Chapter 100: Orderly
The Half-Elf First Mate returned with people, and the manpower in the camp significantly increased.
Soren went out to check the cargo he had brought back, then continued to issue orders for his subordinates to supervise the work of those slaves. After handling these matters, he returned to his room and sat down. Soren closed his eyes and thought for a moment before picking up a quill to write and sketch. As a Wanderer, his fingers were quite steady; even without any tools, the lines he drew were as straight as if he had used one. About thirty minutes later, Soren completed the first drawing, and it was clear at a glance that it was a building plan.
The drawing outlined the simple structure of the entire camp, as well as various internal and external layouts, including sewer ditches, building distribution maps, camp area statistics, perimeter walls, guard towers, and so on. After finishing all this, Soren began writing other parts, which included arrangements and notices regarding the construction. He specified rigorous requirements for matters like sewer ditches, toilet distribution, hygiene handling, and road divisions and constructions, writing them out in detail. The rainy season in the Overseas Islands easily leads to water accumulation; if towns were built according to his specifications and drainage ditches were not well designed, they would have to prepare for flooding.
Drainage ditches are actually quite simple; as long as they are reasonably distributed and dug deep enough, there shouldn’t be much of a problem.
The Romans had notable research achievements in this regard.
Yet, in this world, even many cities do not pay much attention to such a simple thing.
Therefore, many cities are dirty, chaotic, and foul-smelling. Although Soren did not have a cleanliness obsession, he definitely did not want his territory to become like that, especially since pirates tend to drunkenly relieve themselves anywhere. That is why hygiene was something he held to a high standard; even public urination was not allowed, or he might just cut off the tools for doing so. Here in the Overseas Islands, the environment is even more primitive and desolate than the mainland, and if care is not taken, epidemics can easily arise. The pirates are somewhat okay, as they are strong and used to drifting at sea, but those slaves are not. Any outbreak of disease would lead to significant losses. [Note: Currently lacking doctors and medicines.]
After drawing the camp building plan, Soren began to draw houses.
These were not particularly beautiful houses, nor were they his own mansion, but rather very simple brick houses, the kind commonly found in rural areas. Each brick house had an area of about fifty square meters, with a very simple beam structure, and it was a single-story building. In front of the houses was a drainage ditch and a square road. He required the construction of over three hundred such houses, organized in three rows of about a hundred houses each. These houses would mainly be built near the west gate and south gate, while the north gate would still house the wooden houses for holding slaves. These buildings were designed with reserved spaces; there was no rush to demolish the existing wooden houses.
After finalizing the structure plans for these houses, Soren proceeded to draw a map of the roads’ distribution.
This included not just the roads within the camp but also those outside; he needed his subordinates to construct a road directly connecting to the natural harbor. This road would be about five kilometers long. Given the current situation, it was not feasible to demand too much; as long as the road was smooth and not bumpy, it would be acceptable, and they could later refine it with sufficient manpower and resources. Soren marked the route of the road, avoiding areas where dangerous creatures might be active.
Next was a new piece of paper.
This time, Soren did not draw anything. Instead, he wrote a letter, a letter to the Drow Priestess.
The content of the letter goes without saying. After finishing the letter, Soren called for Andrei Darkblade and handed the letter to him, asking him to arrange for someone to take it back. Along with it, there was also a batch of supplies, mainly daily necessities, with the Half-Elf First Mate bringing back a full three ships’ worth of supplies. This was enough to sustain them for more than half a year. In fact, Soren calculated it very precisely; after deducting the time needed for the current arrangements, he estimated he would return in about a month.
By that time, it would be early February, and they could start directing the slaves to cultivate and sow early spring wheat for self-sufficiency.
At that point, the camp would truly be on solid ground.
As the head of a faction, Soren could no longer come and go freely as before. He took out the initial plans he had prepared, giving one to the Half-Elf First Mate to be responsible for the overall construction planning of the camp, and another to the Cyclops Pirate to supervise the slaves’ work. Finally, Soren went to another area where the slaves were held, preparing to see those Eastern slaves he had brought over, all of whom were skilled craftsmen.
