Chapter 478: City of Mud

The black smoke spat out by the chimneys finally painted the burning red dusk, and Lei Ming City, which had been busy for a whole day, finally welcomed its own night.

In the new industrial zone in the suburbs, the last batch of craftsmen and laborers whistled, left the factory buildings with their arms around each other's shoulders, and poured into the taverns by the street.

The maids wearing linen cotton skirts shuttled quickly through the noisy crowd. Their arms were as thick as iron pliers, wishing they could grab all the wine glasses in the kitchen into their arms with both hands. And those guests urging for wine were even more like their throats were smoking, just waiting for this sip of wine to extinguish the fire.

The air was filled with the smell of sweat and coal ash, making all the priests with cleanliness habits subconsciously stay away from this blasphemous place.

However, those who complained were in the minority; more were people who liked this liveliness and the smell of fireworks.

Otherwise, people wouldn't have come here willingly, and stayed day after day until late at night, before leaving in low spirits.

Ever since Grand Duke Edward succeeded to the throne, the pace of this city had become increasingly busy, just like the chef working in the back kitchen.

The tavern was noisy, and everyone was happily talking about the rapid changes in this city, as well as the beautiful future.

The new textile factory in the East District had started recruiting again, and the Andi Chamber of Commerce at the port had received a large order from Mist Storm Port. It was said that soon, the salaries of all the clerks would rise again, but it was unknown when the City Council would pass Her Highness Princess Ailin's "Bill No. 6."

Although unpleasant things happened from time to time, generally speaking, people were still very satisfied with their current lives. Even if occasionally there were serfs who missed their old lives, looking at the foam filled in their beer glasses, they didn't miss it that much.

Better to wait a bit longer, wait until the money is spent before missing it!

At least now, everyone firmly believed—

Under the leadership of Grand Duke Edward and Her Highness Princess Ailin, an unprecedented Golden Age was slowly unfolding before them!

Just then, a City Hall clerk wearing an armband squeezed through the crowd and walked to the bulletin board not far from the tavern door.

This guy clearly belonged to the type with cleanliness habits, frowning from the moment he entered the door, but still pinched his nose and finished the work his superior had handed to him.

He took a roll of pulp paper from his satchel, nailed it to the bulletin board with four thumbtacks, and then clapped his hands and left in a hurry.

That paper was printed with the wax seal of the Campbell family, and it seemed to be an official document for the passage of a new bill, quickly attracting the attention of many people.

People all thought that Bill No. 6 had had a follow-up, so they gathered around to take a look.

"Grand Duke Campbell... Edward... Edict..." a literate blacksmith read the beginning of the decree with difficulty, "... hereby decides to officially name the Southwest Swamp of Lei Ming County... uh, Mud City? What the hell?"

The blacksmith's voice stopped abruptly, his face showing an expression of having seen a ghost.

"Where did a city come from in the Southwest Swamp? Isn't this the city at the southwesternmost corner of Campbell?" an apprentice next to him poked his head out and asked in confusion, "Did the guy who wrote the notice drink too much?"

"Keep reading!" someone in the crowd urged; after all, not everyone was literate, let alone understood the pedantic official document.

The blacksmith swallowed his saliva and continued reading.

"... and hereby grants all development rights to the 'Wind Roar Tribe' represented by Mr. Ai Sa Ke Jifeng, the envoy from the United Kingdom of Gu Ta Fu."

The content of the decree was very short, but the weight was very heavy.

After a brief silence, the tavern exploded, and a drunken miner was the first to shout.

"What?! Give that piece of rotten land to a group of lizardmen? Wait... Southwest Swamp? I... let me ponder this—"

"Is the Mayor crazy?! That ghost place has nothing but poisonous insects and man-eating monsters!"

"Are you stupid! How could the Mayor make the decision on this kind of thing? That guy is just a mascot; it must have been the Governor's idea!"

"I think you're all drunk! Isn't the key to the problem that there's actually someone willing to want that broken place?"

Confusion spread rapidly through the crowd.

In the eyes of the residents of Lei Ming City, the Southwest Swamp was undoubtedly a piece of cursed rotten land, the kind that even the greedy Baron Gess despised.

"Bestowing" it to Campbell's friendly nation, this operation was truly incomprehensible. And what was even more incomprehensible was that the distant friendly nation accepted it?

