Chapter 123: The River of Time Was Flowing

“System, give me the detailed data of the clock tower.”

Kant was pretty interested.

On his retina, the detailed data from the system immediately popped up.

[ Ding… System’s notification ]

[ Belltower: Military Building. The building was made of stone, and there was a small bronze bell at the top. It could be used for daily time reporting or as an alarm. Attribute: For emergency mobilization. When war came, the bronze bell could be used to call all civilians to grab a weapon and protect their homes. During a siege, all civilians would be temporarily promoted to recruits. The construction would cost 1000 Denars and take 10 days. ]

The information was very clear.

Kant slightly raised his eyebrows. The building was quite special.

Or rather, it was simply unique!

At present, it was the only building that had a special characteristic.

[ Emergency mobilization ]: When war came, the bronze bell could be used to call all civilians to grab a weapon and protect their homes. During a siege, all civilians would be temporarily promoted to recruits. The construction would cost 1000 Denars and take 10 days.

“It seems a little familiar.”

Kant licked the corner of his mouth.

This building characteristic was awesome for defending the city.

When there were a large number of civilians in the fortress, Kant would instantly have 500 more Swadian recruits who had basic military training and certain combat skills if the bronze bell was rung, and this building characteristic was officially activated.

Although they were unable to defeat a powerful enemy, they could and resist the enemy’s attack for a short while and delay them from taking over the fortress.

“Build the bell tower.”

Kant immediately made a decision.

[ Ding… System’s notification ]

[ Building the bell tower costs 1000 Denars and takes 10 days. Construction has started. ]

The system gave a response.

“10 days.” Kant’s lips curled up, “That’s simple.”

He could wait for ten days.

Although the Jackalans’ expeditionary army could appear any time, Kant still remembered that Asage, whom he had executed, said that it would take at least 30 days to cross the Nahrin Desert.

They were not an ordinary trade caravan.

If it was a huge army that was trying to invade, the preparation time would definitely be longer.

Crossing the desert to launch a military attack on another country had never appeared on Earth before.

Deserts were often forbidden areas and natural moats. If it wasn’t for the Jackalan’s innate ability to endure high and low temperatures, Kant wouldn’t have taken the Grey Mane Kingdom of the Mannheim Coast to heart.

An ordinary human army would already face many difficulties crossing the mountains, let alone the desert.

Kant also didn’t believe that those high-level Jackalans would dare to give up all their supplies and come here at the cost of their lives.

Without logistics, they wouldn’t win the battle.

It wasn’t so easy to use the resources seized from war to support another war.

Even the Mongols who had once terrorized the world and conquered Eurasia had to support the war with another war during the unprecedented expedition to the west. They had to ensure that they had enough supplies for their troops.

“Wait.” Kant was slightly stunned.

When he thought about logistics and using a battle to support another battle, he seemed to think of something else.

Frowning, Kant muttered, “Using one battle to support another…”

In an instant, he seemed to realize something.

The Jackalans would use a battle to support another battle. They would rest and reorganize at the Oasis Lookout, and when the human countries still did not know about the presence of the Jackalan troops, they would break through the Stone Pass and set foot in the North County of the Dukedom of Leo.

A continuous stream of follow-up troops would arrive and slowly encroach on the North County of the Dukedom of Leo.

When the time came, with a large amount of food, sufficient drinking water, and the fortifications at the Stone Pass, this expeditionary army would be able to form their own faction. They could easily invade the North County, and if they were to retreat, they would be able to defend themselves from the Oasis Lookout.

If they failed, they would still have a chance to start all over again as long as they still had control over the Oasis Lookout.

“Would this be their plan?”

Kant raised his eyebrows slightly and tapped his fingers gently on the table.

Although he was just guessing, that was the Grey Mane Kingdom’s military strategy.

He took Asage’s description into account.

The Grey Mane Kingdom, which was facing serious external threats, obviously planned to use this place as a way out for their problems.

After plundering a large amount of humans’ wealth, the Jackalans on the Mannheim coast would regain their power and be able to compete with the Lizardmen and elves’ kingdoms that were getting stronger, instead of slowly dilapidating and becoming the helpless prey for the two races.

Of course, Kant wouldn’t have thought of that.

The Grey Mane Kingdom’s troops came here not only to plunder.

They also wanted to conquer.

These Jackalans with high intelligence wanted to completely conquer the human countries and made them their colonies.

They wanted to make the human countries their colonies and continuously let them take whatever they wanted. That was what they needed the most.

However, the Kingdom of Grey Mane did not know that the Oasis Lookout had welcomed its lord.

Moreover, a fortress that could make the Jackalans shed blood had already been built!

