What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 241. The Beginning of the Ship City, the Naive Jamie

Outside the city of Gray Desert.

Mifi came here in place of Kroya to inspect the first phase of the project and to negotiate with the Gray Sand Lord.

The two had arrived outside the city, just as night was about to end and the sun was about to rise.

Jamie was already waiting here.

He looked somewhat excited, and several young men in uniforms made by Hanjiao Island were standing around him, waiting to introduce the bridge to the two of them.

Beneath their feet was a long, five-meter-wide metal road. The silver-blue metal was particularly dazzling at night, and there were even streetlights illuminating both sides of the road.

Looking up, the silver-blue road stands out brightly in the gray desert, like a road from a myth or legend, appearing at night, full of orderly beauty.

It's truly breathtaking to see such a bridge and road suddenly appear in the chaotic and disorderly desert.

The Gray Sand Lord paused and watched for a while before speaking:

"It must be about ten meters high."

He looked at the pillars below: "Can these purple duckweed really support the weight of these pillars?"

Although he had been paying attention, he had some expectations in his heart, so he didn't look into it in detail. His goal was to be able to personally experience the novelty brought by the silver-blue bridge and those houseboats.

"sure!"

Jamie immediately replied, "Based on our numerous tests, this bridge can withstand a maximum load of about ten tons. You can begin the test now."

Jamie, who had worked in the desert every day and gotten two shades darker, grinned, revealing only his bright white teeth that stood out.

His honest and unassuming demeanor unexpectedly inspired a great deal of trust.

Seeing his expression, Miffy couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you use the sunscreen potion they gave you on the island?"

Upon hearing this, Jamie and the others scratched their heads awkwardly.

They didn't actually use it; that thing was made by a group of female apprentices using materials such as pearls and flower dew from the sea.

It is quite popular among noblewomen and young masters and ladies in the capital. It has a very good whitening effect. It is said that even Vice President Estner and Archmage Celeste highly recommend it.

However, that pearl cream from the ocean is just too fragrant.

Each time it's applied, it becomes an artificial fragrance, filling a three- or four-meter radius with a pleasant aroma. However, when mixed with the smell of sweat, they find it inconvenient and pungent, so they stop applying it.

This resulted in my skin tone darkening by two shades in just one month.

Seeing this, Mi Feiyin immediately understood and said helplessly, "Then I'll make a batch of products for you when we get back."

"Kroya is paying close attention to you all."

Miffy's casual tone made the Gray Sand Lord chuckle—it seemed they were truly confident in their project, otherwise they wouldn't be so calm.

But he still had to conduct an inspection.

It's important to understand that the most basic function of bridges and roads is to facilitate passage. Stability and load-bearing capacity are paramount, especially since they will be used in floods in the future. If they are unstable, it will be extremely dangerous.

"Then I'll test whether it's stable or not."

Immediately, he casually released a huge black fish with hard scales on its body, sharp spikes on its belly, and sharp teeth in its mouth.

The blackfish, like a tank, slid along the bridge with a huff and puff, moving at great speed and quickly disappearing from sight.

"..."

Having witnessed the blackfish sail away, Miffy gripped the wheat bracelet in his hand tightly and whispered, "Leviathan Fish."

The apprentices remained silent, all sensing the deep, evil, and boundless magic emanating from the black fish.

It's obvious he's not a good person.

"Hehe." The Gray Sand Lord waved his hand casually: "It's just a fish, don't worry about it."

He looked at Mifein and invited, "Let's use this fish to reward the children for their hard work. And please use your holy magic to purify the evil power within it."

"..." Mi Fei was silent for a moment, then nodded.

That fish was a member of the Abyss Lord Leviathan's kin. He had been quite skeptical about the extent to which this Sand Lord had wielded Leviathan's power, but now it seemed to be beyond his imagination.

Generally speaking, those who borrow the power of the Abyss Lord are at a disadvantage, but this guy actually dared to ask to eat Leviathan's Familia...

"Is this guy showing off his abilities to prove to me and Kroya that he can stabilize the situation here?" Miffy pondered.

He came here on Kroya's mission, not only to participate in the acceptance and negotiation of the formal contract, but also to see if the situation here was stable.

