Monster Girl Development Master.

Princess Celine wanted to win over Johnson to her sister's side even more, but she couldn't think of any way to do so.

Hey~

Chapter 138: Hana's Garden

Princess Celine sighed inwardly, preparing to bid farewell to Zhuang Sen. Nia's rune workshop had a profound impact on her, making her realize that ordinary conditions wouldn't be enough to win Zhuang Sen over. However, she hadn't given up; in fact, she was even more determined to win him over. But her mind was too confused right now, and she planned to go back and think things through carefully to see if there were any other methods.

“Earl Zhuang Sen…”

"Oh, have you seen enough? Then let's move on to the next location."

As Zhuang Sen spoke, he cupped Nia's face and kissed her, "Don't overwork yourself, Nia, you'll be busy tonight."

Nia blushed shyly as Princess Celine looked at her, and gently nudged Zhuang Sen with her elbow: "I know, please say hello to Hana for me."

The two flirted and teased each other, completely controlling Princess Celine. By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late to refuse, and she no longer even had the thought of refusing... Does Zhuang Sen have more secrets?

The group boarded the carriage again, bypassed Nia's rune workshop, and arrived at a manor outside Starry Night City. The surroundings seemed no different from an ordinary manor, except that there were more crops planted there.

Princess Celine gazed around at the surroundings. Common crops such as wheat, cabbage, tomatoes, and potatoes were growing well and were clearly nearing harvest time. Common magical potions such as North Wind Blossom, Tranquil Blossom, Entangling Vines, and Sea Urchin Trees were also thriving. There were also some flowers that she didn't recognize, but that wasn't surprising. She wasn't a scholar, so it was normal for her to not recognize some things.

So what's wrong with this estate? Aside from the wide variety of crops, there doesn't seem to be anything special about it.

Princess Celine looked at Zhuang Sen with a puzzled expression. Zhuang Sen smiled slightly and did not explain directly, but instead asked, "Your Highness, when do you think these crops were planted?"

The question was quite obvious, and Princess Celine realized that these crops had most likely been stimulated by bloodline abilities. So, she carefully considered the abilities of the "farmer bloodlines" she had encountered before and gave her answer: "About three months?"

Enabling common crops and potions to ripen once a season is already an exceptionally good ability among growth-enhancing abilities. Forcibly extending the time is not impossible, but it would either be impossible to achieve on such a large scale, or it would significantly damage the land, making it not worthwhile. In fact, Princess Celine believes that the reason this manor is so complex is probably because there are many different "farmer bloodlines" here, and because they are good at enhancing different crops, it has become like this.

Her thinking wasn't entirely wrong, just a little off.

"These were all planted half a month ago, Your Highness." Zhuang Sen smiled and waved to Hana, who was wearing a straw hat in the distance. Hana, who was already running this way, immediately sped up, while the other members of the Flor family, especially the women, who were busy in the fields, all showed deep envy.

They also want a count husband who dotes on them like that!

"Darling, my love..."

Hana, rushing over, instantly turned her excitement into fear upon seeing Princess Celine and a squad of Zhanxing Guards. She hid behind Zhuang Sen, even though he wasn't as tall as her and couldn't block her at all. But it didn't matter; hiding like that immediately gave her courage, at least she stopped trembling.

Zhuang Sen shook his head. This social anxiety was truly hopeless. Even though she had now become a member of the Flor family and had taken revenge on her brothers and sisters who had bullied her in the past—assigning them to be in charge of the most troublesome and difficult crop handling—she still always acted like she was easy to bully when she saw outsiders. It was really worrying.

Zhuang Sen took Hana's hand and introduced her to Princess Celine with a helpless yet proud expression: "Your Highness, this is also my wife, Hana Flor Leon. This entire estate is thanks to her, although for now it is only limited to this one estate."

