Evil dragon has a warm heart
Chapter 404 - 404 403 Patrolling the border

Chapter 404: Chapter 403 Patrolling the border Chapter 404: Chapter 403 Patrolling the border Where there were mountains, they blasted through them; where there was ice, they shattered it.

With the miracle of brute force, Russell not only carved through a segment of the Sharp Knife Mountain Range but also cleared a straight road to the Blackflame Plains atop the fractured snowfields.

The road construction crew needed only to sweep away the broken ice, level the road, and then pave it with a layer of charcoal dust.

It could be said that with Russell’s help, the construction time for this temporary road linking Glowing Valley with the Blackflame Plains was dramatically shortened. By the time the warm season arrived, and the ice and snow began to melt into water, the road had already been completed.

This charcoal dust road was named the Firelight Commercial Road.

After the commercial road opened to traffic, the 65,000 serfs who had been temporarily housed in various estates throughout Glowing Valley and who were slightly acclimated to the climate of the Warm Enclave began to steadily move to the Blackflame Plains to reclaim farmland.

“About 10,000 serfs can be used for castle construction, the Black Oil Mine can employ about 5,000, and building the three main roads can accommodate 10,000 more…”

In Fluorescent Castle, Roland was calculating how to arrange for Russell’s serfs: “The remaining 40,000 serfs, 30,000 can be used for reclamation, and 10,000 for constructing irrigation works, which should see us through this year.”

The Blackflame Plains were still barren lands, and the serfs had no savings to sustain themselves.

Relying solely on the provision of food from Russell, and then waiting for the farmland to be cultivated and crops to be harvested, would clearly be a huge waste of labor.

Moreover, it was not conducive to managing the serfs.

Therefore, finding work for every serf and disbursing rations based on work was the best choice during these difficult times.

“Let’s arrange it that way,” Russell nodded. “Charles, I hereby appoint you as the Governor-General of Blackflame Plains, responsible for assisting my brother in coordinating the entire territory’s reclaiming construction and managing all the serfs.”

Charles immediately knelt on one knee, overwhelmed with emotion: “As you wish, my Sir!”

Roland glanced at Charles and said, “Reclamation is the top priority, especially the planting of food crops. This is a matter that affects the food problem of all the serfs in the Blackflame Plains next year. Charles, you’ll join me later to inspect the Blackflame Plains to first identify land suitable for cultivation.”

“Yes, Mr. Roland.”

“Big brother, I leave the reclamation of my territory in your hands,” Russell smiled. The mobilization for war in the Grand Duchy had begun, and he needed to patrol the borders with the Dragon Blood Knights, preventing him from personally directing affairs in his own lands.

Roland laughed heartily: “Rest assured, Russell. I’ll be the perfect steward for you.”

The work was arduous, but Roland took great pleasure in it.

Glowing Valley had always been Baron Roman’s territory, and it wasn’t yet his turn to inherit it. Russell’s lands offered him a perfect opportunity to display his talents.

Of course.

The talent he displayed was more in personnel management. After all, the Blackflame Plains’ current task was to break ground, with farming, road construction, and mining being the basic planning elements. The first priority was to ensure the serfs had enough to eat, and only then could further planning take place.

One day, Russell rode the Black Oil Dragon Ross, looking down at the Blackflame Plains from the sky.

After being washed over for half a year, the contours of the Blackflame Plains had stabilized into a triangular territory.

The area was about three thousand five hundred square kilometers.

Apart from a few areas with some ups and downs, most of the territory was a vast stretch of flat land. Originating from the hot spring in the center of the territory, three winding waterways extended to the outer perimeter of the territory, flowing into the still-forming underground cavern.

It could be said that any part of the Blackflame Plains could be turned into farmland.

“And it’s suitable for mechanized farming… I wonder if I can develop an internal combustion engine in the future to replace manual labor. Otherwise, relying only on these tens of thousands of serfs for farming, cultivating one-third of the land would be the limit.”

Without mechanized farming, there were not enough animals, nor was there fertilizer.

As you can imagine, the yield of the land would certainly not be high, at least during the initial years of reclamation, it would barely be enough to fill the bellies of the serfs.

