Chapter : 617

Lloyd examined the clay sample she held out. He crumbled it in his fingers. “You’re right. The particle size is too large.” His mind, a repository of eighty years of knowledge, sifted through solutions. “We need a binder. Something cheap and abundant. Do we have access to crushed seashells?”

Lyra’s eyes widened slightly. “The shore is littered with them. There are mountains of shells a few miles down the coast.”

“Excellent,” Lloyd said. “Have the workers gather and crush them into a fine powder. We’ll mix it with the clay. The calcium carbonate will react with the silicates in the clay and the salts in the brine, creating a slow-forming, waterproof layer of calcium silicate. A kind of natural cement. It will take a few weeks to fully cure, but it will create a near-perfect seal that will last for decades.”

Lyra stared at him, her pen frozen over her notebook. The solution was, once again, so simple, so elegant, and so far beyond the scope of their world’s knowledge that it felt like magic. “I… will see to it immediately, Young Lord.” She bowed her head, her respect for him deepening from that of an employee to that of a student before a master.

Finally, he found Alaric in a small, hastily erected tent that served as his field laboratory. The air inside was filled with the clean, sharp smell of distilled water and chemicals. Alaric was hunched over a series of beakers, his brow furrowed as he meticulously tested the salinity of water samples taken from various points along the coast.

“The salinity varies with the tides, of course,” Alaric murmured, more to himself than to Lloyd. “But there is also a consistent stratification. The deeper water is slightly saltier. If we position the intake pipes for Borin’s pumps just so…” He trailed off, lost in a world of parts per million and specific gravity.

“Master Alaric,” Lloyd said gently. “Your precision is invaluable. You will be the guardian of our quality. Once the ponds are operational, your lab will test the brine at every stage. You will create the AURA standard for salt, a new definition of purity for the entire kingdom.”

Alaric looked up, his eyes shining with a rare, fervent passion. “A standard, you say? A quantifiable, replicable measure of absolute purity? Young Lord, that is not a job. That is a sacred quest.”

Lloyd left the alchemist to his holy work and walked to the edge of the construction site, looking out at the dark, churning sea. The moon cast a silver path across the water, a road of light leading to the horizon. He felt a profound sense of accomplishment, a quiet satisfaction that was deeper and more real than any victory in battle. He was not just destroying his enemies or reacting to threats. He was building. He was creating something from nothing, transforming a desolate waste into a font of prosperity.

His team, a motley collection of eccentrics and geniuses, was being forged into a cohesive unit under his leadership. Each of them was finding a new purpose here, their talents amplified and directed toward a single, grand vision. This, he realized, was the true nature of power. Not the flash of a sword or the roar of a spell, but the quiet, relentless, and world-altering force of a brilliant idea, expertly executed. Project Brine was more than an investment; it was the first true brick in the foundation of his empire. And as the waves crashed against the shore, it felt like the world itself was applauding the dawn of a new era.

The study at the Elixir Manufactory felt less like an office and more like a war room. The familiar, pleasant scent of rosemary and almond oil was a faint, ghost-like presence, completely overshadowed by the sharp, invigorating aroma of ink, parchment, and ambition. A massive, newly drawn map of the Ferrum Duchy and its surrounding territories was pinned to one wall, bristling with colored flags and annotations. Lloyd stood before it, a commander addressing his general staff.

Mei Jing, Tisha, and the three alchemists were seated around the large oak table. The excitement from the brine fields had been replaced by a tense, focused silence. They had seen the vision; now, they were here to learn the strategy. Lloyd, holding a long wooden pointer, looked less like a young lord and more like the Major General he had once been, his calm demeanor radiating an aura of absolute, unshakeable confidence.

Chapter : 618

“The construction of the brine fields is Phase One,” Lloyd began, his voice low and steady, cutting through the silence. “It is a logistical and engineering challenge. What we discuss today is Phase Two: the conquest. Project Brine is not a business. It is a weapon. And we will wield it to achieve total market dominance.”

He tapped the pointer on a region in the northern mountains, marked with a black flag. “This is the current heart of the kingdom’s salt production. The Azure Vein mines, controlled by the Salt Guild. They are a consortium of old, wealthy, and deeply complacent families who have held a monopoly for over two hundred years.”

He moved the pointer to a smaller slate board beside the map, which was covered in Lyra’s precise, meticulous script. “These are their weaknesses. One: their product is inferior. Rock salt is inherently impure, riddled with trace minerals that affect taste and preservation qualities. Two: their extraction method is labor-intensive and dangerous. Mining is expensive and slow. Three: their transport costs are exorbitant. They must haul every sack of salt from the remote mountains down to the cities and ports. Every step of their process is a monument to inefficiency.”

He looked at his team, his gaze sharp and penetrating. “Their strength is not in their product or their process. It is in their history, their political connections, and the simple fact that, until now, there has been no alternative. They have grown fat and lazy on the throne of their monopoly. And we,” he said, a cold, predatory smile touching his lips, “are going to kick that throne out from under them.”

Mei Jing leaned forward, her eyes gleaming with an almost feral intensity. The artist of commerce was smelling blood in the water. “Domination,” she breathed, the word a prayer. “How do we achieve it?”

“We will not engage in a simple price war,” Lloyd stated, dismissing the most obvious tactic. “That is a battle of attrition, messy and unpredictable. Our approach will be more surgical. More… absolute. We have two key advantages: a superior product and a massively lower cost of production. We will leverage both.”

He turned back to the map. “Alaric, your team will perfect the refining process. I want a product so pure, so crystalline, that it makes their rock salt look like gravel. We will call it ‘Ferrum Crystal.’ It will be the AURA of salt—a symbol of quality and refinement.”

Alaric nodded, his expression one of solemn duty. “Purity is its own reward, Young Lord. It shall be done.”

“Tisha,” Lloyd continued, his focus shifting to the diplomat. “Your role will be public perception. We are not a corporate predator crushing a traditional industry. We are ducal benefactors, providing a superior, healthier product to the people at a fair price. We are creating jobs. We are bringing prosperity to the coast. You will craft this narrative and you will make it the undeniable truth.”

Tisha’s eyes shone with purpose. “A story of progress and community. I understand perfectly, my lord. We will be seen as champions of the people.”

Lloyd finally turned to Mei Jing. “And you, Mei Jing, are my minister of war. You will draft the plan of attack. I want a multi-phased strategy. I want a timeline. I want to know every move we will make for the next two years. I want you to tell me how we dismantle a two-hundred-year-old monopoly without firing a single shot.”

Mei Jing stood up, her entire being thrumming with a predatory energy. She walked to the slate board, picked up a piece of chalk, and the air in the room shifted. This was her battlefield. The numbers and logistics were her legions.

“A war,” she said, her voice soft but laced with steel. “A glorious, profitable war.” She tapped the chalk on the board. “The first phase is not to attack the Guild directly. It is to bleed them. We will not target the common market first. We will target their largest, most reliable customers.”

She drew a circle around the capital city. “The military. The Ducal Guard. The Royal Garrisons. They consume vast quantities of salt for preserving rations. Their contracts are worth a fortune. We will approach the Quartermaster General, not with a lower price, but with a superior product. Alaric will provide data on the superior preservation qualities of pure sodium chloride. We will offer them a long-term, fixed-price contract that guarantees them a better product and price stability. They will abandon the Guild overnight.”