Chapter 500: Graveyard

Edward's efficiency was very high, especially in things he considered important, almost unwilling to wait even for a moment.

The day after the steel beast brought by Prince Kelin showed its power to the new nobles of the Duchy, the Viceroy's Office of Thunder City announced a big news that shocked the whole city—

"Campbell Royal Railway Company" was officially established.

That evening, the front pages of major evening newspapers in Thunder City were completely occupied by this news, detailing this unprecedented plan.

The newspaper mentioned that this railway company would be fully funded by the Royal Family. After the first phase of key sections was completed and its value demonstrated, the company would follow the successful experience of the "Kelin Group" and go public on Queen Street in Thunder City!

At that time, the Royal Family would issue stocks to all interested investors through the banks of Thunder City. Whether it was a big banker or an ordinary citizen, they could participate in the wave of building the Duchy's future and participate in dividends after the railway became profitable.

This blueprint was ambitious.

The first phase of the project planned two main lines, north and south.

The first railway was the lifeline of the entire Duchy. It would run north to south, passing through seventeen densely populated towns and Baron territories, firmly connecting the Valley Plains that the Duchy had just recovered from the rebels with the prosperous port of Thunder City.

And in the middle section, the line would branch out a spur line, extending to the Spinor Earl territory in the northeast.

That was another chess piece Edward had quietly laid out on the strategic map, and also a mountainous area of the Campbell Duchy that had been relatively less developed.

It was close to the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain Range, had rich coal and iron resources, and was close to the territories of Dwarves and Ratmen. Just because there was no connection to the Torrent River, and the mountainous area was far from the coastline, the cost of maintaining rule was high, so it hadn't been effectively developed.

The core sphere of influence of feudal nobles was mainly in the plains, and Earl Spinor was no exception; the population was mainly gathered on the narrow coastline.

If there were no railway, Edward probably wouldn't have put the Spinor Earl territory at the front of his work schedule.

But now, the situation was clearly different.

If a coal and iron industrial zone could be established there, not only could it absorb agricultural population into factories, but it could also add another fire to Thunder City's industrialization wave.

This was also Prince Kelin's suggestion, and Edward was also preparing for this matter.

The citizens of Thunder City discussed it enthusiastically in taverns and street corners.

Most of them hadn't even seen what a "railway" was, but just seeing the words "Royal Family fully funded" was enough to make people excited to the point of not sleeping all night.

They vaguely realized that this might be a big event that could change their fate, just like when the Kelin Group went public.

At the entrance of the black tea house on Queen Street, citizens waiting for the "Stock Exchange" to open for business flipped through the newspapers in their hands, letting out an exclamation of "so that's how it is."

"No wonder His Majesty the Grand Duke expanded the scale of the council."

"After a long time, our Majesty also went to open a company!"

They didn't think there was any problem, just felt fresh; the Grand Duke sitting on the money printing machine was actually interested in making money.

This kind of thing had never happened before.

In fact, they really misunderstood their Majesty; Edward didn't have the energy to open any company, and he didn't have any experience in that area at all.

The Royal Railway Company just hung the name of the Royal Family to indicate the Campbell Royal Family's endorsement and support for the project.

Although the company was funded by the Grand Duke's family and controlled by the Grand Duke's family, the actual operators were not the Grand Duke himself.

Part of its management team came from the Thunder City City Hall, the Road Planning Bureau, and the Water Conservancy Bureau, and there were also royal-appointed supervisors and scholars recommended by aides.

After issuing specific planning schemes, the Royal Railway Company would publicly bid in Thunder City.

This set of schemes was undoubtedly advanced to the extreme in the current Thunder City, although limited by the limitations of the era, the only company that actually met the bidding qualifications was one.

Actually, let alone the Campbell Duchy, even the entire Empire couldn't find a second bidding unit with this qualification.

Without any accidents, this epic-level engineering contract fell into the hands of the "Graveyard Railway Group" players.

They were "old railway workers" of the Graveyard, mainly doing business for Hell Dwarves, almost playing "Catastrophe OL" into "Railway Tycoon OL."

And it was a fantasy version.

However, on the first day of construction, this group of experienced Lizardman players encountered the most difficult problem in their professional career.

At the construction site newly designated in the suburbs, the person in charge of the group 【I will form the head】 was staring at a piece of mud in a daze.

He had just received a secret order from the Demon King.

Prohibited from using any undead labor in this project.

Prohibited from using Ratmen and Goblin slaves.

And—

Prohibited from human NPC casualties.

