The setting sun, like a giant ruby, slowly sank below the distant horizon, draping Swamp Castle in a golden afterglow.
The once underdeveloped town had transford thanks to Ronin’s arrival and his willingness to spare no expense on its developnt. Today, Swamp Town’s population was larger, its farmland more expansive, and a constant stream of rchants passed through.
Before anyone realized it, Swamp Town had beco an outpost for Wubei Territory and the liveliest place in the north.
Having been in his post for several months, Population Officer Omar, along with one of his assistants, carried a thick, recently compiled population register toward Swamp Castle.
"Mr. Omar, why do you think the Lord wants us to collect all this information?"
Sixteen-year-old assistant Nier had asked himself this question many tis. ’If we sold all this paper, we could trade it for so much food!’
"How could our Lord possibly be short on money for paper?"
Omar rapped him on the head, adopting the earnest tone of a teacher. "As long as we properly compile detailed data on the population’s size, structure, and distribution, the Lord can better formulate and adjust various territorial policies, strengthen public security, and so on."
In truth, he had heard all this from Wilson, who in turn had learned it from Ronin.
Omar looked up at the Golden Mountain Range flag fluttering above the castle. He wasn’t sure when it started, but he now felt a great fondness whenever he saw it.
"There’s a lot of profound knowledge in this, Nier. Study hard. As long as you’re capable, you’ll have a good life following Lord Ronin!"
Nier grunted in agreent. "I’m making ti every day to learn more words!"
Chatting as they walked, the two entered the castle and, under Tom’s guidance, arrived at the Lord’s study with nervous hearts.
Ronin offered a few words of encouragent before reviewing the results of Omar’s census.
He now ruled over nine towns and cities: Mountain Forest Town, Sanfang Town, Black Earth Town, Swamp Town, Giant Stone City, Chishan Town, Rapids Island, Wubei City, and Purple Thunder Territory.
As it stood, Purple Thunder Territory had the largest population with nearly eighty thousand people, while Chishan Town was last with only twelve thousand.
After so calculation, the total number of people living in his territory reached 304,000.
More people ant more developnt. This was a very impressive number!
Just then, a line of text appeared before Ronin’s eyes:
[Population Prosperity achievent unlocked. 5000 Attribute Points, 10,000 Energy Essence]
He quickly checked his Attribute Panel. He now had 5,420 Attribute Points and 10,345 Energy Essence.
Although it wasn’t enough for him to break through to the Ninth Level, it was enough to promote the Giant Dragon to the Seventh-level.
This would add another high-end combatant to Wubei Territory’s forces, and not an ordinary one at that.
"Wubei City’s population is only twenty-four thousand right now?"
Ronin looked at the population numbers for the various towns in Wubei Territory. Swamp Town had the most, with over forty thousand people.
Omar replied with a serious and respectful expression, "Yes, my Lord. Wubei Territory has seen a massive influx of people recently, which has put significant pressure on housing and supplies. Wubei City, in particular, is completely reliant on the surrounding towns for food and water, so we haven’t been able to settle too many people there at once."
"A while ago, the water source in Wubei City was contaminated, leading to a disease outbreak that killed a dozen or so people. Fortunately, Lord Elron was there and stopped the spread of the disease in ti."
Ronin nodded. This was likely the reason the people Lurans had sent over were dispersed among several towns.
Bringing in tens of thousands of people certainly created significant pressure in terms of food, sanitation, and other basic needs.
To be honest, Elron, Wilson, Omar, and the others had put in a great deal of effort to settle so many people properly.
"You’ve all done a great job!"
Receiving such definite praise put Omar and his assistant, Nier, in excellent spirits, but Ronin’s next sentence imdiately put them under imnse pressure.
"Another hundred thousand people will be arriving in Wubei Territory soon, in waves. They’ll probably be disembarking at Wubei Port."
Ronin continued, "Go find Wilson and Chahar. The three of you should prepare to receive them."
