Chapter 82 - 78: Line-Fillers and Armor
Chapter 82: Chapter 78: Line-Fillers and Armor
In the Lord’s Mansion, candlelight flickered in Velin’s study.
Regarding the matter of the Primal Blood Essence Powder, you need not worry. Its value has far exceeded my expectations.
Velin’s fingers tapped unconsciously on the desktop. Diana was smarter and more decisive than he had imagined.
The letter also mentioned the "sheepdog" story.
Your story was very useful. Now, those "sheepdogs," for the sake of a little honor I casually promised, are faithfully guarding my borders. The territory is much more stable.
Velin wasn’t surprised. To those struggling in the game of thrones, this kind of tactic—leveraging another’s power against them—was nothing short of a stroke of genius.
He continued reading, and as his gaze fell on the final paragraph of the letter, his pupils constricted sharply.
...To express my gratitude, I consulted the ancient scrolls in my family’s collection. There was one record concerning the Gray Sea Marsh that might be of help to you.
A hundred years ago, one of my ancestors hunted a Level 5 Magical Beast, a ’Swamp Serpent Dragon,’ in the deepest part of the Gray Sea Marsh. The battle was exceptionally brutal. According to the records, the fight directly caused the intermediate-level "Ethereal Enrichment Zone," which had been active deep within the Gray Sea Marsh, to fall into chaos and eventually go dormant.
Following the patterns of the Ethereal Tide, I’ve calculated the timing. A new "Ethereal Enrichment Zone" should be starting to... coalesce by now.
Velin’s breath caught.
The only sound in the room was the faint crackling of the burning candle.
He shot to his feet, the motion so abrupt that he knocked over his chair!
But he paid it no mind, striding quickly to the window and greedily inhaling the slightly brackish air of the marsh.
The unusual floods of the Crying Moon.
The displaced Gray Swamp Giant Crocodiles.
The mysterious Magical Beast.
And... the Ethereal Enrichment Zone, dormant for a hundred years, now beginning to coalesce once more.
In that instant, all the chaotic clues seemed to be strung together by an invisible hand, constructing a grand, clear, and logically consistent possibility in his mind!
He had uncovered the truth with his own hands.
That mysterious Magical Beast hadn’t been woken by some rainy season at all.
It had been drawn by the newly reawakened "Ethereal Enrichment Zone."
No, it could even be said that the beast itself was the first "miracle" born from this revived land, the first "fruit" borne of this fertile magical soil.
There wasn’t a trace of fear in Velin’s chest, only an excitement that made every cell in his body tremble!
He remembered the old Alchemist Valerius’s face, practically drooling.
"An intermediate-level Ethereal Enrichment Zone? Velin, why do you ask? Are you talking about what it does?"
"The environment there is suitable for the stable mass production of intermediate and high-level magical plants."
"That’s the kind of foundation only certain Viscount families with generations of heritage are worthy of possessing."
Velin reviewed the products he currently controlled and had successfully modified.
The Bader Dung Beetles. They were the perfect "decomposers."
In the prison camp, Ola and his Knights, along with the Stone Skin Soft Vines—the cornerstone of the town’s construction—were the competent "consumers."
The producers.
He had always lacked an efficient, large-scale producer—a stable link in the chain that could continuously convert the land’s potential into high-value output.
Now, the opportunity had appeared.
Velin walked back to the desk, his fingertips brushing lightly across the letter.
A self-sufficient "Extraordinary ecosystem" formed a closed loop in his mind.
Velin folded the letter and tucked it back inside his coat.
His fingertips could still feel the uneven impression of the sun sigil on the parchment.
A complete, closed loop.
He went to his desk, spread out a fresh sheet of parchment, and the ink-dipped tip of his quill pen danced across the paper. A simple, easy-to-understand diagram began to take shape.
At the very top was the Ethereal Enrichment Zone—the producer that would continuously cultivate Magic Materials in the future.
In the middle were the Rock Breaker Knight Order and the Stone Skin Soft Vine—the currently serviceable consumers.
At the very bottom were the Bader Dung Beetles—the outstanding decomposers.
Finally, Velin drew a heavy arrow leading from the end of the decomposers back to the producers at the top.
An Extraordinary ecosystem—self-sufficient, stable, and capable of continuously generating high-value products—had now achieved a closed logical loop under his pen.
This was his core engine.
A biological engine powerful enough to enable him to reap three times the harvest from a single resource on this barren land!
But soon, the excitement in Velin’s eyes was extinguished by reason.
’The engine exists, but the driver’s skill is still too poor.’
He replayed the battle with Ola Stonebeard in his mind.
It had seemed effortless, but in reality, the victory was won through calculation.
Traps, attrition, feints, pincer movements... The Bader Dung Beetle Legion had indeed demonstrated overwhelming dominance against the leaderless Knights.
But when Ola Stonebeard, that Level 4 Knight, initiated his [Reckless Charge], the beetles’ carefully arranged tactical formation was as fragile as paper.
If not for the Stone Skin Soft Vine as his trump card, the consequences would have been unthinkable had Ola gotten close.
In his past life, Velin had played many strategy games, like *Hearts of Iron IV*. In his vision, the beetle legion was the ideal "line-filler"—numerous, reliable, and with unbreakable morale.
But ultimately, they were still just low-tier forces.
This system needed a high-tier force to act as its "spearhead."
And the first of those was himself, Velin Klein.
The combination of his intellect, his bloodline talent, and his professional abilities—that was where his true advantage over others lay.
It was his sole foundation for navigating and thriving in this world.
Besides, living in an Extraordinary world, he had to advance his own power as much as possible for his own safety.
That was just one aspect.
Velin couldn’t lead the charge in every battle. He needed to scout out candidates for an "armored division."
First was Barrett, who was away seeking to advance his level. His loyalty was unquestionable, and his strength was decent, making him a qualified Extraordinary combatant.
Xiaolan... Her latent talent was immense, but she was still a long way from developing into a fighting force.
Finally, his thoughts turned to the prisoners, especially Ola Stonebeard.
He had only learned from his conversation with Jim that this Baron Stonebeard was once one of the Empire’s elite. He had participated in the bloody wars against the Evergreen Council and the Ten Thousand Beasts Court, earning his title through genuine military merit.
In their previous battle, the combat discipline and stubborn resilience he displayed had both proven his strength.
Taming such a fierce tiger would be incredibly difficult, but if successful, the rewards would be equally rich.
A powerful Baron with a title earned through military achievement, along with his squad of experienced Knights... wasn’t this a ready-made "armored division"?
At this thought, Velin’s lips curled into a smile. ’On the battlefield, I beat you into the ground. Off the battlefield, I can still win your absolute submission.’