Chapter 182 Tributes from the Vassal States
Deep in the Beifeng Mine, in the eerie and dark cave lies a towering underground palace.
This is the audience hall built by the little spiders of the Shadow Weaver clan for the Demon King.
While the little players from Earth were busy outside the North Peak Mine, the children of Queen Arachnos were not idle either.
After sacrificing tens of thousands of lives, they used their strong forelimbs and mouthparts to dig out this magnificent palace from the hard mountain.
What a remarkable sacrifice.
Luo Yan was very satisfied with this gift, and specially rewarded Mrs. Arachnos with twenty cows that did not survive the cold winter, so that she could taste the beef.
I believe that after tasting the deliciousness of beef, this emotionally unstable lady will gradually lose her desire for human flesh.
For the Shadow Weaver Nest, which has never been able to integrate into the new era, this is a significant improvement.
In addition, the reason why this palace was built so magnificently is not entirely due to the efforts of the Shadow Weaver Lair, but also due to the contributions of the players.
In particular, among his players there are many modeling masters from other games, who provided a lot of useful suggestions to his number one mount, Alacdo, the chief contractor of the cemetery, during the construction.
Otherwise, with the taste of those little spiders, it would be absolutely impossible for them to build this palace to his liking.
The only drawback is that after staying here for a long time, Luo Yan always has a feeling that everything here is full of déjà vu.
It wasn't until a player let it slip during a meeting with him that he realized it was the same model in Azeroth.
certainly.
Unlike the Lich King's, his seat doesn't have cooling function and isn't that uncomfortable for the butt.
When it comes to user experience, his little players are quite thoughtful.
It's much more thoughtful than his behind-the-scenes plan.
This audience hall was put to use soon after its completion. Luo Yan first summoned Sissi from the Nightmare Land, Zhuangzhuang from the Iron Fang City, and Zerik from the Guardian Clan to show off, and accepted compliments and flattery from a group of "lackeys". Then he summoned the vassals of the lower levels of the maze one by one and accepted the gifts they sent with a smile.
The latter is especially the key point.
Among them, Grak of the Blood Blade Clan paid him a ton of gold as tribute! If all these gold coins were used to mint gold coins of the Os Empire, 30,000 coins could be minted without adding water!
Considering that the Empire itself mixed copper into gold coins to take advantage of its vassals, it would not be a problem for him to be a little conservative and make 100,000 coins! After learning about Grak's generosity, Blancia of Despair City was not to be outdone and offered her treasures from the treasury -
A dragon skin of a baby dragon!
The dragon skin of the young dragon is about three meters long and wide. It can only be cut with tools made of diamonds. The soft armor made of it is said to be able to resist platinum-level sword energy! Considering the rarity of dragons, this thing is much more valuable than gold. Luo Yan was so happy that he almost accepted the marriage proposal of the pain demon.
Fortunately it was almost there.
In hell, the Demon of Pain is even more "S" than the Demon of Terror. If the latter only feeds on the fear of others, then the former simply enjoys the pleasure of torture.
In comparison, the little devil who loves to play pranks is like a pure little white rabbit, and even the goblin who is full of evil intentions looks kind.
Luo Yan was not worried about what Blancia would do to him. He was purely thinking about the players in the cemetery and his own court.
In short, after obtaining the dragon skin, Luo Yan immediately sent it to Tieya City and asked the mole craftsmen there to make him a close-fitting soft armor.
As for Lady Blancia, the mayor of Despair City, Luo Yan warmly invited her to dinner, just like when he entertained Grak.
During the entire banquet, the elegant lady looked at him with resentment, and it was unclear whether she was regretting not having gained an opportunity for Desperate City to improve, or whether she was heartbroken about the cost of this dinner.
If Luo Yan hadn't been unable to find a suitable reason and was worried that "exorbitant taxation" would affect the loyalty of the vassal officials, he would have even wanted to treat them to a few more meals.
In addition to Grak and Blancia, "Shadow General" Thanos and "Frost Iron General" Valgur also sent gifts to celebrate the completion of the audience hall in the Demon Palace. The value of the gifts was roughly the same as Grak's.
Of course, Valgur did not visit in person.
After all, if that guy wanted to squeeze into his palace with his size, he would probably have to dig a big hole under his audience hall.
And it's too expensive to treat him to a meal.
It's enough that the gift arrives.
In addition to the gifts sent by the vassals, Luo Yan also unexpectedly received a gift from the Demon City.
One of them came from Mia, and the other one came from Vivian.
The former often exchanged letters with him because of work.
After learning that Luo Yan finally owned a decent palace, she recently sent a letter to the cemetery, first expressing her congratulations in her "unique and twisted way", and then enclosed a gift.
It was a blood-red scarf.
The scarf was probably made of wool twisted from the fur of vampire beasts, and judging from the crude workmanship, it must have been a masterpiece created by someone himself.
I don't know who instigated this.
An extra postcard was attached to the scarf, with a signature in beautiful handwriting on it.
[I heard that it snowed on the northeast coast of the Whirlpool Sea. I hope this scarf can bring you the warmth of the Magic City. Of course, it’s okay if you don’t like it. I just bought it from a roadside grocery store.
