Chapter 198 The Steel Behemoth in the Necropolis
The port area of Thunder City has been extremely lively these days, especially the several large auction houses located in the core of the port area. The boiling atmosphere almost tore off the ceiling.
Nobles and businessmen from all over the Whirlpool Sea coast came one after another, and even magicians from the northern academic states. The hall of the auction venue was packed. Not only was it difficult to get a ticket, but it also required verification of capital. Even the streets outside were crowded with civilians watching the show and adventurers with nothing to do.
A diamond-centered craze swept the entire harbor.
In the auction house, dazzling diamonds were placed on velvet trays and presented in front of everyone.
Under the illumination of the light, although these fifty to one hundred carat diamonds are not as magnificent as the one at the dinner party, they are still enough to take your breath away.
These diamonds are at least Grade A and will only appear in the top auction venues.
The auctioneer in formal attire holds a gavel, and with a passionate voice, he pushes the breathtaking price to the climax again and again.
"Seven thousand gold coins!"
"Eight thousand!"
"Nine thousand and five hundred——!"
The treasure lying on the velvet tray easily surpassed Eileen Campbell's pocket watch, and raced ahead on the winding road.
With the fanatical atmosphere, the eyes of the nobles present were blazing. Finally, an earl sitting in the front row stood up and shouted the final price in a firm tone.
Fifty thousand gold coins!
Fifty thousand gold coins!
Andor, who was sitting in the corner and watching, almost fainted.
He thought he could already be regarded as a prominent figure in this city, but he did not expect that the little money in his pocket was nothing in front of the real big shot.
The hall fell silent for a moment, then became boiling and noisy.
The Earl stood in the crowd with a faint smile on his face, enjoying the admiration and jealous gazes of everyone, while waiting for the auctioneer's third hammer drop.
There is no suspense.
After knocking the gavel in his hand for the third time, the auctioneer’s face was full of smiles, he dropped the gavel in his hand, and took the lead in applauding.
"Congratulations to this distinguished gentleman for successfully acquiring this ninety-five-carat "Blue Star"! Let us applaud him!"
Looking at the diamond that was sold at a sky-high price of 50,000 gold coins, Socodo, who was sitting in the corner like Andorra, let out a heartfelt sigh.
… It’s so crazy.”
Thunder City has become Diamond City.
The streets and alleys were full of stories about wealth. No one listened to the boasts of adventurers or the poems written by bards. People were either discussing the Colin family or the wealth of that mysterious family...so much so that he even felt that it was the Demon King's territory that was more humane.
Not only the nobles of the Principality of Campbell, but also overseas nobles and businessmen were attracted by the wealth myth of the Colin family.
However, until now, no one has been able to accurately point out where the Kao continent is on the charts. They only know that it is further west of the New World.
Out of fear of the unknown dangers in the deep sea, Sockdo has never been to the sea in his life, only doing "business on land."
But there was a guard in his caravan who had been a sailor, and he vaguely remembered hearing what that man said about things farther west in the New World.
It is said that it is a sea area vaster than the vast ocean, endless.
Everyone who tried to cross that sea area, let alone open a new sea route, disappeared, so much so that some even suggested that it was the end of the world.
Sockedo didn't know why the Colin family could successfully cross that sea area, but if their stories were true, it could only be said that their strength far exceeded his imagination.
"It would be great if we could also participate." Standing behind Sokoto, his apprentice couldn't help but sigh.
"Don't think about it, that kind of business is not something ordinary people can do," Sockedo replied casually, paused and said, "Let's just do what we are good at."
"King Gronn Cyborg of Calamity Castle brings greetings to the monarch of the Necropolis! Where is your Demon King? Let him come out! I have something important to see him!"
At the maze entrance of Beifeng Mountain, a loud voice echoed in the hall, and a dwarf who looked like a wine barrel with steel nails made a rude yell.
He wore thick lava-colored armor and carried a sledgehammer on his back. The beard on his chin was three fingers long and was tied into two thick braids. However, the most impressive thing was not his chin, but his smooth forehead, which was like a braised egg.
Seeing this guy's funny appearance, the players passing by nearby burst into laughter.
It's a good thing that these newbies can't afford translation crystals, otherwise the creaking sound of bones might have caused the envoy from afar to break through.
Hearing the shouting sound, Arakdo walked out from the shadows on eight legs, his scarlet eyes flashing with a sinister and fierce light.
"...It's so noisy, where did the little dwarf come from? Our Lord Demon King can be seen by you whenever you want?"
Looking at the crypt spider walking out of the shadows, the bald dwarf narrowed his eyes slightly and said the same viciously.
"Watch your words, you stinky spider! If you don't want me to, I'll take off your eight legs and stuff them into your mouth!"
The atmosphere between the two sides was tense, as if a fight might break out at any time.
It is different from the upper class society of humans on the surface.
Fighting with violence is the norm in the underground world.
Especially the dwarves and the cave spiders who often get along with each other. This is already the most friendly greeting between the two parties.
