Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 328: Planning the Territory's Future

"The third thing I'm announcing — and this must be written into the territory's legal code, as the third article — is this: this territory was blessed by the gods of all heavens, conferred by His Majesty the great King, established under the leadership of the honored Duke, and won by me, Li Wei, the first Flame Baron, through blood and battle. Therefore, the ownership of this territory — its legal right — will forever belong to me, Li Wei, and my descendants."

"They will, in accordance with the law of succession, under the witness of all territory Freemen and the protection of the loyal Riverside Knights, become the masters of this territory."

Li Wei spoke slowly and clearly. Of everything he had announced today, this was unquestionably the most important. And each of these announcements was linked to the others.

First: they had agreed to build the All-Heavens Temple, agreed to the blessing of the gods, and accepted the divine mandate — to guarantee the most basic humanitarian protections. This phrase was nothing new to them. It had been repeated from the moment they bound their first Profession Card, woven through everything from the very beginning. Even if they hadn't believed it at first, they couldn't deny it now.

Second: the establishment of law.

The gods on one side, the law on the other, and the territory's right of succession in between.

This time Li Wei didn't ask for anyone's opinion. They didn't need to have one.

This had to be written as the third article of the law.

As for the first two articles — did he really need to spell them out? Article one: guarantee the most basic humanitarian protections. Article two: eternal loyalty to the King and the Duke.

If anyone ever wanted to overthrow him, they'd first have to find a way to do it without legally contradicting those two articles.Li Wei continued.

"Six months from now, when the territory legal code is complete, the territory's departments will be restructured. I'm establishing five departments: Internal Affairs, Engineering, Combat, Commerce, and Magic."

"Internal Affairs will oversee civilian welfare, legal proceedings, personnel selection and development, education, food safety, food reserves and agricultural production, merit evaluation, disciplinary oversight, future territory development planning, and Temple management. It will be the senior department among the five, headed by a Chief Internal Officer and supported by deputies."

"Engineering will be responsible for design, planning, construction, and maintenance of all projects large and small. It will also be responsible for scouting and extracting resources from the wilderness, and managing the industrial materials warehouse. Headed by a Chief Engineer and supporting staff."

"Combat will handle daily patrol and security, provide protection for Engineering and Internal Affairs personnel on external resource-gathering operations, and bear responsibility for active exploration, scouting, and initiating combat. It will also be responsible for defending the territory and its fortresses."

"Commerce will manage the territory market, trade relations, commodity supply, and economic development budgeting."

"Magic will manage the Magic Ore Vein, the Enchanting Blacksmith Workshop, and any future potion preparation facilities."

"These five departments are provisional. They will be adjusted as circumstances require. The heads of the five departments will form the Territory Cabinet. When the Lord is absent or unable to manage territorial affairs, the Territory Cabinet will govern in his place."

What Li Wei had laid out was the product of his thinking over this period. Territory development could never focus only on external threats — the internal systems for doing work, managing affairs, planning, and oversight all needed to be streamlined, capable of running systematically and sustainably. That was the most important thing.

You couldn't say that because this was a world of magic, none of this mattered — that magical productivity would solve everything. It wouldn't.

The territory's population was still under a thousand. Laying out this framework now, building the architecture in advance, meant that as the population grew, management would scale naturally.

Nelson, Linus, Grant, and the others genuinely understood what Li Wei was saying. And they understood his intent.

The worry that had lingered in some of their minds was replaced by something warmer and more respectful.

Because these four announcements had essentially resolved the question of how interests would be divided between Li Wei and the territory's elite Freemen. It was a four-article compact between them.

"Now — let's talk about the territory's future development. I have a few ideas. Let's discuss them."

Li Wei continued. "I reviewed Nelson's territory development strategy. One proposal was to build a wall encircling the small town within the next few months. That was my original idea as well. But the outside world is changing, and we need to change with it."

"So my current thinking is to set aside the town wall for now, and instead build a fortress in the northern mountain valley. If possible, we can use the natural terrain and supplement it with a section of wall, establishing control over the northern mountain region."

"Here — this is a map I sketched during my free time."

Li Wei produced a large drawing board, roughly one meter on each side. On it was a bird's-eye view of the northern mountain region, complete with contour lines and details of ravines and tree cover.

His hands were now precise and steady to a near-perfect degree, and he could hold a detailed three-dimensional image in his mind with ease. The map had been effortless.

"I'm not proposing a northern wall to hold back outside threats. My idea is control — using a fortress to project influence outward in all directions."

"North of Valley Town, the mountains stretch continuously. Heavily forested, rich in resources, with a large expanse of farmable land nearby. If we build a fortress there, couldn't we establish a farmstead alongside it? On that point, Riverside Fortress has done well. Linus — in three days, bring a few engineers and come with me to Riverside Fortress. We'll study what's been built there."

