Chapter 168

The acolytes of the Grave did not stay in the inn for too long.

As night fell, the cloaked lizardmen and various skeletons soon left this temporary shelter, which was packed with displaced people.

The manic wind and snow made the wooden boards nailed to the windows creak, which in turn made the crackling sound of the hearth fire seem all the more peaceful.

The group, having shed their fatigue and vigilance, fell asleep one after another, gradually entering dreamland amidst the chorus of snoring.

This was the first time they had slept so soundly.

There was no need to worry about the lord's private soldiers disguised as bandits.

Nor was there any need to worry about the magical grizzly bears and jackals in the forest...

Yet, Village Chief Pierre could not sleep at all.

He tossed and turned on the reeds, his wrinkled face heavy with worry, as if he had a knot in his heart that he could not untie.

"The Demon King watches over you forever..."

That sentence from the lizardman acolyte was deeply imprinted in his mind, to the point where he constantly felt a pair of eyes watching him from the shadows, making him unable to stop himself from repeatedly wondering—was there something he hadn't done well, or might some action of his cause the Demon King's dissatisfaction?

This was purely a subconscious behavior.

When anyone is being watched, they subconsciously care about whether their words, deeds, and appearance leave a good enough impression on the other party. And when these eyes are endowed with a sacred meaning, becoming a "presence in the dark," the binding force these eyes exerted on him was no longer limited to the moral level, but had risen to the level of religious faith.

Even for him, having just stepped into this camp, with his faith just shattered, he could not yet speak of any so-called faith in the Demon King or the Demon God behind the Demon King.

Yet, precisely because of this, he, who "had a ghost in his heart," was inevitably anxious, fearing that the omnipotent Demon King would see through the truest thoughts deep in his heart.

He began to examine his own heart, including the ugliest, most selfish, and most unbearable parts deep within.

He was not as selfless as he had imagined himself to be.

The reason he did not abandon the villagers and flee alone was purely because he had nowhere else to go; leaving them meant certain death.

Along the way, he had abandoned many people, and the reason was not entirely as he had said—to make sacrifices for the greater good—but rather that he was unwilling to take risks or pay the price for those people.

At the same time, he also admitted that perhaps he was not as great as those villagers imagined; many times, he was actually hoisted onto that pedestal, living within the persona others had built for him.

Furthermore, he had selfish motives when he took the initiative to take on the work of compiling the roster; he was almost subconsciously trying to grasp the power that was within reach, not out of gratitude to the person who saved him or responsibility toward his fellow villagers.

Realizing the ugly side deep in his heart, unable to bear the torment and anxiety, he finally closed his eyes and began to pray like a devout believer.

"Lord Demon King above... please forgive my sins."

The beginning of kindness is not realizing that I am truly kind, but realizing that I am not a good person. Piety is the same; it is not realizing that I am God's chosen one, but re-examining one's own soul.

Pierre actually hadn't fully realized it.

At this very moment, unnoticed by anyone, he had completed an inner baptism and picked up the awe he had once discarded.

He began to believe again that there was a pair of eyes in the sky watching him, that some things could be done, while others would bring punishment from the unknown.

In a trance, he felt a figure standing beside him, taking away the torment in his heart.

Those eyes in the dark were no longer sharp.

And he finally drifted into a peaceful dream, falling into a deep sleep...

It is worth mentioning that although almost every acolyte of the Grave clan kept "The Demon King watches over you" on their lips, neither the Demon King nor the Demon God had the ability to watch every believer at all times.

And Luo Yan had no intention of doing so.

What he truly wanted to do was to establish a sense of awe in the hearts of these displaced people who had once used any means necessary to survive.

Awe is the foundation of faith.

And at the same time, it is also the prerequisite for establishing all forms of order, such as morality and law.

As of now, the Grave clan acolytes had been relatively successful, and some people had already completed their baptism through subtle influence.

And this was without the Demon King participating personally.

As for the figure Village Chief Pierre saw before falling asleep, it was not actually Luo Yan himself, but the Demon King in the hearts of him and the people of Holy Oak Village.

Although that figure did not overlap 100% with Luo Yan, it did not prevent the latter from reaping the power of faith from it.

At the same time, deep in the Beifeng mine, the Demon King's magic workshop.

Luo Yan, who was concocting a magic potion, finally reached the final stage of his work, carefully transferring the dark purple potion into a silver metal tray.

You You, floating beside Luo Yan, curiously examined the purple potion in the metal tray, its flickering figure appearing in the mirror to the side.

"Lord Demon King, what are you doing again?"

Luo Yan, busy with his hands, had no time to look at it, but still took a moment to reply, satisfying the latter's curiosity.

"Anti-counterfeiting ink."

You You tilted its round head in confusion.

"Anti-counterfeiting ink?"

"That's right."

While replying, Luo Yan sprinkled a pinch of ground carbon powder onto the ink, which was emitting a purple glow.

A miraculous scene occurred.