——Mia】
Luo Yan had no doubt that if he really lost this thing, someone would probably cry out loud.
Although this scarf is not a particularly expensive gift, it is just appropriate for classmates and friends, but it is full of thought.
Luo Yan actually doesn’t care about the value of the gift. As long as the thought is there, he will gladly accept a beetle.
Especially for Mia who had helped him many times.
If she really gave him a very expensive gift again, he would have a headache about how to return the gift.
After all, she was different from those "traitors" who had turned over a new leaf in the lower levels of the maze. She didn't owe him anything, so he couldn't take advantage of her with a clear conscience.
He could only shamelessly take advantage.
As for Vivian.
The little girl's behavior was still full of confusion.
Luo Yan never thought that she, who had nothing to do with the cemetery, would join in the fun, but he unexpectedly received a magic wand from her.
That is no ordinary magic wand, but a masterpiece made by Gnono Silverhand, a well-known goblin craftsman in the imperial capital. It is equivalent to a golden legend in the magic wand world!
The entire wand not only embodies the ingenuity and design of top craftsmen, but is also made of priceless mithril, with the most crucial inner core being a phoenix feather!
On one side of the wand was a tiny inscription bearing the name "Silver Thorn" in the world's most ancient language.
That is the name of the wand itself, and also the exclusive spell attached to the wand, which can be released instantly by injecting magic power! Luo Yan had seen the wand in the window before, but he gave up after counting the zeros on the label, but he didn't expect to get it in this way.
It is no exaggeration to say that the value of this wand is even comparable to the dragon skin that Blancia presented to him as a tribute.
It’s just that most of the value of the former is a premium.
To be honest, Luo Yan didn't want Vivian to spend so much money, especially since he could feel that she was doing this with a mentality of indebtedness and compensation.
He didn't feel that there was anything pitiful about himself, nor did he think that the love that turned from extreme hatred was a healthy emotion.
Perhaps she needs her father's love more than her own.
Roxie Colin's debt to her family may be greater than her debt to her illegitimate child.
However, considering that Vivian's pocket money might be far beyond his imagination, Luo Yan finally accepted the gift silently and exchanged the wand that accompanied him throughout his student days.
What if this is just the living expenses she saved from a month of frugality?
Wouldn't that make me seem too pretentious?
Moreover, when he thought that he was spending Colin's family's money, Luo Yan instantly felt at ease and no longer felt embarrassed at all.
The completion of the audience hall and "taking the opportunity to exploit the vassals" were just a small episode in the Demon King's daily life. During this period, Luo Yan did not always entertain guests. He would occasionally handle the Demon King's work and study with the night elves' ancestor Grey Wind on how to "create humans".
The latter, in particular, can be said to be the focus of his work during this period.
It is no exaggeration to say that the progress of this research is directly related to the progress of closed beta testing and the players' gaming experience!
Although no effective progress has been made so far, Luo Yan has found a feasible idea.
That's grafting.
This is all thanks to the professional players living in his territory.
Seeing them cooperating with the night elves to fiddle with the flowers and plants, Luo Yan suddenly had an idea. He then grafted the plants brought from the planet Chao onto the new sprouts deployed by Grey Wind on the fifth level of the maze.
Of course, in order to prevent the pollution of chaos, he specifically instructed Gray Wind to take preventive measures, such as cutting off the energy supply to new branches when risks occurred.
Fortunately, the situation he was most worried about did not happen. The "Kao Mushroom" transplanted to the fifth floor of the maze through grafting grew well. It was neither unable to survive nor showed any signs of spreading out of control to other floors of the maze.
The whole experiment was carried out in an orderly manner.
In addition, Luo Yan discovered something interesting.
Although those "Kao Mushrooms" come from planets corrupted by Chaos, they themselves do not contain the pollution of Chaos.
Not only do they not contain it, the spores they produce do not carry the corruption of Chaos!
And this is also the most incredible thing for Luo Yan.
He originally thought that the corruption of Chaos had penetrated into the genetic level of the creatures on the planet, but he found that things were not as hopeless as he thought.
There may be brutality and murderous factors in the genes of those creatures, but chaos itself does not contain them.
The latter is more like something that is integrated into the cultural bloodline and needs to be cultivated to be passed on, rather than being innate!
In other words——
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
They have the potential to be assimilated into civilized people! After realizing this, Luo Yan immediately instructed Sano Blackhand to capture some khals who had just emerged from the mushroom forest and kept them in a breeding farm near the outpost for observation.
There are also brutal and bloodthirsty genes in the orcs' genes, but this does not prevent the orcs from having their own culture and establishing a unique order that suits them.
Considering the proximity between the two, Luo Yan wanted to try to assimilate them using the orcs' order.
This can be done simultaneously with the acolytes' preaching.
In addition to the "artificial human" project and the "transformation of the Kao people" project, there was something else worth mentioning that happened to Luo Yan recently.
That was his capable subordinate Sarah, who had finally returned from the front line on the planet Kao.