Transporting a hundred thousand people from Sharp Horn City to Wubei Territory by land would be too long of a journey and consu too many resources.
If they went by sea instead, using more ships to make a few dozen trips would likely save a considerable amount of resources.
Of course, Wubei Territory still had a great deal to prepare in order to accommodate these hundred thousand people. Food was the primary issue.
Despite increased grain production throughout Wubei Territory, expanded farmland, and the addition of potatoes and rice, it still wasn’t enough to feed the booming population.
Therefore, they would still need to purchase a large amount of grain from places like Linchuan City this year.
Omar departed, feeling imnse pressure.
Ronin, anwhile, used Wind’s Wings to fly into the sky above Swamp Castle, calling for Carlos while allocating his points.
After using up all his Attribute Points, his progress toward Magic Master increased to (9,561/15,000), leaving him just over five thousand Attribute Points short of a breakthrough.
Ronin looked at his achievent quests.
Currently, only two achievents—"Slay a Ninth Level Extraordinary Unit" and "Reach a Population of 500,000"—would grant ten thousand Attribute Points at once. The others were less impressive.
’A Ninth Level Extraordinary Unit...’
Ronin searched his mories. The only Ninth Level individual he had t so far seed to be Bellora Silva, and she wasn’t an enemy.
’If I could take over Moonlight Valley, I wonder if the population would break the five hundred thousand mark.’
As he pondered, the Giant Dragon ca speeding over from the direction of Mountain Forest Town.
"Master, what are your orders?"
Ronin gave a mysterious smile. "You’ll know soon enough!"
He didn’t waste any ti. After a glance at Carlos’s Attribute Panel, he used 2,282 points of Energy Essence on the dragon.
Instantly, the Water and Fire Elents in the sky beca unusually violent.
Carlos beca like the eye of a vortex, absorbing all of the violent Water and Fire Elents.
THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP!
Ronin heard the powerful, forceful thumping of a giant heart. At the sa ti, Carlos’s body began to grow explosively!
Truly explosively!
Before, Carlos had been just over thirteen ters long. But in this mont, his torso alone reached twelve ters, and with his eighteen-ter tail, his total length reached thirty ters!
As Ronin used his Spiritual Power to collect the falling Dragon Scales, he couldn’t help but ascend higher to look down on the behemoth, whose wingspan had surged to seventy-two ters. He was utterly shocked.
He had originally thought the breakthrough would only cause a small increase in length, but he never expected the change to be so dramatic.
It was like a malnourished dwarf who suddenly transford into a national-level basketball player.
This breakthrough allowed the Giant Dragon to completely cast off the shackles of his miserable experiences from the past several hundred years.
’Good thing we’re high up in the sky. Otherwise, wings this big would definitely cause quite a commotion.’
Before Ronin could finish his silent sigh of relief, Carlos, seemingly unable to contain the ecstasy from his explosive surge in power, opened his cavernous maw and let out a trendous roar.
The sound was like a thunderclap from the heavens, echoing throughout Swamp Town. People stopped what they were doing and looked to the sky in terror.
"What is that?"
"Is that an eagle? Will it eat the five chicks I’m raising?"
"Are you an idiot? Have you ever seen an eagle that big?"
Although it was high in the sky, the people could still see a massive dark shadow.
As the Guard Officer of Wubei Territory, Rig stared nervously at the dark shape in the sky. His intuition told him it was a Magical Beast, and it seed to be the Lord’s Dragon.
But he had seen the Giant Dragon before, and it hadn’t been this big.
WHOOSH—
Carlos not only let out a dragon’s cry, but also spewed a torrent of magma-like Fla.
The Fla "poured out for a thousand miles," burning a vast swath of the sky red, making it look like the fiery clouds of a sunset.
This scene sent the subjects into a panic. They dropped their hoes and scrambled to find shelter.
"That’s enough, Carlos! Sheathe your furious flas!"
Ronin landed on Carlos’s head. "Head to the uninhabited part of the swamp."
"Yes, Master!"
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