Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence

"Apologies, my lord." Weir carried a charred lizard beast carcass, "I accidentally crushed its head."

"No matter," Louis' gaze remained steady, he smiled, "It's just right for us to dissect and examine the Magic Crystal structure. Leave the others."

Soon the battle results were tallied: a total of sixty-six Soul-devouring Lizard Beasts encountered, one killed, and sixty-five successfully controlled.

The sixty-five controlled Soul-devouring Lizard Beasts lay slouched like a group of drunk vagabonds in the shadow moss, some licking rocks, others curling up to nap.

Each one of them would in the future, within the special combat framework of Red Tide, become experimental material, psychological weapons, or dark strategic pieces.

The shadow moss that glittered phosphorescently on the ground, too, contracted lightly as if breathing, gradually stabilizing under the suppression of light blue mist and Fighting Energy.

Weir stood beside Louis, watching everything, his tone filled with eagerness, "… My lord, should we send people to transport this batch of moss and lizard beasts back to the Red Tide Main Castle? Hillco over there will surely be thrilled."

"Transport them back?" Louis didn't respond immediately but lowered his eyes deep in thought, fingers tapping the hilt of his sword.

"Of course, samples should be taken." Louis nodded slightly, "But not all of them."

He did not hasten to give orders for transport but silently surveyed the structure of the cavern, its humidity, the flow lines of rock walls, and the distribution of moss bodies.

In his magical vision, the shadow moss was not chaotically spread but grew in an organized pattern around the "uninterrupted old planar traces" within the rock core, like a self-sustaining ecological circuit.

The central temperature stable, magic power density high, soil loose, with all four walls even naturally producing some kind of low-level "magic resonance."

And those lizard beasts seemed naturally adapted to this environment.

Geothermal heat, phosphorescence, lizard beasts, and shadow moss spores formed some kind of strange yet stable symbiotic system.

"This is a natural breeding pool for shadow moss," Louis said softly, his words calm yet containing hidden delight.

"If forcefully transplanted, it would not only take massive resources to replicate this environment but also bear the risks of cultivation failure, moss dying, and lizard beast mutation… better to directly transform the area on-site."

Lambert was taken aback, "You mean… to keep it here?"

"Yes."

Louis raised his hand, pointing to a flat area in the center of the cavern, "Turn this into an underground fumigation training room, a low-temperature Fighting Energy sensing trial area, a shadow moss cultivation station, and a lizard beast control breeding room."

"This will be the future spiritual forge of the Red Tide Knight Order, where breakthroughs might be achieved directly underground."

Lambert found it increasingly unbelievable, finally managing a wry smile, "My lord… Are you planning to turn the Ancient Tomb into a knight training camp?"

Louis smiled slightly, "Turning it into a resource for our Red Tide's combat power, though arrangements will be made after experimentation."

With that, he turned to the knights and began issuing instructions, "Ten knights will stay here, set the entrance of the cavern as a restricted area. Once we return, I want a complete geological map.

Collect twelve samples from the growth edge of the shadow moss for experimental fumigation liquid, condensed agent production, Fighting Energy sensing injection preparation.

Control 5 lizard beasts for the return trip, selecting those with intact bodies and active mental responses for the experimental group.

Command to contact the alchemical institute, apothecary, and breeding site of Red Tide Territory to dispatch a batch of researchers and construction artisans to the site.

This cavern shall henceforth be called—'Shadow Valley.'

Finished speaking, he turned and left with the knights.

Underground, those shadow mosses seemed to sense their master's recognition, flashed a phosphorescent glow, bowed slightly, and gently wriggled on the rock walls as if in submission.