However, that feeling of confusion did not last long.

There were "smart" people in the crowd after all, and they soon gave an explanation that seemed to conform to logic.

"I don't think this matter is simple," a man who looked like a small vendor said mysteriously, "Have you forgotten what identity that Mr. Ai Sa Ke has? He is a guest of honor of Prince Kelin! I think, this must be Prince Kelin's intention!"

This statement immediately won the approval of countless people.

If it were the Empire's Prince, everything seemed to make sense.

The loyal citizens of Lei Ming City would rather guess that the source of this strange event was that Imperial Prince who had nothing to do with them, rather than believe that this was a decision made by their wise Grand Duke Edward.

However, that smart guy was indeed not wrong; although this was a story between the Gu Ta Fu Kingdom and the Campbell Principality, there was no lack of the Demon King's shadow behind it.

Just...

What does His Highness Kelin want with that piece of land?

Simplifying complex problems didn't really solve the confusion in people's hearts; instead, it turned one confusion into many.

Just as people were discussing, finally a clear-headed person stood out.

"What do you know!" The speaker was a foreman at a textile factory; he looked at this group of short-sighted guys with disdain and said in a loud voice, "Although that place is rotten, there are quite a few lizardmen inside!"

The drunken miner couldn't help but retort.

"What's the use of having many people! Their claws aren't suitable for work!"

"That's just because there are no tools suitable for them to use!" the foreman retorted, "What if that envoy from the Gu Ta Fu Kingdom really has the ability to train them well? That's tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand laborers!"

Someone in the crowd immediately reacted.

"That makes sense..."

Lizardmen using human tools certainly can't do work, but wouldn't they be able to do it if they used lizardmen tools?

However, precisely because they thought of this point, everyone soon became nervous again.

Over a hundred thousand laborers...

Are these animals going to come and steal their jobs?!

In fact, long before Her Highness Princess Ailin went on the expedition, the labor market in Lei Ming City had already shown signs of saturation, but the war and the issuance of war bonds had covered up many problems.

However, their worry did not last long.

The foreman hummed triumphantly and soon threw out a more tempting viewpoint, dispelling the trace of concern that had just arisen in their hearts.

That wasn't actually what he had thought of, but what he had heard from his boss.

Not everyone needs to wait for the City Hall's announcement; for those people who truly have strength, there are too many channels for them to obtain information.

"... Besides, don't just stare at those lizardmen; how Prince Kelin uses them has nothing to do with us, but this decree is clearly written: Mr. Ai Sa Ke is going to build a 'City' on the swamp land! Saint Xisi above, that's going to take how many bricks and tiles, how much timber, how many people!"

"Even if the Gu Ta Fu Kingdom can train that group of bugs soaking in the mud pit well, this matter won't be done tomorrow. I can put it here: the sweetest cream on this cake will eventually be cheap for us!"

These words were simply like a beacon of wisdom, instantly illuminating all the laborers and craftsmen in the tavern.

That makes sense!

Building a city means countless orders and job positions!

The atmosphere in the tavern instantly turned from confusion to fanaticism, and people began to discuss excitedly what kind of share they could get in this new wave of construction.

The beauty of the economic upward cycle is mostly in this; even people who are like dust are tolerant and yearn for the light.

Listening to the discussion around him, an architect who was drinking shook his head and said slowly to the apprentice beside him about his happy troubles.

"This is going to be busy."

The apprentice was stunned for a moment.

"Business is good... isn't that a good thing?"

The middle-aged man grinned, took a sip of mellow beer, and squinted at the window.

"Of course it's a good thing... but our opponents are not simple; if we don't pull ourselves together, it will be hard to even get a sip of soup from this feast. I bet the 'Invincible Group' in the city will have to hold meetings until midnight again tonight."

"'Invincible... Group'?" The young apprentice was even more confused, puzzled, "What is that? Are they very powerful?"

"More than just powerful..."

The architect took a sip of wine, a rare look of awe appearing in his eyes. "Those guys are simply monsters that popped out of thin air."

For ordinary people, working twelve hours a day is the limit, but those monsters can work continuously for twenty-four hours, and that's without shifts!

Not only that!

Their construction technology is also top-notch, and the speed of building houses is even faster than many people's speed of tearing them down.

