Chapter 200: The Steel Beast of the Necropolis

The port area of Lei Ming City has been exceptionally lively these past few days, especially the several large auction houses located in the core area of the port area, where the boiling atmosphere almost lifted the ceiling.

Nobles and merchants from all over the Vortex Sea coast flocked here, and there were even mages from the northern Academy. The hall of the auction venue was full, and it was not only hard to get a ticket but also required asset verification, and even the streets outside were crowded with onlookers and adventurers with nothing to do.

A fanatical atmosphere centered on diamonds swept through the entire seaport.

Inside the auction house, diamonds of 50 to 100 carats were placed on velvet trays and presented to everyone.

Under the illumination of the lights, although these diamonds were not as magnificent as the one at the banquet, they were still enough to make people hold their breath.

These diamonds were at least a-grade, only appearing in the top auction venues.

The auctioneer, dressed in a straight suit, held a wooden mallet and pushed the breathtaking price to a climax again and again in a passionate voice.

"Seven thousand gold coins!"

"Eight thousand!"

"Nine thousand five hundred—!"

That treasure lying on the velvet tray easily surpassed Ailin Campbell's pocket watch and galloped away on the road of skyrocketing.

Under the foil of that fanatical atmosphere, the nobles present had burning gazes. Finally, an Earl sitting in the front row stood up and shouted the sky-high price that settled the matter in a firm tone.

"Fifty thousand gold coins!"

Fifty thousand gold coins!

Ando, who was watching from the corner, almost fainted.

He had thought that he could be considered a prominent figure in this city, but he hadn't expected that in front of real big figures, the little money in his pocket was nothing.

The hall fell silent instantly, followed by a piece of boiling and noise.

The Earl standing in the crowd had a faint smile on his face, enjoying the worship and envious gazes of the crowd, while waiting for the auctioneer's third mallet fall.

No suspense.

After tapping the wooden mallet in his hand for the third time, the auctioneer's face was full of smiles, threw away the wooden mallet in his hand, and took the lead in clapping.

"Congratulations to this noble gentleman for successfully bidding for this 95-carat 'Azure Star'! Let us offer applause to him!"

Looking at the diamond that sold for a sky-high price of fifty thousand gold coins, Sokduo, who was sitting in the corner like Ando, let out a heartfelt sigh.

"... It's really too crazy."

Lei Ming City had completely turned into Diamond City.

The streets and alleys were filled with stories about wealth, and no one listened to adventurers bragging or poems written by bards anymore; people were either discussing the Prince Kelin family or discussing the wealth of that mysterious family... to the point that he even felt that the Demon King's territory was more humane.

Not only the nobles of the Campbell Principality, but even nobles and merchants from overseas were attracted by the wealth myth of the Prince Kelin family.

However, until now, no one could accurately point out where that Kao Continent was on the map, only knowing it was further west of the New Continent.

Out of fear of the unknown dangers in the deep sea, Sokduo had never been to sea in his life, only doing "land business."

However, there were guards in his caravan who had been sailors, and he vaguely remembered hearing that person talk about things further west of the New Continent.

It is said that it is a sea area more vast than the Vast Ocean, endless.

Everyone who tried to cross that sea area disappeared, let alone opening up new routes, to the point that some even proposed the theory of the end of the world.

Sokduo didn't know why the Prince Kelin family could successfully cross that sea area, but if their stories were all true, it could only be said that their strength far exceeded his imagination.

"If only we could participate too." Standing behind Sokduo, his apprentice couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"Forget it, that kind of business is not something ordinary people can do," Sokduo replied casually, paused, and said, "Let's do the fields we are good at."

Just when the citizens of Lei Ming City were crazy about the specialties of the Rock and Earth Soul tribe, the Necropolis in the north of Yinsong Forest welcomed a special guest.

"The King of Calamity Fortress, Goron Steelbone, brings greetings to the monarch of the Necropolis! Where is your Demon King? Let him come out! I have important matters to see him!"

