Chapter 124: Simply a Mobile Gold Mine!

The battle ended quickly.

Facing the skeleton suicide bombers like a tide, the clay golems of the Soul of Rock and Earth tribe had no power to fight back.

Because before they could fight back, those newbies holding bombs "Bang! Bang! Bang!" turned into a piece of scorching meteor.

That terrifying power, not to mention the clay golems blocking the entrance of the cave, even the entire illegal cave was almost collapsed by this group of fanatical skeleton soldiers.

And the players were happy about this, not sparing their lives! After all, for them, that was simply free contribution and experience!

If it weren't for the fact that the whole battle ended too quickly, and the resurrection point and equipment warehouse were too far from the battlefield, they would have wanted to come and brush it again after living! Watching the warriors and children of the Soul of Rock and Earth tribe about to be smashed to ashes by the Demon King's minions, the "Immovable Old Man," who didn't put the Demon King in his eyes a few minutes ago, finally realized what evil and cruelty were.

In desperation, that humiliating voice finally came from the cave.

"Enough! We surrender! You won!"

Hearing the humiliation in that voice, Luo Yan chuckled and said coldly.

"You surrender and I have to agree?"

Immovable Old Man was speechless for a time.

"Then, then what do you want me to do!?"

Luo Yan said expressionlessly.

"At least let me see your sincerity in surrendering."

Immovable Old Man: "Fo, for example?"

For example?

Luo Yan touched his chin; honestly, he hadn't thought about it.

Before coming here, he only made two plans: either this group of rebels would turn back and surrender, or he would directly brush them as mines; he hadn't thought about the third possibility.

The clay golems actually gained self-awareness, and also possessed group consciousness and fear of death...

This in itself was a very weird thing.

"Alakeduo, what do you think is better?" In this kind of time, he needed the opinion of a treacherous official, so Luo Yan touched the big spider's head.

The number one strategist of the Shadow Weaving Lair immediately offered advice.

"Very simple, Demon King! Let that rotten stone called Immovable Old Man come to you and plead guilty! And then demote those rotten stones who dared to oppose you to slaves! I feel my construction team should be able to use them!"

This was a good idea.

Looking at the cave ahead leisurely, Luo Yan shouted to the Immovable Old Man who was suppressing his anger.

"You heard my subordinate's opinion, now what is your answer?"

A long silence permeated the cave; Luo Yan waited for a while, still didn't wait for a response, so he raised his hand and prepared to order the launch of the second round of offensive.

Just at this time, a tremor that shook the earth came from the depths of the cave, and a five-meter-high rock giant slowly walked out from the darkness.

His every step seemed unusually heavy, as if he were going to make the ground collapse.

Because his body was too huge, the spacious cave could almost not accommodate him; he could only bend his waist to the limit to walk out of the cave.

No wonder Lei Ji Dragong didn't take him with him.

Wanting to get this thing to the surface would likely be harder than letting the Queen of the Arachnids of the Shadow Weaving Lair see the sun.

Hearing You You floated to Luo Yan's side and said in a low voice.

"Demon King! It actually has a soul! And it's Bronze-tier!"

Hearing this, Luo Yan looked at this big guy twice more.

Actually only a Bronze? With this physical and magic double resistance almost written on his face, he didn't doubt at all that this guy could single-handedly fight a Bai Yin-tier swordsman... if there was a spacious enough terrain for him to display.

Under the gaze of a group of clay golems, their monarch slowly knelt down, his knees as towering as a mountain touching the ground.

Lowering the head made of piled rocks, Immovable Old Man hid the humiliation and anger on his face, and said in a muffled tone.

"I implore the Demon King to forgive our arrogance and rudeness. By the Demon God, I can swear with my soul that the Soul of Rock and Earth tribe has absolutely no intention of betraying Hell or betraying the labyrinth; we were just—"

"Just felt that I am not worthy of being your lord, right?"

Luo Yan raised his chin slightly, looking down at his head with cold eyes, and said in a casual tone, "I have no interest in listening to the reasons you made up for betrayal, nor do I care."

After speaking, he raised his right hand.

Seeing this, Immovable Old Man was shocked and said hurriedly.

