I was a lord farming, how did I become an emperor?

Chapter 115 Coal Mine Anomaly
Instead of practicing your archery skills against targets in the training ground, use living creatures in the forest as targets.

Incidentally, Rhodes can also gather some herbs in the forest.

Luna and her four herbalist apprentices came along as well.

Autumn is a good time to collect herbs because many plants bear fruit and mature during this season, and their roots and fruits are full of medicinal components.

Echinacea, witch hazel, plantain, and wolfberry, etc.

Rhodes drew many herbs on paper and had them follow the hunting party.

The hunting party cleared the wild animals in the mountains ahead, while the women followed behind to gather herbs.

It must be said that there are fewer carnivorous beasts than one might imagine.

Rhodes's number of beast hunters is only half full, and most of them are still wolves and wild boars.

The king of the mountains has been rarely seen; there has been no trace of tigers, lions, or cheetahs.

Perhaps because winter is approaching, black bears have not been seen for a long time.

Avril and Millie also came out, supposedly to look for herbs, but in the end they ended up catching rabbits with the hunters.

There are no delicate girls like those who think, "Bunnies are so cute, why eat them?" in this day and age.

No one will show mercy to rabbits; any disobedient rabbit that likes to run away will eventually become a meal.

Avril Lavigne was equally ruthless towards rabbits.

After spending three days in the wild, she even learned how to skin animals from Luna.

But no matter which hunting team it is, and no matter how many traps everyone sets, the best rabbit catchers are still Frost and Thunder.

After they had eaten their fill, they threw all the rabbits and pheasants they had caught in front of Rod, and there were more than a dozen in half a day.

However, their teeth and claws are covered in venom, so the prey they catch cannot be eaten.

Rhodes had to ban Frost and Thunder Hunting and make sure they had somewhere else to stay.

Since we came out with a hunting team, it was impossible to eat dry rations at noon.

Fresh ingredients only require simple cooking. After skinning and cleaning the rabbit, place it on the barbecue grill, roast it until golden brown, and sprinkle with a little salt for a delicious meal.

It's worth mentioning that the salt Rod sells is coarse salt, while the salt he eats is fine salt that has undergone several complex refining processes, unlike the slightly bitter taste of coarse salt.

Sitting by the fire, the midday sun shone brightly.

With the crisp autumn air, Rhodes was in an even more cheerful mood.

Millie had had enough fun, so she ran up to Rod with a piece of bark in her hand.

The little girl held a dark stone in her hand and handed it to Rod: "I want to learn new words."

"Why are you suddenly studying so hard when we're out having fun...?"

Rod's voice stopped abruptly. He took the dark stone from Millie's hand, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"This is…"

Coal?

Rhodes' heart pounded violently.

He steadied himself and asked, "Where did you find this?"

Millie, a little flustered, pointed into the distance and replied, "In that ditch."

Rod suddenly stood up, picked up Millie, and headed straight for the ditch he had mentioned.

"In this ditch?"

Rod pointed to the ditch sandwiched between two slopes.

"Ah."

Millie nodded vigorously.

Rod believed Millie wouldn't lie, but Rod didn't see any sign of a coal mine.

Logically speaking, if there were coal mines nearby, Rhodes's vein detection should have marked them.
"Somebody come!"

Rhodes shouted at the resting hunting party and guards.

Everyone, unaware of what had happened, rushed over.

Rod raised the lump of coal in his hand.

"Now everyone, look around and find these kinds of stones!"

Everyone quickly picked up the coal and examined it carefully before scattering away.

"Sir, is this it?"

Soon, a guard ran over with a small piece of coal.

Rhodes glanced at it and asked directly, "Where was it found?"

"In the ditch to the south!"

The guard immediately replied, "About three hundred meters."

Rod immediately wanted to run south.

"Sir, I found one too!"

Renn ran over from the other side.

The one in Renn's hand was larger than the one in the guard's hand.

"In the ditch ahead."

After finishing his sentence, Ryan quickly added, "Northwest."

"Ok?"

Rhodes turned around and looked to the northwest.

That's the upstream of the ditch.

Rod suddenly realized that it must have been washed down from somewhere.

Rod followed the ditch and looked ahead, his gaze falling on the distant mountains.

He immediately ordered his guards to bring his horse, and headed straight for the distant mountain peak. The others didn't understand what was happening, but they all hurriedly followed.

As soon as Rod reached the foot of the mountain, he saw the ore markings in his field of vision.

"found it!"

Actually, there was no need for the system to point out the direction. When he arrived, Rhodes could already see brown stones on the bare, dry riverbed below the ravine.
There were also faint traces of black coal nearby.

Rod estimated that the coal mine was originally buried underground and was unearthed by flash floods or streams.

Rod hugged Millie tightly, kissed her cheek hard, and grinned.

"You are simply my greatest lucky charm!"

Little Lily was startled by the kiss, blinking her big eyes in confusion.

She had never seen this older brother so excited.

At this moment, Raine and the others caught up, panting.

