Chapter 742: The Giant Pea

The Lightgreen Gem Dragon still lies unconscious on Dodo Island—what exactly are the dragon knight candidates of the Kingdom of the Eagle riding on?

"It's probably a ploy to prevent political instability in the kingdom by spreading false rumors about the dragon’s survival. And considering that the Kingdom of the Eagle, despite knowing they can't match the Sapphire Duchy's fleet strength, still sent out numerous ships, it seems less like harassment of trade routes and more like a covert search for the Lightgreen Gem Dragon, right?"

Liszt put the pieces together quickly.

By releasing these false rumors in a timely manner, the Kingdom of the Eagle prevented the situation from spiraling into chaos. After all, while the dragon knight is dead, the dragon itself remains, meaning their military power hasn't been significantly weakened.

Although a dragon knight is far stronger than an ordinary dragon, the difference isn't insurmountable. Otherwise, dragon knights would have long since eradicated all wicked dragons, leaving none alive.

Strictly speaking, within the dragon knight system, the knight serves as the leader, but the dragon is the true embodiment of combat strength. Even the Dragon Aura Manual requires the dragon to unleash its power. Without a knight's support, a dragon can only exert about 70% of its strength, but with a knight's assistance, it can reach up to 110%.

"Ka Erluo was originally stationed at the border with the Blastfurnace Kingdom. Now, with the Kingdom of the Eagle falsely claiming the Lightgreen Gem Dragon is still alive—and given the intermarriage between the two royal families—they’ve managed to stabilize relations with the Blastfurnace Kingdom... The Kingdom of Steel Ridge likely won’t get a chance to ally with the Blastfurnace Kingdom for a joint attack."

"Should I leak the news about the Lightgreen Gem Dragon?" Liszt pondered whether he should make a big move.

The benefits were obvious: disrupting the Kingdom of the Eagle’s stability would leave them too preoccupied to focus on the sea.

But he certainly couldn’t admit that he had obtained the Lightgreen Gem Dragon—that might provoke the three great kingdoms to unite in another War of Dragon Extermination to prevent his rise. Nor could he claim the dragon had fallen into the sea and died, as nations would scramble to salvage the immensely valuable corpse.

"Forget it. Provoking or destabilizing the Kingdom of the Eagle further might blow back on me. I’m still too weak—biding my time before declaring kingship is the wiser path. Focus on steady growth, wait for the Lightgreen Gem Dragon to recover, and then, with the combined power of two dragons and an Archmage, proclaim my rule over the seas."

A dragon knight plus an Archmage—such a force would pose a threat to the mainland kingdoms, but not enough to justify drastic action.

It would be just enough to make them wary, yet not desperate enough to act.

Adding another dragon would tip the scales. The mainland kingdoms would never tolerate another maritime kingdom rising. A new kingdom would inevitably absorb the Sapphire Duchy, and with three dragons and an Archmage, coastal kingdoms would lose sleep over it, likely triggering a larger War of Dragon Extermination.

Maintaining the current balance of power is more beneficial.

"Either way, I must already be a household name in the mainland kingdoms." Liszt felt a flicker of pride. Who would’ve thought that backwater baron from back then would become such a sensation? "The Kingdom of Steel Ridge is dispatching an envoy to meet me—what’s their goal? To bring me into the fold?"

The Sapphire Duchy is a tributary state of the Kingdom of Steel Ridge. Perhaps this time, Steel Ridge has the same idea—wanting Liszt’s future kingdom to become its tributary.

"If that’s the case, should I agree?"

A tributary state offers tribute to its suzerain in exchange for protection. The Sapphire Duchy’s former dominance at sea was possible only because the Kingdom of Steel Ridge tied down the Kingdom of the Eagle, preventing them from retaliating. Otherwise, the Kingdom of the Eagle would have long targeted the Sapphire Duchy.

Even so, the Sapphire Duchy came close to collapse—proof of a duchy’s disadvantage against a kingdom.

