Feng Chou quickly set his sights on a large manor not far from Nikles City.
The manor was called Sterling Manor, a Baron level manor. It was also the largest resource in the hands of Longman Company.
Sterling Manor belonged to the Nikles Marquis Family. The Nikles Family was originally the lord of Nikles City. However, due to the city's autonomy movement promoted by the church and the royal family, Nikles City became an autonomous city. The Nikles Family lost their sovereignty over the city and could only take a tenth of the city's taxes.
As the largest noble family in the area, the Nikles Family owned 5,000 square kilometers of land near Nikles City. The area of cultivated land reached 2.3 million mu, making them a true marquis.
In addition to having a large territory, the Nikles Family also had a pivotal position in the druid union. Among the elders of the union, there were two members of the Nikles Family. One of them was even a legendary druid. It was said that the Nikles Family also had the bloodline of nature elves and had a close relationship with Oselian's nature elves.
In recent years, the Nikles Family had been selling some scattered land under their name to raise funds and participate in the wave of industrialization.
With the development of industrialization, the profits from industry, commerce, and trade had become more and more lucrative, far surpassing the return on land. This had shaken the nobles' belief in land, especially in the area near Stormwind City. More and more nobles had begun to try to sell their land and invest in factories and trade.
The conservative Nikles Family had already become a latecomer to this wave.
The manor's situation was very good. It was located at the foot of Emerald Mountain, about 40 kilometers east of Nikles City. In the valley of Emerald Mountain to the north of the manor, there were two small rivers flowing out. The Nikles Family had built two dams at the mouth of these two valleys to block the river and raise the water level. They then used these dams to build an irrigation system that watered the 100,000 mu of land controlled by the manor at the foot of the mountain.
There was a castle, a town, and six villages in the manor that controlled the entire territory.
However, the total price of the manor was very high. It was as high as 10 million crowns. This was the price after the nobles had sold their land in large quantities. Otherwise, the price would have been even higher.
After some hesitation, Feng Chou finally decided to take the manor.
Anyway, he had already collected enough money to upgrade the Qiankun Pagoda. As for the next upgrade, according to the nature of the Qiankun Pagoda, 10 million was probably just a drop in the bucket. With it, it would not be much, but without it, it would not make much difference.
The reason why Feng Chou wanted to take over this manor wasn't because he was a territorial collector, but because he wanted to quietly research magic. Therefore, he needed a magic laboratory of his own. To build a magic laboratory, he needed a piece of land that completely belonged to him.
Although this territory was relatively large and expensive, it was very suitable for him to build a magic laboratory. It was relatively far from other territories, and the castle was on the slope of a rocky mountain. It was very suitable for building an underground magic laboratory.
When he heard that Feng Chou was going to buy the land worth ten million crowns, Longman was very excited. He immediately sent someone to Marquis Krös's mansion in the city.
Soon, the clerk who went to Marquis Nikles's mansion returned and asked Feng Chou to come for a discussion the next day.
That night, Feng Chou stayed at the best Emerald Hotel in the city of Nikles.
The next morning, Longman accompanied a middle-aged man wearing a noble servant's uniform to the hotel.
After receiving the notice from the hotel, Feng Chou, who had already washed up, quickly went downstairs and went to the hotel lobby.
The noble servant who followed Longman was wearing a black suit, a white shirt, a black bow tie, gray pants, and black leather boots.
After Longman's introduction, Feng Chou learned that the middle-aged servant was called Whitman, a first-class servant who served Marquis Nikles.
The three of them left the hotel, got into a luxurious carriage with the Nikles family emblem, and went straight to Marquis Nikles's mansion.
Marquis Nikles's mansion was located in the center of the city, right next to the square of the city council building. It was a huge mansion that occupied an entire block. In the middle of the mansion was a huge palace, surrounded by a wide square. There was a huge fountain in the front, back, left, and right of the palace. The square was surrounded by neatly built gardens.
This huge mansion was called Nikles Palace by the people of Nikles, and it lived up to its name.
The carriage went straight through the gate of the mansion, through a garden, around a huge fountain, and stopped at the stairs in front of the gate of the palace.
Standing at the gate of the palace was the head butler of the Nikles family. He was an old man with a straight figure, white hair, and a cold face. He was wearing a black suit.
Under the invitation and guidance of the old butler, Feng Chou and Longman passed through the luxurious hall on the first floor of the palace. They passed through a wide corridor and came to a circular staircase at the bottom of the corridor. They followed a spiral staircase to the third floor of the palace and passed through a long corridor. The two of them were brought into a huge office.
This wide room with splendid crystal walls looked more like a ballroom than an office.
In the center of the office, there was a huge white desk with golden edges. A thin middle-aged man wearing a sky-blue silk suit and a white wig was sitting behind the desk. Beside him stood a secretary wearing a white silk suit and a white wig.
In the four corners of the office, there were four guards wearing gorgeous heavy armor and holding swords. Qiankun Pagoda told Feng Chou that these four people were all high-ranking warriors.
After bringing Feng Chou and Longman into the office and introducing both sides, the old butler bowed slightly to his master, turned around, and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.
Marquis Nikles, the middle-aged man sitting behind the luxurious desk, quietly looked at Feng Chou for a moment after the butler left. He then said, "Master Stuart, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please take a seat."
Feng Chou took off his hat, put it in front of his chest, and bowed slightly to the other party. He said, "It's my honor to meet you, Your Excellency."
After Marquis Nikles gestured for him to take a seat again, Feng Chou sat down on the milky white leather sofa next to him.
The marquis did not greet Longman, nor did he ask him to take a seat. It was as if he did not exist.
When Feng Chou sat down, the marquis asked, "Master Stuart, I heard that you came to Sutton from the sea via the West Coast Route?"
Feng Chou said, "Yes, Your Excellency. It was a very interesting journey."
Feng Chou was not surprised that the marquis knew about this. The Nikles family had a close relationship with the Druid Guild, so it was easy for the marquis to find out about him from Elder Gavin.
The marquis said, "Can you tell me about it?
I'm very interested in sailing, and I'm very curious. "