Zhao Hai was sitting in the living room of the Space's villa. Behind them stood Zhao Hai. Zhao Hai was Ryan, but he had changed his name to Zhao En.
Zhao Hai didn't ask him anything. Ryan had already told Zhao Hai everything he needed to know. Zhao Hai now knew about Carlo's strength, as well as his purpose in coming here.
The heirs of the Markey Dell clan were given a piece of land to manage. Just like how Laura and the others were given the Purcell Duchy, Carlo was given the entire Aksu Empire except for the Purcell Duchy.
Compared to the Purcell Duchy, the entire Aksu Empire was too big. From this point, one could see the gap between Karen and Carlo.
However, Carlo's days weren't so good. Unlike the Purcell Duchy, although the Aksu Empire was big, the Markey Dell clan's shops were already there. Moreover, the business was very good. Although this seemed to be very advantageous for Carlo, one shouldn't forget that the people in the shop were either heirs or people arranged by Sauss. Carlo's every move couldn't be hidden from them. Although the Aksu Empire was big, the Markey Dell clan's shops were already established.
Most importantly, these people were in important positions, and Carlo couldn't easily make a move on them. Therefore, it wasn't easy for Carlo to control the territory that was given to him.
However, the Purcell Duchy didn't have this problem. The Purcell Duchy didn't have the Markey Dell clan's businesses. Although Laura and the others had some difficulties in starting their business, they were able to quickly control their own territories and prevent others from interfering.
However, Carlo was also very formidable. Now, he basically controlled all of the Markey Family's businesses in the Aksu Empire. His strength was also increasing very quickly. Aside from the fact that he didn't have any 9th rank experts, his strength was already comparable to an average Intermediate Noble. He had more than a dozen 8th ranks, and this was only what Ryan knew. After all, Carlo was a gloomy person, so it was impossible for him to fully trust Ryan.
The reason why Carlo paid attention to the Purcell Duchy was because of the insect disaster. The insect disaster had already spread throughout the Aksu Empire, so the methods of the Great Merchant Clans were known by the Aksu Empire's influential figures. Regarding the Purcell Clan's method of dealing with the insect disaster, the Great Nobles didn't think much of it. They only thought that the Purcell Clan was very lucky to have met Zhao Hai.
Rather than saying that these people had noticed the insect plague in the Purcell Duchy, it was better to say that they had noticed the sudden emergence of Zhao Hai. They all had the same question, where did Zhao Hai come from? Where did his things come from?
When Laura began to sell the Taoyuan products, these people realized that there was a huge business opportunity. However, these people also knew that Zhao Hai was a great benefactor to the Purcell Clan. This time, the Purcell Clan's losses weren't small. They knew that Zhao Hai's products were a business opportunity. The Purcell Clan also knew that at this time, making a move against Zhao Hai was tantamount to slapping the Purcell Clan's face. Although the Purcell Clan wasn't the biggest clan, after so many years of development, they were one of the Great Nobles. With two 9th rank experts in the clan, no one dared to underestimate them.
Because of this, no one dared to have any ideas about Zhao Hai. For a business opportunity, becoming enemies with a Great Nobles wasn't something that the Great Nobles would do.
However, Carlo didn't have such scruples. He needed this business opportunity. Among the three strongest successors of the Markey Dell clan, he was the weakest. He needed to quickly improve his strength, so he sent Alodia and Ryan. He thought that as long as these two people came forward, Laura would certainly cooperate. When the time came, he would be able to smoothly take over Zhao Hai's things.
He didn't expect that not only would Laura not cooperate, but she would also lock up Alodia. When he heard that Alodia was locked up, Ryan knew that things were bad. They wanted to kidnap Laura and then have her release Alodia. They wanted to find a way to snatch Zhao Hai from Laura's hands.
Of course, if Laura resisted too fiercely, they wouldn't be afraid of taking her life. As long as Laura died, the Purcell Duchy would be like a group of dragons without a leader. They might be able to smoothly take over the Purcell Duchy's industries. However, they didn't expect that the Eagle Virtuous Phantasms sent by Zhao Hai would catch them on the spot and turn them into undead creatures.
This information was useful to Zhao Hai, but it wasn't very useful. Therefore, Zhao Hai didn't care about it. After asking, he had Zhao En keep an eye on the Space and watch the Eagle Virtuous Phantasms' flight path. Otherwise, they wouldn't know when they would reach Flower City.
Green and the others sat across from Zhao Hai and didn't speak. After a while, Green said, "Young Master, I think that telling Miss Laura about our identities isn't necessarily a bad thing. Miss Laura should have a sense of propriety. Moreover, she took away so many undead creatures from us. Even if Miss Laura wants to deal with us, we will know in advance."
