The Mighty Dragons Are Dead-Chapter 850 - 0847: Cousin Rolie (First Update)
Chapter 850 -0847: Cousin Rolie (First Update)
The future of the Sapphire Family rested solely in the minds of the Sapphire Duke and his heir, Anthony.
Deep in thought, Liszt was over 7,000 kilometers away, busy to the point where he could hardly spare any attention to the situation beyond the Flame Islands.
Of course, streams of intelligence were still continuously flowing towards him—the Rats from Zavier’s Bull Dung Organization and the Blood Servants managed by Mary Dawnbreak were his hidden eyes in the shadows.
The Rats mainly focused on gathering intelligence within the Duchy of Sapphire, mostly ensuring that the territory was not infiltrated by foreign forces; whereas the Blood Servants were stationed in the Eagle Kingdom and Steel Ridge Kingdom, mainly lying in wait, ready to send early warnings when significant developments emerged.
Nevertheless, the current situation in Sapphire was stable. The Eagle Kingdom was busy consolidating, while the Steel Ridge Kingdom and the Blast Furnace Fortress Kingdom were fiercely embroiled in conflict.
No one had the time to pay attention to the Flame Islands.
...
“Has the Pinecone Family’s fleet already arrived at the Whirlpool River Mouth? Perhaps I should go myself and simultaneously oversee the Pinecone Family’s development projects.” Having received a message delivered by a knight, Liszt made some arrangements, “Send Viscount Fernal with one Knight Order and five thousand serfs to Whirlpool River Mouth.”
From Flame Town to the Whirlpool River Mouth, the Knight Order could board the newly launched single-masted sailing ship from the docks.
The ship would sail downstream—though not particularly fast, it would save considerable effort. Estimating the time, Viscount Fernal should have already led the Knight Order to the Whirlpool River Mouth by the time Liszt mounted the Formless Dragon Bard, embarking on his journey to meet the Pinecone Family who followed him.
Boom!
Arriving above the campsite, Liszt directly leaped down from the Formless Dragon’s back, his figure slowly materializing upon landing. This had become his signature dramatic entrance.
He always enjoyed creating such a low-key lavish atmosphere.
“Your Highness!” The knights at the encampment, upon seeing Liszt emerge from the dust, saluted one after another. They were no longer surprised by such spectacles.
Liszt dusted the dirt off his cloak as Fernal and Roland Pinecone came forward to greet him.
“Your Highness!”
“Liszt!”
“Uncle, has your voyage been smooth?” Liszt gestured for them not to overdo the formalities and kindly inquired of Viscount Roland—he was already a follower of Liszt’s, and as his lord by protocol, Liszt had become Roland’s Landlord.
“Thanks to the pilots you sent and those Calming Wind and Water Calming Pearls, we encountered four storms on the journey, all of which we safely navigated without significant loss,” replied Viscount Roland, still shaken.
Ever since deciding to dispatch an Adventure Fleet to search for new islands, Liszt had entrusted the Magic Guild to bulk-produce the Calming Wind Pearls and the Water Calming Pearls to shelter the Naval Fleet’s safety. The sea is merciless, and even the largest Court Fast Sailing Ship couldn’t contend with the waves.
But the Calming Wind Pearls and Water Calming Pearls could smooth the threats brought by the waves. In a world powered by magic, there were always magical solutions to address problems.
“It’s good that you arrived safely,” Liszt consoled.
It was then that he noticed a young, slightly overweight knight standing behind Viscount Roland—Liszt’s cousin, Rolie Pinecone. His other cousin, Russell, had remained on the family estate to handle some transition matters and had not come along.
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The women of the Pinecone Family had also not accompanied them.
“Liszt…” Rolie started to greet him but hesitated, somewhat intimidated.
Back when Liszt held the title of Baron of Fresh Flower Town, he and Rolie could laugh and talk freely, and Rolie would even boast about the topaz pendant his grandfather had given him.
By the time Liszt had become a Dragon Knight, he began to feel a sense of estrangement towards his cousin and slowly developed a sense of awe. Especially since he often heard his father and mother instructing him how to face a Dragon Knight.
The distinction in status that stemmed from the hierarchical system of knighthood deepened Rolie’s sense of inferiority and fear. The cousin he once mocked, who had only received a tattered notebook from his grandfather as a gift, had grown into one of the world’s pinnacles of power, strength, and influence.
No longer was he the “little cousin disfavored by the family” in his memory.
“Cousin Rolie,” Liszt walked over, smiling as he patted Rolie’s shoulder, “Not bad, you’ve become an Earth Knight.”
Although he wasn’t particularly close to Aunt Melinda’s branch of the family and had very little social contact with them, he still expressed sufficient warmth, given that they had pledged their allegiance to him.
Rolie replied with an awkward smile, “I haven’t even reached the level of an elite; I still have a long way to go.”
“Keep honing yourself, and becoming an Elite Earth Knight won’t be an issue,” seeing that Rolie was truly nervous, Liszt didn’t force the conversation with his cousin any further but turned back to continue speaking with Viscount Roland, “The Pinecone Family’s plans have already been mapped out by me. Uncle will start developing here at the Whirlpool River Mouth, and in the future, he will handle the trade with Tulip Island.”
“I’ll be in charge of the trade with Tulip Island?”
“Yes, the main point is to share resources between the two islands. The Tulip Family will fully develop Tulip Island, but they will definitely have a shortage of labor, so I will support them with some serfs.”
“But don’t you also have a shortage of serfs?”
“Haha, I used to, but now I have too many serfs… there’s a large number of native tribes on Flame Island, all of which are an excellent source of high-quality serfs. Since the quantity is so vast, my current followers of knights might not be enough to absorb all these serfs.”
“That’s really exciting news,” Viscount Roland hesitated briefly before speaking, “Can the Pinecone Family also purchase a batch of serfs?”
“There’s no need to buy, you can catch them yourselves. However, take care to capture serfs with the least cost, avoid causing unnecessary slaughter… Flame Island is too big. To fully develop it, we need a large number of serfs. Even if we capture all the members of the native tribes, it still won’t be enough.”
At this stage, there are too many natives to assimilate, but as the Knight Class develops and grows, the number of natives will seem scarce.
So, killing a native is a loss of resources.
Fernal added from the side, “With His Highness’s permission, our Knight Order has already seldom resorted to capturing as a method to obtain serfs. Mainly, we entice ancient mages to recruit serfs. When most of the tribesmen are drawn to serfdom, even those ancient mages can’t prevent being assimilated and will willingly work for us.”
Centuries of forest living severely dulled the intelligence of these ancient mages, who couldn’t clearly discern the blatant erosive tactics of the foreign knights.
Selling themselves and still helping the knights count their money.
Although these ancient mages aren’t skilled in casting spells, their magic is still quite effective. After being systematically managed and continually indoctrinated, they can approximately serve as pioneers in developing the forests – they are far superior to Africa’s corn – at least the Moon Slayers are not lazy and work diligently.
Their ancestral bloodline originated from the Moon Empire, not from gorillas.
…
For now, the Pinecone Family has settled at the Whirlpool River Mouth.
The family, being an old-established Viscountcy and related to the Long Taro Family, had accumulated considerable wealth. Willing followers included over three hundred knights, as well as more than eight hundred Apprentice Knights, and the first batch of a thousand serfs who had migrated.
For the development of Flame Island, this was a substantial boost.
Combining Fernal’s Knight Order with the Moon Slayer serfs, they fully embarked on building the future “Estuary City” as well as Flame Island’s first harbor – Estuary Harbor.
