Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 375 The Expansion of the Silver-Armored Crayfish

The advantage of having flying monsters is that Su Li and Fandral can reach any place they want to go in just a short time.

Bjorn Bay was already very close to the Black Forest Territory, and now with the griffin and the giant eagle, they arrived above this sacred land with just one acceleration after taking off.

Today, this sacred land is no longer as narrow as it used to be. It has finally taken on the appearance of a vast plain with fertile land. The area of ​​land reclaimed alone is more than 30 kilometers long!
It stretches for over 30 kilometers. Su Li and Fan Daer, riding their griffins, gazed into the distance from a hundred meters above the ground. On this fertile and flat land, the fields were fertile and the paths crisscrossed. Neat plots of farmland were cultivated and planted with various crops between the forest belts.

Rhea's divine grace enveloped the area, as if a golden mist shrouded the wheat fields. When Su Li's griffin swooped down, the whirlwind it created ripples of silver light across the wheat. Fandral's giant eagle followed closely behind, its wings sweeping across the forest belt, startling countless white sparrows into flight.

As they descended, Su Li was able to see each field more clearly. The pearl wheat and Hong Kong and Taiwan wheat, unique to Black Forest Territory, unfurled their leaves in the hazy divine grace. The moonlight cabbage beside the clear stream had begun to bloom, and even Leia's stone circle and statue had been erected beside the field ridges.

In the treehouses in the middle of the stone circle and the forest belt, various elves appear, including the Father of Grain, Polevik, as well as Lady Logan and a Sleeping Root.

This is a natural spirit pieced together from tree roots, straw, and soil, with a beating green heart within its chest. Legend says it is a witness to the covenant between Rhea and Yurik, so half of its heart belongs to the harsh winter, and the other half to the warm spring. Offering it sacrifices of honey and fruit wine will cause a piece of land to bloom with flowers, and then greatly increase the yield of honey and fruit.

It originally lived in the Rothen Valley, but was recently invited to this sacred place by the nuns of the Church of the Dawn Goddess to promote the blooming of flowers and the improvement of orchards in the Maiden's Ring of the Holy Land of Leia.

After surveying the area, Su Li landed on the embankment of Bjorn Bay and smiled at Fandall, who landed right behind him, saying, "Last year this was a saline-alkali land covered with thorns, but this year it's vast fertile fields, truly a miracle for humankind. How many acres of fertile land are there now?"

Vandal immediately replied, “After the summer planting and clearing, our farmland here in Bjorn Bay has increased to 250000 acres! And as you can see, on the flat land further east, halflings are driving heavy ploughs to clear new fields.”

"As we expect, our new field area will reach more than 2800 hectares before the end of this planting season."

Su Li nodded in satisfaction and said, "This progress is even faster than we initially estimated."

Fandall explained with a smile, "The main reason is that the development speed of our territory is astonishing. The development in many aspects has in turn helped the development of agriculture. For example, the scale of the halflings, the increase in machinery, and the natural spirits of various Churches of Dawn have all contributed to the development of this holy land."

“In fact, it is very difficult to transform a barren field overgrown with thorns into neat and fertile farmland. First, heavy plows are needed to cut up all kinds of thorns and grass roots in the field and turn over the compacted soil. Then, the old farmers use hoes to break up the clods of soil and pick out the stones, weeds, and plant roots. Then the soil is loosened, the land is leveled, and ridges are created.”

“This process is not easy at any stage. Especially the thorns and strong grass roots, even the plow blades of the heavy-duty tractor were damaged more than twenty times.”

Upon hearing this, Su Li couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Is this thicket of thorns so difficult to clear? Even the heavy-duty plowing machine has been damaged so much."

It is truly remarkable that they were able to overcome such great difficulties and reclaim wasteland.

Fandall nodded and said, “The main thing is that in this wasteland, besides the thorn bushes, there are also many low shrubs. Our Church of Dawn has found many precious tree species there, such as Irontooth Thorn, a precious plant that climbs on fences. Its serrated leaves contain paralyzing toxins; once a wound is made, it can stiffen and slow down the enemy's movements. The key is that it grows very quickly and has very typical Tar wildness. This thorn usually grows to more than a meter tall in about three months after the seed falls to the ground, and can cover an entire fence in half a year. Combined with our Stoneskin Pumpkin, it can greatly enhance the stronghold's defensive capabilities.”

“Basically, in front of an extremely reinforced defensive outpost, a stationed management knight can lead dozens of Free People’s Legion members to resist an attack by a horde of roaring beasts numbering over 100.”

