Published: March 12, 2025
Chapter 149: Visitors from the Budah Family
The nickname "Spirit Wind Warlord" for Galen wasn't just because he was a wind-element warrior who used the Spirit Wind Sword; it stemmed from his bravery and prowess in battle during his time in the army. One could sense the strong military aura from the name alone.
Indeed, once Galen donned this attire, he transformed into a serious and rigid old steward. With his straight posture and disciplined demeanor, he emanated an undeniable military presence.
Zhao Hai looked at Galen and couldn't help but chuckle, "Grandpa Galen, now you look just like your old self, haha."
Galen glanced at his outfit and smiled, "It's been quite a while since I wore this. I'm a bit unaccustomed to it, haha." Thanks to the hope brought by the space, Galen's demeanor had softened considerably compared to when Zhao Hai first woke up.
Zhao Hai chuckled, "I still think you look better in your warrior attire, Grandpa Galen. How about you buy a horse for transportation later?"
Galen shook his head, "No need for that, young master. I’ll be fine like this."
Zhao Hai nodded, "Take care, Grandpa Galen." Galen nodded back, and Zhao Hai sent him out of the space. Galen moved swiftly towards Casa City.
Once Zhao Hai exited the space, he arrived at Iron Mountain Fortress. The fortress was no longer as busy as it had been a few days prior; the corn processing was complete, and bamboo rice didn’t require their attention. Thus, Zhao Hai focused mainly on oil extraction.
The restoration work at the fortress was almost finished, and the slaves were now quite relieved. However, the fortress felt crowded, not for any other reason, but because there were many millstones and grinding wheels inside that had been set up for corn processing.
Now, the slaves had tasks to manage; the land in the canyon had been completely transformed. Zhao Hai assigned twenty male slaves to manage the land there, but did not revert their status to civilians. Instead, he selected two individuals from among them for management—these were the two who had first spotted the magical beasts attacking while on patrol at Iron Mountain. One was named Lin and the other Ding.
The twenty slaves were all male, with no female slaves due to the relative isolation of the canyon. Zhao Hai planned for them to rotate, as the work was not heavy; they only needed to oversee the corn planted in the canyon.
The remaining slaves primarily took care of the Blue-eyed Rabbits. To ensure the rabbits remained healthy, Zhao Hai provided them with water from the space, and they were fed with radish leaves produced in the space, along with feed made from oil residues mixed with rice bran.
Currently, Zhao Hai had nearly fifty thousand Blue-eyed Rabbits in the mine, and his space held six thousand mature Blue-eyed Rabbits. The rabbits in the space did not require care from the slaves, but those in the mine still needed supervision.
Fifty thousand Blue-eyed Rabbits occupied significant space, and since they were relatively clean magical beasts, their nests needed to be cleaned regularly. Consequently, the remaining eighty slaves were kept quite busy.
The Blue-eyed Rabbits in Zhao Hai's hands were ready for trade. However, recently Laura had been preoccupied with grain matters, so she hadn’t helped arrange contact with meat processing plants, resulting in the rabbits not being sold. Zhao Hai wasn’t in a rush; even if the Blue-eyed Rabbits didn’t trade, they could still improve the slaves' fire food.
In fact, the living standards of these slaves were now better than many commoners on the continent. Zhao Hai set a fire food standard for them that included at least one meat meal each week—something rare among the commoners, and that meal was all-you-can-eat.
The slaves now enjoyed considerable improvement in their lifestyle. Zhao Hai allocated many supplies to them, resulting in the slaves having their own rooms, clothes, blankets, and utensils. Despite being seemingly insignificant items, they held great importance to the slaves as their first possessions.