Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 399 Everything is Ready
The temple was soon in sight.

It's very quiet here; not many people come here at this time seeking peace of mind.

In fact, even the Templar Knight Mark was shirtless, shovel in hand, working on improving the cemetery. Currently, there is only one resident in this vast cemetery, an unlucky fellow who was attacked by a mutated creature not long ago when the flood peak passed through.

However, he did not get the chance to be resurrected and can only rest here forever; death is not far away.

"Mark, Mark!"

Upon seeing Li Wei, Mark jogged over and bowed. Now, without a translator, he could basically understand what Li Wei was saying.

“Mark, the population of the territory has increased significantly. Since the Temple of the Gods is a place to soothe people’s hearts and guide lost souls, it is really difficult for you to do the job alone. Therefore, I plan to select two more temple priests. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Mark Mark”.

Mark gestured a few times.

Li Wei shook his head. "No, although Benjamin, Santiago, Javier, and Grant meet the requirements, they are also River Knights. I will need them to guard the surrounding fortresses in the future. They cannot be temple priests. Therefore, I hope you can communicate with the gods and lower the requirements a bit."

"Mark, Mark!"

Mark was sweating profusely. We can't go on like this; Mark's faith in the gods is very devout.

"Alright, I won't make things difficult for you. Come with me."

Li Wei sighed. The first selection of temple priests naturally had very high requirements, but the second one would not be so demanding. The important thing was the first one, as it was to establish a channel of communication with the gods.

Because Mark is now a true three-star priest, while Li Wei only needs a one-star priest.

Soon, they arrived at the temple. Mark devoutly communicated with the gods, while Li Wei waited patiently beside him. Before long, he received several messages.

[The Three-Star Temple requires two additional One-Star Priests to share the workload of Templar Mark. You have the following options.]

[First, select temple priests from your territory. There are currently 54 suitable candidates, all of whom are fanatics. You can choose any two, or you can absorb all of these fanatics into the Temple of the Gods system. This will unlock a new troop class – the Ascetic class card. This is a prerequisite for the Templar Knight. Friendly reminder: the Ascetic class itself does not involve any scheming or plotting, and the gods will not ask for anything from it. This is just one direction for the development of your territory, which may eventually lead to a theocratic model. You can explore and decide for yourself.]

[Second, recruit two ascetics from the four-star temple in Vil City. This will cost 200 battle points.]

-

Huh?
Li Wei thought for a moment, then checked the list of fanatics in his territory. The result made him laugh in anger. Yes, there were exactly 54 people, no more and no less, exactly the members of his most elite heavy cavalry.

That's really interesting.

Alright, the temple system is indispensable. It's a crucial part of calming people's hearts, resurrecting important members, and stabilizing the territory. People need faith, but it's impossible for it to flourish without it.

My territory has no fanatics, only believers.

If you want to become a temple priest in the future, you must meet Mark's standards. If anyone is willing to practice silent meditation, then I, Li Wei, will consider them awesome. Otherwise, you all better behave yourselves.

Next, Li Wei did not hesitate to spend 200 battle points to recruit two one-star temple priests.

From then on, his battle points dropped to 900.

It seems I'll have to wait patiently if I want to go on a shopping spree in the Kingdom of Rock.

Li Wei left the rest to Mark, who took care of the two new temple priests.

After leaving the temple, Li Wei went to the magic mine directly opposite.

The Temple of the Gods is located in the southeast corner of the town, while the Magic Mine is in the southwest corner. However, according to the plan for a level four city wall, the temple will be included within the city wall, while the Magic Mine and the soon-to-be-built Mage Tower will be outside the city.

This plan was personally approved by my second aunt, there must be a reason for it.

As you walk along, you'll see Zhao Xuanxuan and Thomas. The former is using this place as a forging ground, creating some magical components based on blueprints.

The latter involves carving massive blocks of stone, all of which are level four stones quarried from Black Mountain Fortress. Thomas and dozens of stonemasons are in charge of the entire process, from quarrying to transportation to carving, and they cannot delegate the work to anyone else.

And the carvings on these stone blocks are all magical designs and the like.

When Li Wei walked over, everyone was too busy to even glance at him. In the end, it was Qin Yu who managed to spare some time to come over.

"Your Excellency, congratulations! You are on the verge of becoming a powerful viscount. I bet you can rank among the top five in the entire Kingdom of Locke at this rate of promotion."

"You flatter me. It's still very early on. Is there anything I can help you with?" Li Wei couldn't figure out Qin Yu's thoughts.

"There are no problems anymore. After all, we are three second-tier spellcasters, and our cooperation has been smooth. I must admit that Widow Yang's expertise in potions is indeed well-deserved, and Hathaway is a genius in analyzing magical structures. In particular, with Zhao Xuanxuan, the enchanted blacksmith, and Thomas, the enchanted stonemason, we are even more powerful. So now we can be sure that the construction of the one-star mage tower will be completed within a month without any problems."

"I can only say, my lord, the territory you conquered has a very deep foundation. If I didn't have my own territory, I would have come to ask you to give me an advisor to serve as."

"Alright, you go ahead with your work. This last month or two should be a rare period of peace, but we must also be wary of those barbarians causing trouble and upsetting us." "Of course, if they don't cause trouble and upset us, and the peace talks go smoothly, I would suggest that Your Majesty send people to occupy some resource points as much as possible, just like the knights. A powerful viscount should have at least five vassal barons!"

