Chapter 400

Chapter 400

All the unease and doubts he had felt along the way dissipated at this moment.

Looking at the sturdy tent in front of him and the supplies prepared inside, Alfred figured that at least these supplies showed Blue Star didn’t plan to treat them as disposable labor.

After all, if they were disposable labor, Blue Star wouldn’t need to prepare so many things for them; they could just be thrown here and forced to work.

The supplies prepared for them alone were probably worth more to many lords than ordinary laborers like them. Alfred had seen how those poor folks sent away by lords lived.

At least, it wasn’t anything like this.

By the next day, Alfred’s conviction grew stronger.

He was put to work digging up tree roots.

It wasn’t a hard job—just three farmers working together to dig through the soil, chop up the deep roots, and pile them for others to haul away.

As Alfred had guessed, the job wasn’t a walk in the park.

After just one morning, he was soaked in sweat, and even his farm-hardened body and arms felt like they weren’t his anymore.

Even for someone like him, used to farming year-round, digging in the dead of winter when the ground was rock-hard was new.

The ground was frozen solid, and every strike of the hoe felt like hitting a rock, sending painful jolts up his arms.

But when the foreman, a seasoned worker, called for a break and lunch, Alfred’s exhaustion vanished.

When he’d heard the administrator yesterday, he’d expected the camp meal to be a thin porridge or some slapdash filler.

Maybe with some dirt or roots mixed in, but as long as it was edible and kept him from starving, Alfred figured he could stomach it.

After all, who hadn’t choked down some ‘dirt soup’ during lean times?

But who’d have guessed the camp kitchen would serve up a big pot of meat stew for lunch!

Alongside the stew, there were two big bowls of shiny, greasy dishes—though he had no idea how they were made.

The smell of the food filled the camp, making mouths water.

No matter how good the other dishes looked, Alfred and the new arrivals couldn’t take their eyes off the pot of stew, its aroma irresistible.

His keen eyes could even spot the glistening fat on the chunks of meat bobbing in the stew!

Alfred was so eager he dashed back to his tent for his bowl and joined the line.

The food server was a friendly-looking woman.

Alfred clutched his bowl, eagerly waiting in line, hoping he’d be lucky enough to get a piece of exotic beast meat.

Maybe today was Alfred’s lucky day—he spotted a juicy piece of exotic beast meat in his bowl.

The other dishes were heaping, and the taste was so good it made you want to bite your tongue.

At least, it was the kind of meal you’d pay a silver coin for in a restaurant.

"Your cooking is really good," Alfred sidled up to the woman while eating, politely praising her.

He clearly recognized his situation,

Facing someone who holds control over everyone's meals, keeping on good terms with her definitely has its perks.

Striking up a conversation might make her remember me, and perhaps on days when there's exotic beast meat in the meals, she might scoop an extra piece for me, considering our chat!

Who gets more meat and who gets less is all up to this woman!

The woman was eating her own portion of food with her head down. When she turned around and saw this unfamiliar face, she didn’t react much, just smiled and shook her head: "I didn’t cook this; I’m not that skilled."

"This is the food uniformly distributed by the Blue Star lords to each camp. I’m just responsible for handing it out to you." The woman said, taking a sip of her meat soup, and Alfred noticed there were three pieces of exotic beast meat in her bowl!

"You’re new here, aren’t you?" The woman turned her head to look at Alfred’s unfamiliar face, who was swallowing his saliva, and reassured him casually: "Don’t worry, Blue Star isn’t like those stingy noble lords. Here, as long as you work hard, everyone can live better than those outside!" She said, her expression turning nostalgic, with a smile unconsciously appearing on her face.

After having lunch and chatting with the people around, Alfred also got a rough idea of the camp’s composition here.

Most of the people here are young adults like him, who have migrated here from different villages.

Among them, there are people like him from the church’s sub-territories, as well as those originally belonging to noble lords or the Warriors Guild and other guilds, all given to Blue Star as population.

