Chapter 201: Cemetery Technology, Shocking to the Heart

Brown Beard is willing to swear in the name of His Majesty the Demon King that he has never seen such an exaggerated mechanical contraption in his entire life.

The steel-forged behemoth let out a deafening roar, and in less than half an hour, it had hauled a dozen carriages fully loaded with coal from the depths of the mine to the surface.

The only drawback was that the dust from this thing was far too choking; by the time he emerged from the mine, he had turned into a lump of coal himself.

Moreover, perhaps because he had inhaled too much coal dust, he had blacked out several times along the way, his head aching as if he were suffering from a hangover.

Of course, these drawbacks were not drawbacks at all to the undead, as they had no need to breathe in the first place—they were merely skeletons.

Jumping down from behind the steel behemoth's head, Brown Beard stared at it in astonishment, circled it several times, reached out to knock on it, and spoke incoherently.

"This... is actually a steam engine! But why does it have wheels?! Incredible, you actually sailed a ship onto land! How, how on earth did you manage this?"

The few players standing nearby were also baffled by his words, exchanging glances before retorting.

"What ship? This is called a train!"

"Exactly! Such ignorance."

Having seen plenty of clever NPCs, they weren't quite used to encountering an unintelligent one this time.

Just then, the leader of this group of skeleton soldiers walked over.

It was a skeleton that was clearly a size larger, and judging by the nether energy entwined around its frame, it possessed at least Black Iron-tier strength.

Brown Beard looked at him nervously, while the skeleton soldier also stared at him for a moment before speaking in human tongue.

"Why is there an extra dwarf? Since when can one change class to dwarf?"

"Change class?" Brown Beard was stunned, not understanding.

Before he could recover, the skeleton soldier beside him continued chattering away.

"It's not a class change; this guy is an NPC. I don't know how he wandered here."

【Dead Are Not Afraid of Ghosts】: "An NPC?! Good heavens, he actually came out of this hole alive; his life is truly tough."

What is an NPC again?

Brown Beard was completely confused. He could understand every syllable emitted by the crystals on the chests of these undead, but when strung together, he had no idea what they meant.

This feeling was as if he had traveled to another world.

Just then, the annoying spider that had thrown him into the mine earlier walked over slowly, staring at him with a sinister smile.

"... This is the surface, and not far away is Beifeng City. Congratulations, envoy from Calamity Castle, you have arrived safely."

Seeing the Demon King's mount appear here, the players standing around also snapped back to reality; it turned out they had triggered a plot.

Realizing this, their gazes toward the Hell Dwarf changed instantly, and their soul fires gained an extra bit of eager, eerie light—though that sickly green eagerness only made others feel terrified.

Brown Beard couldn't help but take half a step back, saying nervously.

"What are you doing? I am the envoy of Calamity Castle... a friend of your Demon King!"

A single cave spider wouldn't make him afraid, as the Hell Dwarves of Broken Rock Peak used them as snacks for their wine, but these undead who could speak human language were different; they were filled from head to toe with an indescribable strangeness that made it hard for him not to panic.

Yet these few undead were completely unaware of how terrifying they were, especially the Black Iron-tier fellow, who eagerly crowded forward.

"Ah, Calamity Castle, right? I know that place! Hehe, don't be nervous, the Demon King's friends are our friends!"

The other skeletons were the same, enthusiastically crowding around him, making creaking sounds as they surrounded the pale-faced Brown Beard.

"What's your name? How old are you? What level are you?"

"Are there many monsters in Calamity Castle? How's the drop rate?"

"Since you're an envoy, you must be here to ask for reinforcements, right?"

"Don't worry! The Graveyard will never abandon its friends; your business is our business!"

"That's right, that's right! What's the quest?! Tell us directly!"

They weren't truly that hospitable; they mainly wanted to see if they could trick some intelligence about the new version or new map out of him.

Brown Beard was entangled and confused, unable to understand what they were saying at all, but he still bit the bullet and stated his purpose.

