As we all know, the floating city is the most iconic thing of Netheril and even the soul of civilization, just like the importance of Tifa to the 3D zone.
However, if one wants to build a floating city from the Netheril era in Faerun, the Core of Mysera alone is far from enough.
Strictly speaking, the Core of Misera actually has little to do with the floating city. It mainly provides a nearly infinite energy source that can continuously draw energy from the magic network to form a "high magic" area that far exceeds the natural environment.
It is also because of this that various inventions such as magic lamps, tap water supply systems connected to the water elemental plane, and quasi-magical items that can only be used normally near the Core of Misera can be supplied in large quantities at an extremely low price, allowing the civilians of the floating city to also feel the convenience brought by the development of magic.
In addition, if people live in such an environment filled with magic for a long time, their bodies will be affected, leading to phenomena such as genetic mutations.
Generally speaking, the probability of the descendants of floating city residents becoming arcanists is much higher than that of the Netherese living outside the floating city.
What really allows the floating city to float in the sky is not the Core of Misera, but two magic spells of up to eleven rings - Utron's levitation spell and Kronomancer's gravity reversal spell.
It was these two spells that maintained the large-scale anti-gravity effect, allowing rocks as heavy as a mountain to be turned over and float thousands of meters in the air.
Therefore, the rumors that the floating city can fall and shatter into pieces as long as the core of Misera is broken are pure wishful thinking.
That year, a large number of floating cities fell from thousands of meters in the sky. In essence, the magic network was out of control, making it impossible for the effects of Uthen's levitation spell and Kronomanser's gravity reversal spell that were fixed on the mountain to function normally temporarily.
Therefore, if one really wants to destroy a floating city, one must either directly smash the mountain that is the foundation of the floating city, or destroy the anti-gravity magic effect that is constantly on top of it.
By the same token, building a floating city also requires these two spells.
In addition, it is necessary to cast a ten-ring magic called [Proctiv Mountain Movement] to cut off an entire mountain and turn it over so that the flat surface faces upward as the foundation for building the city.
In other words, even with the Core of Misera, in order to build a floating city platform, one must cast at least one tenth-ring spell and two eleventh-ring spells.
But after the deep magic network was closed, this was almost impossible to do.
This is also why, even though there are still a few usable Mysera Cores left on the continent of Faerun, no one has been able to successfully build a floating city.
But now, with the third-generation magic goddess Midnight opening a back door for Zuo Si, he became the only arcane spellcaster who could build a new floating city.
In order to firmly control the mines of Kadarin magic stone and to cope with the return of the City of Ghosts controlled by the goddess of night, Shar, he and Ovo went to the Osram Mountains close to Tumis on the border of the empire and chose a peak as the foundation of the floating city.
There are two reasons for choosing this place.
One is naturally that this mountain range has an extremely high altitude and the hardest basalt structure inside, which is definitely the most ideal material for building a floating city.
Another aspect is that Zuo Si knew that most of the Hengduan Mountains on the west coast actually had the function of blocking the north cold air from moving southward.
So he didn't want to destroy these natural barriers.
Otherwise, even a small tear may cause unknown environmental and meteorological changes.
As for the Osram Mountains, since they are two or three continuous mountain ranges arranged in parallel, it would not be a big deal even if one of the main peaks was cut off.
After casting three super ninth-ring spells in one breath, Zuo Si threw the Core of Misera and the huge inverted mountain floating in the sky to Ovo.
As one of the last few remaining great arcanists, it was obviously not difficult for him to build a floating city from scratch.
And Owo was very happy to accept such a job.
Especially building a floating city with a group of apprentices who are full of passion and longing in their hearts can remind him of the most glorious days of the Netherese civilization.
However, in order not to attract the attention of the outside world, Ovo chose to use the cover of night to move the floating mountain to the sparsely populated Sunset Mountains in the West Coast Empire.
Not only is this place hidden enough, but it is also close enough to the Anauroch Desert to provide convenient support to the location of the mine.
After selecting 1,500 mages and eight liches from the Arcane Mystic Society, the construction of the floating city began in full swing.
At the same time, the first group of 600 miners, consisting of dexterous halflings, dwarves, elves and half-elves, also entered the underground tunnels to mine precious Kadarin magic stone.
Since there was the great arcanist Ovo in charge, Zuo Si did not spend too much time on this aspect and simply chose to be a hands-off boss.
