Chapter 169 An Attempt

The night gradually deepened and the evening wind grew colder.

Seeing the fine snow starting to float down from the sky again, the people sitting around the fire and talking at once quickened their eating pace, finishing the remaining pumpkin soup in no time, returning the spoons and bowls, and hurriedly retreating back into the house that was sheltered from the wind and snow.

As the fire on the open ground went out, the wisp of smoke floating over Beifeng City gradually dissipated.

People who have worked all day fall asleep amid the sound of snoring with beautiful visions of tomorrow.

In contrast to those people who were soundly sleeping, the skeleton soldiers in the cemetery had no intention of sleeping at all.

That’s not all.

As "night owls", they are even more energetic at night than during the day, and they don't even plan to take a break.

At the same time as the sporadic bonfires went out, a blazing flame rose from the red brick blast furnace, replacing the former with a hotter and more dazzling light.

Driven by Mingwen, the gas outside the furnace was continuously squeezed into the furnace and fully mixed with the high-temperature coal.

As shovelful of coal was thrown into the filling port, the rising flames became more and more fierce, melting the iron ore into molten iron.

Flying sparks rolled out of the stove, rising with the smell of hot rust, like fireflies flying against the wind, and for a moment even overwhelmed the sudden fall of snow.

Looking at the molten iron flowing like magma, the skeleton soldiers surrounding the furnace suddenly cheered excitedly, with excited soul fire swaying in their skulls.

“Fuck that’s awesome!”

“Ahhhhh!!!”

This is Beifeng City's second steelmaking blast furnace! With the experience of the first one, they incorporated more dark text technology on the basis of the original blast furnace, and installed a hoist above the furnace to lift the freshly-baked molten iron and send it to the top of the mold for direct casting! Although it was just a few small changes, it made these professional players' efficiency in producing steel billets more than a little bit higher!

And this is not all the skills of those professional players.

With steel-making blast furnaces and brick and cement burning workshops as the center, more and more workshops are constantly emerging under the bizarre imagination of professional life players.

Thanks to the continuous trial and error and hard work of these players, the area close to the leeward side of the south in Beifeng City has already taken shape as the prototype of a heavy industrial park.

Although this prototype is a little sloppy and unrecognizable at first glance, who can walk the moment they are born?

You have to know that a month ago there was nothing under their feet.

As for how to combine the Netherworld technology with the production experience on Earth, both the NPCs in the cemetery and the players are still exploring...

Standing in the darkness at the entrance of the Beifeng Mine, Luo Yan looked down at the scattered lights below the mountain with an approving smile on his face.

Although he did not have high expectations for this tentative settlement at the beginning, it seems to be developing well at present.

With the arrival of refugees from the Dusk Province, not only were the previously empty houses filled with people, but the resources piled up in the warehouses finally became useful.

That’s not all.

What makes Luo Yan most gratified is that these professional players seem to have found a suitable way to get along with the newly moved in NPCs.

Not only completing the tasks he issued, even if they are separated from the guidance of the task system, both parties can form a beneficial positive cycle driven by interests.

As more and more people migrate to Beifeng City, the scale of this settlement will continue to expand and create more value! Just as Luo Yan was admiring the night view of Beifeng City, an elegant voice suddenly came from the darkness beside him.

"It seems that everything is going according to your plan."

The one who spoke was Sissi, the queen of the nightmare land.

She was wearing a white dress with red edges, with her legs crossed, floating beside Luo Yan, as if she was sitting on an invisible chair.

Although she was flying, she did not fly very high, but just controlled her height to be just a head shorter than the Demon King.

Luo Yan glanced sideways at Xixi and saw a complexity that was difficult to describe in words on that petite and delicate face.

He could probably guess what she was thinking.

Emotionally speaking, she doesn't like the humans on the surface. After all, the previous queen of Nightmare Land died at the hands of humans on the surface... and it was said that it was in a very cruel way.

