Chapter 261 The reborn Black Wind Castle
On the ruins of Black Wind Castle, reconstruction work is in full swing.
The unrest caused by Zakro caused many buildings to collapse and the streets were covered with rubble and scorched marks.
For the residents of Blackwind Castle, this disaster was frightening. They searched for their lost homes in this scorched land, with caution and vigilance in their eyes.
In the midst of them, a group of strange skeleton soldiers were commanding the construction site.
Although these guys did not emit any terrifying roars, the dark eye holes and the strange light glowing on their skeletons still made the goblins and hell dwarves shudder.
"Tsk, the Demon King's servants are here again..."
A short Goblin hid in the corner, glanced timidly at the group of skeleton soldiers, and muttered in a low voice.
"These guys live in the countryside deep in the maze, and I don't know what's in their brains..."
"Brains? How can the undead have that?!" Another Goblin screamed in a low voice.
"Shh! Keep your voice down, don't be heard." The companion next to him gave him a cautious hand.
Although the Goblins of Black Wind Castle have never really come into contact with these "servants of the Demon King", they have vaguely heard that these strange skeleton soldiers are not just ordinary undead, but a group of fanatics from the edge of hell who work specifically for the Demon King and like to mess with inexplicable things - just like what they are doing today.
In the ruins of Blackwind Castle, players are implementing their great "reconstruction plan."
If the previous epic decisive battle completely fed the combat professional players in the server, then now it is the home court of the life professional players.
It is said that in order to build something big, it is necessary to demolish a lot. Now is the time to do something big!
A skeleton player spread an unfolded blueprint on the ground with a "clang" sound. The soul fire in his eyes burned fiercely, and he was obviously immersed in his "great idea".
"Look! The water system!"
The skeleton soldier, who seemed to have a bad brain, tapped the blueprint with his sharp finger bones and shouted at the goblin engineer next to him, while the translation crystal hanging on his chest buzzed.
"Water purification device, water supply pipeline, water circulation system... As long as these are completed, the water environment of Black Wind Castle will be improved to a higher level immediately! I ask, who can refuse a happy life of having clean water to drink every day?"
He is one of the few local residents of Blackwind Castle who can understand the players' thinking. Although he is still full of doubts in his heart - how could these "hillbillies" living deep in the maze come up with such an advanced structure between steam technology and magic energy? However, he has to admit that the design is indeed quite exquisite, and it is not inferior to the popular magic energy technology in the magic city at all.
"This... is indeed a good idea." The goblin engineer squinted his eyes and stroked his cunning chin as he thought, "Combining magic energy technology with steam power can reduce the consumption of magic energy and improve the stability of system operation... If successful, Blackwind Castle's water use method will indeed usher in a leapfrog revolution."
Of course.
This is purely from a technical point of view.
Whether any lord would be willing to spend so much money on goblins, he didn't know.
Perhaps we can try to install a set in the Lord's Mansion first?
Hearing this, several skeleton players patted their chests proudly, their bones cracking.
"Look what I'm talking about? The NPCs in this game are very talkative. As long as you are as smart as me, you can lead the dog by the nose——"
"The boss is awesome!"
A big man with a rough beard frowned and asked angrily: "I don't understand, why do you need to... uh, purify the water you give the goblins to drink? Wouldn't it be enough to just provide it to them?"
The skeleton players were stunned for a moment, and then jumped up.
“What kind of outrageous statement are you making?!”
“You know what a hammer! Water pollution will cause plague! Goblins will get sick, productivity will decrease, and labor will be lost. The economic development of Black Wind Castle will be seriously affected! The Demon King’s treasury will shrink! This is no small matter!”
"That's right! When the goblin is sick, he has to find a doctor for treatment, which increases medical costs and leads to a waste of resources! In the long run, this is a big problem!"
"And have you ever thought about it, a healthy worker Can do twice as much work! If Blackwind Castle is to develop, its infrastructure must keep up. This is an inevitable trend in modern industrial society!"
The skeletons waved their bone claws and spoke like lotuses, trying to educate the hell dwarves about their grand industrialization ideas.
The hell dwarves were filled with questions and looked at each other, obviously not fully understanding.
But they probably understood one thing - these skeleton soldiers from the maze had a bunch of completely different ideas in their minds.
"...These guys really think too much." A hell dwarf whispered.
