Throne of the North.

Chapter 796 Crystal Squid Farming Plan

Mikragard, the raven ships no longer stray far from this sea, simply because further afield, the ice on the sea surface has thickened, allowing northern warhorses to gallop across it without collapsing.

Looking down, one can see countless marine creatures frozen inside. As for the crow ship, it is naturally not suitable for breaking ice.

The vast world is now reduced to a small sea area, which is the last celebration for the people of Mikragard, from which they harvest countless local delicacies.

However, no one can find any life suitable for grazing in the tundra, after all, this is the ocean, and the tundra cannot support these creatures.

The variant of the Crystal Squid requires the help of a magician; ordinary people are not yet qualified to touch it.

Ryan planned to sell these marine catches as soon as possible, since no matter how they were raised, these things wouldn't live for long, and the value of dried fish that died would be greatly reduced.

However, Ryan's idea did not gain the approval of the 'market'.

Many people in Mikragad, such as Freya, have asked him for a lake where they can cultivate the species they have chosen. It is clear that these people are very eager and confident to obtain their own aquaculture trade.

After thinking about it, Ryan agreed, not for any other reason than that he was currently unable to arrange livelihoods for all 200,000-plus people.

Letting them raise fish is not a bad idea, but they will definitely suffer in the initial period.

Farmers can survive by cultivating the land under the benevolent Lord Ryan, no matter what. But with fish farming, without farmland as a foundation for sustenance, these people have no choice but to spend money to buy food, which can be considered... a boost to the economy?
Based on this incident, when Ryan was gradually arranging for the people of Mikragard to leave this world and enter the Frozen Territory, he did not take away all their wealth. He left each person with a sum of money to ensure that they would not die from lack of food for several years.

Then there's the question of 'how to farm marine products on land'.

The benevolent Lord Ryan listened to the opinions of the professionals, Archmage McKen and Archmage Luna, the governors of the Frozen Territory, and the people of Mikragard themselves.

"The glacier in the Frozen Territory and the melted North Galland lake are impossible; that's the territory of the armored bears, and it's not suitable as a freshwater lake either."

After much deliberation, Freya, representing everyone, gritted her teeth and pleaded with Ryan to dig a lake for them.

“There are also fish in shallow water that can adapt to freshwater, and we brought some.”

As he spoke, he showed Ryan their target. Ryan glanced at it, then looked up and looked back at the Mikragard citizens.

"You've had this idea for a while now?"

These catches included not only fish, but also... turtles.

Ryan didn't understand why there would be turtles in this world, but Freya and the others found them. They said they found them in shallow waters. If the world wasn't an ocean, those places would most likely be mountain ranges.

"Can they really survive?"

Ryan pointed to the fish and asked, and finally Freya nodded through gritted teeth.

"Alright, I'll help you choose an address, but..."

Faced with this attitude, Freya immediately knelt on the ground and said:
“We are all your subjects, and everything we have belongs to you. If we succeed, 80% of our gains will be our way of repaying you.”

Ryan shook his head and said:
“It doesn’t need to be 80%. First, this lake belongs to me, and all the products in the lake must be traded and sold through the Northern Merchant Guild in a regulated manner.”

"Secondly, if we succeed, it won't just be me who will be involved, but other nobles as well. You won't be able to keep 20% of it, so if you want to expand this wealth, you'll have to find your own way."

"Third, no catastrophic situation is allowed."

"As for how to define disaster, I will make the decision, but if anything happens to you, you will be reduced to slavery."

Some retreated, while others remained steadfast. In the end, the matter was settled, and the location proposed by Ryan was outside Northwind City, at the border with Cold Mountain City County.

The reason for agreeing to this was that the construction of Northwind City, as well as the expansion of Cold Mountain City and Golden Wheat City, all required a large amount of stone and soil. Using local materials was inevitable, so it was not difficult to leave a large pit in a place by combining the two.

As for the cost of this, it's not a big deal. The war hasn't been over for very long, and there are still many orc slaves in the lands near the orcs. The human nobles can comfortably ignore their lives.

Ryan was also curious whether these clearly more intelligent and knowledgeable Mikragard citizens could bring him any surprises.