However, the camp isn’t entirely made up of these outsiders. Like the woman who serves meals and the low-level practitioner who led them here yesterday, they’re locals from Blue Star.

These people are naturally superior to them; they’re the ones in charge here. But most of them are quite friendly, even very kind to the laborers, and no one’s been bullied.

These people in the camp are either like the woman responsible for serving meals or those in charge of counting the number of laborers going out and returning every day and managing them.

They only have to supervise us here, which is relatively much easier, and they’re often buttered up by others.

After lunch, Alfred was surprised to find that he actually had an hour to rest, so the workers, worn out from their first day here, all went back to their tents and had a comfortable nap.

Fifty minutes later, the foreman who led them to work during the day quickly opened the tent flap and woke everyone up.

Led by the foreman, Alfred and the others got back to digging up tree roots at the unfinished work spots from the morning.

They worked until it was time for dinner again in the evening.

Alfred tiredly picked up his rice bowl, but as soon as he saw the food with the same exotic beast meat as at noon, his body, drained from the day’s work, was immediately recharged.

After dinner, he went to wash his bowl and plopped down, too tired to budge, waiting for the foreman to call them to work again.

Who knew that this time the leading foreman was replaced by another person, and the young adults going to work were naturally replaced by a group of people Alfred hadn’t seen during the day, who grabbed their tools and headed out of camp with full energy after dinner.

He sat there, stunned, watching it all unfold, somewhat at a loss.

Perhaps because his active conversation at noon left a good impression on the woman, so when she saw him holding his rice bowl with a bewildered face, the woman, who had also finished her meal, came over on her own and said to the confused Alfred: "Why are you still here? Hurry up and go rest, aren’t you tired at all today?"

"If you don’t rest well, tomorrow will be even harder!"

Alfred was of course tired, so tired that he didn’t even want to take two more steps to walk into his tent.

He thought that since he would be called up to work again soon, it would be good to recover more strength now, so he simply sat where he was, waiting to start work.

But now hearing the woman’s words, does that mean the workday’s done?

Alfred, who had been tired all day, couldn’t quite wrap his head around it and continued to sit there foolishly for a while.

Until he saw his foreman had already entered the tent and even started snoring loudly inside, did he realize that all his work today seemed to be really over?

To be honest, although somewhat tired, he could handle this workload just fine, because when he arrived yesterday, he saw people working outside very late, so Alfred subconsciously thought he must also work that late.

Who would have thought that he could rest so early!

Alfred groggily got up and shuffled back to his tent like a zombie.

Before he could think of anything else, the day's exhaustion made Alfred close his eyes and fall into a deep sleep the moment he hit the bed.

He slept until the next morning when someone assigned to the task lifted the tent flap and woke everyone inside.

The second day of work began.

Alfred was surprised to find that life here wasn’t as bad as he had imagined.

Although their daily work was tough, excluding rest time, they only worked about eight hours, after which they could relax.

On top of that, there were two hearty and delicious meals waiting for him, giving him plenty of motivation.

At the same time, Alfred also noticed that the camp was divided into two parts.

Around his tent were the day shift workers.

The other half of the tents belonged to the night shift. Shortly after Alfred and his group rested after dinner, these people would take over and head to the Black Forest to work.

Every morning, Alfred could see a tree pit that had progressed significantly since the night before. Clearly, someone had been working diligently while he slept, slowly clearing out the branches.

The two-shift system made leveling the land go smoothly.

Before he knew it, Alfred had somewhat adapted to life here.

Being under Blue Star's management was much better than he had imagined. After about three to five days of adjusting to the work intensity, Alfred could still take a leisurely walk after dinner, and no one would stop him.

As long as he didn’t stray too far from the camp or venture into the Black Forest to cause trouble, he was completely free here.

Every day after dinner, Alfred would sit by the nearest stones to the camp and clear his mind. Sometimes he thought that if his wife and children joined him, he might even forget his old life.

When Alfred received his first set of work clothes and a pair of sturdy shoes from Blue Star, this thought peaked.