The railway was still in the promotion stage; if casualties occurred, it would undoubtedly cast a shadow over the promotion of new technology.

However, understanding was understanding, this was simply unreasonable!

Without undead, is it still called Graveyard Railway?

【I will form the head】 was furious.

In the construction shed, the atmosphere was as oppressive as a swamp before rain, not smelling any excitement of receiving a "big order."

【I will form the leg】 poked the boss's arm with his claw and couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

"Head brother, what's wrong? Did the mission have a BUG?"

【I will form the head】 kicked the measuring pile away with a roar: "Grass! Our core productivity has been BANNED!"

【I will form the crotch】 looked blank.

"What do you mean?"

【I will form the head】's expression was like wearing a painful mask.

"Not allowed to use skeletons! Not allowed to use zombies! All undead labor, none can be on the field! Without undead, what do we use to lay the railway? Do you really want us to do it ourselves?!"

The players looked at each other, finally realizing the seriousness of the problem, and a burst of wailing spread.

Undead labor was their foundation!

Able to work 24 hours without eating, drinking, or sleeping, and even without changing shifts, there was no more perfect labor force in the whole world!

Now, this link was pinched off by the Demon King himself.

Just as everyone fell into despair, 【I will form the leg】 suddenly brightened his eyes.

"Wait, head brother! The boss only said not allowed to use undead, Ratmen, Goblins, but he didn't say not allowed to use other living things!"

【I will form the head】 rolled his eyes.

"Nonsense! Can I not know? But the problem is hiring people requires paying wages, you pay them?"

"Didn't say hire all people! For example... we can go to that Swamp City!" 【I will form the leg】 chuckled, "Those Lizardmen have great strength, just leave the heavy work to them!"

【I will form the head】 was startled upon hearing this, and slapped his thigh: "Damn! You are really a sugar beet!"

The Lizardmen in Mud City are like livestock; give them a bite to eat and they will go happily; anyway, they are idle.

Especially since a large number of things from the human world have flooded into that swamp land recently, many Lizardmen are full of curiosity about the outside world.

Using these guys to work might not be much more expensive than using undead!

After all, undead are not completely without cost; things that don't eat need to consume magic crystals, it's just that the magic crystals in the underground world are cheaper.

"But they are stupid." 【I will form the crotch】 hesitated, "The requirements for precision in this project are not low; if it's built crookedly, it will be a big trouble."

"They are stupid, are you stupid too?" 【I will form the head】 looked at him with contempt, "Can't we pull some Lizardman players who can speak into it to be foremen?"

After a few seconds of silence, 【I will form the crotch】's eyes suddenly widened.

"... Genius!"

【Not afraid of ghosts after death】 looked at these guys who were praising each other speechlessly; where exactly was such an obvious solution genius?!

Although there were some small twists and turns in the process, such as the chieftains of the Southwest Swamp only cooperating after receiving underworld money, and the corpses of cave spiders also having to be bought with underworld money, etc., but after the unremitting efforts of the players, the new project of "Graveyard Railway Group" was finally successfully launched.

Immediately after, the next morning, the residents in the suburbs of Thunder City saw that unforgettable scene in their lives.

Thousands of strong Lizardman laborers poured out. They only wrapped a rag around their waists, bare-chested, and surged toward the newly built construction site in the suburbs in a mighty force.

The guards in Thunder City thought that the Lizardmen who were crazy about poverty had invaded the land of humans, until they saw that the things in their hands were not spears, and then they relaxed.

Just as the players expected, these guys covered in scales showed unprecedented enthusiasm for the work of "providing food and housing."

Especially the mission issued by the Dragon God's messenger made every Lizardman firmly believe—

As long as they completed the mission ordered by Lord Gustav, they could follow Lord Ai Sa Ke Jifeng to the legendary Janna Continent and become true subjects of the Dragon God!

In a sense, the thoughts of the Lizardmen were actually not wrong; their chieftains had indeed earned enough boat tickets.

Recently, the Grand Duke of Campbell was considering issuing customs clearance documents for the Lizardmen next door, allowing the chieftains of the Hewan Tribe Alliance to enter Thunder City, and board ships at human ports to go to the Janna Continent, as a return for the Gustav Kingdom transferring advanced technical equipment to the Campbell Duchy.

He said he wouldn't make Prince Kelin difficult, and he always remembered this matter.

However, although the Lizardman chieftains brought wealth to Thunder City, the Lizardmen in the Hewan area were not without benefits.

At least when the Demon King still needed them, they moved out of their original mud sheds, exercised their bodies, and mastered the technology of nailing nails and laying wooden sleepers.

