"May I inquire about your intentions in controlling the governance of Lordan? Everyone, except you, has evacuated from here!"
Due to the absence of the pressure from the subjects and the practical transfer of lordship to others, it was evident that Weng Ling had relaxed considerably.
Turning back, Ye Sangeng looked around. The midday sun shone on the white walls of the buildings, emitting a few warm spots. In the wild grass at the corner of the wall, two white flowers swayed gently in the breeze.
On the spacious streets, the smooth edges of the bricks, once trodden by crowds, were now covered with patches of moss. If a heavy rain were to fall, pedestrians passing by might find themselves in a bit of trouble.
Unfortunately, the crowd had long disappeared, leaving only empty streets and the silent city of Lordan.
"I quite like it here," Ye Sangeng did not directly answer Weng Ling. "Why don't you show me around Lordan?"
Weng Ling shrugged, "Strange fellow, what's there to see in an empty city? Follow me, and if you get lost, I won't bother looking for you!"
Having said that, Weng Ling, lifting her large black hammer, walked ahead. However, her stern face didn't last long. As she introduced, she transformed into a cheerful guide, explaining the history of Lordan to Ye Sangeng.
Originally, Lordan was not even a village, let alone a city. However, after the outbreak of the undead catastrophe, it became a supply point on the front line, mainly responsible for providing timber supplies to the front line, with the source of wood being the Lordan Forest.
With the continuous increase of logging camps, a village for logging workers to rest was established. Later on, due to the tight situation on the front line, people decided to build a city here to resist the invasion of the undead. This was the precursor to Lordan.
Eventually, the undead were fortunately blocked in the Thunder City to the west of Lordan. However, due to severe contamination from the catastrophe, Thunder City had to be abandoned. Even the Lordan Forest was affected by the contamination.
Fortunately, the contamination miraculously did not affect the trees but rendered the land unsuitable for crop cultivation. As a result, Lordan was able to continue existing.
The lordship, passed down from generation to generation, eventually ended up in the hands of Weng Ling. She showed the tattoo-like seal in the palm of her hand to Ye Sangeng, tempting him:
"Don't you want this thing? Just bring this seal to the Saint Silver Church to register the lordship, and you'll gain recognition from the kingdom! Aren't you afraid I'll change my mind in the future?"
For non-direct blood relatives to transfer lordship, both parties had to go to the Saint Silver Church for notarization. Otherwise, the territory would be directly reclaimed. This was to prevent situations where lords were coerced. However, if it was a bribery, no one would intervene.
Ye Sangeng gave her a disdainful look, "If you regret it, just regret it. Anyway, I will depose you first."
Weng Ling: ...
Was it really necessary to say such things in her presence?
Autistic, she was being autistic.
Seeing Weng Ling once again closing her mouth because of Ye Sangeng, Bede glanced at Ye Sangeng and went forward, holding Weng Ling's arm. Soon, the laughter of the two people rang out, and now Ye Sangeng became the lone figure.
However, he didn't mind. He had already understood the general situation of Lordan.
The whole city was divided into east and west gates. The east gate faced the Heavenly Stone City, and the west gate faced the direction of the Lordan Forest. Unfortunately, apart from the contaminated Lordan Forest, the other lands outside the city were reduced to hills where some grains could be grown. The rest had been lost in the previous land deed competition.
The situation inside the city was not much better. Since Lordan City originated from the logging industry, most of the residents were loggers. Of the 800-plus buildings in the city, more than 700 were civilian buildings made of wood. The remaining stone buildings were probably the residences of merchants and officials.
So, what Weng Ling described as the glory of Lordan was essentially sustaining the residents inside the city by selling raw materials. However, in Ye Sangeng's eyes, this approach was quite foolish and obstructive.
This method of selling raw materials might work for initial accumulation, but over so many years, Lordan City surprisingly hadn't developed a corresponding wood processing industry?
One could say that Weng Ling's ancestors might have found it too easy to make money lying down and never bothered to think about it. What if the forest was cut down or burned down one day?
And now, it was the worst-case scenario:
The forest resources were gone, the residents were gone, and the Heavenly Stone City was eyeing them from outside. However, Ye Sangeng still took the opportunity to demand control of Lordan City from Weng Ling.
In his view, this was a rare opportunity.
As for Weng Ling, this innocent child...
Ye Sangeng glanced at the two people who were whispering and occasionally stealing glances at him, pinching his temples.
"It's so troublesome. I wonder if Bede can charm her too..."
"I've finished touring the city. If you want to continue chatting, go ahead. I'll go back first and call someone to move things!"
After leaving this sentence, Ye Sangeng ran back to the outside of the west gate. Since the biggest source of soul energy, the goblins, had already been killed, he had to build the corpse-stopping wooden house today to save a bit of soul energy.
Fortunately, as Weng Ling said, the residents who moved were indeed in a hurry, leaving some worthless items in their homes.
After an afternoon of looting, Ye Sangeng nodded in front of the pile of tools on the floor:
"Three hundred axes, seventy saws, fifty hoes, plus miscellaneous items here and there, all set!"
Summoning the novice skeletons to come and collect the tools, three buildings were quickly built by the diligent skeletons.
Ye Sangeng first checked the corpse-stopping wooden house. The inside of the wooden house was very "simple." Even the ground was not compacted, and besides two double-layer wooden beds, there was nothing else inside, not even a mat.
Trying to lie down for a while, Ye Sangeng felt that the narrow wooden bed seemed to resemble a coffin more and more. He frowned and quickly climbed out.
Next was the undead knife-training camp, which he was more concerned about, but after just one glance, he knew he had been taken advantage of again.
"Charging me three hundred gold just to clear a piece of land and randomly insert ten wooden stakes? What a rip-off!"
Even worse, if he wanted to train the knife soldiers, Ye Sangeng had to bring his own weapons. Fortunately, he had picked up quite a few from the goblins.
Casually pulling over ten good-looking goblin guys and letting them enter the undead knife-training camp with small machetes, Ye Sangeng excitedly rubbed his hands.
"Let's get started!"
[Training ten knife soldiers will consume one gold coin. Are you sure?]
Ye Sangeng: ...
I provide the venue and equipment myself, and you still dare to charge
me?