Because the two of them have a common goal so far, which is to make the magic civilization rise again in this land.
There won't be any major conflicts until this goal is achieved.
What's more, the lich and the wizard are all Zuo Si's people, and Ovo plays more of a supporting and executor role. He does not have enough prestige and strength to set up his own faction.
Based on the principle of using something to the fullest, he threw a lot of work related to magic education, training more wizards, and coordinating the allocation of magic resources into that area. He disguised himself as a noble scholar from Mulhorand and led an excavation expedition into the Rhoyan Desert, located in the easternmost part of the continent of Faerun.
The goal this time was very clear, which was to investigate the several clues obtained before, confirm the approximate location of the capital of the Imaskar Empire, and prepare for opening the legendary crystal prison.
After all, the power of "God Slayer" Pandrem is quite terrifying, and he has many characteristics targeting gods.
For example, it is said that there are special abilities to restrain the divine siphoning and divine power blocking of gods.
The former can extract power from any god or even any divine power user who is connected to the god, and cause a negative level effect on them similar to the Nine-Ring Energy Absorption Spell.
In other words, any priest who wanted to cast a spell within the range, or even the god itself, would have its power continuously and uncontrollably drained until the Godslayer drained the target or the god destroyed this horrific ancient evil.
The latter divine power blocking can cut off the connection between the user of the divine power and his own god, as well as the connection between the incarnation of the god and the original body.
In other words, as long as they enter the influence radius of several thousand kilometers, the priests will not be able to obtain divine spells through prayer, and the incarnations of gods will also be unable to obtain divine power replenishment from their original bodies.
What's more terrifying is that the God Slayer has the power to block all detection from gods.
When it decides to attack a certain god, the other party will most likely know nothing about it, unlike other gods which can be predicted in advance.
In addition, this guy can use arcane and psionic power at the same time without the consent of the magic network and the goddess of magic.
It is said that the scum formed by the leakage of the remnant of Pandrem's consciousness possesses a terrifying power far exceeding that of most of the evil gods.
When dealing with such a terrifying existence, one cannot be too careful.
Although Zuo Si was skeptical, if the God Butcher was really that powerful, how did the Imaskar Empire's artificer summon him to separate his body and consciousness and then seal him? If he really had such technology, knowledge, and power, why was he destroyed by the half-baked gods of the Mulhorand and Unther pantheons? There were obviously too many mysteries in this, so many things could not be explained at all.
This is also the reason why Zuo Si lacks good feelings towards these two pantheons.
They have obviously covered up too many unknown truths and secrets by erasing history and records in the most despicable way.
It can even be said that, apart from the era of the Creator Race, which is so long ago and has not many records, the Imaskar Empire is the most mysterious civilization in the continent of Faerun, without a doubt.
On the contrary, the history of the elves and Netheril was fully recorded because there was no direct interference from the gods.
Especially the second generation magic goddess Mystra, although she did many things that the arcane spellcasters did not like, she never tried to cover up the almost joke-like death of her predecessor from beginning to end.
Of course, in Zuo Si's view, the way she died was also like a joke full of black humor.
After all, challenging a complete guardian god in the form of a fragile saint does not seem like something a smart person would do.
What is even more incredible is that a group of wise voters such as Elminster and Khelben did not stop them and let their goddess do whatever she wanted.
Just as Zuo Si was riding his camel through the endless yellow sand under the scorching sun of the desert, a red pillar of fire suddenly rose from the horizon.
The local guide who was hired at a high price immediately raised his hand to signal the team to stop moving forward, took out a device like a telescope and carefully observed the situation ahead.
After a while, he turned around and ran to Zuo Si, reporting nervously, "Dear employer, I think we may have encountered some rather difficult problems."
"Oh? What is it?"
Zuo Si deliberately pretended to be someone who had been in the academy for a long time and was curious about everything in the outside world.
Because this is the personality and identity he has given himself, he must play it well in order to deceive those eyes hiding in the dark.
"It's the Fire Giants! Several Fire Giants are fighting with a brown dragon."
The guide stated directly the reason for his nervousness.
Unlike the neighboring Purple Dust Desert, which has many oases, nomads, insects, lizardmen and passages connecting to the Underdark, the Luoyan Desert is a true forbidden zone for life.
Except for a very small number of fire giants, brown dragons and blue dragons, there are no creatures in the ordinary sense.
