Next, Odis, along with Rupert and Noy, used the "flying scroll" to take a look at the northern part of the island.
The area is not very flat, so development has been limited, and there are only two villages with small populations.
Moreover, these villages are separated from the port town by a primeval forest.
Odis wandered around for a while, and finally landed on a mountain peak, carefully examining the surrounding terrain.
Finally, they flew into the mountains. The scenery in the valleys was quite nice, and the further they went into the western part of the island, the more villages there were.
These villages have also developed a lot of farmland. Odis roughly estimated that the population in the mountains alone might be thirty to forty thousand, and the population in the plains town and port town might also be thirty to forty thousand.
The total population is larger than previously estimated.
However, the people living in these mountains are not yet under his control.
After looking around, Odis returned to the port town and went to the town's only tavern for a drink.
This tavern is a wooden structure; in fact, most of the structures in the town are wooden structures, with very few stone buildings.
Because on such islands, timber is the easiest resource to obtain; cement and steel bars can only be bought in Bayam, but not on this deserted island.
The cabin was fairly spacious, with a bar and several tables.
There weren't many customers at the moment, and the tavern owner was still wiping the bar. When he saw Odis come in, he quickly smiled and said, "Captain... no, Mayor, would you like a drink?"
Odis nodded: "A specialty beer, please."
"There's only one kind of beer here," the chubby owner said with a smile. "It's a light beer that I brew myself. You can try it."
Odis grunted and sat down at the bar: "How much?"
"It's free." The shopkeeper said with a slightly flattering smile, "It's my pleasure to buy you a beer."
Odis did not refuse: "Alright, this drink is on you, but you don't need to treat anyone who comes in after you."
"Yes, yes, yes." The fat boss said, not quite understanding what the mayor meant, and went to pour himself a full glass of beer.
Just as Odis took a sip, Sheriff Tom entered and said, "Thank goodness, we've finally found you, Mayor Gar. Hunter, give me a glass of fruit wine."
Hunter is the name of the fat boss.
Odis asked, "What is it?"
"I wanted to ask a question: what should we do with the two pirates we captured earlier, and the dozen or so Egbert prisoners?" Tom asked, sitting down next to Odis and taking a sip of fruit wine.
"Hang the two pirates right here on the dock, so everyone can vent their anger," Odis said. "Keep the dozen or so prisoners for a couple more days and observe them. If they don't have any diseases, I'll still have a use for them."
Tom smiled and said, "But what about their...food?"
He explained, "The town's residents are unwilling to support these dozen or so idle people."
Odis thought for a moment: "Let the restaurant cook for them first, and I'll pay for whatever it costs."
"In addition, there should be 5 police officers to take turns guarding the area, and I will pay each of them 1 soule per day for overtime."
This small amount of money is nothing to Odis now.
Tom immediately beamed with joy: "Great! Great!"
After exchanging a few words, as he got up to leave, Odis reminded him, "Pay for the drinks."
Tom was taken aback. He usually didn't pay when he came here, but since the new mayor asked him to pay, he didn't dare disobey and obediently paid for the drinks.
Not long after the sheriff left, Virgil, the white-haired head of the town council, came in again: "I've finally found you, Mayor. There are many government affairs in town that need your attention."
He smiled kindly, while most pirates would frown at the word "political affairs".
The "Mayor of Gar" smiled and said, "Oh, tell me, what are your official duties?"
Virgil said, "Let's... let's talk in the conference room."
"Let's say it here," Odis said casually.
Virgil then sat down and said to the tavern owner, Hunter, "A glass of rum, please."
He took a sip of his drink before saying, "The first question is, if we divide it into two towns, where should we use as the dividing line?"
"The central axis of 'Lighthouse Hill'," Odis replied.
Virgil was stunned for a good two or three seconds. Mayor Gar's answer was enough to show that the order to divide the town into two was not given casually, but was a decision he had thought through carefully.
So Virgil swallowed hard and said, "It would be best to discuss it with the other members of the council..."