However, she was a rational leader after all, and would not let her emotions control her thoughts. Therefore, even though she minded, she maturely expressed her understanding - the cemetery needed to win over these marginalized people who were abandoned by mainstream human society.

This is a strategic necessity.

It is also a realistic consideration.

Luo Yan thought for a while, then suddenly smiled and continued her words in a chatty tone.

"You may not believe it, but I didn't plan for the things you saw at the beginning, or I didn't think they would do so well."

"Oh?" Sissi glanced at him with a hint of surprise, her rosy lips slightly parted in surprise, "Is there anything else you didn't expect?"

The voice was not entirely teasing, but more of respect.

After all, in the various events that had happened before, the Demon Lord always left her with the impression of being able to foresee things. Even when faced with the dreaded Chaos, he was able to deal with it calmly, responding to the enemy's moves calmly and rarely revealing any flaws.

This is also what she admires most about him.

She had never felt this kind of security from anyone else.

Looking at Xixi's surprised expression, Luo Yan laughed, looked at the scattered lights in the distance with a little pride, and slowly spoke.

"There are so many things I didn't expect. For example... I never thought before that those refugees were not completely unable to accept the undead creatures. I once thought that they would use suicide attacks to exchange for a ticket to heaven. For example, I found that surface humans and demons can get along harmoniously, as long as they find that they and the demons are under the constraints of order. There are many things that I only understood after I came into contact with them."

Xixi was stunned for two seconds, then she let out a sweet laugh like a silver bell and spoke in a teasing tone.

"Unbelievable. I didn't expect that the omnipotent Demon King would actually have unexpected things. Haha."

Luo Yan said jokingly.

"Is it a surprise?"

With an elegant and calm smile on her red lips, Sissi continued in a proper voice.

"It's not that surprising, but I didn't expect you to show me another side of you that I don't normally see. I don't mean to offend you, I just feel... a little bit of a contrast."

"Do you like it?"

At first, Sissi didn't hear this sentence clearly. When she came to her senses, her brain froze for two seconds, and then her fair face was instantly filled with blush.

"Like?! What are you talking about, me? How, how is it possible! Please, please respect yourself..."

Elegant and proper social etiquette turned into complete gibberish.

In her hasty explanation, she accidentally stepped on empty air, as if the chair behind her was pulled away, and she almost fell from mid-air.

Flapping her wings to steady herself, she bit her rosy lips angrily and glared at the culprit who caused all this with shame and anger.

However, the latter just laughed and imitated her teasing tone.

"I'm talking about whether you like this kind of accident. It's not about my personal evaluation."

Realizing that she had misunderstood, Sissi's face turned red so much that it seemed like blood was about to drip out.

She wanted to bite the guy who caused the misunderstanding, but finally she resisted the urge and turned her face away in annoyance.

"...It's okay. Next time, please try to express it in a way that is not so easy to be misunderstood, or let me be mentally prepared."

Looking at Xixi revealing her true emotions, Luo Yan couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth.

There is no doubt that he did it on purpose.

Without taking off the mask on her face, he would never see the true thoughts of this little devil queen who wrapped herself tightly in aristocratic etiquette.

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Similarly, as long as we deal with her, we will basically deal with all the little demons in the nightmare land.

After all, they were born in the same nest and are of one mind.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. But please believe that I didn't mean to tease you. I just wanted to understand your true thoughts."

Looking at Xixi who seemed to have accepted his apology, Luo Yan paused for a moment and continued speaking carefully.

"And, I hope to share this unexpected joy with you."

Sissi, who had calmed down, was stunned for a moment.

"…Share it with me?"

"That's right," Luo Yan smiled and nodded, then turned his gaze back to the direction of Beifeng City and continued in a gentle tone, "Didn't you notice? The little demons in Beifeng City and the humans on the surface actually get along pretty well. This is also something that surprised me."

"This... I haven't observed it so carefully." Xixi widened her eyes slightly, subconsciously looked in the direction where Luo Yan was looking, and said in an uncertain tone.

