Chapter 125: Players and God-Chosen

Luo Yan never expected that his little brothers were all guys who wanted money but not their lives; once they heard that the punishment was to eat the whole stone, they swallowed it into their stomachs without saying a word.

Mole-men can't digest stones, but eating them won't kill them, at most they will be uncomfortable for a while.

Many players were watching from the side, and they were all surprised by this scene.

"Good guy... eating it directly is fine."

"This operation is 6!"

"Has the style of my brother."

"Grass! What does it have to do with me?!"

"Hahahaha! The Demon King's face is turned black by anger!"

To be honest, although Luo Yan's face wasn't turned black by anger, he was indeed laughed at by this group of greedy big-nosed Mole-men.

Good good good.

Playing like this, right! "Bond, see who ate my diamonds, hang him on the lamppost, and let him down when he spits them out."

"Yes!"

Bond nodded, his sharp gaze piercing the rat group.

A group of Mole-men were scared and shivering, squeaking, and soon squeezed the harmful rats out of the rat group.

"You group of fools! Even the Demon King's treasure you dare to steal! Don't want to live anymore?!" Zhuangzhuang screamed while secretly throwing away the crushed diamonds hidden in his palm.

Luo Yan was too lazy to care about him anyway.

He understood the principle of catching the big and letting go of the small.

Bond strode forward, not being polite to these Mole-men at all, and with the cooperation of the Gecko tribe monks and other Mole-men, soon hung the unlucky fools on the lamppost of Iron Yacheng.

One Mole-man after another wailed miserably, and Luo Yan only saw his faith value rising steadily.

Sure enough.

He was still too kind.

So much so that these Mole-men were not afraid of him at all, until the Demon King's iron fist smashed on their foreheads.

Looking at the remaining shivering Mole-men, Luo Yan continued to speak with a majestic voice.

"If you want diamonds, use Nether coins to exchange!"

"Crushed diamonds with a diameter of less than five millimeters are all ten thousand Nether coins! Those with a diameter greater than five millimeters... start at one hundred thousand Nether coins!"

In the human kingdoms on the surface, a diamond with a diameter of five millimeters sells for about ten thousand silver coins, which is one million copper coins.

In the Demon Capital, it's about eight hundred thousand Kaila, and the bigger it is, the more valuable it is.

From this perspective, what he sold was actually cheaper.

Hearing that they could exchange with Nether coins, the Mole-men, who were originally disappointed and depressed, saw hope rekindled in their eyes, and they chatted chattering.

Only Zhuangzhuang didn't rush to be happy, but asked cautiously.

"Res, respected Demon King, may I ask what this Nether coin... looks like?"

"I will tell you in a while."

Luo Yan didn't want to answer this question.

Because the check he issued hadn't even started printing, and even what to print on it was still in the planning stage.

However, unlike before, this time he wasn't completely drawing a cake, but was seriously considering linking Nether coins with diamonds, magic crystals, and special products of the labyrinth to launch a currency with redemption capability.

In fact, long before today, many people had reacted to him, hoping to get a physical Nether coin.

Among them were human mercenaries in Mist Town, small demons in Nightmare Township, and players doing business with NPCs, etc.

Obviously, the concept of electronic payment was a bit too advanced for the different world in the Renaissance period.

Seeing that the Demon King said so, Zhuangzhuang didn't dare to ask more and obediently shut his mouth.

Not far away, the Mole-man thieves hanging on the lamppost finally spat out the olivine they had swallowed, and those crystal-clear diamonds returned to Luo Yan's hands.

He didn't touch them with his hands, but let the "Death Priest" of the Gecko tribe stationed in Iron Yacheng collect them for him first.

Honestly, that these stone men would pull diamonds completely exceeded Luo Yan's expectations.

Considering the Mole-men's obsession with gems, it was impossible to let them be responsible for handling the stone men's excrement, otherwise it was simply seducing them to commit crimes.

Luo Yan thought about finding a few reliable guys to screen out the olivine that might contain diamonds, and then leave the remaining metal minerals to the Mole-men for processing.

If it were scrap metal, there would be no need to worry about Mole-men stealing it.

Just when Luo Yan was thinking about suitable candidates, Alakeduo, who was crawling under him, burst into mocking laughter.

