Dom soon left the Hoplite Complex with a small level of confidence, knowing that with nine thousand warriors and some highly skilled and experienced generals, they had a good chance at defending their Western Border. Last time they had been worried about an attack, Crassus had departed and hired a unit of Mercenary Britannic Warriors from the North who had now been retrained and merged in to the Legionary force. Dom didn't think it would be possible to replicate that again with the travel time, but he was sure that Crassus would be working on some plans of his own if he could.
The enemy would be with them in four days, so he would have to travel to Eruthros tomorrow so when he logged back in to the game he could be ready and preparing for the fight upon his return. Andrew had stayed behind in the meeting, with Tomyris wanting to have a conversation about their own plans with him, Dom expected he wouldn't see Andrew in game much for the next few sessions, and Kai had locked himself away with helping the governance within the Kingdom be set up. Dom realised that whilst his friends had now joined him, he would be back to playing alone again for a short while.
Dom felt the two cubes by his side that he had kept hold of to use himself, the Unique Building Cube and the Legendary Building Cube. Dom had never had either of these before. However, when he had checked his Kingdom Stats he had seen a list of Unique Buildings that he had; such as the Shipyard, Beast Halls, Lighthouse, Library and even the Bank. Dom was sure that others would have them, but felt that maybe they were harder to come by buildings and that is why the system had decided to associate them with a different grade.
He decided to use the Unique Building Cube first, before using the Legendary Cube, as part of him was both nervous and excited to see what that would create. He headed towards the Inner Gate, flanked by his guards as he walked.
"System, please use the Unique Building Cube." Dom asked, as he thought how Hatshepsut would be using the four Animal Husbandry Building Cubes right now. The increase in animals would have a huge impact on the food production of the Kingdom and Dom knew that Lucius would be very excited, probably just as excited to share ideas with Jia Sixie as well.
[Rolling Unique Building Green Cube....Botanic Gardens]
Suddenly, in the distance, beyond the Warriors Halls and the Military District, a large glass building suddenly appeared. Lots of people who were waiting, especially those who were nearby guests for the Kingdom Founding, quickly dispersed as the huge building appeared.
"Lord, was that your doing?" Actumerus asked him with a raised eyebrow, also surprised to see the glass building, something that none of them had even seen the likes off before.
"I think it was." Dom replied as they headed towards the giant building in the distance as Dom brought up the building stats. In the distance Dom noticed some familiar faces leaving the Heroes Hall after hearing the commotion as well.
[Due to related Heroes, the Botanic Gardens has upgraded]
[Botanic Gardens
Building Grade - S
Building Level - 3
Building Upgrades - Seed Bank Annex (Includes a vault with a variety of rare seeds of plants, trees and crops), Agronomy Research Annex (A Seed Breeding Institute), Pollinator Annex (A Selection of Bees and Beehives), Medicinal Annex (An Annex full of Medicinal Herbs)
Building Perks - (Fertiliser - Soil Quality in your Kingdom is improved), (Low Famine - Provides options for crops for most seasons, massively reducing Famine Risks), (Food Food Food - Increases Yield amount of Crops)
The Botanical Gardens is the centre for research, cultivation and preservation of plants, trees and crops. The Botanical Gardens will give Civilians and Heroes who are relevant to any role related to the use of Crops, Plants or Trees access to study and improve the current seeds and produce. The Botanic Gardens can not be replicated and is a unique building, other Botanic Gardens can be built, but any related perks will not be transferred]
Dom read the stats again as he walked, realising the importance of this new building. With heroes such as Jia Sixie, Li Bing and Lucius, they could research and improve the seeds and yield of the crops. Dom realised that if they used this properly, they could potentially grow different crops all across the Kingdom and in different seasons. With the other upgrades they had received from the Kingdom Founding, he suddenly felt that the key issue of food production was becoming less and less of an issue as the day progressed.
Dom also realised that with his growing Library, and collection of Elite Villagers who were all from academic backgrounds, he had a lot of resource that could support growing the Botanic Gardens in to an important institute within the Kingdom. He was soon at the large glass building, that he suspected was originally a rectangular shape, but now had multiple sub-buildings that came off it in different directions. The building was huge in size, larger than even the former Town Centre with the Great Hall. In fact, Dom felt that the Botanic Gardens may be the largest stand alone building in the Kingdom.
From the outside, all that he could see was a lush forest from behind the glass, with the wooden doors on the stone doors being swung open from someone leaving the inside. They were dressed in a smart brown hooded robe and bowed gently as Dom approached. They were called Francis and to Dom's surprise was a Monk from early Christendom. He was a researcher of seeds and crops of his own and was a new Elite Villager that had come with the building and joined Dom's Kingdom.