In just half a month, all the crops on such a large estate have reached maturity? And judging from Zhuang Sen's demeanor, it doesn't seem like a one-time upgrade that would sacrifice the land... In the end, Zhuang Sen has no need to do this, and Leon Territory isn't facing any problems right now. However, this means that the so-called food crisis should be completely unaware of any threat to Zhuang Sen or Leon Territory.

Is this what Zhuang Sen wanted her to see?

For some reason, Princess Celine felt it wasn't right, because it was too simple and lacked impact.

Zhuang Sen did not disappoint Princess Celine's expectations. Holding Hana's hand, he continued, "Your Highness, please come with me. The real thing I'm going to introduce to you is yet to come."

Princess Celine thought to herself, "As expected," and followed after Count Johnson, lifting her skirt: "Count Johnson, could you please tell me what it is?"

“Just some flowers, Your Highness,” Zhuang Sen said with a smile. “You’ve already seen them.”

Princess Celine, recalling the unfamiliar flowers, looked up and realized they were indeed approaching a flower field, which puzzled her. While flowers were indeed beautiful, they didn't seem to offer much benefit to the development of the territory.

This question did not receive an answer from Zhuang Sen, only a mysterious smile in return. Princess Celine could only ponder it herself. After the impact of the Rune Workshop, Her Highness had placed Zhuang Sen in a very high position, feeling that every move he made must have a profound meaning and a high degree of significance—that is, the so-called persona filter.

But she couldn't think of any role that flowers could play in the development of the territory. There was no such thing as tourism in this era. Most people would probably never leave the vicinity of their own village in their entire lives, and even nobles rarely went far from their fiefdoms.

However, these flowers do smell very fragrant... But wait, isn't it too fragrant?

Princess Celine gazed at the flower field, which was at least a hundred meters away, and took another deep breath. The rich, sweet fragrance filled her delicate nose, making her feel much happier and more relaxed.

Zhuang Sen smiled mysteriously and continued forward. Princess Celine, whose attention was diverted by the fragrance of the flowers, did not pay attention and simply followed. The further they went, the stronger and sweeter the fragrance became, making them involuntarily smile.

Finally, the group arrived at the flower field. Princess Celine couldn't help but squat down and gently stroke the small yellow flowers in front of her: "Earl Johnson, you said you were going to introduce these particularly fragrant flowers to me, right?"

“That’s right, Your Highness, I’d like to introduce you to these exceptionally fragrant flowers.” Zhuang Sen gently stroked the flowers in front of him as well. “If I could make you smell just as sweet, how much would you be willing to pay?”

Princess Celine's eyes lit up, and for the first time she followed Zhuang Sen's train of thought: "You're planning to make perfume? Indeed, if you can preserve the fragrance of these flowers, I think you'll become every woman's dream lover."

“I thought I already was,” Zhuang Sen shrugged. “So, Your Highness, I think we don’t need to talk about what we discussed last time.”

Princess Celine smiled helplessly, looking at the various crops growing vigorously around her. Recalling the weapons and special rune items produced on the assembly line in the rune workshop, she had to admit that she simply couldn't offer Zhuang Sen enough tempting terms.

“You are right, Earl Johnsen.”

The author says:

Author's Note: Bonus chapter today, totaling 6603 words~ Sorting out the farming aspect and advancing the plot. Update progress: Monthly tickets 29/50, Request tickets 0/50, Rewards 700/5000

Chapter 139: Lamia's Lair

After seeing off Princess Celine, who looked disappointed, Zhuang Sen stretched and took out the ring he had gotten from Nia from his pocket, putting it on Hana's finger: "How is it? Do you like it?"

"like!"

Hana chuckled foolishly, bent down and hugged Zhuang Sen, rubbing her face against his like a lovesick woman.

Dantalian touched the necklace around her neck, showing no jealousy, and said seriously, "Lord Zhuangsen, won't you take Princess to see the Knights?"

