Chapter 565: A Country Within A Country, The Poison Of The Sea Heir
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Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Since gaining the ocean’s power, Ji Chen’s ability to sense things in specific directions had greatly improved. Right now, he sensed a dark, corrupted, and evil presence in the air, spreading and filling the surroundings.
While conversing with Julius and Monica about the Grand d.u.c.h.ess, this feeling grew even stronger.
This was the Lienhardt Court, not some den of monsters. It was the most heavily guarded place in the entire princ.i.p.ality, the center of power. How could there be such an ominous, corrupt, and even evil aura here?
Seeing that Julius and Monica seemed oblivious to it, Ji Chen thought for a moment and spoke up.
“Your Grace, I wonder about the condition of the Lady. How is she feeling now?”
Julius shook his head and replied. “Milorna has been ill for several days now. It’s quite strange, to be honest. Although it’s just a common cold, she looks completely drained, can’t even get out of bed, and she’s been talking nonsense.”
Milorna was the name of the Grand d.u.c.h.ess, and upon hearing this, Monica’s face also showed a worried expression. She initially thought it was just a minor cold, but now her mother couldn’t even get out of bed.
She immediately expressed her desire to go see her mother, but Julius stopped her, saying, “Your mother is resting now. You can visit her after she wakes up.”
Monica reluctantly nodded, suppressing her anxiety.
Listening to this, Ji Chen had a vague premonition. This pervasive sense of disdain, corruption, and evil might be related to the Grand d.u.c.h.ess.
However, it wasn’t the right time to confront it directly. Ji Chen took out several bottles of high-level life potions that had been prepared by his subordinate alchemist, Irona, from his backpack. “Your Grace Julius, these are high-level life potions concocted by my subordinate alchemist. They might be beneficial for the Lady’s condition.”
Life potions?
Julius didn’t place much hope in these life potions, but as the Grand Duke, he naturally possessed an abundance of such elixirs, which he had already given to Milorna.
However, these were Ji Chen’s heartfelt intentions, so he accepted them with a smile. “Thank you for your kind gesture.”
Ji Chen nodded and didn’t rush to resolve this matter immediately. It wouldn’t be appropriate to bring it up abruptly.
After a while of conversation with Julius, he took the initiative to bid farewell. Under the guidance of several maids, he left the Lienhardt Court and temporarily rested in an adjacent mansion.
The next day, Monica came to visit the mansion.
“Lord Ji Chen, my father has already decided on the land division. Considering that most of your troops are ocean-based and you are an ocean-type Lord, your territory will be located approximately eighty kilometers west of Feiguang City, on an island called Fish Tail Island.
There’s a village there with about five hundred people. The actual land area is about twenty square kilometers, and it’s located two to three kilometers from the mainland. Moreover, it’s near a busy shipping route, which is very conducive to trade development.
In addition, the waters within a radius of ten kilometers around Fish Tail Island are your private exclusive zone. Within this range, any resources belong to you, and no one else is allowed to enter or harvest resources without your permission, not even the Lienhardt Court.
Any commercial and economic activities that occur on this land do not require taxation, nor do they require partic.i.p.ation in the princ.i.p.ality’s wars or labor.”
Ji Chen’s eyes brightened.
Twenty square kilometers, isn’t that about one-fifth the size of the main island of the New Moon Islands?
In terms of actual land area, twenty square kilometers was already quite substantial. This wasn’t an isolated island in the open sea; it was land close to the mainland, with high economic value.
What pleased him even more was that the designated territory was an island not far from the mainland.
It allowed him to leverage his ident.i.ty as an ocean-type Lord while maintaining close ties with the mainland.
However, what surprised Ji Chen was that according to Monica’s words, this territory seemed to be like a country within a country. As long as he didn’t do anything detrimental to the interests of Lienhardt, he would be like a warlord there.
On the other hand, other players had territories within the territories of various nations.
Over the past few months, these players had already reached an understanding with the indigenous people. They had to regularly pay a certain amount of taxes and send a portion of their subjects for labor to maintain their right to exist in the country’s territory. Otherwise, they might be expelled by the indigenous people.
This was one of the differences between players who resided on indigenous land and those in desolate, uninhabited areas.
The former received some protection from the indigenous people, making them safer and enjoying richer resources. The latter had to rely entirely on themselves, with scarcer resources but no need to depend on others.
The fact that Julius was willing to give Ji Chen an entire country within a country was a testament to his enormous goodwill.
“I’m very satisfied. Thank the Grace for the generosity.”
Monica smiled playfully and blinked. “With Fish Tail Island, you can now directly transport Ocean Crown’s products to sell in the Lienhardt Princ.i.p.ality without going through customs. This saves quite a significant amount of taxes.”
Ji Chen couldn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Why did you just say it so directly? The taxes you’re helping me save belong to the Lienhardt.”
“The money belongs to the princ.i.p.ality’s finances and my father. It got nothing
to do with me..”