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.
没过一会儿功夫，他就掉头跑道左思面前，一脸紧张的汇报道：“尊贵的雇主先生，我想我们可能遇到了一些比较棘手的麻烦。”
“哦？是什么？”
左思故意装出一副长期待在学院里，对外界的一切都充满好奇的样子。
因为这是他给自己定的人设与身份，必须要扮演好才能骗过那些隐藏在暗处的眼睛。
“是火巨灵！几个火巨灵正在与一条棕龙交战。”
向导直截了当说出了自己的紧张的原因。
与紧邻的紫尘沙漠有很多绿洲、游牧民、虫子、蜥蜴人和连接幽暗地域的通道不同，落湮沙漠是真正意义上的生命禁区。
除了极少数的火巨灵、棕龙和蓝龙之外，根本没有任何普通意义上的生物。
就连其他沙漠中最常见的蝎子、沙鼠、蜘蛛、蜥蜴、毒蛇都一个也不存在，反倒是经常会遇到游荡的木乃伊和其他亡灵生物。
也正因为如此，它才格外的危险且恐怖。
尤其是火巨灵、棕龙和蓝龙这三个地区霸主，不管遇到哪一个都意味着灭顶之灾。
不过左思并没有理会向导的反应，而是把目光投向自己雇佣来的两队精锐冒险者和三十名职业佣兵，摆出一副为难的样子问：“你们能搞定这种状况吗？要知道前边那片地方刚好是我们的目的地之一，可能要停留一段时间在此地进行挖掘。”
瞬间！
三方的领队相互交换了一个眼神，随后年纪最大的男人站了出来，用十分严肃的语气回答道：“雇主阁下，在我看来现在插手火巨灵和棕龙的争斗并非最佳时机。
应该等到他们相互打到两败俱伤，或者其中一方在付出惨痛代价之后赢得胜利，再发动突袭将胜利者解决掉。
而且您之前作为报酬支付给我们的魔法武器和装备，也足以伤害到巨龙和火巨灵。
最重要的是棕龙不像蓝龙那样会飞，相比之下要好对付不少。
如果您愿意相信我们，就请稍微耐心等待一会儿。
我发誓绝对会让您感到支付给我们的报酬物有所值。”
听到这番话，左思满意的点了点头：“非常好，那就拜托你们了。不管是杀死还是驱逐，总之能让奴工在那片沙漠进行挖掘就好。”
“明白！”
看上去有接近四十岁的男人二话不说，立刻把战斗人员叫到一起开了个简单的作战会议。
安排好三方势力的分工，他们便披上浅黄色用来隐蔽的披风，分撒开从四面八方向战场方向移动。
由于这些人之前就是被雇佣进入沙漠进行勘察队伍中表现最优秀的一批，因此在对付该地区的威胁时都很有一套。
他们没有急着发起进攻，而是趴在沙丘上露出半个脑袋，死死盯着战场的情况。
大概十几秒钟之后，为首的男人这才问另外一支冒险小队的领队：“你觉得这场战斗谁能赢？”
“难说。
如果把棕龙换成是拥有飞行能力的蓝龙，我肯定投巨龙一票。
毕竟火巨灵就算再厉害，在面对蓝龙高速飞行与闪电喷吐时也很难招架得住。
但棕龙的喷吐是强酸，而且也不具备真正的飞行能力，充其量也就跟这几个火巨灵打个五五开。
你看他身上那些弯刀和火焰魔法造成伤害，虽然还远远算不上致命，但也已经很能说明问题了。”
三十岁上下法师打扮的男人说出了自己的观点。
由于他们严格意义上来说都属于穆尔霍兰德人，因此相互之间的交谈用的也是穆尔霍兰德语，而非费伦大陆上流传范围最广的通用语。
至于棕龙，是一种典型只生活在沙漠地区的龙类，栖息地范围跟蓝龙和黄铜龙重迭。
因此相互之间见面就有可能爆发惨烈的厮杀与争斗。
但与蓝龙和黄铜龙最大的不同之处就在于棕龙并没有飞行能力，而是更擅长把自己埋在沙子里突然钻出来对过往的商队、路人发动袭击。
尽管他们也是真龙中的一员，可不知为何翅膀退化的厉害，只有非常短小的一节，根本不足以支撑庞大身体的重量。
更要命的是，其体表覆盖的鳞片由于相对较软的角质层构成，在坚韧程度上比不上其他种类的巨龙。
不过其宽阔的嘴巴为其带来了巨龙中最强大的咬合力。
往往一口便能连人带马活生生撕碎，只要偷袭成功根本不会给对方任何反击的机会。
