Lord: Starting with Biological Modification

Chapter 286: Chapter 281: Pleasant Cooperation?

Tristan felt like he was suffocating.

A massive crowd surged under the new wooden "Referrer Registration" sign at the entrance of the City Hall.

"Next! Name! Who are you referring, and what’s their trade!" the clerk in charge of registration screamed, his voice already raw and cracking.

"Me! My uncle! The best carpenter in Stone Bridge City! I figure he’s gotta be a Level 2 craftsman!" a burly man shouted, holding his identification tablet high, his face flushed beet-red.

"Out of the way! My cousin fires bricks! His whole family of five can work! That’s a guaranteed five Level 1 laborers!"

"Make way! This is a big deal! My brother-in-law, a foreman at the textile workshop in Silver Moon Port, manages dozens of people! That’s got to be Level 3, right?"

Tristan finally squeezed his way out of the crowd. The collar of his new Civil Servant uniform was askew, and an unidentifiable grease stain sullied one of his sleeves.

Without stopping to straighten himself out, he hurried down the corridor, practically jogging into the Lord’s Mansion.

Inside the study, Velin was sitting behind his desk, tending to a sapling.

"My lord, the registration office is out of control."

Tristan handed him a sheet of parchment, slightly wrinkled and damp with sweat, and gasped for breath.

"As of a moment ago, over a thousand citizens have applied to become referrers. All the parchment and ink in the city have been completely bought out. If not for the fixed prices at the guild shop, the cost would have likely more than tripled."

Velin took the report and scanned it.

"Excellent." He placed the report on the desk. "Let’s discuss how we’re going to assign the new immigrants..."

「Night fell.」

Inside the study, the candlelight burned quietly.

A massive sea chart of Gray Bay covered the entire length of the long table.

Velin and Caroline stood on opposite sides of the table.

"The first wave of immigrants will mainly come from Stone Bridge City and Silver Moon Port." Caroline’s finger traced a smooth shipping route on the chart. "The Golden Sail Commerce Association will assign ten merchant ships for transport. Taking this traditional route is the safest, but a round trip takes twelve days."

"Too slow." Velin used a wooden rod to tap another location on the sea chart, a narrow strait. "Go this way, through Wind Shear Island."

"No." Caroline’s denial was almost instinctual. "Wind Shear Island? The waters there are full of hidden reefs. Even Golden Sail’s most experienced captains wouldn’t dare take that route with a full cargo. The risk is too high."

Velin didn’t argue with her about the risks. He simply stated a fact.

"Leviathan Two and Three will depart ahead of time to clear the shipping lane." He paused. "Including the reefs."

All the arguments Caroline had prepared—about costs, insurance, and crew morale—were suddenly stuck in her throat.

The way he said it, clearing reefs from a shipping lane sounded as casual as tidying up a room before heading out.

She looked at Velin. This man always found some unbelievable way to shatter all conventional rules.

"...Alright." Caroline picked up a quill and drew a heavy mark on the new route, as if venting her frustration.

The discussion lasted a long time, covering everything from the immigrants’ food and lodging and the payment schedules for procuring supplies, to the allocation of resources for the Newly Cultivated Land project.

Caroline was surprised to find that she was actually enjoying this.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Velin, there was no false flattery, no tedious posturing—only the most direct, efficient negotiation of interests and strategic planning.

They were like two master artisans in perfect sync, jointly refining a magnificent blueprint.

For a moment, as Velin’s hand moved across the map, it inadvertently brushed against her fingertips.

The warm touch was gone in an instant. Her heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively moved to pull her hand back, but she froze.

She didn’t move, just letting the brief contact happen. A strange... pleasure even bloomed in her heart.

’Maybe doing business with a Pioneer Knight, accompanying him through his struggles, participating time and again in grand schemes that could change the very fabric of the Duchy... isn’t so bad after all.’

"That ’Stone Skin Soft Vine’ you mentioned... can it really grow into a barrier capable of withstanding a War Giant Beast in just one month?" As the discussion wound down, Caroline couldn’t help but ask.