Maybe... just maybe, it’s not an illusion!

Life here is really much better than when he was a freeman!

Quite a few people in the camp shared Alfred’s thoughts. At least in their tent, the other three would talk about bringing their families here after the project ended before going to sleep.

Though they came from different villages, they all found a subtle sense of belonging here.

Moreover, as seasoned farmers, Alfred and his companions were in much better shape than expected. They adapted to the workload quickly.

A reasonable workload combined with nutritious food made life here comfortable and enjoyable, at least much better than before.

The farmers of this world were no strangers to hardship. Unfortunately, they gave it their all but got nothing in return.

After about three weeks of this peaceful life, the work area where Alfred and his group were stationed was finally cleared.

All the tree roots were cleared, and the pits were filled in.

Alfred opened his eyes out of habit, only to find that the foreman, who usually woke them up early, wasn’t outside his tent. When he stepped out, he found the entire camp unusually quiet.

Instead, there was a commotion coming from the usually quiet Black Forest hunting area.

After arriving here, Alfred, who hadn’t seen a single beast and felt very safe—even forgetting this was the edge of the Black Forest—gathered his courage and walked out of the camp.

As he approached, more onlookers gathered. Whether it was laborers from other camps he knew or some adventurers, they all stood together, looking towards the Black Forest as if waiting for something.

All eyes turned toward the outpost.

The low light wall, previously visible and constant, flickered several times before suddenly going out.

Alfred stumbled back half a step in shock. If he recalled correctly, the camp elders had explained that the light wall was a powerful magical device bought by Blue Star Pet Shop from the Magic Council to keep the Black Forest beasts at bay.

As long as the light wall stood, the Black Forest beasts wouldn’t enter their work zone, ensuring safety and letting them dig without fear.

But now, that protective barrier had vanished right before their eyes!

Alfred’s eyes widened in horror, imagining countless beasts charging from the Black Forest, ready to tear everyone apart.

Just like the beast they’d faced on the way here.

The blood-soaked scenes from his nightmares flashed through Alfred’s mind.

Panicked, he spun around, desperate to retreat to his tent.

Even though the tent was just thick fabric, unlikely to stop a beast, the familiar space still offered some comfort.

But before he could run far, figures appeared where the light screen had vanished.

It was a pack of intimidating beast pets, led by a few practitioners.

Seeing so many "beasts," Alfred thought the Black Forest creatures had already charged out. His legs buckled, and he dropped to his knees, frozen in place.

He’d once believed that surviving a close encounter with a beast gave him rare experience among ordinary folks. This had made him confident he’d fare better against beasts than others.

But now, with so many "beasts" in sight, the crushing fear left him kneeling, powerless to resist.

All his plans for resisting beasts vanished, and Alfred froze, bracing for death.

He wasn’t alone.

Many of his coworkers, who’d been watching moments earlier, now sat roadside, too terrified to speak or even breathe, as if they might faint.

But what emerged from the Black Forest wasn’t beasts. Though the pack of beast pets was intimidating, most practitioners remained calm.

Unlike the clueless farmers focused on their tasks, the seasoned adventurers from the Black Forest front lines knew exactly what lay behind the light screen.

Once the two beast-shielding light walls were up, Lorant had quickly established a closed hunting zone, letting the beast pets roam freely.

Within two weeks, every beast and plant beast in the one-kilometer hunting zone along the Black Forest front had been wiped out.

After thorough inspections, the hunting zone was finally closed, leaving the tall trees for the Wingless Flywheels to handle.

Likewise, the "logging zone" behind the hunting zone, managed by the Wingless Flywheels, had been cleared of trees, leaving only the roots.

Next, the logging camps would advance into the new "leveling zone," clearing and filling the stumps left by the Wingless Flywheels.

Behind them, another engineering team waited, ready to begin road repairs on the leveled land.

These four zones were closely connected and continuously advancing, operating in an orderly manner like a huge, precise machine.