Goblins have their own witch doctor, and the probability of being cured or not is 50/50. They can just be happy, so why do they care so much?
Most of the hell dwarves are indifferent, but there are also some stubborn old fogies who value tradition and stare.
In their hometown, goblins always had things tied around their necks. Seeing these impolite things running around in the streets, they have made a great sacrifice.
Improve their lives?
No one in the Magic City would do such an extreme thing!
At least let’s make the lives of the hell dwarves better first!
Seeing that the argument between the two sides was getting more and more intense, several goblin leaders hurriedly ran out to smooth things over.
"Hey, hey, hey! Everyone, calm down! Calm down!" A chubby goblin nodded and looked at the players with a smile on his face, "The servants of the Demon King are so wise and powerful! You are very thoughtful, and we little goblins admire it very much! But... we are in good health, and we are really not that easy to get sick!"
Another small Goblin leader also nodded repeatedly and smiled flatteringly, "Yes, yes, we Goblins are very solid! This Black Wind Castle has been here for many years, how can there be so many plagues! How about... compromise? Of course there must be water supply pipes, which will make water collection much more convenient, but the water purification device... there is no need to waste resources, right?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" A group of goblins immediately agreed, looking like "the servants of the Demon King are the most reasonable", their eyes full of expectation.
The skeleton players looked at each other, the soul fire in their eyes swaying slightly, and they didn't know what to say for a moment.
They originally thought that after they argued hard and explained the interlocking theories about the health of these goblin workers, labor loss, and industrial development, they would finally be able to make the natives of Black Wind Castle realize the importance of clean drinking water. But I didn't expect... the locals didn't care at all?
Those hell dwarves don't care. After all, we can't expect them to wear the same pants as the goblins, but the goblins don't care what the hell they are? !
"No...are you not afraid of getting sick?" A skeleton player couldn't help but ask.
"Of course we are not afraid of the devil!" A small Goblin leader patted his withered chest and smiled triumphantly, "We Goblins are not a delicate race, we just like to drink salty food!"
"Yes, yes, we are living well, how can we So easy to get sick?" The other Goblin leader nodded repeatedly, with a flattering smile on his face, "Besides, the previous plague was because someone poisoned the water, it had nothing to do with the water being dry!"
Hearing this, the skeleton players suddenly became quiet.
At first they thought these goblins were simply ignorant and did not realize the seriousness of the health problem. But now it seems that they are actually quite clear-minded and are not afraid because of their racial talents.
"...Okay." The leading skeleton player sighed and waved his hand, "Then as you said, install the water pipe water supply system, water purification device... Whatever, you are the one drinking anyway."
The players' interest in this matter instantly waned by half, mainly because just installing a water pipe is meaningless and does not conform to their "magic crystal punk aesthetics". Some things in reality are boring to make.
But since the goblins themselves don't care, they are asking for trouble by forcing themselves. The Demon King's mission did not include "making the sewers of Black Wind Castle meet the sanitary standards of modern society." Thinking this way, they could convince themselves.
Then just fool around.
Several goblin leaders saw this and laughed, not surprised at all.
These "servants of the Demon King" obviously didn't understand the situation. The previous plague in Blackwind Castle was caused by people from the Jagged Merchant Guild and the Dragon Family poisoning the water source. If those bastards hadn't deliberately created unrest, who would have collapsed after taking two sips of water?
Now that Elder Zakro is dead and the Sawtooth Chamber of Commerce has been liquidated, who dares to do this in Black Wind Castle?
Of course, they are not completely selfish.
After all, they themselves do not drink the water of the Goblin community at all, and the easier it is to maintain the equipment, the easier it is for them to make money.
"Haha, the Demon King's servants are really reasonable!" A little Goblin leader smiled so hard that his eyes narrowed to slits. He turned around and waved to the Goblins on the construction site, "Okay, okay, go to work quickly, don't let the Demon King's servants see the joke!"
A group of goblins dispersed happily, continuing to dig ditches and lay pipes, and were very busy.
As for the skeleton players, they looked at this group of small but nimble natives and couldn't help but sigh -
These guys live really open-minded lives...
...
As the night fell, the light of the magic crystal lampposts slowly extinguished, and instead, the briquette lamps on both sides of the street slowly lit up.
After more than half a month of rest, although many buildings still show signs of repair, the overall vitality has been restored.
