Chapter 131: Chapter 115: Territory Construction

Aside from the change in his aura, Smith’s greatest transformation was his appearance. He was once an old man with graying hair. Though his back was still straight and his posture remained elegant, the various signs of aging all pointed to the fact that he had reached the final stage of his life.

But now, Smith’s hair was jet-black and shiny, and the wrinkles on his face had vanished completely. A vigorous life force radiated from him, making him seem like a young man in his twenties.

However, the young man before him stood silently in place with his eyes shut tight, showing no sign of waking.

This was normal. As mentioned before, the potion was designed for humans, so it wouldn’t violently alter the body like the injections used on Demons. This was also why the heart was the primary site of transformation.

In the coming days, even when Smith was awake, he would frequently fall asleep. The Dragon Blood’s transformation of his body had only just begun, and in time, his power would take a great leap forward.

"Take him away to rest," Isaac said with a wave of his hand, letting the Saint Master lead Smith back to his room. He then took the documents Liu Li handed him and began to read them carefully.

A month passed. The relocation of the villagers near the castle had been faster than he expected. A migration that was projected to take three to five months was completed in just half a month.

This was partly due to Isaac’s fearsome reputation, but also thanks to the cooperation of his own domain. After all, relocation is always a two-way street: when people move out from one place, another must be ready to receive them. Housing, jobs, neighborhood relations, and so on were all matters that required careful consideration and were far more troublesome.

They weren’t refugees, after all.

But that was no concern of Isaac’s, as he was only responsible for the evacuation.

After everyone had moved out, the plan to redevelop the territory officially began. First on the list were the Demon Rats. They might seem insignificant, but now that their population had grown, and with Liu Li’s help, selling the various materials from their bodies alone could generate fifty to one hundred Gold Coins a month. In comparison, the Demonized Flesh Essence extracted from their corpses was hardly worth mentioning.

Furthermore, the Demon Rats were mainly used for transformation into Divine Spirit Rats, which Shushu would then devour to grow. They were its "experience packs," so to speak. Therefore, the operation had to be expanded further; it would be needed sooner or later.

The only slight drawback was that the collection of Demon Rat materials had already hit a ceiling. The issue wasn’t production or market demand, but a simple lack of manpower on Isaac’s part.

The materials used by Legendary Mages weren’t as standardized as those for Arcanists. For the same Demon, materials of different ages had different uses. The differences could be worlds apart!

The whole venture was profitable solely because of the Cabin in the Woods’ incredible teleportation ability. The cabin connected to nearly every Wizard, so to speak. You could pick a random weed off the side of the road and still find someone inside who needed it.

Of course, finding a match was difficult. The Cabin in the Woods had no search or filter function. Typically, Liu Li would first sift through the vast ocean of requests to find a batch related to rats. Then, she would return to collect the materials for those commissions. After delivering them, she would resume her search for more commissions. This repetitive cycle involved an enormous amount of work.

Thus, the current population of over a thousand Demon Rats already far exceeded Liu Li’s workload capacity. Nevertheless, Isaac chose to continue the expansion.

First, unlike a chef’s work, selling rat materials was a task that could be fully automated with Magic Servants. He could resolve this issue directly once he advanced to Grand Wizard, so there was no rush. Second, Shushu also needed a large number of Divine Spirit Rats to level up.

This was especially true in the nearly one month since the Saint Master’s transformation. His motivation was through the roof. He had even started studying the Skeleton Divine Skill on his own!

He hadn’t managed to figure anything out, but this was still a huge improvement. His future looked very promising.

’Once my Divinity Network modification surgery advances another step—to the point where I can perform it with just a ritual—then Shushu’s time to shine will come!’

’The demand for Demon Rats will inevitably skyrocket!’

’Therefore, the Demon Rat farms must continue to expand. It would be best to increase the population to ten thousand right away, getting it all done in one go.’

While ten thousand sounded like a large number, Demon Rats were very small, so they didn’t actually take up much space—less than a single medicinal field. The larger area was therefore reserved for raising Dragon Lizard hatchlings.

However, the Dragonification Technology for the Dragon Lizard hatchlings wasn’t fully optimized yet and required final adjustments. For now, he had only designated the area and made some preliminary preparations. Official construction of the farm would have to wait until Isaac finished optimizing the technology.

Even so, a large area still remained vacant.

The Demon Rats and Dragon Lizards only occupied the space of the former medicinal fields. His domain, however, also included the residential areas of those two or three villages, which also needed to be redeveloped.

"A Demonic Puppet Factory?" Isaac looked at Liu Li, his eyes on the proposal in the development plan for that area.

"It was Smith’s suggestion," Liu Li said softly, her fair hands crossed over her stomach. "He believes we can convert this area into a Demonic Puppet Factory. For one thing, the domain’s operations will certainly require Demonic Puppets. For another, Lady Cheryl has ready-made Demonic Puppet Factory technology that we can use directly. It would save a great deal of time and open up a new source of revenue."

"Hmm... I hadn’t thought of that..." Isaac nodded. ’I almost forgot. I’m a Wizard now; I can properly ask the family for money and technology.’

’Especially for a relatively unimportant technology like a Demonic Puppet Factory.’

’Of course, its "unimportance" was only relative to Solomon. For most small domains, this kind of technology was already considered cutting-edge.’

Demonic Puppets aren’t like Golems. Their manufacturing cost isn’t as high, and they can be built quickly. Of course, their combat power is mediocre as a result. Mass-produced Demonic Puppets, in particular, are almost never used for fighting. You’d be better off having a High-level Knight just throw Gold Coins at someone—it would probably do more damage.

Demonic Puppets are mostly used for production—a form of advanced manual labor—or for exploring ruins as disposable scouts. For example, the Black Knight Isaac bought in the past was already considered a relatively High Level Demonic Puppet.

That type of Demonic Puppet isn’t part of a mass-produced line. Its primary purpose is guard duty, so its combat capabilities are Enhanced.

The Demonic Puppets Smith mentioned, however, were intended purely for labor, such as mining. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Because this is a Magic World, many mineral deposits emit extremely strong Magic Power radiation. An Ordinary person couldn’t even think about mining them. Putting aside whether they could even break the rock, just staying in a mine for less than half an hour would be fatal.

Only Transcendents can operate inside for extended periods.

But once you become a Transcendent, who would still want to be a miner?

What would be the point of becoming a Transcendent, then?

Thus, such jobs have always been performed by Demonic Puppets. There’s no shortage of buyers for these things, either. If his family opened up even a small portion of their sales channels to him, he would make a fortune.