Upon contact with the carbon powder, the purple ink instantly turned as pitch-black as the universe, like scorched paint.

Seeing this, the corners of Luo Yan's mouth curled up slightly, and he couldn't help but reveal a smug smile.

Not bad!

It was nearing perfection!

The organic combination of magic and chemistry provided him with a brand-new way to solve problems.

Previously, he had been trying to design anti-counterfeiting ink using knowledge of alchemy, or using solutions from reality, until recently, inspired by Mi Ya, he suddenly realized that the two could be combined.

He believed that with the world's understanding of chemistry, it was almost impossible to analyze the formula to imitate this ink.

Even the respected Headmaster Aiwen was impossible!

Just as Luo Yan was waiting for the ink to mix thoroughly while secretly feeling smug, You You, floating to the side, couldn't help but ask again.

"What is anti-counterfeiting ink for?"

"Are you a 'one hundred thousand whys'?" Luo Yan finally couldn't help but complain, looking at You You, who was trying to get his attention, and continued, "Nether coins! Aren't the players always arguing on the forum about wanting Nether coins that they can 'see and touch'? Aren't I satisfying them?"

The territory of the Grave is no longer what it used to be; not only is there a safe zone like Mist Town where adventurers and monsters live together, but there is also Despair City on the tenth floor of the labyrinth, where demons and magic people mainly live, and now there is a Beifeng settlement dominated by humans.

To accelerate the circulation of goods, the original "bookkeeping transaction" no longer works, and issuing paper money is imperative!

Not to mention the combat class players, at least the life class players must be able to get paid!

Hearing Luo Yan's answer, You You looked at him in surprise and said.

"Incredible... Lord Demon King, you actually noticed the players' posts. You You thought you were waiting for them to come up with it themselves."

Luo Yan said speechlessly.

"... Are you crazy or am I crazy?"

Although the earliest paper money was indeed issued privately, he did not move the history of Earth here to repeat it again.

Moreover, for this world, paper money is not a rare thing; Lin Te had already come up with it a thousand years ago, and now it is being carried forward in the Underworld. He didn't need to over-reference the experience on Earth; he could just directly refer to the experience of the Demon Capital.

For example, having the temple organization endorse the issuance of Nether coins.

While gaining economic benefits, he could also incidentally reap the power of faith from those who use Nether coins.

To ensure the credibility of Nether coins, Luo Yan had put a lot of effort into the craftsmanship and materials for making them!

In addition to concocting the anti-counterfeiting ink himself, he also specifically found Gray Wind of the Mist Forest, asking the latter, who was a branch of the Tree of Life, to grow wood vines with specific fiber content according to his needs, used to complete customized paper pulp. With the paper pulp and anti-counterfeiting ink solved, Luo Yan then entrusted Helen and Sherry to help him draw templates for different denominations, as well as design the "Heaven and Earth Bank" trademark and localized artistic fonts.

After finishing all this, he then processed the rollers used for printing paper money through the mole people of Iron Tooth City.

Putting two rollers together and aligning them constituted a simple printing press.

When the paper rolled through the middle of the rollers, the ink would naturally be imprinted on both sides of the paper, thereby obtaining uncut paper money.

Up to this point, Luo Yan had finally completed all the prerequisites for printing money.

Waiting for the ink and carbon powder in the metal tray to mix thoroughly, he immediately poured it into the ink box of the simple printing press, then activated the Nether script to start the experiment.

Everything went as smoothly as planned; after the brand-new white paper passed through the rollers, it soon became paper printed with banknotes.

Looking at the banknotes that were like works of art, a glow of approval finally bloomed on Luo Yan's face, and he nodded with satisfaction.

"Mission accomplished!"

After issuing over a hundred million Nether coins in bad checks, he had finally printed the first Nether coin.

Watching Luo Yan use the paper cutter fixed on the table to cut out the banknotes one by one, You You asked in a suspicious tone.

=9+Book_Bar

"Will this work?"

Luo Yan said without hesitation.

"Why wouldn't it? I'm not taking it to the Demon Capital to use; I'm just using it in my own territory."

Although the right to mint coins in the Underworld is in the hands of the Demon God and the Demon God's spokesperson in the mortal world, the latter does not prohibit major principalities and tribes from issuing tokens pegged to the Kaila according to their own needs in their own territories.

The Demon King's territory is of course no exception.

After completing the printing of the first plate of Nether coins, Luo Yan printed several more plates one after another, until he was tired of playing and put them aside.

It was still too troublesome to cut this stuff himself.

As the Demon King, how could he do this kind of work that had no technical content?

Luo Yan pondered for a while and soon had a new idea. His eyes lit up as he looked at You You floating in the mirror and continued.

"You You, in a while, have the dungeon guards come over, take this stuff to the dungeon, and then set up a special warehouse to store materials and equipment."

"For those prisoners who can no longer squeeze out extra power of faith, we can't just feed them for nothing."

"It's time to find them something to do."

