Chapter 245: Drink to Forget

Just as Mr. Festin was having a pleasant conversation with the head of the Melusine family, other great families capable of influencing the political landscape of the Demon Capital were also carrying out their own actions.

Including demons fishing in troubled waters.

Including families who wanted to get a piece of the pie from the reshuffling of Black Wind Castle and the magic crystal cannon industry.

This piece of fat meat that the first-tier families looked down upon, they, who were in the second and third lines, had coveted for too long.

If the lord of Black Wind Castle showed even a hint of weakness, they would probably have swarmed up long ago.

However, the recent wind direction made them unable to make up their minds.

Luo Yan's high-profile counterattack at the hearing made them have to suspect that the Partridge family had already secretly taken sides; otherwise, it would be difficult to explain where this guy got his confidence.

Immediately following the interview with Luo Yan by the *Abyss Times*, and the news that the Ministry of Truth announced an investigation into the Sardo Port debacle, etc., couldn't help but awaken their distant memories.

That was last year.

At that time, it seemed that the *Demon Capital Daily* also reported on the Chaos Gate incident.

That seemed to be the first game between the Demon King of Lei Ming County and the Dragon family that once dominated the Lei Ming County labyrinth, and the result of that game ended in the miserable defeat of the latter.

Although it was only the second son of the Dragon family, Xinuo, who made a move at that time, anyone could see the figure of the head of the Dragon family, Kamu Dragon, behind that conflict.

This time, Kamu stood from behind the scenes to the front of the stage.

Although the latter's strength was far ahead of the Demon King of Lei Ming County, who could guarantee that the result this time would be different?

At that time, many people lost money on the gambling game in the arena.

That time was a small gamble for fun, but this time it might not be.

Better wait a bit longer...

Just as the situation in the Demon Capital was treacherous and cloudy, Black Wind Castle, which was at the center of the game, was peaceful and tranquil. The goblin laborers and hell dwarf craftsmen living here seemed completely unaffected by the two sides of the wrestling.

And it was more than that.

Their lives had actually improved.

Due to the establishment of the Goblin Community Neighborhood Committee, the situation of goblins fighting each other to the point of breaking their heads had decreased a lot, and the attrition outside of work-related injuries had dropped to a fraction of what it was before.

Not only that, the previously unmanaged water pumps, the crumbling stairs, and the ventilation ducts that were stuck at any time had all been improved, and the feces in the latrines had finally been cleaned up by someone.

Snik's method of handling things wasn't liked by the goblins, but it was effective enough.

Whether it was to prove that he was useful, or to prove that he was "holding heavy power," or both, in short, he had indeed solved many problems.

And with the problems of the goblin community solved, at least half of the problems of Black Wind Castle had been settled.

After all, before Luo Yan noticed this territory, most of the troubles here were caused by the goblins' lack of attention to detail in life and their love of taking advantage of others.

As for the remaining trouble, it was the hell dwarfs who were addicted to alcohol.

Every time they got dead drunk, they would do some brainless stupid things, either killing themselves or killing the unlucky goblins passing by...

However, with the introduction of the cumulative tax on alcoholic beverages, this situation had been effectively alleviated.

With the alcohol tolerance of hell dwarfs, drinking low-alcohol beverages wouldn't make them drunk even if they burst their bellies.

And if it was high-alcohol beverages, they would go bankrupt before they got drunk...

Night fell, the magic crystal lamp posts above Black Wind Castle slowly extinguished, and the street lamps that replaced them slowly lit up.

Shadows and mist intertwined on the streets, as if immersed in a dreamlike fog.

At this very moment, in the "Hell's Cup" tavern, the atmosphere was bustling.

The hell dwarfs and goblins who had just finished work at the factory poured in here one after another, filling the narrow space with noisy sound waves and the fishy smell of sweat.

This tavern was famous for being cheap and filling, and it was a good place for the bottom-level laborers of Black Wind Castle to kill the long night. The sound of wooden beer mugs colliding was endless, accompanied by rough laughter and the singing of drunks, forming a unique symphony of the underground world.

However, in the corner of this tavern, a hell dwarf with a sad face shrank his neck, holding a cup of turbid beer in both hands, muttering unwillingly and repeatedly.

"Is this fucking horse urine?"

Baruk grumbled, slamming the cup on the table, splashing a few pieces of foam.

The goblin bartender behind the bar glanced at him, wiping the cup in his hand, and said with a smile.

"There is also urine that is not horse urine here, a cup of 'Dragon's War Roar' is enough to make you give up all your troubles, do you want to consider having a cup? Or 'Demon King Majesty'."

Demon King...

Baruk chewed on the name, complaining with a gloomy face.

"No need! Can't afford it!"

He got angry as soon as he heard the Demon King!