“I had planned to, but Her Highness seems to have reached her limit. I’m afraid that further provocation might backfire, and we might be suspected of treason and usurpation, which would be troublesome.” Zhuang Sen kissed Hana and calmly counterattacked the infatuated Anawa. “Besides, at this point, Her Highness and the Grand Duke are already locked in a fierce battle. There’s no need to continue. It would be better to keep some trump cards up… I should have taken her to the Knights from the beginning.”

Nia and Hana have already made great strides, so it's no surprise that the other monster girls have also made progress. Lydia has long since easily taken actual control of the army and enhanced its combat power with the help of [Rune Items] and [Durahan Swordsmanship]. She has also won over the hearts and minds of the troops, and even those Shadow Raven Knights who are not nominally under her command as the honorary leader are now openly and secretly swearing allegiance to her.

After all, whether soldier or knight, who wouldn't want better equipment, more exquisite skills, and higher pay? Even if the price is being trained and driven like a dead man by the Headless Horseman, as the saying goes, as long as the salary is right, even the Four Emperors will be defeated. For the armies of this era, as long as they are paid a lot of shiny gold coins, they are willing to be treated like dead men, or even actually become dead men—it's not like we haven't seen countries that command armies of zombies and skeletons.

Therefore, the standing army of the Leon Territory is no longer what it used to be; one could at least say that it is now as strong as iron, both inside and out.

Similarly, Dantalian had already taken control of the entire legal department—physically—every single one of them had knowingly broken the law and was now in jail awaiting ransom. The vacant positions were filled by nuns from the Church of Vengeance with Zhuang Sen's permission. Zhuang Sen wasn't worried about Dantalian's betrayal, and the Church of Vengeance's moral compass and capabilities far surpassed those nobles who upheld the law while defying it.

Mira has already subdued those so-called scholars. She doesn't even need to use her monster girl abilities; her knowledge and reputation alone are enough to make those scholars kneel down instantly, including the original Grand Scholars. In their words, "Being able to serve as a dog for the Tower Lord of the Thousand Towers Kingdom is the greatest honor!"

Ange's Blue Raven Merchant Guild has grown remarkably. With the help of various local specialties from Zhuang Sen's side, and under the dual pressure of being both the Minister of Commerce and Zhuang Sen's sister, the Blue Raven Merchant Guild has become incredibly powerful, even crushing the Falau Merchant Guild under its feet—of course, it was Lady Lia who was accommodating her.

With Zhuang Sen already in power, the Falau Merchant Guild is no longer really needed. Even though Lady Lia has a firm grip on the Falau Merchant Guild in Leon Territory, it is ultimately something belonging to the Falau family, and it can't be as useful as one's own. If there's no other way, then so be it. But now that there's a replacement, of course it should be replaced, especially since the Falau family has already taken action against Lady Lia.

Well, although Bishop Charles has confessed that the assassination was orchestrated by Cross, since Old Deng has gone to such lengths to fabricate absolutely true evidence, how could Johnson possibly waste his cheap father's good intentions?

Besides, it's not entirely unfair to the Falao family. After all, Lady Lia does have a grudge against Zhuang Sen's "aunt," and the Falao family is clearly also stirring up trouble, trying to profit from the "internal strife" and "political instability" in Leon Territory. The evidence is the recent rise in grain prices across the region. It's estimated that the Falao family will send someone to "help" Zhuang Sen soon.

What Princess Celine could think of, Zhuang Sen could certainly think of as well. Even if he overlooked something, his shrewd monster girls wouldn't miss it, and they had naturally made preparations. But even so, there were still some troublesome issues—grassroots governance.

The territories of other nobles can be ignored for now, but Zhuang Sen's own royal territory and the territories of his own monster girls certainly need to be governed. Moreover, the monster girls are not willing to leave Zhuang Sen, so they need even more manpower to manage them. This problem is indeed not easy to solve. Training and selecting talents takes time and cannot be rushed.