"I know your concern: if we spread too thin and an enemy concentrates force to break one point, the territory can't respond in time. That's a real problem. Potentially fatal."

"But we also have certain advantages right now."

"First: we don't yet have any truly powerful enemies."

"Second: the Magic Ore Vein. It protects a five-kilometer radius, absorbing chaotic magical particles to the greatest extent possible. Which means that even during the Radiation Storm months, as long as the Ore Vein is running, we can live and work freely within the core zone — no need to hide underground, no constant fear of Blood Plague seeping in."

"Our defensive perimeter has already extended to five kilometers out. Do you understand what that means?"

"Under these conditions, we no longer need to fight from behind the existing walls. We need to fight at the five-kilometer boundary — and even in a crisis, at worst we're fighting two or three kilometers out."

"Our third advantage: we have a powerful Caster holding the territory. She guards the main base. I hold Riverside Fortress. We use this period of relative peace to develop and accumulate resources."

"Additionally, I plan to select five more combat squads from the Freemen, bringing the total to eleven squads — 110 combat personnel."

"My deployment plan: I'll take three newly formed combat squads, along with thirty couples and their children. These people will form Riverside Fortress's core population — because I plan to open 500 mu of farmland there this year. For the next year or two, Riverside Fortress's importance is beyond question."

"Because Riverside Fortress controls the upper reaches of the southern river and sits at the convergence of three roads. If we treat that southern river as our southern shield, Riverside Fortress is the critical pivot point of our entire territorial structure — even if it's a bit distant."

"In time, we'll also have the capacity to develop Sica City."

"But honestly, all of this is secondary. Our goal right now remains the same two things: survive, and survive with some dignity. I hope you'll all work toward that with me."

The meeting ended. Everyone had detailed work to do based on the objectives Li Wei had laid out.

The Northern Fortress in particular wasn't something that could be resolved with words alone. It was a massive undertaking — building it would likely consume the entire year's construction capacity.

But even Nelson, Linus, and Grant didn't think it was a bad idea.

Valley Town to the north was only about eleven or twelve kilometers away in a straight line — close enough that a few minutes in an electric bus would cover it. And Li Wei wasn't wrong: the northern mountains, though not particularly tall, stretched continuously toward the northwest on a considerable scale. A road ran through them, passing Valley Town. Build a fortress there, lock it down, and the geographic advantage was significant.

Not to mention the coal and iron ore deposits. Even if the reserves were modest, they'd be more than sufficient to supply a barony of several thousand people.

Add in nearby farmland and mountain streams — ideal for a farmstead.

And this year, they could also stockpile more building materials, preparing for a fortress in the east next year.

Li Wei left the later details to others. His role was overall strategy. If he tried to manage everything himself, forty-eight hours in a day still wouldn't be enough.

"Xuanxuan — where do things stand with the enchanted weapons and equipment? How much enchanted steel stock is left?"

Li Wei asked casually as he and Zhao Xuanxuan headed downstairs. He was starting to feel the weight of a growing operation — too many moving parts to track personally.

"I was just about to bring that up. The enchanted steel ingots are basically exhausted. The bulk went into the Enchanted Chariots — two are essentially complete. The enchanted weapons actually used less material, because the Freeman soldiers aren't strong enough to need more than Two-Star enchanted weapons. Only Benjamin, Mark, Santiago, and Grant need Three-Star."

"As for enchanted armor — mostly enchanted scale armor, which requires enchanted plates. Time-consuming, labor-intensive, material-heavy. It might be another three months before I can produce a single Three-Star Enchanted Scale Armor. I've actually been thinking about switching to heavy plate armor. What do you think?"

"Me? I have no idea. Why not ask Second Aunt?"

"Second Aunt already weighed in. She said both have their merits. Enchanted scale armor distributes magical energy more evenly, so the enchantment effect is better. Heavy plate armor requires more enchanted iron ingots and a complete magical array inscription — which is beyond what we can manage right now."

"So my question is: can you authorize another five units of magical energy? A lot of the Freeman soldiers still don't have enchanted weapons. Second Aunt said the Ore Vein's safety threshold is 100 units — never drop below that. Anything above 100 is fair game, but stop the moment it hits 100."

Zhao Xuanxuan asked carefully.

"Ha — sorry, Xuanxuan. The Ore Vein's safety threshold is non-negotiable. Unless new magical energy is added, we don't cross that line. Rules are rules. You can't be the first one to break them." Li Wei said firmly.

"Understood. My mistake. But those mercenaries — I looked them over. They're carrying starter-village weapons. Toys. Should we equip them?"

Zhao Xuanxuan asked with a slight grimace.

"Equip them? No need. Let things take their natural course."

Li Wei said it with deliberate meaning.