Zhao shook his head. "I'm not worried about Laura betraying us, but I'm thinking about the alliance with the Purcell clan. Although Evan has been good to us, we can see that Evan is a very qualified politician. If we let him notice something, it might bring us trouble." Zhao shook his head. "I'm not worried about Laura betraying us, but I'm worried about the alliance with the Purcell clan.
Green shook his head and said, "That shouldn't be the case. If Miss Laura didn't want to betray us, then she wouldn't have told Evan about us. It's impossible for Evan to know."
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "I hope so. Zhao En also told me about Carlo's situation. I don't care about Carlo's strength, but if Carlo has this kind of strength, then the Markey Dell clan's strength must be very strong. It seems like we've really bumped into a hard nut this time."
Green coldly snorted and said, "It's not a big deal. As long as we cooperate with the Purcell clan, then the Markey Dell clan wouldn't be able to do anything to us. A Rank Nine expert isn't that easy to deal with. However, the Purcell clan also has a lot of Rank Eight experts, so we still need to be on guard."
Zhao Hai nodded, then he looked at the map as well as the terrain on the screen. He let out a long breath and said, "I just hope that Carlo and the others won't make a move in the next few days. According to the map, we should be able to reach Flower City in about two days. I hope that Carlo can give us that time."
Green also glanced at the screen and then at the map. He nodded and said, "Looking at the terrain on the map, we should be able to reach Huacheng in the afternoon of the day after tomorrow. During this period of time, we must not leave the space."
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "Let's have Zhao En look after us. If we go out and have something happen, then he'll be able to send us a message faster. Right now, I'm afraid that before we reach Flower City, there will be Rank Nine magic beasts or undead that will attack us."
Green frowned and said, "It's best that they don't attack us. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for us to reach Flower City. I hope that this time, we'll be able to go as smoothly as Buffy."
However, the few people in the room didn't believe Green's words. Green also said that it was just a hope. At that time, Buffy was a Rank Nine expert. The other Rank Nine experts naturally didn't want to provoke him. On the other hand, the Eagle Virtuous Phantasms didn't have the strength of a Rank Nine expert. Strictly speaking, it would be good if they had the strength of a Rank Six. Rashly breaking into a Rank Nine expert's territory was very dangerous.
A Rank Nine expert's dignity couldn't be lightly offended. Whoever dared to offend them would undoubtedly die. It was precisely because of this that Zhao Hai was even more careful.
The few people in the room talked for a while before leaving the villa. Now that the Farm Space had been upgraded to Level 15, it had a total of 48 mu of land. In addition to planting eight mu of radishes, ten mu of oil fruits, ten mu of bamboo rice, ten mu of corn, and ten mu of cabbage. As for the remaining ten mu of land, Zhao Hai planted two mu of cabbage and two mu of potatoes. Although they were a bit different, they were roughly the same. He also planted two mu of sweet peppers, two mu of green lettuce, and two mu of green fruits.
The oil fruits and bamboo rice were things that Laura normally needed. As for cabbage and potatoes, Zhao Hai wanted to save some and then sell these things to Laura. However, he needed to save some. After all, the things produced in the Taoyuan were still very popular on the continent. When the time came, there wouldn't be a shortage of goods.
The Space didn't need to be taken care of. When it was time to collect things, it was time to plant things. Zhao Hai didn't need to spend too much effort on it.
Iron Mountain didn't have anything to do now. The land in the valley had been taken care of. The slaves had also planted good things in the land near Iron Mountain Fort, so he didn't need to worry about it.
He didn't improve the land near Iron Mountain Fort. He only improved a thousand mu. In addition to the ten mu he rewarded to Chee and Hee, the rest of the land was planted by the slaves with some ordinary vegetables. They weren't magic vegetables. Although these ordinary vegetables weren't as good as magic vegetables, they took less time to mature than magic vegetables. Moreover, as long as they were preserved, they could be stored for a long time like cabbage. Now that it was autumn, they had to prepare for winter.
Now, winter food and winter clothing were enough. The food produced by the Space could be eaten fresh at any time, so there wasn't a problem. In addition to the rabbit meat that Laura sold, they had saved up a lot of rabbit skins. Along with some cotton clothes bought from Casa City, there wasn't a problem.
Burning materials wasn't a problem. Now, Zhao Hai had a lot of oil fruit trees, corn stalks, and corn cobs. With the bamboo rice, it should be enough. The problem of drinking water was also solved. Even if the moat froze, it was still in the mountain lake. Even if the mountain lake froze, it was still in Zhao Hai's Space. If it didn't work, they could still use the frozen water. In any case, there wasn't much to do in winter, so it shouldn't be a problem to eat.
In order to be afraid that the food was too simple, Zhao Hai deliberately left some blue-eyed rabbits. This way, they could improve the food during winter. If the slaves in other places knew about the living conditions of the slaves in the Black Waste, he feared that the slaves would commit suicide.