At the same time, the engineering spiders that were consumed every day in the Graveyard also had a new destination.

Besides becoming snacks for Lady Arachnos, they could now be "exported" as food for Lizardmen.

This might not be very humane, but it was very hellish.

At the construction site, player foremen rolled their colorful tails and roared to command with metal-rolled megaphones.

That was a small prop wholesaled from Ouke's alchemy workshop, which could help them translate languages, and by the way, could also carry the accent of the Janna Continent.

Actually, it was just a built-in translation crystal.

"Team one! Carry the sleepers! Your slogan is!"

Responding to the Dragon God's messenger was a neat and energetic shout.

"Hey——!"

"Team two! Follow the tracks! Pay attention to the spacing! That one over there, I'm talking about you, don't bite with your teeth! Hey! Let go, that's your neighbor brother's tail!"

"Ha——!"

The sky-shaking slogans rose and fell one after another.

Thousands of Lizardman laborers sweated like rain, sweat and mud intertwined, reflecting an obsidian-like luster on their scales.

Thanks to the biological technology of the Zeta civilization, it brought them sweat glands not inferior to humans, otherwise they really couldn't do such high-intensity physical work.

Under the command of the players, they were divided into four teams.

One team carried sleepers, one team carried steel rails, one team nailed tracks, and one team tamped ballast; they marched on the plains like a slow but steady machine.

The construction materials were on the train behind them, and it was also the Lizardmen who were responsible for unloading the steel rails and wooden sleepers, and then pushing them to the construction site ahead through pushcarts.

The laying speed of the railway was not fast.

Without the blessing of undead, advancing three kilometers a day was already a miracle; even if some anxious players spontaneously used magic to assist construction, I'm afraid it would take half a year to lay the railway to Gladstone Castle more than 200 kilometers away.

However, this scene of hot labor still made the Campbell officials who came to inspect marvel.

They had dealt with the Lizardmen in the Southwest Swamp for so many years, and hadn't seen that group of bugs work so hard?

Worthy of being the subjects of the Dragon God Gustav, they easily brought the fire of civilization into the swamp land that holy light couldn't shine on!

This power that transcended transcendent power was simply unfathomable!

Amidst the roars of everyone, a major artery running through the north and south of the Duchy was taking its first slow and firm step.

In the spring of 1054 of the Aus calendar, it seemed that big things happened every day this spring.

The matter of the Royal Railway Company hiring Lizardmen to build the railway seemed even more strange to the citizens of Thunder City than Edward opening a company himself.

In just one day, the news spread through every street and alley of Thunder City, becoming the hottest topic at taverns and dining tables.

By the weekend, curiosity finally overwhelmed everything.

Hundreds of citizens of Thunder City didn't go to church for worship, but instead took their families to the suburbs, running to watch this rare spectacle in a century.

Everyone gathered on the dirt slope at a safe distance, standing under the high windmill, pointing at the "iron road" that was being laid.

"This is a railway?" A baker scratched his head, "Two iron sticks placed on the ground, what can they be used for?"

"Those iron sticks are not simple!" An adventurer wearing tattered leather armor, looking like he had just come out of a labyrinth, lowered his voice and said pretentiously, "I have seen it with my own eyes; there are these things in the Dwarf mine shafts of the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain Range. But they all use Goblins to pull mine carts, sometimes using slave Ratmen."

"Nonsense!" A well-informed merchant next to him immediately corrected him, "This is not the thing those Dwarves fiddled with in the mine shafts! The 'Thunder City Daily' wrote it clearly; this is technology from the Gustav United Kingdom! It was brought by the subjects of the Dragon God!"

Upon hearing the two words "Gustav United Kingdom" and "Dragon God," a burst of gasps sounded in the crowd.

This was much louder than the name of the Dwarves.

However, what really shocked the citizens to the point of speechlessness was not the tracks themselves, but the hot construction team.

The Lizardmen of the Southwest Swamp were really tamed by that Mr. Ai Sa Ke Jifeng from the Janna Continent!

In the eyes of the citizens of Thunder City, these "crawling bugs in the swamp" had always been synonymous with danger and barbarism, and were frequent visitors to the mission list of the Adventurer's Guild.

And now their obedient appearance was shocking, no less than the citizens of Twilight City seeing the angels summoned by the Son of God.

Soon, sharp-eyed citizens discovered the difference.

"Look! Those Lizardmen are different!"

Looking in the direction pointed by his index finger, people soon noticed that among those bare-chested barbarians, there was a group of completely different Lizardmen mixed in.