"Hahahaha, really shameful! Just a few shiny things! Can't eat them, what's there to grab!"

Zhuangzhuang, who didn't want to be as knowledgeable as this stupid spider, rolled his eyes and pretended not to hear, but Luo Yan's eyes lit up, looked at Alakeduo and said.

"Alakeduo, you can't say that; these shiny things can not only help the Great Graveyard create wealth, but also serve as strategic reserves. To ensure the production of diamonds, I want to let the Shadow Weaving tribe be stationed in Iron Yacheng for a long time, and divide some spiders to be specifically responsible for screening these shiny minerals... what do you think?"

Alakeduo proudly raised his head.

"No problem, Demon King, the Shadow Weaving tribe is very willing to serve you! I guarantee I won't miss a piece of the mineral you mentioned!"

Under the gaze of pairs of red eyes, Luo Yan nodded approvingly.

"Very good! This matter is left to you!"

Seeing that the cake that had already reached his hand was divided, Zhuangzhuang of Iron Yacheng was a bit anxious, and hurriedly said.

"Demon King, I, I..."

Luo Yan looked at the little guy.

"Do you have anything?"

Facing Luo Yan's half-smiling gaze, Zhuangzhuang just wanted to say that Iron Yacheng could also serve, but noticed Bond's cold eyes, and couldn't help but shiver.

"No, nothing..." he shook his head nervously, and immediately dismissed the unrealistic thought in his heart, saying with a smile.

"Zhuangzhuang just wanted to say... Iron Yacheng is also your loyal servant; if you have any needs, please don't be polite."

Luo Yan looked at him meaningfully.

"If I have that need, I will tell you."

"Yes—!" Zhuangzhuang was so scared by that look that the whole rat stood at attention.

Seeing that things were handled, Luo Yan waved his hand.

"All disperse."

The Mole-men gathered at the entrance of Iron Yacheng dispersed one after another, digging pits, working. Although many Mole-men were still thinking about those diamond mines, after seeing the strength of the Demon King and his minions, they couldn't produce a trace of resistance in their hearts.

Having said that, those things really had nothing to do with them; they were the Demon King's spoils of war.

Seeing that there was no more fun to watch, the small players gathered nearby also dispersed one after another, saving contribution points for "reincarnating into a good womb."

Floating not far from Luo Yan, Miranda, who watched the whole process, couldn't help but sigh.

"It seems that being a Demon King is not so easy."

Standing from the perspective of an academic, his way of looking at problems was different from others.

In his view, the habits of every kind of monster are vastly different, and just remembering them all takes a lot of thought, let alone managing them.

Hearing Miranda's sigh, Luo Yan smiled faintly.

"That's for sure, otherwise Hell wouldn't have specifically established a Demon King Academy to cultivate talents in this area."

"Demon King also has an academy?!" Miranda showed a look of disbelief, surprised and asked, "May I ask, you... what did you learn there?"

"Managing monsters, operating territories, scaring humans... there are many things to learn."

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

"Speaking of which, I haven't asked about your plans."

"My plans..." Miranda was stunned, his smile reluctant, "To tell you the truth, if conditions permit, of course I want to return to the Academy to continue my studies, but I have become like this... I guess no mentor is willing to take me in."

Luo Yan smiled faintly and said.

"Learning doesn't necessarily have to be in an ivory tower; you can learn many things in my Demon King territory, as long as you can overcome your prejudice against us."

Miranda shook his head and said.

"I have no prejudice against you, let alone I, who once went astray, don't have the qualification to accuse you of evil."

The evil degree of Chaos is at least above Hell.

He, who once surrendered to the treacherous fog Nuoweier, had already lost the qualification to pray to Saint Xisi... at least in his view, it was so.

After a pause, he continued.

"In addition, I think you are right; I have already learned many things here... to tell you the truth, the element theory taught to me by your minions simply overturned my cognition of this world. Even in the Academy, I have never heard of such an astonishing theory, let alone thought that magic could be used like this."

Looking at Miranda's gradually fanatical expression, Luo Yan felt a bit embarrassed.

He didn't have the face to say that actually, including himself and his players, no one had thought that magic could be used like this.

