Chapter 66: Foundation
Time passed day by day.
In the blink of an eye, Soren had been here for almost five days. The camp was completely different from when he arrived. Outside the camp was a row of fences five meters high, with a simple watchtower every hundred meters, the kind that one could climb up via a ladder. The camp had four main gates facing east, west, south, and north. The east side was where Soren lived, the west side was where other pirates resided, the south side was a warehouse storing a large amount of supplies, and the north side held a considerable number of slaves.
The layout of the camp was square, with drainage ditches specifically dug along the roads, and even toilets established on all four sides.
This was something that the other pirates found somewhat incomprehensible!
Because this era itself was dirty and chaotic, even in developed coastal cities, dedicated toilets were rarely set up; many people would simply duck into an alley to relieve themselves. However, this was very important to Soren. Although he had lived in the slums before, when he had the conditions for proper planning, his first order was to establish toilets. From today onwards, no one was allowed to urinate or defecate in the camp; anyone who needed to relieve themselves had to go to a designated toilet, and anyone caught urinating in the camp would have their tools of crime chopped off directly!
Environmental hygiene was the top priority.
Because the environment of the Overseas Islands was prone to breeding mosquitoes, if diseases began to spread, it was absolutely not what Soren wanted to see. Moreover, no one would like to accidentally step in someone else’s waste on their own territory. Although Soren did not have a cleanliness obsession, he still placed considerable importance on this point.
At this moment, looking down from the sky.
The camp resembled a somewhat irregular square, somewhat like a town or village from the Greek period, with a larger square in the center mainly for gathering people. The four sides were separated by two intersecting streets. The ground had been leveled; although it was all dirt roads, drainage ditches had been dug around the road, and several wells had been dug nearby to drain wastewater. There were many houses under construction in the camp, but most were still unfinished. The only completed structure was the warehouse.
This was mainly out of fear of rain!
The warehouse had to be completed as soon as possible; it was even more important than the house Soren lived in because many supplies could not get wet.
Food reserves were enough to last three months, but it was better to keep the grains in the warehouse. Cured meats were manageable, but other items would quickly mold if exposed to moisture.
In the area where the slaves worked, there were two crosses standing.
The corpses on them had almost turned into white bones. The whole process could be described as extremely brutal; many slaves were too scared to look over there, even to this day. The two wooden stakes would stand for another two days, and in seven days, they had attracted numerous vultures and crows. These scavenger birds freely pecked at the corpses, making many people feel a chill down their spine. The effectiveness of the torture was undoubtedly apparent; at least during this time, the slaves were very obedient.
Moreover, because Soren had instructed his pirate subordinates not to excessively whip them, and to provide them with ample food, the slaves had been working hard every day. But at least they could fill their stomachs. Additionally, yesterday, due to Your Grace Throat Cutter’s impromptu fishing expedition, the sharks caught had too much meat to finish, so he only took the fins and the slaves had a hearty meal of fish and fish soup.
Here, it was actually quite good!
Although it was primitive and desolate, with many dangers and annoying mosquitoes, the resources were indeed abundant. Some slaves even caught a plump field mouse while working, and the indigenous slaves ate it raw; others could cook it over a fire. Here, they were eating better than before, occasionally getting some meat, mainly because the nearby sea area had not been heavily developed, and one could even find large crabs on the beach.
In some aspects, it had the feel of a big northwest adventure of hunting.
Slaves themselves were people with nothing, so their demands were not high; as long as they could fill their stomachs while working hard, and occasionally have some meat, many could restrain their desires. After all, Soren had made it very clear that the outcome of getting caught trying to escape was very tragic, with even death offering no easy release. Moreover, among the slaves, there were still some who believed what Vivian had said, that at the right moment, Soren would grant freedom to those who worked hard.
………………
Inside the central large tent.
Soren furrowed his brows, scribbling and erasing on a piece of white paper. He looked up at the sky and murmured, “Calculating the time, they should be back at Taro Port now, right? It probably takes about half a month round-trip, and by next January, they should be back with the things I need, and then we can start the next phase of the plan.”