Even the most common scorpions, gerbils, spiders, lizards, and poisonous snakes in other deserts are not there. Instead, wandering mummies and other undead creatures are often encountered.
It is precisely because of this that it is particularly dangerous and terrifying.
Especially the three regional overlords: fire giant, brown dragon and blue dragon. Encountering any one of them would mean a calamity.
However, Zuo Si ignored the guide's reaction and instead looked at the two teams of elite adventurers and thirty professional mercenaries he had hired. He asked in an awkward manner, "Can you handle this situation? You know, the area ahead is exactly one of our destinations, and we may have to stay here for a while to dig."
moment!
The leaders of the three parties exchanged glances, and then the oldest man stood up and answered in a very serious tone: "Mr. Employer, in my opinion, now is not the best time to intervene in the fight between the fire giant and the brown dragon.
We should wait until they fight each other to a defeat, or until one of them wins after paying a heavy price, and then launch a surprise attack to eliminate the winner.
Furthermore, the magic weapons and equipment you paid us as compensation are enough to harm dragons and fire giants.
The most important thing is that the brown dragon cannot fly like the blue dragon, so it is much easier to deal with.
If you're willing to trust us, please be patient for a while.
I promise to make sure you get your money's worth."
Hearing this, Zuo Si nodded in satisfaction: "Very good, I'll leave it to you. No matter if you kill them or drive them away, at least you can let the slaves dig in the desert."
"clear!"
The man, who looked to be in his late 40s, immediately called the combatants together for a simple combat meeting without saying a word.
After arranging the division of labor among the three forces, they put on light yellow cloaks for concealment and spread out to move towards the battlefield from all directions.
Since these people were the best and brightest among the teams hired to explore the desert, they are well-versed in dealing with threats in the area.
They did not rush to launch an attack, but lay on the sand dune with half of their heads exposed, staring at the situation on the battlefield.
About ten seconds later, the leading man asked the leader of another adventure team: "Who do you think will win this battle?"
“It’s hard to say.
If the brown dragon is replaced by a blue dragon with the ability to fly, I would definitely vote for the giant dragon.
After all, no matter how powerful the Fire Giant is, it is difficult to withstand the high-speed flight and lightning breathing of the Blue Dragon.
But the brown dragon's breath is strong acid, and it does not have real flying ability, so at best it can only fight these fire giants on equal terms.
Look at the damage caused by the scimitars and fire magic on him. Although it is far from fatal, it is very telling. "
A man in his thirties dressed as a wizard expressed his opinion.
Since they are all technically Mulhorandi, they speak to each other in Mulhorandi rather than the most widely used common language on the continent of Faerun.
As for brown dragons, they are a type of dragon that typically only lives in desert areas, and their habitat overlaps with that of blue dragons and bronze dragons.
Therefore, if they meet each other, brutal fighting and conflicts may break out.
But the biggest difference between brown dragons and blue dragons and bronze dragons is that brown dragons do not have the ability to fly. Instead, they are better at burying themselves in the sand and suddenly coming out to attack passing caravans and passers-by.
Although they are also true dragons, for some reason their wings have degenerated badly and are only a very short section, which is not enough to support the weight of their huge bodies.
What's worse is that the scales covering its body are made of a relatively soft cuticle and are not as tough as those of other types of dragons.
However, its wide mouth gives it the most powerful bite force among dragons.
Often, a single bite would tear a man and his horse to pieces. As long as the sneak attack was successful, the opponent would not be given any chance to fight back.
In addition, brown dragons are one of the very few true dragons that will treat their own kind as food.
Their savagery and brutality are almost comparable to that of the White Dragon.
Moreover, this barbarity and brutality is not caused by low intelligence like the latter, but is more like an innate nature.
While the two were talking in a low voice, the brown dragon in the center of the battlefield suddenly used its innate spell-like ability to create a large and violent sand whirlwind out of thin air.
Two fire giants who were flying in the air and preparing to cast spells were instantly sucked in.
The high-speed spinning and dancing gravel was like a blade, quickly tearing the skin and muscles of the fire giant, leaving the wind and gravel stained with a striking blood-red color.
What's even more terrible is that this tornado makes it impossible for the people trapped inside to see the surrounding situation clearly, and they can't get out easily. The pain caused by the sand and gravel tearing the skin and muscles also makes it impossible to maintain concentration in casting spells.
