The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 400 Imperial Outpost
"Add some sauce!" Roland scooped in a spoonful of sauce, and as the brown sauce dissolved, a rich aroma began to waft through the air.

"Thump thump!" Roland threw in the dried meat cut into strips, then, as if remembering something, added a dozen or so carrots, sliced ​​and cooked them all at once.

With the cooperation of Roland and his ministers, they finally managed to finish this rare meal amidst the smoke and flames.

"Come on, everyone get a share!" Roland waved his ladle like a head cook, giving everyone a full bowl before getting one for himself.

Aside from being a little bland, it was perfect. Soaking the bread until it was soft gave it a unique flavor, which really appealed to Roland, who was used to eating weird food and dry bread. He finished it off in no time.

After eating and drinking his fill, Roland couldn't help but give himself a thumbs up: "Looks like I do have some talent for cooking!"

Lavian, standing to the side, was sweating bullets! Luckily, there's something good called sauce, otherwise, you might have made everyone eat boiled cabbage today... Is this your skill? Even the lousy cook in Swiftstream City who cooks like feeding pigs is better than you!

However, Lavian didn't make a fuss. After all, he was His Majesty the King; blindly agreeing was the right thing to do! Whatever he said was right! Every word he uttered was correct!

……

"Your Highness!" Marcus bowed with his hand on his chest. He was quite surprised when he saw Roland's royal banner. After all, a king wouldn't usually go to such a remote town if he had nothing better to do. Even if Stream City was a poor place, its conditions were still far superior to those of Delwin, a newly developed town.

"How many people are here now?" Roland asked curiously, after all, this tiny town was actually more lively than Swiftstream City! Vendors carrying goods on shoulder poles had already appeared on the streets! You have to understand that Swiftstream City's commercial economy hasn't developed yet, and the only place for entertainment in the city is the tavern, and even that has a purchase limit!
“Your Highness, there are currently 854 residents here!” Marcus introduced.

"Well done, Baron Marcus!" Roland patted him on the shoulder. It was a bit of a waste to have him here. After all, it was a waste to have Marcus, whose defense command was as solid as an impregnable wall, guarding a small town.

"Pack your things and get ready to go back to Swiftstream City! I feel more at ease having you take on the role of city defense officer for Swiftstream City." Roland nodded. Lance had the ability to govern, and he could be sent here to gain some experience. Roland quickly made up his mind.

“Yes, Your Highness! Do you intend to bring Baron Lance here?” Marcus couldn’t help but ask.

"Of course, we can't possibly let Yun Feng come!" Roland grinned. If Yun Feng really came here, he would probably cry with gratitude for Roland's mercy, finally understanding how to nurture leeks instead of constantly harvesting them from him.

"Hehehe!" Marcus chuckled. He and Lance had a good relationship, and he was overjoyed to hear that Lance wanted to replace him! His inner thoughts were probably a mix of fear that his brother would suffer, and also fear that his brother would drive a Land Rover.

"He got off easy! The conditions here are much better than when I first arrived!" Marcus looked at Lance with such a smug expression that Roland's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, "This kid is pretty cunning!"
“He really will thank you…” Lavian was speechless. With a friend like that, your friend would really thank you… Lavian thought of Hollin, who was still learning from Caslo, and thought to himself that his own friend would not do that.

After spending the night there, Roland said goodbye to Marcus and told him that Lance would come to take over in a few days and to wait patiently.

As for why Roland left in such a hurry? Well, it's because he finished his daily check-in today!
Roland still remembers the system's message from that morning: "Congratulations, host, you have successfully checked in and received an Imperial Outpost*1."

Roland, who was initially unimpressed, didn't think much of this thing and assumed it was just an ordinary outpost! Little did he expect that this outpost would be almost identical to his own castle! If his castle hadn't just been renovated, Roland probably would have torn it down and made this his own castle.

"Tsk tsk tsk! What kind of pigsty am I living in!" Roland couldn't help but fall into deep thought as he looked at the data from the Imperial outpost.

What Roland didn't know was that these Imperial outposts also had another name: the cradle of baronies! Most of the baronies in the entire empire radiated out from these Imperial outposts! Towns were then built around these outposts, forming the prototype of a baronie's domain! Finally, through the efforts of several generations, these standardized Imperial outposts were expanded into various baronie's castles, providing protection for the prosperity of a family…

Roland silently gazed at the Imperial Outpost floating on the system rewards page. Like the Lulong Fortress, this thing was sealed in an alchemical vessel, encased in a small bottle. Who would have thought that this single bottle contained something treasured by countless nobles? From the system's explanation, Roland understood that emperors or kings would bestow such Imperial Outposts upon their vassals when granting them the title of Frontier Baron. The barons would then travel to expand their new territories with the expansion order, the granting documents, and this outpost. (This situation applies to Frontier Barons.)

"Does that mean I can actually grant out a border baronship?" Roland grinned. Goodness, what baron lives better than the king? But to be fair, the forward outposts used for expansion by the Lagrange Empire are indeed quite impressive!

Imperial Outpost:

Within a radius of one hundred meters.

Made with high-grade magic-patterned stone bricks, it comes with a magic array that provides sturdiness, self-healing, shock absorption, and magic resistance!
It consists of four secondary castles and one main castle!
The secondary fortress has two levels, each ten meters high, with an arrow tower on the terrace of the second level.

The main fortress has five floors, is 25 meters high, and has complete storage, living, and troop garrison spaces! The entire outpost can garrison 500 soldiers!
In front of the main fortress, there is a courtyard that is 20 meters long and 20 meters wide, which can be used to gather troops. Soldiers in the courtyard can climb the 5-meter-high city wall to fight or enter the secondary fortress through the city wall to provide support at any time.

Roland would bet that if this thing were thrown into the wasteland, it could easily hold off an attack by a few thousand ragtag orcs with sufficient troops. If it were thrown into a strategic pass, it would be a devastating blow! Do you expect the orcs of the wasteland to attack such a heavily armed castle?
"Huh? I can just dump it at Old Pass!" Roland suddenly thought of a useful idea. Anyway, Old Pass would be taken sooner or later. Rather than letting Apophis Breo lead his men and risk everything to build it from scratch, it would be better to lay the foundation for him. From both a moral and legal standpoint, he could be considered to have done his best. After all, the country's conditions were what they were, and there wasn't much more they could give.

Roland kept this matter in mind, after all, it was still a long way off before the matter of Tanlao Pass came up!

I may be taking a break from updating tomorrow and the day after due to studying. Please bear with me.

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(End of this chapter)