For infrastructure projects, it can be extremely troublesome if the local lord cannot stabilize the situation.

The protective Kroya didn't want his apprentices to be disturbed or affected by external factors while they were building bridges and houseboats every day.

Judging from the current situation, the Gray Sand Lord, this chosen one of the gods, is no ordinary chosen one. At least in this gray desert, he should be able to suppress some troublesome matters.

Mi Fei knew what was going on.

They did not communicate for the rest of the journey.

They followed the bridge that had been crushed by the Leviathan fish, observing whether the bridge was deformed or unstable. After walking for about a kilometer, they came across the first houseboat.

This houseboat looks like a fortress, with an estimated area of ​​about 200 square meters, and its overall shape resembles a bird's nest.

The surface of the houseboat is covered with fluffy dandelions and intertwined vines, which completely hide the magic patterns deep within the dandelions and vines.

"This building looks nice from the outside. What's inside?"

The Gray Sand Lord looked up at the houseboat with interest, glancing at Jamie beside him.

Jamie explained, "Sir, we build one of these houseboats every two kilometers."

They may vary in size, but they can all accommodate people to live and take refuge here.

Please come with me, I'll show you what's inside.

He quickly took two steps forward, and the tightly closed cabin door of the houseboat sensed someone's arrival and immediately opened slowly, letting bright light stream in from inside.

Grey Sand, Miffy, and the other apprentices followed them into the houseboat, where the first thing they saw was a spacious and bright hall.

The interior design of the lobby this time did not follow the usual exquisite style of Hanjiao Island, but was very simple - bright white floors, walls and ceilings, with some sofas, chairs and other furniture, that's all.

Although it's not particularly refined, its clean and crisp style suits the aesthetic preferences of most people.

Besides... cleanliness itself is a miracle.

The Gray Sand Lord glanced at it and was quite satisfied.

"This place is expected to be able to accommodate 300 people for short-term refuge," Jamie explained. "The houseboat is equipped with basic life support systems, so there will be no shortage of air even in floodwaters."

Furthermore, there are also Void Flower, a magical plant here that can generate air.

He pointed to some inconspicuous flowers in the corner that looked like balloons: "If the air here is too polluted, they will bloom and effectively purify the air."

"What's on this?"

He then led the group on a tour of the rooms that could accommodate more than a hundred people, the restrooms, and even the shared kitchen.

The interiors of these facilities are decorated in an extremely simple style, which was drawn by Kroya in his spare time.

To be honest, by the standards of Han Reef Island, this houseboat is really just a very basic one. But in the gray desert, having a place to take refuge when floods come is really not easy.

After the tour, the Gray Sand Lord couldn't hide his smile and exclaimed, "I didn't expect it to be so special! But building those houseboats and bridges must have taken a lot of resources, right?"

Whether he was a mage or a lord, he knew exactly how much effort was required to create such a place—special materials, intelligently controlled magic rune arrays, and life-sustaining magic runes… He estimated that each one would cost at least tens of thousands of magic crystals.

He could afford to build a few dozen, but the price of spreading such houseboats and bridges across the gray desert on a larger scale is simply unimaginable.

But when he sees something so good, he really finds it hard to refuse.

Upon hearing this, Mi Fei took out a list, cleared her throat, and began to read it aloud:

"The basic material of the houseboat is the Floating Moon Alloy developed by Hanjiao Island. Inside, it uses the life-sustaining array and intelligent control array unique to the Orpheus family of the Elf Kingdom. Each houseboat requires at least one hundred Floating Dandelions and a sufficient number of Evil Sea Purple Demon Duckweed."

He did not specify the exact price of these materials.

However, whether it was the Floating Moon Alloy forged by mages, the life-sustaining array and intelligent array of the Orpheus family, or the specially modified magical plants, these unheard-of things made the Gray Sand Lord wonder.

The unknown and seemingly high-end object gave him the impression that it was extremely expensive.

After a long silence, he asked, "Have you found any mineral deposits?"

According to his verbal agreement with Kroya, all the mineral deposits and magical plants along the project route belong to Kroya and can be mined at will.

He was initially quite confident that the price of these mineral deposits would be sufficient, but now he suddenly became uncertain: is it really enough?