The large trees felled here, after simple processing, would be transported along the Floating Giant Duck route, following the tributaries of the Holy Shield River, directly to the Blue Star village and other cities where Blue Star was preparing for construction.

Lorant plans to continue building two new cities along this route.

Closer to the Lopulo fortress is the entertainment city he has planned to serve all adventurers. The whole entertainment city is already taking shape, with its boundaries defined and over a hundred construction teams already stationed there.

Countless pieces of timber are sent here, undergo careful processing, and are immediately delivered to their designated locations, becoming buildings that rise from the ground.

Before this, the city's planning and underground infrastructure had already been fully completed.

Before the construction of above-ground buildings began, the entire set of underground facilities had already been integrated into the city's framework.

Complex and intertwined pipelines were carefully organized and buried underground.

The cities in Lorant's territory will take Blue Star Village as a model, laying a solid foundation from the very beginning. Building a brand-new pipeline system from scratch is much more cost-effective than renovating the pipeline system of an old city.

By the way, the initial renovation of the cities in the Black Gold Purple Fir territory has also been completed.

With Blue Star's investment, the once run-down city has seen a dramatic transformation.

The whole city ground is now paved with smooth bluestone slabs, and the old wooden buildings have been renovated by the residents.

The Cavendish family provided subsidies to residents willing to invest in renovating their houses and thoughtfully prepared blueprints designed by senior designers for people to use.

Under such favorable conditions, Cavendish managed to renovate the city smoothly at minimal cost.

Of course, the most important change is the water system buried deep beneath the city.

With this system combining magic and technology, the whole city can stay clean, and residents can easily access usable water resources.

They enjoy the same convenient and pleasant tap water system as in Blue Star Village.

The water supply and drainage system is a cross-century change for a city, and the convenience it brings can only be truly felt by those living in it.

After completing this urban renovation system, all the residents in the Black Gold Purple Fir territory have unknowingly become more loyal to their lord.

In other words, the loyalty of these residents has been growing steadily.

Even though there are no specific numbers to show this, changes in people's hearts can alter the character of a city.

Those living in it can naturally feel these changes.

Peter has been full of praise for Cavendish's significant expenditure, considering it the most meaningful investment in centuries, and he praises it to everyone he meets.

The changes in Black Gold Purple Fir and the attention Blue Star Village has attracted recently have made many far-sighted lords realize that the benefits of this extremely expensive urban renovation system far outweigh the investment.

Moreover, this is a project that will benefit future generations. The quicker a territory is renovated, the sooner it can enjoy the benefits of this urban system.

Therefore, during this period, besides the Black Gold Purple Fir territory, four other territories have chosen to purchase this complete urban renovation technology and have already started implementing it in their cities.

Just these four cities have allowed Lorant to fully recover the initial investment in this urban system, as well as the costs of renovating Blue Star Village and Black Gold Purple Fir, earning a substantial profit.

Even though the dividends from urban renovation aren't as lucrative as Lorant's other businesses, the total price is still quite astonishing.

Even if Lorant only earns a 10% net profit from one city purchasing this system, it is still a significant amount.

Another city being prepared in the Blue Star territory is an industrial city.

Lorant plans to place various factories in this city, depending on these industrial chains to support it.

Therefore, this city is located beside a tributary of the Holy Shield River, allowing it to transport goods to inland cities or to Lopulo Pass and Black Forest more easily.

Reduce transportation costs to a minimum.

As the frameworks of the two cities slowly take shape, an increasing number of adventurers are heading to the now-legitimate Black Forest line.

The tasks on the Blue Star Platform are naturally the primary reason these adventurers are drawn here.

The generous rewards and the fascinating locations of the tasks have quickly made the temporarily named 'Blue Star - Dawn' Black Forest line the top-ranked paradise among all practitioners during this time.

While Lorant is at sea searching for transparent coral, and Lancelot stubbornly refuses to leave the beach where Lorant is, choosing to supervise a construction site.