"Furthermore, our nuns, while guiding the clearing process, also found a batch of Stardew Begonias before the plow cleared away all the vegetation. They are a perfect match for the Stardew Roses in our territory. That's why you can see Sleeping Roots here. We need to speed up the planting of a patch of Stardew Roses here and spread the orchards all the way down the dike."

In this world, things called moonlight and stardew are mostly imbued with a touch of witchcraft.

This is related to the Witch Moon, so they have some peculiar abilities.

Su Li asked curiously, "What are the effects of this Star Dew Begonia fruit?"

"It is a strong wind of Giron. The Witch Moon is associated with eight magical winds, and the Stardew Begonia absorbs a strong wind of Giron, which will lead to an increased survival rate and relatively faster development of the trees grafted onto it."

"Of course, since it is not a transcendent spirit tree, the powerful effect of the Wind of Jilun is not as strong as that of the Blessed Wisteria Tree. Only after a large number of Star Dew Begonia fruits are present will it slightly accelerate the growth rate of the surrounding fruit trees."

A slight enhancement wouldn't produce immediate results. However, it would still increase the orchard's yield, so Su Li didn't mind.

Then Su Li looked down at the embankment, where a continuous stretch of fruit trees had been planted. This fruit tree forest would extend for more than 30 miles along the south bank of the embankment, increasing yields, reinforcing the embankment, and creating an extremely beautiful landscape.

Su Li then continued, "I'm not worried about grain production and farmland. You should pay closer attention to the propagation of various orchards and spiritual plants. What are the results in this regard?"

Fandall immediately said, "Then I request that Your Excellency go and inspect the Ring of Maidens."

The Ring of Maidens is currently the largest holy site of their Church of the Dawn Goddess. Since Rhea does not place much importance on magnificent temples, this holy site can basically be regarded as the faith center and religious holy site of the entire region, similar to the Eternal Flame Cathedral of the Church of the Sun Goddess.

As Su Li and Fandral walked up the path of the Maiden's Ring, they discovered that a large number of monks from the Church of the Dawn Goddess had come from the surrounding villages and territories to worship the holy site and offer sacrifices.

Of course, Su Li was able to tell at a glance that they came from different territories for a very obvious reason: their clothing and appearance were clearly different from those of the Black Forest Territory.

The priestesses of the Church of Leia are generally chosen by the priestesses themselves, and the church does not impose many restrictions on the attire of its priests.

Priestesses typically preferred brown and green fabrics made of coarse fibers or linen, decorated with floral or fruit embroidery. In cold weather, they would wear woolen sheepskins for warmth. Priestesses might carry a scepter as a symbol of their office. This scepter was often carved in the shape of an ear of wheat.

During the ceremony, the priestesses might wear a barley crown to imitate their goddess, although others insisted that they must receive their goddess naked and would find all sorts of excuses to strip naked.

However, the priestesses in Blackwood usually wear green linen robes. It's an open secret that the lord prefers the cool, forest-style nun look.

The lord believes that cyan and green make women appear fairer, more aloof, and more charming.

The phrase "Green are your robes, deep is my longing" holds a widespread consensus in the Black Forest. From the lords to commoners, men and women alike consider the blue robe a symbol of beauty and nobility.

Therefore, in order to spread their faith, the priestesses of the Black Forest Territory would wear blue robes, whether they liked it or not, and those who could afford it would also wear beautiful stockings.

This meant that when visiting priests arrived at the Maiden's Ring, the priests and commoners who were farming could immediately tell who were outsiders.

Walking along the path filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, feeling the misty fog and the cool breeze stirred up by the waterwheel, Su Li asked curiously, "Do many outsiders come to visit this sacred place every day?"

Fandall nodded and said, “Not few. As you know, the monks of the Church of Dawn are not known for their fighting prowess, so the priests of the Church of Dawn who come to worship usually arrive by carriage, and it is very rare for one or two priests or nuns to arrive alone. As a result, whenever worshippers arrive, after we persuade them, several nuns will stay behind to contribute to the spread of the Goddess of Dawn in our territory.”

The Black Forest Territory is also in dire need of nuns from the Church of the Dawn Goddess, given the addition of so many villages and outposts, and the need to care for so many fantastical plants.

Upon reaching the top platform of the Ring of Maidens, Su Li's eyes lit up, and she said with a smile, "The scenery on your Ring of Maidens is truly unlike anything in this world."

The Church of the Dawn Goddess is undoubtedly closer to rural and pastoral life. On the platform above the Maiden's Ring, besides a low and simple monastery, there are a large number of pear and apple trees planted in the courtyard of the monastery. These dozens of trees are planted neatly, and it is the end of the flowering season. The beautiful flowers are scattered in the wind, and the white and pink petals are fluttering in the air. The scenery is so beautiful that it is breathtaking.