Perhaps because of the education he received since childhood, it was very difficult for him, who came from the 21st-century Earth, to equate "elements in the periodic table" with "magic elements."

Because he couldn't imagine it, he couldn't do it; this was an obstacle that most players encountered when trying to cast spells, and just wanting to overcome this obstacle was already very difficult.

Let alone drawing inferences from one instance on this basis.

"... That is not the research result of one person, but the research result of many people. If you are interested, we welcome your joining to add bricks and tiles to our research."

Miranda was stunned for a moment, then a look of surprise appeared on his face, looking at the magnanimous Demon King with a moved expression.

"Really?! You... don't mind that I once served Nuoweier?!"

"I believe that most people who served Nuoweier were not out of heartfelt loyalty, but went astray on the road of exploring truth."

After a pause, Luo Yan continued.

"Longing for knowledge and truth is not a bad thing; on the contrary, it is precisely because of our fear of the unknown deep in our hearts that we actively choose lies and fall into Nuoweier's trap. At least in my view, what truly led to Nuoweier's descent was not your ritual, but the fact that there were too many dogmas that could not be refuted in the surface world under the rule of the Academy and even the Empire."

Miranda looked at Luo Yan in surprise, and that look of surprise and movement gradually turned into being moved.

He had lived in the Academy for more than ten years, but it was the first time he felt understood... and this person was the Demon King! Looking at Miranda standing in place and the faith value pop-up window in front of him, Luo Yan smiled and issued an invitation.

"If you are willing to join us, I can prepare a magic workshop for you."

Facing the olive branch thrown by Luo Yan, Miranda had no reason to refuse at all.

Especially after that, the respected Demon King drew another cake for him—as long as he made enough contributions to the Great Graveyard, he could not only improve his soul level, but also turn him into a higher form of undead.

Even if he had that thought, he could reincarnate into other "living things."

If it were someone else who made a similar promise, Miranda would definitely think that person was crazy, or didn't intend to fulfill it at all. However, for the Demon King in front of him, he didn't have the slightest doubt.

The reason was simple.

Miranda believed that this was not a difficult thing for the Demon King; after all, the Great Graveyard had too many living examples in front of him.

Long before contacting the Demon King, he had already learned about reincarnation and improving soul levels from one of the Demon King's minions.

Unlike Saint Xisi's church.

In the Great Graveyard, contribution is something that can be clearly priced and measured with numbers; how much it is, it is how much, no need to speculate on the will of the gods...

Just like this, Miranda, the magic apprentice from the Academy, the "God-Chosen Person" once chosen by Nuoweier, officially became a member of the Great Graveyard.

At the same time, on the other side, because they could pull unusual excrement, the status of stone men in the Great Graveyard also underwent earth-shaking changes, from general livestock to unusual livestock.

"Immovable Old Man," the leader of the Soul of Rock and Earth, once tentatively asked the Demon King if providing diamonds to the Great Graveyard could exempt his clansmen from corvée labor... however, the Demon King rejected it without thinking.

Contribution is contribution, punishment is punishment.

In the Great Graveyard, these are two different things.

If they didn't have to work just because there were diamonds in their metabolites, wouldn't it be unfair to those Shadow Weaving tribes who "opened up territory for the Great Graveyard with their lives"? Luo Yan refuted with justification, and Immovable Old Man, who was refuted, was also speechless and ashamed to say a word of refutation.

Actually, there was another reason Luo Yan didn't say.

Generally speaking, eating more and pulling more, and exercise helps digestion. Rational analysis, letting these stone men work might also increase the production of minerals.

Not only that, Luo Yan also planned to let Ouke study whether the proportion of diamond mines could be increased by adjusting the diet.

Just like this, three hundred stone man coolies were incorporated into Alakeduo's construction team, some devoted to the cause of digging through the North Peak mine, and some participated in the renovation of Mist Town.

At the same time, the official website of "Disaster OL," the forum near the peak of online and offline, was a lively scene.

There were both cloud players who bragged and brushed the screen to urge updates, and closed beta players who exchanged strategies and also talked nonsense.

And the topics discussed by the vast majority of players were naturally centered on the stone man little brother that the Demon King had recently accepted.

Unlike the previous few battles.

