Chapter 400: ntegration of the Refugees, Graveyard, Ghost Ship (2)
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
In addition, there was also a cemetery set aside nearby for burying ordinary residents.
As soon as this news circulated from the most authoritative place in the Crown of the Ocean, the Lord’s Castle, to the entire region.
All the residents couldn’t believe it.
Lord, the great one, wanted to set up a dedicated cemetery for the residents and the fallen warriors!?
Was this real?
When this news came out of the mouth of the Chief Minister, Wilus, all the residents and warriors were ecstatic.
Such a practice… they had never heard of it before.
According to the usual practices of the n.o.bles on the continent, ordinary residents who died could only be buried far away from the settlement, in a customary burial ground—most of which were ma.s.s graves with no fixed boundaries and no long-term protection, meaning that their graves could possibly be disturbed by wandering monsters, leaving their bodies exposed in the wilderness.
Those landowners or merchants with more substantial means could, at most, build a small cemetery in the wilderness and maintain it according to the prosperity of their families.
As for those fallen warriors, it was even more direct. If it was possible to retrieve their bodies, they would be taken back and sent to their respective homes. If they couldn’t be brought back, they would be directly cremated and their ashes scattered to the winds.
Only those native n.o.bles could renovate cemeteries within the precious city, occupying vast land, lavishly maintained, and with dedicated soldiers patrolling and guarding the graves.
Therefore, for the residents who had earlier become refugees, the biggest hope after death was not to be dug up, with no expectation of having a cemetery to bury themselves.
So when this news came out, most people’s first reaction was disbelief.
It wasn’t until someone took the time to visit the cemetery location.
“Our Lord’s words are true; someone has already started building walls there!”
“That’s right, my friend from the mine was rea.s.signed to build the cemetery; this can’t be faked.”
“Longlive the Lord!!”
Even those foreign warriors were quite excited.
Especially the lizardmen, they almost knelt down to thank the Lord for his grace.
Due to the unique terrain of the underground lizardmen world, most of the underground was composed of rocks and magma, and soil, which was limited, was primarily used for cultivating various crops. After death, most lizardmen were simply thrown into the magma river, which was time-saving and effortless.
Therefore, anyone who could be buried in the soil had to make significant contributions to the lizardmen.
Lord, the great one, saying that they could be buried in the soil after death, didn’t that mean their actions had been acknowledged?
That was unexpected.
Whether it was human residents or the residents and warriors of other races, their sense of belonging and identification with the Crown of the Ocean was slowly increasing.
This was precisely the effect he wanted to achieve.
“Ding- Due to your policies and actions, the populace’s approval has increased by 4 points, and the current approval rating is 91 points.”
“With the populace’s approval rating exceeding 91 points, the efficiency of the citizens has greatly improved, the speed of learning has increased, and the probability of hero production has risen.”
When the system prompt came, Ji Chen smiled after a moment of astonishment.
Well, the approval rating had finally reached over 90.
Previously, no matter how he renovated luxurious houses or provided delicious food, the approval rating always hovered between 87 to 89, making him believe that it was impossible for the approval rating to reach 90 points or higher.
But now it seemed that it wasn’t unattainable; it just required a special approach.
The benefits of increasing approval were also quite significant, not only did it greatly improve work efficiency, but it also accelerated the speed of learning.
The former was beneficial for the reconstruction efforts, while the latter had a significant impact on the ongoing “Crown of the Ocean Resident Technology Learning Program”. It could be described as a timely boon.
And the most outstanding effect was the increased probability of producing heroes, which was quite exciting.
Heroes, well, one could never have too many of them. Combat heroes, lifestyle heroes, and administrative heroes, especially the latter two, were scarce in the Crown of the Ocean.
If they could cultivate heroes who knew how to brew like Leysha or heroes who could forge like Thotmudo, it would be a huge gain.
Heroes were meant to be superior to ordinary people, possessing extraordinary talents and abilities.
Another day pa.s.sed.
Just as Ji Chen was considering leading troops into battle, news arrived of Benbo’s return.
Upon receiving the news, he immediately changed into his attire and went to the port. At first glance, he saw Benbo and the Dragon Blood Murlocs, all of them covered in wounds, some more severe than others.
Benbo’s injuries were particularly serious, and the neatly arranged scales on his body looked like they had been cut by dozens of steel knives, broken in various places, exposing the flesh underneath. His trident was also broken in half.
Clearly, they had encountered a fierce attack from the enemy. Although many were seriously injured, fortunately, there were no casualties.
“Lord, I…”
Benbo limped forward, holding his trident, his face filled with anxiety.
The Lord had ordered him to lead a group of Dragon Blood Murlocs to investigate the Mystic Realm Gate, a task that should have taken five days, but it had almost taken ten days. This made him feel somewhat anxious.
Ji Chen waved his hand and interrupted him.
“Let’s not talk about that for now. First, drink this potion to recover. Your safety is the most important.”
A hint of grat.i.tude flickered in Benbo’s eyes as he nodded gently.
He took the healing potion handed to him by Irona and drank it all. His complexion improved noticeably, and his breath was no longer as weak.
Seeing this, Ji Chen allowed him to start recounting what happened on the way back.
“At that time, I followed your orders to go to the Mystic Realm Gate for investigation. We arrived at the location very smoothly…
There was indeed a Mystic Realm Gate there, and the types and numbers of monsters outside the gate were roughly as you described. We observed from a distance, confirmed it without any mistakes, and then silently left without alerting them.”
“Then how did you end up like this? Did you encounter powerful enemies on the way back?” Ji Chen furrowed his brow and asked.
Although Benbo was not among the most outstanding heroes, it was only relative to top-tier heroes like Alice, Anina, and Verena.
His Purple-Rare Tier strength, combined with the hundreds of Dragon Blood Murlocs who shared a strong bond with him, made for formidable combat power.
Furthermore, if they couldn’t win, they could always rely on their powerful mobility and speed to escape, couldn’t they?
Benbo smiled wryly and said, “We did encounter enemies, but the enemies were quite peculiar…”
“Peculiar?”
“Yes, it was an extremely strange ship.”
Ji Chen’s expression changed slightly, and a hint of interest appeared in his eyes. “Continue.”
“Yes, after investigating the Mystic Realm Gate, we immediately set off to return. However, not long after, a dense fog appeared at sea, and within the fog, a very dilapidated wooden warship suddenly appeared.
At first, we thought it might be a pirate ship or something similar, and because we were in a hurry to return, we didn’t pay it much attention. Instead, we continued on our way. But what was strange was that this ship seemed to be tracking us. No matter how we changed course or submerged into the sea, we couldn’t shake it off…
Considering that we couldn’t bring back such an unidentified ship, my subordinates made the decision to deal with it before continuing our return…
But when we boarded the ship, we found that there were no living creatures on board… Just as we were thinking of leaving, a large group of translucent soldiers suddenly appeared, wielding similarly translucent weapons and attacking us. However, our counterattacks simply pa.s.sed through them, causing no harm…
In desperation, my subordinates could only escape with our people. Fortunately, this time, we dived deep into the sea, and after resurfacing, the ship did not follow us…”
Ji Chen’s brow furrowed deeply.
This sounded so much like a maritime legend from Earth, a ghost ship!
Could there be something similar in this world?
But upon further thought, this was a fantasy world, and the existence of strange and supernatural things shouldn’t be surprising at all.
The problem was, why had this ghost ship targeted his heroes?