After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

The first encounter between the two races, guided by Oswald, concluded successfully, and the honest dwarves were quickly welcomed by the soldiers.

Even though the Duke emphasized that what the dwarves needed to do during this time was to take care of their health.

But they weren't willing to just lie down after eating every day, so they all volunteered to help the soldiers with their work. Ironically, even though humans and demons are the least different, with no reproductive barriers whatsoever, the soldiers of the Northern Territory took an instant liking to the dwarves, and their relationship quickly warmed up.

We've all gotten along well, cried together, and now it's time to build our future home.

Outside the city, there was a flurry of activity. The new village site had been officially selected. Looking at the planning map, a large number of small villages had been established in an orderly manner on the funnel-shaped land from Kuogu City to Bingcheng. Only the villages between the rivers were arranged in a somewhat chaotic manner.

"Here, the cement plant and brick factory can be expanded." Oswald pointed to the map with his finger, indicating the location of several iron mines in the southwest of Kuogu City, close to the mountains.

"We will continue to allocate manpower there. Starting from this place, we will build cement roads to the western pastoral areas and use the materials produced here to build a prosperous metropolis for the herders."

"There's also the warehouse. The coal mining in Ice City is very large right now. Your Kuogu City needs to do a good job of storage and transshipment. Whether it's Xingluo City in the north or the western pastoral areas, the coal resources they need will all be transported from you."

Rondo quickly took out his notebook and wrote it down. During this time, he had been so focused on land reclamation and iron smelting that he had neglected this new thing called cement.

"If you're too busy, you can recruit more people. As long as they can help you, write a report and go to Harbin. Harbin will pay them their salaries."

"After next year's spring planting season, you should focus your efforts on recruiting new soldiers, especially cavalry! For specific matters, you should contact Marquis Barton frequently and ensure proper coordination."

Sensing the Duke's high regard for him, Rondo quickly nodded, "Leave it to me, sir. I guarantee that none of the soldiers I train will disappoint you."

"But..." Rondo chuckled, shamelessly asking, "Um, Your Grace, am I eligible for the position of division commander?"

Rondo has already figured it out: Division Commander Kate will most likely be stationed in the south year-round. Since the army in Broad Valley is going to be expanded next year, shouldn't he, as the person in charge, be promoted as well?

If it weren't for the Duke's order to arrest him this year, he might still be the lord of the earldom. Of course, there's nothing wrong with developing people's livelihoods, but the army would give him a much wider scope for action.

Sometimes I wonder, how high does a military rank even have to be to be considered high...?

Oswald smiled helplessly and made a promise to him.

"Based on the Fourth Regiment, I allow you to recruit two infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment. However, don't even think about the Third Regiment; I intend to transfer its elite troops to Starfall City at any time."

"Yes, sir!" Rondo's grin stretched almost to his ears. He straightened his back and answered loudly, "I will definitely be a good division commander!"

"We're all veterans, why are you still concerned about these empty titles?" Oswald put his hands behind his back and looked at the map again, which was the mountain range stretching north of Kuogu City.

He planned to build this mountain range into a new home for the dwarves. In this complex terrain, with just a few thousand dwarven troops, even if Starfall City fell, the dwarven army could buy time for the counterattack of Broad Valley City.

Dwarves are experts at mountain warfare; it's a mystery how they manage to do it with their short legs.

Rondo circled several large, flat valleys on the map, but Oswald didn't intend to send the dwarves who were the first to join the Northern Territory too far away. Therefore, the valley closest to Broadvalley became his primary target.

"Tell me, what do you think of this place?"

Rondo stepped forward and, seeing that the Duke had indeed taken a liking to the valley, rubbed his hands together and introduced it with some difficulty.

"The land here is fertile and can easily support tens of thousands of dwarves. However, when the soldiers went to investigate, they said there were strange noises coming from the mountains."

Oswald was silent for a moment. "What was that sound? The sound of water?"

"No, it sounds like muffled thunder."

Thunder... Could it be some kind of magical beast? Oswald carefully recalled his previous life, and he didn't seem to have heard of any magical beast disasters in this area.

Seeing the Duke's brows furrow, Rondo swallowed hard and quickly explained.

"Please rest assured, sir. I personally investigated and found no trace of any large magical beasts."

"Then it can only be a dungeon."

Oswald quickly made a judgment: there had been enough troubles in this life anyway, so what difference would one more dungeon make?

Rondo was taken aback. "An underground city? My lord, should I send in the army to deal with it?"

"That kind of narrow, chaotic terrain, and there might even be poison gas inside, makes it inconvenient for the army to move around." Oswald raised his hand, directly rejecting his proposal.

The dungeons in this world are extremely dangerous. In the original story, the hero's few setbacks occurred in the dungeons. If Lilith hadn't used the Wishing Star to revive him, the hero's journey would have ended long ago.

