Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 104 Electricity Laying and Slaves Entering
"The vast desert has cattle and horses, but we, the people, are not even as good as cattle and horses!"

This is a jingle made up by those in the territory who envied the treatment of "Liu Zaiyue" and "Ma Baoguo" after they were given names.

Chen Mo thought about it for a long time, but still couldn't determine whether it was a veiled reference to himself.

However, reality had already kept him extremely busy, so he couldn't worry about anything else.

Building a territory is an extremely troublesome matter. It's not like a management and construction game where you just collect gold or crystal ores and use them up, and everything will run automatically and orderly.

Here, there are hundreds of basic supplies that need to be purchased and allocated, and thousands of miscellaneous tasks that need to be handled. Missing any one of them could trigger a chain of disasters.

At this time, Helan finally demonstrated the value of a high-end professional steward in the construction sector. The middle-aged governor, like a sophisticated instrument, handled the myriad of affairs in a relatively reasonable manner.

Under his guidance, Chen Mo was able to extricate himself from the quagmire of the lord's camp and, in his spare time from cultivation, personally led a centaur military engineering force.

The elite centaur team led by Kaga and Ma Baoguo is now proficient in laying foundations, securing solar panels, connecting wires with pliers, testing circuits with meters, and installing energy storage modules, among other tasks.

The most skilled among them had already learned, without any instruction, to bite the insulation layer of the wire with their molars, pull and swing their heads, and the wire sheath would peel off, revealing a shiny metal wire of a suitable length, which they could then accurately insert into the connector hole.

This primitive yet efficient wire stripping technique is particularly useful in today's world where professional tools are in short supply.

Not far away, another group of centaurs, belonging to the second-line reserve, were wielding pickaxes, digging deep trenches in the dry earth.

Wearing simple masks, the underage centaurs cleared away the loose sand and removed the rubble, while the adult centaurs worked together to push the coiled wire, which resembled a giant python coiling, along the trench.

The ultimate goal is to connect to a small substation located in the main urban area.

Currently
This is a preliminary step in the great development of HanHai!

The vast majority of Dongxia's technology relied heavily on energy.

With electricity, the seawater purification facilities can function and provide a stable supply of fresh water to the territory. Otherwise, the limited fresh water resources around the territory will hardly be enough to sustain the lives of the thousands of slaves who will be arriving soon.

Electricity is essential for the rapid replenishment of food supplies.

The seawater rice variety specially selected by Dongxia, also known as salt-tolerant rice, can yield more than 800 kilograms per mu and takes five months to mature under normal conditions.

However, when paired with a complete set of lightweight film greenhouses supplied by Dongxia Agricultural Technology, harvesting can be completed in as little as 75 days, and up to five harvests can be carried out per year.

If energy and fertilizer supplies are adequate, the territory is expected to achieve a positive food cycle and gradually become self-sufficient in just over two months.

Maintaining the greenhouse environment relies on electrical equipment.

There are also planned territorial full-coverage radar systems, mineral and oil exploration systems, electric-driven small engineering vehicle systems, and currently, what Dongxia regards as its number one project, a fully autonomous intelligent robot system for construction, testing, maintenance, and combat.

Which one doesn't require a lot of electricity?

With a basic power supply, it is possible to further develop thermal power and wind power equipment, build small-scale industries, cultivate basic processing and production capabilities, and achieve localized production of a large number of basic components, thereby further snowballing the industry.

This is precisely why Dongxia, despite its enormous technological investment and manufacturing costs, provides a complete set of laboratory-grade T0 products, and why Chen Mo has devoted almost all of his transportation capacity to accumulating power generation and energy storage equipment in batches.

To this end, Dongxia even created a set of general education videos using the common language of Qiyue, which has now become an evening tutoring course for young people among the centaurs and sand people.

Well, after completing the simple test, those who passed received a late-night snack, and everyone was very enthusiastic.

Just as the construction of the territory was in full swing, the first batch of slaves from the north finally arrived at the border, stumbling through the endless yellow sand.

Surprisingly, the Seven Luminaries Garland Merchant Guild, which had previously claimed that it would not provide escort services, not only dispatched a well-equipped guard team this time, but also sent its deputy deacon, Oren, from the Northern Trading Company, to the Han Hai Territory once again.

For Oren, although the battle process was strictly kept secret from the outside world, knowing the result was enough to make people gasp.

Six hundred goblins, over seventy large goblins, nine ogres, and a human veteran leading the way, with dwarves providing excellent weapons, ample camel packs, and supplies—such a force was enough to shake a medium-sized city in a legitimate territory.

What does Han Hai have?
In Oren's view, only those few slave soldiers were people the lord could trust; everyone else was just drifting sand, easily blown away by the wind.

At most, there's also a somewhat mysterious first-tier archmage.

The disparity in strength was too great for the two sides to compare. Even though Void Chanting Tang Si was still at the peak of the fifth rank, just fighting those tough, resistant ogres would exhaust the old man half to death.

Therefore, after receiving the deposit from the Vast Ocean Territory, Oren never even considered sending slaves.

Until the desert people of the northern desert sent a message: "Hey, Steward Ou, all the guides we sent out have disappeared. You Seven Luminaries Wreaths will have to bear the loss!"
We, the people of Shamin, don't do the dirty work of bandits; it was you who connected us!
Oren was completely stunned.

Having reached the level of deputy deacon in the Merchant Guild, Oren was certainly no novice. He knew very well what it meant for the desert guides to be wiped out in one fell swoop.