Of course, Zhuang Sen doesn't need to be in a hurry right now. He has only been a count for less than a week. Under normal circumstances in this era, it would be considered genius for a newly appointed lord to figure out how much money, how many people, and how much power he has within a week, let alone to install his own people and completely control the troublesome matters of the army, law, and finance. It is normal for the struggle to last for one or two years, or even seven or eight years. It is only because this is a world where bloodline is respected that the struggle is almost impossible to overthrow the bloodline nobles unless someone of the same or stronger bloodline intervenes. Otherwise, some nobles would have been overthrown long ago.

Given Zhuang Sen's current situation, it can be said that he has completely surpassed 99% of the noble lords.

……

After spending some time cuddling with Hana, which revitalized the socially awkward sunflower, Zhuang Sen set off again. However, instead of going to Leon Manor, he went to the Temple of Aranta. Compared to its previous desolation, the temple was now bustling with activity and incense offerings. Many new, youthful faces had also appeared; these were orphaned girls adopted by the Temple of Aranta and now officially part of its staff.

Although the Temple of Aranta had become crowded, Johnson and his companions did not need to wait in line and, as always, quickly met with Bishop Rosa: "Your Excellency, it seems you are in a good mood lately."

Looking radiant and as if she had become a few years younger, Bishop Rosa smiled kindly and sincerely: "This is all thanks to you, Earl. But you didn't come here just to amuse this old woman, did you?"

Zhuang Sen shrugged helplessly: "I can't hide it from you, Dantalian and I want to place one in the temple..."

Bishop Rosa waved her hand: "Go, go. From now on, let Dantalian decide these things. There's no need to ask me. I'll just wait for Dantalian to become Pope and get rid of that old bitch Yelena."

Zhuang Sen and Dantalian exchanged a glance. They couldn't do anything about the old bishop who had started to "slack off" after discovering Dantalian had surpassed them, so they took their leave and went to Dantalian's private bedroom. The simple decor wasn't worth mentioning; Dantalian hardly ever rested there anymore, and their purpose in coming wasn't to tidy it up.

After transforming the Sacred Scale Fruit Tree into a Sacred Slime Nest, Zhuang Sen considered where to place the other nest. He ultimately decided to put the [Egg of Lamia] within Starry Night City for easy protection of the capital of Leon Territory. Considering the nest's security and efficiency, the best location wasn't Leon Manor, which Zhuang Sen was unfamiliar with, nor Starry Night Castle, which he hadn't yet visited. In fact, the only place Zhuang Sen could truly trust was the Temple of Aranta, the Dantalian's home sanctuary.

It's not just the defensive capabilities; more importantly, the people here are all proven to be his own, which naturally earns Zhuang Sen's trust.

Having made his decision, Zhuang Sen no longer hesitated. He took out the [Egg of Lamia], placed it on Dantalian's bed, and chose to activate it.

The snake egg, which looked quite ordinary and was of normal size, suddenly lit up with multicolored light after Zhuang Sen confirmed its activation, and complex patterns spread across its smooth shell.

Whether or not to be included in the bloodline.

Zhuang Sen chose to refuse. Although he currently possessed the [Poisonous Lamia] bloodline, it was a level four bloodline, and using it on a level three nest would be too wasteful. Moreover, he was still considering whether to give it to Lady Liya, but a 97% success rate was still a bit low...

As Zhuang Sen chose to refuse, the light on Lamia's Egg stopped changing and stabilized at a lighter red. At the same time, the patterns spread rapidly, even extending from Lamia's Egg to the bed, the floor, and even the walls, turning the originally simple room into an eerie and mysterious place.

During this process, Lamia's egg seemed to gain something, and its size increased rapidly, growing to about half the height of a person before stopping.

[The nest has been built, random template - Lamia]

Lamia's Lair: Lamia's Secret Room

[Inherent Ability - Toxin Resistance: Grants toxin resistance to friendly units within a 1km diameter]

[Production: One basic Lamia can be provided every fifteen days]

[Self-recruitment: Provide one ornate rapier, 2800 ml of Johnson's Blood or 280 ml of Johnson's Essence, and one dose of deadly poison to immediately recruit one Lamia.]