This means that unless the two fire giants can hold on until the magic effect ends, they will be cut into meat paste alive by the sand like a thousand knives.
But if you think that's the end of it, you're wrong.
The brown dragon is a giant dragon with wind and earth elemental attributes, so it has the ability to control sandstorms and summon wind elements.
While the enemy spellcaster was unable to do anything due to the disturbance of the sandstorm tornado, he quickly chanted dragon magic and summoned a whirlwind whose appearance could not be seen clearly through the druid's [Seventh Level Summoning of Nature's Ally].
Now, the two remaining warrior fire giants need to deal with the brown dragon and a super-large wind elemental that can also fly at high speeds at the same time.
The leading fire giant's face finally turned ugly when he saw this, and without even thinking, he pulled his companions around him and turned around and ran away. On the way, he did not forget to rush into the tornado and pull out the other two seriously injured spellcasters.
It was obvious that they were losing miserably in the battle for territory.
Without the assistance of a spellcaster, it is obviously unrealistic to defeat an old brown dragon by hand-to-hand combat.
After all, although these evil creatures from the Elemental Plane of Fire have the ability to grant mortals wishes, the annoying thing is that they can't use it themselves, nor can they give it to their fellow giants.
Otherwise, with four fire giants making wishes three times a day, that would be twelve wishes in total, which would be enough to pin the old brown dragon in front of them to the ground.
Maybe you can even control and enslave the other party.
"Want to run? Dream on! You will all die here today!"
The brown dragon, whose body was covered with black burn marks, was obviously extremely angry. It leaped out of the yellow sand and followed closely behind, wanting to chase.
Since his claws had long since evolved webbed membranes to adapt to the desert environment, they can not only dig sand quickly, but also increase the contact area with the sand to reduce pressure and prevent their claws and legs from sinking into the sand.
So brown dragons can run very fast in the desert, far faster than camels and other dragons.
After a while, he caught up with the slowest fire giant and opened his bloody mouth, intending to bite the giant to death and swallow it.
Although this elemental creature is far less delicious to brown dragons than horse meat or camel meat, it is certainly much better than living on eating sand.
Seeing the crisis approaching, the Fire Giant immediately activated his innate ability to transform into a gaseous form.
As a result, the former didn't get anything when he took a bite, but instead got a mouthful of sand.
The fire giant who successfully escaped the disaster immediately relied on his natural flying ability to increase his altitude, giving the enemy no chance to launch a second attack.
Upon seeing this, several other fire giants also left the ground, clearly bullying the brown dragon for not being able to fly.
Similarly, in the battle just now, the brown dragon also fully utilized its advantage of being good at digging holes. While fighting, it drilled directly into the ground and disappeared from the enemy's sight, avoiding being hit by the powerful fire magic.
Then he suddenly jumped up from under the feet of a fire giant by digging and launched a surprise attack.
It can be said that both sides have their own advantages, and whoever performs better will win the final victory.
Unfortunately, this time the fire giant's coordination was obviously problematic, and the brown dragon seized the opportunity to repel it.
Similar battles have been fought more than once by both sides in this desert area, but neither side has been able to completely eliminate the other.
In the end, the brown dragon could only roar and curse at the sky before giving up.
Because he knew that it was impossible for the large wind element he summoned to defeat the four fire giants.
Just as this huge creature, whose body was a dull brown, was about to return to its nest to rest and recuperate, the adventurers and mercenaries who had been lying in ambush nearby finally seized the moment when he let his guard down and attacked.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The long-range archers first fired the enchanted piercing arrows specially sponsored by Zuo Si from different angles.
This is a special arrow that looks extremely thin, but with the help of magic, it can penetrate the shells of hard creatures such as turtle shells.
Moreover, the arrows are tempered with an extremely deadly poison that can greatly weaken the dragon's physique and agility.
In addition, the brown dragon had just fought a battle with his mortal enemy and was currently at his most relaxed, so he did not realize that a group of human adventurers and mercenaries were lurking around during the battle.
Otherwise, he could use his innate ability of "vibration perception" to detect the movement of any creature stepping on the sand within a radius of 150 meters centered on himself, even a small snake or scorpion.
As expected, all six arrows hit the target.
The poisonous arrow pierced through the scales and into the flesh, causing the brown dragon to feel pain immediately, and it let out a shrill roar like a madman.
"You ignorant little bugs! I'm going to eat you for dinner!"
