Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 255: Bauhinia Holy Flame Foundry and New Territory Specialties

The green dragon Irelia has had a very turbulent time recently. The war with the human Black Forest Lord is like opening Pandora's box.

Since the beginning of this war, there has never been peace in the forest. Due to its declining strength and prestige, wars and rebellions occur every day. Challenges from within and invasions from without make the war rage every day, with smoke rising everywhere and the whole forest seems to be crying.

The forest is always much more dangerous than the plains. There are too many evil monsters and unknown dangers hidden under the gloomy and twisted shade of the trees.

Before this, Ailiriya had no idea that there were so many evil forces lurking in the forest.

For example, the expansion of the Poisonblood Swamp. The plague cauldrons discarded by Nurgle believers polluted the water source, and the plants and creatures inside were distorted into a large number of plague monsters, rotten giant dogs, plague priests, and Nurglings, a wriggling group composed of hundreds of slimy little demons, which were wreaking havoc and spreading the plague everywhere.

Although the green dragon's minions won the war, they were also infected with the plague and died in large numbers around the poisonous blood swamp.

What gave Ailiriya even more headaches was the appearance of the lustful phantoms. The chaotic rifts that suddenly appeared spewed out large amounts of purple miasma. The plants in the area covered by the miasma mutated into carnivorous thorny vines, and the animals grew extra eyeballs and tentacles. Any creature that broke into this pink mist could not help but fall into all kinds of deadly pleasures.

While purifying the area, Alyria accidentally inhaled some of the poisonous mist. The powdery mist was filled with a sweet and fishy fragrance.

Since then, the skin under Ailiriya's dark green scales has been flushed, and every night the heat and excitement in her body often make her dragon claws dig deep into the rock.

The white mist she exhaled during her rapid breathing was tinged with a pink halo, and the soft scales on the inside of her legs expanded and contracted uncontrollably.

"This damn... chaos toxin..." Every night the green dragon cursed under his breath, but his voice could no longer be connected, and the tip of his tail always curled into a spiral against his will.

She clearly saw that the originally golden scales in the gap of her breastplate were now turning a luscious rose red.

Whenever the night wind blows across the area where the scales meet, it causes the body to tremble like an electric shock.

She once wondered if her strength had increased in the battle with the humans, allowing her to grow from a young dragon to an adult dragon. After all, although she was defeated in this battle, she had also experienced fierce fighting.

Otherwise it would be difficult to explain her physical reaction like that of a female beast in heat.

She desperately hoped that she could have a deep sleep to calm her hot body.

But the result was exactly the opposite of what she wanted. Two manic dragon apes broke into her dragon nest and almost tore off her wings and dragon neck while she was sleeping.

Without the giant elemental bear Ostanka guarding the gate for her, she could hardly even sleep peacefully.

And these two dragon apes are her biggest enemies, the beastman army from the Blood Pine Forest. The two brothers lead a huge group of roaring beasts and launch continuous invasions into her territory from the east.

Her angry roar shook the earth, but it could not reverse the situation at all.

Because her most powerful dragon language magic was always cut into pieces by the sweet gasps escaping from her throat, without this powerful magical ability, the green dragon's body, which was not good at close combat, could not defeat the two violent dragon apes at all.

If she continued to fight, she might even be brutally killed in the dragon's nest by these two primitive and savage monsters, like a gorilla tearing apart its prey.

Dealing with a series of crises has really weakened her strength and condition a lot.

This made her feel very unwilling. When she was in her prime, she could have crushed these two savage and stupid creatures with just dragon language magic.

Fortunately, when Commander Orstein's army was clearing the forest, he discovered the abnormality here and decisively provided assistance.

Although many knights in the territory have a blood feud with the green dragon and wish to eat its flesh alive, as believers in the god of tactics and strategy, they are well aware of the green dragon's current role as a barrier to the territory.

If there were no green dragon blocking the eastern side of the territory like a vassal, they would not be able to calmly clear out the monsters in the western part of the Blood Pine Forest, and they might even be directly destroyed in the next wave of monster attacks.

If the Beastmen Legion, to which these dragon apes belong, conquers the Green Dragon's former territory, their sphere of influence will expand, potentially even surpassing the Green Dragon in strength. Without waiting until next year, once they integrate the monsters in the center and west of the Blood Pine Forest, the balance of power will be unbalanced, and the monsters swamping the mountains will simply annihilate the Black Forest Territory.

They all knew that the lord's greatest wish now was to farm in peace and he did not want to fight another arduous war.

So even though they harbored hatred for the green dragon, they fought bloody battles and repelled the dragon ape invasion.

