Lord: I Grind EXP with Warband Panel

Chapter 343: Chapter 95: Super Array

"My lord, it’s unbelievable. The speed these peasants... no, our people are capable of..."

As the second-in-command of construction in the Affleck Domain, Gerard felt the changes to the territory more keenly than anyone.

He had never imagined such a scene. Peasants were supposed to be the very definition of lazy, yet now these people were actually scrambling over each other to work. It was truly incredible.

Robson just smiled, having no intention of explaining. Even if he did, Gerard likely wouldn’t grasp the finer points.

The peasants’ previous laziness was partly due to the system and partly because they were genuinely in poor physical condition.

’Under Lord Robson, the men are all strapping young lads. Naturally, their speed can’t be compared to before.’

’Of course, the system was still the main reason.’

Robson looked at the papers in his hand, leafing through them a few times. He then used the Spiritual Power of a Sixth-level Mage to run through the calculations one more time. After confirming there were no issues, he handed them to Gerard.

"Post these up later."

Gerard took the papers and glanced at them.

"Exchange? What does this mean?" Gerard asked, looking at the papers in his hand.

The papers listed houses, various goods in the domain, and all of them were marked with a price in Copper Coins.

And Copper Coins, in turn, could be acquired in exchange for merits.

This was another one of Robson’s recent innovations.

Robson had originally wanted people to exchange merits directly for goods, but that might have made the entire merit system too convoluted. In the end, he decided to use Copper Coins as an intermediary.

’If merits were being issued, there naturally had to be a way to reclaim them. Otherwise, the system would become bloated and unwieldy over time.’

’When productivity is limited, a hierarchy is inevitable. If everyone had a sixth-level military merit, who would Lord Robson have left to exploit?’

’The fantasy of equality is a beautiful one, but this world is far too realistic.’

’And if this new system didn’t work out in the end?’

’Gerard would be the one to announce it, so what would it have to do with Lord Robson?’

"But... my lord, if we implement this system, what happens if we don’t have enough goods for people to exchange for later?"

"You don’t need to worry about that. Just post it. I have my own plans for what comes after."

Robson had no desire to explain the concept of "surplus value" to Gerard. Delving into philosophy was, after all, too much trouble.

’Either way, he, Lord Robson, certainly wasn’t going to be on the losing end.’

Once this exchange list was posted, the final piece of his merit-based system would be in place.

The merit system Robson designed could begin operating normally, continuously generating profit for Lord Robson.

"As you command." Gerard bowed. Just as he turned to leave, someone appeared at the door.

"Falan... you’re here. Have you made any progress on that matter from before?"

The visitor was none other than Mage Falan, who was holding several sheets of paper.

"I’ve made some headway. If we want to draw water from the lake onto the land, we’ll need a fifth-tier Water Element Absorption Array. Then we’ll need a separate Magic Array for a Tier Six Mage to operate personally.

In the entire domain, you’re probably the only one who can accomplish it." Falan said, handing the Array schematics to Robson.

"Me? Gerard, perfect timing. This concerns you as well, so don’t leave just yet." Robson called out to Gerard, who was already heading for the door.

The primary purpose of the Array Falan designed was to draw water from Dong’er Man Lake and use it to flood-irrigate the surrounding land.

This was, in a way, a disaster of Robson’s own making. Huang Na’s great fire had been spectacular at the time, but it had left nearly two kilometers of scorched earth in its wake.

Moreover, this was a world with elements. Huang Na’s great fire had caused fire elements to run rampant, affecting all the surrounding land.

Under the influence of the fire elements, the land was certainly unfit for normal cultivation.

According to the principles of Magic in this world, such a situation required water elements for neutralization.

It was, in a sense, this world’s version of chemistry.

Even the method of application sounded very scientific—complex and sophisticated. In reality, it was simple: you couldn’t plant on fire-scorched land, so you had to water it.

Looking at the magical model in his hands, Robson was suddenly reminded of why he had chosen to major in the humanities.

’There was nothing to be done about it; a person’s energy is finite. Although Robson’s knowledge level was that of a Sixth-level Mage...’

’Falan might not have had any Extraordinary power, but wasn’t his level of knowledge leagues beyond Robson’s own?’

’Even now, Robson hadn’t been able to fathom Falan’s true depths.’

Falan’s rough draft was filled with all sorts of baffling equations and bizarre annotations. Robson figured he was probably the only person in the entire domain who could understand it.

"Ahem... well, let’s go inspect the site first," Robson said.

’It would surely be easier to understand if they went to the location and had Falan point everything out himself.’

....

The party arrived at the shores of Dong’er Man Lake.

Falan pointed to a few stones in the distance.

"Right around there!"

With that, Falan crouched down, found a sharp stone, and began scratching out a diagram on the ground, completely absorbed in his work.

Robson and Gerard stood by and watched.

To Robson’s surprise, Falan kept at it for two full hours.

Robson and Gerard even backed away ten meters and resumed their discussion about the merit exchange system.

"Do you understand now? It’s basically like this."

As Falan stepped back, he tossed a top-grade Magic Crystal from his pocket into the Magic Array, and its energy began to radiate outwards.

The Magic Array began to operate slowly, but after just two flashes, a gust of wind rustled some blades of grass and disrupted it.

"This is the basic concept. All we have to do is scale up this Magic Array by about five hundred times.

Then, you’ll stand where the Magic Crystal is." Falan, gazing at his masterpiece, began to speak with unstoppable enthusiasm.

Robson stared at the Magic Array. It was incredibly intricate; in many places, the runes were packed as densely as ants.

The entire Array covered an area of more than ten square meters.

’How am I supposed to implement this?’

Staring at the Magic Array before him, Robson’s mind went blank for a moment.

"How many days will you need?" Robson asked, looking at Falan.

"Huh?" Falan was still lost in admiration for his own masterpiece.

"Time? About two years, I’d say. The main issue is that I have no Mana, and your Mage Corps is too backward. They can’t even tell the difference between Elemental Runes and Energy Runes, so they’re no help to me.

And don’t think that’s a long time. You wanted it to handle irrigation, right? This is just the source Array; other Arrays can be connected to it later. It will be able to irrigate over two thousand square kilometers of land! It can basically cover your entire territory.

See that Repair Rune over there? That’s the Array’s self-repair system. Look, the Array was just disturbed, but now it’s running again.

That’s what the Repair Rune does.

This was the most advanced Array we had back in the day, you have to understand..." Falan continued his earnest sales pitch.

Two thousand square kilometers!

Robson listened and gulped. ’Is this the power of Magic?’ The entire Affleck Domain was only a little over two thousand square kilometers.

’If all this was true, then Falan might not have been exaggerating. Perhaps he really was here to save humanity.’

If Falan were in any other Human Kingdom, this Array system alone would be enough to make that kingdom soar.

’Everything about this system was perfect, with one tiny exception: Lord Robson couldn’t afford it...’

Robson sighed. Two years... He didn’t have two years to wait. He didn’t even have two days. Ideally, it would be built tonight so he could cast the spell tomorrow morning.

After all, the spring rains were only about a week away.

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