All potential temporary issues along the 'Blue Star - Dawn' Black Forest line have been directly entrusted to Silem by Lorant.

Of course, some important matters still require Lancelot's attention.

With the existence of the Wulu Shell and teleportation arrays, even far out in the Western Sea, Lancelot can promptly handle these minor troubles without any issues arising.

Nevertheless, Silem is deeply committed to this task, carrying out his duties diligently and responsibly.

Since Lorant entrusted him with this significant responsibility, Silem has remained steadfast along the Black Forest line.

Mo'er is with him, and both brothers are showing great enthusiasm for their first major independent task.

Silem possesses Er Bao and Little Eight, giving him sufficient self-defense capabilities in this area.

While ensuring his own safety, he also has the capacity to utilize Er Bao's strength for many other tasks.

Under his watch, or more accurately, due to Er Bao's presence, Lorant feels comfortable allowing Mo'er to be here as well. Otherwise, no matter how much Mo'er pleaded, he would never have been permitted to appear in such a dangerous place.

And now, it's not just Silem and Mo'er who are here; even Natalie, after pestering Lorant for a couple of nights, has gained his consent to come here.

Three Windbreaking Horses, three Glassy Ice Flame Dogs, one Furious Ragdoll Bear, one Ghost Spider, several Lightwing Butterflies, and one Holy Light Peacock were quietly resting in the open space before them.

These creatures were the entire inventory brought to the outpost by the second-generation members of the Beast Pet Shop.

The outpost, originally belonging to the church, was now managed by the Beast Pet Shop after Joe’s reorganization.

Although some of the patrolling practitioners outside were still from the church, the management had shifted to a new group.

After all, the original function of the outpost had begun to disappear following the deforestation of the Black Forest, and it had gradually become the headquarters of the 'Blue Star-Dawn' line.

Silem and the others had been staying here lately.

They came here not only for Silem to oversee everything but also for the others to fully engage in battles with wild creatures alongside their pets in the hunting zone.

This had completely satisfied these youngsters.

Both humans and pets had fought to their heart's content, and now Mo'er and Natalie were already well-known formidable warriors across the Black Forest region.

Even these energetic pets were quickly worn out during such intense hunting sessions, leaving them too tired to cause any mischief.

If the pets were like this, the practitioners were even more so.

After this extensive cleanup of the hunting zone, nearly every practitioner involved was completely worn out.

Now that the hunting zone had finally been completely cleared, it would take a day or two to set up the next enclosed hunting zone.

This period would provide a breather for the practitioners and pets involved.

However, for Silem, the head honcho, there was no time to rest.

When the previous defense line is removed, people need to be sent to inspect and maintain it to ensure there is no damage during this period and that it can operate normally.

At the same time, a group of the strongest practitioners, well-rested and energized, must go to the Black Forest to set up this magic barrier one kilometer away, establishing the next hunting zone.

This process is actually the most dangerous time for the current Black Forest frontline.

In the established hunting zone, there are numerous practitioners, and the range of activity for the beasts is quite limited, keeping potential damage under control and making it relatively safe.

Therefore, whether on the Black Forest frontline or during the previous Lopulo Mountain beast tide, people like to handle it this way to control the beasts and clear them bit by bit.

However, setting up a new defense line is different.

There are many unknown factors in between, and it is possible that one kilometer away, there is a nest of a powerful beast or cliffs or pits.

These are all factors that could affect the setup of the light wall.

Therefore, the strongest practitioners are needed to complete this task.

As the official leader here and the strongest combat force currently available to the pet shop, Silem is prepared to lead the powerful practitioners with his Er Bao to the one-kilometer mark in the Black Forest to set up the barrier properly.

During the time he has been stationed alone on the Black Forest frontline, Silem has fully experienced the strength of the ghost pearl beast.

As a practitioner, his physical fitness is far superior to Lorant's.

Even though Lorant’s physical fitness improved because of his contract with the baby and he nearly reached third-level practitioner abilities.

However, his ability level is not achieved through years of training, and he cannot control his body as well as a true practitioner.