"Ple, please wait a moment! It's our fault... we betrayed Hell, please forgive us, we won't dare again!"

While saying this, he raised his thick palm, signaling the clay golems behind him to give up resistance one after another and kneel on the ground like him.

Luo Yan didn't move, just said expressionlessly.

"Just like this?"

The mountain-like giant's body made a sound of rock friction, creaking like a millstone pulled by a donkey.

After a while, he said in a low and hoarse voice.

"The Soul of Rock and Earth tribe... is willing to offer you loyalty! From now on, my clansmen will be your most loyal servants!"

That's more like it.

A trace of satisfaction finally appeared on Luo Yan's face, waving his hand to signal the summoned skeleton soldiers to put away their weapons, and at the same time released a battle victory pop-up window to the players.

Looking at the rewards that arrived, the skeleton soldiers who were late or hadn't had time to die yet let out a shout of beating their chests and stamping their feet.

"Fried!!!"

"Pitiful!!!"

"I haven't lit the fire yet!"

"Brother, is it too late?!"

"Seems too late... turned green."

"%￥#@!"

There were also those who had been dead for more than an hour and had just run from the resurrection point to move explosives back; this trip could be considered in vain.

The ghost-crying and wolf-howling creaking sound echoed in the cave, but it sounded particularly harsh in the hearts of one clay golem after another.

Enduring the humiliation of the victor, Immovable Old Man lowered his head in humiliation... although Luo Yan felt that this guy probably misunderstood something.

But misunderstanding is fine, no misunderstanding is also fine; Luo Yan didn't care whether these clay golems were offering loyalty to him from the heart.

Anyway, the worst result was just brushing them as mines; for the Great Graveyard, there was no loss at all.

However, having said that, after listening to that sentence from Hearing You You, Luo Yan had one more thought in his heart than before.

Why do clay golems have souls? He wanted to figure out what was going on.

"I hope you remember what you said today; you won't have a second chance. If something similar happens again, the Earth Dragon tribe that has already turned to ashes will be your end."

Looking at Immovable Old Man who was submitting, Luo Yan dropped this meaningful warning.

And almost at the same time his voice fell, a black residual shadow landed beside Alakeduo, whom he was sitting on.

He knew it was Sarah who returned without looking.

I saw two daggers stained with blood and filth inserted into the leather holster at her waist.

Her right hand was clutching a severed sharp ear, and her left hand was holding a short Goblin, looking up at the Demon King with burning eyes, just like a kitten returning to its master's side with a mouse to claim credit.

And the little guy held by the neck by her was scared out of his wits, shivering, and a pool of useless waxy yellow hung on his crotch.

"Well done, put this little guy down... and throw away those ears, we don't need them."

Looking at the cat ears that were swaying happily because of being praised, Luo Yan nodded with a smile, and then looked at the Goblin thrown on the ground and continued.

"You are that what Ke? Called what again..."

"Zha, Zhaza..."

"Zhazha is it? It really fits your temperament," looking at the Goblin whose soul was almost scared away, Luo Yan continued with a half-smile, "I just heard you say that the teleportation array in the labyrinth was wiped away long ago... what is going on?"

Zhazha was full of fear and said stutteringly.

"No, it wasn't me who wiped it."

Luo Yan continued leisurely.

"I know it wasn't you who wiped it; what I'm asking is who, which person on which floor of the labyrinth did it."

When he said this, Luo Yan's voice carried a hint of murderous intent, making the trembling Zhazha almost unable to control his crotch again.

"I, I don't know! I really don't know!" Feeling the murderous gaze shooting from the side, Zhazha shouted sharply, "It was all said by our boss! He said that the four Demon Generals who survived from Lei Ji Dragong have ruled the lower floors of the labyrinth! They agreed on the areas they each dominated, and then wiped away the teleportation array in the labyrinth! As, as for the teleportation array on the upper floors of the labyrinth, maybe it was wiped away by them, maybe it was our boss!"

Luo Yan asked with a majestic tone.

"Who is your boss?"

The Goblin said sharply in a tone that was about to cry.

"Kashen Skull-Crusher! An Ogre from the Dimensional Desert! The ruler of the Blood Arena! The boss of the Skull-Crusher tribe! Zhaza... we had no choice, he is too powerful, we can only listen to him!"

