Chapter 271: The Price of the Gift

"Disaster OL" official website.

Just as all the players were heatedly discussing the recently updated new map, a provocative post suddenly refreshed on the forum.

Teammate Sacrificing to Heaven: "Brothers!! Big news!"

Boundless Magic: "There's not nothing in the forest of the new continent; we found the main city of the lizardmen!"

Peerless Hero: "???"

Gou Shi: "What's the situation?!"

Innocent Mother Donkey: "(Color)(Color)"

Teammate Sacrificing to Heaven: "It's a long story! At that time, we were searching for the footprints of the lizardman deserters in the forest, but we didn't catch the deserters, but accidentally bumped into a pterosaur!"

Boundless Magic: "That's right! That thing was huge! And that thing's thing too, suddenly darting out of the forest scared the hell out of me!"

Pig-headed Man Knight: "Holy crap, who cares about that thing! Get to the point!"

Rock Sugar Gourd: "+1, what's the situation with that main city?!"

Faced with everyone's questioning, 【Teammate Sacrificing to Heaven】, who was well-versed in the way of cheating replies, ignored them, first spouted a bunch of nonsense, and finally, when the players were about to go berserk, recounted the adventure he and his brother had in the forest.

In short, they followed the flight path of that pterosaur, crossed the mountain range lying in the forest, and then followed the river to find the huge lake located in the mountains, and the city hidden in the very center of that lake.

The city was unusually large, and there were farmland and villages distributed by the lake. Looking from afar, it was like a paradise.

Learning that such a piece of feng shui treasure land was hidden in the forest, the players in the post were instantly excited, and one after another reached their hands to the public screen.

Broken Blade Not Cool: "Where is it? Share the coordinates! (Color)(Color)"

Output All Depends on Roaring: "+1, kneeling for coordinates!"

Beg You Stop Sending: "Brother! I beg you!"

Don't Touch Me: "Stack!!!"

Watching the faces of the sand-sculpture players on the forum begging for coordinates, 【Teammate Sacrificing to Heaven】 was happy from ear to ear, and then typed a nonsensical answer on the keyboard.

"Brothers, don't panic! This opportunity seems to have huge benefits, but in fact, there might be fraud in the dark! Let us explore it first, and after confirming there is no danger, update the coordinates below the post, wouldn't that be beautiful!"

His post was just sent, and his good buddy 【Boundless Magic】 immediately followed up.

"Brother's words are very true! If I don't go to heaven—bah! If I don't go to hell, who goes to hell? Let us explore the way first, and if there's anything good, we will definitely bring it back to the forum to share with everyone!"

A Mouthful of Chemical Pool: "I rely on!"

Gou Shi: "@#%&!"

Output All Depends on Roaring: "Dog things eating alone! (Anger)"

Pig-headed Man Knight: "This is too shameless!!"

Broken Blade Not Cool: "Go to hell! (Bomb)"

"..."

……

Just as the two non-human guys closed the forum and went back online, twisting their two big tails and excitedly exploring toward the "City in the Lake," a probing wind lizard also arrived above the Demon King's army camp at almost the same time.

It is worth mentioning that although the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom is the only kingdom on the Gana Continent, it is not the only lizardman force on this land. And although the Dragon God is the faith of most lizardmen, not all lizardmen claim to be descendants of the Dragon God.

When the Great Barrier descended, that is, the early First Epoch, the Elemental Gods were the mainstream of this world. Whether it was the God of Light "Xisi" or the God of the Underworld "Hagen," they were only among the Elemental Gods at that time and were not crowned with their current titles, and the rise of the concept of dividing gods and races by bloodline all happened at the end of the First Epoch.

Due to the Great Barrier, the Gana Continent was not involved in that huge war that caused the fall of the gods. And because this land is isolated from the world, the civilization process on this land is much slower than in the world outside the Great Barrier.

Over a hundred lizardman groups who believe in the Dragon God formed the Sacred Armor Dragon Clan and embraced the faith of the Dragon God, uniting around Assam City... just like the human groups united because of Saint Xisi on the Aus Continent.

And except for the Armored Dragon Clan who believe in the Dragon God, a considerable number of lizardmen still maintain ancient traditions and faiths, and live in various parts of the Gana Continent according to their own bloodlines, serving their respective gods.

In the past thousand years, both sides have fought continuously, and in the end, the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom, which has many people and stronger cohesion, has the upper hand.

But relatively speaking, this has also made the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom have countless enemies.