Seeing Rhodes's beaming face, they couldn't help but smile as well.

"Sir, what have you discovered?" Renn asked curiously, scratching his head.

Rod put Millie down, then walked to the ditch, picked up the stones, and weighed the coal in his hand.

"You might not understand what I mean, but with this, winter won't be cold!"

Rod's lips curled into a smile.

The significance of coal goes beyond just heating.

And smelting!

We can start working on the blast furnace now.

With coal as fuel and a sufficiently high temperature, smelting efficiency can be greatly improved.

The blacksmith's forging skills can also be improved to a higher level.

Raine and the others really didn't understand what was so magical about this thing.

Unfortunately, he hasn't mastered the knowledge of glass manufacturing yet.

However, Rhodes himself did have some recollection of it.

I don't remember the specific process, but it involved mixing sand, wood ash, and lime together and heating them, though I'm not sure of the exact proportions.

If Rhodes had the time, he could also make glass!
Rhodes licked his lips and muttered to himself.

If glass could be made, that would truly be a path to wealth.

He shook his head, dismissing the fantasy.

Forget it, we can't take too big a step. Let's mine it first, build blast furnaces, and lay the foundation for our steel army first.

"Let's go back first."

This discovery completely killed Rhodes' interest in hunting, and he had to go back and inform Lawrence to prepare for mining the coal.

"Roar!"

Just as everyone was about to leave, a roar suddenly rang out in the mountain valley!

The roar instantly shook everyone to their core, like a bolt from the blue, so much so that Millie covered her head in fright.

Raine immediately became alert and raised his longbow, aiming it at the source of the sound.

A giant bear with a black and red body appeared in the mountain valley!
“A black bear?” Rod asked immediately.

"no!"

Ryan answered without hesitation.

The nearly three-meter-tall giant bear's eyes gleamed with a ferocious, bloodthirsty red light, making it look completely different from any I'd ever seen before!
"Hunting party, prepare!"

"Ow!"

As soon as Ryan finished speaking, a sharp howl rang out behind them!

Rhode turned around and saw Frost and Thunder flapping their wings and taking off, heading straight for him!

Rhodes paused for a moment, then gave the order without hesitation.
"Don't attack yet, retreat!"

These two guys were sleeping just now, and the ravine is almost 800 meters away from where they were sleeping.

The roar woke the two little ones, and given the bear's appearance, it was clearly not easy to deal with.

As it turned out, Rhodes's judgment was correct.

After Frost and Thunder flew over, they did not rush to make a move.

They lay prone on the rocks on the hillsides on either side, their vertical pupils warily fixed on the giant bear below.

Normally, when these two little guys see prey, whether it's a wild boar or a bear, they will pounce on it and tear it apart.

But today, they hesitated.

Monsters have a more acute intuition than humans, and this giant bear was clearly no ordinary creature.

The giant bear in the ravine noticed the two-legged dragon and immediately shifted its gaze, watching the two little creatures warily.

Rhodes understood that the giant bear also felt threatened.

Unfortunately, these two little guys are not even a year old. If they were adults, they would probably be able to crush a giant bear.

Rhodes sighed inwardly, then roared out the command.
"Give it a try, and if you're not confident, back out!"

He didn't want to lose two wyverns because of this bear.

Upon hearing the command, Frost and Thunder flapped their wings and took off, then hovered in the air above the mountain valley.

They then switched places and landed in the opposite ravine.

The two sides were locked in a stalemate, seemingly unable to find a weakness in each other's defenses, and the air seemed to freeze.

"We have to help them."

Rhodes murmured, then turned to the group and said, "Take Millie away, the hunting party stays, everyone else step back."

"Yes, my lord."

Without hesitation, everyone understood that facing such a behemoth, they would all be a burden.

Rhodes also stepped back, then said to Raine, "Let's try and see if we can distract the giant bear for the two little ones."

"clear."

Renn nodded and gave the order.
"The hunting party should switch to armor-piercing arrows!"

The eight members of the hunting party moved swiftly, drawing their marked armor-piercing arrows and slowly approaching with Renn.

The giant bear glanced at them but didn't pay them any attention, its gaze fixed on the wyvern.

"Prepare!"

Renn gripped the arrow, gritted his teeth,

"attack!"

shhhhhh!
Eight arrows were shot at the giant bear almost simultaneously!

But the giant bear didn't take it seriously at all and casually stretched out an arm to block it.

But reality taught it a lesson!

"Pfft!"

Eight arrows instantly turned the giant bear's arm into a hedgehog, and blood blossomed everywhere!

"Roar!"

The giant bear, in pain, roared furiously all day long!

It suddenly turned around, its eyes bloodshot, and headed straight for the hunting party!

"Scatter and run!"

At Renn's command, the hunting party scattered and fled!
"Frost! Thunder!"

At the same time, at Rhodes's command, the two bipedal dragons swooped down like lightning.

The howling wind exploded instantly, and frost and lightning swooped down from the sky like cannonballs, heading straight for the giant bear!
(End of this chapter)