The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

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Black Horse Island.

Liszt was inspecting the mining of volcanic glass ore, which was quite interesting. It was hard on the outside, filled with bubbles on the inside, and had a clear boundary with the surrounding soil and rocks.

As long as one dug deep into the earth, reached the basalt columns, one could follow the cracks to find the volcanic glass.

So, once a thousand serfs mastered the excavation technique, they turned over the land along the low-lying areas. Not only did they unearth a large amount of volcanic glass, they also managed to convert the land into farmland in the process.

"My lord, we have cleared the wilderness and mined to the south with the Red River as our boundary. We have now reached the wasteland between the eastern foothills of Needle Grass Hill and the East Coast. We've scattered soybeans and peas on the reclaimed wild fields. The seed germination rate might not be very high, and I'm afraid the yield will be quite sparse," reported Administrative Officer Blair from the port town.

Mining, reclaiming, sowing—these were the construction plans that Liszt directed.

In choosing crops, he selected soybeans and peas because legume plants can propagate rhizobia in their roots—he had observed that this world's legume plants still grew rhizobia, only not very prominently. Among them, soybeans, peas, and peanuts were not only stable species, but also had a higher count of rhizobia.

Furthermore, the legume alfalfa also contained rhizobia, which might be one of the reasons it became a superior pasture grass.

Hence, he decided to plant a large amount of legumes and alfalfa during the early stage of land reclamation on Black Horse Island to fertilize the fields and provide the soil with organic nitrogen.

"Low germination rates and yield don't matter. As long as the harvest can offset the cost of sowing, that's sufficient. Farmland needs continuous acclimation to mature. The sooner we acclimate it, the sooner it can give back to us," said Liszt with a smile. He alone understood the benefit of rhizobia.

The humans of this world relied too much on elf bugs for farming; they didn't understand fertilization, let alone something like rhizobia.

Under the rule of landlords, the serfs' most common farming method was the fallow system—either the two-field or three-field system. They divided the farmland into long strips, letting each strip rest every two or three years to allow the soil to regain fertility. It was only within the influence of elf bugs that they needn't let the land lie fallow, permitting yearly cultivation.

A small portion of the farmland in Fresh Flower Town had already abandoned the fallow system and adopted artificial fertilization to ensure that planting could occur every year.

Of course. Your journey continues with empire

Due to the lack of serf labor, most wild fields couldn't be intensively farmed and still followed the two-field system. They were cultivated one year and rested the next—after all, there was more land than laborers, and they could plant as they wished. As development progressed, Liszt would gradually guide the serfs on how to farm more precisely.

In conjunction with elf bugs, they would practice scientific farming.

As for the farmlands currently being reclaimed on Black Horse Island, as long as some beans could grow without loss, that would be enough.

After inspecting the work site, he said to Blair, "Organize the serfs to transport all the volcanic glass to the Burial Ground. Place it between those five big bones."

He planned to collect the Fire Dragon Magic Power within it.

This was a massive project and one that only he was capable of undertaking—he planned to hide on Black Horse Island to carry out this task carefully while also enduring a few hard days to save expenditures for the castle in Fresh Flower Town.

Breaking the volcanic glass and releasing the Fire Dragon Magic Power, the magic power was quickly absorbed by the five Fire Dragon Bones. What he needed to do was repeat the action. However, he soon discovered that the magic power from a single piece of volcanic glass was not enough to form a Magic Little Fire Dragon.

That is to say, it couldn't burn people, because the bones would absorb it before the magic power could converge.

"I could completely have Marcus and the others come to work, arranging two or three knights around each Fire Dragon Bone to repeat my task."

With that thought, he immediately arranged for the knights to come and work—Apprentice Knights could complete this task.

He walked with his hands behind his back at the Burial Ground, using his Eye of Magic to watch as red magic power continuously gathered towards the Fire Dragon Bones, lighting up their vein-like lines before settling down peacefully.

The task continued until August 25th.

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Finally.

The Smoke Mission changed.

"Complete the task, reward the restlessness of the Rubber Bugs."

Mining ten tons of Volcanic Glass wasn't difficult, and half a month was more than enough. The reward for the Smoke Mission was quickly distributed. However, when Liszt took out the Rubber Bug triplets he carried with him, the three little ones seemed to have no reaction.

He stared at them intently for a while.

Still no movement.

This left him a bit embarrassed, "Would you start squirming, please!"

The Rubber Bugs, hearing the call from within Liszt's heart, moved slightly but were far from restless. He had no choice but to put down the triplets and turn his attention to the new Smoke Mission.

"Task: With the ten tons of Volcanic Glass ore mined, the Fire Dragon Magic Power has also emerged from the earth's surface. This is exactly the source that the dried-up Dragon Bones urgently need. Please infuse all the Magic Power into the Fire Dragon Bones, revitalizing the staled Fire Dragon Bones. Reward: Pink pearl-producing conch."

"A Pink pearl-producing conch?"

"A conch can produce pearls?" Liszt was quite surprised. He only knew that shells could produce pearls, whether it was Pearl Oysters or Tridacna, both kinds were types of shells.

But a conch...

"It seems a conch is indeed a kind of shell. It looks like that's the case; otherwise, how could it produce pearls." He set aside his doubts and thought about the appearance of a conch.

On the beaches of Fresh Flower Town, it was common to find conchs.

Serfs from Oyster Village had even offered a few very beautiful conch shells to the Castle as ornaments, "So, the pink pearl-producing conch, does it appear on the beaches of Fresh Flower Town or on Black Horse Island?"

Now in the height of summer, both Fresh Flower Town and the Harbour Town had organized many serfs to dive for seafood by the sea. Oyster Village in Fresh Flower Town had even a group of professional fishermen diving for seafood in the offshore waters, rowing sampans. The fishing industry was booming in Liszt's territory.

He called over Goltai, "Consultant Goltai, inform all the serfs engaged in sea fishing to look out for conchs, especially to check for pearls inside the conchs."

"Pearls?" Goltai, eyes wide, expressed his confusion, "My lord, what does a conch have to do with pearls?"

"I recently read a book that mentioned a Magician finding a miraculous pearl inside a conch picked up by the sea. In short, pay more attention to this matter." Liszt found a casual excuse to dismiss Goltai. The Landlord's authority often meant he didn't have to try too hard to find excuses to justify his actions.

Goltai had grown accustomed to Liszt's style and thus did not ask further, just got on with the job—he understood one thing, that Liszt was favoured by the glory of Swordsmanship. If he said there were pearls in the conchs, then it was very likely there were pearls.

...

In the following two days, Liszt still stayed on Black Horse Island, supervising the release of Fire Dragon Magic Power from the Volcanic Glass.

Only when all ten tons of Volcanic Glass had been completely released did he order the remaining Volcanic Glass to be stored and no more Fire Dragon Magic Power to be released—this Fire Dragon Magic Power was a treasure, enough for the Smoke Mission, and there was no need for wasteful extravagance.

At this moment.

He called out the Smoke Mission.

The content of the Serpent Script had changed, "Complete the task, reward a Pink pearl-producing conch."