Of course, if other diligent practitioners have pets to contract with, although they gain part of their strength through the pets, they can fully utilize the energy within themselves with corresponding training.

As long as they keep practicing, they will eventually turn this easily gained energy into their own.

However, Lorant is clearly not that person.

Lorant is not a very diligent person, and he has never thought about practicing the use of his energy.

As a new generation young man who believes in lying down rather than sitting, and sitting rather than standing, Lorant feels that his daily activities are enough to maintain all his vital signs.

Especially after having the simple and convenient way of contracting with pets to enhance his physical fitness, he’s gotten lazier.

Since he doesn't need to exercise to enhance his physical fitness as long as he contracts with pets, Lorant is even less willing to exert himself.

Even if Lancelot occasionally calls him to exercise, Lorant will find various excuses to be lazy.

And coincidentally, Lancelot can’t handle Lorant and has absolutely no resistance when facing Lorant, who would rather play cute than go exercise with him.

So he just lets Lorant do as he pleases.

After all, with the pet contract, Lorant's physical fitness won't be too bad, so he just lets him be.

This difference in the practitioners themselves will show a huge disparity when it comes to practical cooperation with their pets.

Lorant can only let his pets play freely, relying entirely on the baby and Fa Meng, who are quite powerful pets, to master the current strength.

However, although Silem is only a first-level knight, he has been able to find ways to cooperate with Er Bao and Little Eight through his own efforts.

White Night carries Silem, with Little Eight following beside him, and several winged butterflies with different wing shapes lying on Little Eight's body. Both humans and pets are standing outside the light screen of the Black Forest, prepared to move out.

Beside Silem, there are many Windbreaking Horses, carrying the practitioners who have been nurtured by the pet shop during this period.

With the help of Lancelot, Lorant has finally established his own force.

It might take several generations to cultivate the same loyalty in these practitioners as those serving other noble lords, but at least in terms of strength and numbers, the power of the Beast Pet Store is starting to take form.

Many of them are students who graduated from the Knight Academy this year. These already skilled practitioners, combined with their beast companions, have brought a considerable force to Blue Star.

Moreover, the practitioners affiliated with the Beast Pet Store will remain highly stable. In the future, there will be no weakening due to fluctuations in the talent of a certain generation. As long as there are enough beast companions, the power of Blue Star will remain constant and continuously increase.

This inherent stability is one of the Beast Pet Store's greatest strengths.

Silem calmly led the way, being the first to pass through the invisible light barrier.

Despite being only a first-level knight, and his identity as the younger brother of the store manager might lead some to subconsciously doubt his abilities, none of the formidable warriors around him doubted him at that moment.

His actions in the Black Forest during this time have proven his capabilities to everyone.

He is indeed a knight of average talent, far behind those true geniuses in the progress of the knight profession.

Thus, he has leveraged his strengths, forging a unique path as a beast companion handler to maximize his potential.

This new, uncharted territory, with no prior experience, works to Silem's advantage.

With enough effort, he can stay ahead of the rest.

On the front line of the Black Forest, two weeks ago, a level 13 beast appeared to notice the unusual disappearance rate of beasts in this direction. This phenomenon alerted the highly intelligent beast, and it prepared to charge at the outermost barrier of the hunting area.

At that time, the entire light barrier was on the verge of collapse. Although there were indeed formidable warriors stationed at the distant church fortress, they couldn't arrive here in time.

If they had waited for them to arrive, the beast might have already entered the hunting area and wreaked havoc.

In this critical situation, it was Silem who, alone with Er Bao, rushed out of the light barrier to lure away the beast. After a night-long battle, he successfully killed the level 13 beast—"Baron Shadow"—outside the hunting area.

This feat earned the respect of everyone on the Black Forest front lines for this seemingly ordinary young man.

Silem looked towards the dark and deep Black Forest beyond the light barrier with a determined gaze, and with a strong flick of the reins in his hand, he commanded, "Let's go, White Night!"