Chapter 296
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Chapter 296: Devilish Genius
Setting aside the matter of his boasts becoming increasingly exaggerated, at least the effect was quite good, and Luo Ji expressed his satisfaction.
Let the rumors continue, he had plenty of things to worry about at the moment and absolutely no extra energy to waste.
After quickly reviewing the report on the settlement of new populations, Luo Ji hummed an unknown tune, clearly in a good mood.
He turned to look out the window at the sky.
“Hmm, it must be nearly noon, right?”
Muttering to himself, Luo Ji’s expression was filled with anticipation.
Then, as if he smelled something, he quickly sniffed.
“Coming? Is it coming?!”
As this thought flashed through his mind, our Miss Liu Ye came in carrying Luo Ji’s lunch.
For a lunch, it was definitely a bit too greasy and luxurious, because on the tray was an entire roasted lamb leg!
In Luo Ji’s usual three meals, such a substantial dish typically only appeared on the dinner table!
This was because he always adhered to the principle that eating too much makes one sleepy, so his breakfast and lunch were always very simple.
But today he simply couldn’t resist.
It wasn’t because of the roasted lamb leg itself, but because of the abundant spices on its surface!
Yes, it was cumin! Cumin!!
For a moment, Luo Ji even felt that his greatest gain after defeating Zhou Dongnan was discovering cumin, this spice, in his territory.
The roasted lamb leg, covered in cumin and homemade chili powder, almost emitted a fatal allure towards him, constantly stimulating his senses of smell and sight.
Terrifying, it was simply too terrifying!
Whoever thought of putting cumin on a roasted lamb leg was simply a devilish genius!
Maintaining his image of an intelligent and mighty ruler, he waited until the serving maid, Miss Liu Ye, left his office, glancing back repeatedly, sniffing with reluctance.
Once the door closed, Luo Ji immediately dug in with his hands.
For a natural, succulent lamb leg with plenty of cumin and chili powder, the most satisfying way to eat it was by grabbing and gnawing directly.
“Ah, this is life.”
After lunch, Luo Ji’s face was greasy, and he looked utterly content, even gaining a few insights into life.
Then, perhaps because he had eaten too much, Luo Ji, leaning back in his chair, actually started to feel a bit sleepy.
Quickly scooping some cold water to wash away the oil from his mouth and hands, Luo Ji decided to make a trip to the military camp.
Just 2 days ago, he had told Luo Yong about his plan to build the shield-axeman unit into an elite force and equip them with improved new weapons and armor.
Luo Yong had firmly supported the idea, taken the authorization he was given, and then enthusiastically set out to select personnel.
Later, he heard reports that Luo Yong had even specifically organized a selection tournament, making it quite a formal affair.
Luo Ji intended to go see how things were progressing.
However, he had just left his office and hadn’t walked many steps when he saw a team of people laboriously pushing a wooden cart towards the Forging Department.
On the cart was a massive bronze tripod cauldron.
Luo Ji was aware of this matter.
A while ago, a large quantity of bronze artifacts had been transported out of Zhou Dongnan’s imperial palace.
He had no interest in these items and hadn’t even looked at them, directly ordering them to be melted down for weapons.
As he looked at the huge bronze cauldron now, Luo Ji couldn’t help but feel even more impressed by Zhou Dongnan’s extravagance.
The bronze siege ram, at least, was a siege weapon and could indeed be useful on the battlefield, but what could a bronze cauldron be used for?
And to forge such a massive one, how much bronze was wasted?
Who knew, just as he was thinking this, the system notification inexplicably sounded in his mind…
[System Notification: Congratulations to player ‘Luo Ji’ for discovering the 4-star man-made wonder ‘Xu Cauldron.’
“Eh?”
His expression froze instantly, then he quickly turned to look at the bronze cauldron that was about to be pushed into the Forging Department.
Luo Ji was completely stunned.
“Eh?!!!”
“Wait! Halt! The cauldron!”
Luo Ji, already realizing what was happening, quickly chased after them, rescuing the bronze cauldron before it could be melted down.
He truly had never expected it!
That wasteful Zhou Dongnan had actually done something proper and forged a 4-star man-made wonder out of bronze!
At this point, he lost all interest in going to the military camp.
He quickly called a group of people, instructing them to carefully transport the bronze cauldron outside his office.
Then, with a tense expression, he asked the bald strongmen from the Forging Department.
“Have you melted down any bronze cauldrons like this these past few days?”
Hearing Luo Ji’s question, the blacksmiths shook their heads, indicating they hadn’t.
After all, melting such a large object wasn’t easy, they had only just prepared their equipment today.
Receiving this answer, Luo Ji slightly relaxed.
He then quickly instructed his two assistant secretaries to send all the bronze artifacts confiscated from the Great Zhou imperial palace to him.
He wanted to personally inspect them!
After giving the instructions, Luo Ji excitedly jogged back to his office.
The bronze cauldron had already been placed outside.
He hadn’t looked closely before, but upon closer inspection, he immediately noticed that the patterns of mountains and rivers on the bronze cauldron were carved with exquisite detail, almost not appearing to be of this era’s craftsmanship.
Heaven knew how much manpower and resources had been spent to cast such a bronze cauldron.
Lightly tracing the patterns with his fingertips, Luo Ji swiped his hand, and a virtual window immediately popped up before his eyes.
[Name: Xu Cauldron
Type: Bronze Artifact, Man-made Wonder
Rank: 4-star
Description: One of the Nine Tripod Cauldrons, a symbol of supreme royal authority and a unified, prosperous nation.
Effect: The holder of this wonder gains four hundred fixed Civilization Points daily. Within its effective range, the development speed of all cities under the holder’s command increases by 20%]
After reading the attribute panel, Luo Ji’s emotions quickly calmed down, and a subtle expression appeared on his face.
As a 4-star man-made wonder, was a mere 20% increase in development speed a bit too weak?
Logically, it shouldn’t be.
The symbolic significance of the Nine Cauldrons was extraordinary, and they could be said to be the supreme artifacts that suppressed the national fortune of their ancient Great Celestial Dynasty, exceeding the value and history of the Imperial Seal.
After all, these were cast by King Yu of the Xia Dynasty, whereas the Imperial Seal was carved by Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Ying Zheng, from the He Shi Bi.
Simply put, the Nine Cauldrons were nearly 2,000 years older than the Imperial Seal!
But this effect was truly a bit weak.
Luo Ji felt there must be something wrong.
Could it be that he needed to gather all nine cauldrons to fully activate their effects?
That shouldn’t be the case, even a single Xu Cauldron was displayed as a 4-star man-made wonder, its effect shouldn’t be this poor.
Thinking of this, Luo Ji reread the entire description carefully from beginning to end.
Afterward, his gaze fixed intently on the word, ‘range.’
“Could it be…”
Thoughts racing, Luo Ji quickly opened the map to confirm, and then he immediately fell to his knees in shock.
Centered on this ‘Xu Cauldron,’ even White Horse City, far away on the plains, was covered by its effect.
The effective area of the Xu Cauldron, symbolizing one of his Celestial Dynasty’s Nine Provinces, was incredibly powerful!