Throughout human history, only a handful of dungeons have been conquered by adventurers; most are still in the planning stage.

Besides the complex environments and constantly spawning monsters in the dungeons, the most dangerous thing is the BOSS lurking in the deepest part.

That thing is at least A+ grade.

After hesitating for a moment, Oswald made a decision. "Once the dwarves have migrated, I'll take Barton with me to see them. You select an elite force to support us at any time."

"Yes, Your Grace."

……

Following the cleared path, Oswald led the dwarves and the construction crew on their journey to their new home.

This time, Oswald really learned something new. He realized that dwarves climb mountains using both their hands and feet. Their strong limbs allow them to walk on steep peaks as if they were on flat ground, even at an 89-degree angle.

As for going down the mountain, it's purely a matter of numbers. Dwarves are tough and thick-skinned, so they can just roll down and that's it.

If Deng Ai had had a dwarf army back then, ugh... I can't even imagine how smoothly they would have crossed Yinping. And what's with the crying? Can't you see all that hard work and sweat?

Along the way, Oswald kept an eye out for any strange noises nearby. Once the dungeon was completed and the number of monsters spawned within it reached saturation, they would inevitably overflow onto the surface.

A sudden outbreak of monster calamities is also an important indicator of the birth of a dungeon.

Fortunately, during their nearly three-day journey, they did not encounter any magical beasts, nor did they hear any of the strange noises mentioned in the intelligence reports.

After arriving safely at their destination, they saw that the soldiers who had come to scout the way earlier had already cleared a clearing for them in the central area of ​​the valley next to the stream.

Large trees were felled and piled up for their immediate use.

"Let's start a fire to cook, rest for a while, and then set up the tents."

Oswald gave the order, put on sunglasses, took a map, and walked to the side, repeatedly sketching out the layout of the dwarves' village.

There are still too many trees in the Northern Territory. Fortunately, there aren't many extreme environmentalists in this world.

Oswald walked to the edge of the open space, took out the beginner's staff from the system space. In the last battle with the Blood-Clad Saintess, due to the goddess's intervention, he lost his "companion" staff and could only use the beginner's weapon given to him by the system before.

The staff lit up, and corrupt chains shot out from the ground, binding the trees and uprooting them.

Shaking off the soil, Oswald manipulated the chains, wrapping them around and pulling all the branches and leaves of the tree down, finally swiftly severing the roots and efficiently obtaining a straight trunk.

Although magic can create a wide variety of spells, Oswald still finds the power of nature more efficient.

As he improved his skills, he continuously expanded the open space, and at the same time, tree trunks for building houses were rapidly piling up.

The dwarves, sensing the intense aura of undead magic, were all horrified by what they saw. Looking at the construction team who seemed oblivious to the chaos, a new question arose in their minds.

Do you know... what your lord is?

Kindem walked over and mustered his courage to stand next to Oswald. At that moment, he felt as if he were facing an undead beast.

He raised his hand, trembling. "Sir, the woods over there are mostly fruit trees..."

"Is that so? Then you can stay here." Oswald waved his staff, swiftly reversing the direction of the chains of corruption.

The trees rustled, startling birds into flight. Oswald noticed Kindem's legs trembling uncontrollably, turned his head, and smiled knowingly, "What's wrong? Just say it."

Kindem pressed down on his unresponsive leg and asked cautiously, "Sir, are you an undead?"

"Maybe." Oswald pushed up his sunglasses. "I lost a lot in the process of breaking the curse, Kindrum, don't hate me for it."

Since he couldn't control his legs, Kindem simply jumped onto a rock and sat down, watching Oswald cast a spell while asking, "Is the curse very powerful?"

"You don't want to see that thing," Oswald laughed heartily. "At least I still retain my human form; that twisted thing will surely become your worst nightmare."

Kindem sighed deeply. It turned out that human nations were also suffering from the curse. As a former soldier, he could understand the price that armies had to pay when facing calamities.

He then lamented, "My goodness, your army must have suffered heavy losses, even you have become like this."

"Don't mention those useless fellows!" Barton, who had appeared unnoticed, snorted and said harshly, "If they were the ones protecting the Duke, instead of the Duke protecting them, the Duke wouldn't have become an undead!"

Stopping his spellcasting, Oswald sighed and turned to press Barton's shoulder. "Some things are truly my responsibility, and I can't blame anyone else. Barton, I hope you can understand me."

"A strong army makes a strong nation. If they all come to guard me alone, then who will guard the northern territory? Sometimes, we shouldn't believe too much in the saying that even a lion will put in its full strength to hunt a rabbit."

"A strong person learns to allocate their power and use it in the most efficient way to solve problems."