In the past, there was no need for these fancy cocktails; a few cups of mellow potato spirits were enough to make him forget the fatigue and troubles of the day.

But now, he had to run to the toilet more than a dozen times a night just to drain that damn water.

"Ah... I recognize you," the bartender's eyes turned, recognizing Baruk's face in the dim light, and said with a cheeky smile, "You are the guy who shouted for beer subsidies at the lord's meeting and was thrown out by the guards... aren't you asking for it yourself?"

"Shut up!"

Baruk, who couldn't take a joke, glared fiercely at the goblin bartender, scaring the latter so much that he didn't dare to speak.

This was the shame of his life.

Just because of this incident, he had to move next to the goblin community... because other hell dwarfs ostracized him, blaming him for angering the lord and almost causing them to have no beer to drink.

What kind of talk is that?

Making it seem like it was the alcohol tax that he introduced; did they naively think that if he had just shut up at the time, the lord would have spared them?

Afterwards, Baruk came to his senses; the lord calling him, who was full of alcohol, to a meeting had no good intentions; from the beginning, this was a premeditated "open robbery"!

As for himself, he was just a punching bag thrown into the crowd by that Demon King...

It must be said that drinking less alcohol does make people much clearer.

In the past, Baruk never thought about these things, but now he could analyze them clearly.

However, sometimes being clear is a very painful thing, especially sitting in the middle of a group of drunks.

Not far away, several goblin laborers were excitedly chattering.

They were bare-armed, waving their tiny fists, discussing the latest issue of the *Abyss Times*, praising the Demon King who brought hope to the bottom-level demons to the sky.

"Have you heard? The Demon King inspected the factory yesterday and talked to the craftsmen in person!"

"I know, I am from that workshop! Woo woo woo, he not only shook hands with me but also told me to pay attention to safety!"

"What a good person... if only he were a goblin."

"Hey, that's nothing! Did you see the previous issue of the newspaper? He confronted a group of bureaucrats from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Logistics at the hearing! Said he wanted to seek justice for the 80,000 soldiers of Sardo Port!"

"Justice... we actually have this thing in Hell!"

"But it's really not bad... although he is a human, I even admire him a little!"

"Hey, don't say that, although he is a human, I feel he is much more benevolent than the goblin big guys! It is said that in Lei Ming County, his territory! He let the goblins live in the elf forest!"

When talking about this, the goblin stood on the table, the eyes of the surrounding goblins were shining, and drool was hanging on their mouths.

As everyone knows, goblins are omnivores, although the most in line with their aesthetics is the female goblin, other races also have the goodness of other races.

Especially elves with ears as pointed as theirs, that is much more to their taste than short-eared humans.

"It seems the rumors of Naobula are true..."

"I heard they butterfly swim in the granary and take beer baths!"

"Gaga gaga... live with elves... hehehe... our Demon King dad is quite understanding of us!"

Baruk, sitting on the side, rolled his eyes.

In the mouths of these guys, the word "live together" seemed to be inserted.

Not to mention a large forest.

Then what about him living next to the goblin community?

Sucking on goblins every day?

Sometimes human emotions are not completely controlled by reason, especially a hell dwarf whose brain is controlled by alcohol.

Hearing these goblins getting more and more outrageous, he finally couldn't help but hum, yin and yang strangely said.

"What a bunch of lunatics... what good things can a Demon King have, he's already called a Demon King, do you really treat him as your big dad? I admire you guys for being able to get drunk on horse urine."

As soon as his voice fell, pairs of eyes instantly focused on him.

"What did you say, you motherfucker?" The goblin standing on the table jumped down and walked aggressively to the side of his table.

Baruk sneered and didn't take it seriously, but several hell dwarfs next to him also walked over, and he suddenly became nervous.

"Are you questioning our Demon King?" The hell dwarf with a beard buried to his waist narrowed his eyes, looking at Baruk unkindly, his beard shaking and saying, "I crawled back from the pile of dead people on the front line, no one said a word for me, a few barrels of beer money sent me away. Today, someone finally said a word of justice for us guys, you say he is not a good thing? Then I want to ask what you are."

Baruk's face changed slightly, his momentum weakened, and he said in a low voice.

"I... I didn't mean that, I wasn't talking about the front line."

The long-bearded hell dwarf grinned, the scars and crow's feet at the corners of his eyes squeezed together, staring at him fiercely.

"The Demon King's business is my business, if you say brainless things again, I will communicate with you with my fists."

Baruk's face was iron blue.

He wasn't a goblin, could he take this anger?

"What if I said it, motherfucker?" Blood rushed to his head, he slapped the table and stood up, his nose almost poking into the face of the hell dwarf opposite, "I work just to drink, I'm happy if I drink to death one day! That guy makes me unable to afford to drink, can't I complain a few words?"

