Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton - Chapter 1012

Chapter 1012: Chapter 581: Sir, we can plant now Chapter 1012: Chapter 581: Sir, we can plant now Gust and Arambrough hurried back from the front lines as quickly as possible to meet with Grand Priest Kent, but the meeting was anything but pleasant.

“The temple has finally revived, and now you want to control the flow of people? Do you realize what you’re doing? You’re restricting the Undead God, restricting the Undead Temple, do you want to become an enemy of the Undead Temple?! Are you a spy sent by the Church of Light?”

“Great, now I know why the temple hasn’t been able to develop over so many years, it’s because of too many people like you holding it back. No, today you must give me an explanation, otherwise I will tell all the faithful that the Council of the Undead wants to stop everyone from serving the Undead God. Everyone will take up arms and tear down this damned council mountain!”

Kent cursed furiously, indignant and self-righteous, with spit flying everywhere. Since he was Undead, to express his emotions, he even conjured some effects of spittle, spraying Gust all over his face and head.

The timing was too perfect. Seeing how professionally Anthony operated, Kent began to doubt himself, wondering if it was because of him that the temple had declined, feeling unsettled with no place to vent.

What luck, Gust barged in speaking of controlling traffic, saying the Resting Plains were too close to the Eye of Eternal Silence, that it was the Monarch’s Land of Slumber, and having too many people around made it hard to manage.

Pah! Anthony whispered behind him, and Kent immediately reacted, surely, it was those from the Council of the Undead, always controlling this and that, making it inconvenient for the faithful to come and worship. That’s why the Undead Temple had declined. Yes, that had to be it.

Eager to find someone to blame, when Gust appeared, how could he calm down?

Although it was Anthony who reminded him, the more Kent thought about it, the more it made sense. There had been no shortage of such control measures in the past, and it was difficult for the faithful to migrate and travel within the range of death, forcing him to make the decision to ‘wander the temple,’ even holding the Undead Holy Fire festival in another place.

So, the decline of the temple was certainly due to Gust’s excessive control measures and had nothing to do with his own amateurish level of spreading glory.

Gust covered his face with a hand, muttering weakly, “Do you not have any clue why the temple can’t develop…”

“What do you mean by that? Are you slandering me? You’re defaming the reputation of a great priest of the temple. Come on, let’s duel, and see if I can’t kill you,” Kent burst into fury.

Anthony immediately stepped forward and held Kent back tightly, advising, “Calm down, Grand Priest Kent, the council chairman didn’t mean that, he surely has better ideas, just calm down.”

Kent shook off the hand in anger and glared at Gust, “Let’s see what idea he has. If he doesn’t have one, then he’s trying to restrict the development of the Undead Temple, harboring ill intentions. All the faithful of the Undead God will not let such a thing happen.”

Gust was stunned, “I… this… I…”

What could he do? He came here precisely to control the movement of people. This place was too close to the Eye of Eternal Silence, a vast open area where one could easily slip right into the location.

If the Eye of Eternal Silence were the capital, then this could be compared to the Imperial Capital Region bustling with too many common folks, which would be hard to manage.

The situation of humans couldn’t be applied here as humans had a dense population, and having more people wasn’t a problem because they also had more managers.

But the Undead Empire only had that few thousands of the living to spread across various places, hardly enough to keep an eye on the vast Resting Plains. If an enemy were to sneak in, it would be very difficult for them to notice.

In the past, when the Resting Plains were less populated, wanderers would patrol from time to time, and it was very unlikely for anyone to cross thousands of kilometers without being detected.

If the Undead Temple were to regain its glory, and everyone talked about coming to the temple to worship and then departing from the temple to the Eye of Eternal Silence, the remaining distance would only be two to three hundred kilometers, significantly lowering the difficulty.

Previously, Gust had no such concerns because the Monarch was at home, and even if brave heroes infiltrated the Eye of Eternal Silence, they would simply be taking a path to their death.

But now the Monarch was not at home. If someone sneaked in, the trouble would be significant. It wasn’t for fear of the heroes causing any harm, but rather the concern that someone problematic might be released.

Gust’s thoughts represented the traditional thinking of the Undead. Among the Undead, the greatest fear was trouble; consider having to rise from slumber now and then to handle issues, who would want that?

So, troubles that could be avoided should be avoided, but as soon as he finished speaking, he realized he had been cornered.

What idea? Did he have any other ideas? He was just plainly thinking of controlling the flow of people and would prefer not to let any of the living into the Resting Plains.

But now, with the interjections of Anthony and Kent, he realized that if he didn’t come up with better tactics, he would be pinned with the big hat of restricting the development of the Undead Temple.

My god, how was the development of the Undead Temple any of his business? Wasn’t it all because Kent was too incompetent that it had declined? Was this damned Undead trying to shirk his responsibilities?

Looking up at Kent, he saw the man staring at him furiously, not at all like he was about to shirk responsibility. Could it be that Kent, with his naive self, truly believed that?

