Chapter 95: The Forgotten Ruins!

Inside the Lord's Hall, the atmosphere was quiet, with nothing but the occasional rustle of pages turning breaking the silence. Casper and three administrators stood in respectful silence, waiting for the Lord to finish reviewing the construction plans they'd carefully drafted.

After studying them thoroughly, Kaiden left open the final page showing what the Territory would look like after the changes, then raised his eyes to them and began speaking.

"The plan is solid and well thought out. You've all worked hard."

The administrators' expressions eased only slightly. They knew the Lord preferred to praise first, before a "but" would come along to shift the conversation.

And sure enough, just as they expected, Kaiden tapped the table, looking at them with no particular expression, and said, "But..."

Here it comes! The administrators' expressions tightened again, and their backs hunched slightly.

"You're thinking too small, guys." Kaiden pointed to the road layouts to be paved. "Why did you design the road widths at only three meters?"

Then Kaiden pointed to another part of the plan: "And here, your design is excellent and focused on efficiency, but it overlooked something fundamental — the coming system change."

Kaiden sighed and spoke in a calm tone: "We've already discussed several times the system that'll be implemented in the near future. Even though we're still at the early design stage, you should have factored in the general concepts behind the new system while drafting these plans."

Kaiden explained further to make his point clearer: "Your plan needs to incorporate the general principles of the new system without compromising efficiency." This so-called new system Kaiden wanted to establish was a fundamental structural overhaul that would completely transform the nature of his Territory — it involved creating a currency concept for trade, in other words, building an internal economy based on paying wages for labor instead of the current equal-distribution approach. Even though this system was still at its earliest proposal stage, there was no harm in factoring it into the urban planning.

The discussion continued for roughly two hours, with major changes made to the original plan, until Kaiden and the administrators finally arrived at a finalized version that was ultimately approved.

First: establishing four main roads starting from the four gates and ending at the Lord's Hall's boundary from every direction, each a full eight meters wide.

Second: dividing the industrial zones into several sections — the traditional workshops section, the food production section, the heavy industry section, and finally the precision industry section.

Third: special sections, such as a land reclamation and farming section, a livestock section for raising and breeding cattle and poultry, and a warehouse section containing smaller sub-sections within it, such as: an agricultural produce storage section, a potion storage section, a treasure section, a resources section, a mineral wealth section, and an oil wealth section.

Finally, a smart housing system was established, where instead of creating a single dedicated residential zone, housing would be distributed across four different directions in the form of residential neighborhoods. It wouldn't make sense to confine residential areas to one single zone, forcing people to walk over an hour just to reach work.

It's also worth mentioning that right as the final version was settled, a notification for the last quest's completion appeared, and Kaiden gained three new administrators with different specializations. Kaiden welcomed them, then sent everyone off to rest. He needed rest too, but before leaving, he asked the defenders to intensify their night patrols and stay fully alert, worried about a possible nighttime attack from the spiders.

Kaiden went up to his lavish quarters and took a cold bath that refreshed his mind and body, then put on sleepwear made of soft silk and sat down on his luxurious bed. As he looked through his storage to pull out the ruins information booklet, his attention was caught by the iron treasure chest he'd nearly forgotten about.

The rewards from a Black Iron-tier treasure chest no longer held much significance for him at this point, so he opened it just to check whether there was anything different from the usual. And sure enough, the last item in the chest caught his attention.

It was another ruins key, but unlike the previous silver one, which radiated an aura of elegance and mystery, this key was... how to put it?... more ordinary? It was iron-colored, with what looked like actual rust on it, as though it were an old key. Its shape looked more natural, but it also shared the trait of being non-physical, just like the previous key.

Kaiden opened the iron key's information panel, and it was nearly identical to the previous key's panel, even sharing the same 3 uses remaining. The only change was from "Silver Forgotten Ruins Key" to "Iron Forgotten Ruins Key" — one tier lower than the previous key.

He quickly put the key back in storage and pulled out the ruins booklet instead. He opened the plain blue cover with no title and began reading, soon becoming absorbed in it, his eyes turning serious without him even noticing.

Even though this booklet was small, it contained a substantial amount of useful information. Kaiden learned almost everything there was to know about ruins.

For instance, the definition of ruins as stated in the booklet's introduction:

{Forgotten ruins are trial grounds and challenge grounds... undergo the trial and clear the challenges to earn rewarding prizes.}

{Forgotten ruins form naturally over long stretches of time, though they may also form artificially.}

As for the rewards mentioned, there were two types. The first was Ruins Coins, which could only be spent with ruins vendors, who might or might not be found within a given ruin.

The second type of reward was something entirely new to Kaiden, something apparently exclusive to ruins, called "Artifact Equipment." This equipment could be a weapon, armor, or some other strange kind of tool. According to the booklet, obtaining Artifact Equipment and Ruins Coins wasn't limited to completing challenges — a ruins challenger might also acquire them simply through exploring the ruins.

"Ruins Challenger" — a title given to those who explored ruins. But the piece of news that surprised Kaiden most of all was that a forgotten ruins entrance could exist in many different locations at once, meaning he might encounter other people from all across the world of Orandra there!

End of Chapter 95.

It’s been a long time since I decided to create special photos for Patreon subscribers at the end of each chapter. so without realising it, I’ve ended up with loads of images – just for Kaiden alone, there’s now an amazing album, featuring not only grand and majestic photos but also chibi-style illustrations and funny images specific to the novel. Things are getting better every day. I’m now thinking about making more videos, and I’m even considering doing a live stream on Patreon soon! (Thanks for your support, and apologies if this note is a bit long!)