The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 150: The Thorn of Ironwood Quality

As for the current stage,

the workshops and stores in Fresh Flower Town, aside from the few primitive ones opened by freemen, essentially all had to be established by Liszt himself—he didn’t mind monopolizing all the industries in Fresh Flower Town since this was his own territory.

When he said to build a workshop, a workshop could be built.

However, Goltai had doubts, “Lord, the soap making workshop can be handed over to Bunier, the brewing workshop has Frank, Bording, and Huntera, and there are many coopers for the cooperage… But what about the peanut processing workshop, what is it for, and who should it be handed to?”

“It’s about taking the harvested peanuts and processing them simply. They can be sold cooked with the shells, roasted, or as shelled peanuts, can be made into peanut butter, and perhaps new and unique peanut recipes can be developed. The goal is to turn ordinary peanuts into delicious peanuts, just like turning ordinary bread into pineapple buns,” Liszt explained.

“Who will make these delicious peanuts?”

“Among the serfs we bought, aren’t there some who have served as chefs in other castles? My castle doesn’t need that many chefs for now, so let these people research how to make tasty peanuts… Remember this, Consultant Goltai.”

“Please go on,” Goltai said.

“The agricultural products from Fresh Flower Town are priced very low and don’t have much trading value. But after our initial processing, they can be sold at a good price, and we can even purchase agricultural products from outside to process. I hope Fresh Flower Town can become a center for processing agricultural products,” Liszt said.

There was no word in Serpent Script equivalent to “initial processing.”

Liszt could use Serpent Script to create a word with a similar meaning, then provide a brief explanation.

Goltai understood, “So, it’s like Tulip Castle rarely sells whole Magic Tulips, but instead processes them into finished magic potions for sale, right?”

“You have understood correctly.”

“Then I will go and arrange this now.”

After Goltai left, Liszt soon departed from the castle as well.

He hurried to the Thorn Cordyceps Shrubbery to look for the Rapid Growth Wood Thorns. Standing amidst the shrubbery and looking around, apart from this patch of shrubs, only bare slopes could be seen in the distance. In the shrubbery, Rapid Growth Poison Thorns and Rapid Growth Spiky Thorns were artificially separated, each occupying a large area.

“Lord Landlord!”

The two Bug Guard Members guarding the Thorn Cordyceps hurriedly came forward to greet him; they were serfs from the dairy farm selected by Rom due to their robust physique to be Bug Guard Members and received a decent part-time salary.

Liszt asked, “Since you’ve been stationed at this shrubbery, have you noticed any unusual thorns?”

He had specifically instructed Rom to tell the Bug Guard Members here to pay close attention to the growth of the thorns and to immediately report any special ones they found.

The members hesitated, “Lord Landlord, I’m not sure if they are unusual thorns or not.”

“Oh, what’s the situation?”

“There is a patch of thorns… they have become… very thick,” one member said.

“Very thick? Show me,” Liszt instructed.

The Bug Guard Member quickly led Liszt to a patch of thick thorns.

The thorns here, with their color and spikes, were just ordinary, but each one was about twice as thick as a regular thorn. This was a distinct difference, yet the Bug Guard Member didn’t realize it was worth reporting—simply a pig-brained oversight.

Of course.

Liszt understood that the intelligence of common people was indeed limited. He said, “Cut down this thorn.”

The Bug Guards were not equipped with iron tools, only relatively cheap bone weapons.

They hastily pulled out their bone knives and swung them ferociously at the thorns. These small shrubs weren’t difficult to cut down, especially since they were still in their juvenile phase. The Bug Guard Members, full of confidence, believed they could sever the thorns with a single strike, showing their bravery in front of Lord Landlord.

However, to their embarrassment, when the bone knives struck the trunk of the thorn shrub, they produced a crisp “clang” and were repelled, leaving behind only a shallow mark.

“Uh.”

The two Bug Guard Members grew a bit panicked, swinging their bone knives again with great force. But each chop only left shallow marks on the trunk of the thorn shrub, and after a dozen or so strikes, they hadn’t managed to create a split as wide as a thumb. Instead, the edges of their bone knives were already chipping away.

On the verge of breaking.

“Stop, Thomas, hand them my Knight’s Sword to cut with,” Liszt’s eyes shone with understanding. He had probably figured out the nature of the mutation that the Rapid Growth Wood Thorns had undergone.

Receiving the Knight’s Sword.

The Bug Guard Members continued chopping, still unable to sever the thorns quickly, but thankfully the Knight’s Sword was crafted from fine steel and was extremely sturdy. Relying on constant chopping and grinding, they finally managed to sever a thorn as thick as a wrist. They then chopped off its smaller branches, turning it into a bare thorn rod.

Panting heavily, they handed it over to Liszt.

Holding the thorn rod in his hands, Liszt could feel its weight.

“It’s heavy, very solid, and the texture is extremely hard. If I’m not mistaken, its wood has likely mutated in the direction of ‘ironwood’.”

Ironwood, as the name implies, is wood as hard as steel. On Earth, many kinds of wood are called ironwood, such as ironbirch, mangrove, and phoebe, which are harder than steel, sink in water, aren’t affected by insects, and can’t even be pierced by nails. Many ships, vehicles, special buildings, and even aerospace parts are made from ironwood.

The current Rapid Growth Wood Thorns hadn’t reached the standard of ironwood yet.

But their “rapid growth” characteristic determined their value. Even if they didn’t meet the ironwood standard, they were still far superior to regular wood and better than steel.

“Given this quality, Rapid Growth Wood Thorns are practically steel that grows on its own!”

There were trees with ironwood qualities in Thorn Ridge, such as rockwood, stonewood, and others, but they were rare and grew slowly. It took hundreds of years for them to mature, and cutting one meant one less left.

Rapid Growth Wood Thorns could mature in a short time, their value was so great that even Liszt found it hard to imagine.

“Compared to the previous poison and spiky mutations, these are nothing! This is the true treasure among thorns. My Thorn Bug, well done, you’ll get an extra treat tonight. Feast on the Jade Powder!” The chained tasks reward from the Thorn Bug’s influence had led to such a mutation.

He felt increasingly certain that there was a chance for the Thorn Bug to evolve into a Thorn Minor Elf.

“I’ve decided!”

Emotions stirred, he could no longer contain his thoughts: “I’ll plant all 180 acres of shrubbery directly affected by the Thorn Cordyceps with Rapid Growth Wood Thorns!”

The ordinary Rapid Growth Thorns, Rapid Growth Poison Thorns, and Rapid Growth Spiky Thorns should either be relocated or cut down directly.

They shouldn’t take up the influence of the Thorn Cordyceps.

The Li Dragon Horse raced.

Returning to the castle like the wind.

He planned to immediately call Isaiah, the newly appointed Administrative Officer, to replan the Thorn Cordyceps Shrubbery. However, as the wind cooled his mind, he immediately realized a key problem: “The Thorn Bug is still accumulating power for its evolution, and the chain tasks aren’t over yet. The Rapid Growth Thorns could still mutate.”

Now, if he cut down the ordinary Rapid Growth Thorns, it would be hard to generate new mutations.

“No, I can’t cut down all the ordinary Rapid Growth Thorns. Ironwood can wait. There’s no rush. Right now, the most important thing is to let the Thorn Bug continue to develop, to let the Rapid Growth Thorns continue to mutate… However, the name ‘Rapid Growth Wood Thorns’ needs to be changed. Let’s call them ‘Rapid Growth Iron Thorns’ instead!”