No, no, no, this hat was too big for his head–even Gust didn’t have a head big enough to wear it. Although His Majesty had once denied it, everyone took for granted that the Undead God was His Majesty’s avatar. Wasn’t restricting the development of the Undead Temple essentially constraining the Monarch’s own growth?

“No, no, no, that’s not what I mean. What I mean is that too many people don’t showcase the grandeur of the Undead Temple. We should turn the temple into a haven for devout believers, keeping the insincere ones away. That’s where our advantage lies, right?” It was impressive how this Old Undead, with ages of wisdom, quickly found an excuse.

However, Kent looked puzzled, not quite grasping Gust’s point. What now? Was faith to be sorted into a hierarchy? With the current status of the Undead Temple, did he seem like someone who cared about casual or fanatical followers?

Just as he was about to explode with rage, Anthony chimed in from the side, “Oh, the Speaker is too clever. It’s a great idea, Great Priest. What the Speaker means is to first build a smaller Undead Temple outside of the plains to welcome and screen the devotees. Only the truly devout will have the privilege to enter the main temple.”

Gust was perplexed. What? Build a new Undead Temple? When did I say that?

Kent, struck by a sudden realization, asked eagerly, “Really? Are we really going to build a new Undead Temple? If not, you must be trying to limit our temple’s development.”

Gust mustered a faint smile, feigning cheeriness, “Yes, yes, yes, that’s exactly what I meant. Without a proper selection, it would devalue the Master God’s Temple. Let’s set up the new temple at the former location of the Holy Fire Festival, how about that?”

“That’s perfect.” Anthony clapped his hands together, “The Speaker has thought of everything, picking just the right spot on the spot. There’s already a simple trail from the original Holy Fire Mountain Valley to here. Just widen it a bit, and it’ll be passable for carriages. I didn’t expect you to also help us widen the road.”

Once again, Gust was at a loss. When did I say I would help them widen the road? I didn’t say that.

Kent, brimming with excitement, continued, “Yes, yes, yes, the road! If the road is poor, it’ll be inconvenient for worshippers to make pilgrimages. Old Undead, you’ll help, won’t you? If you don’t help, it means you want to limit the temple’s development.”

Gust forced a smile once more, deeply eyeing Anthony, and said with feigned enthusiasm, “Yes, yes, yes, that’s exactly what I had in mind. Later, I’ll send over some Zombie Skeletons to widen the road.”

He had figured it out by now; these ideas weren’t Kent’s–they were all ‘Anxini’s’ doing. This was clearly putting him on the hot seat.

“If that’s the case, we can plant big trees on both sides of the road. When they flourish into a canopy, the pilgrims will surely love this path,” ‘Anxini’ said longingly.

Gust almost spat blood. Plant trees? On Kvada, the Resting Plains couldn’t even sustain grass, let alone trees. Did they want to kill him?

Just as Gust was about to flip the table, Anthony added, “Then let the believers take care of planting. Only those who are devout will be blessed by the Undead God to see their trees grow. What could be more devout than planting a living tree in the barren Resting Plains?”

Gust felt all the air go out of him and quickly echoed, “Yes, yes, yes, let the believers plant. That will show their devotion.”

Fearing that if he spoke a moment later, this planting task would fall upon him.

Anthony said with surprise, “Does the Speaker also think it’s a good idea? Then let everyone try planting vegetables. If they manage to grow, it would be the ultimate homage to the Undead God. Just imagine, the Land of the Undying bursting with life–wouldn’t that be a miracle?”

“Yes, yes, yes, plant the vegetables. You can plant them anywhere from the Resting Plains to Holy Fire Mountain Valley. If you can make them grow, I’ll get the Zombie Skeletons to clear the land for you,” Gust said, his words tinged with sarcasm.

Grow vegetables in the Resting Plains? Wishful thinking. If you can make them grow, you can have as much land as you want.

‘Anxini’ declared confidently, “It’s definitely possible. The Undead God is omnipotent. He will bless those devout followers. It would be blasphemy to doubt this.”

“…” Gust, with a smile that hid the frustration choking him, said his goodbyes, “I have high hopes for you. Looking forward to your performance, good luck.”

Feeling an oppressive tightness in his chest, Gust never would have imagined that a simple visit here could lead to such losses. Not only had he committed to a new temple and a carriage-accessible road but he had also narrowly avoided being accused of blasphemy against the Undead God. Curse Bada, these Death God’s Staffs really had a way with words.

No, it wasn’t Kent who was so eloquent; it was that Anxini, leading Kent astray. Time to settle the score with him later but the name ‘Anxini’ sounded so familiar. Where had he heard it before?

After seeing off Gust, Kent’s face beamed with joy. Following Anthony’s advice, a few words had made Gust spend millions–as quick and easy as robbing a bank. Still, he wondered, “Why did you think of planting trees and vegetables? This is the Undead Empire. Growing living things here is not easy. Those human towns have buffer zones of several kilometers to barely sustain crops, and even then, the yield is nowhere near that outside the ‘line of death’.”

Anthony looked serious, “That’s exactly the most important thing. Temple roads and such are secondary. Don’t get it wrong.”

As Kent stood baffled, Anthony had already reported to Ange, “Lord, we can start planting.”