As the day to purge the bandits drew closer, Louis, accompanied by a few knights, carried two heavy chests, heading straight towards the Magic Marrow Factory, also an Alchemy Workshop, near the mine.
This factory was built by Hillco along with three newly arrived alchemy apprentices.
Though termed a factory, it was actually just a few simple sheds with alchemy equipment brought from the Southeast Province placed around.
Despite the humble conditions, it was enough to form a preliminary process for extracting the magic marrow.
"Lord, you’re just in time," Hillco lazily leaned against a wooden pillar,
With the increase in talents at Red Tide Territory, he no longer had to be as busy, looking a bit more spirited than before, though still appearing languid.
"The first batch of magic marrow has just been completed."
Hearing this, Louis’s interest was piqued instantly, his gaze falling on a heavy wooden barrel.
The barrel was filled with deep purple powder, its sheen subtly shimmering, looking delicate and smooth, faintly exuding a magical aura.
Louis reached out to grab a bit, feeling an extremely smooth touch at his fingertips, and couldn’t help but exclaim, "Is this the magic marrow?"
"That’s right," Hillco patted the wooden barrel, "This barrel alone is worth at least fifty gold coins in the market."
Louis’s eyes showed a slight change.
Fifty gold coins, this is no small amount, enough to buy a hundred slaves or sustain two official knights for a year.
And this was just the outcome of small-scale trials.
Thinking about the vast magic marrow mine in his territory, Louis’s excitement grew more intense.
But at the same time, he was also aware that to truly achieve large-scale production, many challenges still needed to be overcome.
The mining of the magic marrow ore itself was fraught with risk, with even slight carelessness potentially causing collapses.
Furthermore, their current equipment and manpower were far from sufficient.
This barrel of magic marrow represented the entire week’s production.
Louis immediately took out twenty gold coins and handed them to Hillco, also giving each of the three alchemy apprentices ten gold coins.
Upon receiving the gold coins, the few of them were momentarily stunned, followed by full excitement. For them, this was a considerable amount of money, and they all expressed their gratitude to Louis.
But a moment later, one of the apprentices muttered quietly, "But in this place, where can we spend the gold coins?"
The people around fell silent for a moment, but then couldn’t help but laugh.
After the laughter, Louis began to discuss business with Hillco.
He patted the wooden barrel and directly asked, "Hillco, can this stuff be used to make Demonic Flame Bullets?"
Hearing this question, Hillco furrowed his brows slightly, and after pondering for a moment, he replied:
"The key materials for the Demonic Flame Bullet aren’t just magic marrow, they also require ignition cores and other materials. Currently, Red Tide Territory doesn’t have any of these materials."
"Is that so..." Louis then lightly coughed, signaling the knights behind him to open the two heavy chests they brought.
The lid of the wooden box was lifted, and a strong magical aura instantly emanated.
The box was filled with deep blue crystals.
These were the crystal spikes extracted from the Ice Armor Bear, containing extremely strong energy waves.
Hillco and the three alchemy apprentices were stunned, their eyes widening, and even their breathing became rapid.
"These are top-grade alchemy materials!" one apprentice exclaimed excitedly, "If used properly, they could be enough to craft high-tier magical artifacts!"
Hillco regained his composure and uncertainly asked, "Are you planning to..."
Louis patted the box, "With this added, can we make Demonic Flame Bullets?"
Hillco was momentarily dazed before foolishly nodding.
But the next moment, he quickly shook his head with an incredulous expression, "No way, this is a waste! The magic marrow alone is already precious, and combining it with Ice Armor Bear Crystals?
Using these two top-grade materials to make Demonic Flame Bullets... it’s simply a reckless waste of nature’s gifts!
If these materials were used in weapons, armor, or magical tools, their value would far exceed that of ordinary Demonic Flame Bullets!"
Louis, hearing this, merely waved his hand dismissively, "As long as you can make them, do it quickly; I need them urgently."
Hillco sighed, "Since the Lord says so, we will complete it as soon as possible."
"I need them at the latest by the day after tomorrow," Louis set a deadline.
Hillco’s mouth twitched, wanting to say more, but ultimately just shrugged helplessly, waving his hand to signal the alchemy apprentices to start their research work immediately.
Louis stood aside, watching the alchemy apprentices bustle around with great interest.
Just as an apprentice carefully poured the deep purple magic marrow powder into an alchemy bottle, the rapid sound of hoofbeats suddenly echoed from outside.
A knight rushed in on horseback, dismounting quickly and kneeling on one knee, "Duke Edmund’s envoy has arrived, waiting at the gate of the territory!"
Louis sighed, "What must come, has come."
He turned around, adjusted his cloak, and nodded to the knight, "Take me there."
Outside the council hall of Red Tide Territory, a knight wearing a deep blue cloak awaited.
The knight was an official knight, and the armor bore the emblem of Duke Edmund’s family, clearly not an ordinary messenger.
Seeing Louis approach, the knight immediately knelt on one knee, resolutely repeating Duke Edmund’s words:
"Lord Louis Calvin, His Excellency Duke Edmund has ordered the gathering of all Northern Territory lords to immediately organize troops and mobilize against the Snow Swearer rebels!"
With that, he took out a letter sealed with the duke’s insignia from his waist and offered it with both hands.
Louis accepted the envelope, quickly scanned the contents upon opening it.
The letter’s tone was extremely stern, clearly stipulating the gathering time, and commanding all Northern Territory lords to personally bring troops to the assembly point.
Each lord was required to dispatch a certain number of soldiers; any delay or disobedience would be considered treason against the Empire.
The letter specifically noted that Louis’s assembly point was Snow Eagle City.
Snow Eagle City was an important military stronghold in the Northern Territory and also Count Rivers’s domain.
Count Fos was also the prefect of Snow Peak County and responsible for overseeing all the small territories within Snow Peak County. This content belongs to novel•fire.net
Red Tide Territory, in name, was one of his jurisdictions.
However, due to the pioneer lords enjoying tax exemption policies and the immense expanse of the Northern Territory.
Louis had yet to formally engage with this count.
Louis closed the letter, looked up at the envoy, and said, "I will arrive at the gathering place on time."
The knight, upon hearing this, saluted, then immediately turned around and rode swiftly towards the next territory.
Only after the knight’s figure disappeared into the distance did Louis look down again, seriously rereading the letter, calculating the time.
There were still a few days to prepare before officially setting out for the expedition.