Fandall explained with a smile, "These are the Star Dew Roses and Prickly Pear Trees that we bought from the market using your information. They are all in good condition and very suitable for grafting, which is why we expanded this Sacred Garden in one go."

Su Li raised an eyebrow and said, "I remember the focus of the intelligence last time was Stardew Orange, right?"

The most valuable item on that stall was the Star Dew Sweet Orange, a spiritual plant; the other plants, such as Star Dew Rose and Prickly Pear Tree, were just embellishments.

Fandral then led Su Li to the purple spiritual field in the middle of their monastery, pointing to a lone sweet orange blooming in the upper right corner of the field, and said, "We carefully moved this Stardew Orange here. We reached an agreement with Lady Ingrid that all the produce from this Stardew Orange will belong to her. In return, we will compensate her with five portions of harvest interest per month and ten catties of Rainbow Silkworm Silk per quarter, in exchange for her entrusting us with the care of this Stardew Orange." Su Li looked at the Stardew Orange in the corner; it was clear that the Dawn Church had great ambitions.

Even after obtaining the Star Dew Sweet Orange, it still couldn't satisfy their expectations, so they planted the spiritual plant in a corner of the purple spiritual field.

This signifies that they at least have the ambition to create a second fantasy garden, one that cannot be too much smaller than Ingrid's garden.

Therefore, they preferred to leave this purple spiritual field empty rather than plant the ghost vine.

Su Li immediately asked curiously, "So how do you plan to arrange the Ghost Vine?"

The Ghost Vine, which was given to Su Li by Charlotte, a director of the West High Chamber of Commerce, is a very expensive plant, costing up to 10 gold crowns per plant.

This means that such a single plant can be worth as much as a dragon's blood stone or a fantasy pearl.

However, each acre can grow 2000 acres of ghost vines! If dark green ghost vines appear, the price will soar to 50 gold crowns.

More importantly, Su Li can decide the ownership of these ghost vines herself; they don't necessarily have to be handed over to Charlotte. Rather, it's a resource transaction between the two parties. Su Li will give her as many ghost vines as she wants, and Charlotte will pay her a certain amount.

This would allow the Ghost Vine to be used by Su Li and play an important role in the upcoming war against the Night Wandering Corpses.

After all, the Ghost Vine is quite powerful, practically a weapon against the undead, somewhat similar to the effect of a barricade against a knight.

Once the Ghost Vine is deployed on the designated battlefield, the undead legion will be drawn to it in large numbers. They will even abandon the knights who are within reach and rush towards the Ghost Vine to vent their resentment and hatred.

The ghost vine itself has a lot of barbs, which can injure some of the undead that attack it. The black magic is unstable, which can cause some of the undead to be reduced to ashes.

After being attacked and injured by undead, the Ghost Vine will transform into a noose, directly devouring nearby undead and turning them into a swamp.

From this perspective, the Ghost Vine is very suitable for the current needs and situation of the Black Forest Territory, since the knights of the Black Forest Territory are very good at luring the enemy into a pre-arranged battlefield.

Fandall understood Su Li's needs and said, "My lord, the recent outbreak of rainbow hail on Moonlight Highlands was quite significant. More importantly, we now have a sufficient number of ice-attribute knights, so we brought back far more rainbow hail crystals than ever before. In addition to expanding our purple spirit field here, we have also established a purple fertile field near St. Leonard's Shallow Bay to cultivate ghost vines."

“Saint Leonard Shallow Bay!” Su Li remembered the ruins left by this Holy Knight. This shallow bay was located upstream of the Blackwater River. Its broken spear could continuously purify the death energy, making the life force of that shallow bay exceptionally pure.

It is said that the remains of the legendary undead dragon Nagruzzi are suppressed beneath Saint Leonard's broken spear.

Su Li relaxed after Kappa said it hadn't seen the giant undead dragon.

But after seeing the night-walking corpses and a large undead army in the spider's lair, he gained a clearer understanding of the power of dark magic. It was possible that the undead dragon was indeed under Saint Leonard's broken spear, only that as a legendary being, it had lost its physical form.

But as long as dark magic gathers, the winds of death can re-form, simply by the soul regaining control of a large amount of ashes and then restraining them with the power of dark magic.

If this broken spear is rashly pulled out, no one can be sure whether a legendary undead dragon will break the seal and run out from the land beneath the Black Forest Territory.

Therefore, it was quite meaningful for the Church of Dawn to plant the Ghost Vine here. At least it was a preventative measure, completely locking down the area and preventing the undead army from getting close or breaking through.

Regardless of whether there's any possibility of resurrection, the point is to seal its coffin shut so no one can pull it out again.