"We need food; the mushrooms in the cave aren't enough to eat... Of course, we won't let you work for nothing. We can trade Goblin or Ratman slaves with you, or if you have any other things you need, that's fine too."

"Goblin and Ratman slaves?"

Several skeleton soldiers were stunned upon hearing this, looked at each other, and scratched the backs of their heads.

"We have no use for those things."

"Exactly."

"It took us quite a bit of effort to clear the Ratmen out of here; another nest would be a huge headache."

Listening to the whispers of the undead, Brown Beard quickly said.

"That's because you don't know how to manage those fellows! We can teach you! Using Ratmen to mine is definitely more efficient than mining yourselves!"

Actually, that wasn't necessarily true.

There was one thing he didn't mention: the Ratmen rebelled every three days, and the Goblins slacked off whenever they had the chance. Besides drinking, the warriors and lords of Calamity Castle spent their busiest hours beating rebellious Ratmen or whipping the Goblins' backsides.

He suddenly felt that it was quite convenient for the undead to mine, especially since they weren't afraid of flooding or the "dead energy" in the caves.

Unlike those slave rats, who not only died at the drop of a hat but also always tended to turn into undead that attacked everyone indiscriminately.

"Even if you say those fellows are efficient, we don't have a place to put them here."

"Exactly, exactly!"

Watching the skeleton soldiers discussing, the Black Iron-tier skeleton pondered for a long time, the soul fire in its skull stirred, and it knocked its fist into its palm.

"How about this: since you are skilled at managing those Ratmen and Goblins, why don't you just manage them for us?"

Brown Beard was stunned for a few seconds, asking in confusion.

"You mean, we send miners here to you? If you are willing to provide wine and food, that's no problem..."

Before his voice had even faded, the skeleton soldier beside him immediately said.

"No need for such trouble; why don't we just mine at your place? Here, we still have to worry about that so-called Production Safety Law."

"Exactly, exactly! Mining here doesn't earn much!"

"That's right! And we have to pay you wages—"

Before he could finish, his mouth was covered by other undead nearby.

The leading Black Iron-tier skeleton soldier let out a creaking laugh, rubbed its hands, and looked at the bewildered Brown Beard, continuing.

"Don't listen to his nonsense! We will certainly pay you, and as for how you pay those miners, that's your business; we aren't interested."

Brown Beard scratched the back of his head and said.

"So you mean you want to buy the ore in our hands?"

"Yes and no," the Black Iron skeleton soldier shook its skull, continuing, "Your output is too low. I could guess with my toes that that amount of output is not even in the same order of magnitude as our consumption."

Before the dwarf could retort, he added immediately.

"But it doesn't matter! We can help you upgrade the mine! From mine carts that can haul hundreds or thousands of tons of ore at once, to small items like pneumatic impact drills, handheld rock drills, and chain cutters—we guarantee your current mine output can increase by dozens of times! By then, our problem will be solved, and your problem will be solved too; wouldn't that be wonderful?"

The Graveyard didn't actually have this mining equipment either, but that didn't stop him from painting this picture first.

Brown Beard was stunned by this fellow's words; although he didn't understand what those tools were for at all, he understood the first and last parts of the sentence.

The undead of the Graveyard were willing to share these mine carts that could haul hundreds of tons of ore at once with them!

These things could increase the output of Calamity Castle's mines by dozens of times!

His face instantly flushed red, and he grabbed the skeleton soldier's shoulder in excitement, no longer minding how terrifying this skeleton frame was. "You are willing to teach us this technology?! Really?! Truly?!"

【Dead Are Not Afraid of Ghosts】: "Willing! Why wouldn't we be?"

【I Come to Form the Crotch】: "That's right, that's right! We can even help you build a railway from Calamity Castle to the Graveyard for free!"

【I Come to Form the Head】: "Just give us a few mines by then!"