The traders began to shout again, and the workers finished their day's work and were going to the tavern to have a few drinks. Amidst the noise, a group of skeleton players were gathered in a circle, discussing their new "plan" with great interest.
Luo Yan was walking between the players and NPCs with a satisfied smile on his face.
Originally, he was supposed to come back here the day before yesterday, but it was a pity that Miss Mia refused to accept her hospitality and insisted on holding a banquet to celebrate his inauguration.
Luo Yan originally felt that it was not suitable for such a high profile, but when he saw that Miss Mia was so eager to help him, he was even worried that he and the new head of the Dragon family would have another quarrel, so he specially summoned Xino.
Dear Miss Mia doesn't know that Xino Dragon has actually been his for a long time. After the tauren who was originally not normal in his mind, after experiencing the incident at the Gate of Chaos, his mind has become a bit enlightened and he is much more mature and stable than before.
In short, the banquet went very happily. The only drawback was that Vivian got the news somehow, and then came shamelessly uninvited, which made Mia's teeth itchy but there was nothing she could do about it. She had to smile and coax the little ancestor.
Who wants her to be an adult demon?
Vivian is still a little bit worse.
In short, the banquet ended in a friendly atmosphere, although the cost was that someone was almost torn in two.
Luo Yan was extremely grateful for the "gift" his father gave him before he left.
After being promoted to the gold level, he no longer has to worry about being sucked into the undead by succubi or vampires.
However, sometimes considering his physical attributes, he still feels a little worried.
The blessing of the Dragon God only gave him strong resistance and recovery, but did not give him much physical strength...
Luo Yan walked slowly through the restored commercial district, watching the brand-new shop signs being hung, and watching the workers finish their day's work with tired but satisfied faces, the corners of his mouth raised more and more.
At this moment, a sharp voice suddenly came from the side.
"Lord Demon King!"
The skeleton player with the ID name "Never Surrender" jumped out, his tone was so excited that soul fire was jumping in his eye sockets, and he shouted loudly with the momentum of robbery, "We have a brilliant idea!"
"That's right, please believe me! You will definitely admire our idea!" Another player [Tame Master] followed suit, rubbing his hands and making weird gestures.
It's okay to throw yourself into the ground.
How can we meet in person like this?
But compared to the bureaucrats in the Parliament Building, Luo Yan still prefers these straightforward guys.
However, just when he was about to speak pleasantly, he saw another player ID [Undead Entrepreneur] eagerly approaching and talking nonstop.
"We decided to set up a "training park" in Black Wind Castle, specifically to deal with the adventurers captured in the maze!"
He became more and more excited as he talked and gestured with his hands, "We have analyzed that ordinary torture methods are too inefficient, so it is better to build a systematic, industrialized, and large-scale "re-education base"! Make sure that these human adventurers come in and serve one by one, and completely transform into mine - bah, your shape!"
Luo Yan almost choked on his own spit, and coughed before saying.
"This... is not good."
At any rate, humans in the Magic City are protected animals for face-saving projects, and even if we want to do it, we can't do it in Black Wind Castle.
Calamity Keep is fine.
Before he finished speaking, [Never Surrender] rushed to add: "But having said that, the environment in Black Wind Castle is so bad that training is not really needed. Just leave them here to live for a few days!"
"Yes, yes, yes!" [Taming Master] patted his thigh excitedly, with unconcealed pride in his tone, "Let them live with the goblins! Let's see how long they can hold on without going crazy!"
Luo Yan's brows twitched, maintaining the smile on his face.
Cheng said excitedly, "Look at this shabby place. The environment is harsh, life is difficult, and there is a strange smell everywhere. Just the pot ashes in the air and the Goblin's special 'food' are enough to drive even the most determined warrior to a nervous breakdown!"
[Never Surrender] spread his hands, "To be honest, there is no need to train them at all, just let them experience the "real life" of Black Wind Castle, and they will be able to kneel down and beg for mercy in minutes!" Luo Yan listened to these players describing their territory as hell one by one, with a speechless expression on his face.
Although this place is indeed hell, it is not as hellish as they described it, right? !
Honestly speaking, his moral standard should be the highest among demons.
At this moment, his eyes happened to sweep across the street next to him, and he happened to see a Goblin vendor pouring a spoonful of unknown liquid into the pot with a smile, and then secretly filled his nose with a handful of snot.
