Chapter 683 (1/2)

Chapter 683: The Desert Plan

Translator: TransN Editor: Meh

“Your Majesty, do you plan to go on an expedition of conquest to Southernmost Region?” Iron Axe’s ever peaceful face showed a rare agitation. “But the Months of Demons are drawing near…”

“How many soldiers do you think should be left in Neverwinter to tackle the swarming demonic beasts?”

“Well…” Iron Axe deeply inhaled to suppress his agitation. “Judging from the number of demonic beasts from last year, 1,000 soldiers would be able to guard the city wall.”

“So to be on the safe side, 2,500 soldiers would be sufficient to guard the city. Besides, a new round of recruitment has begun, which will safeguard Neverwinter,” Roland said, and then walked to the French window, “so tell me about Southernmost Region. You should be the most familiar with the people there.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Iron Axe saluted. “Over a half of the land in the Southernmost Region is composed of yellow sand. Oases are scattered along the western side of the desert along Silver Stream. Over 90% of the Mojins live amongst those oases. There’s a city built on top of the biggest oasis, which is also the only city in Southernmost Region—Iron Sand City.”

“So Silver Stream is a river?”

“It could be counted as half a river.” Iron Axe explained. “Most of it is buried underground, just like an underworld Styx’s River; the parts that appear above the ground have formed oases. For this reason, the Mojins also call it the River of Life.”

Roland turned around, asking curiously, “Where did it come from? Judging from the map, there were no high mountains or lakes near it.”

“It originates from the sea, so it’s a gift of the Sea God.” Iron Axe walked to the desk and pointed at the juncture of the west of Southernmost Region and a piece of green land. “There’s a huge limestone cave located here where the sea water constantly flows backward into. One could feel the trembling underneath the feet when standing on the ground.”

“Do you mean Silver Stream originates from the sea? But it has bred oases.”

Since it breeds oases, it means Silver Stream is freshwater—seawater contains too much salt, which makes it unsuitable for irrigation or drinking. So what Iron Axe said did not make sense.

“Mother Earth absorbed the salt in the seawater. White salt residue can be seen on the ground all over that area, which also isolated the grassland of the Kingdom of Graycastle. When people need salt, they only need to lift a bucket and scoop the salt from the ground.”

“Is this the superb craftsmanship of nature? The dirt underneath the yellow sand filtered the salt and made the area into saline-alkali soil.” Roland could not help but exclaim. It seemed that besides petroleum, now he had one more sort of resource to exploit.

“How many residents are there in Iron Sand City?”

“Around 40,000.”

“Even more than the old king’s city of Graycastle?”

“Your Majesty, the city of the Sand Nation is different from the king’s city.” Iron Axe smiled. “There’s only one nuclear urban area which provides residence for the power-holders of the six clans. The surrounding areas are filled with tents or thatched cottages. After layers of extension, the city became the way you see it now—as soon as one steps onto the oasis, one enters the domain of Iron Sand City.”