"Logically, becoming a tributary state isn’t necessarily a bad arrangement if the terms are favorable. But it depends on where my kingdom is located. If it’s too far from the Kingdom of Steel Ridge, vassalage would be pointless… I’ll wait for the envoys to arrive and hash it out with Marquis Niuwei."

...

Snow was falling heavily, with only half a month left until the New Year.

Good news kept coming. The Thorn Bug had successfully hatched, and Liszt smoothly formed a contract. Over a hundred knights had come to pledge allegiance, though they were only ordinary earth knights. Pilgrim mages also arrived in droves, enrolling in the Magic Guild in hopes of earning guidance from the Archmage through their research.

Meanwhile, a new variety of thorns from an outer island was swiftly transported back to Black Horse Island. Liszt immediately had Jie La extract its pheromones.

But as expected, even after extraction, the smoke mission remained incomplete.

Clearly, one new thorn variety wasn’t enough—more were needed.

The Abandoned Insect Mushroom trade plan also progressed swiftly. Three selected noble families had sent people with mushroom spores and serfs to Black Horse Island for the exchange. The three new varieties were: the earth-attribute Giant Termitomyces, the water-attribute White Stinkhorn, and the wind-attribute Green Wood Ear.

The trade went smoothly—none of the three families wanted to miss out on the new Abandoned Insect Mushrooms.

However, Frostfire Mushrooms can only be cultivated in winter. Despite their superior quality compared to ordinary Flame Mushrooms, their value remains significantly lower.

This time, Liszt not only failed to earn any gold coins from the trade but ended up losing five hundred gold coins instead.

By now,

The territory has acquired ten types of Abandoned Insect Mushrooms:

Water-attribute Blue Matsutake and White Stinkhorn; Earth-attribute Golden Thread Fungus and Giant Termite Mushroom; Wind-attribute Green Wood Ear; Thunder-attribute Thunder Puffball; Ice-attribute Lion's Mane Mushroom; Dark-attribute Black Truffle; and Fire-attribute Flame Mushroom and Frostfire Mushroom. Together covering eight magical attributes, only the Light-attribute insect mushroom is still missing.

Once all Abandoned Insect Mushrooms reach a critical scale of cultivation, the output of magical herbs will not fall far below that of a single Grand Sprite. However, cultivating Abandoned Insect Mushrooms requires far more manpower than ordinary plants. Even though the number of serfs in the territory has exceeded one hundred thousand, labor is becoming increasingly scarce.

Both the paper mill and glass workshop are expanding operations, and seawater salt production is also being promoted.

In this pre-industrial era, these industries require massive amounts of manpower—hundreds of thousands barely make a dent, a mere drop in the ocean.

"Ironhoof City still has a hundred thousand serfs. Since there are no spirit bugs there to farm, perhaps I should relocate them all to Black Horse Island and focus on its comprehensive development," Liszt thought as he reviewed the increasing demand for serfs reported by his officials. He finally made a decision: "Xavier, notify Isaiah to prepare arrangements for receiving the new serfs."

Isaiah had been promoted to Administrator of Port Town, filling Blair's former position.

Meanwhile, Gort and the previous Administrator Blair had already departed for Ironhoof City. Liszt planned to write to Gort, instructing him to make preparations to gradually transfer fifty thousand serfs from Ironhoof City.

Ironhoof City could then focus on developing commerce, while its lands would be leased to the Tulip family for farming.

As Flame Territory bustled with activity, a group of knights bearing the flag of the Rainstone Family arrived at Black Horse Port, accompanying the Tulip family’s fleet.

At their head was Dean Rainstone, eldest son of the Angry Tide Marquis.

Liszt received Dean at Thorn Castle, accompanied by the Angry Tide Marquis Dimaria Rainstone, and a Grand Sprite slumbering peacefully inside a jade case.

Round and verdant green, with a small sprout bearing green pods atop its head.

This was a Pea Great Spirit.