"What is this place?" Jia Sixie said from behind Dom as he entered the building, the incredible heat of the glass roofed building being felt. Dom looked around and felt like he was in an incredible jungle. There was a stream running down the centre of the building with large Koi fish swimming through it, with butterflies and small birds flying around the mid and higher levels. Dom noticed a lizard that he recognised from a museum as a type of Chameleon slowly climbing a branch and using it's long tongue to catch an insect that was nearby.
"A habitat within a building." The Monk Francis replied as Dom noticed Lucius and Shang Yang enter behind Jia Sixie. The entrance seemed to be like a jungle, with different types of trees and plants from one part of the world in it, but Dom could see in the distance a wider section that seemed to open up with some crops in a large field. Dom felt the interior was much larger than he expected, but realised he hadn't seen just how far the rectangular Botanical Gardens spreader backwards.
"This is the perfect place to further my research." Jia Sixie exclaimed after listening to the Monk Francis's explanation, genuine excitement on his face. Lucius also seemed impressed, whilst Shang Yang shared a rare smile, understanding the impacts of this building as well.
"There are some annex's that have been built as well." Dom explained to them, before outlining the Seed Bank, Agronomy Research Annex, Pollinator and Medicinal Annex's.
"There is so much we can do, but we need to create a plan." Shang Yang stated openly, "I will send word to Xun You and the Elite Villagers. Actually I will get as many of the Civilian Leadership who are not involved in preparation for the Border Defence here."
"If the Botanical Gardens is part of Riverside, then I may not complain about being Mayor for a while." Lucius laughed as he stroked the leaf of a tree nearby, a new breed none of them had ever seen before.
Dom soon left them, leaving with a smile on his face at the sight of Lucius looking so happy. He wanted to stay longer and explore the building and it's annex's, but he decided he would do that later. First, he wanted to use his final Building Cube.
"System, please use the Legendary Building Cube." Dom asked as he stood outside the Botanical Garden, the building attracting the attention of more and more people.
[There are a limited number of Legendary Buildings available across World Conquest Online. Each Legendary Building can only be used once across the whole of World Conquest Online with no replication. Legendary Buildings are buildings from History and another version of them may be in a the relevant Historical City, but no other Player Cities will have the same Legendary Building. Any Legendary Building a Player has, will be from a different Time Period than that in the relevant Historical City if it is on the World Conquest Online Map.]
[Legendary Buildings are selected the same way as Hero is selected, due to their only being one version per the World Conquest Online Map]
[Please Select from the Following: Red, Green or Blue]
Dom was surprised by the information he had been given, the Legendary Buildings were an actual building from History. In his mind, this meant that it would have to be both something that was important and well known. After seeing the impact of the Botanical Garden he felt even more excited. He thought to the Ancient Wonders he was aware of, the original Seven Wonders that were primarily in the Mediterranean Sea or from the Hellenistic Period. The Pyramids and Tombs of Ancient Kings, the Lighthouse and Libraries of Alexandria and even the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
He hoped he got one of these, but part of him didn't want the Lighthouse or Library as he had both the Hero who ordered them built and the Architect that designed them in his Kingdom already, so he hoped he could build his own versions naturally. There was also the possibility of some of the other famous buildings he had read about, such as the Colosseum or the famed Great Wall.
He knew that the System would have put good options behind all three of the colours it had provided him, but he couldn't think of what the colours could be relevant to. Were they flags of the nations or cities the Legendary Building had come from. Could they be elements such as Fire or Water for the Red and Blue. They could also be related to the names or even the colours of the bricks that built them. Dom knew the best option was to just make a choice, but was torn between Red and Blue. Part of him wanted to choose Green, but because he had received so much Horticultural or Husbandry related items since the Kingdom had been founded, he wanted to trust that if it was element related it would be best to choose something else.
"Blue." Dom replied, not knowing why he chose it, but felt it was the best choice. There was silence for a few moments and Dom wasn't sure if the system had heard him. However, suddenly a notification popped up in front of him.
[Congratulations Player Lazarus for gaining the first Legendary Building in World Conquest Online]
[Building Selected]
[Please choose where to place the Legendary Building. Your City Options are limited to due size, current population and space: Serenity, Jia or Megara]
"It's Naval!" Dom commented to himself, realising that all of those options were his largest Port Cities. Elpis and Futurus were also port cities on the south, and whilst Renatus was also a large city, it was on a Lake and not the Sea. There was also Vindicta that was newly formed, as well as the two Islands of Kos and Nicyros, but the System had clearly ruled them out for it's own reasons as well.
"Serenity." Dom replied with little thought. Serenity was his second most important Town in his mind, whilst Megara and Jia were both larger in size as they were fully functional and built Cities when they arrived, Serenity was built by Dom and the view of the Serene Sea after the battle against the Tongpai Army at Banas's Camp had opened his eyes to the size of the World Conquest Online Map.
[Serenity Selected]
[Choosing Ideal Location in Serenity]
[Location Chosen]