Chapter 112 - Too Optimistic
At noon, Rockhead and Blockhead, as well as Meirin, returned to the castle. The three of them heard from Ann that Zhao and Green had come back. They were surprised since they knew that Zhao was staying in the space.
Finding Zhao and Green in the living room, Meirin quickly went over and asked, "Master, Green, why are you back? Is there a problem?"
Green smiled. "Everything's good. We just came back to test something." He then explained to Meirin what they had been doing, and her eyes shined. Over the years, she and Green had been helping take care of the Buda clan, so she certainly understood what this could represent.
But Green then told her some of the problems they would run into, and like a pot of cold water, Meirin's enthusiasm cooled down, but she nodded. "Ah, yes, these are indeed big problems. However, I don't think we can solve it by buying war slaves. Those slaves are usually prisoners of war or criminals with some skills. They aren't good people. In the battlefield, they are likely not to contribute anything for us. Such people are useless. I think it's better to buy some common slaves and then train them with cavalry skills."
"You say it like it's easy," Green said, "Why can't we buy war slaves, but other large clans can?"
"You old man should not confuse us with other large clans, because they have enough strength to cope with war slaves. Don't we also need money to buy weapons for the slaves? And why can't we train some common slaves to ride a beast and make a cavalry out of that?"
"I guess your way is right. Plus the price to buy common slaves would be a lot cheaper." Then Green frowned and said, "But there is a problem. Those slaves generally don't practice martial arts. Their combat effectiveness would be limited compared to warriors."
Meirin smiled slightly. "I've already thought about that. The reason some people don't know any magic or martial arts is because they never get the chance to study it. Plus they generally wouldn't have anything that could help them with their cultivation. However, Master is able to grow magic vegetables in the space. After eating these magic vegetables, I have observed that the slaves that we had already bought have become more able-bodied. If we buy more slaves and raise them up with these conditions, I think that in a few years, they will become soldiers that could fight for us."
Green had no objections this time. Those magic vegetables produced by the space were indeed amazing when compared to ones grown on the Continent. For example, the magic radishes in the Continent could only be regarded as one of the most common magic vegetable because the magic contained within was too small. If a mage or warrior were to eat one of those magic radishes, they will not gain much benefits.
However, the magic radishes grown in the space was an exception. They contained powerful magic, about five times more than the ones grown on the Continent. At this point, they didn't know what other magic vegetables the space could produce, but the amount of magic they contained shouldn't be any lower than the magic radishes, and in fact, some of it might be higher. Green's strength was about to break through to the ninth level, and this was not unrelated to the magic vegetables.
With this thought, they couldn't help but turn to Zhao, who slightly chuckled. "This should be easy to handle. We just need to wait for the space to level up, then we will have enough magic vegetables for a lot of people to eat everyday. This is not something to worry about." Zhao then added, "And it's not just magic vegetables. It's also possible that the blue-eyed rabbit meat inside the space could also be useful. It would not be difficult to train up some slaves to become warriors."
Green and Meirin's eyes brightened from what Zhao said. With the power of the space, they would constantly be able to feed the slaves with food that contained magic, like vegetables and meat. If they were to use those, then the progress of training soldiers would be very alarming. If those big clans would try such a thing, it would be impossible because even they would be unable to afford to feed their common soldiers so much magic vegetables.
"It seems that the most important thing to do right now is to level up the space, then we will be able to get more land," Green said, "More land means more magic vegetables, and that will also help us gain more income for the Buda clan. But this will take time, so we can only develop slowly. We must not be impatient."
Meirin nodded. "Ah, yes, the foundation of the Buda clan is too thin. We are still too weak to expose our identity. Even now, we have a mysterious and powerful enemy fighting against us. In this case, we can't be too careful."
Zhao agreed. "Even if we have the ability to make a cavalry, we still have to take things step by step, otherwise we will be in danger."
"We can't do too much and must remain low key," Meirin said, "I think what we should focus on is just working with Laura and making some money, so we can buy rare plants that will help Master level up the space. Once the space reaches a high enough level, it will be able to lift the Water of Nothingness from Master's body, then you could learn magic and martial arts. I think that for now, having the lord of the Buda clan learning magic and martial arts is more important than building up a cavalry."
Everyone recognized that what Meirin said was right. If the space could level up a little faster, and lift the Water of Nothingness from Zhao's body a little earlier, then it will revive the Buda clan out of their hopeless situation.
Green nodded. "Ah, I didn't think that this old woman would have a greater understanding than me. Well, Master, we should go back to the Stony Mountain estate. Laura will return in two days, and we must complete our deal before we can talk about other businesses, like selling oil fruits, blue-eyed rabbits, and scaled wildebeests. Working with Laura, it's not impossible to make some money and develop the clan silently. We should silently accumulate money and power, waiting for the day when we can soar!"
"Yes, the most profitable business in the world is a monopoly business. If our unique magic vegetables could be sold at a good price, then we will have a monopoly on the market throughout the Continent. It will be easy to make more money. We don't need to rush," Zhao said.
Green nodded. "We should take our time to slowly develop the Buda clan. Ever since we defeated Garan, we have been a little too optimistic. We shouldn't forget that right now we have been banished to the Black Waste with no ability to resist."
Zhao gave a wry smile. They had used the space to beat Garan, and since then they had become too confident. It shouldn't be forgotten that the aristocracy weren't opponents that they could simply deal with. There were some noble clans that had ninth level experts. And for those that didn't, they would be willing to pay a certain price to ask for a ninth level expert's help.
Before, when those nobles were dealing with the Buda clan, they didn't even need to ask a ninth level expert to help them. It wasn't worth it for such a high price. They might as well just banish the Buda clan to the Black Waste and let them fend for themselves. However, if those nobles found out that the Buda clan had made a turnaround, and even had some great benefits that they would want, then maybe this time they would pay the price to send out a ninth level expert.
Zhao saw how strong Green and Meirin, who were eighth level experts, were. Then how strong was an expert at the ninth level? Zhao didn't dare imagine it.
He couldn't just stay in the space forever and never go out. Once he left, a ninth level expert could put him down in a second. In that case, they would be finished.
Thinking about this, Zhao let loose a breath. "Ah, yes, this time we have been too optimistic. It seems that staying low key is good. Grandma Meirin, at night you should rest in the space. Practicing there will be good for you. If the Buda clan had a ninth level expert, then no one would dare lay hands on us."
Translator Notes: I now can't stop seeing Zhao as the monopoly guy. I mean he already has a black hat and a cane.