He also considers himself a person who has seen the world, having been to many places to learn his craft when he was young, but this was the first time he had seen workers like that bunch.

Relying on this desperate spirit and god-like technology, they soon became the most efficient construction company in Lei Ming City.

Fortunately, their scale seems small, and the number of construction sites they undertake is limited, which is why they didn't roll everyone into unemployment.

It is said that by relying on a few tricks secretly learned from them, several construction companies in Lei Ming City that were about to go bankrupt have been brought back to life.

They killed their way to other city-states along the Whirlpool Sea, forcibly monopolizing the entire construction market on the northeast coast, forcing local peers to put down their bricks and pick up muskets to grab business.

And then—

There was no then.

They encountered the same problem as the Green Forest Army.

The Campbell Principality is, after all, a principality riding on the Demon King's head; the farmers here are no less skilled with muskets than with hoes.

Soon, this group of Campbell people who went out to sea to start businesses were surprised to find that they weren't actually as weak as they had imagined?

They indeed couldn't beat the desperate "big guys" of the Invincible Group, but beating up their neighbors was actually quite easy.

Since that's the case, why build houses!

As for what happened after that, that is another "bloody storm" unrelated to the Demon King's hegemony...

Workers who can work twenty-four hours straight certainly cannot be normal humans. Those monsters that opened the eyes of the citizens of Lei Ming City were all "pseudo-humans" produced by the Great Graveyard.

Or to be more precise, they were all mushroom people grown from the roots of "Grey Wind."

That was a story from several versions ago, dating back to the invasion of the labyrinth by the "Flame of Destruction" Kalmandes.

After several version iterations, the appearance of these "pseudo-humans" is now indistinguishable from ordinary humans.

It is precisely this perfect disguise that allows the players of the Great Graveyard to move freely in Lei Ming City, where adventurers are as numerous as hairs on an ox, and even form their own forces.

Due to the scarcity of the "Catastrophe OL" closed beta qualifications and strict server rules, these "pseudo-humans" have so far just been messing around with the NPCs and haven't caused any unmanageable trouble.

The night was deep, and on the construction site of the new industrial zone in Lei Ming City, a lonely tent was still brightly lit.

One of the most spacious tents was the headquarters of the "Invincible Group," which made countless civil engineering dogs in Lei Ming City tremble with fear!

The furnishings inside the tent were nothing special; a few tables made of wooden boards held a kerosene lamp, and the racks on both sides were covered with maps of the suburbs of Lei Ming City, as well as various complex architectural drawings and dense project schedules.

This didn't look like the stronghold of a game guild, but rather the nest of high-level ash-beaters.

"... The payment for the last batch of cement has been settled, a profit margin of 35.7%, tsk tsk tsk, much higher than expected!"

The guild leader 【Rich Man Who Eats Dirt】 was carefully checking a thick account book; although his expression was as steady as ever, his two eyes had already turned into the shape of gold coins.

And not far from him, 【Jade-Faced Hand-Tired King】, who was also the chief designer, was frantically drawing on a huge blueprint, muttering obsessively about "structural mechanics," "material fatigue," and other concepts unheard of by the locals.

Actually, he didn't understand it very well himself; it was all learned on the job.

This game is always too realistic in inexplicable places, making people lose hair. All the bitterness not eaten at work is eaten in the game.

If it weren't for the fact that gold coins could be exchanged for underworld coins, and underworld coins could be exchanged for soft sister coins, he would definitely not be a life-profession player!

This is too life-consuming!

"... No, the design of this load-bearing wall is problematic. Cross-beam structures must be added, otherwise the pressure resistance will drop by at least 30%..."

【Iron-Blooded Fat Otaku】 was staring at a resource list, racking his brains thinking about transportation routes and the allocation of human resources.

And outside the tent, the "foreman" 【Crippled Canglang Lame Leg】 was standing with his hands on his hips, directing a group of "newbies" with dreams of getting rich to transport cheap timber smuggled from the Great Graveyard under the cover of night.

Just then, the tent curtain was violently lifted, and a player responsible for scouting information rushed in, panting.

He slapped a piece of draft paper on the table with an excited face; the draft was copying the freshly baked "Mud City Special Zone Decree."

"Big bosses! Big trouble! A new map has opened again!"