At the entrance of the labyrinth of North Peak Mountain, a resonant voice echoed in the hall, and a dwarf who looked like he was inlaid with steel nails made a rude shout.

He wore heavy armor the color of lava, with a big hammer on his back, but the beard on his chin was three fingers long and tied into two thick braids, but the most impressive thing was the bare forehead that looked like a marinated egg.

Seeing the funny shape of this guy, the players passing by couldn't help but let out unrefined laughter.

Fortunately, these newbies couldn't afford translation crystals, otherwise the creaking friction of bones would have made this messenger from afar break his defense.

Hearing the shouting voice, Arakdo walked out from under the shadows with eight legs, and a sinister fierce light flashed in his scarlet eyeballs.

"... So noisy, where did this little dwarf come from? Is our Demon King someone you can see just because you want to?"

Looking at the cave spider walking out of the shadows, the dwarf with the bare forehead narrowed his eyes slightly and said fiercely as well.

"Mind your words, you stinking spider! If you don't want me to tear off your eight legs and stuff them into your mouth!"

The atmosphere between the two sides was tense, as if they could fight at any time.

Unlike the upper society of surface humans.

Being fierce and ruthless is the norm in the underground world.

Especially dwarves and cave spiders who often fight, this is already the friendliest greeting between the two sides.

Just when one person and one spider were confronting each other, a lazy voice suddenly drifted from not far away.

"The Demon King is not here these days; what is the matter with you looking for him?"

Hearing the voice coming from behind, the hell dwarf immediately turned his head to look, only to see a small demon flapping its wings floating in mid-air.

Those scarlet pupils were full of indifference; it could be seen that this lady was in a bad mood.

And the most critical thing was that her strength far exceeded the stupid spider in front of him.

Reading a trace of danger from that warning gaze, the messenger of Calamity Fortress immediately shrank his neck and restrained the arrogance on his face.

Being fierce and ruthless is the norm for hell creatures, but bullying the weak and fearing the strong is also the norm; the two things are not contradictory.

The hell dwarf cleared his throat, changed his tone, and muttered.

"My name is Doke Brownbeard, I am the messenger of Steelbone Majesty! Calamity Fortress needs grain and wants to buy some from you; we can pay with goblin or rat-man slaves, or do you need fur and ironware? Your Demon King promised to help each other... he can't be untrustworthy."

Hearing that vague sarcasm, Xixi narrowed her eyes slightly, and a mocking smile curled up at the corner of her mouth.

"Oh? This is the first time I've heard of this agreement... but if it's really like this, why didn't we see you come over when we faced the threat of chaos?"

The hell dwarf was speechless for a moment, stammering.

"Uh, we, also have all kinds of difficulties... including the threat from chaos. You know, Brass Pass is closer to us, and recently we have also taken in quite a few dwarf refugees fleeing from there, so..."

Looking at the hell dwarf messenger who couldn't say a complete sentence, Xixi didn't continue to make things difficult for him, just yawned and said.

"I'm just helping the Demon King look after the house; I can't give you an answer for that gentleman, but if your purpose is just to buy some grain back, I think the market in North Peak City can satisfy your needs, no need to disturb that gentleman for this little thing."

"North Peak City?" The hell dwarf's eyes lit up, and he asked hurriedly, "May I ask how to get to that place? Is it far from here?"

"Far? It's on the surface; it's just out of the mine, um... the roasted sweet potatoes there are quite delicious, I personally recommend them."

While saying this, Xixi looked at Arakdo and said in an instructing tone.

"Go find a place for this messenger to stay."

Arakdo didn't like this bat very much, especially since this guy had recently treated this place as her own home, running over to eat and drink from time to time, and even claimed that the Demon King asked her to help look after the house.

How ridiculous!

The dog looking after the house is enough with just me!

