Translated by Tianic, edited by Grammarly
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]nstead of plain fields, what was lying in front of our eyes were big squared fields formulated by several expanded avenues. Provisional tents, big or small, from a variety of visible minorities were spotted. Lambers, stones were being carried from afar by workers of different races and piled high like hills.
“A hundred thousand people, no less.” Maiza made a quick comment and said, “Where are they from?”
I shook my head to say no, “Let’s get down there and check them out.”
We rode off and headed towards the nearest giant red tent, recognized nearly ten different friendly alien races along the way.
“Halt! Identify yourselves” A dwarf guard stopped us in front of the tent.
“It’s Viceroy Cohen Kheda!” Maiza shouted on horseback, “Take us to your leader.”
“Your Highness!” He looked at my eyes and hair, then smiled, “The leaders are having a meeting.”
I dismounted and went in regardless of my dusty cloak.
A few figures were having a meeting around a table.
“Are we expecting anyone?” Dimmock, who didn’t bother to turn, asked. He considered rules higher than anything in the world.
“Boss!” Steven saw me and half-flew over with his hippie’s face, “You are back!”
“Boss!” Manta shouted, “What took you so long! We’ve been waiting!”
“The crowd out there.” I grabbed a glass and drank, “Where are they from, those people.”
‘Magnificent, aren’t they? Boss, some of them are my people.” Steven said, “We have 8,000 wingmen, 12,000 dwarfs, 25,000 sandmen, plus a thousand elves and dozens of vampires.”
“Don’t forget the humans and craftsmen from other clans.” Dimmock watched me, he drank and said, “The total number is around 40,000.”
“Other races?”
“Positive, they are the refugees who sought help to Darkmoon from a few years ago.”
I nodded and asked, “The rest of you guys, where are they?”
“They are all here, Moya, Winslet went to inspect the construction with your papers.”
“Good.” I said, “How’s the preparation? Your people all agreed to come?”
“No doubt, your city is our city.” Steven grinned, “My father was beyond excited when he heard you are building a city as a viceroy. He, at once, gathered our best artisans, they are all yours to command.”
“Lumber and stone materials are enough for now. Winslet calculated that the transportation is up as planned.” Manta said, “The only problem is your city blueprint. Honestly, we were a little thrilled by it.”
“Now I’m back!” I was pleased to hear all the great news, “I’ll give you specific Q&As tonight. Now let’s get something to eat.”
The night was dark but brightness dominated the inner tent. A vampire foreman joined our discussion save for my friends and me.
“Your blueprint says the city streets and sewage system should be prioritized,” Winslet said softly, her face reddened by the torchlight.
“Here’s the reason,” I said, “Sewage system is built underground, streets are the fundamental structure of the whole city; thus these two are top pre-eminences.”
“However, isn’t your city a bit oversized, Viceroy?” The vampire said, “Though the main walls are tinier than DC, it is much bigger if we count the adjacent villages.”
“Listen to me,” I nodded then showed my appreciation to his opinions, then pointed to the map, “Take a look, there are no other cities within a diameter of hundreds of miles, the city we build here could only be an isolated one. That is why I’m thinking about centering here and develop supporting towns and villages around it at the same time. Once the wall and necessary facilities are done then we will start building peripheral installations immediately.”
“Why?” Wilder asked.
“We’ve got three years and 500,000 in cash only, this is far from enough.” I looked at everyone, “And now we have nearly 100,000 people to feed and manage, that is more than we could handle. Apart from human resources, we have trouble with the food supply. Thus it’s a must that we select able-hands among the people we have and send the rest to towns around the city. Their job is to commercialize and fertilize the perimeter lands. And they could offer great support to Dark City in the near future.”
“Are you saying that we are building towns around to support us with money and food?” Marfa gaped.
“Yep!” I answered, “We don’t yet have basic food and money to support such a large city. In this case, it is necessary to slow down the project. I need a healthy development of the whole territory instead of a sick and deformed giant city.”
“Then we could build it small!” Moya said, “Isn’t it better this way?”
“This is what’s troubling me.” I made a bitter smile, “So far as to the Peace continent, our land is relatively huge, and the complication of races is by far No.1 on this land. Before me, the population here is small but disordered. Lack of management has led to its underdevelopment. However, once we step in, the abundant natural resource on this fertile land will attract people, businessmen, or even commoners from other nations. By then, do you think a city as small will hold them?”
“I see.” Winslet said, “Well thought.”
“Though we are at a starting point, we need to do better than this.” I said, “Now, let me assign your works. Steven, how many wingman warriors do you have available?”
“En, for the current construction progress, not many” Steven answered, “Around 300.”
“Get them off-site and put them into petrol teams of five.” I said, “Deploy them evenly around the Dark City site in a diameter of three hundred miles. You are in charge of communication.”
“Roger!”
“Dimmock, how many sandman warriors do you have?”
“Two thousand elites, and more general soldiers.” Dimmock said, “They are combat-ready.”
“Gather the elites and frame them by a squad of ten, ten squads into a team, ten teams into a squadron.” I cleared my mind, “Gear them with horses and quarter away at a distance of 100 miles. Give me five teams in each direction. You will assign a commanding officer, I’ll see after that.
“Roger!”
“Manta, how about your people!”
“Boss, you know!” Manta said carelessly, “All dwarfs are warriors.”
“We don’t need that many.” I stated with a smile, “Pick a thousand of your finest men and assemble a security team. You’ll be in charge of orders at the construction site. Listen to me, it is of utter importance to retain orders for us.”
“Leave it to me, boss!”
“Winslet, how many elf warlocks do you have?”
“Zero.” Winslet was embarrassed, “I thought it’s just construction.”
“Things have changed, we need to prepare for potential enemy assaults.” I said, “Could your mother spare some elves for me?”
“Sure.” She said, “How many do you need?”
“Two hundred will do.”
“OK, I’ll write to mother tomorrow.”
“So then,” I said to the vampire who spoke earlier, “How many of your vampires do you have?”
“Eighty!” He stood up, “All of them are the best in our clan.”
“Oh, sorry!.” I said, “I forgot to ask your name.”
“I’m Kennen,” He said, “I’m Windsor’s brother.”
“Well, how unexpected, how’s she doing?”
“She’s doing well, has been a little troublemaker recently.” Spoken of her sister, Kenna smiled, “What’s my job?”
“I need you to split your people apart. Vampires are cautious, careful, and creative.” I said, “I will assign your jobs according to the site project. Every one of you will be in charge of one sub-project. Extra people will be assigned to nearby towns. After the construction is finished, they will become deputy mayors, until new mayors are appointed.”
“As you wish.” Kenna said, “We’ll do our best.”
“Then what do we do?” Wilder asked, “Anything for us?”
“Sure there are, how can I forget you.” I said, “You and Maiza will establish a headquarter controlling all military units in Dark City. Select your officers among senior guards or refer to other clan leaders’ recommendation.”
“Roger!” Wilder roared while Maiza smiled.
“Jack and Marfa.” I said word by word, “You and all clan leaders will start setting up the City Hall.”
“City Hall?” Marfa was startled, “What’s that?”
“It a management institution in charge of all Dark City affairs. First, you will do your best to manage and coordinate our current construction system. I’ll tell you the rest when I come back from Darkmoon.”
“You are going back?” Marfa asked, “Why are you going back?”
“You don’t know yet!” Jack yelled out, “Boss is getting married!”
At that moment, Winslet’s face turned immediately pale. I suffered terribly and swore to god to slaughter Jack the gossip.