Before he finished speaking!
He leaped high into the air and smashed straight into the nearest human adventurers, then took a deep breath in mid-air and spit out horrifying acid.
“Run!”
The older leader grabbed the female archer who hadn't reacted yet, raised his head and drank a bottle of speed potion, then dragged her away and ran away.
Although his speed was certainly not as fast as on flat ground as his feet were stuck in the sand, he still managed to run out of the coverage area before the strong acid hit the ground.
The other few people are similar.
But they had no time to rejoice in their survival, as the huge body of the brown dragon came crashing down like a cannonball.
boom!!!!
After a loud bang, sand waves several meters high were splashed, burying the two slow guys directly underneath.
The others also shook their heads, trying to shake off the sand on their heads and bodies, and from time to time they would spit out a mixture of saliva and sand.
"Little mice! You are dead!"
After landing, the brown dragon did not stop at all, but pounced directly on the unlucky guy closest to it.
In his opinion, this attack of his was foolproof and there was absolutely no chance for the opponent to escape.
But just when it was about to succeed, the dragon suddenly noticed a strange smile on the face of its prey for some reason, and then shouted at the top of its voice: "Now! Do it!"
The next second...
A large net buried under the sand rose into the air and tightened instantly under the influence of some magic, wrapping the brown dragon completely inside.
What's even more terrible is that the latter's four claws were tripped by the mesh and fell heavily on the yellow sand, and then were tightened and tightened.
Just as he was about to spit out strong acid to destroy the net, a sharp pain suddenly came from his abdomen.
I saw a group of fully armed human warriors rushing up, using their five-meter-long spears to pierce through the scales and pierce into the fragile internal organs in the abdomen.
Magic weapons!
The brown dragon immediately realized that these were not ordinary enemies, but a group of elite adventurers and mercenaries capable of killing him.
The most obvious example is those weapons that are heavily equipped and have at least +2 enchantment levels.
But unfortunately, he realized it too late.
The experienced adventurers and mercenaries didn't give the dragon any chance to react. One round of thrusts was followed by a second round.
The precious dragon blood gushed out like crazy and couldn't be stopped at all.
In less than half a minute, an old brown dragon was killed by the mortal he despised the most.
His struggle did not have any effect other than bringing more excitement and a sense of accomplishment to the dragon-slaying team, and no one was even injured.
As for the large wind element that was summoned, it was directly expelled by the mage in the team and was unable to play any role at all.
"Dear employer, we didn't disappoint you, did we?"
As soon as the battle was over, the oldest leader ran up to Zuo Si and proudly took credit for it.
Of course, he is qualified.
After all, slaying a dragon is not something that every adventure team can accomplish, let alone slaying a dragon with zero casualties.
Even though it was accomplished through sneak attacks, traps, and tactics, it was still enough to be boasted about for a lifetime.
Zuo Si smiled and nodded: "Well done, I am very satisfied.
As a reward, each participant can receive an extra 100 gold coins, and there will be unlimited supply of fresh water and fine wine tonight.
You can even take a shower if you want."
After saying that, Zuo Si casually took out two objects that looked like kettles from the bag on the camel and threw them over.
The leader obviously recognized the two magical items. He immediately reached out and caught them steadily, exclaiming in disbelief: "Endless water jug and endless wine jug?
I originally thought that the reason you didn't carry so much fresh water was because you had a storage magic item like a dimensional bag.
But who could have imagined that the truth was even more outrageous.
With these two treasures, the team can even stay in this barren desert for several months or even a year."
"I've said before that I've made sufficient preparations for this journey and don't need to worry about logistics.
Also notify the workers at the back that we will set up camp where the brown dragon died.
In the next few days, I need you to continue to protect the team's safety and conduct excavation in this area for about a week.
I hope to find ruins of the Imaskar Empire here, as well as something that interests me."
After saying this, Zuo Si jumped off the camel and began to look around in the afterglow of the evening sun.
To be precise, he was trying to use his eyes that could detect and identify magic to confirm whether this was the capital of the Imaskar Empire he was looking for.
It's a pity that the sand in the Luoyan Desert, which is rich in residual magical energy, covers everything, making it impossible to see the situation underground.
Even the magic of prophecy will be strongly interfered with here.
The reason is simple! The war between the gods and the artificers completely destroyed everything on this land.