But by the end of the war, the Green Dragon Legion had suffered heavy losses, with only more than 3000 monsters left.

When the news reached the territory, the provincial government was already seriously considering whether it was still necessary to support this puppet. Some had already suggested that such a weak puppet had lost its value and it would be better to kill it directly and seize the remaining treasures of the Dragon Nest to accelerate its own development.

But in the end, Oliver resisted the urge. Wealth can increase rapidly, but the population cannot recover quickly.

Even if another 10 gold crowns were given to Hesse, there would be no way for Hesse to fully restore its population in just a few months.

Therefore, Oliver decided to send out the [Black Steel Redemption Knights] to help the Green Dragon stabilize this vast forest area.

The Black Steel Knights of Atonement was another project Oliver had invested in. This was a private army funded by the territory. Its members consisted of elite knights from forest bandit groups, wandering knights whose fiefdoms had been stripped by the Empire, and knights who had committed crimes or deserted from the territory.

These people were basically the soldiers that Su Li didn't want, such as the knights in the bandit group in the Blood Pine Forest. The apprentice knights and official knights were all sold to slave traders by Su Li. He was reluctant to sell the elite knights, and was unwilling to reorganize and expand the army, so he simply gave them to the Knights of Redemption.

His position is somewhat similar to that of a free militia and a mercenary group, selling military services to other nobles and caravans through "indulgences of military merit".

Many people there should have been executed, especially during the decisive battle, when the army west of the city was defeated all over the mountains and plains, which was a serious violation of Territory Order No. 227.

However, killing so many knights at once was not in Su Li's interest, so he gave them a chance to atone for their sins.

All members of this knight order do not receive Su Li's salary, they are responsible for their own profits and losses, but 6% of the profits must be handed over to the Provincial Government.

The commander of the Black Steel Knights of Atonement was none other than the handsome Gilles, whom Su Li had recently admired. He was also the last owner of the territory's three tiger-striped griffins. He named the griffin Tiger Soul Calamity Stripe.

His talent was indeed worthy of Su Li's appreciation of him. In about a month, he successfully built the structure of the Knights' Order. The core consisted of 17 elite knights, 35 official knights, 46 apprentice knights, and a group of ambitious bandits, gamblers, adventurers, and mercenaries as armed squires. The Knights' Order, including knights and squires, totaled over 260 people.

For the first month, they trained their troops in the Mirror Swamp in the south of the territory. The muddy terrain effectively prevented anyone from escaping, and they successfully built up the morale of the army.

The gamblers and mercenaries inside are all in debt. Some owe gambling debts, and some owe money from prostitution in brothels. The people who run these places are not good people. Many brothels are even backed by Su Li's shares. The bosses are like wolves and tigers. The debts they lend out are all high-interest loans with compound interest. Who dares not to pay back the money? Some of them are thugs and law enforcers from the Red Brotherhood who help them collect debts.

If they catch a gambler who fails to repay his debts on time, they would actually dare to remove his organs and sell them to alchemists and pharmacists.

The Hendrix sect specializes in these tasks, akin to a combination of Eastern strategists and Western political brokers. They act as go-betweens, helping the territory accomplish many things. For example, recruiting refugees and organizing those in the badlands are their specialties.

Their activities are full of the dark and brutal colors of this world.

So faced with these thugs, the desperate criminals who owed money tried every possible way to raise funds.

After receiving the first mission, they decisively entered the forest and began to sell military services to the Green Dragon.

Moreover, the military service fee was not cheap at all, one Dwarven Oath Gold per day, which meant at least 10 Gold Crowns per day. This was already equivalent to the price the Fallen Wolf Mercenaries offered Su Li.

The reason why Su Li insisted that they earn the dwarf oath money from the green dragon was entirely for the most important investment in the territory!
[Bauhinia Holy Flame Foundry]!
This was the rich result Su Li got after spending a large sum of money to buy shares of the Gray Mountain Dwarfs' Artillery Guild.

As everyone knows, no matter how stubborn a dwarf is, he cannot refuse any request made by the one holding the dwarf's oath money.

Theoretically, if Su Li had enough Dwarven pledge gold, perhaps tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, he could bring it to the Dwarven City and demand a legal union with the Dwarven City, becoming a subsidiary of the Bauhinia Family. If he had enough money, he could buy up every town in the Gray Mountain Province one by one.

Of course, Su Li didn't have that much money, so after weighing the pros and cons, Oliver asked Foreign Minister Hartsklin to bring all the dwarf pledge money seized in this battle to Gray Mountain, and in an irresistible gesture, bought 0.5% of the shares of the Dwarf Gray Mountain Artillery Guild.

