Lord: Starting with Biological Modification

Chapter 284: Chapter 279: The Newly Cultivated Land Plan

The Lord’s Mansion, war room.

The air in the room was heavy.

Caroline sat beside Velin. Tristan, Ola, Barrett, Valerius, and Elvin—all the core members of the Grey Marsh Territory—were present, and every one of them wore a serious expression.

Velin dispensed with the pleasantries and walked directly to the massive sand table in the center of the room. On it was a model of the Grey Marsh Territory and the surrounding sea.

"Korsh has confessed. Chieftain Unas’s main force will arrive in one month."

He paused, letting the information sink in.

Then, he summarized the scale of the enemy’s main force, as described by Korsh.

The terrifying strength revealed in his words made everyone’s heart sink.

BANG!

Ola shot to his feet, his fighting spirit soaring.

"One month! That’s enough time for us to prepare! My lord, give the order! The Knights were not satisfied with their revenge last time. They’re eager to drink the blood of those deep-sea bastards!"

However, Velin shook his head.

"Our manpower and high-end combat strength are at an absolute disadvantage. If we fight them head-on, even if we win, Minas Tirith will be reduced to ruins. We cannot afford such a loss."

He picked up a long wooden command rod, but instead of pointing to any land, he indicated the vast expanse of blue sea outside Minas Tirith Port.

"So, we’ll take a different approach. We will establish a new line of defense right here."

Tristan adjusted his glasses and stared at the area. "My lord, are you suggesting... we build fortifications on the seabed? The amount of work would be immense. It would be nearly impossible to complete in a month."

"No." Velin refuted his guess. "Not fortifications."

He turned, looked at their bewildered expressions, and said, word by word.

"Land."

"The ’Newly Cultivated Land Project.’ Or, as you might call it, reclaiming land from the sea."

A strange silence fell over the war room.

Caroline finally broke the silence, thinking she must have misheard.

"Reclaiming land from the sea? Velin, do you have any idea what you’re saying? That’s a project a Duchy would only dare attempt by pouring in all its national resources, and most of them end in failure. You want to accomplish it in one month?"

"Conventional methods won’t work, of course," Velin said patiently. "So, we’ll use unconventional ones."

His gaze turned to Elvin the Mage.

"Mage Elvin, I ask you, can a plant’s root system grow in saltwater and take root in the rock of the seabed?"

Elvin paused for a moment, then shifted into a scholar’s mode of thought.

"My Lord, the plant you describe does exist. The Red Leaf Tree. It’s a peculiar magical plant, naturally adapted to high-salinity and high-pressure environments."

"But my lord, while their root systems are stable, it would still be too difficult to rely on them to build a dam."

"That’s enough. It’s exactly what I need." Velin was not at all surprised by the answer.

He used the command rod to trace a massive arc on the map, extending outward from the coastline of Minas Tirith and enclosing a vast area of shallow sea.

"Then we’ll just create one," Velin said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"I plan to cultivate a new magical plant. I’m tentatively calling it the ’Deep Sea Stone Skin Soft Vine.’"

Valerius and Elvin’s breathing suddenly became ragged.

"Grafting... bloodline fusion... directed cultivation!" Valerius was so excited his beard trembled.

"It can be done," Velin replied affirmatively. "The Leviathans will be responsible for sowing the seeds, and I will be responsible for accelerating their growth. Now, I need the two of you to cooperate and concoct the perfect ’alchemical fertilizer’ for it."

He looked at the two Casters, whose faces were flushed with excitement.

"I need a gel that can remain semi-solid in the high-pressure, low-temperature environment of the deep sea, slowly releasing energy to promote the directed growth of the Stone Skin Soft Vine!"

Valerius and Elvin exchanged a look.

"A polymer gel! That’s it! We’ll mix in powdered Original Blood Crystals to provide the base energy!" Valerius slapped his thigh and said preemptively.

"That won’t work!" Elvin immediately retorted. "The energy released by Original Blood Crystals is too intense; it’ll burn the seedlings! We have to..."

The two of them began to argue fiercely, oblivious to everyone else, debating everything from chemical formulas to environmental pollution, completely forgetting where they were.