The next day, the howling wind and snow stopped for a while, thin sunlight shone through the thick clouds, and the Silver Pine Forest ushered in a long-lost clear sky.

The players of the Grave had forgotten when it last cleared up, but whether it was clear or not had no effect on them, as they were not afraid of the cold.

Before it was fully light, a group of skeleton soldiers had already appeared at the construction site, busy working tirelessly, clanging away on the scaffolding with a pile of tools and materials.

The guess of the big shot "Ye Zhiqiu" was once again verified; the NPCs in this game were indeed wild grass that would grow out of the ground.

As long as they built the houses, it wouldn't be long before NPCs moved in, and the number was huge, with houses in short supply.

Seeing the settlement they built with their own hands becoming lively bit by bit, the life class players busy at the construction site were also more motivated.

Those poor people, whose eyes were full of gratitude and longing, were like green wheat growing vigorously in the fields in their eyes.

Precisely because of the existence of these NPCs, the settlement they built was no longer a ghost town for self-entertainment, but a home that had important significance and was needed by people!

And they were the masters of this home!

Not only that!

What made these players feel even more gratified was that these NPCs were not like the difficult people in other games, who clearly accepted their kindness but did not provide them with a shred of emotional value, and even used all kinds of bizarre operations to mess with their mentality.

Whether out of fear of the Demon King or gratitude toward them, these people did not sit idly by waiting for their rescue, but contributed their own strength after recovering, actively participating in the construction of this settlement.

For example, some villagers who had done carpentry work took the initiative to go to the logging site as soon as it was light to help process the logs used for building houses.

There were also some hunters who volunteered to join the patrol team, cooperating with the little demons flying in the sky to hunt, while also guarding against threats in the forest.

There were also some women with children who helped process the fur of the prey, hanging them on the tanning rack while the sun was out, or helping out at the logging site, helping to pick up the scraps when processing logs, and picking them up as firewood.

Village Chief Pierre's agitation was one aspect, but what prompted them to do these things was more their heartfelt desire to stay and find a place to live in this foreign land.

Sometimes the players didn't want much; they just needed positive feedback.

For example, kindness released can be responded to, seeds planted can sprout, and people saved are worth saving, etc...

Watching those people who had recovered from difficulties, the pride and satisfaction in the hearts of these life class players became even stronger.

Some experienced civil engineering big shots were no longer satisfied with building those unique works for self-entertainment, but began to consider reality needs more.

For example, in order to cope with the possible wave of immigrants, some life class players who had already built several houses began to discuss, preparing to introduce the steel frame technology from reality, and build several six-story apartments or dormitories with higher plot ratios on undeveloped plots.

Other life class players launched an initiative on the official website, proposing to establish a city hall to manage public facilities, while expanding public works.

For example, taking advantage of the small number of people now and the few roads already built, to build drainage systems and centralized heating pipelines.

The game officials adopted some of their opinions at their discretion, and at the same time opened a sub-forum for Beifeng City on the official website forum, making it convenient for life class players active in the area to brainstorm and avoid their voices being drowned in the vast ocean of water posts from cloud players.

Of course, in addition to those "major shareholders" who were keen on making Beifeng City better, there were also many players who were still focused on their own fun.

For example, someone who was determined to become a farm tycoon.

Just when a group of civil engineering guys were working hard at the construction site, a player with the ID 【Beast Senior】 was humming a little tune leisurely and went to the pine forest not far from the fence wall.

A simple wooden house was located there.

Just as he arrived at the door of the wooden house, a man wearing a tattered leather coat was waiting at the door with a cautious expression, bowing slightly toward him.

"Master."

Several children were lying on the window secretly looking outside, and a middle-aged woman pulled them back and quietly closed the window.

After all, they had just arrived here, they hadn't fully adapted to the local life, and they still had some fear of dealing with the undead.

Beast Senior didn't mind, laughed happily, waved his hand and said.

"No need to call me Master, just call me Beast Senior or Beast."

Xie Pu was stunned for a moment.

Although he pondered that it was still smoother to call him Master, he still satisfied the wish of the skeleton in front of him.

"Beast."

"Mm-hmm, very good," Beast Senior nodded approvingly, then continued, "By the way, I forgot to ask your name yesterday."

"The little one's name is Xie Pu," the man said immediately in fear and trepidation, "or whatever you find convenient to call me."

"Then let's call you Xie Pu, to save trouble," while saying this, Beast Senior threw a pistol-shaped thing into the man's hand, smiled and continued, "Don't you lack something to nail nails here? Here, I brought it to you."

Xie Pu was stunned by the words, looking at the weird-shaped thing in his hand, and said in confusion.

"What is this?"

At this moment, he was even more confused than when he heard the name "Beast Senior," after all, he had never seen this kind of thing before.

"This thing is called a nail gun! Driven by Nether script!"

Seeming to have guessed that he would have this expression, Beast Senior laughed secretly, and showed off by taking back the tool in his hand.

"I really can't do anything about you, I'll teach you how to use it."

(End of chapter)