The four core members in the tent immediately gathered around.

Unlike the NPCs in the tavern, their reaction was not surprise, but excitement like sharks smelling blood.

【Rich Man Who Eats Dirt】 snatched the paper, scanned it quickly, his eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out.

"Holy crap! New district development?! And building a city from scratch! This, how big of a data pack update must this be?!"

"Dog planner is awesome!"

"We're rich! We're really rich this time!"

The tent was filled with a happy atmosphere.

Although their work was already so much that they were almost too busy to handle it, it didn't stop them from eating what was in the bowl while thinking about what was in the pot.

【Jade-Faced Hand-Tired King】 squeezed away Brother Hao, excitedly snatched the paper, and was already muttering obsessively.

"Swamp... lizardmen... Got it! We can use towering stilt houses combined with complex Gothic spires, and then integrate the totem elements of the orc tribes... This is definitely the first magnificent steampunk-style city on the server!"

【Rich Man Who Eats Dirt】 rolled his eyes.

"Stop talking nonsense! Keep it simple!"

【Jade-Faced Hand-Tired King】 scratched his head for a while.

"Uh, then... how about wasteland punk?"

【Rich Man Who Eats Dirt】's eyes lit up.

"Hmm... this can work!"

"Transportation costs in the swamp are high, and material loss is also large; we must solve this problem first." 【Iron-Blooded Fat Otaku】 pondered for a while, and suddenly a sentence popped out of his mouth, "We have to design a steam transport vehicle that can run in the mud!"

Simply put, a tractor with wider tracks.

This thing is not just for pulling materials, but can also be used for digging pits and moving dirt, especially when leveling land, it can greatly save their workload.

"Crawler vehicle, right!" 【Rich Man Who Eats Dirt】 waved his hand, "That thing is simple! Order one directly from Black Wind Castle!"

【Jade-Faced Hand-Tired King】 was stunned.

"Can that thing work?!"

【Rich Man Who Eats Dirt】 said with a smile.

"Small matter! Just tell them not to install the turret!" "Then... what about manpower?" 【Jade-Faced Hand-Tired King】 raised the most critical question, "The dog planner has been opening new maps too fast recently; I'm afraid the newbies on the server aren't enough, right?"

"This is simple! Use NPCs to make up the numbers!" 【Crippled Canglang Lame Leg】, who hadn't spoken, grinned, his eyes flashing with shrewd light, "Tomorrow I will go to the refugee camp outside the city to recruit another five hundred NPCs! Tell them, 'Invincible Group' provides food and housing, wages are settled daily, and there are bonuses for good work!"

Although the efficiency and flexibility of NPCs working are far less than players, in the case of extreme labor shortage, it is a good compromise.

At least in pure physical labor like moving bricks, human laborers are much easier to use than those small goblin laborers, especially the hardworking Campbell people!

Regarding Grand Duke Edward's Special Zone plan, ordinary people see only business opportunities or job opportunities, but these players see a brand-new data pack!

They will be the first to experience new content before everyone else; is there anything more exciting for players than this?

Of course—

Massive experience, reputation, and economic rewards are also one of the reasons why they are keen to be ahead of the version.

The respected Demon King never treats those who work for him badly.

With eyes flashing like a hungry wolf, 【Rich Man Who Eats Dirt】 gave an order and began the deployment for the "battle."

"Hand-Tired King, you draw the design drawings overnight; tomorrow I will take the drawings directly to the Dawn's Embrace hotel to find that NPC named Ai Sa Ke! Fat Otaku, you go to Black Wind Castle and solve the order matter first! Lame Leg, you go to the refugee camp to recruit workers early tomorrow morning! We must hold this 'reclamation contract' tightly in our hands before all competitors react!"

Excited shouts erupted in the tent.

"Received!"

"Let's do it, brothers!"

"Awoooo!"

The next morning, the highly motivated little players took the drawings to the "Dawn's Embrace" hotel to visit the NPC named Ai Sa Ke, but unfortunately, they returned empty-handed.

The realistic part of "Catastrophe OL" is that whenever a major event occurs, the "NPCs" often don't stay in fixed locations, but participate deeply in it.

Meanwhile, Southwest Swamp.