It is no exaggeration to say that the people of the desert are born for the desert. If only one person from a team in the desert can escape, it will definitely be a member of the desert tribe.

Oren immediately consulted the chief steward of the Northern Trading Post of the Seven Luminaries Garland, and overnight he mobilized a batch of slaves of good quality from the slave market, personally leading the escort to deliver them to the Han Hai Territory.

He was greeted by Steward Helan again—now Helan is in power.

It had only been a little over a month since I last saw her, and Helan looked a bit thinner, with faint dark circles under her eyes, but her eyes were surprisingly bright, as if flames were burning within them.

An indescribable, high-spirited energy emanated from his slightly tired body, and he exuded an irrepressible sense of vigor.

Oren also sensed a significant difference in the way they were received.

Last time, Helan was impeccably dressed, every fold and the position of every ornament precise as if measured with a ruler. Given his status as a merchant steward and the fact that he needed a favor, Helan was humble and polite towards Oren, his smile perfectly timed, and he always bowed slightly when speaking, giving Oren a sense of superiority.

Very respectful, but not overly humble.

At this moment, Helan was still wearing the same plain scholar's robe. The folds at the hem showed that it had not been ironed and looked slightly messy. There was a small dust on the sleeve, and all the accessories were completely gone.

Compared to last time, it's like comparing heaven and earth between a male and a female peacock.

After exchanging greetings, Mr. Oren jokingly remarked, "It's clear that the desert days are tough; even Mr. Helan's elegant demeanor has worn off somewhat."

Helan laughed heartily.

“My lord is not one to fuss over details. The steward saw it last time. We servants have been with the lord for a long time, so we naturally have to adapt to his habits.”

"As a subject, I have gained some understanding from Your Majesty's teachings. I will use the time I spend on etiquette to do more practical things, which is to share the burden of the lord and fulfill my responsibilities to the territory."

"Steward, you've come a long way and must be tired. Please rest first. I'll go check on these slaves."

Seeing the other party's travel-worn and hurried appearance, Oren narrowed his eyes slightly.

It seems that my future interactions with Han Hai Ling will be quite interesting.

Just over ten minutes later, Oren overturned his idea again. This was no longer just fun, but extremely exciting.

He saw the outline of a giant city.

Indeed, although the Hanhai City in the Hanhai Territory is not even in its infancy yet, with only some flags planted and goblin slaves working in twos and threes to cover the ground and barely outlining the shape of some buildings.

But Oren could tell at a glance that the structure he had erected was definitely a giant city.

The trade official beside him had also traveled extensively and, after careful observation, gave a definite answer: "It's no smaller than White Mist City!"

White Mist City is a major town in the southern part of the Mist Moon Divine Court. It is a large city with a length and width of more than ten kilometers. No less than 600,000 people live in that city alone, which exceeds most viscount territories and is comparable to some geographically remote earl territories.

"Is this guy crazy...?"

Oren thought for a long time, but he really couldn't figure out the meaning of such a giant city's existence.

Whether it's population, food, drinking water, or daily necessities, they all have to be transported from outside the desert over long distances, which seems impossible by any measure.

Let alone hundreds of thousands of people, even just the few thousand slaves we have now would be a struggle to support.

"However, the larger the scale of this place, the more slaves and supplies we will need to purchase. What harm is there for us? Haha!"

As expected, Helan rushed over after finishing counting the slaves, and accepted another batch of slave orders on behalf of Hanhai.

Meanwhile, the purchase list included more than a dozen pieces of parchment, ranging from clothing, hats, shoes, and socks to bedding, from heating stoves to cooking utensils, from digging tools to carrying baskets, from various camel-like animals to hygiene medicines.

In short, bring me living and production supplies for the number of people you bring next time.

When faced with such a big deal, Oren naturally acted quickly. After his offer to buy back the cannibals was rejected, the merchant steward immediately returned by carriage to prepare for the next transaction.

Before leaving, Oren looked back one last time at the professional butler who used to walk with a steady gait but now moved with lightning speed.

"What a remarkable lord! He can even change the ingrained habits of this seasoned butler!"

"That's because you were born in a good era, Lord Steward, and you saw little war!" The trade official beside him, who was older and more experienced, explained in a low voice, "I think this Vast Ocean Territory is very much like the style of the first generation of pioneering knights!"

"Oh, what do you say?"

"Most of the elaborate and sophisticated aristocratic etiquette these days is something that the second and third generation of patriarchs and young masters came up with. Things like judging a person's appearance by the wine they drink, wearing badges and collar buttons, scarves made of golden spider silk from the south, and boots made of short-legged cashmere from the north..."

"That's right, that's exactly the taste!" Oren clapped his hands loudly. "I don't know why 90% of the luxury goods in my business are so expensive, but they just keep raising the prices higher and higher!"

The old trade official stroked his beard: "That's right, it has to be made more complicated and the threshold higher so that newcomers can't reach it. Otherwise, how can they appear to be of noble status and different from others?"

"The first generation of pioneering knights were different!"

"Those first-generation pioneer knights who fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood were either fighting or preparing for war. They didn't have time to talk about etiquette."

"Therefore, there is a saying among the people: the first generation wields a sword, the second generation wears a robe, the third generation listens to operas, and the fourth generation plays with birds!"

"Eight or ten generations, as long as they're alive, that's good enough!"

　Whether it's three chapters or two chapters depends mainly on the author's feeling that this chapter should end here.

　　Actually, the word count is about the same.

　　However, many readers clearly showed drastically different reactions to "changing one's mind frequently" and "changing one's mind frequently."

　　The ancients never deceived me!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)