Odis glanced at the other party: "Do I need to discuss my orders with you?"
He paused and then said, "There's one thing you need to understand: when I issue an order, the self-governing council carries it out; it's not that I discuss with the self-governing council how to solve the problem."
"Yes, yes, yes." Virgil took a sip of his drink and then said, "The second question is, what about those who fled the island before, if they want to come back?"
"Accept them," Odis said. "But we don't know if they have already joined the 'Deep Blue' pirate crew, or if they are spies for the 'Deep Blue' pirate crew."
"So each of them has to pay a 3-pound 'self-certification fee' to come back. Well... this money is collected by the self-governing council and used for the town government's daily expenses."
The "Deep Blue" pirate crew has been wiped out. Did they defect to them? Were they their spies? It doesn't really matter anymore.
This fee is clearly a punishment for them.
Virgil swallowed hard. There were four or five hundred people who had escaped earlier. If they collected all their fines, it would be a lot of money in the small town, and there was a lot of room for maneuver.
He then asked, "What if... I mean, what if they don't have that much money?"
This is not Bayam; many families here can't even afford 3 pounds, let alone 3 pounds per person.
"I can write an IOU," Odis said calmly.
Virgil was visibly taken aback. This method was simple and practical, and he hadn't expected the mayor to solve his problem so quickly. So he asked, "The third question is, which town do those two villages in the north belong to?"
"It doesn't belong to any town," Odis said. "I will send the village chief in a few days."
This was yet another order that left Virgil bewildered. He then asked, "Are there any previous laws that need to be repealed? Do you have any new laws?"
Odis countered, "What laws existed before?"
Virgil took out a worn notebook, put on his reading glasses, and read aloud: "The previous two mayors issued a total of 12 laws, the first of which was that murderers should pay with their lives."
"The second rule is that if a thief cuts off his finger the first time, his hand the second time, and he will be shot the third time."
"The third rule is that streetwalkers must hand over 40% of their income to the town mayor."
"Article 4 states that if a Northlander kills a native, the fine is £16."
"The fifth point is..."
Odis listened quietly. Starting from the third law, things gradually became strange, but it wasn't hard to understand. They were all laws protecting the rights of the people of the Northern Continent and safeguarding the authority of the town mayor.
After listening, Odis said, "Keep only four: 1, 2, 7, and 9."
Article 7 is about the regulations on equal transactions, and Article 9 stipulates that the port usage rights belong to the town mayor.
Odis added, "Furthermore, each family shall not own more than five acres of land; any land exceeding this shall be confiscated. Families whose land is left idle and not used for farming shall be punished with fines and flogging."
Halfway through writing, Virgil's hand trembled slightly: "Mayor, why is there such a decree?"
"The locals are too lazy," Odis said. "These past two days I've noticed that some land is lying idle. I'll need a lot of food in the future, and I can't allow land to remain idle!"
Odis couldn't bear to see land lying idle, and every time he saw it, he wanted to cultivate it himself.
The natural world here provides abundant food, but the people of the North Continent occupy too much land, greatly compressing the living space of the locals. As a result, the population of this small island has hardly increased.
Although the locals are very poor, they rarely go hungry on the raging sea.
The inescapable poverty and the lack of pressure to survive have led many to choose to "lie down and relax with their families."
The idle lands mostly belong to the people of the Northern Continent, because the price of food has dropped in the last two years, leaving many lands idle.
"I mean, why can't each family own more than five acres of land?" Virgil asked.
The land owned by the council members far exceeds this amount.
Odis said unhurriedly, "This is also to prevent the land from being left idle. Such good land should be used to grow more grain. In the future, I will send people to the port to purchase it."
"That's wonderful," Virgil said. "How much food do you need?"
"I'll take as many as you want," Odis said with a smile. "And you don't need to transport them to other islands to sell."