When saying this, the Goblin's face showed a flattering expression again, complaining with snot and tears.

"De, Demon King... to tell you the truth, we... actually we have been waiting for your return! Those Ogres don't put the Demon God in their eyes at all, not only using us as servants and cannon fodder, but also using us as reserve food... we, we have had a hard time under their rule!"

Luo Yan chuckled in his heart.

Three minutes ago he didn't see how hard this guy had it; wasn't it quite comfortable riding on the back of a group of stupid rotten stones?

At this time, Immovable Old Man kneeling on the ground seemed to finally come to his senses, that he and his clansmen were used by the rulers of the fifth floor.

That mountain giant slowly raised his head, glared at the Goblin messenger with anger, and roared in an angry voice.

"Wait, what does it mean not to put the Demon God in their eyes? Didn't you tell me that the Skull-Crusher tribe is the Demon God's true servant? This is different from what we said—"

"Shut up, I didn't allow you to speak."

Luo Yan blocked the mountain giant's mouth with one sentence, looked down at the Goblin under Alakeduo's feet, and continued.

"What are the four Demon Generals?"

The Goblin continued stutteringly.

"Zhazha... doesn't know their names! Only know that they are the true masters of the labyrinth—spit! I mean, they are rebel warlords! Completely betrayed the trust of His Majesty the Demon God! By the way! Zhazha also heard that they want to harm you! Specifically bribed the humans in Lei Ming City, and drew the teleportation array near the Adventurer's Guild in Lei Ming City!"

Everything finally came to light.

Except for the fifth floor being occupied by Ogres, the sixth to eighteenth floors of the labyrinth were all in the hands of the four surviving "Demon Generals."

These four Demon Generals constituted the ecology of warlord separatism in the labyrinth.

At the same time, they were also connected with surface humans, attempting to murder the new Demon King sent by Hell.

Currently, Luo Yan didn't know the names of these four Demon Generals, and whether they had any connection with Lei Ji Dragong's family.

However, this was not urgent.

He would always meet them. Looking at the shivering Goblin, Luo Yan pronounced his fate.

"Oakduo, take him to the dungeon of the Demon King territory."

Oakduo grinned and bared his teeth, clasped his fists and took the order.

"Obey!"

Looking at the Goblin being taken away, Immovable Old Man wanted to say something, but didn't dare to speak because of the Demon King's previous order, and could only wait in place silently.

As the Goblin was taken away, the Demon King riding on the spider's back finally looked at him and asked with a majestic voice.

"What is your relationship with the rebel army on the fifth floor?"

Immovable Old Man was silent for a moment and spoke slowly.

"Those Ogres claim to be the Demon God's most loyal believers; after His Majesty Lei Ji Dragong died, they found us and proposed an alliance to defend the labyrinth from humans together. We agreed to them, and were once allies, but now it seems this was just our wishful thinking."

Luo Yan looked at him and continued.

"How did you cooperate?"

Immovable Old Man answered.

"They provided us with charcoal, magic crystals, and other things we needed, and then exchanged for our excrement."

Luo Yan's eyebrows raised slightly.

"Charcoal?"

Immovable Old Man nodded slowly.

"Yes, that is one of our foods, which can provide us with rich energy."

Luo Yan continued to ask.

"What else do you usually eat?"

Immovable Old Man continued.

"Coal, soil—especially soil containing rich biological debris. Of course, the main thing is magma, the hotter the better."

Luo Yan looked at him unexpectedly and said.

"There is magma here?"

Immovable Old Man nodded and answered.

"There is a lava pool in the depths of our lair. When His Majesty Lei Ji Dragong was still here, one of our tasks was to monitor that place to prevent magma from suddenly becoming active and pouring into the labyrinth."

Crustal movement near the Wan Ren Mountain Range is frequent, especially on the northeast coast near the Whirlpool Sea.

High-temperature silicate lava often contains rich minerals; Luo Yan speculated that the excrement of these clay golems should contain rich metal resources. And the Ogre tribe relies on these metal resources to forge weapons or produce other alchemy equipment.