Currently, he divides the world's population in three directions.

The first one is naturally centered around Liv. Whether she wants to go to the Western Sea Empire Navy or whatever she wants to do, Ryan will give her a large number of subordinates to squander. As long as Liv herself doesn't get into trouble, Ryan can allow all kinds of terrible consequences.

Secondly, regarding the Northern Merchant Guild, many people who have already demonstrated their business acumen will join them or remain in prosperous lands like Zero Crossing to acquire more wealth for Ryan.

The third is commodity production. Any economic development cannot be separated from the most basic production. These people want to raise aquatic products, and Ryan is naturally happy to oblige.

The three directions are not completely separate; they all have intertwined aspects.

Anyway, Ryan won't give them land to farm; Nidhogg's million inhabitants are the real experts at farming.

That world is still an inexhaustible source of resources for Lion, but who knows when it will suddenly perish like Mikragard.

On the raven ship, the sea breeze was gone, replaced by the unique cold winds of the North.

The 'sun' in his eyes was no longer enormous, almost disappearing, and Ryan, this legendary old man without magical talent, could also sense that the magical factors in the void were no longer active.

"This world is about to fade into the dust of history."

Archmage McKen sighed, somewhat regretfully, that the world was too rich in magic, but he could not absorb all of its legacy.

"We have some new ideas about the crystal squid, and we have to thank the island's indigenous villagers for that."

"Their suggestion about lakes gave us some ideas."

"How about sending these crystal-shelled squid to Lake North Gar?"

"Not only that, in addition to the lakes, a section of the river also needs to be melted, such as the section from Lake North Galdan to Rhinoceros Horn Mountain. The frozen river will be melted to raise the crystal-shelled squid in it."

Will it affect the armored bear?

Ryan inquired, expressing his greater concern for the armored bear population, noting that the lake was now their habitat and food source.

"No, in fact... it can even be used as an extra meal for the armored bear."

Archmage McCann said this with a smile.

"The armored bear really likes to eat crystal squid, a specialty of this other world. However, the crystal squid's diet does not completely overlap with that of the armored bear. Furthermore, because the crystal squid is also a magical life form, it is cunning and fast in the water, making it difficult for the armored bear to catch it. If the area is suitable, then the two can achieve a balance."

"I asked those armored bear warriors, and they didn't think this new food would have a bad effect on the armored bears. Those armored bear warriors are much more open-minded than you. They think that as long as it's edible, nothing will happen after eating it."

"The only problem is, Ryan, you need to consider whether that river is sufficient."

The only river in the Frozen Territory was quite wide before it was frozen over in the North. A section of it lies at the foot of Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, its source deep in the forest. As for its end, Ryan hadn't had it thoroughly investigated; all that was known was that it bypassed the Kingdom of Andara and appeared in the northern mountains of the Gerald noble territory, possibly extending deep into the Elven Woodlands. Ignoring the distant parts, the nearby areas certainly belonged to Ryan.

Will they survive?

When Ryan asked this question, Archmage McKen couldn't give a definite answer and could only say to give it a try.

They didn't want to give up this unique magical creature.

As for melting that frozen river, it's both simple and difficult.

How did Ryan manage to melt the frozen North Garrison into the life-giving lake it is today?
It was the divine essence of Surtur at dusk, the warmth brought by the king of fire, that melted all the solid ice, turning it into a paradise for armored bears.

On the spiritual panel, the Twilight Divinity is indeed gone.

However, Ryan still has some substances that fell from Surtur. These substances fell from Surtur during the Nidhogg Wars, and Ryan sent people to retrieve them. To this day, apart from using them to warm the territory, no one knows what other use they have.

It shouldn't be a problem to use it to melt the river; the difficulty lies in getting Surtur's help.

That belongs to Him. What if we accidentally melt it all down in Rhinoceros Horn Mountain?
Therefore, Ryan's view on this matter is that it is best to obtain Surtur's divine essence through other means and then control it through the spiritual panel, rather than letting that great being handle such delicate work.