"Yes, yes, that's certainly a good thing." Virgil, interrupted like that, couldn't continue asking the previous question. He knew, of course, that it was a deal: Mayor Gar would buy the grain on the condition that it comply with his decrees.
Moreover, Virgil had already come up with a solution: since the mayor didn't know how much land each family owned, when the question arose, he would simply tell them that each family owned no more than 5 acres of land.
After discussing two other minor issues, Virgil finished his rum and was about to leave when Odis said, "You haven't paid for your drink yet."
Virgil paused for a moment before slapping his forehead: "I'm getting old, my memory isn't what it used to be."
After obediently paying for the drinks, Odis said, "Call Donaldius over."
A dozen minutes later, Donald pushed open the door and came in: "Mayor, you wanted to see me?"
Then he said to Hunter, "A beer, please."
Now, the tavern owner, Hunter, understood what Mayor Garr meant earlier. He was now the third person to ask for drinks after the mayor.
These people usually come here to drink without paying.
Odis took a sip of his drink and said to Donald, "I need you to organize a dozen or so young men who are willing to go to sea and sail that merchant ship to Chacker Island."
Chacker Island is a relatively large island that is close to here, which is why they had the opportunity to take a boat to Chacker Island to seek help.
Upon hearing the order, Donald was taken aback. He was initially delighted, but then smiled wryly and said, "We don't know how to pilot such a large ship!"
"Those dozen or so prisoners will be!" Odis said. "I will make that first mate the captain, and you will be the first mate of that ship. The people you find should learn to sail this kind of large ship as soon as possible. We will have more merchant ships like this in the future."
Donald immediately replied, "Yes, Mayor, we will learn as soon as possible."
He hadn't expected that his father had been clearly ostracized by the new mayor and had completely lost his former power, while the new mayor was obviously preparing to put him in charge of the merchant ships, giving him a good job.
As Donald was about to leave, Odis reminded him again, "Pay for the drinks!"
"Go tell everyone that in order to boost the town's economy, everyone must pay after making a purchase, and there can be no exceptions!"
Donahue nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, I'll go tell everyone right away."
Odis grunted in agreement, finished his drink, and said to Hunter, "Next time, I'll pay too."
Hunter realized that if he said he didn't want the money, it would be like going against the mayor, so he quickly replied, "Yes."
Odis got up and left, first taking Bazel to Bayam and giving him 1,000 pounds.
He then returned to the ship, performed the ritual, completed the transaction with "The World," sacrificed the processed "Mystic Master" attribute, and received a "final payment" of 2,000 pounds.
Odis didn't put the £2,000 in cash into the Wilderness of Knowledge. Instead, he selected a seal item that matched the title of "Sheriff" and three extraordinary traits from the spoils of the Wilderness of Knowledge, and then took these items back to the Emerald Palace.
After inquiring that the "mysterious queen" wouldn't be back until noon, Odis returned to her courtyard and rested in an armchair for a while.
I've been busy these past two days, and there's still a lot to do this afternoon, so it's a rare chance to take a break.
When lunchtime arrived, Odis went to the restaurant and, as expected, met Bernadette there.
"Come and sit down," Bernadette said. "We have your favorite lamb chops for lunch today."
Odis did not sit down immediately, but handed the purse in her hand to Pasha, the "mysterious queen's" personal maid: "I'm here today to hand over the spoils of war, and also to freeload a meal."
He then sat down and took a sip of his aperitif.
And she thought to herself: Life here in Bernadette is so refined; you can hardly find such a good aperitif anywhere else.
At the same time, Pasha opened her purse and turned to the "mysterious queen".
Bernadette remarked, "You've been doing quite well lately, haven't you?"
Odis had only been at sea for less than two weeks, and he had already handed over this much of the spoils—just one-tenth of the total!
"I've discovered that the 'Argo' has given me the strength of a 'Pirate General'," Odis laughed. "I wiped out both pirate crews I encountered."
This was mainly due to the Argo's powerful weaponry and Odis's effective strategy, which allowed him to fully utilize the power of those weapons.
