Lord Highlander

Only a section of the canopy was almost rotten clean, and most of the scattered iron and wood branches had been buried in the soil.

Now these old iron logs covered with green moss were dug out by the cavalry, and each one was as heavy as gold and stone. After sorting, they were bundled into whole bundles and put on the shelves of Thunder Rhinoceros.

At times like this in the past, it was difficult for such a large Thunder Rhino to pass through such a dense forest.

But it is different now, the red ants have cleaned the forest, and almost all the leaves of the trees have been eaten clean.

After the ant infestation, some trees sprouted again, while others died completely.

There are dead trees like this everywhere in the forest, and it is precisely because of these dead trees that these Thunder Rhinos can walk through the gaps between the trees.

The bulky Thunder Rhino is covered with thick armor, and it is not afraid of these dead branches scratching its skin. Every time the leading Thunder Rhino takes a step forward, there will be countless dead branches. Eighteen Thunder Rhinos Walk through the forest in a single file, and there is a loose road in the forest.

The only disadvantage of this forest road is that there is no way for carriages to pass.

Since this place is close to the edge of the Dark Insect Valley, the ghost pattern soldier ants are very active in this area, and even the indigenous tribes rarely move in this area.

Even so, Suldak was still worried that the abandoned ironwood covered with a thick layer of moss would be discovered by other adventure groups. In addition to enclosing the area with boundary markers, he also wrote warning signs around it, It's nothing more than 'Private territory, be careful! ’ ‘This place is dangerous, there are often ghost-striped red ants! ’ I hope it will be of some use to those lawless adventure groups.

After all, the price per pound of the collapsed iron logs in the depths of this forest area is almost the same as that of magic red copper.

In fact, Suldak also knew that he didn't need to worry too much. Not only is this place located in a remote mountain gorge, but it is also located on the southern slope of the dense forest. It is difficult for horses and vehicles to enter here. It is difficult to ship out, unless it is shredded here, it is possible to ship out.

Before Suldak transported these iron logs to Dodan Town, all the iron logs were wrapped in linen. After arriving in Dodan Town, they moved into the warehouse as soon as possible, and did not disclose any information to the outside world. Even the warehouse The custodians only knew that these materials were brought back with Thunder Rhino, and they were very heavy, that's all.

Suldak plans to move these ironwoods directly to Pustule Mountain, and then sell them from Wall Village to Hailansa City. Ironwood is the top material for making hardwood bows, and its price in the magic market has always been high. No less, the price per pound is almost the same as magic red copper.

After the beast tide, the soldiers in the garrison camp were a little worried that Suldak would lose the income from the ghost-striped red ants. Commander Suldak built row buildings and temples in Dodan Town. Once the capital chain was broken, The merit exchange list of the military camp will not be maintained.

The merit list was exchanged for magic weapons for the fifth time and once again swarmed for looting.

In fact, the value of this batch of iron wood that arrived in Duodan Town is much higher than the hard armor of soldier ants.

...

There is no way to write to Hathaway and Beatrice in Invercargill Forest. When he returns to Dodan from Invercargill Forest with his cavalry and Thunder Rhino Archer Battalion, there will be a letter on the table in his study. sent three letters from the city of Pena.

From the three letters, I looked for the one that was sent the earliest, and read one after another. The faint sweetness in my thoughts was like a glass of sweet fruit wine with ice.

Suldak quickly wrote a reply letter and asked his personal guards to send it to the carriage house in the town and send it back to Bena City.

This time he brought back from the Invercargill Forest the most detailed hand-drawn map showing the territory that Suldak had applied to the Wilkes Territorial Administration.

In mid-August, a surveyor and two clerks arrived in Dodan from the Wilkes Territorial Administration and had been staying in a hotel in Dodan for three weeks.

During the period when Suldak was not in Dodan Town, the three of them also wandered around the town all day with nothing to do.

For their job, they are responsible for border land surveys, so they have naturally visited many small towns.

There is no slum in any small town that can compare to Dodan. The aborigines in the town actually live in small townhouses, and even the homeless in the town eat roasted wheat every day. cake.

However, there are not many homeless people in the town. Once the security team in the town finds people like homeless people and beggars, they will be sent to shelters in the town. To join the labor union, they had to trade their labor for food and shelter.

