Chapter 438: Task Arrangements

Luoning relayed the news he had learned from Buluoer regarding the Holy Storm to Suofeiya.

This magic master from the Xinyue Continent provided a more detailed introduction to the Wind Slaves and Flame Slaves.

Wind Slaves are transformed from Advanced Knights with the Wind Attribute; this rigid requirement directly limits the number of Wind Slaves, and it is impossible for them to reach the massive scale of the Witch Soul Clan.

Although Flame Slaves carry the connotation of fire, they represent explosive power and do not refer solely to Fire Attribute knights.

The creation of a Flame Slave must rely on a Golden Knight, and the process of branding the "Flame Seal" is extremely painful; even with the powerful physique of a Golden Knight, there is a very high risk of sudden death, with almost fewer than one in ten surviving!

This results in the number of Flame Slaves being even fewer than that of Wind Slaves.

However, once successful, it can grant this Golden Knight strength comparable to a Meteor Knight.

"Wind Slaves possess an aerial advantage; although you have a dragon and will have a Griffin guard in the future, it is still very necessary to form an archer guard."

Suofeiya suggested, "I will craft Magic Arrows, which, when paired with longbows, can strike at the Wind Slaves."

Luoning could not help but reveal a wry smile.

When he was mopping up the Bolante Bandit Group, he had obtained a Tiejiacongniu Gong and over thirty Magic Arrows, which were still sitting in his Space Ring unused to this day.

On one hand, it was because his own strength no longer required such bows, and on the other, there were previously few Intermediate or higher knights with the Wind Attribute in his territory, and he did not know who to give them to.

However, now that the number of Intermediate and Advanced knights in the various territories has increased significantly, forming a magic archer guard should not be a problem.

"I will arrange this matter after returning to the territory."

Luoning said, "Additionally, if you need any materials to craft the Magic Arrows, you can mention it to my commander Ruidar, and he will arrange for people to prepare them for you."

Suofeiya nodded.

Although she was noble as the daughter of the City Lord of Dawn City in the Human Alliance of the Xinyue Continent and was called "Your Highness," since she had decided to stand on Luoning's side, she would not remain idle.

Clearing up the chaotic situation here as soon as possible also aligned with the purpose for which they had traveled thousands of miles.

A few days later, Lulansi had finished handling the affairs here and arranged for personnel to remain in Jinyu City, and it was time to set off back to Wushan Territory.

For Wushan Territory, the top priority for this return was not gathering grain or preparing for war, but hosting the wedding for Luoning and Blanche at Wushan Castle at the end of the year.

Originally, Luoning had wanted to delay it for two years, build a slightly more decent castle in Wubei City, and then marry Blanche.

It was just a pity that this idea was vetoed by Bruno and Jialete.

Waiting another two years would make Blanche twenty-two years old; in this world, it is very difficult for a noble lady who is not yet married at twenty-two to find a match.

Furthermore, they were also worried that if some accident were to happen to Luoning in those two years, it would be even harder to say.

Therefore, they set the date for December 28th of this year.

Although six months to prepare is not long, it is not short either.

Luoning did not need to worry about this matter; everything from guest invitations and clothing preparation to venue selection and activity arrangements was handled by the officials of Wushan Castle, and he only needed to show up when the time came.

Luoning's main energy was still focused on development and offense.

This development was not about the expansion and management of the territory.

Because over the past two years, Luoning had laid a good foundation for the food, clothing, housing, and transportation of Wubei Territory, and from here on, he only needed to develop according to plan.

Heitu Town and Zhaoze would sooner or later become the fourth and fifth largest grain production bases for Wushan Territory.

What he needed to develop now was magic technology, Aierlong's pharmaceutical industry, ships combining magic energy and steam, and he even wanted to build a Steam Train to transport the mined coal to Wubei Port.

As for offense, it was mainly targeted at Yueguang.

With the dragon flying at full speed, it was July 1st when Luoning, Suofeiya, and the others finally returned to Zhaoze.

As soon as they arrived, Suofeiya took Aini Lu and Hameng to Wubei Port; their five-person squad also needed to hold an internal meeting to make arrangements for what was to come.

If nothing unexpected happened, Uncle Ximeng would remain at Wubei Port to repair ships while also manufacturing more Dawn for Luoning.

The remaining four would all go to Anbian City, and Suofeiya would take up the post of Regiment Commander of the Sixth Knight Order of Wushan Castle.

Luoning then summoned the Minister of Administration Wilson, the Minister of Finance Chahaer, the Defense Officer of Wubei Territory Ruige, and the Transport Officer Luogena.

