When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

After confirming the two major issues of "United Kingdom Formation" and "Thirty Days War Conclusion," the crisis finally passed safely, but Horn found himself unable to relax.

He dispersed most of the queens, telling them to take their hundreds of unruly children home.

In his capacity as the Imperial Emperor of the El Empire, the Pope, and the United Kingdom Emperor, Horn kept a few relatively powerful queens behind.

These included Queen Amazon of Xidian, Queen Tido of Carthage, and Wolf Fang Queen Gasa, all of whom were core figures in their respective factions.

After receiving Horn's invitation, they rose from their sedan chairs and approached Horn together.

There was a stone slab on the ground, and they stood in a line on it.

Vaguely, Horn seemed to hear the cracking sound of the stone slab breaking, several centipedes quickly scurrying out from underneath.

Looking at Horn, who was seated on a carved-back chair, their gray beast ears twitched, shooing away any flies and gnats that came close.

Most of these queens were robust and burly; after all, the internal power within the Beastman Kingdom was also held by female warriors, and most of the elite divisions that had been sent were composed of female warriors.

Interestingly, however, the two commanders, Dong Pia and Hariba, were coincidentally male, unlike the other battlefields where both sides' commanders were basically female warriors.

After surveying the circle of beastman lords, Horn cleared his throat and said, "I kept you here primarily for two matters."

The current main issues Horn needed to discuss with them were the territorial concerns of Autumn Dusk Island and food supply.

The issue of Autumn Dusk Island was relatively easy to solve; even if they refused, it wouldn't stop Horn from taking control.

Moreover, Horn promised that any success would result in providing them with two-story villa gardens and gold on the island.

As for the food issue, the beastman lords found themselves in a predicament, exchanging glances but remaining silent.

Horn slowed his speech: "You can tell me if there's any difficulty. We can solve them together; is it insufficient winter food?"

"Not really." Queen Amazon of Xidian scratched her head with her pitch-black fingers, "We just don't understand what you mean by twenty-five thousand, and we're unsure if we can supply your food needs."

"Have you never counted these things before?"

The queens shook their heads, with Queen Tido of Carthage nodding, "We harvest rice fruits in late summer, fish in autumn, hunt in winter, and endure famine in spring when everyone can only hold out as best as we can."

What kind of civilization level is that? And yet you dare call others barbarians?

Horn had usually observed their clothing and mannerisms to be somewhat polite, albeit simple, with a few hints of the Ancient Aier Empire's style.

But now, seeing this civilization level, it's not civilized but at least a notch above being primitive.

"How about this." Horn stood up and said to the queens, "Who among you has a kingdom nearby? I'll conduct an on-site inspection."

The queens exchanged glances and focused their gaze on Queen Tido of Carthage.

"Your Majesty, our Carthage Kingdom is nearby." Queen Tido of Carthage agreed straightforwardly, without evasion.

Led by Queen Tido of Carthage, Horn and several guards followed a narrow path through the marsh towards the royal capital of Carthage.

The leaden sky of early winter pressed upon the misty mountains in the distance, amidst the withered leaves and withered grass, Horn rode a horse while Queen Tido of Carthage was carried on a sedan chair.

The sedan chair was essentially a wooden stool mounted on two wooden poles, carrying a person forward.

Across the mirrored lake, each Mire Heart Continent appeared suspended like little islands and bridges between the mountain and the shore, swaying in the wind, blurring the water's ripples with the sky's reflections.

The late autumn and early winter winds were chilly, carrying a putrid and stinking scent as they blew from the mountains, hitting Horn's face.

The fishy smell and moisture coolly circled Horn's face, with a hint of sea breeze.

Horn closed his eyes, taking a gentle breath of the free air; the air of Daze Village was so fresh and sweet that it felt exceptionally luxurious.

An unintelligible fishing song drifted to his ears as Horn looked towards the lakeside, where several fishing boats were casting nets, while the King's Hand of Carthage, who was also the queen's father, began to introduce them to Horn.

"This is our Carthage Kingdom's deep-sea fishing boat." He pointed to the wooden raft on the lake, explaining, "We catch enough fish for the entire winter and preserve them as salted fish to get through."

"Why not preserve more? Is the catch insufficient?" Horn asked, looking at the overflowing baskets of various fish species.

The elder shook his head: "The catch is plentiful, honestly a bit too much; we barely expend any effort each year to catch enough for the winter.

It's just difficult to preserve. When making salted fish, we lack salt; when making dried fish, the swamp is too moist, leading to mildew if not adequately dried.

The previous wars between our two factions were not just due to the religious factors of Kongge and Mengge and the political factors of the Heila Kingdom, but also resource factors; we were vying for the salt wells at the mountain base."

Storing the information in his memory, Horn and his entourage continued walking along the narrow path, and several parcels of land, divided by rivers, appeared before them.

What surprised Horn most were the marshes dotted with square fields, layer upon layer forming a labyrinth of waterways alongside the lake.

These standard shapes were clearly artificial creations.

Seeing the Emperor interested, Queen Tido of Carthage led the group towards those polders.

Walking near the polders, Horn stepped forward for a closer look, discovering the polder structure was more intricate than he imagined.

These polders were constructed by driving long wooden stakes into shallow waters, covering them with fishing nets, dredging the silt from either side of the polders onto the nets, and layering twigs and fine sand dug from the mountains.

This process was repeated to build the polders over a yard above water level, allowing deep enough waterways for small boats to navigate and draw water for irrigation.

Horn lowered his head in thought, observing that the beastman survived primarily on a fishing and agriculture-based lifestyle.

In spring, they eat farmed livestock and engage in agriculture, barely scraping by on hunting in the summer, harvest and fish in autumn, to make it through the winter.

Standing beside Horn with pride, Queen Tido of Carthage said: "These polders date back to my great-great-great-grandfather and even earlier; at that time, our kingdom had fewer people.

Though unaware of how much farmland is needed, we know the more farmland, the more people, and the more people, the more polders will be built.

Given a few hundred more years, we will inevitably transform the entire Blackbone Swamp into polders."

Gazing at the spirited Queen of Carthage, Horn simply smiled in response: "I believe that day will come swiftly."

Following the queen and the King's Hand to the fishing fleet and after confirming the fish harvest and farmland yields, Horn calculated slightly, noting that the fish in the swamp were definitely sufficient for consumption.

However, the issue was their inability to preserve the fish for long due to lack of salt, despite the considerable amount brought by Horn among the supplies, which was insufficient to preserve fish enough for twenty-five thousand people for a month.

Alternatively, the primitive canning method could be used, where fish meat is boiled in water inside clay pots, sealed with wooden stoppers, heated in a steamer, and then sealed with clay.

This method could extend the shelf life by two to three months, though a pottery workshop would be necessary as a prerequisite.

But is setting up a pottery workshop so easy? They have no skilled workers, and the pottery process itself requires about ten days.

Even if they manage to produce pottery jars steadily, producing enough jars, estimated at least three to four thousand, remains a challenge.

Furthermore, they are unaware of the pottery completion rate or where to mine the clay for the jars.

By the time the pottery workshop produces the jars, it might already be winter.

Horn immediately felt a headache coming on.

Or perhaps an attempt could be made to resolve the salt mine issue over there?