After more than a month of training and fighting side by side with other players, her strength was finally successfully upgraded from bronze to steel, and she officially started to sprint towards silver! Luo Yan could clearly feel that after more than a month of training, her temperament had undergone earth-shaking changes. Not only did she become more calm and confident, but her clear eyes with a hint of stupidity also had a bit more of the sharpness of a Maine Coon cat.
The audience hall of the Demon King's Palace.
Luo Yan, sitting on the throne, met Sarah who had just returned from the teleportation array, and confirmed her attribute panel through Youyou.
【
ID: Sarah
Race: Demon
Soul level: Silver (level cap LV50)
Level: LV.31 (Steel) Constitution: 25 Strength: 30 Agility: 41 Intelligence: 15 Spirit: 15]
"good."
Looking at the data on the panel, Luo Yan nodded approvingly and a smile of relief appeared on his face.
Even by players' standards, such data can be promoted to the T1 tier.
However, Sarah's growth trajectory is not comparable to that of the players.
He basically let the latter go, allowing them to explore and develop on their own.
As for Sarah, he personally cultivated her - whether it was taking her to level up or guiding her in combat skills.
Luo Yan's mood at this moment was probably like seeing his cat learn to do a backflip and flash. This huge sense of accomplishment could not be compared to any other gift.
Seeing the Demon King's appreciative smile, Sarah couldn't help but reveal a smile of genuine joy on her face.
But soon afterwards, that happy smile turned into a coy expression.
Seeing that she was hesitant to speak, Luo Yan spoke.
"What's the matter?"
"No, it's just..." Sarah hesitated for a moment, and finally said embarrassedly, "I heard from Arakdo that everyone gave you gifts...but I didn't prepare anything."
In fact, before she came back, she had thought about preparing a gift for the Demon King. However, the planet Kao was too desolate, with nothing but sand and corpses.
She couldn't just pick up a few corpses and send them to the devil.
Even a necromancer would not like such a gift.
As she spoke, Sarah secretly glanced at the Demon King sitting on the throne, but accidentally met his eyes and quickly ran away with a red face.
Looking at Sarah's conflicted look, Luo Yan laughed out loud.
"Araquedo, that talkative fellow... You don't have to take that stupid spider's words to heart. He just wants to show off his presence to you. Besides, paying tribute to the lord is the obligation of the vassal, not the obligation of the retainer. Speaking of which, it is I who should reward you."
When Sarah heard the word "retainer", she was stunned at first, and then a touch of emotion flashed in her bright eyes.
"How can I be so embarrassed——"
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I just received a lot of gifts recently, and I would feel uncomfortable if I didn't give them away."
Looking at the uneasy Sarah, Luo Yan snapped his fingers.
Then a robed acolyte from the Palace Guard tribe came forward respectfully, holding a dark purple dagger in both hands and handed it to her.
It was a uniquely shaped dagger, like a purple crescent moon, with a polished monster tooth inlaid at the end of the handle.
Looking at this special gift, Sarah's face suddenly showed an expression of surprise.
After getting the Demon King's permission, she couldn't wait to pick it up, and waved it in her hands, changing the way she held it.
“So light!”
After just a few tries, Sarah immediately felt that this dagger was different, and surprise instantly appeared in her bright eyes.
"Not only is it light, but it is also much sharper than ordinary steel. The frost wolf's teeth and the dark runes of the cemetery give it unparalleled penetrating power and the extraordinary power to release cold poison."
Looking at Sarah who was full of joy, Luo Yan continued with a smile, asking knowingly.
"How is it, do you like it?"
With a blush of joy on her face, Sarah put the dagger back at her waist and said respectfully with a slight nod.
"I like all your rewards."
"I'm glad you think so," Luo Yan nodded and continued, "From today on, you will continue to be my bodyguard."
"Also, the safety inside and outside the Demon King's palace is also in your hands."
With Sarah's keen sense of smell and intuition for danger, he believed she was capable of doing the job.
Seeing that the Demon King trusted her so much, Sarah's expression was slightly moved, and she nodded respectfully and accepted the order.
"Please leave it to me... If anyone wants to hurt you, they have to step over my dead body."
Luo Yan smiled and nodded. When he was about to say something, footsteps were heard outside the audience hall, and a monk knelt on one knee to report.
"Dear Lord Demon, your servant Father Matt wants to see you. He said he has something important to report to you... In addition, he asked me to pass this letter to you."
Luo Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, and lightly tapped the magic wand in his sleeve. The letter in the monk's hand floated up and flew into his hand like a paper airplane.
He opened the envelope and took a look. As expected, it was Charles' handwriting, and the content inside was not beyond his expectations.
As early as a month ago, he heard from Sheriff Adlai that Princess Irene Campbell was coming to Thunder County.
If it was just because of this matter, there was no need for Father Matt to come here in person.
Apparently he had something else to report.
Luo Yan put the letter aside, motioned Sarah to stand next to him, and then looked at the monk who was kneeling on one knee at the door and gave instructions.
"Let him in."
The monk nodded slightly and accepted the order respectfully.
"yes."
(End of this chapter)