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

Chapter 799 Follow-up Plan
However, Roland ultimately kept quiet. Although the Fire Seed Project made Roland begin to doubt what the system really was, the most important thing at this moment was not to trace the origin of the system, but to reap the rewards after the battle!

Imperial Calendar, Third Era 2950! Emperor Roland led an army of over ten thousand to a decisive battle against the Dark Alliance in the old capital, Lagrange! In this battle, the Dark Alliance suffered a complete annihilation, except for the Nazgir who survived. Twelve of those of rank six or higher perished! The Eastern Chariot People were thus crippled and unable to launch another westward expedition against Lagrange…

However, Roland reaped a great harvest this time! His honor points increased by 10 points! Combined with his original honor points, he now has a total of 25 points! If he were to use that to buy things, he could at least get some good stuff!
So Roland readily opened the shop, and the items refreshed today were only average, not as amazing as the Ancient Tree of War from before.

"Your Majesty, I have a question. What do you plan to do with Lagrange City and Swiftstream City now?" Duke Joelster interrupted Roland's gold-digging spree in the system shop.

"Huh? Is there a problem?" Roland didn't react for a moment.

"The Empire... no, the Kingdom's current focus is on the Swiftstream City line, but judging from your words, you definitely intend to make Lagrange City the capital. Given the Empire's current state, the area around Lagrange City is certainly not suitable for habitation!" Joelsteria initially paid attention to his wording but eventually let loose completely. Anyway, everyone was aiming to revive the Empire, so there was no point in being secretive.

“Yes, the capital still needs to be expanded. The current structure of this city is, in the past, just the inner city of the imperial city… It’s not even big enough for the imperial palace. We can’t expect the people to come and build houses along the city walls and then move them out, can we?” Adolf Heinrich nodded in agreement. Lagrange definitely needs to be expanded now. At least the imperial city should be built according to the scale of the imperial palaces of the past before the people can be moved to build the city. Otherwise, the constant relocation and demolition will be a waste of manpower and resources.

"The construction of the imperial city will probably take some time, so it seems that people can forget about moving into Lagrange City for now," Roland said with a wry smile. Given the kingdom's current construction efficiency, unless someone is possessed by an infrastructure maniac, Roland is in for a tough time.

"Let's defend Lagrange first. This land is a military vacuum for the kingdom! We can't drag the people here to suffer!" Roland set the tone. Before Lagrange was established, the people couldn't expect to return to the capital.

"How about we bring the Ancient Tree of War over here?" Verway, the brilliant strategist, thought for a moment.

"Don't your people live like this anymore?" Roland's lips twitched. Good heavens, the grassland elves are truly blessed to have a chieftain like you! The grassland elves and the Kingdom of Lagrang had just enjoyed a few good days, finally escaping the harsh, scorching life of eating raw meat and drinking blood. But Verway's words almost made the grassland elves regress.

"Uh...isn't the War Tree good at defense?" Verway said somewhat awkwardly, he really couldn't recall any tribesmen who had settled around the War Tree.

“Let’s wait until Lagrange City is built before relocating the people. It’s too cruel for you grassland elves to come all alone.” Roland couldn’t help but chuckle. Originally, the grassland elves could at least trade with Swiftstream City and the surrounding villages and towns. But now, all you can see is endless wasteland and not a single person.

“But now we are isolated and stranded here, and it’s not a good thing for this army of 10,000 to stay here!” Roland said with some distress as he spread out the map. To be honest, he really didn’t want to bring the troops back after he brought them here, but it was also unrealistic to leave an isolated army to guard the enclave.

"I'll ask Swiftstream City how far they've extended the Swiftstream Avenue!" Adolf Heinrich said to Roland after a moment's thought. As the lifeline of the land along the Swiftstream, the Imperial Avenue was once a vital passage connecting the twelve cities on the north bank of the Swiftstream. This road determined when Lagrange City could connect with the kingdom's most important regions. "Alright, go ahead and ask. If all else fails, focus on repairing Imperial Pingnan City first," Roland said to Adolf Heinrich.

Pingnan City, as the central city of the Jiliu River, was originally the bridgehead for the empire to cross the river and pacify the area on the south bank of the Jiliu River. At the same time, it is also the connecting point between the upper and lower reaches of the Jiliu River. As an important town connecting the east, west and south of the empire, it has always played a key role among the twelve cities of Jiliu!
"Xiupingnan? Is the kingdom's current size sufficient?" Duke Joelsteria posed a soul-searching question.

“We have to repair it even if it’s not enough! River transport is too dangerous. The kingdom’s warships can’t guarantee safety on the water. We can’t let the capital and the country lose contact, can we?” Roland said helplessly with a dark face.

Family members, does anyone understand?! There are even countries whose capitals are not within the territory, and what's worse, these capitals are constantly losing contact with the country.

"So, Your Majesty, why did you decide to retake Lagrange City in the first place? It was completely impoverished..." Duke Joelster's eyelids began to twitch. He thought his king was all set except for returning to the capital! But when he unfolded the map, where was the territory the kingdom currently controlled? Good heavens! A hundred and eight thousand miles away! A lone army traveling thousands of miles to retake the capital? Are you kidding me!

"If we don't accept it, it'll be even harder to fight later!" Could Roland really say it was for a system reward? Besides, he hadn't expected that the initial city would give him a palace! Roland was completely stumped!
"Alright, that's settled then... but I don't think I can be of much help." Duke Joelsteria shrugged.

"Huh!" Roland looked puzzled. What use are you if you can't help? Yun Feng was a beast of burden before you came, and is still a beast of burden after you came? Then you came for nothing.

"What can I do? Just stand there staring at this empty city?" Duke Joelster was amused by Roland's words. Roland simply shrugged – James, you can't cook without rice. Forget about magical industry, you don't even have any handicrafts. What? Does Joelster expect you to take the Swift Hand – the Vladivostok family – to make mud and bake bricks?
"Ahem, actually you're not staying here," Roland said, coughing twice under Joelster's surprised gaze.

"Me? Not staying here? Where am I, the chief regent, supposed to go?" Duke Joelster was almost driven mad by Roland. Where else could the chief regent go if he wasn't in the capital with the king handling state affairs?

"I plan to have you lead a portion of the army back. Compared to here, Swiftflow City needs your talents more. Yunfeng is tired from shouting all the time, and you can lighten his burden." Roland said truthfully. If it were an ordinary prime minister, he might feel that Roland was dividing his power, but Yunfeng certainly wouldn't think that way. He had already been given so much power by Roland that he was being treated like a beast of burden! He had long awaited the return of the Swiftflow Hand, and he wished he could resign on the spot.

"Is this appropriate?" Joelsteria was a little worried. After all, it was Yunfeng's territory, and for an outsider like himself to enter a place that had been painstakingly built up over the years and take the fruits of others' labor... To be honest, Joelsteria felt a little embarrassed.

"Perfect! Lord Yunfeng will definitely welcome you!" Roland nodded hurriedly. At his peak, the Swift Hand was only the Imperial Weightlifting King carrying half the country, while Yunfeng is now carrying the entire Lagrange Kingdom forward... I must say, Yunfeng, my friend, you are the true Imperial Weightlifting King!

“Then you…” Joelster looked at Roland with some hesitation, it was clear that Roland intended to stay.