The eyes of several skeletons glowed with green light, wishing this dwarf would nod and agree right now, so they could start construction tomorrow.

In the past, the various ores produced by the Graveyard were more than they could use, but now the situation was reversed. Since the establishment of Beifeng City, a large number of life-profession "grinders" had flooded into every industry, and basic raw materials were instantly in short supply, to the point where some wealthy bosses were even paying with RMB on the official website.

Although the mineral resources of Beifeng Mountain were not small, relying solely on players to mine them would certainly not satisfy the ever-expanding demand.

It just so happened that hearing this dwarf say Calamity Castle had a large number of slaves and ready-made mines, it would be better to simply export some obsolete technology to them and let them make use of those rats.

Seeing these undead so enthusiastic, Brown Beard's heart was also filled with excitement, and sweat broke out on his palms involuntarily.

Especially when he thought that the Graveyard's steel production was already so extravagant that they could use steel ingots to pave roads, he was so excited he couldn't speak.

In one...

Perhaps they could offer His Majesty Goron Steelbone a true throne of steel, or simply build a fortress for him out of steel!

However, just then, he suddenly thought of his continuous blackouts in the mine earlier, and his whole person felt as if he had been splashed with a basin of cold water, calming down.

"But... we have to breathe in the mine. You guys are fine with such thick smoke, but we can't stand it." Brown Beard said with a troubled expression.

Unlike water pumps, the smoke produced by those steam engines was at fixed locations, and it was easy to vent it out.

However, this type of mine cart was spitting out gas as it ran, and it wouldn't be long before the entire mine tunnel was filled with smoke.

Even if they didn't care about the lives of the slave rats, they had to consider that the corpses they left behind might turn into undead, and the safety of the overseers was also critical.

However, although the Hell Dwarf was full of concerns, these problems were merely insignificant trifles to the Graveyard.

That Black Iron-tier skeleton soldier laughed and said.

"No problem! These small things can be solved through design, such as separating the transport tunnels from the mining tunnels, or designing vents in the tunnels. We don't do it because we don't need to, but if you need it, we'll just help you arrange it!"

Not expecting these generous friends to have even considered these problems for him, Brown Beard felt both moved and ashamed to the point of being unable to show his face.

"You are truly... so generous! My friend, Calamity Castle will forever remember the friendship between us! I can swear to you, next time if... uh, if you encounter the threat of Chaos again, we will definitely send troops to support you!"

Although the Hell Dwarf's oath was as unreliable as a fart, the players didn't know, nor did they care much.

Who would care about the plot in an NPC's mouth?

As long as these dwarves agreed to build this railway, they could obtain a steady stream of profits from it.

As for Chaos, there was even less need to worry.

Now that the chaos in the labyrinth had subsided, the probability of Chaos corruption appearing was very small, and if it were the threat from the Huang Tong Pass side, who knew who would suffer first.

The only thing they worried about was that doing this would affect the balance, causing the price of ore in the Graveyard to drop sharply, and finally being nerfed by the dog game designers.

However, they had other ways.

That was to drag as many players into the water as possible, leading a group of players to raise funds to build a railway. When someone complained about a nerf, they could have more mouths to retort, "This is called reasonable use of game mechanics; if you're unhappy, don't play."

"Let's talk about that later! I feel that the corruption of Chaos shouldn't be coming anytime soon!"

"That's right, that's right, we've already corrupted past it!"

Corrupted past it?

Looking at the bewildered dwarf brother, 【Dead Are Not Afraid of Ghosts】 reached out and hooked his shoulder, patting it hard as he said.

"By the way, I remember you came to buy food, right?"

Hearing this, Brown Beard suddenly snapped back to reality, coughing hurriedly as he said.

"That's right! I almost forgot... uh, but what should we do if you don't need Goblins and Ratmen? We can't take out so much ore to trade with you for the time being..."

【Dead Are Not Afraid of Ghosts】 rubbed his chin.

"Do you have gold?"