The long-bearded hell dwarf was stunned, and was really bluffed by his momentum.

Indeed.

That progressive tax on alcohol made him feel very uncomfortable, although the guy's speech at the hearing was very much to his taste.

Just when his aggressive momentum was about to weaken, a large group of goblins surrounded him.

"Damn it! I won't allow you to say that about my Demon King!"

"You stupid thing! If it weren't for you guys drinking and messing things up, why would the Demon King collect that tax! If he really wanted money, why didn't he double the price of all alcohol?"

Baruk stared.

"When did I say he wanted money?"

Why don't these guys listen to people? Just now it was about the front line, now it's about making money...

The whole Black Wind Castle is his, does he need to rely on this to make money?

However, two fists are no match for four hands.

Silver-level flame demons are not easy to deal with, let alone a hell dwarf without extraordinary power.

With the goblins talking one by one, he was soon drowned in saliva like a tide.

"I recognize this guy! He's a drunkard! Drunk in broad daylight, ran to the Lord's Mansion for a meeting, and shouted about beer subsidies and other drunken words, isn't this guy looking for a beating?"

"Damn it, it's this shameful thing that caused us to be unable to drink!"

Baruk's identity was dug out, and now the hell dwarfs who were still hesitant were also wrapped into the goblin side by the goblin's grand momentum, and attracted more and more drunks.

These people asked what happened, and only heard that Baruk, who caused everyone to be unable to drink, dared to curse the Demon King in the tavern, and they rushed over in a rage.

The tavern became noisier and noisier, more and more excited, these people who were clearly not drunk seemed to have drunk a large barrel of spirits, while the only drunk was sober to the point of despair.

Baruk looked at these guys and felt that he had fallen into a madhouse, and lost his language in a panic.

"Are you motherfuckers crazy?"

"I think you're the crazy one, motherfucker!"

A flying oak beer mug hit Baruk on the head, becoming the first spark to ignite the gunpowder barrel.

Watching this beer-barrel-like guy fall to the ground, the goblins excitedly rushed up and kicked and punched him.

Baruk was angry and howling at first, struggling hard, but as the raindrops of fists fell on him, beating him until he couldn't find north, the sound of cursing finally turned into wailing.

"Enough—I was wrong! I was just saying it casually! Spare me!"

The tsunami-like sound wave soon drowned him.

"Beat this traitor to death!"

"Wake him up!"

"Damn it! This alcohol tax is collected so correctly! Otherwise, this bastard would have drunk himself to death long ago!"

Baruke tasted blood in his mouth, his ears were ringing, and finally, he was thrown out of the tavern like a broken sack, landing in the mud in a sorry state.

These guys didn't dare to kill anyone, and let him go after venting.

He lay on the ground for a long time, didn't recover, until a night wind blew, making him shiver, and then slowly climbed up from the ground.

"What did I do..."

Leaning against the wall of the tavern, he rubbed his swollen face, and suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh.

He originally comforted himself that drinking less wasn't a bad thing, he was almost used to the horse urine in the tavern. If those goblins hadn't described it so nauseatingly, turning horse urine into meat soup, he wouldn't have come out to be so sour.

As a result, now, he was beaten for no reason, and he didn't know where he offended them.

Baruk stood against the wall for a while, and finally limped toward home.

He still had to work tomorrow, he had to deal with the wound, so as not to swell up and affect tomorrow's work.

He actually didn't care much about this kind of thing, after all, producing more magic crystal cannons wouldn't change his life, but now he found that pondering this thing could divert his attention, and this could alleviate the pain of the wound.

Baruk licked the blood at the corner of his mouth and suddenly tasted the taste of beer.

Perhaps when a beer bottle flew toward him, it also leaked a little beer foam, feeding it to the corner of his mouth.

That mellow taste was more intoxicating than the strongest spirits, and for a moment it actually comforted his troubles.

"Unbelievable..." he muttered to himself, a small certainty suddenly emerged in his heart, greedily sucking the air, letting his consciousness immerse in the wine fragrance that permeated the streets and alleys.

Actually, life wasn't that bad.

Some wine became expensive, but some wine was free, and it was unlimited until full.

He suddenly liked that unfathomable adult, just like everyone else.

This intoxicating taste, he couldn't be the only one to taste it...

The next day, the brilliance of the magic crystal lamp posts spilled onto the streets and alleys of Black Wind Castle, and Baruk, who woke up from a hangover, swept away the laziness and fatigue of the past, and went to the magic crystal cannon factory with high spirits.

The fellow workers next to him felt that he was a bit wrong today, how could someone fall into such a bruised and swollen appearance at their own door?