He then gave a brief account of what he had experienced over the past week. When the appetizers were served, Bernadette took a sip of her drink and said, "I'm starting to regret only taking one-tenth of your spoils."
Both pirate groups that Odis destroyed had some background and needed the protection of "Elemental Dawn".
Odis simply smiled slightly and began another topic: "I only confirmed yesterday that the information about the 'Trickster Pegasus' island actually came from 'Admiral of the Stars' Cattleya."
"It's her." Bernadette put down her wine glass and said with some melancholy, "In the blink of an eye, she's about to become a demigod."
Then she looked at Odis: "You've suddenly come to talk to me about this. Have you heard something about it?"
"Yes," Odis said "frankly." "I heard that she once followed you, but you later broke off relations."
"It's not a complete break," Bernadette said. "If she's always by my side, it's hard for her to get any experience, so I let her go out and make her own way in the world."
Odis took a bite of the tomato in his appetizer and noticed that the "mysterious queen" didn't show any kind of benevolent expression when she spoke of Cattleya. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
He asked, "Then, should my deal with her continue?"
"Continue," Bernadette said.
"Okay." Odis nodded. "How about we go explore this Friday or Saturday?"
Bernadette hummed in agreement.
"Cattleya doesn't know I'm the captain of the 'Argo'," Odis said with a wicked grin. "So how about I don't bring it up next time?"
"It'll give her a fright."
Bernadette smiled and said, "That's your business. Why are you telling me?"
"Okay, I understand," Odis said.
Bernadette asked, "Now that the island is under your rule, what are your plans?"
"I plan to build a base there and develop it properly," Odis said with a smile. "The process of building up such a poor little island is quite interesting to think about."
"Your idea is rather unusual," Bernadette said. "Few people would invest in such an island, and even if there were iron ore deposits, it wouldn't be a very worthwhile investment."
However, she paused and said, "I will go to that island to take a look after some time."
"A warm welcome."
The two chatted and ate lunch, then drank tea and chatted for a while. Odis then went to the "craftsman" Dif to order a batch of extraordinary parts before returning to the small courtyard he had reserved for himself and taking a short nap.
With the help of the "craftsman's pocket watch," Odis was able to complete those extraordinary parts, but he simply didn't have that much time now.
He actually hoped that Bivis could be promoted soon, so that he could have another helper.
The parts ordered this time include key components for a "Lingbo Cannon", three "Extraordinary Machine Guns", and "Smart Cubes" and "Signal Processing Crystals" used in 50 sets of "Extraordinary Puppets".
They then ordered 60 sets of parts for the "Extraordinary Puppet" from the factory.
The total cost of these items was approximately six thousand pounds.
This made Odis himself quite proud: "I'm quite good at spending money."
In just one day, I spent nearly 7,000 pounds.
In the afternoon, Odis, having had a good rest, returned to the Argo and sailed around the northern part of Moon Bay several times.
As night fell, a light rain began to fall in the surrounding sea. As the lights of the port town gradually went out, the entire island seemed to fall asleep in the rainy night.
Odis braved the rain and used a "flying scroll" to fly into the air, stopped at a spot he had found in the afternoon, and then used a "diving scroll" to plunge into the water.
Soon, they arrived at the seabed. Odis took out the "bubble scroll" that she had prepared beforehand, and immediately created an airtight space on the seabed.
Odis threw in another "water-absorbing scroll," which exploded, revealing a sponge-like object.
Apart from the flight scroll, all the other scrolls were invented by Odis in preparation for tonight's events.
However, these were all new scrolls written using the "Garr runes" they had previously mastered, not using newly acquired knowledge. So they only made their spirituality more active, without any obvious signs of digestion.
After the object that appeared from the "water-absorbing scroll" disappeared, Odis entered the bubble. The sea inside was relatively dry. Odis took out spiritual materials and began to draw some temporary magic circles on the ground.