For example, the Wind Roar tribe, which believes in the Sky God "Uranus," is one of them.

As soon as the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom's hunting team broke out in battle with the unknown force appearing on the beach, the scouts of the Wind Roar tribe discovered the situation on the coastline and brought the news back to the tribe's royal court, and it quickly attracted the attention of the ruler of the Wind Roar tribe—"Great Wind Chief" Urga Wind-Split.

For a long time, the Sacred Armor Dragon Clan, as the strongest group on the Gana Continent, not only ignored the ancient contracts but also domineeringly swallowed the Shenghu belonging to all lizardmen, and in the name of sacrificing to their Dragon God, unreasonably built Assam City in the center of the Shenghu, thereby controlling the plains and forests around the Shenghu.

Not only that, they also arrogantly classified lizardmen other than the Armored Dragon Clan into the category of savages and even prey, and prevented all lizardmen with "impure bloodlines" from enjoying the water of the Shenghu!

The hatred between the two sides had long evolved from a simple struggle of faith into an endless situation.

It is precisely because of this that when the Wind Roar tribe learned that the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom had a conflict with an unknown force from the deep sea, they immediately had ideas and sent envoys to the outsiders camping on the coastline, intending to win over these outsiders to fight against the unreasonable Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom together.

Although this goes against ancient traditions, they can no longer care about so much.

If the strength of the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom continues to expand, the disappearance of the Wind Roar tribe into the dust of history is only a matter of time.

As the envoy appointed by the Great Wind Chief, Ai Sa Ke Sak Sak Jifeng brought the leader's oral message to the coastline where the conflict occurred.

As a conservative in the tribe, he didn't take those outsiders from the sea to heart at first.

After all, in the past thousand years, human ships have often run aground on the beach, but he had never seen any ship stir up any big waves.

He thought this time would be no exception.

However, when he truly arrived above that coast, the scenery that came into view completely overturned the stubbornness in his heart.

"Is this... the power from outside the sea?" Looking at the scene on the beach, Ai Sa Ke Sak Sak Jifeng's pupils shook, his scale-covered face full of shock.

Just on the high ground not far from the beach, a simple and busy camp had already taken shape, and thousands of monsters he had never seen before were active at the edge of the forest!

The translucent membrane wings spread out, Ai Sa Ke suppressed his manic heartbeat, caught the humid and fishy sea breeze with his wings, and slowly landed on a tree branch at the edge of the forest, looking toward the hill close at hand.

Dense tents were crowded in the center of the camp, surrounded by walls mixed with rocks and logs. Although the walls could not be called majestic, they were more than enough as defensive works!

o

Not only that!

At the edge of the camp, there were two wooden watchtowers standing high, overlooking the nearby jungle together with the thick, long, glowing iron pipes.

And near the gate of the wall, he also saw a team of patrolling undead soldiers. They walked firmly, in unison, holding gleaming swords in their hands, exuding a rich aura of death all over their bodies, just like evil ghosts crawling out of the abyss.

Intuition told him that these guys were not easy to deal with!

Ai Sa Ke's heart pounded, unable to calm down for a long time. A simple "shock" could no longer summarize all his thoughts.

As one of the most elite scouts of the Wind Roar tribe, he had experienced countless battles, but even so, this was the first time he had seen such an astonishing speed of nest-building.

If he remembered correctly, these outsiders from the sea had only stepped onto this land for less than three days.

To be able to build such solid defensive works on the hills in just three days, even the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom did not have such great power!

What made Ai Sa Ke shocked was not just these.

Not far from the camp, a group of black spiders were gnawing at the nearby forest like locusts passing through!

They bit the wood with sharp mouthparts, then transported it to the vicinity of the coastline to pile up and dry, and finally a part was carried to the sea by a group of skeleton frames, spliced into a bridge extending to the sea, and another part was transported outside the camp wall for expansion.

"These outsiders can actually build a city of such scale in such a short time..."

Ai Sa Ke muttered to himself unconsciously, his gaze wandering along the outline of the coastline. Facing this busy camp, he didn't know where to focus his gaze for a time.

And just when he was shocked, a sharp gaze had already noticed his existence and was approaching his direction silently like a ghost.

Unaware of the threat close at hand, just as Ai Sa Ke was hesitating whether to reveal his identity as an envoy or report the situation to the Great Wind Chief first, a sudden explosion came from beneath him!

"Bang——!"