The people gathered at the door of the abandoned hotel have dispersed. In the entire Beifeng City, only the undead are still busy. She can hardly see any trace of humans on the surface.

But if she recalled carefully, she seemed to have some impression -

Probably just before nightfall, a group of surface human cubs seemed to be chasing each other with a few little demons in the open space, playing hide-and-seek in the snow.

To be honest, this was the first time she had seen such a situation.

Looking at Xixi who was lost in thought, Luo Yan continued.

"It doesn't matter if you didn't notice it. There's still a lot of time to go by. You have plenty of time to observe. You might as well pay attention to it then."

"I'll pay attention, but... I don't understand the point of doing this," Xixi looked at Luo Yan and asked puzzledly, "We are demons. No matter how we get along, we will eventually feed on the negative emotions of the humans on the surface..."

"That's just a statement, not a fact."

Luo Yan shook his head and continued.

"Even in the Demon City, no demon can survive by eating only negative emotions. Mortals eat mortal food after all, and the negative emotions you mentioned - that is, what we call the power of faith, is actually the food of the gods."

"What's the difference?" Sissi looked at him in confusion and said, "Serving the Demon God is our innate duty. Don't you think so?"

Luo Yan said after thinking for a moment.

"This question can be answered in two parts. Regarding whether serving the Demon God is your innate duty, this is something you need to judge for yourself. As for the second part of the question, regarding the method of serving the Demon God, there has always been another solution."

More than a thousand years ago, Hagen, the god of the underworld, fell, and the followers of Hades were forced to go underground. From then on, the surface and the underground were divided into two distinct worlds.

In order to consolidate its rule, the early Church of Saint Sith portrayed the underground where the followers of Hades lived as hell, and named the creatures living there as demons, using the power of fear to harvest people's prayers.

On the other hand, Hell took the initiative to claim the identity of the villain with the idea of ​​"join if you can't beat them" and used the fear in people's hearts to divert the power of faith from the Church of Saint Sith.

Luo Yan has lived in hell for eighteen years. If he were to make an objective assessment, it is indeed a harsh jungle society, but it is far from being evil in nature.

Unleashing malice and spreading fear are merely means to gain the power of faith.

In addition to releasing malice and spreading fear, they certainly have other means, such as spreading the belief in the devil through direct preaching by acolytes.

Just like what the acolytes he sent to Beifeng City were doing, this was also a way of serving His Majesty the Demon God.

Although he also admitted that he mixed a lot of his own things into it, almost changing the original doctrine into "Protestantism", and almost packaging himself as the spokesperson of the devil and his incarnation in the mortal world.

Sissi looked at him as if she understood, and seemed to be carefully pondering his words.

After all, he is the king of little devils.

Although her brain circuit is not long, she is not as stupid as Yossi and Missy, and she can still figure out the logic.

"I think I understand what you mean. You want us to try to change our original way of life and find the possibility of coexisting with the people on the surface... Is that right?"

Luo Yan shook his head.

"You don't need to change your lifestyle, just continue to be yourself. I just provide you with another possibility based on the original one. For demons and undead who want to try another lifestyle, you can choose here outside the maze."

Sissi wondered.

"Is there any difference between this and Misty Town? There are also humans and monsters living together there... It seems to be no different from here."

Luo Yan said with a smile.

"Of course there is a difference. After all, it is our territory. It is not us who adapt to the outsiders, but the outsiders who adapt to our lifestyle... and most of these people are adventurers and mercenaries. As for Beifeng City, it is outside the maze and is not our home ground in the strict sense. Most of the people living here are free people or tenant farmers of the Kingdom of Ryan. On the contrary, we are the 'adventurers'."

When he said this, Luo Yan paused for a moment and confessed to her another thought in his mind.

"We have proven that there is room in Hell for surface humans."

"I would like to take this opportunity to explore and see if I can find a place for 'us' on the surface."

(End of this chapter)