The noble envoy of the Wind Roar Tribe, Mr. Ai Sa Ke Jifeng, was walking on a muddy path behind several Campbell scouts.

Besides the Campbell people, a silent lizardman followed beside him. That guy's name was Okto, said to be one of the Demon King's guards, exuding an aura that made people shudder.

Regarding this taciturn guard, the Demon King told him not to care.

And Ai Sa Ke also tried very hard not to focus his attention on this guy, not talking along the way, but instead looking at the surrounding scenery.

The air here was like a damp, cold towel, stuck tightly to his face. Although it's true that lizardmen like damp environments, the dampness here made him unable to breathe.

All around were twisted trees that blocked the sky, under his feet were muddy pools bubbling, and his ears were filled with the buzzing of unknown poisonous insects.

Compared to the magnificent mountains and vast plains of the Jiana Continent, this place truly lived up to the name of "Cursed Land." Even the Western Swamp, called "Ghost Crocodile Realm" by the Ankylosaurus tribe, looked like a fairyland compared to this place.

Ai Sa Ke couldn't help but have some doubts in his heart; is there really no problem with building that so-called Special Zone here?

But when he thought that anyway, he wasn't the one living here, he immediately felt relieved and returned to his calm expression.

After passing through a reed marsh full of crises, a crude settlement finally appeared before his eyes.

The so-called village was nothing more than low sheds built with wet mud and reeds on a relatively dry piece of land.

He saw some lizardmen moving on the edge of the settlement.

Most of them were small and hunched, their scales dull, and their muddy eyes full of numbness and vigilance.

Clearly, they didn't expect humans to appear here.

And they were accompanying a lizardman who was dressed quite lavishly.

The lizardman guard watching the gate of the settlement, after learning of Ai Sa Ke's intention, quickly went back to report to the leader here.

Not waiting too long.

Ai Sa Ke met the nominal king of the "Hewan Tribe Alliance"—the chieftain of the Stone Lizard tribe, Tartak—in a large tent sewn from animal skins.

This chieftain was already quite old, and those gray scales were like cracked gravel, covered with the textures of time.

Ai Sa Ke was very surprised, not because of the chieftain's old age, but because the system here actually had many similarities with the United Kingdom of Gu Ta Fu.

But when he thought that this was the Demon King's doorstep, he soon felt relieved and deleted this matter from his memory.

How could there be a reason for the father to be like the son in this day and age?

That must... still have many differences.

Just as Ai Sa Ke Jifeng was deceiving himself, this elderly Stone Lizard lizardman was cautiously sizing up this lavish lizardman master.

He had never seen any lizardman who could gain the respect of humans, let alone any lizardman who could possess so much gold!

His gaze wandered over Ai Sa Ke's body, finally noticing the wings behind him; those muddy pupils seemed to think of something, and immediately shook violently.

"You, you are the messenger of the Dragon God!"

Watching Tartak suddenly prostrate on the ground, Ai Sa Ke was startled and hurriedly stepped forward to help him up.

"What are you doing? Get up quickly!"

"You are the messenger of the Dragon God! Your wings are the best proof!" The elderly Stone Lizard elder's eyes were full of tears, repeating the previous words, and continued in a choked voice, "Gu Ta Fu above... you have finally come!"

Ai Sa Ke's expression was a bit subtle.

What the hell is "having wings is the best proof"; it's true that the Dragon God came from the sky, but the Dragon God himself can't fly.

According to the orthodox epic recorded by the Ankylosaurus tribe, the Dragon God created the Ankylosaurus tribe based on himself, and then to make up for his regret of not being able to fly, he created dragons and instructed the Ankylosaurus tribe to raise them for him.

The original dragons were not as sacred as humans imagined; they were actually just the Dragon God's pets... but these were very distant histories; he was actually only half-informed himself.

However, this Stone Lizard elder didn't care about that, pulling his arm and chattering a lot, from the First Epoch to the Second Epoch.

"In our Stone Lizard tribe, there has always been a fable that the Dragon God has never forgotten his subjects, and one day, he will send compatriots with wings to come and take us home. We... we have finally waited for you!"

Watching this lizardman old man with snot and tears, Ai Sa Ke's expression was like he had eaten a fly, while the few Campbell people behind him showed expressions of relief for him.

Great.