"Then let's keep them in the lake for now. The glaciers near Lake North Gar are not completely frozen. If there are enough crystal squid, they should burrow into the depths on their own."

"First, separate the crystal-shelled squid."

Ryan values ​​the Crystal Squid because of the obsidian and crystallization properties of this magical creature, making it more suitable as a strategic economic crop.

At a command, the crow ships gathered in this sea area began to mobilize urgently, searching out all the crystal squid from the tanks. There were quite a few of them, as they were the ones they had been focusing on capturing.

In the past, it wouldn't have been so easy. But now that the sea is frozen, the crystal squid are quite clever and instinctively try to escape to safety. As it turns out, the safest place is the human net.

The soldiers walked through the ship's cabins, shouting loudly.

"The lord has ordered that all the crystal-shelled squid be packed up separately and delivered to the place where the magicians are."

Ultimately, these goods still had to be transported by knights, but the knights were not assigned to the dirty and tiring work.

The indigenous people hurriedly took out the crystal-shelled squid, since this way they could store more of their own wealth.

"This crystal squid is huge? It looks like several of its legs are broken off, and the rest are broken into pieces. Its head is really big."

"It feels a bit slipperier than other crystal squid."

"Never mind, just put them all in."

A crippled octopus-shaped 'crystal squid' entered another box filled with sloshing seawater in the dark environment.

The moment they fell in, the surrounding crystal-shelled squids panicked and struggled, but soon they became confused, not knowing why they had reacted that way. They explored their surroundings and found that they were all their own kind. Soon after, the box became quiet.

The octopus, which had already been miniaturized several times, was also quietly hiding in the box, waiting to be transported.

He also felt helpless, as his power, almost all of his energy, had been annihilated in that 'sun', and had been completely dissolved in the last few days.

Moreover, this world is being eyed covetously by the great lords of the abyss. As soon as He opens His senses, He can feel the deepest parts of this world, with gaping maws waiting to devour it.

His current power is pitifully weak, and he is simply unable to break through the void, return to his original form, and bring back this part of [wisdom] and [knowledge].

But He was intelligent enough, and as a newly born great being, He did not have the lofty grandeur of other gods. He only wanted to accomplish His own purpose, the small goal of which was to survive in an environment surrounded by countless great beings.

To survive, wisdom is indispensable. In His view, the true self must have the power of wisdom, as well as the understanding of those great beings that knowledge brings.

To achieve their goals, they'll stop at nothing to stop using any means necessary.

And so, we have the image of Him now, packaged together with the Crystal Squid.

After a long time, He regained consciousness and sensed that the dark, enclosed space was moving.

He could understand human voices coming from outside. They seemed to be saying something about taking him somewhere, emptying the ship, and dismantling it.

Not long after, He sensed it!

The aura of a new world, and the very essence of it.

The octopus struggled instinctively, and the swaying seawater almost caused the wooden box to tip over.

"Kuger, what are you doing! You can't even grab a single box? It seems you've really neglected your training."

“Centurion, we don’t have any.”

"I think it's because the ship was rocking so much during that time that I felt like I couldn't walk anymore after I got back."

"If you keep making excuses, you'll never become a Golden Knight."

"Hurry up and get these crystal-shelled squid to Lake Northgard. They can't wait any longer. I heard that Lord Ryan plans to melt the ice on the river in order to feed these squid. In the future, we might have to take a detour or build a bridge to cross the river."

"Melt this river?"

Someone exclaimed in surprise, and then asked questions.

"We don't know where this river leads. We couldn't see its source when we patrolled the northern snowfields before, and we didn't know where it went."

"I've heard about it recently."

As squires of the Bucks, they held a high position within the Frozen Territory and naturally knew a great deal.

"Lord Ryan received information from the Mage's Association that this river... may lead directly to the east coast. Wasn't that mage Lyman from there? He said that the end of this river may connect to the ocean."

"The ocean, I never want to see that thing again."

“Master McCann said that if enough crystal-shelled squid survive, they will surely melt even longer rivers, and maybe then we will be able to reach the sea.”

Upon hearing this, the octopus inside the box fell silent.

Its 'eyes' looked around at its 'kind'.

(End of this chapter)