Chapter 194: Without Becoming a Legend, One is Ultimately a Mere Ant

"The construction of the capital requires the participation of every race. It will be our shared home." The monster leaders proudly raised their heads. The blueprint laid out by the White Dragon Lord had stirred their passions.

Pausing for a moment, the white dragon continued.

"First, we need to resolve our construction materials. This involves quarrying stone, transportation, and artisans. Do you have any ideas?"

"Master, leave the quarrying of stone to the Ogres."

Gurgalu was the first to step forward.

"During my last campaign in Kumlinge, I discovered an excellent bluestone quarry in the mountains. The stone is incredibly hard and slightly magically conductive, making it perfect for the capital's City Wall. As for housing materials, there is stone everywhere deep in the mountains. A careful search will turn up suitable quarries soon enough."

The White Dragon Lord nodded in agreement. With the immensely strong Ogres quarrying the stone, they would make quick work of it.

"Excellent. When the time comes, build a road connecting the quarry to the capital."

The gnoll chieftain, Hogg Riverclaw, spoke up.

"Then the gnolls will handle the road construction and stone transportation. Logging the forests is exactly what our people do best."

Gurgalu added, "We can have the Land Dragon Clan assist the gnolls with transporting the stone. Those big guys have plenty of strength."

The White Dragon Lord nodded.

"Good idea."

The gray dwarf prince, Thaurissan Darkforge, let out a hearty laugh and declared loudly, "The construction of the City Wall must fall to the Dwarves!"

Naturally, no one was going to compete with the Dwarves in construction.

The White Dragon Lord said, "The gray dwarves are few in number. Rog Giantfist, lead your people to assist them in building the city."

Rog Giantfist replied in a muffled rumble, "The trolls obey your will."

Old Blind-eye and Old Jimmy exchanged a glance.

"The Murlocs will follow the Snowpaint River and provide everyone with ample food and other supplies."

The Harpy chieftain, Della Blood Feather, and Bucky Darkscale stood silently to the side.

Della realized that the major races had essentially claimed all the tasks, leaving the Harpy clan with seemingly nothing to contribute.

Bucky, meanwhile, had always commanded White Castle's hidden guards. Fighting and killing were fine by him, but he preferred to be spared from these mundane construction duties.

The White Dragon Lord turned to the Harpy, who had grown somewhat anxious from having nothing to do.

"Della Blood Feather, assign some Harpies to handle communications and relay messages among the teams."

"Yes!"

Having casually assigned a task to the Harpies, the White Dragon Lord turned to Bucky Darkscale.

"Bucky Darkscale, you will continue to oversee the security of White Castle."

"Your will is my guiding path."

The White Dragon Lord nodded.

"Alright. Go and begin your preparations according to your assigned tasks."

The monster commanders dispersed. The White Dragon Lord lay across his throne, frowning in deep thought.

As White Castle's influence expanded, the managerial skills of the other monster leaders—save for Gurgalu and Old Jimmy—increasingly failed to keep pace with the stronghold's growth.

If this continued, they would sooner or later become a burden on White Castle's development.

The White Dragon Lord realized that what White Castle lacked right now wasn't martial strength, but administrative talent.

If he told most monsters to risk their lives fighting an enemy, they wouldn't bat an eye. But if he asked them to manage a project, they would likely dump the problems onto their subordinates, find a cool spot in the shade to contemplate life, and wake up to discover everything had spiraled into a complete mess.

The White Dragon Lord lightly tapped his claws against his throne.

Speaking of administrative talent, his thoughts turned to humans. Perhaps he could import administrators from the human kingdoms and relegate the monsters to serving purely as enforcers.

Thinking of the military, the White Dragon Lord reflected that with the rise of the New Murlocs, the ordinary Murlocs were gradually falling behind the times. An army composed entirely of regular Murlocs was becoming somewhat obsolete.

Ordinary Murlocs suffered from innate physical limitations. Compared to other monster races, their bodies were absurdly frail. Maintaining such a massive Murloc army was no longer necessary.