Of course, with the support of the Fluorescent Fungi Family behind him, Russell certainly didn’t need to struggle so hard.

“I won’t think about it now. Let my brother start the reclamation for me. Once I’ve dealt with Snow Giant Da’s problem, I can come back and farm in peace.”

“Roar!” Ross roared, flying off to the north.

The Shadow Guard has already sent word, the Dragon Blood Knights have arrived at the northern Populus Gobi, and they will start their patrol from the boundary further north of the Populus Gobi. They will circle around the Shadowflame Grand Duchy, hunt down Snow Demons, and attempt to draw out Snow Giant Da.

The thunder intensified, and the speed was swift.

Unbeknownst to him, Russell had already ridden the Black Oil Dragon and had reached the Populus Gobi. Without resting at Fort Poplar, he directly found the Dragon Blood Knights who had already entered the snowfield.

“Russell, you’ve arrived,” Count Merlin said, riding on the Manganese Steel Dragon, catching Russell midair.

“Yes, Grandfather.”

“Patrolling the border is tough work, you must prepare yourself.”

“Don’t worry, Grandfather,” Russell said with a slight smile, hunting Snow Demons deep in the snowfield had been his planned agenda all along.

Even without the patrol tasks of the Dragon Blood Knights, he would still have gone to the snowfield to hunt Snow Demons to provide nourishment for the growth of Little Dream Dragon.

The combat methods of the Dragon Blood Knights are quite unique.

A dozen Phantom Beast Knights are responsible for attracting Snow Ghosts around them, and once the Snow Ghosts gather, that’s when the Dragon Blood Knights will launch their charge. The resonating battalion combat Magic Power can shatter the surrounding wind and snow, crushing the Snow Ghost Group in an instant.

After crushing them, a focused cleanup follows, until the entire Snow Ghost Group is completely wiped out.

Occasionally encountering Snow Demons, they respond in the same way, crushing them directly with battalion resonance, also without taking too much time.

Moreover, avoiding the ambush under the ice by Snow Demons after being attacked three to five times.

Before charging, the Dragon Blood Knights will have specialized Phantom Beast Knights responsible for monitoring the movements of the ice cap, ensuring that there are no Snow Demons hiding underneath it.

“The Scholars’ Roundtable Council specially developed detection arrows for the Knight Regiment, using magic attributes of metals and gems to create arrows that carry out vibration sensing over a large area of the ice cap. As soon as there is a Snow Demon hiding under the ice, it will trigger the whistle of the detection arrows,” explained Count Merlin.

The pathfinding Phantom Beast Knights would draw their bows and shoot arrows, and the specially constructed metal and gemstone arrows would emit rings of magic vibrations upon landing.

This is a type of Formation arrow developed with reference to magic, capable of triggering a Formation to deploy a magic-like detection method.

The detection arrows can also be collected after the scouting is done.

“Seems a bit similar to the Lightning Spear?” Russell asked, curious.

“Similar applications of magic. The Grand Scholar Roundtable has been analyzing the magic of Phantom Beasts for hundreds of years and has finally produced some useful things,” responded Count Merlin indifferently, “It’s worth the Red Castle’s spending to support them.”

Suddenly.

A sharp whistle erupted from the detection arrows shot out in front.

“There’s a Snow Demon lurking under the ice cap, circumvent, circumvent!” commanded several vice-commanders of the Dragon Blood Knights, quickly giving orders.

“Grandfather, can you discern if it’s a Snow Demon or a Snow Giant lurking underneath?” Russell asked, his eyebrows raised.

Count Merlin shook his head: “Not yet.”

“Then I will leave you to protect the Dragon Blood Knights, Grandfather. I will flush out this little mouse!” said Russell, patting the neck of the Black Oil Dragon Ross.

Understanding each other perfectly.

The Black Oil Dragon Ross immediately plunged downwards with Russell on its back.

As they dived, Russell had already switched to combat mode, and his Meteor Butterfly Sword was ready to attack the ice cap where the Snow Demon was hiding.

Secret Technique: Sword of Thunder!

Boom!

Thousands of thunders accompanied the attack of the Meteor Butterfly Sword into the ice cap, instantly shattering a large area of it.

A deep blue figure could no longer hide and leaped from the shattered ice cap.