Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 1372 - 1370: Inspection

While the officials in Black Water City were speculating various things, Richard was busy traveling across the lands of Shalin.

Admittedly, it was no small undertaking.

Shalin’s territory is considerable, located at the northernmost part of the former Sika Kingdom, adjacent to the barren North Wilderness, forming a relatively narrow stretch.

This place is called Shalin because of a now-extinct small kingdom.

Regarding the story of this small kingdom, Richard had heard it from Sherlock when he was on the East Coast and recently gained a more detailed understanding:

The small kingdom’s name was Shalin. It was situated in the crevice between Sika and the North Wilderness, impoverished due to barren land, scarce rainfall, and lack of special commodities, with a population of only tens of thousands.

The country’s King, calling himself a monarch, actually ruled over fewer people than a City Lord of a medium-sized city in the Soma Alliance or Sika Kingdom.

Because of this, the Sika Kingdom had little interest in annexing it, allowing the small country of Shalin to exist for many years.

Unfortunately, while the Sika Kingdom did not annex it, Shalin faced a natural disaster, a mysterious plague outbreak several years earlier.

This plague spread rapidly, infecting tens of thousands within days. The infected developed blisters all over their bodies and experienced unbearable itching, scratching until the blisters broke, oozing nauseating pus. Although not fatal, it brought intolerable suffering.

Moreover, the most beloved daughter of the King of Shalin, the Princess of Shalin, also contracted this plague.

Civilians could suffer, but the King could not ignore his own daughter. Consequently, the King of Shalin nearly emptied the national treasury to hire a wizard skilled in potion-making from an unknown place to concoct a cure for the Princess of Shalin.

This wizard had some skills, crafting an antidote within a week. As long as the Princess drank the antidote, she would recover. The antidote could also be mass-produced, spreading to the lower sectors, thus resolving the plague throughout the Shalin Kingdom.

However, the problem was that this wizard was too skillful—capable of concocting powerful antidotes, even more adept at creating poison.

Just when the wizard was about to administer the antidote to the Princess, he accidentally broke a bottle of failed potion.

The potion’s components drifted out of the open window, propelled by the wind, spreading across the vast region of Shalin.

This released a monster more terrifying than the plague itself; the potion’s components underwent unknown changes in the external environment, causing people to die with bulging eyes and purple bodies.

In just a few days, this claimed the lives of tens of thousands in the Shalin Capital, while other Shalin residents in different areas also died in the following days.

Shalin thus fell, with the occupied territory naturally becoming part of the Sika Kingdom, though few dared to move to this "poisonous land," making it sparsely populated.

The Sika Kingdom indeed dismissed Shalin as a land fraught with hidden dangers, leaving it idle until war broke out with the Soma Alliance.

The specifics of the war need not be elaborated upon, but ultimately, it resulted in Sika ceding territory to secure peace.

The former territory of the Shalin Kingdom and nearby vast areas were occupied by the Soma Alliance, designated as a special guarded zone.

Originally, the special guarded zone intended to be named "Walkerworth," alluding to the far north. However, Shalin’s fame was too prominent, and the disaster that extinguished the kingdom was still freshly remembered by everyone. Hence, it was eventually named "Shalin."

This "Shalin" and the former "Shalin" are not identical, with the area enlarged several dozen times.

Nonetheless, even with the expansion, most of the land remains barren with insufficient rainfall, compounded by mountains that hinder transport, still rendering it not a favorable place—Oscar’s initial statement was correct; this fief had evidently been replaced, for Richard’s war feats should not have merited such poor territory.

However, Richard did not care much; he considered the land conditions less favorable but acknowledged the geographic positioning as advantageous: being near the North Wilderness offers potential for expansion; the mountainous terrain offers effective defense against external invasions, serving as a relatively enclosed and safe development base.

As for how to develop this base, he already has some ideas. Now, he needs to personally understand the various aspects.

These matters are somewhat tedious to him, though he realizes that despite any dislike, it must be done—at least the initial phase, to ensure peace of mind for subsequent research.

Regarding handling work in later phases, he has other plans.

...

At noon.

In a certain field within Shalin, Richard strolled amidst it.

After walking for a while, he stopped, surveyed his surroundings, and nodded lightly.

As if confirming something, Richard waved his hand, sending dozens of glass tubes flying from his sleeve to hover in front of him.

Then, a section of the ground in front cracked open, with soil at varying depths flying out under extraordinary power, landing in the glass tubes suspended before him.

Richard sealed the glass tubes with cork stoppers, labeled them, wrote notes on them, and returned them to the Space Iron Ring. After completing this, he said nothing more and went deeper into the fields to continue sampling.

Thus, Richard spent the afternoon traversing the ranges of many towns and cities within Shalin, collecting samples including but not limited to soil, air, surface water, groundwater, and crops.

Among this, he also delved into the former Shalin Kingdom’s territory, carefully exploring and understanding whether any toxins or hidden dangers remained after the disaster that led to the kingdom’s downfall.

Until evening arrived, Richard finally paused, appearing in a small town called "Takli," entering a tavern.

Richard ordered a simple meal, eating while listening to the varied conversations in the tavern—the talk filled with bragging and rumors, making it hard to fully believe, but offering insights into public opinion.

For instance, if most people were discussing Minstrel’s stories or trendy clothes, it implied a good life with the lower-class content with their current circumstances.

Conversely, if most people lamented the hardships and searched for quick money solutions, it revealed poor governance, indicating eventual disturbances in the area.

Richard now heard three merchants at the neighboring table vocally complaining about suffering from raids by the thief group.

"Ah, truly unlucky, last month I prepared goods for eight horse-drawn carts hoping for a substantial profit. But shortly after leaving town, I encountered the thief group; to save my life, I obediently surrendered goods from four carts. In the end, forget about making a profit, even avoiding loss is difficult."

"Consider yourself lucky. Ten days ago, my goods on five carts were entirely seized by the thief group, leaving nothing behind; here I am still drinking with you."

"I must say, you ought to consider yourselves lucky. A week ago, Old Stutter personally escorted a convoy to the east for business, encountered the thief group, decided to play hardball, but ended up losing the goods and getting his head cut off, it was so tragic..."

Richard listened quietly until he finished his meal.

He rose, took a profound glance at the people at the adjoining table, and then walked out the door into the darkness, immersed in thought.

...