Bang!
Soren pushed open the door; the room holding the slaves smelled awful, with a distinctly foul odor.
He waved his hand to signal those below to open the windows for ventilation, then slowly walked up to the Eastern craftsmen slaves and asked in a deep voice, “Who can speak the common language?”
Many Eastern slaves looked at each other in confusion.
As a Wizard, Soren was somewhat failing in this regard because he knew too few languages.
The Eastern slaves before him seemed to have little understanding of the common language. What they were accustomed to using was desert languages and Eastern dialects. Theoretically, those who spoke multiple languages would generally be more exposed to the world, given that this was an era when many commoners could not even write their own names. Literacy during this time was a mark of status, enabling one to find relatively easy jobs in the cities that could support oneself. Even though most of the slaves here were craftsmen, their knowledge of written language was limited to the East, so their understanding of the local common language was minimal.
In simple terms, there was a bit of a language barrier!
“Does no one speak the common language?”
Soren frowned, then asked his subordinates, “Is there anyone who speaks the Eastern language? I seem to remember that someone has traveled the Eastern maritime routes!”
After a brief silence.
Then an Eastern slave, appearing to be nearly forty years old, stood up, glancing fearfully at Soren before lowering his head and saying, “Your Grace, I can speak the common language.”
“Mm?” Soren looked at him and immediately said, “Very good. From today onwards, you will be their foreman. According to continental customs, as slaves who have fallen into my hands, you are now my private property. However, I am a generous and merciful person; as long as you work hard for me, I will grant you appropriate freedom.”
“From now on, I will allocate manpower to help you set up a brick kiln. Your next task is to produce bricks, as many as possible!”
“When you produce enough one million bricks, I will grant some of you your freedom.”
Soren paused, glancing at the surprised expression on the middle-aged man’s face before saying sternly, “Translate this to them, and you will be their foreman from now on. I will allocate some manpower to you. If I return and do not see satisfactory progress, your head will be hanging on the flagpole outside!”
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man’s face suddenly switched from astonishment to fear, and he quickly nodded.
These people were all skilled craftsmen.
In this world, those with skills have value, so Soren was much more tolerant towards them. After the middle-aged man translated the message, he called for a small leader, gave him a few instructions, and then left. Soon, other slaves began to arrive, along with a batch of capable pirates to supervise. Perhaps because Soren was very orderly, his subordinates also gradually began to adopt more rules; while it could not be said that there was much discipline, it was significantly better than before.
Because those who were too unruly had been dealt with!
Soren arranged matters here and then went to check on the captive indigenous slave people. About thirty had died during this time, not due to escape, but rather because of the Drow’s method of controlling the slaves. This was a complex process involving penal laws, psychological suggestions, and servitude control. Some of this is really not suitable to say, but the general effect was quite evident: the indigenous slaves were now not so resistant to working hard every day to earn food.
They did not work very diligently, but neither did they engage in much lazy behavior because they understood the horrible punishments for slacking off!
A day quickly passed.
During this day, Soren issued many orders and made numerous arrangements; any pirate leader who saw the plan would feel that Soren was not merely establishing an overseas base. However, they bore no dissatisfaction; on the contrary, they felt rather excited, as not everyone liked the pirate life of drifting aimlessly. Having a foundation and assurance would at least leave something for their children and families in the future.
Even a lone individual would not always prefer a life of uncertainty.
Recently, there had been discussions in the camp, suggesting that Your Grace Throat Cutter’s arrangements seemed to be preparing to expand into the Overseas Islands. If things could really develop here, they might be rewarded with some land by Your Grace Throat Cutter in the future if any injuries or illnesses arose. This way, even when they grew old and weak, they would have a foundation to sustain themselves; perhaps they could even become small landowners. Many pirates had been forced into this profession; while there were indeed some vicious and bloodthirsty individuals among them, many also yearned for a stable life.
Soren was quietly changing everything.
Perhaps this change was not yet very obvious, but everything appeared to be proceeding in an orderly manner. One day, this change would astonish the entire world!
Because a new force was rising!
…………… (To be continued ~^~)