Immediately afterwards, the smell that made even the undead without noses suffocate suddenly spread.
A hell dwarf working on the construction site nearby accidentally smelled it, and his face darkened. He took off the wine bottle from his waist and took a big sip without hesitation. He didn't know whether he wanted to disinfect it with strong alcohol or took the opportunity to drink during working hours.
However, unlike the hell dwarves, the goblins smelled the smell in the cauldron with salivating expressions... Perhaps because they were too short, they did not see what the vendor did.
…Okay.
The players may not be completely exaggerating.
But this was obviously not his fault, but the goblin was just like this, cursing why the goblin was so bad, while silently feeding the other goblins.
Luo Yan was silent for a moment, and finally chose to face this group of excited undead bones with the most elegant attitude.
"Since you think the environment of Black Wind Castle is comparable to hell, do you have any suggestions for improvement?"
The players were stunned and looked at each other.
[Never Surrender] thought carefully and started counting on his fingers: "First of all, the food issue. Goblin stew should definitely be banned by the Demon King!"
Hmm.
This is not very realistic, but health supervision regulations can be introduced to allow Snik to regularly extort illegal traders and increase the cost of breaking the law.
Luo Yan looked like he was listening carefully and motioned for them to continue.
[Tame Master] nodded repeatedly, "Then there is the issue of air quality. You can consider using some magic to remove the stench in the market. Although our skeletons have no noses, we really don't want to see NPCs vomiting out."
[Undead Entrepreneur] added: "Then there is the accommodation environment. Can we get some decent hotels here? If you don't want the aristocrats of the Demon City to enjoy it, at least don't let people think that sleeping on the floor is the same as sleeping in a hotel, right?"
Luo Yan listened calmly, then picked up the notebook he carried with him, wrote a few lines of words elegantly, closed the notebook, and then turned around and handed it to the old housekeeper behind him.
"Go and deal with it." He said calmly, as if this was just an ordinary administrative document.
This time he did not use a magic quill, but wrote by hand.
The old housekeeper who was following behind took the book and looked down. The first page read:
——Black Wind Castle Renovation Plan——
Research on how to reduce the smell of Goblin stew (emphasis).
· Study and introduce food safety regulations, at least they must not look so disgusting.
· Study air purification solutions to prevent tourists (if any), workers, and vendors from vomiting on the streets
· Appropriately improve accommodation conditions.
The old housekeeper was silent for a while, sighing slightly, but still respectfully accepted the order and said.
"Yes, sir."
Seeing that the Demon King was so open-minded and actually adopted his own opinion, the surrounding players were excited and continued to ask questions.
"Lord Demon King, what about the training park? Do you want to make arrangements?"
"Me, me, me! I want to sign up to be a trainer!"
h That's a tough statement! "
"Why, why...can't you? There are also petite and cute dwarves, I've seen them in Calamity Castle!" A little devil argued, blushing, and punched other players who were laughing at him.
Luo Yan showed a gentle smile and slowly said -
"Get out."
This mantra can be regarded as frightening this group of evil natural disasters...
...
The patrol came to an end.
Luo Yan didn’t want to disturb his people too much. After all, as long as they were around them, they would feel uncomfortable, and even the tasks they could usually do well would be difficult to do.
I returned to the Lord's Mansion. Although the exterior walls of the mansion have not been completely repaired, the facilities inside have been almost restored. At least there are no problems with the people.
At this time, his old housekeeper hesitated, took half a step forward and whispered.
"Sir, can we have a chat?"
Luo Yan stopped, turned to look at the old housekeeper who was approaching, and said pleasantly.
"Speak, I'll listen."
The old housekeeper stood beside him, and after pondering for a moment, he said: "The order of Black Wind Castle has indeed been restored, but... the incident of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance has had too great a negative impact. The tragedy that happened that night made many businessmen fearful, and they may not be willing to do so. Coming back again will undoubtedly be a heavy blow to the economy of Black Wind Castle. I believe you can see from the account books that squeezing them out is a lose-lose situation for us."
He paused and looked at the end of the street with complicated eyes.
The group of goblins were busy cleaning up an abandoned warehouse, bargaining with several skeleton players with smiles on their faces. They were the ones who took advantage of the situation and demolished it, but now they are pretending that nothing is wrong.
The old housekeeper frowned and continued in a low voice.
