The next morning, in a daze, Martin felt something soft and wet licking his cheek.

He opened his eyes blearily and saw the cute little dragon cub.

The corners of Martin's mouth rose unconsciously. He reached out and picked it up, gently touched the little dragon's head, and then slowly got up and got out of bed while holding it.

He quietly called the maid to prepare breakfast, then took the little one to the bathroom.

While washing, the little dragon cub was extremely lively, twisting and turning in Martin's arms, sometimes trying to grab the water flowing from the faucet, and sometimes trying to pounce on his own reflection in the mirror. After a long time of struggling, Martin finally finished washing.

When he arrived at the restaurant, five maids were already waiting in front of the table. When they saw Martin come in, they bowed gracefully.

The leading maid bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Master, breakfast is ready. We are here to serve you."

At this time, a maid next to her brought out a large plate of lean meat with an attractive color from an exquisite dinner plate.

As soon as the little dragon saw the meat, his eyes widened instantly, his saliva flowed uncontrollably, and he couldn't wait to break free from Martin's arms.

Martin did not stop it and gently let go of his hand. The little dragon flapped its tender wings and flew crookedly towards the plate next to the maid.

He pounced on the plate with a bang, buried his head in the pile of meat, and began to eat it ravenously, looking very adorable.

Martin smiled when he saw this, and then signaled the maids to start serving the meal. The maids set the tableware and served the food to Martin in an orderly manner.

After the meal, the maids came forward one by one and quickly and neatly cleared the table. Martin turned to look at the little dragon cub, only to see it still licking the plate with all its might, not missing a single scrap of meat.

Martin couldn't help but laugh and said, "What a foodie."

He then instructed the maid, who was clearing the tableware, to prepare a few more plates of lean meat for the little dragon cub to enjoy. The maid quickly withdrew after receiving the order.

Not long after, he came back with four plates of lean meat piled high like small mountains.

The little dragon let out an excited scream, flew directly to the meat dish, dove in, and started to devour it with relish. The way he ate with such relish made Martin inexplicably feel a little hungry again.

The little dragon cub finished his meal contentedly, his round belly rising and falling slightly with his comfortable breathing, and he was sitting comfortably on the dining table.

Seeing this, Martin waved to the maids waiting on the side. The maids quickly removed the tableware, left the room in an orderly manner, and closed the door gently.

When he and the little dragon were the only ones left in the room, Martin slowly squatted down, looking the little dragon at eye level, his eyes full of expectation, and asked softly, "Little Dragon, are you willing to be my partner and be loyal to me?"

As soon as he said this, he inexplicably felt like a weird uncle with evil intentions, and the absurd idea of ​​kidnapping children flashed through his mind at an inappropriate time.

He laughed to himself, shook his head, tried to put aside all these distracting thoughts, and looked at the little dragon cub intently.

The little dragon tilted its head, its big, ignorant eyes full of confusion, and it was obvious that it didn't quite understand what Martin meant.

But whether it was out of trust in Martin or instinctive closeness, it nodded. In an instant, Martin felt a warm current surge in his heart, and he almost couldn't help but cheering out loud.

Suppressing his inner excitement, he gently picked up the little dragon and walked quickly towards the open grassland behind the castle.

During this time, he used the communication crystal to call Eric and Shuang Ning to come over and provide escort.

"Eric, are you ready?" Martin asked, his eyes fixed on the little dragon cub. Eric nodded: "Don't worry, Master, I'm ready."

After hearing this, Martin mentally instructed the system to consume the energy of the little dragon cub.

In an instant, vast energy rushed towards the little dragon cub like a flood breaking through a dam.

The little dragon cub's tiny body was enveloped in a torrent of energy, and a strange halo surrounded it.

As energy continued to flow in, its form began to change dramatically. Its originally short limbs gradually became strong and powerful, its wings spread out, and its scales gleamed with a metallic luster. Its once innocent eyes gradually began to gleam with wisdom.

With the depletion of 555,650 units of energy, the little dragon cub was successfully promoted to a sky mage.

However, the powerful energy replenishment overwhelmed it. Before the dragon roar faded away, it slowly closed its eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Fortunately, Eric and Shuang Ning were prepared. They acted quickly and blocked the earth-shattering momentum of the little dragon's promotion without attracting any attention from the outside world.

Martin looked at the dragon absorbing energy and planned to wait for it to wake up before asking its name. Then, he used magic props to hide the surroundings.

Martin immediately summoned Betan and the other two Golden Knights and gave them a detailed mission: "You will lead the prospectors to various locations throughout the Viscount's territory and carefully explore the distribution of mineral veins.

Also, keep an eye out for any unique products in the territory; we need to find a way to develop commerce." The three men took the order and left, their figures quickly disappearing at the end of the road.

Time passed quietly, and Druna returned with 25,000 slaves.

Fortunately, these slaves were purchased from the royal domain. If they were in Luoqiu Town, even if the entire population was included, there wouldn't be more than 10,000. Martin selected twenty capable and shrewd slaves to serve as village chiefs, responsible for the personnel deployment of their respective villages. He also gave each of them a communication crystal with high energy to facilitate contact with the Knights. The remaining 5,000 people were to be stationed near the castle—Martin planned to build a town around it.

Martin had no intention of canceling the collective contract of these 25,000 slaves. After all, once it was canceled, these slaves would probably escape completely in a few days.

Before distributing the slaves, Martin gathered them together and called out through a magic loudspeaker: "Listen carefully, there are 25,000 of you, half are men and half are women."

"I know there are smart people among you, and you should be able to guess my purpose. I have just taken over the Viscountship, and the population is sparse. I plan to assign 20,000 of you to 20 locations within the territory to build villages."

"I, Martin, am a kind nobleman. I will give you wasteland for free and let you cultivate it. In the first two years, all the grain you harvest will belong to you."

"Also, I will arrange for the education of your children in the future and open a school so that they can be educated and learn what loyalty is."

"Furthermore, your children will no longer be slaves. They will become my commoners and may become my soldiers or even noble knights in the future!"

As soon as Martin finished speaking, the audience erupted in enthusiastic cheers, and slogans of "Long live the noble masters" rose one after another, one wave higher than the other.

Afterwards, Martin arranged for two knight orders to escort the slaves to various villages to select locations, and asked them to bring seeds, food and farm tools.

At the same time, the two knight orders were ordered to be stationed at twenty selected node locations so that they could quickly provide support in the event of an unexpected situation.

In the future, unless there are special circumstances, the three knight orders will take turns to guard the nodes.