However, helplessly, he knew that his fist was not as big as this guy's, and hell is a place where you talk with your fists, so he could only swallow this breath into his stomach.

"Yes."

Arakdo, who threw down this sentence, turned around and twisted his huge butt toward the stairs leading to the North Peak mine.

"Follow me, messenger of Calamity Fortress; the terrain here is more complicated than you imagine; don't take the wrong road and be brushed as a wild monster by the guards nearby."

Brownbeard sneered disdainfully.

"Hehe, don't worry, our dwarf's sense of direction is much better than you spiders who only know how to dig holes in the ground!"

"Is that so?"

Arakdo sneered, but had another idea in his heart, so he deliberately didn't take the main road, but took a detour to the "experimental field of undead miners" in North Peak Mountain. That place's terror was famous throughout the Demon King's territory.

Although he hadn't been there himself, he had heard the engineering spiders under his command talk about it; it is said that whenever the rumbling sound sounded, the pitch-black magic mist would fill the entire cave, and nothing would grow wherever it passed.

If he died there by accident, presumably the hell dwarf of Calamity Fortress wouldn't be able to say anything.

This kind of thing sounds outrageous in the surface human society, but it is as common as eating and burping in the underground world.

Brownbeard followed Arakdo for a while, but as he walked, he also figured out something was wrong and muttered.

"I feel like you're taking a detour."

"How could it be? We'll be at the surface soon."

Arakdo chuckled, estimated that the time was about right, and accelerated the speed of crawling forward.

And when Brownbeard behind him followed up, a thunderous roar happened to come from the cave.

Listening to the earth-shaking movement, Brownbeard's face changed instantly, and he roared at the cave spider leading the way in front.

【Missing text】

"What did you do?"

"We'll be at the exit soon

He was not lying; it was indeed almost at the exit.

It's just that this wasn't an exit for ordinary people, but a passage for the undead miners of the Great Graveyard to enter and exit, and almost no living person ever came near it.

Before Brownbeard could react, boiling thick smoke filled the entire cave, choking him until he was babbling and screaming.

Just as he was cursing, coughing, and searching for an exit in the pitch-black cave, he suddenly tripped over something under his feet and fell to the ground like a toppled wine barrel.

"Damn it! Who threw a pickaxe here!"

He cursed and climbed up from the ground, only to see that what was lying on the ground wasn't a pickaxe, but a long block of cast iron.

The moment he touched the cast iron block, Brownbeard was slightly stunned, then he tapped it with his thick knuckles, and the expression on his face instantly turned to shock.

Such good steel, just thrown here like this?!

The greed in his heart overcame his fear of the unknown. He reached out to pick it up and put it in his pocket while coughing, only to find that the steel ingot was welded to the ground and didn't budge at all.

Only then did he manage to see clearly through the black smoke that this thing wasn't just one piece as he had imagined, but two long strips that stretched as far as the eye could see!

The two steel ingots were fixed onto wooden planks laid horizontally, extending deep into the mine like a paved road.

Brownbeard was shocked.

Such good steel, not used to forge weapons, but used to pave the road!

This is too wasteful, isn't it?!

The joys and sorrows of monsters are never the same; the dwarves' obsession with steel is no less than humans' obsession with silver...

As for why it wasn't gold, it's because dwarves like that stuff too.

Just as Brownbeard's jaw dropped at the extravagance of the Demon King's territory, a light suddenly lit up at the end of the passage, and a rumbling sound gradually approached him.

The howling wind blew away the thick smoke in the mine, yet the smoke seemed to be spewing from the mouth and nose of that steel monster!

Brownbeard stood frozen on the spot, his jaw dropping as he stared at the beam of light; his astonished expression was as if he had seen the Demon God himself.

What is this thing?!

At the same time he was staring in a daze, a shrill whistle suddenly came from the noisy rumbling, almost deafening him until his ears bled.

"Woo—!"

Amidst the roar of the whistle and a teeth-grinding screech, this huge steel monster finally braked before crashing into him.