Chapter 140: Bloodline Identification

Two days later, at Leon Manor.

The nobles, who had only recently returned, gathered again in the familiar hall, chatting warmly. The atmosphere was far better than before. With those clueless fools gone, the undercurrents were gone. Moreover, with Zhuang Sen's sweeping reforms, the entire noble circle of Leon Territory had undergone significant changes, and the myriad factions had been purged, naturally reducing the amount of intrigue and scheming.

Another key point is that there's nothing to worry about at this banquet. It's common knowledge that the Grand Duke of Starr has close ties with the royal family and wouldn't oppose the King's investiture of Leon, especially since it's using the King's own territory. They're most likely here to win over their beloved Earl Johnson. They're not royalty, so they don't need to consider who Earl Johnson is loyal to. On the contrary, if Johnson could receive another title from the Duchy of Starr, their status would be elevated accordingly.

Just like a baron under a duke and a baron under an earl, both are barons, but the former are more proud and confident. Similarly, there's a difference between a double earl and a single earl.

In short, the attendees felt that today's banquet was a true feast where all they had to do was have fun, so they were very happy.

But Zhuang Sen, seated at the head of the table, and Princess Celine, sitting alone in a secluded corner, were not so happy. Zhuang Sen was pondering the reason why the Bloodline Order had made such a grand display, while Princess Celine was worried about how to stop her Uncle Borodi from trying to take her away.

……

Time passed, and a group of more than a dozen people, elegantly dressed and with impeccable manners, arrived at the hall entrance, presenting their noble documents. Upon confirmation, the doorman immediately announced their names: "Embassies of the Duchy of Starr, Earl Came, accompanied by Viscount Randolph, Viscount Kirk… have arrived!"

The loud voice silenced the noise in the hall. Everyone quieted down for a moment, then straightened their appearance, adopted an elegant posture, and looked at the slowly opening door with curiosity, excitement, and a touch of scrutiny in their eyes.

Unlike Princess Celine, who came in person, the group consisted of envoys from a duchy, the highest rank being only an earl. They weren't worthy of being greeted by the local earl; sending excellent servants to receive them and guide them was sufficient. The nobles of Leon didn't show the same reverence for royalty towards these travelers from afar. After all, who wasn't a noble? Besides, Leon was a place of scenic beauty, far superior to the Black Swamp.

Regional discrimination will never be outdated.

Count Came, or rather, Bishop Came of the Bloodline Order, walked into the hall with the air of a true nobleman, head held high and with an air of self-satisfaction. He praised Leon Territory and Count Zhuangsen with flowery tones and words, expressing his admiration and love for this land, his joy and satisfaction at personally setting foot here, and mentioning the noble mission given to him by His Excellency the Grand Duke... In short, it was a bunch of nonsense, which made Zhuangsen's ears hurt and even a little irritated.

But Zhuang Sen didn't interrupt him. He likes to waste time, huh? Whatever. Anyway, it's him standing there, not Zhuang Sen. Zhuang Sen will just treat it as listening to a rooster crowing... Speaking of rooster crowing, Zhuang Sen thought of an old friend, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

Zhuang Sen's demeanor, however, was interpreted as one of contempt by Count Came and his men—well, they weren't wrong, after all. Immediately, some of them became dissatisfied. Although Count Came was standing at the front and talking nonsense, he was well aware of the kind of people he had brought with him, and he immediately became somewhat nervous.

The Bloodline Order held differing opinions about Zhuang Sen. His method of seeking "cooperation" was somewhat unusual. Some considered it a blatant provocation and offense, believing Zhuang Sen should be captured immediately—after all, he was just a third-awakened bloodline user and a newly conferred earl. Others, however, argued that Lizad and Vol were merely lackeys and unimportant, especially since Zhuang Sen hadn't killed them and had demonstrated astonishing potential and skill, making cooperation or even recruitment entirely possible.