Chapter 347: Everything is ready for tomorrow
Ethan admired the item for a few more moments before scrolling through the rest of the list.
The bonuses for children born into his family were wonderful, and the national bonus—which would apply to the entire territory and every city of Goldenveil—only seemed small at first glance.
When he considered that, in the future, it could cover hundreds of millions of people, twenty percent became an absurdly high figure.
Worthy of an SSS-Rank item.
Shaking his head, he skimmed the endless list that followed: two S-Rank items and another six A-Rank.
All of them would prove useful when the time came, but his focus was on the last item he’d requested from the Luck System: a communication artifact.
When the final spin ended, what he’d been hoping for finally appeared.
This time it was only an S-Rank item, but Ethan wasn’t the least bit disappointed.
[Congratulations! You have received: Eternal Blue Light Communication Tower. (Rank S)]
[Name: Eternal Blue Light Communication Tower
Description: A structure that can be placed anywhere.
It once served as the foundation of an ancient empire’s communication system, enabling communication via magical waves between any individuals within a radius of three thousand kilometers.
For mass use, it is recommended to create secondary communication towers.
Manuals for building new towers and crafting new communication artifacts are included with the initial structure.
Rank: S]
Reading that description, Ethan leaned back in his luxurious chair, his eyes wandering across the office ceiling as a huge smile slowly spread over his face.
This was far better than he’d imagined. Without a doubt, it would hand Goldenveil a massive strategic advantage.
In the Kingdom of Burning Ice, devices like this were extremely rare, existing only in the hands of wealthy and powerful nobles.
Even his mother owned just one, and it served solely to communicate with the Blue Tower.
What if he could place one in every Goldenveil stronghold?
While news of an invasion might take days or even weeks to reach the kingdom’s capital, for him, everything would be instantaneous.
It would put him on the same level as the wealthy Central Empires, where such devices were far more common.
With a satisfied smile, Ethan rose from his armchair, glancing over the other items he’d received.
In total, there were three thousand soldiers, twenty-four thousand high-level pops, and enough common pops to push Goldenveil’s population straight to eighty thousand.
Add the inhabitants he planned to absorb from other cities, and Goldenveil would easily surpass one hundred thousand—all before winter.
Integrating so many people would be a nightmare, but Ethan trusted Doran and Tom. He also trusted the food production of his magical fields, which would keep yielding even through the winter.
They’d figure it out.
Besides all that, he’d received five more supreme-level city-building cores, all A-Rank, each capable of raising a city no smaller than Windmere.
At first, he could cap Goldenveil’s population at one hundred thousand and split the remainder among the five new cities.
Once he used all the premium gacha tickets and absorbed the entire surrounding population, Goldenveil County wouldn’t be far behind the Darkwall family’s county.
It was still small compared to an average duchy of the Kingdom of Burning Ice, with populations ranging from two to five million, let alone the royal domain and its nearly twenty million inhabitants. Even so, it was a considerable labor force.
Of course, when it came to truly colonizing the Eternal Forest, it was just a drop in the ocean compared to what he needed.
"Ah... I hope Ron brings a lot of money." Ethan sighed as he left the office.
For his short-term plans alone, he would need at least thirty to fifty million gold coins.
Fortunately, in two months he’d have players to serve as disposable labor, and it wouldn’t be long before other merchants discovered Goldenveil.
When that happened, he’d have several sources of wealth besides Ron, along with a steadier, more reliable cash flow.
"Lord Ethan." The moment he stepped through the door, a voice called from beside him. It belonged to one of the many guards patrolling the palace.
She had black hair and a flushed face, and her gaze slipped away from his for a moment, clearly recalling the day she’d lost her purity to him.
"What is it? Did something happen?" he asked, his hands settling on her slender waist, the elegant plates of her armor cold beneath his palms.
Like all the Golden Rose Guards, she was his concubine, so he didn’t restrain himself, leaning in and capturing her lips in a lingering kiss.
Her lips were soft and warm, trembling faintly against his. Beneath the cold steel, he felt her body slowly soften, melting into him just a little before he pulled away.
"N-no, my lord... it’s just that those strange people... uh... players, have finished gathering and preparing all the beasts. Everything is ready for tomorrow..."
"Besides, the escorts reported that the Elven Matriarch and her entourage are less than five hours from reaching Goldenveil."
Hearing that, Ethan’s eyes sparkled, and his hand came down in a gentle slap on the guard’s buttocks. They were covered by little more than a cloak and a pair of shorts as short as the ones Evelyn loved to wear, leaving the lower curve of each cheek bare.
A crisp smack echoed through the hallway. His palm sank lightly into one plump cheek, the warm flesh dimpling around his fingers, and when he drew his hand back, a slow, heavy ripple rolled across her exposed skin before settling down.
She blushed even deeper, a soft moan escaping her parted lips as she struggled to hold her posture.
"Very well, let’s take a look at that."
With a final pat on her hip, Ethan strode down the corridor, his mind already running through the day’s tasks.
He needed to deliver the books to Alice, arrange for new copies, distribute them across Goldenveil, and, if possible, start preparing one of the most basic dishes for tomorrow.
Goldenveil already had two large restaurants, and as soon as he finished all of this, he planned to meet with their head chefs.
Apparently, the other four hundred premium gacha tickets would have to wait a little longer.