This time, Luo Yan didn't mobilize all the players for the liquidation of the Soul of Rock and Earth tribe, but only summoned skeleton soldiers below Black Iron tier to participate in the battle, so many people made up the relevant plot through the official website forum.

Gulping Down the Chemical Pool: "Brothers!!! New map opened again!"

Gou Shi: "Seems like you can be a stone man this time! (Funny)"

Village Entrance Old Man: "Holy crap?!"

Knowledge Exploded: "Really?!"

Gulping Down the Chemical Pool: "Must be true! I was at the scene, the first wave of heads was sent by me! (Grin)"

Past Like Smoke: "6666!"

Minotaur Warrior: "Stone man is fine, this name sounds like a heavy tank."

One Sword Seals Throat: "Skeleton soldiers are getting more and more brotherly. (Sweat)"

Gou Shi: "Waiting for the dog planner to update. (Funny)"

Feather of the Past: "Speaking of which, does the development team really not consider balance? Clearly it's the Great Graveyard, but non-undead units are super strong. T. T"

Ayami Small Demon: "That is! This hasn't been officially tested yet, new characters are more super-modeled than the last! What will happen when it's officially tested?!!"

Pig-headed Knight: "Speaking of which, how is the strength, @Gulping Down the Chemical Pool, brothers who have played against it, evaluate it."

Gulping Down the Chemical Pool: "Strength? So-so, it's hard to cut with cold weapons, but it shatters at the touch of explosives, not worth mentioning!"

Hu Wan: "Is there any character that doesn't shatter with explosives? (Squint)"

Melon-eating crowd: "Understood! Physical resistance is full, blood volume is relatively low, strength attribute should be very high, relatively agility attribute is weaker."

Stepping on two cars: "You are the one who knows how to summarize. (Sweat)"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Suspect it's a chicken rib unit, can't take medicine or bring equipment, if it's just able to resist... maybe it's useful in team battles, but the aggro mechanism of this game doesn't completely look at output, different monsters have different judgment logic, I'm afraid it will be more demanding on technology."

Gulping Down the Chemical Pool: "Bringing equipment is indeed a bit difficult, unless it's customized, but you can enchant on the skin!"

As soon as this word came out, it immediately stirred up a thousand waves, and countless posts hung under the comment area.

Dominating Ying Xiong: "???"

Sad Smile: "What the hell is enchanting on the skin?!"

Failed Eel: "This also works?!"

Gulping Down the Chemical Pool: "Must be able to! I tried it for you, carving a Nether-script of sturdiness and strength enhancement is really awesome, very easy to use! By the way, recommend you to go to Iron Yacheng to find the Mole-man NPC of the 'I Think' Group, the effect quality is guaranteed! The Demon King used it and said it was good! (Grin)"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Awesome..."

Gulping Down the Chemical Pool: "The whole server's number one high player used it and called it awesome!"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "???"

Minotaur Warrior: "Hahahaha grass!" 【125

Wangchuan Neiku: "+1, is it just me, or does anyone else think two thousand players is too few?!"

Tulong Yongshi: "If they don't open the public beta soon, that dog-coin Ye Zhiqiu is going to hit max level! T. T"

Yisheng Jieao: "Laughing, let the AI keep making things up. I want to see how long this dog-coin development team can keep this charade going. If this game is real, I'll eat my computer!"

Wo Shi Mowang my lord De Gou: "Kneeling and begging the dev team for a public beta wipe!!!"

Ye Zhiqiu: "I beg you, try acting like a human..."

"..."

Topics on the forum are like the wind; they always come in gusts.

With the cloud players egging them on, the focus of the heated discussion quickly shifted from the Demon King's newly recruited lackey to pestering for the new version and new closed beta qualifications.

It wasn't just the cloud players who were eager to storm into this increasingly content-rich game world; the veteran players were also eager for more fresh, green newbies to enhance the gaming experience of the "high-end players."

Honestly, let alone the players thinking it was too few, even Luo Yan himself felt that the two thousand closed beta spots were too stingy.

What use was this handful of cannon fodder to him? However, whenever Luo Yan asked You You how to obtain more closed beta qualifications, You You would always kick the ball back to him—

"Demon King, You You should have reminded you already: if you want to obtain more players, you must develop more believers."

