Chapter 208: Territory Built by Captives (2)
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Clap Clap Clap-”
Applause sounded from behind, accompanied by a voice that haunted him.
“Bravo! A faithful servant indeed! Bravo!”
At this moment, Willow finally noticed Ji Chen, who was walking behind him and was stunned.
Looking at Ga.s.sani, then at Ji Chen, he suddenly reacted as if he had lost all hope and said with a mournful face, “Will you believe me if I were to tell you I was only joking just now?”
Ji Chen showed a gentle smile, instructed the foreman who was standing nearby, and pointed at Willow. “Lower his food rations by one level this week and make him responsible for carrying the miners’ excrement in the future.” “No!!!”
Willow’s miserable cry echoed in the sky.
This time, the Hanseatic Chamber of Commerce came with a powerful and confident attack, but it crumbled in just a few hours, with a large number of sailors and guards becoming captives of the Crown of the Ocean.
However, the number of captives this time far exceeded any previous occasion.
After tallying the battle casualties and the missing individuals, the Hanseatic Chamber of Commerce’s fleet had over 5,000 people captured as prisoners.
Most of them were guards and armed sailors, accounting for about 80%, while the remaining 20% included various crew members such as craftsmen, chefs, maids, and slaves.
Handling such a large number of captives took nearly half a day, even if they were escorted off the ships.
Those with skills would be a.s.signed to work within the territory after being verified as harmless.
As for those who only knew how to fight, the guards and sailors, they would be allocated to various resource points and places that required labor to do heavy physical work such as mining and logging, freeing up the residents of the Crown of the Ocean.
They contributed to the development of the Crown of the Ocean until they shed their last drop of blood and tears.
Furthermore, Ji Chen noticed something peculiar.
If the Kobolds from the beginning were counted as captives, then from that point onwards until now, the Crown of the Ocean had taken more than 6,000 captives.
This number was even greater than the number of formal residents, almost twice as many.
This led to an extremely abnormal population structure.
It could be said that the prosperity and development of the Crown of the Ocean were at least half built on the backs of these captives.
Now, with this wave of new captives, the population of the Crown of the Ocean was approaching the ten thousand mark. The previously neglected issue of food supply was now prominently highlighted.
Inside the Lord Manor.
Ji Chen sat at the head, while Wikis was reporting the situation of the territory.
“Lord, with so many new captives suddenly joining, it will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the food reserves of the territory! The Sea Rice won’t be mature for a while, and the food consumption rate is too fast.”
Wilus looked a bit worried. As the internal affairs officer of the Crown of the Ocean, he had a natural sensitivity to food issues.
Not to mention a few thousand captives, even a few thousand fish could eat a lot.
The food in the warehouse was flowing out like water.
Thinking of this, Wilus felt some resentment towards the half-orcs, who had only arrived here a few days ago. Those big guys could eat more in one meal than five humans combined.
The current rate of food consumption was a bit lower than expected.
“How long can the current food reserves in the territory support us?”
“We found quite a bit on the Hanseatic Chamber of Commerce’s ships, but at this consumption rate, it probably won’t last more than half a month.” Half a month?
Ji Chen stroked his chin. This quant.i.ty indeed seemed a bit insufficient.
For a territory with nearly ten thousand people, the food reserves should last for at least three months to be considered relatively secure.
“This is indeed a concern.” Looking at the worried and hardworking Wilus before him, Lord Ji Chen felt a sense of comfort. He then smiled and said, “However, there’s no need to worry too much. I have already found a solution.” “Found a solution!?” Wilus’ eyes lit up with excitement as he saw Ji Chen placing several glowing mushrooms on the table.
Slightly puzzled, he asked, “Is this the solution?”
“Yes, these are called Fluorescent Mushrooms. Despite their small size, an ordinary person only needs to eat two or three of them to be fully satiated for a day.”
Upon hearing this, Wilus looked dubious but, after getting Ji Chen’s permission, he picked up one and ate it. As he chewed and swallowed, a feeling of fullness surged within him.
“It’s truly miraculous!?” Wilus exclaimed with immense surprise as he gazed at the Fluorescent Mushrooms on the table as if he were beholding a priceless treasure.
Although the taste was quite dry and peculiar, it couldn’t hide the tremendous effect they had.
Moreover, he realized that these mushrooms could be specifically given to the captives, saving a considerable amount of regular food.
“These miraculous mushrooms, where did you obtain them, Lord?”
“Fluorescent Mushrooms are produced in the underground Lizardman Kingdom.”
“The underground Lizardman Kingdom…” Wilus murmured to himself.
He heard about this place in recent days. It was a deeper and broader underground s.p.a.ce beneath the Koboid caves.
However, that was not his main concern at the moment. What he was most interested in now was the production volume of these mushrooms.
As if guessing what he was thinking, Ji Chen quickly continued, “These Fluorescent Mushrooms can only grow underground. As long as there is enough soil and powder from glowing plants, they can grow rapidly. The time from planting to maturity is almost the same as that of Sea Rice.”
Wilus’ eyes widened, filled with excitement. If they could be cultivated on a large scale, not only could they feed ten thousand people, but even a hundred thousand!
“In the coming days, we will transport a batch of Fluorescent Mushrooms from the underground Lizardman Kingdom to alleviate the current food problem. Make sure to have someone ready to receive them.”
“After 1 conquer and unify the entire underground Lizardman Kingdom, I will make the Lizardmen put all their efforts into cultivating the Fluorescent Mushrooms, ensuring a continuous harvest.”
“In addition, once the stock of Fluorescent Mushrooms is abundant, it will become one of the flagship products for external trade of the Crown of the Ocean.”
After sending Wilus to handle affairs, Ji Chen began contemplating the Hanseatic Chamber of Commerce. Through interrogations, he learned that the Hanseatic Chamber of Commerce had deployed three-fifths of its forces for this attack, comprising their elite troops.
This force, unless it encountered fleets from large powers like kingdoms and nations, was almost invincible in the Western Ocean.
However, under Ji Chen’s formidable resistance, the outcome was far from pleasant. Their warships were either captured or sunk, most of their personnel became captives, and several key members of the Chamber ended up as prisoners, condemned to a lifetime of imprisonment.
The losses were indeed devastating.
However, the remaining two-fifths of the Hanseatic Chamber’s forces still const.i.tuted a formidable strength.
According to Ga.s.sani, the control over this remaining force was in the hands of several other members, and their alignment was similar to Raymond’s thoughts or still undecided.
Regardless, the enormous losses they suffered this time should be enough to wake them up completely and deter them from any thoughts of meddling in the New Moon Islands.
If they were wise enough, they would realize that the Crown of the Ocean was a territory they couldn’t afford to provoke.
However, if they remained stubborn, Ji Chen wouldn’t mind leading troops to the Western Continent after resolving other matters and dealing with them directly, making them disappear completely from this world.
With the Hanseatic Chamber of Commerce matter settled, three days later, Ji Chen led his army once again through the pa.s.sageway and arrived at the underground Lizardman Kingdom, Dork Kingdom. He started to handle the ongoing war affairs with the other three Lizardman Kingdoms.
At this time, the border between Dork Kingdom and the other three kingdoms saw an increasingly intense warfare, with more frequent frictions between the two sides.
Yet, despite the escalating hostilities, the other three Lizardman Kingdoms couldn’t figure out why Dork Kingdom had taken the initiative to wage war against them.
Moreover, it was a one-against-three battle in the ocean.
Did the Lizardmen in Dork Kingdom lose their minds?
Little did they know that the Lizardman elders in Dork Kingdom were also wearing bitter and helpless expressions..