It's important to understand that this world is fraught with risks and crises, with the forces of good constantly besieged by evil and darkness. Over thousands of years, countless monsters have been sealed away. Back then, a group of cultists could unearth a Chosen Demon from the Gray Mountain.

Su Li was not at all surprised that those evil minions continued to explore the Black Forest Territory and unearthed legendary monsters.

Compared to the evil legendary undead dragon, Su Li was clearly more interested in the various fantastical creatures of St. Leonard's Shallow Bay, so he said to Fandall, "Your church has druids and nuns there. Do you know the habits of the local fantastical creatures?"

“Yes, my lord,” Fandral replied immediately. “For example, the silver-armored crayfish is a new specialty of our territory.”

"The extraordinary characteristics of the silver-armored crayfish mainly stem from the pure waters where abundant life force converges. We previously tried to cultivate these crayfish in Lake Lovelyne, but the results were not ideal. After the silver-armored crayfish entered Lake Lovelyne, they showed great discomfort, even aversion, as if the lake water was poisonous to them."

This is actually relatively easy to understand. The waters of Lake Leflin are practically soaking the Witch Moon; it's less like water and more like liquid fertilizer. This has led to the proliferation of parasites, such as cave corals and magic-absorbing leeches—rare worms used by sea elves, creatures that feed on mystical energy and can absorb the magic of living beings. Elven mages are accustomed to dealing with the effects of these creatures, and the Sea Guardians occasionally use them to weaken the abilities of enemy mages. (This only works on minor mages; for named mages, it's basically just a tickle).

Of course, there are not only these strange and evil creatures, but also some relatively neutral creatures, such as the elephant snail, a shelled creature in the mortal realms. The shell of this snail is often used to make elephant spears to equip the spears used by sea guards, river guards, and sailors.

Even Fandral didn't know how these strange creatures appeared in Lake Lovelyne. But like the omnipresent winds of chaos, whenever they blow, they can cause mutations in some aquatic creatures.

Lake Rivelin has always been like this: beautiful, clear, and magnificent, yet also fraught with danger and harboring filth.

Su Li has always carefully maintained the balance of this sacred land, ensuring it has ample fertility to nourish the Bjorn Bay below and bring abundant harvests. He also prevents the spread of its internal dangers. Every year before the grand summer solstice celebration, Su Li sends guards to cleanse the land to prevent disaster and bloodshed on the day of the solstice. He wants to keep the people from knowing that this sacred land, which nurtures their most beautiful and vibrant life, is also the source of many evil monsters in the territory.

Therefore, Su Li was not surprised at all that the silver-armored crayfish could not adapt to the waters of Lake Lovelyn.

The strong winds of Christendom and the strong winds of death are both things that can cause disaster. Anything in this world, when taken to extremes, is accompanied by disaster.

It is very suitable for the Eastern philosophy of moderation.

Fandall continued, "Later we discovered that these crayfish were always moving outwards, so we followed them until they went downstream and reached the Emerald Pool, where they settled down. The Emerald Pool is a water conservancy project made of emerald gemstones from Vidag. We originally thought it was suitable for raising fish, but we didn't expect it to be so suitable for raising these silver crayfish as well."

The formation of the Emerald Pool purifies an entire pond, making it exceptionally clear and imbued with considerable Jilun power, making it ideal for the Silver-Armored Crayfish.

"Here, they have no natural enemies and reproduce very quickly. Currently, the territory has begun selling these silver-armored crayfish, which are sought after by various knight families. Its effects are not as powerful and domineering as the Fire-Embroidered Rabbit, but it has the advantage of being extremely versatile. Knights of any bloodline can eat these silver-armored crayfish to enhance their defense."

"This makes them more expensive than Firefly Rabbits. A 20-pound Silver Crayfish can cost at least 50 gold crowns!"

"But basically every Emerald Pool has several Silver Claw Crawfish, and I think that in the future, the scale of this extraordinary creature may even exceed that of the Lightscale Fish."

From this perspective, the silver-armored crayfish is even more suitable for the Black Forest Territory than the glossy-scaled fish.

What is the most distinctive characteristic of the knights of the Human Empire? Isn't it their incredible toughness? Both their morale and defense are pushed to the extreme. It is extremely difficult for an enemy to break through a knightly order on the front lines.

This silver-armored crayfish can comprehensively enhance the hardness of the Black Forest Knights, and the effect will be very remarkable.

If a jade pool is built in the knight family's manor, this silver-armored crayfish could even benefit their entire family's descendants.

This means that the swallows that once graced the mansions of the wealthy and powerful are now flying into the homes of ordinary people!
(End of this chapter)