All the sand was formed by the terrifying magical power and divine power of the warring parties interweaving together, tearing apart various buildings and the earth.
So some of their power still remains in the sand.
This is also why the Luoyan Desert is so barren and desolate. Only powerful magical creatures like dragons and giants who can survive by eating soil or not eating at all can settle here.
If the Magic Goddess had not repaired the magic network herself later, the area would probably be either a chaotic magic area or a dead magic area.
Just as Zuo Si quietly released a few small creatures into the desert to begin detecting the surrounding terrain, the team quickly set up tents under the coordination of several professionals and built a coal stove to make a fire for cooking.
Thanks to the two magical items, the Endless Water Flask and the Endless Wine Flask, which could greatly boost morale, adventurers, mercenaries, guides, and workers could not help but cheer loudly.
They filled their water bags with wine and drank from it, while they poured fresh water into large wooden barrels, then stripped naked and jumped in to wash off the pungent, sour smell on their bodies.
From the moment they entered the desert, these people had been walking in the endless yellow sand under the scorching sun for almost seven or eight days.
And because the team didn't carry many buckets of water, everyone tried to control their drinking water as much as possible, not to mention washing their faces, brushing their teeth, and taking a bath.
But now that I know that my employer has a magical item that can produce unlimited fresh water, of course I have to clean it up thoroughly, wash off all the dirt and odor, and then have a comfortable sleep.
Knowing that it will be very cold in the desert after the sun sets, people who are bathing dare not waste time no matter how much they want to soak in the cool water for a while.
Generally speaking, after cleaning is completed, they will come out immediately, pour out the dirty water and let the next person continue.
Although there were a lot of empty wooden barrels, dozens of them, there were more than 300 people in the team, so it took three hours to wash, and it was not until it was completely dark that it ended.
At this time, the ambient temperature has already dropped from 40 to 50 degrees Celsius during the day to around 11 or 12 degrees.
When the cold wind blew, many people whose hair was not yet dry could not help but shiver, and hurriedly gathered in front of the coal stove to keep warm. They stared with envy at the most gorgeous tent not far away, and the tent owner's quality of life, which remained unchanged even in the harsh desert.
At this moment, Zuo Si was sitting on an expensive hand-woven carpet and velvet cushion according to the living habits of the top nobles in the Mulhorand region, allowing six beauties wearing gauze and swimsuits that only covered the key parts to serve him.
Whether eating or drinking, you don't have to lift a finger, as the latter handles everything from start to finish and then feeds it to your mouth.
The table carved from expensive wood was filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats that were impossible to eat in the desert. There were more than forty dishes alone.
These dishes were the result of four professional chefs working for more than two hours.
There were also bright magic lamps placed on both sides of the table, dispelling the darkness in the entire camp.
There is no doubt that Zuo Si's behavior was intended to make everyone in the team believe that he was an extremely wealthy upper-class noble in the Mulhorand Empire.
Whether it was the chef or the maid, they were all high-level slaves purchased at the port of Kaleba.
Just take a quick look at the awed eyes of the mercenaries, adventurers and slaves, and you'll know how useful this identity is in the area around Muhong and Liangxing Lake.
Even the most lustful mercenaries did not dare to stare at these scantily clad maids too blatantly, let alone complain about Zuo Si's extravagant diet and lifestyle. They lowered their heads and ate their own portions in silence.
After all, in their opinion, this is what a great noble in Mulhorand should be like.
Adventurers and mercenaries eat better and have unlimited supplies of drinks.
The slave laborers ate a little worse, with only bread and boiled meat sauce as their staple food, plus some pickled vegetables.
However, more than 40 dishes and a large amount of fruits are obviously not something a normal person can finish.
After eating a little symbolically, Zuo Si quickly waved his hand to signal the maids who were shivering with cold to retreat and enter the relatively warmer tent. At the same time, he waved to the leaders of the two adventure teams and the head of the mercenary group.
The latter understood what he meant and immediately put down the food he had just eaten and handed it to his companion, then strode to the table full of delicious food.
"Eat, you're welcome, I'm full."
Zuo Si made a gesture of invitation as the host.
Giving away the leftover food to the most important and closest subordinates is a tradition of the aristocracy in Mulhorand.
"Thank you for your generosity."
The oldest leader put one hand on his chest and bowed slightly in response, then started to feast with the other two.
Judging from his relaxed attitude, this is obviously not the first time.