A milky-white smoke cloud exploded suddenly, turning into a dense net pouncing from bottom to top!

Watching the smoke suddenly explode, Ai Sa Ke, lurking on the treetop, was suddenly startled, his wings flapping fiercely, trying to open up the distance!

However, the flying spider web was one step faster than him, grabbing his wings firmly first!

Ai Sa Ke tried his best to struggle, but it was all in vain. After a few flaps, he fell down from the branch in a sorry state.

Just as he fell into the bushes, several skeleton soldiers and giant spiders lurking in the grass jumped out, shouting and clamoring.

"Haha! Caught it!"

"Brothers! Go!"

"Awooooo!!!"

The crystal glowing with ghostly light translated their language!

Watching the spiders and undead pouncing excitedly, Ai Sa Ke was instantly panicked, struggling desperately while shouting loudly.

"Stop! Let me go! I am the envoy of the Wind Roar tribe... Ai Sa Ke Sak Sak Jifeng! I, I am here on the orders of the Great Wind Chief to release the goodwill of the Wind Roar tribe, please let me see your leader!"

The players surrounding him didn't take the prey's begging seriously until they heard him report his name.

Ai Sa Ke Sak Sak Jifeng?

Good guy, still a named NPC!

"Wind Roar tribe? Great Wind Chief? What the hell?" The undead player holding the spider web launcher muttered, touching his mandible.

"Forget it, I just happen to be missing a flying mount! Let me turn him into a ghoul first!" An undead player who transferred to a monk's eyes lit up, rubbing his hands and about to step forward, but before he could show his hand, he was stopped by a brother who was quick-eyed and fast-handed.

"Wait, what if this guy is a quest-related NPC?!"

"That's just right, the key NPC is my ghoul, hehehe..."

"Holy crap, what do you want to do?!"

"Quick! Hold him down!"

The undead who were sharpening their knives a second ago started arguing with their own people the next second.

Ai Sa Ke looked at this group of guys who were difficult to communicate with, his face tight, fearing that a slight carelessness would provoke them and bring death upon himself.

And just when he was anxious, a woman wearing a black robe suddenly appeared in the shadows of the forest.

Her face was cold, her eyes sharp, like a leopard active in the jungle. A pair of cat ears stood on top of her head, almost merging with her black hair.

Orc?

Or... the legendary Demon?

Ai Sa Ke looked at her with wary eyes, vaguely feeling a powerful aura from her, and that aura was no less than the strong ones in the Wind Roar tribe.

"Quiet."

The cold voice drifted from her mouth, as if carrying an irresistible majesty, instantly freezing the group of noisy undead and spiders.

Watching the undead around stop their movements, Ai Sa Ke, who had escaped death, finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked gratefully at the figure standing in the shadows of the forest.

"Thank you!"

Sarah looked at him coldly, her expressionless face showing no emotion, and she raised her chin slightly.

"That lord is in a good mood today and has permitted your audience. However, please pay attention to your words and deeds, otherwise, we cannot guarantee your safety."

"I will pay attention to my words and deeds... but, can you let me get up from the ground first?" Ai Sa Ke's gaze swept over his body, trying to make the other party understand his current situation.

However, to his surprise, the moment his gaze swept over his body, those milky-white spider webs snapped as if they had encountered a blade.

Ai Sa Ke looked up suddenly, just in time to see the lady standing in the shadows put away the cold light that flashed and disappeared in her hand.

The spider web that had been entangling him seemed to have been cut by the dagger in her hand!

Realizing this, Ai Sa Ke's heart was greatly shaken, and the light in his eyes when looking at her gradually dyed with a trace of unbelievable light.

So fast!

He didn't catch when she made the move at all!

With such skills, presumably, the status of this lady in this mysterious force must not be simple. And the reason she appeared here, she must have wanted to show off to him, the envoy of the Wind Roar tribe...

Ai Sa Ke's thoughts turned fast, but he didn't know that the Demon standing in front of him was just a "pet" adopted by the Demon King, and the reason she was here was just because she happened to be performing a routine patrol mission...

Wind Roar tribe?

What is that.

Watching Ai Sa Ke, who seemed to have misunderstood something, Sarah didn't make any explanation, just threw down a short "Follow me," and then turned and walked toward the fortress located on the hill.

Looking around at the undead and spiders, Ai Sa Ke didn't dare to stay long, let alone run away, so he had to swallow hard and follow behind that person with a scalp-numbing feeling.