First, he made the bubbles bigger and more stable. Once there were more dry areas, Odis began to draw the core magic circle of the "underwater city".
He plans to establish his secret base underwater here.
This base doesn't need to be the size of an underwater city; it just needs a place to house core components like the "extraordinary drug production line."
Moreover, this magic circle is a "unit-based" magic circle, which can be expanded at any time.
The specific location is in the northern part of "Moon Bay". Oss plans to set up a "teleportation array" here that he developed himself, which only requires "Ahonna Crystal" to operate.
Although this teleportation array can only "teleport" for a few dozen kilometers, it is sufficient for this purpose.
The core production of "extraordinary potions" will be carried out in a secret base, and the medicines taken out from there will all be "enchanted".
Then, people are hired to boil and bottle the medicine, and bottles of the special medicine are ready.
When the last character was drawn, the water bubble supporting it suddenly became ethereal, appearing as if it were completely separated from the seawater outside.
Odis smiled slightly. After this period of research, he successfully replicated the magic array of the "underwater city," giving him a usable space of about one thousand square meters on the seabed.
Moreover, this space is located between the spirit world and the real world, and it cannot be seen with the naked eye, "spiritual vision," or even the "eye of mystery."
Moreover, spiritual beings cannot detect this place, so it is very safe.
Odis dragged five more "Extraordinary Puppets" out of the "Wilderness of Knowledge." From now on, the construction work here will be handled by the "Extraordinary Puppets." Odis does not intend to let anyone discover this place for the time being.
The initial tasks involved leveling the area, processing the coral, removing crabs and other marine life hiding in the sand, and tamping down some of the sand with simple tools.
After this simple treatment, this place can be used temporarily. Once all the building materials arrive, it will be hardened and several workshops will be built.
However, the ground marked with the magic circle cannot be moved. Odis plans to use a metal plate to inscribe the corresponding magic circle in the future after the ground has hardened, and then upgrade the magic circle into a "permanent magic circle".
More "extraordinary puppets" will be needed here later, so Odis ordered another 50 sets of parts today, and also ordered 10 extra sets of metal parts for assembling "extraordinary puppets" as spares.
After outlining the activity range and the areas that needed to be addressed for the "Extraordinary Puppet," Odis used the power of the "Travel Ring" to return to the "Argo."
They discovered that the captain's cabin was nowhere to be found.
The captain's cabin was inside the workshop, and there was only one door on that wall, but I just couldn't find my own room.
Odis sat in her studio and sighed; the negative effects of the "Travel Ring" were acting up again.
So Odis simply didn't rest, but instead took out the scales he had previously collected from the former sea god Kavituva from the "wilderness of knowledge" and began to study them in his workshop.
By studying the characteristics of "the dust of vengeful spirits," we can create several scrolls with new abilities. Theoretically, studying the characteristics of these scales should also provide good ideas for creating several new scrolls.
Previously, the "dust of vengeful spirits" could only be considered a "mid-sequence" spiritual material, but these scales are at the demigod level! They should be able to research some more advanced scrolls.
Through continuous experimentation, Odis gained a sufficient understanding of the extraordinary characteristics of these scales, but unfortunately, he found that he was not at a high enough level to create a scroll that could unleash the full power of these scales.
Odis was not discouraged; even at his current level, he could still create two new scrolls with decent results.
Then, by crushing the ingredients and mixing them with the corresponding spiritual materials, he wrote two kinds of six scrolls.
One scroll's ability is "Scale Armor." After using the scroll, you can gain one layer within 3 minutes. This "Scale Armor" can block all physical attacks and most extraordinary attacks below the level of demigod.
However, if it encounters an attack from a demigod level, the scroll's power cannot last for 3 minutes, nor can it completely block the opponent's attack.
Of course, this might be an overreaction, because at Odis's current level, if he encounters an enemy at the demigod level, he probably won't even be able to use the scroll.
The second scroll is called "Sea Serpent Attack," which can shape water into a large sea serpent to fight for you for 30 seconds, provided there is water around.