Just when one person and one spider were facing each other, a lazy voice suddenly floated from not far away.
"The Demon King has not been here these days. Do you have anything to do with him?"
Hearing the sound coming from behind, the hell dwarf immediately looked back and saw a little devil with fluttering wings floating in the air.
The scarlet eyes were full of indifference, and it was obvious that this lady was not in a good mood.
And the most important thing is that her strength far exceeds that of the stupid spider in front of her.
There was a hint of danger in the warning gaze, and the messenger from Calamity Castle immediately shrank his neck and calmed down the unruly look on his face.
It is the normal behavior of hell creatures to be fierce and cruel, but it is also the case to bully the weak and fear the strong. The two things are not contradictory.
The hell dwarf cleared his throat, changed his tone, and muttered.
"My name is Doko Brownbeard, and I am the envoy of His Majesty Cyborg! Calamity Castle needs food, and I want to buy some from you. We can pay with Goblin or Skaven slaves, or do you need furs and iron tools? Your Demon King promised to help each other with us... You can't break your promise." Hearing the vague sarcasm, Sissi narrowed her eyes slightly, and raised the corner of her mouth with a mocking smile.
"Oh? This is the first time I've heard of this agreement... But if it's true, why didn't you come when we faced the threat of Chaos?"
The hell dwarf was speechless for a moment and hesitated.
"Well, we also have various difficulties... including the threat from Chaos. As you know, Brass Pass is closer to us, and we have recently taken in a lot of dwarf refugees who escaped from there, so..."
Looking at the hell dwarf messenger who could not speak a complete sentence, Sissi did not continue to make things difficult for him, but just yawned and said.
"We are just here to look after the Lord Demon King's house, so we can't give you an answer for him, but if your purpose is just to buy some food, I think the market in Beifeng City should be able to meet your needs, so you don't need to disturb the master for such a trivial matter."
"Beifeng City?" The hell dwarf's eyes lit up and he asked quickly, "How do I get there? Is it far from here?"
"Far? It's just on the surface, just go out of the mine. Well...the roasted sweet potatoes there are quite delicious. I personally recommend them."
While speaking, Sissi looked at Arakedo and said in a commanding tone.
"Go and find a place for this messenger to live."
Arlacto dislikes this bat very much, especially since this guy has recently regarded this place as his own home. He comes here to eat and drink at every turn, and he also calls her the Demon King and asks her to help look after the house.
How ridiculous!
It is enough to have one of your own as a watchdog!
However, helplessly, he knew that his fist was not as big as this guy's, and hell is a place where fists speak, so he could only swallow this breath back in his stomach.
After saying these words, Arlacto turned around, twisted his huge butt and walked towards the stairs leading to the Beifeng Mine.
"Come with me, messenger of Calamity Castle, the terrain here is more complicated than you think. Don't go the wrong way and be treated as a wild monster by the nearby guards."
Brownbeard smiled disdainfully upon hearing this.
"Haha, don't worry, we dwarves have a better sense of direction than you spiders who can only dig holes underground!"
The terror there is famous throughout the Demon King's territory.
Although he has not been there personally, he has heard from the engineering spiders under his command that whenever a rumbling sound is heard, the dark magic mist will fill the entire cave, and no grass will grow wherever it passes.
If he died there due to an accident, the hell dwarves of Calamity Keep would not be able to say anything.
This kind of thing sounds a bit outrageous in human society on the surface, but in the underground world it is as common as burping after eating.
Brownbeard followed Alacton for a while, but as he walked, he also figured out that something was wrong, and muttered something.
"Why do I feel that you are taking a detour."
"How is that possible? We are almost reaching the surface."
Aracto chuckled, guessing that time was almost up, and accelerated his pace of crawling forward.
And just as the brown bearded man behind him followed up with a squeaking sound, a thunderous noise happened to be heard in the cave.
Listening to the trembling movement of the earth and mountains, Brownbeard's expression changed instantly, and he roared at the Crypt Spider who was leading the way.
One-stop version!
“What did you do?”
“We’re almost at the exit.” Arlacto said, and then at a speed that was almost sprinting, he flew over the walls and passed through the entire tunnel.
He didn't lie, he was indeed almost at the exit.
It's just that this is not the exit used by ordinary people, but the passage used by the undead miners in the necropolis, and almost no living people come close.
Before Brownbeard could react, boiling thick smoke filled the entire cave, choking him and making him scream.
While he was cursing, coughing, and looking for an exit from the dark cave, he suddenly tripped over something under his feet and fell to the ground like a fallen wine barrel.
"Damn it! Who threw the mining pick here!"
He cursed and got up from the ground, only to see that what was lying on the ground was not a mining pickaxe, but a long cast iron block.
The moment he touched the cast iron block, Brown Beard was stunned for a moment, then he knocked it with his thick knuckles, and the expression on his face instantly turned into shock.
Such good steel is just thrown here? !
The greed in his heart defeated the fear of the unknown. He coughed and reached out to pick it up in his pocket, but found that the steel ingot was welded to the ground motionless.
