Chapter 22 Laws and Decrees

Chapter 22 - 22 Laws and DecreesThe rumbling and shaking from the foot of the mountain were difficult to block, even for the Dragon Nest. When Noah stretched his head out of the Dragon Nest to look toward the source of the vibration, he witnessed an awe-inspiring scene. Hundreds of earth elementals, under the command of a female mage, were transforming the terrain. They pushed down giant trees that required several people to encircle, uprooted large shrubs, leveled hills, and filled in depressions. Turning stone into mud and mud into stone, these spells inherent to earth elemental life were repeatedly used, gradually transforming the barren land into solid ground. The outline of the trapezoidal city foundation gradually emerged. Such a spectacular scene left Noah amazed. Although his inherited memories included more magnificent engineering marvels, none compared to seeing it with his own eyes. They dug canals, built roads, laid stone slabs, and even constructed sturdy city walls from rocks. As the construction progressed, a magnificent palace complex was gradually taking shape at the foot of the mountain. Intently watching this scene, Noah suddenly felt something was off because he saw sculptures, fountains, and gardens. All these facilities were concentrated in the part of the city closest to the Dragon Nest, the smallest area of the trapezoidal foundation. Over ninety percent of the earth elemental beings were focused on building this area. Obviously, this was prepared for the builders themselves, or they wouldn't have invested such effort. As for the larger outer city area, only a small portion of earth elementals was doing final adjustments to the completed underground facilities. "Little Dragon, are you awake?" Perched at the entrance of the Dragon Cave, Noah, engrossed in the grand project, quickly caught the attention of a Sky Mage. When the veiled mage descended from the air step by step on magic rings, the little elves, originally wanting to approach the Golden Dragon, were frightened into hiding in the flower bushes. To these little elves, the female mage, radiating elemental light all over, seemed too terrifying. "I was woken up by you." Noah complained. "Then bear with it a little longer; it will be over soon." "Over soon? The residences in other areas of the new city..." "Naturally, they will be built by the immigrants and slaves who want to live here." Selena replied. "That's too slow! It can't match the construction speed of these earth elementals." "Can't you smell it?" "What?" Noah took a few steps back, cautiously watching the floating mage. "The smell of wealth burning!" The Lady sighed deeply, "Do you know how much I paid to summon these earth elementals you see now? Do you know what kind of agreement I reached with them to make them serve me?" "Oh, did you hire this group of earth elementals to work for you?" "What else? Enslave them by force? I don't want to provoke the wrath of an Earth Element Monarch." "You're really wealthy!" The Golden Dragon sincerely praised. "Now I'm poor; do you want to provide some aid? Quite a few of the palaces built are reserved for you." Behind the veil, those long, enchanting eyes fixed on the young dragon. "No money, not a single copper coin." Noah flatly refused. "Miser!" "Thank you for the compliment." For dragon species, being called miserly is never a derogatory term. "I'm feeling a bit down, let me hug you and stroke your tail." "I'm feeling sleepy again, going back to sleep." The Augustus family paid a massive fortune, summoning an Earth Element Legion which, in just one day, established the foundation and core area of a city on the Truria Plains. This greatly shortened the construction cycle of the new city. The refugees migrating in, and the continuous influx of slaves, can build their future homes in the already planned residential areas. This is a long-term project. The planning and construction of the new city are not comparable to the sewage-filled Uther City of old. From the design alone, the new city is ultimately meant to accommodate a population of a million, enough to serve as the core city of the Duke Territory. Although the entire population of the Augustus family's territory now is less than a third of this planned city's population, this is the present, not the future. The development prospects of the Augustus family territory are promising, and many merchants in the Kingdom can foresee this scene. No special reason, simply because there is a man on the verge of becoming a legend. Thus began the prosperity of the territory, along with increasingly frequent commercial activities. "Ah, ultimately only participated in the design." Noah looked at the newly sprouted bud on the Golden Tree, a pale golden bud whose nutrients came from a hazy city phantom, "But that's all I can do, participate in the design." The feedback from the Golden Tree made the Golden Dragon even more excited, though it's unknown when the two buds will bear fruit, more is certainly better. After all, even the most painful Dark Fruit can temper his spirit and will, not to mention the other fruits. "Allow slaves to obtain the status of a Free Man through labor." This was a suggestion Noah made as winter gave way to spring because, at that time, due to frequent commercial and trade activities, the number of slaves in the Augustus territory had reached an astounding thirty thousand, mainly robust young people. "Those with a permanent residence will be dedicated. Slaves do not own any property, and all they produce through labor does not belong to them. In such a situation, only by driving them with force can some output be gained. I believe this is bad, wasting a lot of labor. If labor could be exchanged for freedom, then I think the vast majority of slaves would not need overseers or whips, they would work voluntarily." "Allowing slaves to gain the status of Free Man through labor, such a thing has never had a precedent in the Kingdom's history." "We can become the precedent." Convincing adoptive parents was not difficult, even rather easy because this Lord and Lady were quite open-minded, or indifferent. They didn't need to exploit slaves to assert their authority. After Noah explained the benefits of allowing slaves to exchange labor for freedom, a Lord's decree was soon implemented. The specific content was naturally more complex than the few words Noah spoke. It clearly stipulated how much labor slaves needed to contribute to gain the status of a Free Man. Moreover, there was a stringent examination system, not just a few months of hard work to gain freedom. Yet even so, the speed of the new city's construction visibly increased.