In this way, the characteristics of the Soul of Rock and Earth tribe can complement the Mole-men of Iron Yacheng.

Exchanging excrement?

It feels a bit heavy-tasting.

At this moment, Immovable Old Man didn't know what the thought-provoking expression on the face of this young Demon King meant.

Luo Yan looked at the clay giant like a mountain and asked the last question, which was also the one he was most curious about.

"There is one thing I don't understand, how did you gain self-awareness?"

Immovable Old Man shook his head and said in a deep voice.

"We don't know either; that was something that happened suddenly one day, including many clay golems including me, suddenly realizing their difference from other clay golems. And for us who awakened self-awareness, His Majesty Lei Ji Dragong generously took us in and bestowed this area on the third floor of the labyrinth upon us to recuperate..."

Besides this, Immovable Old Man also said a lot about their tribe.

For example, their way of breeding, for example, their living habits, etc.

After finishing these things, the towering mountain giant was silent for a long time, and finally asked the question he cared about most.

"How do you intend to deal with us?"

Luo Yan opened his mouth without hesitation.

"Just like my minions said, a part of your clansmen will be demoted to slaves until you prove your loyalty."

When saying this, he paused for a moment and continued.

"In addition, from now on your name will be 'Stone Men'; I will treat you and the mindless clay golems separately. As for what your tribe is called, it's up to you; except for ensuring your faith and loyalty, I won't interfere too much in your internal affairs."

Hearing this half-happy and half-worried sentence, Immovable Old Man sighed lightly, facing this Demon King who was much younger than himself, and lowered his head respectfully.

"Thank you for your kindness."

Winner takes all.

Since they lost, they could only accept their fate.

Besides being grateful for the Demon King's kindness, he had no other choice.

Unlike when conquering the Gecko tribe.

Because the Soul of Rock and Earth tribe were "Stone Men," Luo Yan couldn't use their remains to summon corpse ghosts to plant his own eyes and ears, so he could only give them a high degree of autonomy, while sending monks of the Gecko tribe to be responsible for their indoctrination.

However, fortunately, besides the Soul of Rock and Earth tribe on the third floor of the labyrinth, there was Iron Yacheng composed of Mole-men, which could watch them for himself.

After completing the occupation of the Soul of Rock and Earth tribe, Luo Yan immediately set about notifying Iron Yacheng, letting the chieftain of Iron Yacheng, Zhuangzhuang, arrange for hundreds of Mole-men pushing small carts to transport the "clay ore" originally scheduled to be delivered to the Ogre tribe on the fifth floor back to Iron Yacheng.

At the same time, Luo Yan also gave instructions to Alakeduo, letting it take a batch of cave spiders to pull a part of the coal that was about to explode in the Demon King territory to Iron Yacheng as a trade item for future transactions with the Soul of Rock and Earth tribe.

Compared to one-sided exploitation, he still preferred mutual benefit and seeking a win-win situation.

Even if it was a tribe conquered by his force.

Luo Yan believed that as time passed, the stone men of the Soul of Rock and Earth would sooner or later find that following him was not a bad idea.

Even much more comfortable than cooperating with the Ogre tribe.

Not to mention anything else, at least the Great Graveyard was not short of coal mines, piled up in the warehouse of the Demon King territory and couldn't be used up at all.

On the other hand, upon learning that the Demon King had captured the clay golem tribe, the chieftain of Iron Yacheng, Zhuangzhuang, in addition to expressing full admiration, actually took the initiative to offer advice.

"Respected Demon King! Your most loyal servant has an idea that can make those clay golems never dare to betray you!"

Looking at Zhuangzhuang standing beside Bond, Luo Yan, who was inspecting Iron Yacheng, smiled and said casually.

"Oh? What idea do you have?"

Zhuangzhuang grinned and gestured with his thick palms.

"Very simple! The bodies of those stone men are natural carving materials; you only need to carve some Nether-scripts on their necks, the kind that can be activated remotely! In this way, if they dare to resist you, you only need a thought to kill them all!"

While saying this, he also made a gesture of slitting his throat.

Luo Yan looked at this little guy in surprise, not expecting that such a vicious strategy was hidden in that small brain.