The idea of transitioning the Murloc army into an elite force sparked in the White Dragon Lord's mind.

That meant retaining only the Murlocs who were Intermediate Tier professionals and above, alongside the special units that tamed war pets.

The remaining ordinary Murlocs would be discharged to return to farming, becoming producers who would continue to serve White Castle's development in a different capacity.

It seemed he needed to have a proper chat with Old Blind-eye and Old Jimmy.

Having finalized the decision in his mind, the White Dragon Lord immediately activated the Vassal Contract, summoning Old Jimmy, Old Blind-eye, and Bucky Darkscale back.

Old Jimmy, Old Blind-eye, and Bucky Darkscale walked in together.

"Master, what are your orders?"

Looking down at his original three vassals, the White Dragon Lord frowned slightly. Standing side-by-side with the youthful Bucky Darkscale, the aged appearance of the two old Murlocs—Old Jimmy and Old Blind-eye—was starkly apparent.

Seeing the old age showing on his two vassals, he sighed inwardly.

Even though Murlocs were a short-lived race, the dragon bloodline transformation could grant them a substantial lifespan increase. But they couldn't compare to Bucky Darkscale, who had become a vassal of the white dragon in his youth.

Old Blind-eye and Old Jimmy had already been in their prime when they met the White Dragon Lord. For them, the effects of the dragon bloodline transformation were far inferior to Bucky's.

Using his mental power, the White Dragon Lord ran a Scan over Old Blind-eye and Old Jimmy's physical states. Discovering that they had only twenty years of life remaining left him feeling somewhat dispirited.

Old Blind-eye and Old Jimmy were still struggling at Level 17, yet their bodies had already begun to decline. The possibility of them stepping into the Legendary Rank within their lifetimes was incredibly slim.

Even the white dragon was powerless to reverse this reality. Pushing the matter to the back of his mind for now, he spoke.

"I called you back because I need to discuss a major issue concerning the Murlocs."

He paused before continuing.

"The population of the New Murlocs has now reached 500,000. It is time for them to appear before the world. I plan to officially unveil the New Murlocs during the nation-founding celebration."

The three Murloc leaders rejoiced; this was wonderful news.

The white dragon went on.

"I've been thinking that there is no longer much point in ordinary Murlocs joining the military. It would be better to let them return home to farm fish and harvest kelp. From now on, the threshold for Murlocs entering the army will be set at the Intermediate Tier professional level."

Aside from the human Viscountess, Old Blind-eye's Murlocs were the White Dragon Lord's very first vassal race. Out of consideration for their old bonds, he hadn't simply cast the ordinary Murlocs out of the army.

After all, the natural lifespan of a regular Murloc was only twenty years, meaning their eligible window for military service was even shorter. The meager amount of rations they consumed was completely inconsequential to the white dragon.

Old Blind-eye and Old Jimmy calmly accepted the White Dragon Lord's arrangement. How could they not be painfully aware of their Murloc race's innate disadvantages?

A Murloc could train bitterly for years to become an Intermediate Tier professional, yet still likely lose to a gluttonous, lazy Ogre that had never undergone a day of training in its life.

Because an Ogre's innate Creature Level was naturally Level 8.

This was the gap brought about by the difference in race.

Ever since the New Murlocs appeared, the higher-ups of the Murloc leadership had anticipated that ordinary Murlocs would sooner or later be phased out of the combat roster and relegated to logistics.

As a result, the three Murloc leaders remained exceedingly calm.

The White Dragon Lord said, "You are dismissed."

"We take our leave," the three Murlocs replied.

Watching the somewhat aged, retreating backs of his two Murloc vassals, the White Dragon Lord sighed inwardly.

Just as Old Blind-eye and Old Jimmy were about to step out of White Castle's grand hall, a heavy sigh carrying complex emotions drifted from behind them, causing both Murlocs to tremble.

"Without becoming a legend, one is ultimately a mere ant!"