Then, relying on the reasonable claim of this share, the Provincial Government invested in the Hessen Town Artillery Guild and let the dwarves build a [Bauhinia Holy Flame Foundry] in Hessen City.

Holy flame, also known as gunpowder, is the dwarves' unique racial talent, so this is actually a dwarf artillery factory in the Hessen Territory.

Currently, the workers in this artillery factory are of relatively low strength, with the highest being at the elite level. Without a cannon-making master, cannons cannot be manufactured.

A month passed, and the dozen or so dwarves inside managed to build a mortar by piecing together money from various sources, looting and trading.

Although not as advanced as the cannon, the mortar is already a very reliable primary artillery. It was originally designed as a short-barreled heavy firearm used to launch hollow-blasting shells. While the cannon's physical ammunition can only hit a few unlucky people, the mortar shells can explode when they hit the enemy team, releasing a large number of sharp metal fragments to tear apart those unfortunate enemies.

The mortar was famous for repelling numerous greenskin sieges during the Goblin Wars - particularly because its shells were fired not just as rocks, but also as captured goblins.

The Greenskins' Diving Destroyer, a device inspired by the Dwarven tradition, is one of the Greenskins' most powerful artillery units. Mounted on a cannon carriage is a Goblin, also known as the Doom Trooper. How high it flies depends largely on the quality of its hand-sewn hide wings, but if anything, it's more important to how tightly the others can keep the strings in place.

When launched, the operator pulls the Doom Trooper back with all his might, then releases his grip. With a resounding "bang!" the Doom Trooper bursts through the sky like a bullet, quickly soaring into the clouds before falling. Using its gliders, the little creature hovers and guides itself toward its chosen target. With the added speed of its descent, most goblins scream, the sound becoming louder and more piercing the closer it gets to the ground.

Before the enemy can even react, the Doom Trooper's downward charge quickly becomes a rushing mass of black blobs. When the Goblin hits the ground, the greenskin might be reduced to a pulp, but if he effectively uses his gliders for cushioning and a bit of luck, he can bounce back. Either way, the Doom Trooper inflicts significant damage to the enemy he's charging towards.

This tremendous screaming and whistling noise became one of the Order's most dreaded nightmares. The Greenskins, however, adored and yearned for this position, enjoying the thrill of racing and other exciting activities. Such a cool gadget was enough to drive them wild, and it could also bring death and terror to the enemy, blasting the brains of the short guys like a fountain. This made it one of the most popular professions among the Goblins.

There is only one reason why the territory attaches so much importance to this diving destruction catapult. Orstein reported that the goblins in the Blood Pine Forest are suspected of having this weapon.

This means that humans will have the possibility to engage in artillery battles with goblins.

If the current level of artillery battle is used, then the humans and dwarves may not be able to defeat the goblins' diving destruction catapult. After all, those goblins and goblins really have gliders strapped to their arms, which allows them to shoot very accurately.

Human mortars and cannons are only the most basic artillery, which cannot compare with the top-level artillery of the greenskin forces.

If humans want to defeat them just by buying cannons, it will be very difficult and the losses will be huge.

Therefore, we have no choice but to build an exclusive artillery factory for the Hessen Territory at all costs.

This [Bauhinia Holy Flame Foundry] can currently produce a mortar in 1 to 2 months. If there are enough materials and various rare metals in the future, the speed may be increased to one mortar per month, and even powerful organ cannons can be produced.

But judging by the current progress, the territory will be able to successfully cast 10 mortars by the end of next year.

While this weapon had minimal lethality against high-level infantry and cavalry, it was incredibly effective against goblins, goblins, and kobolds charging across the mountains, devastating large numbers of them. The morale of these monsters was relatively low, and a single round of concentrated fire from ten mortars might have shaken the morale of a squadron of goblins, sending them fleeing in all directions.

Regardless of its lethality, it is really useful in delaying the opponent's offensive.

More importantly, if the Hesse Territory wants to expand outward and attack the castles of other pioneering lords, this mortar can play a very important role.

At that time, it would be enough for more than a hundred knights and two or three hundred armed servants to besiege the castle. These 10 mortars would take turns firing and bombard it for a hundred or eighty days, which would be enough to exhaust the defenders' maintenance equipment and blow open the city wall.

This army has no need to worry about the enemy army rushing out, because their weapons are really as described in the "Hessian Armory", with flame patterns engraved on the blades.

The [Fire Spinel] in the Hessen Territory is so abundant that even a simple fine-grade weapon is inlaid with patterns of Fire Spinel.

