Chapter 42: Gathering of the Dead
The Underdark is a region deep beneath the earth that is larger than the nine kingdoms combined. In this place that never sees the sun, the only way to illuminate is by the luminous mosses and crystals found underground.
But in such a harsh environment live many races that are rarely seen on the surface.
Creatures like the drow, deep gnomes, gray dwarves, fungus people, etc. are all very well adapted to this special environment.
But in terms of adaptability, these races cannot compare to the undead.
Because the undead do not need to breathe, do not need food, and are immune to most toxins, they can live comfortably in these harsher areas where even underground races cannot survive.
In a certain area of the Underdark, there is a huge lake filled with mercury.
The lake surface reflects the light of the luminous mineral, shining as brightly as stars.
But such a beautiful scenery has terrible dangers. The ubiquitous mercury vapor is highly toxic to most species. Only the undead can live by the lake, build huge castles, and mine the precious ores.
In the gorgeous castle, the noble Queen of the Dead was carefully flipping through the account book. Her skin was pale and clean, but her lips and eyes were scarlet. She was the Withered Rose, the wealthy woman in the Mourning Poetry Society.
According to the species, Withering Rose is also a lich. When she was still alive, Withering Rose was hunted down by the Lion Empire and fled to the Mercury Lake in the Underdark, and was finally forced to jump into the lake.
Master Morgan brought her body and soul out of the mercury lake and assisted her transformation into a lich. Every inch of the muscles and bones of the withered rose were infiltrated by mercury, so her flesh did not decay and looked no different from that of an ordinary person. Moreover, such a body was much stronger than an ordinary skeleton.
Afterwards, Withered Rose continued to learn necromancy from Master Morgan, followed him back to the surface, and built her own wizard tower in the desert kingdom.
Later, Master Morgan was killed by the holy warriors of the Ryan Empire, and the Withered Rose had to return to the Underdark, to this mercury lake.
Then, the Withered Rose spent many years and finally established its own kingdom of the dead here.
It was very difficult at the beginning, as the little lich was alone and had to fight for territory among those underground races. The soul fire of the Withered Rose was almost completely extinguished several times, and it was only by relying on the immortality of the lich and the geographical advantages of the Mercury Lake that it survived.
Then there was endless war. The countless deaths of the drow, gray dwarves, fungus people... allowed the Withered Rose to build up a huge undead army, and eventually all other nearby races were almost wiped out.
The drow elves were the first to beg for mercy, and signed a contract with the Withered Rose that was almost like selling their bodies, becoming her vassals. The gray dwarves followed closely, but they hesitated for too long and could only become slaves.
The mushroom people fled far away after suffering heavy casualties and completely abandoned their territory.
The Withered Rose established a vast kingdom, whose territory was almost a quarter the size of the Ryan Empire.
The reason why the Withered Rose dared to offer a cooperation of several billion gold coins to Amberxiu was because her territory had extremely rich mineral resources. Millions of undeads were digging for ore day and night, allowing the Withered Rose to accumulate countless wealth. With the huge volume of ore trade, it was not difficult for the Withered Rose to control the ore prices of the nine kingdoms, as long as she was willing to pay some price.
Perhaps this is an unimaginable loss for ordinary people, but for Withered Rose, money is just a tool to realize her wish, and her wish is to destroy the Ryan Empire. As long as she can achieve this goal, she will do it at all costs.
After carefully calculating the market price of the ore, Withered Rose waved her pen and handed the account book to the drow maid.
Withered Rose said calmly: "Lower the export price of ore for next month and increase the shipment volume. The specific amount is based on my calculations."
The dark-skinned elf maid replied respectfully: "Yes, Your Majesty."
Withering Rose waved her hand to let the maid leave, and then said to herself: "This amount of dumping is enough to impact the ore prices of the nine kingdoms, and it will drop rapidly in a short period of time. Given the economic situation of the Alchemy City, the bankruptcy of those small mines is almost certain.
"When the time comes, I'll transfer him another three million gold coins. That should be enough for him to buy a small mine. What a pity! If he was willing to come to my kingdom and work for me, there wouldn't be any need for such trouble."
Withered Rose was very satisfied with Amber's design and admired the wisdom of this junior. However, when she invited Amber to move to the Underdark, Amber decisively refused.
As for the reason given by Amber Xiu, it was very direct - not enough money.
Billions of gold coins can buy his long-term cooperation and make him give up other jobs and give priority to cooperating with the Withering Rose, but if you want to make Amberxiu completely surrender, this amount of gold coins is far from enough.
A free man who only knew how to farm and could not earn a silver coin a year would have to pay a hundred times the price to be bought as a slave.
A lich that can earn billions of gold coins and has an infinite lifespan has a buyout value of more than a hundred times. The price offered by Ambersu cannot even afford the Withered Rose. Perhaps the entire wealth of the Ryan Empire must be used to make Ambersu willing to surrender.
But Withered Rose did not give up. The lifespan of the undead was infinite, and anything could happen. Bone dragons could marry headless knights, and vampires could marry humans. As long as she had enough patience, she would always find a chance to make Amber willing to work for her, or even marry into her kingdom.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
Speaking of the bone dragon and the headless knight, Withered Rose took out the Codex of the Undead, opened the group chat and sent a message.
[Dead Rose: Sister Cang Gu, has your man been behaving well recently? ]
Originally, I wanted to ask the eldest lady of the Bone Dragon family how to subdue a powerful and arrogant legendary undead.
Unexpectedly, the answer from the Bone Dragon lady surprised Withered Rose.
[Pale Little Skeleton: That heartless bastard, he actually ran away from home! I must catch him and beat him up with my tail! ]
[Dead Rose: Huh? Running away from home? The Dragon Tomb is far away from the mainland, where can he run to? ]
[Pale Little Skeleton: I don't know, but I know he escaped through the teleportation array. I guess it must be related to that Ultraman Tiga. I'm going to the Alchemy City to find this heartless bastard! ]
Withered Rose thought for a moment, and suddenly had a bold idea, so she sent a message.
[Dead Rose: I'll go with you. It just so happens that I also want to meet little brother Tiga. ]
(End of this chapter)