"I have said all I can say. Please take it with a grain of salt, my lord."

After Qin Yu finished speaking, he left in a hurry. Li Wei pondered for a long time before returning to the territory building. Standing on the rooftop, he looked out over the entire territory. When the mission was settled in the future, the 80 square kilometers of legal territory allocated to him would expand outwards from this territory building.

Eighty square kilometers sounds like a lot, but it's actually just an area of ​​eight kilometers by ten kilometers.

If sufficient width is required, it may not even be possible to cover both the northern and southern fortresses simultaneously.

Of course, there is also the concept of illegal territory. A level 4 territory can, in principle, have 500 square kilometers of illegal territory.

So a level 5 territory should have at least 600 square kilometers, right?

In addition, a successful city-building mission will reward you with 100 square kilometers of legal territory, and in the end you will receive 190 square kilometers of legal territory.

Qin Yu is right, we need to make plans for this as soon as possible.

"First, there's the core area of ​​the territory, which is also where the main city is located. Legal territory can only be placed here. Outside of this, we still need to designate an additional 200 square kilometers of illegal territory. That makes a total of 390 square kilometers. The designated area should be oriented as far north-south as possible, because the mountains to the north are richer in resources and more worthy of development!"

Li Wei's mind quickly flashed through the relevant terrain, especially the mountain range north of the northern fortress. The mountains there were gentle and the land was fertile. The mountain was crescent-shaped, or like an ear. The northern fortress was located right at the earlobe. In the middle were twelve plains of varying sizes, which could be cultivated into tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, and could easily support tens of thousands of people.

Moreover, the terrain here is slightly elevated, shielded by mountains to the east and west, with a mild climate, abundant rainfall, and two mountain streams flowing through it, making it an absolutely wonderful place.

"In that case, the east-west width is set at ten kilometers, and the north-south depth is set at thirty-nine kilometers. If we start counting from the temple at the southern end, this mountain plain can be perfectly encompassed. In this way, the distance to the Dawn Fortress further north is less than a hundred miles."

"Next, the riverside fortress must occupy 200 square kilometers of illegal territory. If we take the Black Mountain fortress as the southern end, extending 20 kilometers northward and 10 kilometers eastward and westward, that will be sufficient."

"Next, we need to consider the small town base and the 349 base. The former is an important node connecting the Hathaway territory, and the straight-line distance between them is less than 15 kilometers. As long as the bridge is repaired, this place will become an important strategic location, so we will allocate 50 square kilometers here."

"As for Base 349, an additional 50 square kilometers will be reserved, with the remainder allocated to Dawn Fortress and Southern Fortress."

"However, if this is the case, apart from the slightly special situation of Dawn Fortress, I would be granting six baronial fiefs, plus one Hathaway, making seven vassal barons. Isn't that spreading myself too thin?"

Thinking about this, Li Wei felt a little uneasy.

What merit or ability does he possess?

If all else fails, we'll have to abandon Base 349.

That way, even though the operation is large, it won't be too scattered.

For example, Riverside Fortress and Black Mountain Fortress share a magic mine. One occupies a high point on the south bank, while the other occupies fertile land on the north bank. Moreover, the latter is within the range of the former. The former has a rugged terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if this place is illegal territory, the enemy would have to think twice before attacking it.

Then there's the small town base and Hathaway's Baron's Domain, which are also connected from north to south by a bridge and supported by a magic mine.

Hathaway's barony is directly rooted in the Neanderthal Hills, a region rich in resources, which facilitates trade with the North Shore. Crucially, it also provides access to the river fortress via waterways and the Black Mountain fortress via the riverbank road.

Then, going downstream, it could connect with the southern fortress, thus linking the three areas together.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now."

Li Wei immediately issued a temporary stationing order through the prestige card, because he was not yet a powerful viscount and could not be granted the title of baron... Hmm, speaking of which, can a powerful viscount be granted the title of baron?

Damn it, I call the shots on my own turf!
Since Hathaway could become his vassal baron, why couldn't he be granted the title? This shows that it was possible.

[You, in your capacity as a baron with real power and a nominal viscount, issued an administrative order, appointing Li Yue, a staff officer in charge of the territory, to guard the riverside fortress and concurrently command the Black Mountain fortress, and awarding him 100 acres of farmland (which he must cultivate himself).]

[Decree: River Knight Javier is appointed as the garrison captain of River Fortress, and River Knight Sith is appointed as the garrison captain of Black Mountain Fortress; both will be under Li Yue's command.]

[You have issued an administrative order, appointing Thomas, the territory's advisor, to guard the small town base, and appointing Riverside Knight Paul as the garrison captain of the small town base.]

[You have issued an administrative order, appointing Zhao Xuanxuan, the territory's advisor, to guard the southern fortress, and appointing Benjamin, the Riverside Knight, as the garrison commander of the southern fortress.]

[You have issued an administrative order, appointing River Knight Grant to guard the northern fortress and River Knight Havel as the garrison commander of the northern fortress.]

-

After issuing these appointments, Li Wei did not linger and went directly to the riverside fortress. Now everything that needed to be done and prepared had been completed, and all that remained was to await the outcome of the peace talks.

I wonder if we'll be able to reach an agreement?

Will those Nepalese people willingly allow themselves to be controlled by the authorities?

Will the special envoy from the Kingdom of Locke be able to control the situation?
Li Wei is really looking forward to it.

(End of this chapter)