It was only then that he could barely see clearly through the black smoke. This thing was not the one he imagined, but two long ones that could not be seen to the end!
The two steel ingots were fixed on the horizontally laid wooden boards, extending into the depths of the mine like a paved road.
Zongxu was shocked.
Such good steel is not used to make weapons, but is actually used to pave roads!
Isn’t this too wasteful? !
The joys and sorrows of monsters are always different. Dwarves' obsession with steel is no less than humans' obsession with silver...
As for why it's not gold, it's because dwarves also like that thing.
Just when Brownbeard was shocked by the extravagance of the Demon Lord, a light suddenly lit up at the end of the passage, and a rumbling sound gradually approached him.
The howling wind blew away the thick smoke in the mine, but the thick smoke seemed to be sprayed out from the mouth and nose of the steel monster!
Brown Beard stood on the spot, his jaw dropped as he looked at the beam of light. His astonished expression was as if he had seen the Demon God himself.
What is this? !
At the same time he was stunned, a piercing whistle suddenly came from the noisy roar, which almost made his ears bleed.
"Woo——!"
Amidst the roar of the whistle and a burst of teeth-piercing screeching, the huge steel monster finally stopped before it collided with him.
Honghu looked up blankly and saw that behind the huge steel monster was pulling a long string of two-person carriages, and several undead wearing miner hats were sitting on the front carriage.
I will form the head: "Damn it! How come there is a human here! How did your mother-in-law get in?!"
I will form the legs: "It's not a human! It looks like a dwarf!"
I will form the crotch part: "Pfft hahahaha! Why doesn't this dwarf have hair on his head?"
I will form the head: "MMP! What a danger, I stopped! Otherwise I will be on the honor roll again!"
It's actually okay to be on the honor roll, but to turn a living person into an undead, you have to squat in a small dark room.
This game is currently in the early stages of development. Professional players in Beifeng City are very busy. Coal and steel are in short supply. You can earn several bucks from mining in a day!
Although coal can also be mined in reality, it is obviously more dignified in the game, and you don’t have to risk your life.
In case you accidentally break a bone, just replace it with a new body. Anyway, the cost of resurrecting skeleton soldiers is cheap, and the boss will reimburse them for it.
Brownbeard looked at the undead in a daze and blurted out.
"What are you doing?!"
I will form the head and said impatiently.
"What are you doing? It's not obvious that they're digging coal!"
"Digging coal?"
Zongxu was stunned for a moment, and looked at the weird machine next to him, and the expression on his face suddenly became weird.
"Use this thing?"
He really couldn't imagine how such a big guy could move on the complicated coal seam.
Of course, rather than how this thing worked, it was the fact that it could move that shocked him.
Is this the elemental puppet summoned by the Demon King?
But this is too big! ?
While Brownbeard was shocked, several skeleton soldiers sitting on the back of the steel monster were impatient, patting the "steel monster" on the head and urging him.
"How can we use this thing! Are you blind? It's obviously a coal puller!"
"That's it!"
"Stop talking nonsense, just don't want to become a zombie. Hurry up and get in the car, we'll take you out first! "
The carbon dioxide concentration in the mine exceeds the standard, and there is also a lot of carbon monoxide. The "delicate" night elf would probably be unconscious, but the dwarf seems to be more resistant?
But no matter what, the players are not willing to take the risk of squatting in a dark room and talking nonsense with this guy in the mine. After all, if they can't go online to mine coal, it will be a big loss!
Listening to the urging of several undead, Brownbeard nodded quickly, reluctantly glanced at the steel ingot on the ground, and finally climbed up the steel monster carefully.
Originally, he thought it would take some effort. After all, this monster seemed to be a grumpy guy. However, when he climbed up, he discovered that this guy's temper was much gentler than he thought.
But what’s even more incredible is yet to come.
I saw the undead scooping up coal with a shovel and throwing it into the furnace on the back of the steel beast's head.
It was only then that he discovered that this thing actually burned coal!
"This is... a steam engine?!" Brownbeard had a ghostly expression on his face, and he exclaimed, "How did you do it!"
He was no stranger to steam engines. They were everywhere in the mines of the hell dwarves, but they all used them to pump water.
I heard that humans have installed this thing on ships, which can allow sailboats to travel in headwind waters at full speed, but he has only heard about it and has never actually seen it.
As for this kind of steam engine that can run on the ground, he has never heard of it!
If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would never have dared to imagine that this was true!
Facing the astonished dwarf, several skeleton soldiers looked at each other with confusion written in the swaying soul fire.
"What do you mean how to do it..."
「呃，这不是理所当然的吗？」
蒸汽机不这么用，还能怎么用？
While Brownbeard and the servants of Lord Demon King were staring at each other, Arakdo, who was crawling on the roof of the mine, let out a light tut.
It's a pity that this rude dwarf saved his life.
For the sake of Lord Demon King, let’s let him go this time.
I hope he can learn his lesson and be more respectful next time.