"My lord, with all due respect, you are still too kind to these goblins, even to the point of indulging. I know you want to take advantage of them, but now the conflict between us and the Dragon family is over, and they are gradually becoming a burden because they are too united. You should have also noticed that they are getting lazier and more perfunctory, taking a long time to do some simple tasks, and are extremely exclusive... I can even imagine what they will do next."
His voice was very sincere, and he was considering the issue completely from the perspective of the lord.
As a demon, he has the blood of both humans and demons in his body, and he sincerely distrusts groups like Goblins...because he really knows them too well.
Luo Yan did not respond immediately, but just listened quietly.
The old housekeeper glanced at him, lowered his voice, flashed his eyes slightly, and spoke boldly.
"Sir, you know that I have always considered it from your point of view. Even if you blame me, I have to say that Snick is no longer useful! His mission has ended when cleaning up the Chamber of Commerce Alliance. It may not be a good thing to keep him, far from it. It would be more cost-effective to try him..."
It is a normal thing to dispose of the tools after using them. This is what the Dragon family does, and it may be the same for other families in hell, and a smart tool is to understand its own destiny.
Snick will not resist.
Unless he wants his entire family to disappear without even a penny left.
However, Luo Yan smiled faintly.
He retracted his gaze, looked around, looked at the streets that had returned to life, and said calmly.
"You're overthinking. I don't hate Goblin merchants, I just hate disobedient profiteers. The reason why they don't come back is not because of fear, but because their keen sense of smell tells them that Elder Zakro is still alive and the 'battle' is not over yet. What they are afraid of is that the war will come back, and what they are afraid of is uncertainty."
The old housekeeper nodded silently and did not refute.
Luo Yan continued to speak, with a meaningful smile appearing on the corner of his mouth: "But now, the dust has settled, they have been eager to squeeze in. Do you know how they tried to please me when I was in the Magic City? They even spent a lot of money to bribe those who usually wouldn't pay much attention. The nobles they saw came to help broker their business, and they were eager to immediately step on the corpses of the Jagged Chamber of Commerce to replace those who were in the wrong team. "
The whole thing is not that complicated, the key is one-whether Zakro is dead.
As soon as "Modu Daily" announced this news, the entire Magic City Chamber of Commerce was ready to move. If he hadn't stopped them, they would have rushed in to share the cake.
Black Wind Castle needs to cultivate some of its own power. This drastic reconstruction and transformation of the old community are to give the newly grown flowers and plants space to grow and thrive.
They will form new factions, and these intricate relationship networks can also balance the excessive influence of Snick and his neighborhood committee to a certain extent.
His garden should not only have man-eating vines or mirabilis, but also many rare species, just like the greenhouse mine outside Beifeng City.
In this way, even if the garden is finished, he can safely return to the maze of Thunder County and continue cultivating his core territory.
"...As for Snick," Luo Yan continued, looking at the old butler who was deep in thought, "He is a smart man, and he climbed up from the bottom. This guy has rich experience in the world, and the most important thing is that he knows where his position is."
Then, he turned his eyes and fell on Snick in the distance.
The short goblin was squatting in front of a newly opened shop, communicating with several shopkeepers in a low voice.
The shopkeepers all had flattering smiles on their faces, as if they admired his idea.
Luo Yan doesn't care what his clever idea is, but to gain the trust of the low-level goblins is impossible by just drinking and snoring. There must be something special about him.
"He is a very useful tool. Not only can he help me establish the lower order of Black Wind Castle, but he can also help me check and balance external chambers of commerce. Not only will I not deal with him, but I will reuse him... Until one day he feels that his wings have become stiff and he colludes with outsiders like Grok, and then he will die."
"I understand, my lord."
In fact, as long as the lord thinks it is good, he has nothing to say.
His only worry is that the lord listens too much to a certain person's advice, but now it seems that he is obviously overly worried.
How can he be regarded as an ordinary person if he can gain the respect of the Padridge family?
Those demons have always had the best vision in hell, and they have never made a wrong bet in five hundred years.
It’s me, perhaps, who is really out of date.
Luo Yan didn't say anything more, he just raised his chin slightly and looked indifferently at the Black Wind Castle, which was gradually regaining its prosperity under the night.
The city that stood up again amidst the smoke and ruins is moving towards a new order.
Perhaps it won't be long before I can leave here with peace of mind.