Chapter 173: Talent Market

"What's wrong, Little Yaojing? Are you planning to recruit some servants?"

Senior Miya, whose attention was always focused on her crush, keenly noticed Dorothy's curiosity toward the market next door.

"It makes sense. Once you finish repairing the Sky Island and get the club up and running, such a large place will indeed need some servants to manage it. Since we're already here, why not go over and take a look?"

Being an understanding big sister, Senior Miya easily saw through Dorothy's curiosity and suggested it with a smile.

To this, Dorothy acted a bit reserved before nodding. In fact, it wasn't just her; Alice and Audrey beside her also nodded, all three of them wearing the same look of curiosity.

After all, this so-called "Talent Market" was a forbidden zone for underage little witches, a place one couldn't just wander into without a guardian.

There was no helping it; this place made it far too easy for little witches to lose control in every sense of the word.

As a war-faring race, it was naturally impossible for witches to go out on campaigns alone. Even though they could conquer the world on their own, there was truly no need for that.

Therefore, within the witch armies, besides the main combat witch legions responsible for sieges, there were also various auxiliary army formations.

And these so-called auxiliary armies were naturally the various alien races from other worlds that had been conquered and incorporated by the witches. They mainly served as cannon fodder on the battlefield or as miscellaneous laborers.

In the past, during the era ruled by the God King, the newly rising witches were not as "peaceful and civilized" as they are now. Back then, it would be more accurate to describe the auxiliary armies as slave armies. The armies and people of defeated worlds would be forcibly incorporated by the witches and then thrown into new battlefields to ensure nothing went to waste.

Nowadays, a large part of the reason why the alien races of the Witch World fear witches so much is because of the shadows left behind by that dark era.

However, after the arrival of the Long Wang era, the witches, who had finally managed to gain a foothold in this cruel world of survival of the fittest, became slightly gentler toward the alien races.

After all, compared to the cold, ruthless God King who prioritized efficiency above all else, Long Wang's personality was like that of a hero from a traditional novel—always sunny, enthusiastic, friendly, and egalitarian.

When she founded the Combat Arts department back then, she was not ashamed to ask questions and took many alien martial arts masters as her teachers.

She was the same with the legions under her name; she didn't just look at one's background, but rather at talent. As long as you had the ability, even if you weren't a witch, you could be heavily relied upon. There were many veteran generals in the Dragon Kingdom's legions who were heroes of alien races.

Because of this, the witch auxiliary armies of the Long Wang era finally shed the reality of being slave armies and truly received the treatment of servants.

They were no longer forced to serve in the military without pay like slaves in the past, where staying alive was the only reward. Instead, they received military benefits and pay, and there were even witch instructors to train and teach them.

Although this treatment was certainly far inferior to that of the witches, for the auxiliary armies who were used to suffering in the past, this was simply the mercy of the gods.

And from that time on, being conscripted by witches changed for the alien races from the Grim Reaper knocking at the door to a task that, while dangerous, also held a bright future.

By the late Long Wang era, as the Witch World's territory expanded and the population grew, there was no longer a shortage of soldiers. Every time the witches conscripted, it became an opportunity that the alien races had to strive hard to obtain.

After that came the current Demon King era. The personality of this current Witch Queen is different from the two previous kings; her personality is very consistent with her evolutionary template—treacherous, cunning, extremely black-bellied, and full of bad intentions, very much like a demon.

In the Demon King's eyes, all existences in the Witch World are merely her chess pieces. She always uses the most suitable piece in the most suitable place, maximizing the utility of every single piece and squeezing out every bit of their value.

So, don't worry about being a "useless" person; as long as you are noticed by the Demon King, you will always find that you still have some use after all.

And the so-called Talent Market is the Demon King's handiwork.

If you carefully observe the legends and stories of various alien races, you will find that ever since the Demon King took power, stories of alien races encountering witches, obtaining miraculous encounters, and reaching the pinnacle of life have skyrocketed. As for the reason, those who know, know.

Anyway, when those alien races were feeling itchy from all the legends of miraculous encounters, the Demon King waved her hand and decided to open a Talent Market in addition to the auxiliary armies, giving alien races more opportunities to come into contact with witches and promoting harmony between races, and so on.

Then, the auxiliary armies started getting various medals and certificates, there were military supply stores, and the Talent Market began holding annual awards for outstanding talent.

Yeah, just painting a big picture is enough.

Anyway, every time the Demon King issued a new decree, no matter how Dorothy looked at it, she only saw four words: "Promising Future." She couldn't sleep in the middle of the night, and when she looked closer, she found the lines were filled with two words: "Cannibalism..."

Ah, no, it was "Eating the Pie."

So, what this so-called Talent Market actually is has become clear at a glance; it is an institution established to make alien races better serve the witches, and its core remains a slave market wearing a different skin.

This institution has been poaching talent from major alien races. Under the overwhelming propaganda offensive of the Mana Web, the young people of the alien races now have their heads filled with longing for the witch world in the sky; who still remembers the home on the ground?

This is true racial blood-sucking, sucking the alien races until they no longer have a future.

And those geniuses of various races who are attracted and gathered in this Talent Market are full of beautiful futures after their miraculous encounters, not knowing that they are actually just goods waiting for their witch masters to pick them out—highlighting the "high quality and low price."

In short, this Talent Market is a very "evil" place.

Of course, as a beneficiary, although Dorothy sees it quite clearly in her heart, she isn't saintly enough to shout about defeating the Demon King or demanding freedom or other such nonsense.

After all, there is no such thing as true freedom in this world; freedom only exists between fists and kicks, and dignity only exists above magic. The only original sin of the alien races is that they aren't strong enough.

The Home Witch feels that if she were sitting in the Demon King's seat, she might do an even more thorough job. There's no helping it; after all, you are the Witch Queen, not the World King, right?

"Where you sit determines how you think"—this sentence is the truth no matter where it's applied.

Therefore, those empty, high-sounding, idealistic words were long ago discarded by the Home Witch. She is now just a shut-in who wants to create a "Myriad Nations" circle to play in.

Hehehe... Alien race young ladies, let me take a look. Master Dorothy is here; your good days have arrived.

...... Little Witch rubbing her hands....... ===== CHAPTER 174 =====