Luo Yan asked helplessly.

"So, specifically how many believers do I need to develop to obtain one closed beta qualification?"

You You said cautiously.

"Uh... You You doesn't know either. At least maintain the daily faith value growth above ten thousand? If you do that, maybe there will be more closed beta qualifications."

Luo Yan could be certain that this fellow was hiding something and not telling him.

However, forcing it to speak didn't seem realistic.

Luo Yan sighed and said.

"There is one thing I've wanted to ask for a long time: if your original intention in doing this is to urge me to increase the number of believers as quickly as possible so that more players can come in, wouldn't that better facilitate my expansion of faith power?"

You You was silent for a while, then said in a low voice.

"Demon King, first of all, you have misunderstood You You... I am merely your divinity, not the 'system' itself designed for you by Lin Te·Aisake. I can only help you analyze problems based on the intelligence you possess; I cannot change anything. Furthermore, analyzing from an objective perspective, the number of God's Chosen should be positively correlated with the number of believers, right? At least, that is what I think."

Having said this, it paused for a moment and continued.

"And come to think of it, Demon King, ask yourself: does obtaining more players really mean you can develop more believers... is that truly the case?"

Asking oneself, indeed.

But Luo Yan thought about it carefully: while players could help when it came to spreading fear, if one were to talk about expanding the scope of faith... they really didn't seem to be of much help, given that even basic communication was a barrier for them.

Their "usefulness" actually had similarities to the God's Chosen of other deities, manifesting more in responding to the prayers of believers.

For example, the surface human society craved a powerhouse who could settle matters with a single blow, and thus a God's Chosen like Grand Duke Kanbeier appeared and took out the Demon King in seconds.

And the role of the Demon King, in a sense, was likewise the response of successive Demon Gods to the ultimate wish of all hellish beings to "return to the surface."

Thinking about it this way, Luo Yan could understand why there was such a harsh restriction on the number of players.

Perhaps that wasn't a rule set by anyone, but rather, based on the principles of faith power, there was a certain proportional limit between the number of God's Chosen and believers.

If no one prays, no one will respond to prayers.

The two are causally linked.

Realizing this, Luo Yan also revealed a helpless expression.

"It seems there are no shortcuts to take."

You You: "That is how it is."

Luo Yan sighed.

"Actually, I don't entirely want to take a shortcut; I'm just wondering... if there could be a clear reference value for the ratio of God's Chosen to believers. For example, how many believers can develop how many God's Chosen. Or, if this ratio limit is exceeded, how much the effectiveness of the God's Chosen and the faith power would be weakened respectively."

You You: "That is hard to quantify, right? After all, not to mention that piety cannot be measured, even the weight of different souls is hard to compare on a scale..."

Looking at You You in the mirror, Luo Yan tentatively accepted this explanation.

"That's true."

For now, it's better to honestly develop believers.

It is worth mentioning that as statues of the Demon King have been erected one after another in areas like the Nightmare Homeland, Iron Yacheng, and the Mist Town on the fourth layer, the legend of the Flame King has been fermenting on the surface, and recently, the faith power Luo Yan gains daily has seen a rapid increase.

However, relatively speaking, as the area covered by the Demon King's territory gradually expands, the consumption of faith power is also increasing day by day.

Currently, the daily "net growth value" fluctuates around 8000, which is not too far from the 10,000-point mark.

Additionally, according to Luo Yan's observations, the increase in faith value is not only related to the target's soul level but also suspected to be related to the target's mental level.

For instance, the faith value contributed by cave spiders is quite limited.

And although the dark elf tribe has a sparse population, the total faith value they contribute exceeds that of the tens of thousands of cave spiders in the Shadow-Weaving Nest! At the same time, this also involves the concept of piety.

If the mental level is high enough but the piety is too low, it is difficult to obtain faith value through normal methods; instead, it is more effective through fright and corruption.

For example, adventurer groups are like this.

They feel no piety toward the Demon King statue in Mist Town, but they passively contribute faith power due to fear.

Luo Yan silently noted these clues.

It was also at this moment that he finally received a reply from the Demon Capital.

That leave application to return to the Demon Capital was finally approved...

(End of chapter)