Jamie continued, "So far, a vein of level-one magical material gold sand has been discovered."

"..." The Gray Sand Lord couldn't help but frown.

This gold sand was actually the first gift he gave to Kroya when they first met; it was a special mineral with more decorative than practical value.

Aside from making some decorations and planting earth elemental plants, it serves almost no other purpose.

The price is naturally a major concern.

To be honest, he's even a little worried that Kroya might suddenly leave—why would anyone bother to do infrastructure work for him if there's no money to be made and no resources to be obtained?

Although he did promise Kroya that he would accept any mineral deposit, he couldn't find one in the short term. How much investment would be needed to reap any benefits?

They were all intelligent people, but there wasn't much friendship between them; it was mostly about exchanging interests. He knew this, and he believed that Kroya knew it too.

As he was pondering this, the lights beside him suddenly began to flash, accompanied by a serious warning voice: "Warning, warning, flooding is expected within twenty minutes!"

Please proceed to the nearest shelter immediately!

The sound wasn't just coming from inside the houseboat; it was also playing on a loop on the streetlights standing on both sides of the road outside, accompanied by increasingly rapid flashing of red lights.

This atmosphere made people feel that the situation was very urgent.

Of course, there is no one on this road now; the few people who are there are all staying in their houseboats.

Jamie said, "The flood is coming, so you can take a look at how to deal with it."

"Alright." The Gray Sand Lord temporarily put aside his thoughts and looked up out the window—the flood had arrived.

They suddenly appeared from the sand, and after gathering together, they became a huge flood that blotted out the sky, rushing towards this side with a roar.

Within minutes, the silver-blue bridge and road were completely submerged.

Those bridges still stood firm in the flood.

As time passed, the floodwaters gradually stabilized, and the Evil Sea Purple Demon Water Lily at the bottom of the bridge suddenly sprouted roots, lifting the bridge towards the water's surface.

The entire process was extremely stable; the people inside the houseboat didn't even feel any shaking or turbulence before they were lifted directly onto the water.

Upon reaching the water's surface, the roots of the Evil Sea Purple Demons intertwined and converged, simultaneously unleashing a strange magical power that turned the water into ice, enveloping them.

The base of this bridge, which stretches for tens of kilometers, is encased in ice, making it impervious to the impact of floods.

In this way, the whole system became completely stable.

The road formed by bridges and houseboats floated quietly on the water, unmoved by the turbulent floods, as if it were on flat ground.

The morning light spilled onto these silver-blue bridge beams, the golden light intertwining with the silver-blue glow reflected by the magical alloy, standing tall and exceptionally beautiful amidst the hazy floodwaters.

The voice rang out again:

"The bridge stabilization work has been completed. Please leave in an orderly manner and try not to stick your body out of the bridge railing."

Upon hearing this sound, the Gray Sand Lord, relying on his superior skills and daring, ran directly outside the houseboat and paced back and forth on the bridge, facing the morning light and the warm wind—no matter how much he jumped around, the bridge did not sway, and even when he released another Leviathan fish, the bridge remained sturdy.

"That's unbelievable!"

During the day, they can move freely on the floodwaters like this!

This was something he had never considered!

In his original mind, Kroa was already powerful enough to build a bridge on quicksand, but he never expected that the bridge would also be useful when the flood came.

If more bridges like these could be built to connect various cities and gathering points, wouldn't the impact of the chaotic magic in the Gray Desert be minimized?

People can now move freely through the gray desert, a feat that was not even accomplished before the gray desert was invaded by the magic of Leviathan!

The thought of that scene filled him with excitement; he had already caused irreparable damage to his hometown because of his wrong decisions.

There is still a chance to salvage the situation; we must not let the construction team on Hanjiao Island leave under any circumstances!

In this situation, there's no time to be reserved.

The Gray Sand Lord took out a map from his pocket and said to Milfein, "Let's sign a formal contract. This map is of the mineral veins I've surveyed."

Mineral vein map of the Gray Desert!

It's important to know that chaotic magical environments, after a long period of nurturing, can produce some extremely rare minerals, let alone special areas like the Gray Desert.