However, by Hell's standards, this didn't seem to be anything to complain about.

Luo Yan weighed it for a while and said.

"I don't need it for now, but I will let you take action when I need it."

Hearing the Demon King's answer, a slightly regretful expression appeared on Zhuangzhuang's face, but he still saluted respectfully and said.

"As long as you give an order, Iron Yacheng is always willing to serve you!"

At this time, a group of Mole-men pushing small carts ran in from the entrance of Iron Yacheng.

What was loaded in the small carts were the metabolic products of the stone men.

And what didn't exceed Luo Yan's expectation was that these large and small stone blocks loaded in the two-wheeled carts were indeed silicate ores rich in metal minerals.

Among them, iron and aluminum minerals were the main ones.

Besides this, there were small amounts of copper and even gold and silver!

No wonder the Ogre tribe on the fifth floor had to cross the fourth floor and run to the third floor to do business with these stupid stone men.

These guys were simply a group of living gold mines! And what surprised Luo Yan even more was not just this.

A group of Mole-men dumped the ore, spread it on the ground, sorted it out, and prepared to transport it to the newly built blast furnace to smelt with coal.

And just at this time, a Mole-man suddenly held a piece of serpent-spotted gold mica olivine in his hand and shouted sharply.

"Diamond! There are diamonds inside!"

Hearing that sharp shout, Zhuangzhuang, who was standing beside Bond, was shocked, and ran up with his hands and feet in surprise.

"Where?! Where are the diamonds?!"

Collecting colorful stones is one of the few hobbies of Mole-men, and this point is also inherited from their former masters, the Dwarves.

Especially diamonds.

This thing can carve inscriptions on any rock or even metal, so it is particularly welcomed by Mole-men.

Zhuangzhuang stepped forward, and sure enough, found a layer of fine crushed diamonds like sweat beads on the surface of the yellow-gray olivine! Although the quality of these diamonds was average, just some fine particles, but there is a saying that if there is one, there will be two.

Hearing that there were diamonds hidden in this pile of rotten stones, a group of Mole-men moved upon hearing the news, excitedly pounced on them, and even fought for a few broken stones.

Looking at the chaotic scene, Luo Yan's face was also full of surprise; he didn't expect that group of stone men to have this ability besides being able to ingest minerals from magma?! This must be studied!

Due to the harsh formation conditions, even in the Demon Capital with rich mineral resources, diamonds are quite precious treasures.

Not to mention the surface; originally mineral resources couldn't keep up with the underground world, and treasures like diamonds were monopolized by the Dwarves living in the Wan Ren Mountain Range, and only the New Continent had a few diamond mines in the hands of humans.

In this world where the spirit can influence matter, the meaning contained in jewelry like diamonds and gold is far more than just wealth.

As a symbol of wealth and power, since they were discovered by human society, they have condensed a certain natural faith.

Except for silver, which is endowed with magic-repelling and magic-breaking characteristics by religion, the more precious things are in people's subjective cognition, the stronger the "magic attributes" endowed.

This characteristic ranges from rare gems, diamonds, jade, gold, to crystals, brass, amber, agate, etc.! Therefore, people in this world have the habit of inlaying diamonds and gems on weapons and ornaments; this is not only to show off wealth and status, but also to store magic power that is temporarily not used.

In a sense, this is the same behavior as demons collecting faith power by scaring humans, just the way of collecting and the target of collecting are different.

A long time ago, Luo Yan had studied that so-called faith crystals were just quartz crystals that had been blessed by the temple.

Watching the mole people, who were usually cowardly and afraid of death but were now fighting tooth and nail over a few measly diamonds, Luo Yan signaled for Bond to pull out his greatsword and strike the ground.

Hearing that crisp clanging sound, the Mole-men who were fighting together calmed down and looked at the Demon King tremblingly.

Getting Luo Yan's signal, Bond stepped forward and pulled Zhuangzhuang, who had been plucked of several tufts of hair, out of the rat group.

Looking at the shivering Mole-men, Luo Yan said with a majestic voice.

"Enough! These diamonds are all my things!"

"If I find out who took my treasure without my permission, I will make him eat the whole stone in front of me!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 125 =====