The small town is full of various adventure groups and mercenary groups. After they entered the hills and mountains along the Dodan Canyon, they first hunted ghost-striped red ants in the mountains. Now the ghost-striped red ants are almost extinct. Many adventurers The regiment has gone deep into the Invercargill Warcraft Forest, hunting those backtracking Warcraft.

This group of people seems to have gotten used to living in the town of Dodan.

Mainly there are many business groups here, they buy almost all kinds of Warcraft materials, and all the materials brought back from outside by the adventure group and the mercenary group can be sold in Dodan Town. .

The corresponding supporting blacksmith shops, leather shops, hotels, and grocery stores are relatively complete.

These shops were originally opened in recent months because of the increasing number of adventure groups, but now they have become the main reason for attracting adventure groups to set up their strongholds here.

The officials of the Territorial Administration were a little surprised at the amazing changes in Dodan Town at first, but they got used to it after living for a long time.

When they finally saw Suldak come back from the Invercargill Forest and saw the territory division like the pattern of black and white cows, their jaws were almost dropped on the spot... This is simply making things difficult on purpose. How can this be measured!

The problem facing the three officials of the Territorial Administration is:

It is impossible to accurately calculate whether the circled land drawn by Suldak on the map occupies two-fifths of the total area of ​​the newly opened territory...

Looking at the territory map of the Invercargill Warcraft Forest in front of him, it was like standing in front of a black and white cow.

"Master Viscount, do you really want to make your territory so complicated?" The surveyor, with wrinkles on his forehead, smiled reluctantly at Surdak, and said, "Such a scattered territory means There will be many scattered small lords around you, and the nobles occupying public land are usually magician nobles, so you are bound to have many new neighbors."

If it weren't for the fact that the thirty-seven indigenous tribes were too scattered, Suldak wouldn't have planned the territory in this way, and there was no way around it.

"Of course, I've gone through all of these lands. The lands drawn out are all high-quality territories, and the boundary markers are all buried. It doesn't matter if they are scattered..." Suldak said to the surveying officer with a chuckle.

The surveying and mapping officer could only nod with a bitter face, and said respectfully to Surdak:

"If the proportions of these maps are roughly correct, we will stamp the seal of the Bureau of Land Management on this map, and the territory of the Invercargill Warcraft Forest will be officially included in the empire's territory, and this territory will be officially effective."

The young clerk standing next to him was almost crying. This was the first time he had encountered such trouble.

He quietly tugged on the lapel of the surveyor and surveyor, and reminded in a low voice, "Boss, how do we calculate the area of ​​these lands?"

The surveying and mapping officer instructed in a low voice: "You just need to help me calculate the total area! In fact, this is not a difficult task. Our predecessors have already thought of many ways for this..."

"Go outside and bring me the fish skin..." the surveyor ordered.

A young clerk went outside to find a piece of soft translucent leather, and directly rubbed the map brought by Suldak on this leather bit by bit. Finally, the map was rubbed perfectly, and then Cut this thin fish skin.

Transfer these patterns to a piece of delicate and soft animal skin, and first cut out the outline of all the territories in the map.

Weighed the whole piece of leather, exactly seven pounds.

Then the surveying and mapping officer took out a dagger and followed the rubbing line, the leather in the part of Suerdak's territory was cut perfectly, and the area occupied by the territory was directly weighed.

The surveying and mapping officer said to Suldak while weighing: "Master Viscount, the entire territory leather weighs 7 pounds. According to the 433 territory distribution law, the territory you will own weighs... 2.7 pounds."

The surveyor quickly took the balance, found a weight of the same weight from the weight plate, and placed it on one end of the balance. On the other end of the balance, these scattered Warcraft leathers were placed on top of each other until all the leather in the shadows were covered. All weighed up and failed to balance the 2.7-pound scale.

The surveying officer raised his head and said with a serious face: "Master Viscount Suldak, the territory you selected is not enough, and you need to add two more pieces!"

"Okay!" Suldak felt that this sentence was what he liked to hear the most.

He randomly found a few smaller pieces in the scattered territory, put them into the balance, and didn't stop until they were even.

The surveying officer nodded in satisfaction, and marked the last few pieces of leather,

"Then the scope of these territories has been roughly finalized, and the authenticity of the size of this map will be determined below..."

"Afterwards, we will enter the Invercargill Forest to check the map. I hope Viscount Suldak can ask your army to give us some help."

The surveying officer said about the disappearance of Suldak.

"Of course, that's what I should do."

Suldak readily agreed.