There was no more communication along the way, and the cat and lizard soon arrived at the gate of the fortress.

The ghoul standing guard at the gate just looked at Sarah, then silently put away the weapons in his hands and retreated to both sides of the gate.

Ai Sa Ke looked nervously at the two dead-looking lizardman ghouls, his heart beating uneasily under his scales.

He could recognize that the corpse should have died not long ago, and looking at the color of the scales and the shape of the skull, it was the arch-enemy of the Wind Lizard clan—the Sacred Armor Dragon Clan!

Looking at the corpse belonging to the arch-enemy in front of him, Ai Sa Ke felt no schadenfreude in his heart, but instead gave birth to a trace of faint fear.

Didn't expect this group of guys from the sea to be so terrifying; being killed by them wasn't the end, and death was merely the beginning of torment!

Is it really okay to cooperate with them?

Looking at everything that came into view in the camp, Ai Sa Ke suddenly had the illusion that he was selling his soul to the demons of the abyss.

Unable to suppress the panic and unease in his heart, he opened his mouth with difficulty and whispered tremblingly.

"Can you tell me... the identity of your master?"

Sarah didn't hide it, but opened her mouth slowly with a devout and proud tone.

"My master is the Lord of the Great Tomb, the supreme Demon King... As for his name, you are not worthy to know."

Ai Sa Ke was stunned.

"Great Tomb? Demon King?"

What is that?

Sarah didn't answer his question, just said calmly.

"You don't need to know, you just need to remember one thing: express your identity, explain your purpose, and remain humble in front of that lord."

Isn't this three things?

Ai Sa Ke couldn't help but complain in his heart, but didn't dare to say more, just nodded hurriedly, indicating that he had remembered this advice.

Afterward, he followed the lady's footsteps closely and stepped into the camp in front of him, and at this very moment, an aura of sternness followed.

Only to see a brazier placed in the center of the camp, ghostly green flames burning quietly in the brazier, barely illuminating a handsome profile.

That is a human.

At least it looks like one.

At this very moment, he was standing in front of a map hung vertically, with a thoughtful expression, examining the lines on the map.

Seeing him, the cat-eared woman's eyes softened instantly, and she stood respectfully on one side of the tent entrance.

Ai Sa Ke carefully observed the man standing in front of the map and the furnishings in the tent.

Although it was just a fleeting glance, he recognized the map on the wall at a glance; the few lines sketched were the coastline north of the Sun Staircase Mountains!

Realizing this, he couldn't help but be secretly shocked.

Didn't expect this group of guys who came from afar to not only build an easy-to-defend, hard-to-attack fortress on the coastline in such a short time, but also draw a map of this area!

It seems they have big plans!

At this time, Ai Sa Ke, who was thinking in his heart, suddenly noticed the cold gaze shooting from the side, and suddenly trembled all over, hurriedly closing the wings behind him and kneeling on one knee.

"I am Ai Sa Ke Sak Sak Jifeng, envoy of the Wind Roar tribe... Greetings, Demon King!" His voice was full of humility, not daring to have a trace of disrespect.

On the Gana Continent, only one person can be called Your Majesty, and that is the Holy King of the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom.

However, after seeing this lord in front of him, he couldn't help but use this title.

Probably noticing the movement at the door, the man standing in front of the map finally put away his thoughtful expression and moved his gaze from the map to him.

Sizing him up, the man nodded slightly, a trace of approval appearing in his eyes.

However, that approving gaze did not make Ai Sa Ke feel relaxed, but instead made a chill run down his spine.

He could feel that the approving gaze was not out of appreciation for some quality he possessed, but rather more like the gaze of someone selecting goods in front of a shelf...

Watching the lizardman shivering in front of him, Luo Yan couldn't help but curl up a playful arc at the corner of his mouth.

Don't know whether to call it a coincidence or not, there was a group of geckos in his labyrinth who claimed to be descendants of dragons, and those guys who had nothing to do with dragons looked more backbone than these guys who were suspected of having pure bloodlines.

Of course, compared to opponents with backbone, he still likes guys who know the current affairs better.

This can save him a lot of trouble.

"Wind Roar tribe, huh," breaking the silence in the tent, Luo Yan said casually, "Where are you located on the map?"

Ai Sa Ke lowered his head, saying nervously.

"We mainly live on the peaks of the Sun Staircase Mountains, following the decree of the Sky God Uranus to migrate everywhere... there is no fixed residence."

