Lord of Rot

’There are people in Porcupine Territory who still can’t get enough to eat?’

”Time to eat!”

A shout came from the distance, and the boy immediately put away his knife and jogged over.

Leech followed him. The slaves barely recognized him; after all, he had only made a single appearance on the day they arrived in Porcupine Territory, riding a Horse-headed Eagle. He hadn’t been seen since.

The other slaves just assumed Leech was some minor supervisor.

Porcupine Territory currently had four to five thousand slaves, and rumor had it there were over eighty supervisors.

’He’s not my boss and isn’t in charge of my food, so there’s no reason to pay him any mind.’

Leech walked over to the slave serving food and took a look.

The food was prepared strictly according to his requirements. However, Porcupine Territory didn’t provide free meals—if you wanted to eat, you had to spend work points. The territory didn’t support idlers.

The meal was bone and potato stew.

Stewing pork bones required a lot of firewood, and since there wasn’t much meat on them, very few people were actually willing to buy the bones just to satisfy a craving.

It was currently potato harvest season, so large batches of potatoes had naturally become the slaves’ rations.

If other lords saw that Leech was actually growing potatoes to feed his slaves, they would surely call him wicked for feeding the poor wretches with filthy food grown underground.

Not like them, of course. They would rather let their slaves starve than defile their stomachs with such filthy, underground-grown food.

The tender, stewed potato chunks, glistening with fat rendered from the bones, might not have been a delicacy, but they were certainly satisfying. Leech himself would even have a bowl occasionally.

Furthermore, everyone could also spend work points to get a piece of black bread.

He looked over at the scrawny boy from earlier. The boy had wolfed down his meal in no time and, still not full, went back for another serving. His appetite was astonishingly large.

’Poor digestion?’ Leech wasn’t sure. But since the Alchemists had already examined the slaves and found no major health issues, Leech wasn’t about to be so dutiful as to spend money nursing them back to health.

If one wanted better treatment, one had to demonstrate value.

Leech took another stroll through the woods, then decided to head over to Silkworm Village to check on the silk production. Red Rose’s birthday was next month, and he had to get a gift ready.

As it happened, the same gaunt boy was about to pull a two-wheeled cart of cocoons to Silkworm Village to be reeled. Since they were headed the same way, Leech went with him.

”What’s your name?” Leech asked casually.

”Luca.” The boy’s attitude was indifferent, but he didn’t dare actually offend a supervisor.

”How old are you?”

”Sixteen.”

Leech looked at him and said, ”I’m surprised. You look so thin, but you’re quite strong.”

A single cocoon weighed about as much as a small piglet. Pulling four or five of them on a two-wheeled cart, even on a cement road, would require at least two people.

It would take one person pulling from the front and another pushing from behind.

For Luca to pull the cart all by himself, his strength was already on par with some sturdy men in their thirties.

But he looked like nothing but skin and bones, and he was only sixteen. That was what truly surprised Leech.

”Ever thought about becoming a Soldier?” Leech asked.

The young man was hardworking and did the work of two people; Leech had a good impression of him.

Plus, he was incredibly strong. With a little training, he could become another formidable warrior.

But Luca shook his head. ”The supervisors and the Soldier in charge of selection said I’m too skinny, so they won’t let me participate. I try to get fatter, but I can’t no matter how much I eat. All the work points I earn go toward food.”

’No wonder he rushed back to work right after eating,’ Leech thought. ’With an appetite like that, he could really starve himself if he didn’t put in the effort.’

’They’re still choosing based on build?’ Leech actually understood it was the simplest way to screen candidates and avoided a lot of trouble, but he said aloud, ”Well, I happen to have a little tip for you. Tomorrow, go find Lacy Sith. He’s recruiting new infantry. If you can pass his assessment, you’ll definitely get in.”

”Lord Lacy Sith?” Luca had a vague recollection of the name.

The man often showed up to recruit talented individuals.

It was said that anyone who caught Lord Lacy’s eye could instantly shed their slave status and become a noble Porcupine Soldier.

”I’m too skinny,” Luca said, shaking his head.

Leech said, ”You won’t know unless you try. You might just pass. I have a good feeling about you.”

’I’d like to just use my authority as lord to promote him directly,’ Leech mused, ’but whether Luca is suited to be a soldier depends on more than just brute strength.’

’Besides, if I reveal my identity, Luca will definitely pass the selection regardless of his actual abilities.’

’I want to avoid cultivating cronyism as much as possible.’

”If I pass, I’ll treat you to an egg tart, sir!” Luca exclaimed. If it weren’t for this young supervisor telling him, he never would have known there was another selection for Soldiers tomorrow.

”Alright. I’ll be waiting for that egg tart.”

The two walked a while longer and finally arrived at Silkworm Village.

The place was divided into two main areas. Silkworm Village didn’t actually raise silkworms—it wasn’t feasible.

One was an open-air area filled with rows of large cauldrons, the water inside bubbling furiously.

This was for boiling the cocoons to reel the silk.

The other area was covered by buildings where women wove the silk into fabric.

The work was arduous.

The weather was hot, and with the sheer number of cocoons, the entire Silkworm Village was working at full tilt to boil them and reel the silk. If they were any slower, moths might hatch and break out.

Every lost cocoon represented a significant financial loss, so they had no choice but to work overtime.

Upon entering Silkworm Village, Leech parted ways with Luca.

The supervisor of the Silkworm Village textile factory, however, recognized Leech at a glance. He jogged over to lead the way and give an update on the village’s recent progress.

In short, after this period of intense effort, they had accumulated 40,000 pounds of silk fabric!

The price for the silk had not yet been set, but if they followed Leech’s earlier idea of pricing it in Jinri, an income of a thousand Jinri was the minimum they could expect.

Fabric, furs, gold, and silver were all hard currency for trade in Lu Leiyi; there was no fear they wouldn’t sell.