Chapter 830: Reclaiming Land (2)

Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

The spread of the Oceanic Faith in various districts had quickened its pace.

Ship after ship brought resources from the outside world to the Ocean Crown, then transported them to different districts to provide the resources and funds required for preaching.

“Lord, apart from the native land of the Crown of the Ocean and the Great Luminescent Sea, the total number of believers in various districts has exceeded eight hundred thousand. Especially in regions like the Lienhardt Grand Duchy and the other two countries along the northwest coast, in several coastal cities, the Oceanic Faith has become the mainstream church.”

Wilus was somewhat excited as he spoke. The rapid pace of preaching was astonishing.

Starting from dispatching priests for preaching, the number of believers on each continent and island had risen from zero to eight hundred thousand in just under a month.

Ji Chen chuckled lightly.

He asked, “Why is there such rapid progress in the Lienhardt area?”

Wilus hurriedly explained, “Well, you see, the Lienhardt Grand Duchy region was originally a wilderness in ancient times. Several pioneer families migrated there from the outside world, starting everything anew and gradually establishing several kingdoms. Thus, there was no indigenous belief…

In addition, the Lienhardt countries have always strictly controlled church preaching. So far, no church has been able to spread on a large scale there.

But after the Oceanic Faith entered, instead of stopping it, they even provided assistance proactively, offering several buildings as churches for our preaching for free, and even dispatching soldiers to maintain order…”

Wilus shook his head in confusion.

Ji Chen became somewhat interested and secretly sensed the power of belief in the Lienhardt area.

The number was… over four hundred thousand, accounting for half of all believers.

Most of them were located in coastal cities, towns, and villages.

Amidst the constant prayers and fervor of the believers, he discovered some familiar presences.

Julius, Monica, Sebastian, Milorna…

These familiar natives had all become followers of the Oceanic Faith, receiving the protection of the territory.

They probably already knew that the Oceanic Faith originated from the Crown of the Ocean and that the “deity” of that faith was him, thus actively facilitating the preaching of the Oceanic Faith.

And this also meant that Lienhardt had taken sides, choosing to stand with him and the Crown of the Ocean.

“…In the future, increase the preaching efforts in Lienhardt, prioritize resources, and quickly expand the influence of the Oceanic Faith there.”

“Yes!”

Wilus raised his head and said, “Lord, there is one more thing about the population issue. More and more people are joining the Crown of the Ocean. There is hardly any land left on the island for building residences and municipal facilities. Once we absorb too many external populations, it will seriously affect the ecological balance of the island, compressing industrial and agricultural areas…”

Ji Chen frowned. “This is indeed a problem. How many residents are there on the island now, excluding the sea tribes and lizardmen?”

“Excluding the sea tribes and lizardmen, there are already over three hundred thousand residents.”

On an island occupying one-third of the total land area, suitable for habitation, and less than one-third of the island’s land left for building, cramming three hundred thousand residents for long-term residence had already approached the ecological limit.

Originally covering sixty to seventy percent of the main island, more than half of the primitive forests had now been cut down, with most of the remaining forests located on the west, northwest, and north sides, while the southeast, centered around the lord’s castle, was filled with buildings.

If it spread further to the west and northwest, the entire island would become bare.

After much thought, Ji Chen also felt that it was not right to destroy the increasingly scarce vegetation just for the sake of increasing the population.

However, only with an increase in population can the territory develop. So, what methods should be used to increase the population capacity of the territory?

Looking at the map of the Crescent Island on the table beside him, he gradually had an idea.

“We’ll reclaim land from the sea.”

Wilus was stunned by this novel idea.

Ji Chen picked up a chess piece from the edge of the sand table and inserted it into the shoal at the connection between the main island and the northeast sub-island.

“How about filling the area around this shoal with a large amount of rocks and soil to build a fortification, creating enough land to build houses?”

Wilus rubbed his chin, his eyes showing some realization and surprise. “This seems feasible? If the water depth of this shoal is shallow, and there are enough rocks and soil…”

“Then what are you waiting for? Go and explore.”

“Yes!”

Wilus hurried out with people to explore.

Soon, they returned to report.

The water around the shallow bay was not deep, making it suitable for land reclamation.

With Ji Chen’s approval, a large number of Ocean Crown residents marched to the site with tools in hand. This scene stunned the visiting merchants and sailors.

They couldn’t understand what these residents were going to do with “land reclamation.” They looked at each other, perplexed.

The ocean was so vast, and these people wanted to reclaim land from it?

Wasn’t creating land a power reserved only for deities?

They soon witnessed how the Ocean Crown residents were “creating land.”

Ship after ship unloaded tons of stones and soil directly into the sea, just like tossing handfuls of coins into the water, causing no ripples.

Some people dismissed it as a joke and left, shaking their heads. Others remained curious.

Some of those dressed in extravagant attire, known as Lords of Glory, showed expressions of realization.

“Damn, they’re reclaiming land!”

“I didn’t expect to see this kind of thing in this world. It seems like the population on New Moon Islands is getting denser, and there’s not enough land.”

“Should we quickly buy a few houses here and sell them for a profit later when the property prices go up?”

“…That’s a good idea. Otherwise, we won’t be able to afford the dowry.”

As ship after ship continued to pour stones and soil ceaselessly, the sea gradually became murky. The rocks and soil no longer sank but began to emerge, gradually being filled in by more soil until people could stand on them.

The residents of the Ocean Crown erupted into cheers. Although the exposed land was only the size of a house, it marked the first successful step in their land reclamation.

As long as they followed the series of instructions from the Lord, they could create land that could accommodate more people to live on!

As long as they reclaimed and filled in all the shallow bays and shallow waters between the main island and the northeastern sub-island, they could create at least tens of square kilometers of flat land here.

These flat lands are enough to establish a residential area capable of accommodating three hundred thousand people!

If they follow suit and reclaim land in shallow water areas around the main island, accommodating over a million people is not an impossible task.

Watching the residents of the Ocean Crown fervently pouring rocks and filling soil, Ji Chen’s face carried a pensive expression.

Rumors had it that the Earth Elementalist possessed the power to move mountains and flatten hills, transforming rugged terrain into flat land, wielding the magnificent power to shape the land at will. So, did the Aquatic Elementalist possess a similar power?

If so, utilizing the power of the element to create an area on the seabed capable of sustaining terrestrial races would naturally solve the land issue.

With this in mind, Ji Chen wanted to experiment immediately.

After careful consideration, he chose a relatively flat seabed basin west of the New Moon Islands.

The power of the element surged forth, and under Ji Chen’s control, the surrounding seawater gradually receded, as if there was a point repelling everything in the middle, and it was expanding.

Soon, this point turned into a cavity, and the fish around looked bewildered at this extremely strange place. They stuck their heads into the cavity and widened their eyes. There was no seawater here!?

Ji Chen raised his hands in a gesture of spreading them apart, and as his arms extended, the cavity continued to enlarge, becoming as big as a house.

He slowly moved into it.

It felt like passing through the protective shield of the tidal core on a giant turtle and entering its interior, but without air.

But that wasn’t a problem. Ji Chen just snapped his fingers, and air squeezed in from the surrounding seawater.

Looking at the embryonic form of the underwater space, Ji Chen nodded satisfactorily.

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