“It’s the end of December! It seems the New Year is coming soon?”
Soren stepped out of the tent, silently calculating in his heart, and found that indeed, the New Year was just a few days away.
In this world, there wasn’t a strong tradition of celebrating the New Year, but there were still customs to prepare well for it. Soren arrived in mid-December, and now it was already late December; soon, it would be time for the New Year. The New Year was okay, but what this world valued most was the Harvest Festival, which was the grandest celebration of the year. This celebration was universal among the vast majority of gods: in the south, the Agricultural Goddess was worshipped, in the north, the Ice and Snow Goddess, and in coastal areas, the Ocean Goddess.
Even Drow would pray to the Spider Queen for a bountiful harvest during the Harvest Festival; after all, filling one’s stomach was the most basic and important thing for any race.
Soren looked outside and walked towards the seaside.
He had sent away two ships with his pirate leaders, but still, some warships remained outside. The merchant ships had returned, and Soren had made a large order for supplies; they would gradually deliver parts over three months, every half month. The most important of these were slave resources. Soren wanted to grow stronger, relying heavily on labor; it was still manageable to have the pirates work in the short term, but treating them as mere laborers would lead to widespread resentment.
At present.
They mostly understood that the headquarters had just been established; no one could avoid hard work. Once the camp was set up, these pirates would not be so diligent.
………………
On the other side.
Vivian’s petite figure squatted by a muddy puddle, playing with a pile of mud with her fair little hands, shaping it as if it were clay. The little girl had been playing by the puddle for quite a while, and even her snow-white princess dress was stained with a bit of dirt. After about ten minutes, she molded the soil into something that resembled a square, then raised her small hand and began to cast a spell.
—“Turn mud into stone!”
A faint spell light appeared, and the mud in front of her gradually transformed into rock, but it seemed to lack solidity and looked like it had been weathered.
The little girl seemed a bit annoyed, kicked the mud away, and murmured, “So difficult!”
“Why are spells above the fifth circle so hard?”
“Clearly, fourth circle spells are quite easy; why does the difficulty increase so much as soon as you hit the fifth circle? Lilian? Why do you think we can’t master this spell?”
A brief silence.
Then Lilian’s somewhat nonchalant voice sounded, “I don’t need to learn spells the hard way! Those who need to learn spells aren’t true geniuses! Hmm! … That’s how it is! …”
Needless to say.
Vivian also knew she had asked in vain.
The little girl stood up, snapped her fingers, and a faint spell light appeared, making her entirely clean. Vivian clapped her hands, adjusted the hem of her dress, and was about to go back to sleep. But just then, she heard some rustling from the bushes nearby, followed by a figure rushing out. It was an ugly man, with a tattoo on his face, earrings all over his ears, and a scar on his skull.
He was a pirate.
Among Soren’s subordinates, there were many bizarre-looking individuals; in short, there were very few who had decent appearances.
He was a sentry, assigned to monitor the movements nearby.
Vivian showed no signs of panic on her face. Although she was just a little girl not yet nine years old, she remained remarkably calm at that moment. She carefully approached, paying attention to her surroundings. She noticed that the pirate sentry had a blowgun on his back, a weapon as slender as a needle, mostly coated with potent poison; it either had a bloodstalker effect or could quickly knock someone unconscious. The little girl cautiously approached, adding several spells to herself.
The grass in the distance stirred slightly.
But no one came out. When Vivian walked over, the pirate was still not completely unconscious, but rather spoke in a broken voice, “M-Miss! … Indigenous people! …”
Having said that, he directly passed out.
It appeared that the blowgun was using a narcotic rather than a bloodstalker poison.
Such things were quite troublesome.
One must endure a compulsory constitution saving throw, and perhaps Soren would have a higher chance of succeeding, but the other pirates would find it much harder to resist.
Vivian reached out and tested his breath with her finger. Confirming he was not dead, she rushed towards the camp.
The indigenous people have appeared!
This must be reported to Brother quickly, as the indigenous people were very exclusive and could possibly launch an attack!
……………… (To be continued ~^~)
