"High-speed passage construction plan."
Looking at the small section of road outside his territory, a comprehensive plan began forming in Levi's mind.
Since buildings constructed by his subjects could also count as territory extensions, many projects didn't need to be done personally anymore.
Take mining, for example. Levi had grown thoroughly tired of the repetitive work long ago.
The excavation of that iron ore vein outside could be handed directly to his subjects, with transport and storage handled by mine carts, transport carts, and hopper systems.
Although there was no redstone for powered rails in this world, the dwarves had provided him with a perfect substitute. Their gear power devices could be installed on rails to provide the same mechanical energy as redstone, making mine carts move automatically along their tracks.
Such devices were common throughout the Lonely Mountain. Their cable cars and mineral transport hubs all had sophisticated automatic mechanisms installed.
However, there was one thing to note: gears consumed quite a lot of materials. If every rail section was equipped with gears, even Levi's current inventory would feel the pinch, and the time investment would be substantial since they required 'dwarven steel' to craft, necessitating the use of the dwarven furnaces in his underground forging hall.
There was no need to pursue ultimate efficiency at every point. Placing a gear as a power source every dozen meters or so wouldn't be slow either, and it would be far more resource-efficient.
"That's settled then."
That day, the residents discovered that their lord had initiated an ambitious new plan.
The Mine Vein Railway Construction Plan.
Using the direction of the iron ore vein outside the city as a reference, they would build a wide transport tunnel underground. Quick and safe, and it could serve as a hidden passage when necessary.
As the plan was launched, Levi also established incentives for participating, including but not limited to faster contribution increases, and those who participated most actively in the labor could receive special commemorative items crafted personally by the lord.
Levi had obviously underestimated his own influence.
On the first day he issued the order, other resource industries almost came to a complete standstill. Everyone arrived with tools to queue up for digging earth, breaking stones, and building the mine tunnel. Their collective speed almost matched Levi working alone.
In fact, during this period, the subjects had never felt entirely at ease.
Life in this place was too dreamlike. There were free, beautiful houses to live in, warm clothes to wear, no shortage of food, and beef, lamb, chicken, pork, fish, and various vegetables could be eaten and taken freely. The only requirement was not to waste anything.
The territory's security was also completely worry-free. With those tall iron golems patrolling and their legendary lord present, no one dared commit crimes, and no enemy dared invade Roadside Fort. This could arguably be the safest place in all of Middle-earth.
Thinking about it this way, even some kingdoms' royalty or nobles in their fiefs might not live better than the common people here.
And the price for all this luxury was merely doing some necessary work each day, and not for long hours either. After finishing their daily work, there was still plenty of free time to pursue their own interests.
Many people couldn't help but recall their former lives at this point: living hand to mouth, working desperately yet not necessarily having enough to eat, fearfully watching for orcs and wargs, afraid that their village might suddenly disappear one night under a tide of violence.
Those days were truly characterized by constant hardship and terror.
With their former lives as comparison, plus Old Village Chief Vide's reminders and speeches, everyone felt they should do something meaningful for their lord. But their lord lacked nothing and hadn't issued any demands for extra service, leaving many wanting to repay his kindness but with no clear opportunity. They could only voluntarily extend their working hours each day, which made them feel slightly more at ease with their good fortune.
There's a saying that what's free is the most expensive.
The lord might not care about such things, but the residents certainly did.
It was also because this group of humans was relatively simple and honest. They hadn't been corrupted by dark forces, nor had they experienced too many conspiracies and schemes.
Their current life and daily labor were their everything.
"Actually, we could leave some people to do other essential work," Levi pointed out.
Looking at the residents gathered at the excavation pit, Levi reminded them, and immediately some residents who were less efficient at digging or road-building were voted by the others to return to other duties, leaving those people quite dejected about missing the opportunity.
Watching the smoothly progressing project, Levi opened his map to examine the nearby terrain.
Roadside Fort wasn't particularly close to that iron ore vein. A rough measurement showed the straight-line distance was at least twenty-some kilometers. When Levi used to mine there personally, the round trip took quite a while, and his inventory was always completely full when he returned home.
The distance to the iron ore vein was substantial, but that didn't matter.
For other places, a twenty-kilometer route, especially an underground tunnel, would be quite a massive engineering project. Adding considerations for wages, materials, and tunnel stability, it wouldn't be completed within several years from construction to completion.
But here at Roadside Fort, twenty-some kilometers could only be called a distance unit and construction target. There was basically no technical difficulty involved. Only time and effort were needed.
With the residents' current labor capacity and their enthusiasm for voluntary overtime, it might be completed in just a few months.
This was still because there were relatively few people. If there were more workers, it probably wouldn't even take that long.
At this moment, Levi thought of those were-worms in Moria.
Those creatures dug even faster than he did with his enchanted tools.
"Perhaps I should find time to visit Dale soon," he mused.
Mentioning were-worms reminded Levi of his other territory.
At this moment, the people of Dale didn't know they had permission to use special crafting tools for their labor. People were still using their traditional methods for the ruins restoration work.
Their labor was all done with conventional tools, and they planted ordinary seeds as well.
The few differences from normal city-states were the pumpkin fields and infinite water sources that Levi had left behind, which could ensure they would never lack food or clean water.
Under Bard's capable leadership and with ongoing dwarven assistance, the ruins of Dale were also gradually recovering and developing at a steady pace.
Though it certainly couldn't compare to Roadside Fort's rapid progress.
However, Levi really didn't have the mental energy to manage two separate locations for now, especially with so many people in Dale requiring attention.
In fact, if not for the strategic need to summon iron golems there, he wouldn't even want that territory at all.
This was also why, from the first day of becoming Dale's lord, Levi had implemented an absentee lord management system.
When people asked for him, he simply wasn't there.
"I'll take a look when I have time later."
Take care of home first, and only consider gradual expansion after ensuring all mechanisms are secure and running smoothly.
Having confirmed there were no problems with the territory's new objective execution, Levi gathered a bunch of gold ingots and stepped through the Nether portal again.
Just like that, he instantly traveled from a cold environment to a sweltering one.
Temperature had no real effect on Levi. Whether it was snowy cold or hellish heat, Levi could act as if the extremes didn't exist. He could sense cold and heat but wouldn't suffer from them.
Unless the temperature reached some extreme that could cause direct harm to people, like touching fire or extremely bone-chilling ice.
Of course, Levi hadn't come to test environmental conditions.
"I came to the Nether today for only three things," he announced to the empty air.
"Trading, trading, and more trading!"
Click.
Levi set down a large chest, randomly selected several lucky passing piglins to pen them up, threw down several stacks of gold ingots, and quietly waited for them to throw out their trade items in return.