Troops and horses move before grain and fodder; while ensuring that Wubei Territory had sufficient grain, Luoning needed to transport grain to Chishan Town, Jushi City, and Zilei Territory for storage.

When the fighting eventually broke out, this would save them the trouble of transporting large quantities of grain in a short time.

After a round of arrangements, it was already evening.

Luogena and Chahaer left Luoning's study side by side.

"Is the Lord preparing for war with this transport of grain?" Luogena was somewhat puzzled.

"Perhaps!"

Chahaer was also filled with worry.

The order he had just received was to financially support Ximeng's ship construction and the production needs for Suofeiya's Magic Arrows, which were also things related to war.

Now that Wubei Territory was developing prosperously, he did not wish for this situation to be broken by war.

However, they also knew that sometimes war was not up to what they thought; all they could do was wholeheartedly support every decision of the Lord, just as they had done all along the way.

In the study, Ruige and Wilson had not yet left.

In order to welcome back the Griffins sooner, Luoning needed to build houses for the Griffins to live in as quickly as possible.

In fact, it did not need to be too troublesome or luxurious; it only needed to be able to shelter them from the wind and rain, be sturdy and reliable, and have hay spread out for them to rest.

By comparison, preparing sufficient meat was the challenge.

Fortunately, there was the Magic Beast Mountain Range to the west, and he would have Kaierluosi take them there to forage when the time came.

Additionally, now that Wubei Territory had a large population, various types of animal husbandry had sprung up, and the number of cattle and sheep being raised had also increased greatly, so providing some rations for the Griffins was barely manageable.

Besides building houses for the birds, problems such as housing for the 100,000 people that Bruno was about to send also had to be solved.

It would be quite difficult to pile them all into Wubei Territory, so Luoning prepared to distribute these 100,000 people among Wubei Territory, Jushi City, and Zilei Territory.

He hoped that these three places could soon become large cities with populations of 100,000.

Wilson knew that he would be busy again next.

To tell the truth, following the Lord, he had seen more and more of the world; now he actually had to build houses for the symbol of the Kingdom—the Griffins.

"Ruige, this is the first batch of Griffin knights I have selected."

Luoning handed the roster to Ruige, which contained the names of ten people: Aierlong, Ruige, Luogena, Kalada, Lusen, Qiaofuli, Tangmu, Dawei, Lisi, and Yousefu.

Among the ten people he designated, besides Aierlong, the rest included nobles who had pledged their loyalty to him as well as commoners from the populace; there were powerful Knights, and there were also promising prospects with weak strength but great potential.

Ruige saw his own name and was suddenly somewhat excited; he had not expected that he, a down-and-out noble, would one day be able to ride a Griffin, which symbolized a noble status!

"Thank you, my Lord!" He could not help but bow in salute.

"It is not too late to thank me once you are certain you can adapt to high altitudes."

Luoning said as he assigned the other party's task: "There are still five adult Griffins that have arrived. I will organize members of the Knight Squad from Wubei Territory, Jushi City, and other places to hold a competition; the top five winners will have the qualification to use the remaining five Griffins. I will leave this matter to you to handle."

This was also a way to vie for honor, which could stimulate the fighting spirit of the territory's Knights.

"Yes, my Lord!"

Ruige said full of confidence: "I guarantee I will select the most suitable people!"

Luoning waved his hand to signal for the other party to withdraw, then asked Wilson: "How has the population of the territory changed recently?"

"My Lord, the number of people under your rule has already broken through the thirty-thousand mark!"

Wilson said excitedly: "During this period, Marquis has successively transported over seventy thousand people to Wubei Territory. Besides that, Linchuan Cheng, Muma City, Cuican City, Lake Town, and Jianjiao City, perhaps imitating Marquis's actions, have also successively transported over twenty thousand to you."

Luoning nodded slightly; Lulansi was still supporting Luoning with all his might as always, sending him the population of a large city all by himself.

With so many people, plus the thousands brought by births in Wubei Territory, as well as the seventy-eight thousand from Zilei Territory, it had indeed approached three hundred thousand.

However, he had not expected that other nobles would also send population.

"Have Aierlong set aside a few bottles from the next batch of potions to send to the nobles who support me; this is to express gratitude for their help."

Luoning said: "Additionally, I remember that the population management official is named Oumai, right? Have him give me the list of the newly added population as soon as possible."

Wilson bowed and said: "Yes, my Lord. I will go notify him right away and have Oumai send the list over as soon as possible." (End of this chapter)