Tramp, tramp, tramp...
Ahead, out of the more than eight thousand newly joined beastkin, five thousand were assigned to build the road, while the rest were helping to construct buildings at the site behind the relay station.
"We don't have enough iron," Lucas said, his brows furrowing slightly as he looked at the materials on the construction site.
"I wonder how Dahlia's negotiations are going," Mina said, her eyes blinking. According to the schedule, Dahlia's group should have already arrived at the Deepstone Dwarf Kingdom.
A while ago, they had received a letter stating that the group had entered the borders of the Deepstone Dwarf Kingdom, but there had been no news since then. However, having learned some of their plans from the letter, Lucas actually had a fair bit of confidence in Dahlia and the others.
"Have faith in her. Perhaps they've already reached an agreement," Lucas said calmly. He was quite reassured by Dahlia. Someone hailed as a business prodigy definitely had extraordinary methods; otherwise, she wouldn't be known as one of the Five Great Women of capital.
Of course, if Dahlia and the others failed to negotiate the iron ore export, he might have to make a trip there personally next time.
"Whoa, master, what is that? It's so big!" Ayesha exclaimed again, her eyes full of curiosity.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
Up ahead, a massive iron contraption was moving forward. Its appearance was somewhat similar to an earth grader from Earth.
In reality, it was just two giant iron rollers mounted on a flatbed cart. It was tied to ropes extending from a steam engine at the front, which pulled it forward, flattening the uneven ground bit by bit.
"It's used to level the road surface," Lucas explained, though this grader looked a bit rudimentary.
It seemed he still had to wait until cars were built to modify their wheels into rollers; only then would it look more like a proper grader and be more flexible to use. Relying on a steam engine to pull a flatbed forward, like they were doing now, required constantly wasting time adjusting the steam engine's position, and moving it around was a hassle.
To speed up the road construction, many of the items researched by the Research Department had been sent over.
"Let's go take a look over there." Lucas, the two girls, and the accompanying special forces soldiers walked a lap around the road construction section. After pointing out a few issues and suggesting some improvements, they headed to the construction site behind the relay station.
At the site, the beastkin and humans cooperated with tacit understanding. Basically, the beastkin did all the heavy lifting since they had great strength, while the humans handled the more delicate tasks. With such a clear division of labor, their speed naturally wasn't slow.
Three-story buildings would be constructed here. Once fully built, this place would form a village, attracting an influx of people to settle down.
"It's the City Lord!" Someone noticed Lucas and immediately shouted in excitement.
"The City Lord has come to see us!"
"Coming out to inspect on such a hot day, the City Lord is great!"
...
Hearing their voices, a faint smile appeared on Lucas's face. He was very satisfied inwardly.
"It's too hot. Tomorrow, have someone send over some saltpeter to make some ice." Lucas's forehead had already started to sweat. Even though it was nearing dusk, the temperature remained high, not to mention how hot it must be for the workers laboring on the site.
"Understood." Mina nodded and noted it down, feeling even more joyous at Lucas's kindness.
"Let's go. When the time comes, we can open one or two specialty restaurants from Sedona City here to attract crowds," Lucas said, pointing to a storefront on the side as they walked forward.
Those were buildings facing the street, which would later be planned as a food street. The specialty restaurants Lucas mentioned were naturally a pizzeria and a smaller branch of the Drunken Night. Of course, the Drunken Night here would only serve first-floor-level cuisine; anyone wanting better food would still have to go to Sedona City.
The inspection lasted until dusk fell. Tonight, Lucas, Mina, and Ayesha stayed at the relay station. A room had been reserved on the top floor of the relay station specifically for Lucas's inspections.
During dinner, Lucas and the others chatted while eating.
"I'm starting to miss the meals Nicole cooks," Ayesha pouted, looking at the food in her hands.
"Is the food not tasty?" Lucas smiled at Ayesha. They had only been out for one day and she was already like this. How did she manage to survive her long trip to the Chaotic Lands back then?
"It is tasty, but the food Nicole cooks is the best," Ayesha said straightforwardly. Ever since she returned and started eating Nicole's cooking, she felt everything else lacked flavor.
"Endure it for a bit, we're heading back to the castle tomorrow," Lucas chuckled. But Ayesha wasn't wrong; Nicole's cooking skills had improved a lot recently, making her food even more delicious than before.
Especially after Lucas gave her a new recipe book, the meals she prepared were almost never repetitive from day to day. Nicole had spent a lot of time studying those recipes in her free time.
"Ayesha, you clearly asked to come along yourself," Mina teased from the side. Originally, the plan was just for Mina and Lucas to come for the inspection. It was Ayesha who insisted on tagging along last night, claiming she wanted to see if the beastkin she brought back were behaving themselves.
"I'm not coming next time," Ayesha declared decisively.
"Haha..." Lucas laughed and shook his head. She really only cared about food.
Looking at Ayesha, Lucas remembered something and asked, "After we get back, do you still want to hold your position as the Chief of the Security Department's Patrol Squad?"
Ever since Ayesha first left for the Chaotic Lands, the position of Patrol Chief had remained vacant. Lucas hadn't looked for a replacement, keeping it open for her.
"I'll do it! Why wouldn't I? It's so prestigious, and I get to catch bad guys," Ayesha hastily said after swallowing the meat in her mouth. She still liked the position of Chief very much.
"Then tomorrow you'll resume your duties as the Patrol Chief." Lucas nodded. If Ayesha hadn't wanted it, he would have had to find a new candidate.
However, currently, there is no one more suitable than Ayesha. She is quite famous in Sedona City now. The fact that the citizens loved her so much was proof enough of how competent a Patrol Chief Ayesha was.
"Okay!" Ayesha agreed with a beaming smile.
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