They wore clothes woven from linen, although cheap and sloppy, they were decent enough.

Not only that, these guys also held blueprints and strange measuring tools in their hands, and shouted loudly to command those "wild Lizardmen" wrapped in linen around their waists.

"They wear clothes!"

"Saint Xisi above..."

"Wait! Listen to their accent! That accent... is exactly the same as Mr. Ai Sa Ke Jifeng, the cousin of the chieftain of the Wind Roar Tribe!"

Rumors began to spread in the crowd.

"I understand!" An old citizen suddenly realized, "These Lizardmen who wear clothes are... 'Dragonborn' brought by Prince Kelin from the Gustav Kingdom!"

This statement immediately received everyone's approval.

"So it's Dragonborn! No wonder they can command these guys!"

The Lizardmen of the Southwest Swamp all claimed to be subjects of Gustav, forgotten in this dirty old continent at the end of the first era.

This explains it well.

Everyone roughly understood that those "Dragonborn" were similar to their priests, equivalent to the spiritual totem of the Lizardmen.

At this moment, the players who were busy driving piles didn't know that during the time they were busy, they had another title of "Dragonborn" on their heads.

Noisy discussions were still spreading on the dirt slope.

Farmers nearby pushed small carts over, selling pickled cucumbers and dried pumpkins that they hadn't finished eating in winter to these city people.

Other farmers stood with those citizens, curiously looking at the spectacle extending into the distance below the dirt slope.

If what the citizens felt was novelty and shock, what the farmers living in the suburbs felt was real awe.

Unlike those who came here today, they watched with their own eyes as that steel dragon pierced through the fields at a speed visible to the naked eye.

A week ago, that monster spewing black smoke was still parked on the horizon, and in the blink of an eye, it drove to the side of the slowly rotating windmill.

They were both amazed at the strength of Thunder City's factories and harbored a deep uneasiness about the past no longer existing.

More and more things were eaten by the steam engine.

What's next?

"Saint Xisi above... what exactly is this thing?" A young farmer couldn't help but swallow his saliva and muttered to himself.

"Don't know," standing beside him, an old farmer puffed on a clay pipe, squinting his eyes and saying, "But I believe Saint Xisi protects our Majesty; he shouldn't take us to too bad a place."

He didn't have much culture and couldn't read newspapers, but he could look at the illustrations in the newspapers.

Clearly, compared to the old man sitting in the slaughterhouse holding a crown, their Majesty was simply in his prime, not much worse than the noble Prince Kelin.

Who the gods would favor more was clear at a glance!

Facts proved that even logic that doesn't match up has a probability of being able to penetrate the secrets of heaven.

Although Edward is not a good person like Irene, he is much stronger than His Majesty Theoden Devalu who tosses his own people.

Just as everyone was whispering and discussing, a strong smell of wheat wine drifted over, interrupting everyone's conversation.

Everyone looked back, but saw the famous bachelor in the village walking toward this side, limping and unsteady.

"Hey, old buddies, what are you looking at?"

Everyone was shocked to see his drunken appearance.

"Old John?!"

"How come... you started drinking in broad daylight?"

"How much fortune did you make?"

Farmers in Thunder City are richer than farmers in Gladstone Castle, but it's a bit difficult to "squander" like workers in Thunder City.

Not to mention that even the richest textile workers wouldn't drink during the day.

"Hehe..." Old John proudly rubbed his red wine-soaked nose with his index finger, "Fortune? About the same!"

He specifically got drunk in broad daylight and ran here to show off; wasn't he just waiting for this group of animals to ask this question?

Hooked by the suspense he sold, everyone immediately surrounded him and asked, holding his shoulders.

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and confess!"

"What kind of business did you do?"

"Did you gamble?"

"Business? I don't do that stuff! As for gambling... I'm not stupid; you can never beat that group of cheating adventurers," he burped, pointing to the railway that was extending, "See that thing? Just yesterday, it passed through my broken house that was about to collapse!"

When he said this, he couldn't hold back the corner of his mouth.

"Haha, Saint Xisi above, the Baron didn't care about me anymore, and devout old John was worrying about what to do! Just at this time, His Majesty the Grand Duke's people knocked on my door directly and bought my broken house and the backyard!"

"Praise our Majesty! That was truly a large sum of money, enough for me to buy a decent house in the suburbs and have some left over! Speaking of which, it was my first time seeing what a silver pound looks like."

He couldn't be called devout.

Devout people would definitely not drink like this on the day of worship, let alone draw a cross on their chest when drunk.

This is simply more blasphemous than calling a village girl a saint.

