Lord of Rot

After dinner, Leech sat in his study. He took two books from the bookshelf.

One was written in the Lu Leiyi script, the other in block characters.

The one in the Lu Leiyi script contained his current development plans. The block character book was for recording things he suddenly remembered, like how to make ice cream, how to build an arched bridge, or concepts like bicycles and gears. It also included the steam engine, which, even in his past life, he had no idea how to actually build.

Not knowing was fine. As long as he had the concept, he could just toss it to his subordinates.

’Porcupine Territory Development, Phase Two—scrapped.’ He scribbled on the paper.

Straight to Phase Three!

The discovery of limestone made Leech decide that the next step could be trying to fire bricks, skipping straight to building brick houses.

While quicklime quarries might be somewhat hard to find, the clay needed for bricks was everywhere.

’The commercial district can be planned right away, just to the east of the castle,’ Leech mused, pen in hand. ’Once the docks are built, they can handle foreign trade, creating a whole streamlined operation.’

’Speaking of a streamlined operation, a whole street of bathhouses is very important.’

Although Leech wasn’t particularly envious of Iron Stone City’s reputation as a "holy land," training a few young ladies to give back massages and pedicures so he could enjoy life a little couldn’t be considered debauchery for a lord, could it?

He shook his head, pushing the thought aside for now.

’And the troops, they need to be reorganized.’

The batch of Soldiers from Quick Blade had already been assigned and were starting selection and training, but it was unlikely they’d produce any significant results in the short term.

’Also, blacksmiths.’

Black Ears was a master at forging farm tools, but using the same techniques for making hoes to create a fine sword was a bit much.

It wasn’t just blacksmiths; the shortage of carpenters persisted.

The dwarven carpenters’ craftsmanship was impeccable, and they could keep up with Leech’s thinking, attempting to replicate his ideas. But a carpenter’s role wasn’t just to help the lord develop new gadgets.

As families moved into their new homes one by one, they all needed new beds and new tables, all of which required a carpenter’s hand.

The house construction also needed carpenters’ help.

Even ten more carpenters wouldn’t be enough.

Other craftsmen faced similar situations, more or less. Either their skills weren’t up to par, or there simply weren’t enough of them. Even with sufficient funds, technology and population remained the bottlenecks limiting Porcupine Territory’s development.

’If worst comes to worst, we’ll just encourage procreation! It’s not like we can’t afford to raise them!’

Leech gritted his teeth. ’Have babies. Have a whole damn lot of them!’

He lowered his head and wrote for a while longer before stopping his pen.

He had written down everything he could think of for the current stage. To achieve these goals, Porcupine Territory would have to start turning like a gear, spinning madly.

He didn’t know if it could all be done within the year, but if it was, Porcupine Territory would surely begin to show some faint traces of "civilization."

Before falling asleep, Leech used Eagle Eye to survey Porcupine Territory as usual. It wasn’t just ravens anymore; he had people raising other kinds of birds now too. These birds didn’t just stay within Porcupine Territory—some would even take a loop out over the great sea, expanding Leech’s useful field of vision. However, some birds flew too far, were lost at sea, or ended up in the belly of some higher-level predator.

「Cape Caverns」

Exploration progress remained indefinitely shelved.

Betty opened her eyes. Perhaps a new day had dawned, or perhaps it was still the middle of the night.

She didn’t know how long she had been trapped here.

She had probably gotten used to the darkness, used to this space, her mind habitually going blank.

The entire underground world had been purged during this long night. Winged banshees no longer filled the sky, blue-skinned little monsters no longer roamed the ground, and you could no longer see lizardmen baring their fangs and claws while swishing their tails in the mud pits.

The door creaked open.

The one who entered was a handsome man with lividity spots on his face.

He wore armor and had a Longsword at his waist.

Betty addressed him as "Lord Knight." Although she knew this corpse was no different from the corpses of the blue-skinned monsters, and that the same person controlled them from behind the scenes, it didn’t stop her from distinguishing between the two.

She had often wondered what the person pulling the strings behind the scenes looked like. ’He must be very ugly, to take pleasure in manipulating corpses.’

But he was also gentle.

He would bring her food, water, and even let her bathe.

Ugly and gentle. It was enough to make one become infatuated.

The "Lord Knight" stopped and placed three large packages in front of Betty.

"For me?" Betty asked, pointing to herself.

He nodded.

Betty opened the packages. Inside were all the crafting materials she needed.

There were also two letters attached, written in very beautiful handwriting.

They must have been written by the puppeteer controlling the corpse. Betty added another detail to the image of him in her mind.

Ugly, gentle, and with beautiful handwriting.

’Magic Gunpowder... what a peculiar name.’ Betty thought as she quickly finished the first sheet of paper.

This was the first time she had truly connected with the person behind the scenes. This communication of information sent her into a state of manic excitement, and she couldn’t help but squeeze her thighs together.

The second sheet of paper.

Her breathing grew rapid.

He didn’t promise her freedom. He simply told her it was time to get to work.

’Freedom? Why would I want freedom? I’m starting to like this life. The only thing is I can’t see the starry sky, but if I can continue my research, even that isn’t irreplaceable.’

He had proposed an idea that, in Betty’s eyes, was utterly insane, yet one she couldn’t help but agree with.

Betty knew that the explosive fire she had created was an accident, a product of failure. But the person behind the scenes offered a completely different perspective.

He considered it a highly successful piece of research.

Moreover, he proposed evolutionary paths for the product he had named "Magic Gunpowder."

One path was as a propellant. If you put Magic Gunpowder in a sturdy enough iron tube, added an iron ball, and then ignited it, the force of the explosion would launch the ball. Its power might even be enough to pierce an iron plate.

If this was applied on a large scale, even common farmers could quickly master the use of such a weapon with a little training.

The legendary, invincible Cavalry charges of the continent would become nothing more than suicidal charges by dumbfounded meat targets!

The other path was to increase its explosive power. In this concept, the Magic Gunpowder could be packed into a sealed and sufficiently sturdy iron canister, which could then be thrown and detonated. The power would be unimaginable; even the most fortified castles would have their gates blown open by it. Furthermore, this device, which he had named a "shell," could be used by ordinary people.

He even proposed building an enormous iron tube that used Magic Gunpowder as a propellant to launch the canisters filled with Magic Gunpowder directly. This would have a longer range and greater accuracy than a siege catapult.

Imagine it: setting up this terrifying weapon in a war, then blasting the enemy’s seemingly impregnable walls to rubble.

"Explosions!" It was as if a door to a new world had been opened for Betty.

She had studied under her teacher for a long time, but her only real talent was for explosions.

’If this is really possible... no, it’s precisely because I discovered "Magic Gunpowder" that I’m certain these ideas are absolutely possible.’

’He’s truly a genius!’

A genius who was ugly, gentle, had beautiful handwriting, and shared her ideals.

"I will create them," she said, looking at the nearly-rotted Knight before her. Her face bloomed with a smile she hadn’t worn since entering the caverns, her eyes filled with an irrepressible excitement.

"For our shared ideal!"