaking very seriously. He hesitated for a moment and finally agreed.

"Then thank you, Lord Xia Duo."

"Bishop, you are too polite. The Bishop did me a big favor today, and I was just wondering how to thank you! It's just some cooking methods, the Bishop doesn't need to take it to heart!"

Actually, strictly speaking, Xia Duo, who was married to Niya, could be considered a superior to Bishop Anbulier and could completely order him to do things, but human interactions in reality could not be completely mechanical and cold.

Furthermore, Xia Duo also hoped that the cooking methods and techniques of his hometown would spread, and it would be best if they became popular in this world!