Brown Beard nodded and said in a low voice.

"Yes... but we need that thing very much too."

【Dead Are Not Afraid of Ghosts】 immediately said enthusiastically upon hearing this.

"That's easy! You take the gold to us and exchange it for Nether Coins, then use the Nether Coins to buy food. When you make money later, you can just redeem the gold back. Here, Nether Coins can be exchanged for gold at any time! This is equivalent to... you temporarily leaving the gold with us."

Offering gold to His Majesty the Demon King could earn contribution points, and this thing was much more value-preserving than Nether Coins; many players were collecting it.

Precisely because of this, gold was the second largest hard currency in "Catastrophe OL" besides various enchantment stones, and it was also one of the main sources of contribution points for most life-profession players besides doing quests, as well as one of the few channels where one could directly purchase contributions using Nether Coins.

For players who didn't want to do quests and only wanted to experience life-profession gameplay, "Catastrophe OL" provided a special promotion channel.

Brown Beard pondered in his heart and felt that this idea seemed not bad either.

Since the other party was willing to help them upgrade the mine and build a railway, selling the produced ore for Nether Coins later, wouldn't it be a matter of minutes to buy the gold back? Maybe they could even buy more!

They weren't not producing food; they had always been self-sufficient, and even had a surplus to brew wine.

It was just that too many dwarves had fled from the Huang Tong Pass to the vicinity of Broken Rock Peak recently, and they needed this batch of food to help those compatriots who had converted to the Demon King's faith get through the difficult times.

Brown Beard felt that His Majesty Steelbone would definitely agree to this deal, but he was only an envoy after all and could not overstep his bounds to reach an agreement beyond expectations with that lord.

"I have to write a letter to His Majesty... to tell him about our agreement, including purchasing food with gold, but I think there shouldn't be much of a problem."

Pausing for a moment, Brown Beard looked at the skeleton in front of him, rubbed his hands, and said embarrassedly.

"That... because the situation is urgent, could you please start as soon as possible? I'm worried that by the time this winter is over, there won't be much food left in the human granaries on the surface. After all, I heard they have accepted quite a few refugees too."

"Start?" 【Dead Are Not Afraid of Ghosts】 looked at him strangely, asking in confusion, "Start what?"

Brown Beard was stunned and asked.

"Aren't you going to rob the humans?"

Previously, when they did business with the labyrinth of Lei Ming County, Calamity Castle would place the order, and then the underlings of Regi Dragon would go out to rob. After robbing, they would trade money for goods.

Although this was their first time cooperating with His Majesty Luo Yan, he thought the other party knew the unspoken tacit understanding between them.

【Dead Are Not Afraid of Ghosts】 waved his hand after hearing this and said with a smile.

"No need for that; just tell us how much food you need, and we'll buy it directly from the humans."

"Ah?"

Brown Beard, hearing this, was completely baffled, his copper-bell-like eyes wide open, his mouth agape, unable to say a word.

If he remembered correctly, last year the labyrinth of Lei Ming County was fighting a bloody war with the humans on the surface, and now they were already doing business?!

This turn was so sudden it caught him off guard!

Seeming to see the astonishment on the dwarf's face, 【Dead Are Not Afraid of Ghosts】 smiled mysteriously, patted his shoulder, and said.

"Friend, the times have changed. Now there are Demon King's people everywhere outside; if you don't believe me, go ask around nearby."

Brown Beard didn't dare to go to those places to ask around.

Being caught by those human knights was no joke; they couldn't just grow hair on their heads temporarily to pretend they were orthodox dwarves.

However, seeing these undead appearing in the sunlight at will, and even building a city of considerable scale on the surface, he couldn't doubt that these skeleton soldiers were lying to him.

After pondering for a long time, a heartfelt exclamation came from his mouth.

"As expected of His Majesty Luo Yan..."

As expected of a Demon King who had studied in the Demon Capital—

His strength is truly unfathomable!

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 202 =====