***

A construction team of nearly 400 people from Suno arrived.

The leader was the chubby construction team leader who had made a fortune from construction.

When Kant met him again, he found that he was even chubbier. He did not look like the honest and capable construction team leader from before. Instead, he looked like a landlord who had contracted a manor.

“Dear Lord Kant.”

When the construction leader saw Kant, he immediately bowed respectfully, “Your loyal servant greets you!”

“Pay attention to how you address yourself,” Kant shook his head. His personality was still the same.

Looking at the more than 400 construction workers that he had brought along, as well as the hundreds of carriages filled with wood and stone, Kant nodded, “A big project is coming next.”

“That’s right, Lord Kant.”

The leader quickly smiled apologetically, “But don’t worry, there won’t be any problems with the quality.”

“That’d be the best,” Kant nodded.

Although this guy was a suck-up, the quality of the houses he built was indeed good.

Without continuing to chat with him, Kant casually gave a few instructions and returned to the Council Hall.

The layout of the 43 houses had been completed. The ground was covered with the shapes of the foundations drawn by lime powder. The construction would cover the entire south side, forming a total of four streets. The empty space that had been set aside in advance would be completely occupied.

When these buildings were completed, there would not be many empty spaces left in the fortress.

The tranquility of the Oasis Lookout would be gone.

The entire fortress would be busy.

Everyone would be busy.

The 400 construction workers in particular. They came and went in the southern residential area, shouting at and coordinating with each other to move the wood and stone. The entire residential area had become a construction site. These hard-working workers had also put in a lot of effort, they were working very hard to build the 43 houses and the bell tower.

They were building for Lord Kant, and they were doing it from the bottom of their hearts.

However, Firentis thought that there were too many construction workers.

If Firentis didn’t know that they were all construction workers from Suno, he would definitely assign soldiers to guard them at the side. After all, if these people tried to rebel, the entire Drondheim fortress would be in chaos.

Although the combat strength of these construction workers couldn’t compare to the militia, this number of people would still troublesome.

Smash, crack, pillage, and burn. Although the rioters couldn’t fight the enemy on the battlefield, they were very good at the destruction.

Even if they were suppressed by the mobile troops in the end, they would still disturb Lord Kant.

Firentis thought that this was a mistake.

Even the archers stationed on the city wall were also shocked by the number of the construction workers below. Especially after Firentis’ reminder, they would keep an eye on them.

In the attic on the top of the city wall, the Swadian archers looked at the workers coldly.

At the top of the arrow tower, Vaegir archers did not even bother to hide the fact that they had already drawn their bows and nocked their arrows. If there was anything unusual, they would start shooting. This scared the construction workers below out of their wits.

They were from the snowy plains of Vaegir, and their personalities were as cold as the snow.

Because of that, the construction leader had to ask Kant for help.

These archers looked at the workers coldly as if they were dead people. These honest construction workers really couldn’t work properly.

Kant could only order the soldiers to remove their high vigilance towards the workers.

After all, these construction workers came from the system, so their loyalty could be guaranteed.

Time passed quickly.

The foundation of the building has been laid.

The weekend had passed.

Monday was here.

The size of the army, compared to last week, was bigger because a little more soldiers had joined, Kant directly paid more than 6,000 Denars for military expenses.

However, with the previous sale of Jackalan labors, the remaining savings still exceeded 10,000 Denars.

This had made Kant more determined to set up a slave-hunting team.

The slave trade was really profiteering.

However, on Monday, the leader of the trade caravan, Joslin, had to say goodbye to Kant and returned to Reyvadin.

A new trade caravan would not arrive until next month.

The slave trade could only be temporarily put on hold.

After all, there were no buyers. Even if Kant let the desert bandits capture hundreds of Jackalans, it would be a waste of food in the end. They might even cause problems when they were in custody.

Next month, when the trade caravan arrived, it would be fine to capture more Jackalans.

Days passed.

The construction of the forty-three houses started with the foundation, and now the walls had been put up.

The construction workers were responsible, and this sped up the project.

By Friday, all the houses were finally completed.

Fifty standard Swadian houses were built side by side with the same style and materials. They filled up the originally empty space in the south, forming the current residential area and four brand-new streets.

And right at the edge of the residential area, close to the Council Hall, the construction of the five-meter-tall bell tower was about to come to an end.

In two days, this bell tower that could be used to announce the time in peacetime and recruit peasant soldiers during wartime would probably be completed.

Time passed very quickly, and the construction also went very fast.

In the posthouse in the southern part of the Nahrin Desert.

The ten recruits who were left behind were welcoming Manid and the others who had just returned from the Stone Pass