This gem usually looks inconspicuous when inlaid on halberds, hammers and swords, like an ordinary gem decoration. However, when the battle becomes fierce and the knights perform heavy blows, combos and other martial arts, this blade will immediately be covered with a layer of blazing red flame light, causing powerful fire damage after hitting the enemy.

If it is a rune weapon, the effect is even more powerful. It can significantly enhance the power of fire. After hitting the enemy, it will leave a flammable mark on the enemy. The enemy will immediately gain the characteristic of being afraid of fire. Subsequent attacks on him, even ordinary damage, will cause a burning effect.

Moreover, all newly crafted fine-grade weapons in the territory are tempered with magical spring water soaked in the white flowers of the Moon Crown Tree. Once they are close to the devil, a sacred golden light will appear on these weapons.

Such an enchanted and fire spinel-inscribed weapon is extremely valuable. As a specialty of the territory, it has become famous in the prince's territory on the northern border. It is regarded as a famous sword in the world by many knights and is highly sought after.

A weapon like this costs as much as 20+ gold crowns, almost catching up with the price of dwarf heavy armor.

It is said that there was once a mercenary king named Draco Zor who used two of these swords to win the heart of a baroness from a border prince's territory.

The reason he was able to obtain two of these weapons was entirely due to his bravery. He won the championship twice in a row in the martial arts competition at the territory's Lion Ring Arena.

Su Li even made a small profit from him, earning more than 400 gold crowns through betting.

However, this kind of intelligence was now rare. After all, there were only 10 pieces of intelligence per day. If Su Li obtained one of these pieces of information, revealing the champion of the arena, although he would win a few hundred gold crowns, he could lose thousands or even tens of thousands of gold crowns in the long run. After all, each piece of information could help him obtain an opportunity, or create a wonder or specialty for his territory.

Only when the daily intelligence contains nothing particularly noteworthy, or when the stakes in the arena are extremely high, will the daily intelligence reveal a piece of betting information to him.

Perhaps in the future the territory will be large enough, and the population of Heisen Town will increase from two or three thousand to twenty or thirty thousand, and the stakes of each arena will involve thousands or tens of thousands of gold crowns. This is worthy of Su Li's special attention.

Now he uses this sophisticated weapon as a reward for the arena competition, entirely to attract some adventurers, gamblers and mercenaries to come to the Hessen Territory.

After all, the Blue Heron Mercenary Group has set up a mercenary base in Heisen Territory. They are recruiting more personnel and forming new mercenary branches. The large number of mercenaries coming to Heisen Town will be very helpful in expanding their manpower.

After so many days of replenishment, their manpower had gradually recovered to over 20 men. However, the Fallen Wolf Mercenaries, who had joined the Hessen Freemen with them, fared much worse, having only received three new recruits. In that battle, they had lost over 3 knights and injured over a dozen (most of whom were healed), a total loss of nearly half their force. With only three new recruits, it was a drop in the bucket compared to their needs.

So when Su Li did not hire them for the time being, they escorted the caravan to Maleburg, intending to recruit a group of new people there to supplement the combat effectiveness of the mercenary group.

The caravans traveling between Maleburg and Hesse naturally mainly transported Hesse's specialties.

It is worth mentioning that with Oliver’s various investments, the territory has gained a new “unclear” specialty.

That is [Blood Salt], a specialty brought back from the distant Gray Fog Coast by a smuggling gang in the territory. It is a mixed salt block formed by distilling sea dragon blood and sea water. It can enhance the physical fitness of knights and war horses and is widely circulated on the black market.

Although the knights in the Lion Ring Arena always claim that this is cheating, it is always sold out before the tournament.

The price of one kilogram of this sea salt is as high as one gold crown, and the Provincial Affairs Council helped Su Li stockpile more than 1 kilograms.

But even the shrewd Oliver didn't know who was behind this smuggling network.

However, he was certain that the reason this "Blood Salt" was sent to the Heisen Territory for sale was likely to divert attention from its true origin. When ordinary people heard the name "Blood Salt", they would easily associate it with the territory's other legitimate specialty, "Blood Pine".

With the destruction of the forest green dragon's power, loggers entering the blood pine forest no longer need to bribe the monsters in the forest, which has led to a significant increase in the amount of blood pine trees cut down.

Half a month ago, a caravan with more than 100 carriages loaded with precious blood pine wood, blood salt, leather, herbs, brandy, dwarven jewelry, fine weapons and other specialties of the Hessen Territory set off for Maleburg.

They would purchase a batch of slaves, cattle, horses, livestock, seeds, sausages, witchcraft props, daily necessities and various luxury goods in Maleburg and return to Hesse.

(End of this chapter)