Brownbeard looked up blankly, only to see that the huge steel monster was pulling a long string of carriages two people wide, and several undead wearing miner hats were sitting on the foremost carriage.

I'll Form the Head: "Damn! Why is there a human here! How the hell did you get in?!"

I'll Form the Legs: "Not a human! Looks like a dwarf!"

I'll Form the Crotch: "Pfft, hahahaha! Why does this dwarf have no hair on his head?"

I'll Form the Head: "MMP! That was close, I managed to brake! Otherwise, I'd be on the Honor Roll again!"

Being on the Honor Roll is actually fine, but turning a living person into an undead means having to sit in the dark room.

Currently, the game is in its early development stage, and the life-skill players in Beifeng City are busy as can be; coal and steel are in short supply, and digging for a day can earn several coins!

Although you can dig coal in reality, digging in the game is obviously more decent, and you don't have to risk your life.

If you accidentally break a bone, you can just change to a new body and continue; anyway, the cost of resurrecting a skeleton soldier is cheap, and the boss reimburses them.

Brownbeard looked blankly at the undead and blurted out.

"What are you doing?!"

I'll Form the Head said impatiently.

"What are we doing? Isn't it obvious? We're digging coal!"

"Digging coal?"

Brownbeard was stunned for a moment, looked at the strange machine next to him, and the expression on his face suddenly became strange.

"Using this thing?"

He really couldn't imagine how such a big guy could operate on a complex coal seam.

Of course, compared to how this thing worked, the fact that it could move at all had already made his jaw drop.

Is this an elemental puppet summoned by the Demon King?

But isn't this a bit too big!?

Just as Brownbeard was shocked, the skeleton soldiers sitting on the back of the steel monster were already impatient, patting the head of the "steel beast" and urging him.

"How could we use this thing! Are you blind? It's obviously for hauling coal!"

"Exactly!"

"Stop talking nonsense, if you don't want to become a zombie, get on the carriage quickly, we'll take you out first!"

The carbon dioxide concentration in the mine was over the limit, and there was plenty of carbon monoxide too. If it were "delicate" Night Elves, they would probably be unconscious already, but dwarves seem to be more durable?

But regardless, the players didn't want to risk sitting in the dark room just to chat with this guy in the mine; after all, if they couldn't log in to dig coal, that would be a huge loss!

Listening to the urging of the undead, Brownbeard nodded hurriedly, took one last reluctant look at the steel ingots on the ground, and finally climbed onto the steel monster cautiously.

He originally thought it would take some effort, as this monster looked like a bad-tempered guy. However, after climbing up, he found that this guy's temper was much gentler than he had imagined.

But the even more incredible part was yet to come.

He saw the undead use a shovel to scoop up a load of coal and throw it into the furnace at the back of the steel beast's head.

Only then did he realize that this thing was actually coal-fired!

"This is... a steam engine?!" Brownbeard's face showed an expression of having seen a ghost, and he screamed, "How did you do it!"

He was no stranger to steam engines; they were everywhere in the Hell Dwarf mines, but they only used them to pump water.

He had heard that humans installed this thing on ships, allowing sailboats to travel at full speed in headwind waters, but he had only heard of it and had never actually seen it.

As for this kind of steam engine that could run on the ground, he hadn't even heard of it!

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have dared to imagine it was real!

Facing the astonished dwarf, the skeleton soldiers looked at each other, their flickering soul fires filled with confusion.

"What do you mean how did we do it..."

"Uh, isn't this a matter of course?"

If you don't use a steam engine like this, how else would you use it?

Just as Brownbeard and the Demon King's servants were staring at each other, Alakto, who was crawling on the ceiling of the mine, clicked his tongue lightly.

What a pity, letting this rude dwarf save his life.

For the sake of the Demon King, I'll let him go this time.

I hope he learns his lesson and shows more respect next time.

(End of chapter)