That so-called Dragon God can finally come and take this group of lizardmen away; maybe in a few hundred years, this swamp won't be so smelly.

"Cough... Chieftain Tartak, calm down first; although I haven't heard of your fable, I am indeed here to help you."

Ai Sa Ke coughed lightly, repeating the things he had said to Grand Duke Edward to this chieftain of the Stone Lizard clan in a more tactful form.

In short, the Dragon God indeed hadn't forgotten them, and indeed was going to take them home, but not immediately, but slowly, and in an orderly manner.

Tartak had seen all kinds of storms after all, and also knew that his appearance looked like a beggar in front of the other party; the other party certainly wasn't happy to take him home, and not writing the disgust on his face was already giving him enough face.

It was enough that they had this idea.

Besides, whether they went back or not didn't really matter; the key was that this compatriot seemed to be here for poverty alleviation, so he certainly had to take advantage of this cheap deal for his tribesmen.

Fully exerting the smoothness of those who know the times, Tartak expressed obedience to the "reconciliation" olive branch thrown by the Campbell Principality, and was even more grateful for the "alms" of the Gu Ta Fu Kingdom.

This elderly chieftain said with a moved expression that they, these "forgotten ones," had waited for this day for too long.

Just when Ai Sa Ke thought the task the Demon King had given him was about to be successfully completed, Tartak suddenly changed the subject, and a look of helplessness appeared on his aged face.

"However, Mr. Envoy, it would have been fine if you had come here a year earlier; the current tribe alliance... is no longer up to us Stone Lizards to decide."

Ai Sa Ke was stunned.

"Aren't you the king?"

"That is indeed the case, but this king of mine... is just like the Mayor of Lei Ming City," Tartak glanced inadvertently at the Campbell people behind Ai Sa Ke, his voice slow, "It was about two years ago that a merman tribe called 'Grey Fin' came ashore from the Whirlpool Sea and migrated here."

"They claimed to be subjects of the Dragon God as well, however, anyone with a discerning eye could see that this group of brutal guys had never listened to the teachings of the Dragon God at all."

Ai Sa Ke looked blankly at the old man, not expecting that this place, so poor that even birds didn't want to come, actually had such grievances behind it.

"... And then?"

Tartak sighed.

"Then... it was the story of the farmer and the snake. We took them in out of kindness, but they arrogantly controlled the entire Hewan, which is what the Campbell people call the Southwest Swamp. Now I am just a puppet who has been hollowed out; the leader of the 'Grey Fin' tribe is the true master here."

You should have said so earlier.

If you had said so earlier, wouldn't I have gone to find him?

Ai Sa Ke was speechless.

Perhaps seeing through his speechlessness, Tartak continued without stopping.

"That leader's name is Kunga, an ambitious guy. He claimed to have received the blessing of the Dragon God, viewing all humans as mortal enemies; he could never reconcile with the Campbell Principality, and would absolutely never agree to the conditions you proposed—"

Ai Sa Ke pressed his eyebrows, unable to stop the old man's words.

"Wait, didn't he only come two years ago? What does it have to do with him?"

"You are very smart, seeing the crux of the problem at a glance," Tartak looked at Ai Sa Ke with approval and continued, "He doesn't care about the situation of the Hewan tribes at all; he might not even be called a lizardman; hatred is just a tool for him to seize power. Before, he even tried to enter the labyrinth, but didn't succeed. I bet that if he had succeeded, he would dare to say that he was a Netherworld... lizard."

"Kunga is a ruthless leader who has been waiting for an opportunity: the fall of Huang Tong Pass. Once Huang Tong Pass falls, the chaotic military force will inevitably sweep through the entire Kingdom of En. When that time comes, he will be able to lead the tribes around the river bay up along the river to reclaim those fertile lands that once belonged to us."

"Hey, I can't pretend I didn't hear that," a Campbell scout couldn't help but interject, "But I don't understand, that guy couldn't even beat our defeated enemy, why does he think... we would treat him as an opponent?"

Ai Sa Ke felt the same way in his heart, except for the "couldn't even beat our defeated enemy" part.

He didn't look down on these poor relatives with mixed blood; he just really couldn't understand where this group of guys, who were still living in the last epoch, got the courage to challenge an industrialized principality that was about to popularize steam technology and breech-loading rifles?