But Baruk insisted that he just fell, and they didn't understand the situation, so they just assumed it was like that.

The inspecting foreman glanced at Baruk, seeing that this bruised guy was working so hard with injuries, couldn't help but look at him a few more times, and wrote his name in the small notebook.

Mainly because other hell dwarfs liked to touch fish, and goblins loved to be lazy, so he, who was diligent and willing to work, naturally stood out.

Perhaps—

Could be promoted.

Gnomes and goblins look too much alike, these hell dwarfs are always unconvinced by them, and it is very difficult to manage them.

Looking at the few dwarfs squatting by the wall to rest, the gnome foreman cleared his throat and shouted with his voice.

"Work hard, the Demon King is coming to inspect today!"

Those few hell dwarfs rolled their eyes and stood up from the ground listlessly.

"Why is he coming again..."

"That adult is not tired."

They muttered and complained, but their eyes fell on Baruk, and they couldn't help but roll their eyes.

"Look at this guy, like a goblin." A hell dwarf curled his lips and mocked.

"Drunkard Baruk... does he really think he can get the appreciation of the Demon King? This guy shouldn't have forgotten how he was thrown out at the beginning."

"Hahaha!"

Baruk ignored the mockery and just did his work silently.

The dwarfs saw that he was like wood and didn't react, then curled their lips with lack of interest and stopped paying attention to this unsociable guy.

At the same time, on the other side, deep in the Black Wind Castle magic crystal cannon factory, the respected Demon King was accompanying the gnome factory manager to inspect the newly opened workshop of this factory.

"... Demon King, this is the new production line we prepared according to your knowledge! The one at the entrance is the riveting workshop, which can complete the chassis of the chariot according to your requirements. Further back is the power unit assembly workshop, used to assemble mining steam engines!"

A gnome with a small stature and wrinkled skin followed closely by Luo Yan's side, his face full of humble and fawning smiles.

His fawning was not only because of Luo Yan's status and the courage to scold a group of bureaucrats at the hearing, but also because the latter's profound knowledge always exceeded his imagination time and time again.

Just like now, he had lived for decades, and it was the first time he heard the concept of a tank.

When Luo Yan first told him about this concept, the picture he imagined in his mind was still like this—

A few hell war beasts dragging a huge armor full of hot steam, the rolling steel blades biting into the enemy's infantry phalanx like dog teeth, grinding the empire's soldiers into meat dregs.

And the gnome engineers under his hands imagined it even more outrageously, some even described it as a huge iron ball full of steam, rolling wherever it went and exploding wherever it went, like a magic crystal cannonball that could run by itself.

He laughed until he choked at that time.

How many goblins would this thing consume?

Is it not necessary to train goblin artillery?

Time has to be spent!

Luo Yan looked at the workshop in front of him, nodded with a majestic expression, and gave a pertinent evaluation.

"Not bad."

In the clean and tidy workshop, there were several metal brackets, and the guide rails suspended on the beams were connected to several hooks, just like torture instruments.

The facilities here were still very simple, but he still had to say that this was not bad, at least everything that should be there was there.

The concept of a tank had not yet been born on this planet, and even the idea of moving a steam engine to land had only started in recent years along the coast of the Whirlpool Sea.

As for Hell...

The application degree of magic energy technology here was stronger than the Empire, but it was not much ahead of the Empire in fields such as metallurgical industry... even though the underground world had rich metal mineral deposits.

If he remembered correctly, the tanks during World War I on Earth were mainly produced by shipyards and railway locomotive factories for armor steel and various parts, and then sent to assembly plants for riveting.

As for the power unit, it was simply modified from civilian machinery, such as the Daimler six-cylinder gasoline engine used by the Mark tank.

In contrast to this world, none of these things existed.

Players in Beifeng City were pondering steam locomotives running on the ground, but they had only just produced a few experimental products... and those experimental products were the confidence he had boasted about at the hearing.

The difficulty of building such a production line from scratch was quite large.

But fortunately, he had a group of life-profession players who were already familiar with the rules of the game.

Their brain holes plus the mole people in Tieya City could even build "Gundam," so he believed that a mere tank production line couldn't stump them, and the foundation of Black Wind Castle backed by the Demon Capital was stronger than that place.

Problems that science couldn't solve, just think of ways from magic and underworld scripts.

In fact, these workshops were prepared according to the opinions of those players.

Besides the chariot, he planned to solve the railway from Black Wind Castle to the nearby mining area with the production capacity of this magic crystal cannon factory.

As for the reward, he had also thought about it for the players.

Enter the deepest part of Hell in advance to experience brand new gameplay...

More than a week ago, this "explosive news" had already made the official website forum, which was still immersed in the "Magic Plant Frenzy" event, lively one after another! ===== CHAPTER 246 =====