r18novel The First Fortress
The First Fortress
The warm air over the Makula region cools as it passes through the mountains, becoming refreshingly cool by the time it reaches the city of Makula at the foot of Mount Hera.
Zhou Yun breathed softly, feeling his lungs fill with the fresh air.
He enjoyed this feeling.
He, seated on the golden throne, had long since lost the ability to breathe. His lungs had been scorched into dry, fragmented pieces by the intense heat, and all he could inhale was scalding heat, as if he were taking a deep breath of lava.
The stench of the air in the city, a mixture of ozone, garbage, and disinfectant, made one feel like they were suffocating, let alone breathing deeply like this.
The air in Caliban is of decent quality in itself, but it seems to carry a malice that transcends the material realm, making every breath chilling.
Only the air in Macurag made Zhou Yun feel refreshed and comfortable.
Gazing at the snow-capped Crown of Hera that pierced the clouds, and the cloud trails left by starships taking off in the distance, Zhou Yun couldn't help but open his mouth in amazement.
"Macurag truly lives up to its reputation as the formidable fortress of Otrama!" he exclaimed.
"Macurag is hardly a formidable pass!" Tita couldn't help but retort from the side.
Zhou Yun smiled, noticing that Tita hadn't questioned the name "Ottarama."
This is normal, because the concept of Ottara was not created by Guilliman later.
Long before humanity ushered in the Golden Age of the Old Night, the concept of Altramar already existed. Many worlds that once belonged to the Altramar sub-sector jointly established a trade network, with worlds interdependent and thriving.
Even today, the concept of Ultramar still exists, though it has been weakened to the point where only a loose alliance remains between Macragge and a few worlds near Macragge.
After all, in Macurag, the subspace engine has been completely lost, and only some of the starships' sublight engines are still operational.
"Announcement, citizens of Macragge, listen to the latest resolution of the Senate."
"By order of Consul Connor Guilliman, the Senate passed the bill on new agricultural reforms."
"Starting from March 1st of the Macurag calendar, all self-cultivating farmers who own less than 15 acres of land will have their agricultural products exempted from tax when entering the city of Macurag."
Before Zhou Yun and Tita even reached the College of Arts and Sciences,
A sphere with an old metal shell flew over their heads, continuously playing the latest announcements from the Senate as it flew; it appeared to be some kind of drone.
"The city entry tax for self-cultivating farmers has been completely abolished. I wonder if those big landowners are starting to get worried." Tita smiled slightly, happy that food prices would further decrease.
Macurag is a mountainous planet, and most of the already scarce arable land is controlled by a very small number of large landowners and nobles, while the vast majority of independent farmers are left to tend to their narrow and fragmented plots of land.
As a result, agricultural product prices in Macurag remained stubbornly high due to the control exerted by the landowners and nobles. Furthermore, successive rulers of Macurag dared not easily take action against these landowners and nobles because they completely controlled the fragile agricultural supply.
However, after Governor Connor came to power, he strengthened trade between Macurag and other planets, making interplanetary trade the main source of Macurag's agricultural products. No longer held hostage by the large landowners and nobles, he was able to carry out land reforms more freely.
This reduction of taxes on agricultural products from self-cultivated farmers is also part of the process.
It was obvious that Connor wanted to win over the vast number of independent farmers to fight against the nobles.
"But the people who work the most on the land and produce the most agricultural products are not the self-cultivating farmers, but the slaves." A part of the scholar's memory was awakened, and Zhou Yun said this almost instinctively.
"We live in an age where trade can take place among the stars, yet our land is still used for slave labor... Isn't that incredibly backward?" Tita retorted sarcastically.
Zhou Yun shook his head. This is nothing.
If Tita knew that ten thousand years from now, human civilization would rule over millions of worlds, warp engines could traverse the entire galaxy in a matter of months, and force could destroy planets and fend off swarms of insects from beyond the galaxy and demons in the warp, yet many humans would live worse lives than slaves in Macragge, I wonder what her expression would be.
"I'm going to the faculty office now," Zhou Yun said to Tita as they entered the grammar hall.
He genuinely intended to teach, believing it would help him recover more of the scholar's memories and acquire more of the scholar's skills.
He needed the knowledge of scholars to help him deal with the subsequent recruitment by the Markus Guilliman family.
"No, you don't need to teach today. I already declined when I asked for leave for you yesterday."
Tita reached out and grabbed Zhou Yun's wrist, pulling him away in another direction:
"You have other tasks today!"
Zhou Yun did not resist; his psychic intuition told him that he would gain something from the place Tita was taking him.
Tita pulled Zhou Yun to the door of an office and knocked on it.
"Please come in." A somewhat aged voice came from the room.
Tita pulled Zhou Yun through the door and they entered.
"Professor, I've brought him here! Please give him a good talking to!"
With that, Tita shoved Zhou Yun into the room, slammed the door shut, and left.
Zhou Yun turned his gaze to the person directly in front of him.
The first thing that caught his eye was the large wooden table, which was at least two meters long and piled high with all sorts of strange and unusual things.
There are brass eye pendants, strange stone statues carved from marble, parchment scrolls covered with intricate writing, gears made of an unknown metal... These things all seem to be unearthed artifacts, some of which are still covered in dirt.
Behind the desk sat an elderly man who appeared to be around fifty or sixty years old, with almost shaved head and a short, gray-white beard.
The old man was holding a clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform script and reading it...
Zhou Yun remembered that the old man was his teacher, the chief professor of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Lucretius, the famous historian of Macurag.
Lucretius withdrew his gaze from the clay tablet, smiled, and nodded to Zhou Yun.
"New ruins have been discovered in the mountains near Odin City, and these clay tablets are from one of them."
"I haven't finished translating the contents yet, but from what I can roughly make out, it's about the rule of the 'Witch King' in the Old Night era."
"This may help us uncover the secrets behind the decline of the 'Lord of Wizardry's' rule, and let us know how the 'Lord of War' replaced him."
As he spoke, Lucretius gestured for Zhou Yun to sit opposite him.
"Son, Tita told me that you've been feeling much better these past two days and haven't gone to the casino again."
"This makes me feel gratified. You have always been a good student of mine. Sincerity and diligence are your strengths. I have always been hoping that you could help me with some historical research."
"But something else Tita mentioned worries me: you have a rather terrible debt, don't you?"
Zhou Yun nodded slightly, while subtly observing his teacher.
"I see... Child, please tell me based on your intuition."
Do you feel there's something unnatural about your downfall? Do you feel that some... inexplicable force drove you to gambling addiction, even to the point of suicide?