In other words, these guys are nomads on the Gana Continent?

From the captives of the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom earlier, Luo Yan had already asked about some information about this continent, as well as the situation of the lizardmen living on this land.

However, those guys were just ordinary soldiers after all, and the intelligence they mastered was limited. To fully grasp the situation on this land, he still had to strengthen contact with the locals.

Looking at the mountains on the map, Luo Yan nodded thoughtfully, pondered for a moment, and opened his mouth.

"Uranus... this is really an ancient name."

Hearing this, a trace of pride floated in Ai Sa Ke's eyes. However, just as he wanted to raise his head and say a few words along with this Demon, he was pressed back by a sharp gaze shooting from the side.

Watching the frustrated Ai Sa Ke, Luo Yan smiled faintly, then looked at Sarah standing on the side, and scolded her not heavily or lightly.

"Sarah, pay attention, don't always interrupt our guests."

"Sorry... Demon King." Sarah lowered her head.

Although that sentence meant apology, Ai Sa Ke, who was kneeling on one knee on the side, couldn't feel a trace of apology for himself from her.

It was clear—

These guys were deliberately beating him!

Feeling that undisguised contempt, Ai Sa Ke's heart was full of humiliation, but he had no way to deal with it, so he could only swallow this breath first.

Watching the Wind Roar tribe envoy who chose to endure, a trace of regret flashed in Luo Yan's eyes, but he didn't say much.

It seems the Wind Lizard clan is not as irritable as the Gecko clan.

But never mind.

He had guarded near the teleportation array for a full three days without waiting for the strong ones on this continent, but instead waited for an envoy sent by the hostile force of the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom.

This was enough to explain many problems—

These lizardmen probably didn't want to drive him away.

But their strength didn't allow it.

It seems the "Gifted Barrier" of the Dragon God is not without a price. The lizardmen on the Gana Continent added together are probably not as good as a duchy under the Emperor...

This is also inevitable.

After all, the era belonging to the Elemental Gods ended a thousand years ago, and what remains here is just an echo from a thousand years ago.

Luo Yan mourned for half a second for the tragic fate of these lizards.

For them, he didn't even have the need to act.

Not knowing that the Demon in front of him had already decided his fate, Ai Sa Ke took a deep breath and still followed his own rhythm, speaking slowly.

"Respected Demon King, I came to visit you this time mainly to bring greetings and congratulations to you on behalf of my leader, Urga Wind-Split—congratulations on your victory over the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom's army."

When he said this, he deliberately paused for a moment, blending a trace of meaningfulness into that flattering tone.

"That was truly a hearty victory; we witnessed everything that happened on this beach from the sky. Your heroic posture and that of your subordinates on the battlefield deeply moved us..."

He originally thought that the Demon in front of him would show some fear after hearing this, but he didn't expect that the other party didn't take his deliberately shown muscles to heart at all, and didn't even pay attention.

A deep sense of powerlessness swept over Ai Sa Ke, especially that casual yawn, which made him feel like he had punched a cotton ball.

The other party had no intention of forming an alliance with them at all!

Just when he wanted to make some efforts, the Demon interrupted his endless flattery—or rather, probing.

"Do you have anything else?"

Looking at the indifferent Demon, Ai Sa Ke gritted his teeth and could only temporarily give up the game, taking the lead in throwing out the olive branch hidden in the subtext.

"Since the Sacred Armor Dragon Kingdom is our common enemy, why don't we join forces—"

His words hadn't finished when they were interrupted again.

"Us? Would you form an alliance with a group of ants?"

Ai Sa Ke instantly froze on the spot.

His expression was twisted with anger, his muscles tensed, white mist sprayed from his nostrils, and he wanted to rush up and tear the human in front of him to pieces.

However, that ball of raging fire had just ignited from the bottom of his heart when it was extinguished by a basin of cold water splashed on his face.

A cold dagger was pressed against his throat, just a millimeter away from cutting through the scales on his neck!

He had no doubt—

If that lord hadn't spoken to stop it at the last moment, he would probably have become a corpse without even knowing what happened!

"Sarah, spare his life."

"But..."

"I need him to go back and tell his leader."

Signaling Sarah to put away her weapon and retreat, Luo Yan looked at Ai Sa Ke, who was frozen on the spot, and continued in a calm tone.

"I don't want to give you any illusion that you can win. As far as the current situation is concerned, you only have two choices—"

"Submission, or death." ===== CHAPTER 272 =====