Velin didn’t interrupt them. He turned, moving the command rod away from the ocean on the map and pointing it toward the vast Gray Sea Marsh inland.

"Ola, Barrett."

The two military commanders were immediately jolted out of their observer status and sat up straight.

"The marsh clearing operation begins now. I want you to clear a completely secure military passage along this route within one month. It will be our lifeline for future counterattacks and our only guarantee for receiving emergency supplies by land."

Barrett narrowed his one eye and voiced the question on everyone’s mind. "My lord, such a large-scale operation... What’s the objective?"

"Supplies and food."

Velin gave the answer.

"Unas’s main force will arrive in a month. We don’t have time to build from scratch. In this month, we must gather all our strength and prepare for the decisive battle. But we are far from having enough of the foundation that will support this war—supplies and food."

He looked around at everyone, his tone heavy.

"We need to feed the army and, more importantly, satisfy the terrifying, ever-growing appetites of the three Leviathans. The consumption will be astronomical."

Tristan, who had been silently taking notes, finally set down his quill.

"My lord, your plan... is magnificent. However, we face a critical bottleneck."

He paused, choosing his words carefully.

"Financially, thanks to your previous arrangements, our treasury is quite full. The problem is, some things can’t be bought, even with money. Especially... the food the Leviathans require."

"Ordinary fish are just a snack for them. To maintain their combat effectiveness, they need the flesh of high-energy Extraordinary creatures. That kind of thing isn’t a regular commodity in any market, let alone enough to feed three War Giant Beasts for a month. Where are we going to find a mountain’s worth of Magical Beast meat?"

All eyes focused on Velin once again.

"It’s true, we can’t find conventional Magical Beast meat," Velin admitted, but then his tone shifted.

"But we have alternatives."

He held up two fingers.

"First, the legacy of the Lord of the Gray Swamp. You may not be aware of it yet, as it’s one of our highest-level secrets. Barrett will take you to see it after the meeting."

"Second, the Soldier Ants and Worker Ants that are culled naturally. They are, in themselves, high-energy biomass. Sarah will screen the corpses that meet the standard, and after processing, they become high-quality protein blocks. It will be enough to satisfy the Leviathans’ basic needs."

In the war room, the corners of everyone’s eyes twitched as they listened.

’Feeding War Giant Beasts with insects? Only our lord could possibly come up with something like that.’

Having addressed the most critical issue, Velin turned to Caroline, who had been silent the whole time.

"However, for the food for the army and everyone in the territory, as well as massive quantities of steel, potions... For all these conventional supplies, I need the Golden Sail Commerce Association’s channels. Caroline, I need your help."

"At any cost, and with the utmost speed, transport all the war materials you can buy in the Gray Sea to Minas Tirith."

They had already discussed these matters before; this was merely a final confirmation.

"First, the Golden Sail Commerce Association’s headquarters will be gradually relocated to Minas Tirith. I’ll need an exclusive plot of land in the port district."

"Done," Velin agreed instantly.

"Second, in the future, the Golden Sail Commerce Association must have the highest priority in all of the Grey Marsh Territory’s foreign trade."

"Deal."

"Good. The massive fish harvest you need will be provided by the farms at Stone Bridge City."

The meeting concluded.

Barrett led Tristan to the secret warehouse.

Ola stormed out, roaring orders to assemble the troops.

Valerius and Elvin, still red-faced from arguing about the new alchemy potion formula, walked to the laboratory with their arms around each other’s shoulders.

Everyone had received an important assignment.

But a blazing fire burned in everyone’s eyes.

Caroline did not leave immediately.

She remained alone in the war room and walked over to the massive sand table.

She extended a slender finger, tracing the area just marked as the "Newly Cultivated Land."

Caroline’s heart began to beat faster involuntarily.

’If... If all of this really comes to pass.’

’The actual controlled area of the Grey Marsh Territory would approach that of a Duchy.’

’What’s more, the coastline could be extended indefinitely...’

’Just how great is Velin’s ambition?’

’Reclaiming land from the sea... This could not have been a spur-of-the-moment idea.’

’When exactly did he start planning this?’

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