After the autumn wind swept away all the delicacies that were not even necessarily available outside the desert like fallen leaves, the three of them patted their bulging bellies with satisfaction and began to sip the slightly sour wine, waiting for the mysterious, wealthy and generous employer to speak.
“Everyone, you are all warriors that I personally selected and have performed the best in the previous exploration of this desert.
So I trust you very much.
I believe you all know that my trip is to find the ruins of the Imaskar Empire, to find that lost history, as well as various knowledge and magical items that interest me.
I don't care how much money the process costs, as long as I find something valuable in the end.
Therefore, the subsequent excavation work is crucial and there must be no mistakes."
Zuo Si pretended to be serious and warned.
Because the little things he had just thrown into the sand had already revealed the surrounding underground conditions.
As expected, there is a huge ruins group under the desert here, and the entrance is the lair of the brown dragon that was killed before.
If nothing unexpected happens, the reason why the fire giant has tried to seize this place many times is probably because of the ruins.
All Zuo Si had to do was to guide these slaves to dig in the designated direction, and then "accidentally" discover the entrance to the underground ruins.
As for these hired adventurers and mercenaries, they are there to deal with the enemies, mechanisms and traps that may appear in the ruins.
Before finding the entrance to the crystal prison that imprisoned the God Butcher, he tried not to expose himself as much as possible.
Once you decide to take action, you must get what you want with lightning speed and never give the gods of Mulhorand even a little time to react.
“Please rest assured!
My companions and I would keep an eye on all the slaves to make sure they didn't slack off or hide anything they dug up.
After all, you paid a high fee, so we naturally have to ensure that your profits will not be taken away by anyone.
If there is any fellow who is tired of living, I will be very happy to make him taste the taste of life worse than death. "
As the mage leader spoke, there was a chilling ferocity in his eyes.
Since slavery has always been practiced in the eastern countries of the Faerun continent, the adventurers who can operate in this area for a long time are naturally not good men and women.
Most alignments are either lawful evil or neutral evil.
More than a quarter of these commissions may be related to capturing and hunting down fugitive slaves.
Therefore, the three people present all have their own methods of dealing with slave laborers and slaves.
What's more, Zuo Si treated these purchased slaves well enough.
Not only were they not put in shackles, but they were also provided with clean clothes to wear and nutritious food. They were also promised that each person would be given five gold coins and restored to freedom after completing the journey.
This person is not a slave owner at all; he is simply a “kind-hearted person”.
If you are petty and try to hide something valuable in front of such a kind master, you definitely deserve to die.
Obviously, in these countries and regions where slavery is practiced, the people's moral concepts of good and evil are very different from those in the areas on the west coast of the continent of Faerun where slavery has been abolished.
They did not realize at all that no matter how kind a slave owner was, he was still a slave owner and that his nature of exploitation, oppression and enslavement had not changed.
After a night's rest, Zuo Si chose a sand dune closest to the entrance of the underground ruins early the next morning to indicate that it was time to start digging.
Among them, three hundred slaves are the main force of excavation, while mercenaries and adventurers serve as supervisors.
The only difference from traditional overseers is that they don't have whips in their hands, only terrifying killing weapons.
The corpse of the brown dragon, whose tendons had been pulled out and skinned, was enough to show how strong these guys were. Even if three hundred slaves started a riot with shovels, they would be suppressed or even slaughtered within a few minutes.
Slaves were not considered human beings, but livestock like cattle and horses. This was common in all slave societies.
As we all know, the thickness of desert sand is usually very shallow, usually about forty to fifty meters, and the thickest is at most about a hundred meters.
Therefore, the difficulty of digging in the desert does not lie in how deep it is, but how to ensure that the excavated area will not be buried by sand rolling down from the sand dunes.
However, Zuo Si's team obviously did not have this worry.
Because he simply unscrewed the endless water jug and the endless wine jug and had people sprinkle them around continuously, wetting all the sand.
In this way, the sand will solidify together and will not be easily blown around by the wind.
Once the biggest problem is solved, the excavation speed will naturally increase by leaps and bounds.
In just two or three days, the slaves dug out an eight-meter-high stone arch in a seventy-meter-deep sand pit.
Behind the arch is a passage that is mostly buried in yellow sand.
From the claw marks and crawling traces on the surface sand, it can be basically determined that this is the location of the brown dragon's lair.
(End of this chapter)
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