"Rest assured." Velin turned, the candlelight illuminating the side of his face.

"In one month, a new piece of land will appear outside Minas Tirith Port. The vast mudflats will become an insurmountable Wall of Sighs for the Sea Race."

Caroline’s heart skipped a beat.

To turn the sea into an inland lake, to create land from the ocean itself... This man’s imagination was truly boundless.

...

By the time their discussion concluded, it was late into the night.

Caroline rolled up the organized documents and stuffed them into a leather tube. "The first fleet will depart in three days."

"My thanks for your hard work."

"This is a partnership," Caroline corrected.

She packed her things and turned to leave.

Reaching the door, just as her hand touched the handle, a thought flashed through her mind.

Wind Shear Island.

She abruptly remembered something.

On the island’s northern side lay an exceptionally well-hidden coral reef—a top-secret passage the Golden Sail Commerce Association had charted at enormous expense.

It wasn’t marked on any map. If Velin’s two creatures weren’t careful, they could easily get torn open there.

She barely hesitated, turning and pushing open the study door, which had been left ajar.

"Velin, about Wind Shear Island, I..."

Her words died in her throat.

Velin was sitting behind the tea table with his back to the door, writing a letter.

His wrist, holding the quill, was steady, his pen strokes focused and smooth.

In the candlelight, his tense shoulders were uncharacteristically relaxed. His entire posture had a... softness she had never seen before.

Caroline faltered. Curiosity drove her to take two steps forward, wanting to see just what kind of letter could make him exude such an aura.

Then, her gaze passed over his shoulder and fell upon the open letter.

At the head of the parchment, a line of script met her eyes.

"To Countess Diana."

Diana.

That countess.

The woman who was once betrothed to Velin.

She subconsciously tightened her grip on the leather tube in her hand, the hard edge digging painfully into her palm.

’Why Diana?’

’What gives her the right?’

’Just because she has the title of Countess? A so-called noble bloodline? Does she think that gives her the right to snatch the prize I, Caroline, have set my sights on?’

’The partner I worked so hard to win, the man I bet the entire Golden Sail Commerce Association on—is he someone another woman can just lay her hands on?’

These thoughts flooded her mind, gnawing at her reason and stirring her possessiveness.

Startled by her footsteps, Velin stopped writing and turned his head.

He saw Caroline at the door, her expression looking somewhat strange in the candlelight.

Velin folded the letter, its ink still wet, and set it aside.

He opened his mouth, as if to explain something.

But Caroline beat him to it, a prim smile blossoming on her face.

"My apologies, Lord Velin, for the interruption."

She gracefully walked forward, as if she hadn’t seen a thing.

"I suddenly remembered something. Regarding Wind Shear Island, on the unmapped northern side, there is a hidden cluster of coral reefs. The approximate coordinates are..."

She fluently reeled off a series of numbers.

"...have your ’big guys’ take care to avoid it. Otherwise, even if they’re made of steel, they might get their bellies torn open."

After speaking, she took a step back, bowed slightly, and performed a flawless farewell courtesy.

"Well then, I won’t disturb you any further. Good night, Lord Velin."

Velin watched her, her smile reflected in his wine-red, amber eyes. In the end, he just nodded.

"Good night."

Caroline turned and walked away, and the study door CLICKED shut behind her, cutting her off from Velin’s sight.

The smile on her face slowly vanished.

Her high heels striking the flagstone corridor made a crisp TAP, TAP, TAP sound—like the opening drumroll for a war about to begin.

Back in the luxurious suite assigned to her, she slammed the door shut with a BAM.

Instead of bathing or resting as usual, she paced back and forth in the center of the room like an enraged lioness.

In the candlelight, her beautiful blue eyes burned with a raging fire.

’Countess Diana...’

’Excellent.’

’Then let’s see who can offer a higher price.’

Caroline stopped pacing, walked to her desk, and violently yanked open a drawer.

She took out a blank sheet of parchment from inside.

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