Chapter 18

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

When they reached the main hall, the men Steve had brought stood neatly in front of them.

When Jack saw them, he used Inspection and took in all their information.

After selecting a few people, they set up the Ministry of Farming and Plantation. Steward Steve was in charge of making arrangements.

Then, Jack asked about the situation of the toilet.

According to Steve, the latrine points were completely built and the excrement pool was specially expanded to a large area near the sea.

…

Time passed quickly. Three months had passed since Jack and the others arrived on the island.

It was the day of wheat maturity.

Jack had been very busy recently.

First, he guided the Ministry of Farming and Plantation to build proper platforms.

He then used fermented excrement to irrigate the land.

After that, he specially checked the information on his phone and wrote down the knowledge about crops before handing it to Captain Enger.

He then instructed the blacksmiths to create a machine that specialized in collecting wheat.

In the end, he made barley into food, allowing Eugene to successfully advance to a Gold Swordsman, and he was also given a battle aura seed afterwards.

With the help of the highland barley, Jack’s strength increased very quickly. In just a few months, he had reached the level of an Intermediate Silver Swordsman.

This simply invalidated the hard work of countless Silver Swordsmen!

The months of hard work had not gone to waste.

Jack led everyone to look at the yellow and orange rice fields at the foot of the mountain and could not help but sigh.

Many things were not as simple as they seemed.

Although Jack did not have to worry about the specifics, he was involved in every aspect of production.

He finally imparted all his knowledge after much work.

Just as they were about to check the harvest, a Silver Swordsman suddenly ran over.

He quickly knelt down and said, “Mr. President, a fisherman on the beach seemed to have been tortured to death.”

“What?” Everyone was stunned when they heard this news.

Then, the group arrived at their destination under the lead of the swordsman.

When they arrived, Jack immediately started to use Inspection.

He found a crucial clue.

Then, he walked forward and pried open the branches covering the fisherman, “He should not have been killed by a human. The wounds are all over the place, and there’s no pattern at all. He seems to have been scratched by extremely sharp claws.”

Hearing Jack’s analysis, everyone’s expression froze.

“What do we do now, Mr. President? Do we search the whole island for the killer?” Eugene asked.

Jack shook his head. According to his Inspection skill, he knew that this person was not killed by a human or a magical beast. Instead, it was a Merman from the sea.

However, he did not want to say it out now.

On one hand, it was a good time to reap the rewards. On the other hand, he needed a stable environment to build his army.

Then, Jack assigned the dozen or so Silver Swordsmen to guard various locations near the sea.

Then, he brought his men back to the castle and gathered the regiment commander and butler.

Looking at the people in the hall, Jack asked, “How’s the harvest?”

Captain Enger stood up and said, “It’s great, Mr. President. Because of your method, the harvested wheat has reached 200 kilograms per acre.”

After listening to the regiment commander, Jack nodded.

This harvest was not bad.

Although it could not be compared to his previous life, the main reason was that the quality of the seeds was not good.

Jack had seen the wheat seeds that he had bought a long time ago. According to the system’s introduction, it was already considered high yield for this type of seed to reach 150 kilograms per acre.

The yield was significantly higher because he had so many ideas.

He had to think of a way to buy some excellent wheat seeds in the future.

Otherwise, he still needed to invest a large number of people to grow wheat.

Then, Jack looked at the butler and asked, “How’s the output of the highland barley?”

The growth period of the highland barley was 100 days, and it had just been reached.

“Mr. President, according to your instructions, I have increased the plantation size. Currently, it is a fruitful harvest. I have harvested a total of 200 kilograms of barley,” Steve said.

Jack nodded and asked again, “How’s the White Horse Treasure Chicken?”

“The quality of White Horse Treasured Chickens has decreased by a lot due to the lack of highland barley, but they are growing much faster. Currently, there are 580 ordinary White Horse Treasured Chickens in the farm, and 80 high-quality ones,” Steve said.

Jack nodded at that.

Then, he looked at Eugene and asked, “How many Silver Swordsmen are on the verge of breaking through to Gold Swordsman level?”

“Mr. President, there are currently three Silver Swordsmen on the verge of advancing to Gold Swordsman,” Eugene said excitedly.

The last time, he had advanced to a Gold Swordsman after eating a bowl of rice, he could never forget that feeling.

Did the president intend to help them advance now?

If that was the case, it would definitely increase the island’s defensive capabilities by a large margin.

“Alice, go make arrangements to help these people break through,” Jack said to Alice.

Alice nodded and went down to prepare.

After making the arrangements, Jack looked at the people in front of him and hesitated to tell them the news of the Merman attack.

After some thought, he said, “Everyone, the time for peaceful development has passed. I’m sure you already know what happened on the shore today.”

Everyone nodded.

“From what I can tell, the fisherman wasn’t killed by a man. He was killed by some kind of evil beast from the bottom of the sea, a merman,” Jack said.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone present could not help but reveal some fear.

In the case of ordinary people, they would likely have never seen or even heard of merman in their lives.

As slaves, they naturally did not know.

“The merman is a huge race that mainly invades the coast and attacks the ships that come and go. Because of their large numbers and their fearlessness, they are the mortal enemies of all the islands and ships. I suspect we are being targeted,” Jack said.

“Targeted? President, what should we do now? Once a large-scale invasion occurs, I’m afraid our people won’t be able to stop it,” Eugene hurriedly said.

“That’s right. Most of the slaves aren’t far from the shore now. They’ll be the first to die if the Mermen invade. Should we bring them in?” Commander Enger asked, his right hand pressed tightly against his left.

Jack shook his head and said, “It’s only the early stage now. We have enough time to prepare. Besides, I’ve already left Silver Swordsmen on the coast. We should be able to stop them. The key now is that we need to start recruiting.”

Developing an armed force had always been Jack’s wish.

This was such a large island, without any weapons, it was simply a cake that anyone could come up and bite.

In the past, he was lucky, but as he progressed, the word ‘luck’ could no longer be used.

Once they lost, they would be completely wiped out!

Furthermore, the development of armaments was also to prepare for the future seafaring.

Now, most of the island had been explored.

Jack’s luck seemed to have run out.

Other than some wild boars and rabbits, there was nothing else of value.

Furthermore, the planting and cultivation industries were already on the right track. All they needed to do now was to build the rest over time.

The problem now was that the entire island had reached a certain limit of growth and development.

If he wanted to continue developing and recruit soldiers to increase the strength of the island, he had to work on it quickly!

…