除此之外，棕龙也是极少数会把同类当成食物的真龙之一。
他们的野蛮与残暴几乎可以跟白龙相媲美。
而且这种野蛮与残暴并非像后者那样是智力低下造成的，反倒更接近于一种与生俱来的天性。
就在两人小声交谈的功夫，战场中心位置的棕龙突然通过自己与生俱来的类法术能力，凭空制造了一大片猛烈吹袭的狂沙旋风。
两个飞在半空中准备施法的火巨灵瞬间被卷入其中。
那些高速旋转狂舞的砂砾就如同刀锋一样，迅速撕裂了火巨灵的皮肤和肌肉，让风和砂砾染上了一层醒目的血红色。
更要命的是这股龙卷沙暴让困在里边的人根本看不清楚周围的情况，同样也无法轻易的走出来，砂砾撕裂皮肤和肌肉带来的痛苦也导致没办法保持施法专注。
这也就意味着，两个火巨灵除非能撑到魔法效果结束，不然就会被砂砾如同千刀万剐般活生生的搅成肉酱。
不过要是你以为这就完了，那可就大错特错。
棕龙是风和土元素属性的巨龙，因此有操控沙暴和召唤风元素的能力。
趁着敌人的施法者在沙暴龙卷的侵扰下什么都做不了，他迅速吟唱龙语魔法通过类似德鲁伊的【七级自然盟友召唤术】，把一名看不清楚外形的狂风凭空召唤出来。
现如今，剩下的两个战士火巨灵需要同时对付棕龙和一个同样可以高速飞行的超大型风元素。
为首的火巨灵见状脸色终于变得难看起来，连想都没想便拉上身边的同伴掉头就跑，在逃跑的途中还不忘冲进龙卷沙暴中把另外两名身受重伤的施法者拽出来。
很显然，在这场争夺领地的战斗中他们输的一败涂地。
在没有了施法者协助下，想要靠肉搏战胜一条老年棕龙显然是不现实的。
毕竟尽管这些来自火元素位面的邪恶生物拥有赋予凡人许愿的能力，可坑爹的地方在于他们自己用不了，也无法给与巨灵同类。
不然四个火巨灵每天三次许愿术，加在一起就是十二个，怎么都能把眼前的老年棕龙给按在地上摩擦。
搞不好还能控制也奴役对方。
“想跑？做梦吧！你们今天都要死在这里！”
体表遍布黑色烧伤痕迹的棕龙显然愤怒极了，纵身一跃从黄沙中钻出，紧紧跟在后面想要追击。
由于他的爪子早就为适应沙漠环境进化出了蹼一样的皮膜，所以不仅能够快速挖沙子，同时还能增加与沙子之间的接触面积从而减轻压强，避免爪子和腿陷入黄沙中。
所以棕龙在沙漠中的奔跑速度非常快，远远超过了骆驼和其他巨龙。
他没过一会儿功夫便追上了跑的最慢的火巨灵，张开血盆大口打算将对方一口咬死吞下肚子。
尽管这种元素生物对于棕龙来说远不如马肉、骆驼肉那样美味，但也肯定比靠吃沙子过活强太多。
眼见危机降临，火巨灵立刻发动天赋能力转化成气体形态。
结果前者一口咬上去什么都没咬到，反倒是吃了一嘴的沙子。
成功躲过一劫的火巨灵立马靠着天生的飞行能力拉升高度，根本不给敌人发起第二次攻击的机会。
另外几名火巨灵见状也都纷纷离开地面，摆明了欺负棕龙不会飞。
同样的，刚才在战斗中棕龙也充分发挥自己擅长挖洞的优势，打着打着就直接钻地从敌人的视线范围内消失，避免被那些威力惊人的火焰魔法击中。
紧跟着再通过挖掘猛然间从某个火巨灵的脚下一跃而起发动突袭。
可以说双方各自有各自的优势，谁发挥的好谁就能赢得最终的胜利。
只可惜，这一次火巨灵明显配合出现问题，结果被棕龙抓住机会一波击退。
类似的战斗两边已经在这片沙漠地区打了不止一次，只是谁也没办法将对方彻底解决掉。
最终棕龙也只能对着天空骂骂咧咧的咆哮两句选择放弃。
因为他知道，光靠自己召唤出来的大型风元素是不可能打得过四个火巨灵的。
就在这个全身上下呈现出暗淡棕黄色的庞然大物准备返回巢穴休息养伤的时候，埋伏在周围多时的冒险者和佣兵终于抓住了他放松警惕的刹那动手了。
嗖！嗖！嗖！ 远程射手们先是从不同的角度射出了由左思特别赞助的附魔穿透箭。
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)