However, even so, it didn't prevent him from praying for the respected Grand Duke Edward; after all, this kind of thing had never happened in the past thousand years.

Today, it was the first time.

The farmers looked at each other, there was no longer any worry about the past no longer existing in their eyes, only naked jealousy remained.

"... Damn it," the young farmer looked at old John enviously, muttering sourly, "If only that iron lump could pass in front of my house too."

The sound of heated discussion was not limited to the windmill in the fields.

As the citizens who went to the suburbs to watch brought what they saw and heard back to the city, the citizens of Thunder City finally had an intuitive impression of the railway.

The tavern in the new industrial zone was noisy, and the noisy sound wave almost lifted the roof.

As expected, the hottest topic today was no longer who would be the councilor on this street, but had changed to the spectacle that His Majesty the Grand Duke was building.

Listening to those young guys who didn't understand anything talking nonsense, an old man with a messy beard slapped his beer glass on the table, and white foam splashed everywhere.

He didn't hide the contempt in his eyes, sneered and said.

"Road made of iron? Just to let that black iron monster run? It's simply nonsense!"

Without waiting for rebuttal, his index finger pointed to the horse-drawn carriage outside the tavern, and several wine barrels that hadn't been unloaded were placed on it.

"Just this thing, it can easily walk eighty kilometers a day, and it's not picky about the road! How fast can that iron lump run? I don't think it's necessarily faster than a horse! Wait, in two months when it rains, this thing will all rust! All the silver pounds spent on it will be thrown into the water!"

"Old guy, you're wrong about that."

A cloth merchant at the neighboring table smiled and interrupted, he had just come back from the suburbs during the day and witnessed that scene with his own eyes.

Also shocked by that scene.

"You didn't see how much cargo that monster pulled! I counted, a full twelve carriages, filled with steel and wooden sleepers! According to my experience, the things loaded in that train of carriages would require at least a dozen horse-drawn carriages to pull—"

"How is this possible!" The old man with the messy beard widened his eyes, "Can the horse stand it? Can the road stand it?"

"So that's why tracks are needed, isn't it?" The cloth merchant smiled and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't believe it; wait until the first station is completed, and you can buy a ticket and experience it... Anyway, I plan to experience this good thing. If it's really as magical as the newspaper says, the trade route to Gladstone Castle won't need to go through the Torrent River."

Another businessman at the same table also echoed and nodded, that ambitious face also full of expectation for that day.

"If this thing can transport the grain of the Valley Plains in one breath, the price of grain in Thunder City will drop by at least thirty percent!"

Not just letting the price of grain drop by thirty percent.

He also saw something further!

This brand-new way of transportation will not only change the economic map of the Campbell Duchy but might also change people's lives—

For example, let the workers of Thunder City drink milk!

Based on his experience dealing with farms, fresh milk is extremely perishable, and it will sour if not refrigerated or boiled within a day.

Most people can't afford space rings and refrigerated magic devices, so the "fresh milk" that city residents can drink usually only comes from pastures within twenty or thirty kilometers around the city.

Although there are many pastures around Thunder City now, high logistics costs and implied risks determine that milk is destined to be food on the tables of nobles, and ordinary worker families can hardly drink "fresh milk" in the true sense, and their diet is mostly dairy products like butter.

However, the birth of the railway made this possible.

He seemed to see a huge market unfolding before his eyes.

Due to the booming economy and open society, Thunder City after the civil war was ushering in a baby boom, and the diaper orders in the textile factory were higher than ever before.

Perhaps he could get some ideas from the newspaper, for example, spend some money to buy an advertisement, promoting that milk is better than human milk...

People fell into fantasies about the future and fierce arguments.

"But what about us coachmen?" A coachman shouted worriedly, "And the boatmen on the Torrent River... is this iron monster going to steal our business?"

"What are you afraid of! There will only be more business in the future!" A porter working at the dock laughed optimistically, "At worst, you can come and work with me, and you don't have to pay the rent for the carriage!"

A seemingly devout believer sighed on his chest with a cross.

"I'm more worried about our Grand Duke; what if that track passes through the priest's vineyard? And those graveyards..."

Arguments rose and fell, and no one could convince anyone.

However, regardless of whether they were worried or excited, whether they accepted or resisted, everyone vaguely realized that a brand-new era was whistling toward them like that monster spewing black smoke, with an unstoppable posture.

No one knew where Grand Duke Edward's train would eventually go.

But at least at this moment, these people who had just walked out of the shadow of the civil war were full of expectations for the future. ===== CHAPTER 501 =====