Perhaps they once fought back and forth with the Campbell people, but as they said themselves, that was already a matter of the distant end of the First Epoch.

Nowadays, the other party is probably too lazy to look at them straight.

This swamp surrounded by miasma might not even be as important as a mining area waiting to be developed on the Grand Duke Campbell's map.

If their land were worth even a little bit of money, I'm afraid there wouldn't be any "Northern Rescue Army," but "Southwest Reclamation Team."

Of course, this was just Ai Sa Ke's own insight. Although he was fortunate enough to see the outside world, he didn't really understand the human world that well, especially the part about Saint Xisi, and the blood origin between the Laine people and the Campbell people.

However, if he had to think of a reason, "power" might be a very good explanation.

Just as Tartak said, that Kunga didn't care about the situation of the Hewan tribes at all, so how could he be kind enough to take back the lost hometown for them?

The slap that was about to be dealt didn't necessarily have to land on the Campbell people's buttocks.

Anyway, when he saw the elderly chieftain of the Stone Lizard clan being disciplined into submission, it wasn't hard to guess who the slap landed on.

But in this way... that Kunga could never cooperate.

Looking at this group of poor relatives whose eyes were flashing with expectation, Ai Sa Ke felt a bit difficult for a while, not noticing that Okto, whom the Demon King had sent to follow him, had been watching him silently.

That look seemed to want to say, what's so difficult about this?

Just then, a commotion suddenly came from outside the tent, and a burst of dense footsteps accompanied by a low and hoarse voice blew into the tent.

"Southwest Swamp, does not welcome humans."

The moment he heard that voice, Tartak's scales lost their color, and the chieftains in the tent also became nervous.

Sensing the ill-intentioned aura, several Campbell scouts faced a formidable enemy, and one after another gripped the short flintlock pistols at their waists.

Ai Sa Ke also turned around, only to see a tall figure standing behind him at some point, blocking the exit of the tent.

It was an extremely young merman, his skin a dangerous gray-blue, his eyes flashing with the cruelty and greed of a shark.

He was Kunga.

"You shouldn't have come here."

Feeling the chilling murderous aura, Ai Sa Ke's pupils contracted slightly.

This is...

God-General level?!

Or according to the standards of the Old Continent—

This guy is Silver!

Seeing the "timidity" in the eyes of this guy with wings, a ferocious smile appeared on Kunga's face, and his hand was already on the short knife at his waist.

He didn't care about offending the Campbell Principality; anyway, he and his tribesmen could jump into the sea as soon as they turned their heads, and wouldn't clash head-on with Campbell's cavalry.

As for those few flintlock pistols, he didn't take them seriously at all.

To deal with him with that stuff, at least a hundred-man team would have to be sent!

However, just as Kunga intended to give this bug with wings a quick death, a tall figure suddenly stepped forward, standing between him and Ai Sa Ke.

Kunga was stunned for a moment, only feeling that the lizardman in front of him looked familiar, seeming a bit like the... uh, Earth Dragon tribe that had found him initially?

Seems to be called that name.

It's just that the aura exuded by this guy was completely different from those little guys in the labyrinth, actually making him unable to see the depth.

Especially those faded pupils, which were even more hair-raising!

"Okto."

The lizardman looked at Kunga, who was sizing him up, reported his name silently, and then, without waiting for him to open his mouth to talk, an aura that was no longer suppressed instantly spread!

Feeling the pressure coming towards him, Kunga's pupils contracted suddenly, and a look of astonishment appeared on his scale-tightened face.

This guy—

"No one can stop... my Majesty."

"Wait, wait a minute—" Kunga screamed and took a step back, wanting to open his mouth to talk peace, but it was already too late.

"You, go to hell."

Two curved blades were held in Okto's hands at some point, so fast that everyone didn't even see when he made the move.

A flash of silver light swept across Kunga's neck, freezing his horror on his face, and also blocking the remaining half of the sentence he hadn't spoken.

Blood sprayed half the tent.

Facing the dumbfounded crowd, Okto silently inserted the curved blades back into his waist, not even looking at the merman head that had fallen to the ground.

The one who finally broke the silence was Ai Sa Ke.

Looking at the "poor relatives" who were completely stunned, he coughed lightly.

"Should we... talk about some serious business now?" ===== CHAPTER 479 =====