This sea serpent's main abilities are biting, swallowing, and whipping; its strength is enough to hold back a Sequence 5 target.
After finishing the scroll, Odis leaned back in his chair with satisfaction, admiring his work.
They looked thicker than ordinary scrolls and emitted a faint bluish-green glow, giving them a completely different feel.
The scrolls made from materials of demigod level were indeed extraordinary.
At the same time, Odis sensed signs of the potion being digested, and this time even more was being digested than before.
He assessed the situation and figured that after about two more cycles like this, his potion would be completely digested.
Odis recalled the high-grade extraordinary materials he had obtained, and immediately remembered the "Stone of Iron Law" he had obtained on his last expedition, as well as the "true creator's" ramblings that he had just received.
If these two things were made into a scroll, it would most likely be able to completely digest the potion.
Odis then quickly wrote down his insights in the draft of "The Scroll: From Beginner to Expert," which became the core of the book.
I've been quite busy lately. I've almost finished digesting the potion, and I've only written less than a tenth of this book. This makes Odis plan to take some time to go to the "Wilderness of Knowledge" to organize the "model texts" of the scrolls he invented, so as to speed up the writing of this book.
Taking a deep breath, Odis put away the scroll of his new work and glanced out the window.
It was already broad daylight.
Odis smiled helplessly, then glanced in the direction of the captain's cabin; the door leading there had already appeared.
That morning, the Argo and the Ghost formed a fleet and sailed out of Moon Bay.
Many people in the town watched the two ships leave, including Odis, who said to those who came to see them off, "I will stay on Cruz Island for the time being to oversee the construction of the base."
"However, I spend most of my time wandering around Cruz Island. If you need anything, just ask my second mate, Rupert."
It's clear that this decision surprised the president of the self-governing association, Virgil, and others.
Odis did not give them a chance to ask further questions, and flew directly to "Lighthouse Mountain," seemingly to continue surveying the terrain.
Odis's plan was to leave with the fleet, but he would definitely have to come back often. If he didn't tell everyone that he had stayed on Cruz Island, he would have to hide from the island's residents when he returned.
Having flown to "Lighthouse Hill," Odis used the "Travel Ring" to enter the cockpit of the "Argo": "Forward three, target Chacker Island!"
A smile played on his lips: "Let's do something pirates should do."
He had previously asked the ship spirit of the "Ghost" and learned that the maximum speed of this ghost ship was similar to that of the "Algor" at "Forward 3".
It can indeed travel faster, but it can't maintain that speed for very long.
The boatswain, Salina, scratched her head: "What are pirates supposed to do?"
"Robbery!" Odis chuckled. "We need to let the people of Chacker Island know they have a new neighbor."
After saying that, Odis left the cockpit.
Salina then belatedly realized, "That's right, I had forgotten if the captain hadn't mentioned it. Fighting pirates isn't our job."
After boarding the ship, she heard from the second mate Rupert that "Dawnbreaker" had recently wiped out the "Red Lion" pirate crew.
They just helped the residents of Cruise Island eliminate the "Deep Blue" pirate crew.
This straightforward girl even had the illusion that she had joined the navy, not a pirate crew.
Odis returned to her studio and was about to enter the "wilderness of knowledge" to organize her files when she suddenly noticed that the pocket watch she was wearing lit up.
The light emitted was red, indicating that Bazel needed to speak with him.
So Odis checked his scroll, told the boatswain and the battle captain, and used his "travel" ability to come to Bayam.
Guided by her spirit, Odis met Bazel at the "Wizard's Office," where Bishop Dean was also present.
"Captain," Bazel said upon seeing Odis, "Bishop Dean wanted to see you, so I called you here."
Odis looked at Bishop Dean, who was wearing a soft cap and bishop's robes: "Please sit down. May I ask what brings you here?"
After the three of them sat down again on either side of the sofa, Dean said, "'Red Gloves' hopes you can offer some assistance."