Lord of the Magical Beasts

After a well-deserved long night’s sleep Yang Ling woke up the next day to a happy Alice approaching him carrying a basket.

“Brother Yang, this is your favorite – pancakes and milk!”

The lass removed a plate of pancakes and a cup of milk from her basket as if she was performing magic, blushing lightly. Yang Ling did not know if it was because she had to walk some distance to get to his villa, or because she was awkward from seeing Yang Ling’s bare chest.

There were many varieties of pastries and cakes in that world, but Yang Ling still preferred eating a stack of pancakes for breakfast. He liked it with a strip of crispy meat and a fried egg. It would be even more wonderful if he had a glass of milk or soy milk.

Yang Ling ate pancakes for all four of his college years studying in the most populated city in China.

He would usually wake up at ten past eight for an eight thirty class, then scramble to the school gate with a bunch of his lazy friends after spending three minutes washing up. He would then rush to buy a fragrant pancake. He would then run to his classroom and throw his books down and wolf down his food, trying to devour the delicate pancake before his lecturer walked to the stage.

There had not been any pancakes in this foreign world, but Alice had managed to figure out a way to make them with her crafty skills after hearing Yang Ling talk wistfully about them once. They tasted quite good, though he could have had them a bit spicier.

“Brother Yang, where are your clothes from yesterday?” Alice started packing up as Yang Ling finished his breakfast, making herself busy.

Touching his clothing and catching a whiff of the scent, Yang Ling held a neutral expression. “Alice, I have already gotten the servants to wash my clothes. Let’s take a stroll outside!”

Alice clearly did not believe Yang Ling’s lies. She could have said more, but opted to follow Yang Ling in silence as he left the villa.

The morning air in Wissen Town was fresh, and Yang Ling wanted to take a little stroll with the lass at the perimeter of the forest. They had not gone far when they encountered Goode the tactician.

“Sir, I have investigated the reason for the troops’ riots. Take a look…” Goode’s eyes were red, and dark, swollen circles drooped beneath his eyes. He looked a bit like a panda. It looked as though he had spent all night investigating the riots, even after having spent the previous day returning from the Taildon Valley.

They went into Yang Ling’s study, and he was soon up to speed on the situation.

It turned out that as rumors of the Giant Dragon’s treasures being found in the Terras Forest spread, many adventurers and mercenaries had poured into Wissen Town, aiming to try their luck in the Terras Forest. Amongst them were experts with indecipherable abilities, as well as inexperienced adventurers who did not know much of anything. Some preferred to work alone, while others formed small teams.

The ones who noticed the dead Violent Earth Bears were two newbie troop teams. In fact, they announced to the world that they were soldiers, but after a background check, there were no records of them being registered with any army anywhere, nor were they qualified. Their names inspired the awe that their skills did not: one called themselves the Dragon Slaying Troop Team, and the other were known as the Blood Troop Team.

In a battle between two powerhouse forces, there would be a clear winner. But in a battle between two forces with so little combined experience, clashing would cause them to become entangled like gum.

Being unable to decide a victor in their battle, these two teams agreed to return to Wissen Town and look for someone to reason it out for them. Newbies were newbies, and they collapsed into a quarrel at the Shangri-La’s entrance, attracting a crowd of troops and adventurers. The outcome was predictable. They returned empty handed, with deeply depleted Essence Crystal stock, and some were nearly dead.

“How do you think we should deal with this situation, sir?”

After thoroughly investigating the incident, Goode felt at a loss. The Dragon Slaying Troop Team had two heavily injured casualties and only managed to snatch three of the Essence Crystals; the Iron Blood Troop Team fared even worse, as all eight of their members were heavily injured, and they only managed to secure a single Essence Crystal that its leader had hidden in his buttocks.

Including the five other Essence Crystals he had secured at the scene, Goode only found nine Essence Crystals. Most of them had already been taken by others in the chaos. It was not impossible to attempt to find the missing Crystals, it was just extraordinarily difficult.

Surveying Goode’s troubled expression, Yang Ling understood his difficulty. “Buy the Essence Crystals at a reasonable price, then split the crystal coins evenly between the two troop teams. Capture the soldiers that took advantage of the chaos in the name of challenging the town’s security and give them a hundred strokes of the barbarian’s paddle in public before evicting them from of Wissen Town.”

Give them a hundred strokes of the barbarian’s paddle n public?

Goode shuddered and nodded. The barbarians were immensely strong, and Goode knew that a hundred paddles would skin the offending soldiers alive, if it didn’t kill them directly. But seeing that Yang Ling had already come to a decision, he did not protest.

“Oh right, how’s the situation in Taildon Valley?”

“I have already assigned many guards to the valley, and have instructed the Twin-headed Ogre Braska to guard the place personally. No one can get in or out without your direct orders!” Goode took a breath, then continued. “As we dealt with the situation in time, the Beastmen had not noticed the underground vein, nor did they suspect the reason we gave for sealing the place. As long as we set up the Magical Teleportation Spell Formation, we can immediately begin excavating the vein!”

Magical Teleportation Spell Formation?