It's no exaggeration to say that the most valuable thing in the Gray Desert right now is its mineral deposits.

Mi Feiyin glanced at it and saw a series of precious mineral deposits such as: Desert Heart Stone Mine, Leviathan Abyss Iron, and Howling Gemstone.

Of course, it was covered by magic, so you could only see the name of the mineral deposit but not its exact location—after all, for a superhuman, a glance was usually enough to remember it.

The Gray Sand Lord pointed to the map: "From Gray Sand City to Sand Castle Territory, there are three mineral veins along the way: quicksand iron, topaz, and howling gem."

I will give you the specific location in exchange for you building two bridges and houseboats, each approximately one hundred kilometers long.

Miffy pretended to do some calculations, then nodded: "Okay."

He took out the contract that Kroya had prepared long ago, discussed with Gray Sand about writing down the specific contents and terms, and finally branded it with a magical mark belonging to Gray Sand City and Reef Island.

After the signing was completed, Jamie suddenly spoke up: "Lord Grey Sand, have you ever considered letting us take over the construction of the entire city?"

We can build a fortress consisting of bridges and houseboats, which can float with the flood when it comes and unfold in place when the flood ends.

In this way, the location of Gray Sand City won't be fixed; you can go wherever you want.

This guy was clearly prepared in advance. He took out a blueprint and showed it to the Gray Sand Lord. This blueprint was actually an advanced version that he had shown to Kroya before.

The Gray Sand Lord could certainly see the brilliance of the blueprint at a glance, but after a brief moment of astonishment, he shook his head with difficulty.

"Not now."

He refused, saying, "Once the contents of this contract are completed, I will hand over the construction rights of a small town to you."

The city of Gray Sands holds a special position and cannot be extensively renovated at this time.

Upon hearing this, Jamie nodded, not particularly disappointed.

The apprentice then changed the subject and made a request to Lord Graysand: "Lord Graysand, could you, in the name of the city lord, recruit the slaves? I need them to help us complete some basic construction."

The Sand Lord's eyes suddenly sharpened as he stared at Jamie: "You want to give them a way out?"

Although it is a question, the tone is extremely certain.

Nothing in Grey Sand City could escape his eyes. He was well aware that Jamie had purchased and trained many slaves, and even made some overtly blatant acts of kindness.

"Yes." Jamie nodded, and the apprentices behind him nodded in agreement—Jamie had discussed this with them.

Faced with Jamie's insistence, the Gray Sand Lord nodded noncommittally: "For Kroya's sake, I agree."

After agreeing, he walked outside, but just before entering the floodwaters, he suddenly turned to Jamie and said, "You need to understand the reasons behind the slave trade, otherwise how many people can you save?"

After saying that, he jumped into the water and disappeared.

Only Miffy remained, patting Jamie on the shoulder as he stood there lost in thought: "Sometimes being naive isn't a bad thing, but naivety can lead to some bad results."

This former bishop of the Earth Mother Goddess knew all too well about the slave trade. Ultimately, the slave trade only exists when there is a demand for buying and selling.

If Jamie doesn't clearly recognize this and come up with a solution, it will only lead to more and more slave trading in Grey Sand City.

But he wasn't prepared to explain it directly.

because……

Naïveness isn't always a bad thing; what if it leads to a good outcome?

On this point, his views are very similar to those of Cloa. Changes are a good thing, and even if we hit a wall, they will be there to help us.

He looked at the apprentices who were deep in thought, clapped his hands and said loudly, "The competition on the island is about to end. Kroya said he would give you a break."

Don't overthink it. Come back to Hanjiao Island with me for a vacation. All expenses during the vacation will be free.

Let's get back to work after our vacation.

Vacation!

These two words instantly made the apprentices forget everything, and their eyes all lit up.

Having spent more than two months in the desert, they were indeed starting to miss home, and more importantly... everything was free!

Without a doubt, this must be a reward and benefit given to them by Kroya.

"Very good!"

"Oh ho! Thank you, Lord Chloe!"

"I want to go home and soak in a hot spring!"

Even Jamie put aside his thoughts on the slavery issue and cheered.

Thank you so much for your monthly tickets and recommendation votes!

(End of this chapter)