Hearing Goode say this, Yang Ling immediately recalled the Magical Beast Knowledge Guide in his Space Ring. He was going to find the time to read the guide to see if there were any suitable space element Magical Beasts. He was not willing to charge rashly into the deeper parts of the Terras Forest and be swallowed as a meal by a high level Magical Beast without knowing what was going on.

“Sir, I went to take a look at the Black Water Lake when I was coming out of the Taildon Valley.” After a pause, Goode said excitedly, “There are rich resources there. We can not only fish there, but we could also rear animals by the lakeside. As long as we can find a way to improve the transportation system, it would definitely be immensely beneficial to the development of the territory!”

“That’s right, in the future, we can concentrate a large number of manpower to improving the merchant routes between Black Water City and Wissen Town in preparation of the large amount of merchant teams that would come next year.”

“No, sir, the merchant routes are merely an option. In fact, we can go completely by water. I have heard that there were people who went from Wissen Town all the way to Black Water Lake in a wooden boat!” Goode was incredibly excited. Transportation by water was faster and more convenient, and incurred a lower cost.

Water transportation?

Thinking about the massive flow of water of the Donau River, then recalling the expansive Black Water Lake, Yang Ling became increasingly excited. In twenty-first century China, even though logistics was not the industry with the most future, it was definitely one of the more profitable sunrise industries there were. Compared to transportation by land, Yang Ling naturally understood the value and tactical advantage transportation by water possessed.

If they could build a port at the bank of the Donau River and connect the harbor at where the Donau River meets the sea with the Black Water Lake, it would definitely be an unprecedented thrust forward for the development of the Magical Beast Territory. At the very least, that would shorten the distance between the three places, providing a solid foundation for the large scale development of the territory.

After understanding the value of water transportation, Yang Ling and Goode immediately got to discussing the specifics of the plan. But they had just started their discussion when his guard Orlando walked in excitedly, “Sir, Miss Harribell had invited the Wolf Troop Team to send over a secret letter and a large amount of resources. The old butler wishes for you to come out personally!”

Sent over a large amount of resources?

In their joy, Yang Ling and Goode walked quickly outside, soon arriving at the wide meeting hall.

The plaza outside the hall was piled full of a large number of resources. Yang Ling took a cursory glance and saw that they were all rations that Wissen Town needed urgently. It looked like Harribell was intelligent indeed, predicting the current state of Wissen Town since some time ago.

Other than the resources, Harribell had also sent over a large amount of craftsmen. There were carpenters, builders, as well as five alchemists, led by a balding master alchemist, much to the elation of Yang Ling.

Even though the Gnomes claimed to possess various techniques and knowledge when it came to alchemy, he had not felt confident. Now that he had experienced master alchemists with solid foundations, perhaps the problems surrounding the large scale drawing of the Gnome’s Magical Spell Formations might be solved; Perhaps he might be able to fully utilize the Black Pulp Melons, sulfur and other resources to create powerful underground mines or bombs.

Even though he had actively displayed his goodwill toward the Banto Empire, the other party had not given a reply. The situation in Wissen Town was still not optimistic, and Yang Ling still had a shred of doubt in his heart because of that. But if he had a large number of underground mines and bombs, he was confident that he would be able to push back the forceful attacks from any faction at the Aila Mountain Pass.

After his surprise, Yang Ling invited the leader of the troops to sit and signaled for the old butler to serve them wine and food, passionately receiving them.

Perhaps it was because Harribell had personally employed them, or that the value of the cargo was huge, the leader of the Wolf Troop Team that was famous in the Tailun Continent had personally escorted the cargo over. Even though they had encountered many bandits along the way, they had managed to rush to Wissen Town without any harm.

After taking a few sips of rum, the leader by the name of Kerband personally handed a secret letter to Yang Ling, “Sir, this is a secret letter from Miss Harribell to you, please reply immediately after you read it!”

Even though Kerband was a middle aged man, he still looked energetic, his gaze piercing and his gait strong. He spoke slowly and with force, giving Yang Ling the impression that he was confident, intelligent and reliable.

There were not much in terms of contents in Harribell’s letter. Other than telling him that she had already began excavation on the crystal mine that Prince Renaya had promised, she also summarized the recent situation.

Through her activities, a few high ranking officials in the Banto Empire had suggested to keep the peace and get along with Yang Ling and his Magical Beast Territory. But after their heavy casualties, the military division were pushing intensely for sending a large army and waging war. Even though she had already sent people to bring over large gifts to pacify them, the outcome cannot be predicted with certainty. She wanted Yang Ling to seize the time and finish building the fortress at the Aila Mountain Pass.

Other than that, the greatest authority in the Livenza Alliance, King Saratoga, was going to hold his celebration for his fiftieth birthday at the capital Montson. Through her actions, the palace had personally sent Yang Ling an invitation. Harribell hoped that Yang Ling could attend punctually, forming a friendship with the various factions.

At the end of the letter, Harribell succinctly introduced the background and abilities of the Wolf Troop Tribe, faintly revealing their connections with the royal family.

The king’s fiftieth birthday celebration?

After he finished reading Harribell’s letter, then looking at the invitation enclosed within, Yang Ling had an epiphany. He finally understood why Kerband had personally escorted this cargo.