Chapter 88

As the big guy raised its arms and sent itself flying with two heavy cannon shots, the Iron Tooth Tribe perfectly illustrated what it meant to have one's army collapse like a mountain.

The mole-men who crawled out of the hatch surrendered decisively and immediately ratted out the guy who had incited them to ride this thing out and pick a fight.

"Demon, Demon King! We were forced!"

Crunch's face was full of panic; he then glared angrily at the gear mechanism not far away, pointing over there and shouting.

"It was all those guys! They were hiding over there watching the show! They sent Crunch over to die!"

"That's right, that's right! We were all forced to come over!"

Guangguang's head bobbed like a pestle pounding garlic. His stout body tried to squeeze out from behind Gabeng, but he underestimated his own waistline and ended up getting stuck in the circular hatch along with Gabeng, who was squeezed in front of him.

"Move!"

"You move first!"

"%￥#@!"

Watching the two mole-men start to scuffle, Sarah turned her face to look at Luo Yan, shook the dagger in her hand, and asked with her eyes if she needed to take action.

Luo Yan shook his head expressionlessly, then cast his gaze toward the gears not far away and raised the magic wand in his hand.

Rats hiding in the tunnel, are they?

What spell should he use? Before Luo Yan could decide on a spell, the group of mole-men hiding behind the gears panicked, one by one scrambling out on their hands and knees.

"Don't! Don't kill me!"

"I-I-I'm innocent!"

"Me too!"

"I surrender!"

"Demon, Demon King, spare my life!"

"Sob sob sob, we were also forced..."

"My lord, I still have a nest of children to raise..."

Annoyed by the chattering noise, Luo Yan impatiently flicked an ice spike, which smashed down right next to their feet.

"Enough, shut your mouths! Or I will reduce your numbers for you."

"Eee!!!"

Looking at the frozen floor, the group of mole-men instantly shut their mouths and huddled together in the corner, looking exactly like groundhogs driven into a corner.

Seeing these little guys settle down, Luo Yan nodded approvingly and continued to ask.

"Very good. From now on, answer whatever I ask... First, how did you know I am the Demon King?"

A dozen mole-men looked at each other, urging one another to speak first, but after discussing for a long time, they couldn't come up with a representative.

Luo Yan coughed impatiently.

Hearing this cough, the mole-men were startled and no longer cared about being polite, all speaking at once.

"You, you use necromancy..."

"There is no one in the entire labyrinth who looks more like a Demon King than you!"

"That's right, that's right!"

"And that evil aura!"

"You are simply the Demon King himself! No, the Demon King himself!"

The group of mole-men started flattering him as they spoke; although they were trying harder than the last, none of them were hitting the mark.

Luo Yan looked at them noisily and impatiently, continuing to speak.

"Since you knew who I was, why didn't you come out to see me?"

The mole-men shivered and said in high-pitched voices.

"We, we didn't dare..."

"We heard that the Demon King here had died, so we came here..."

"If we had known you were still alive... ptooey! If we had known you were here, we certainly wouldn't have dared to offend your majesty."

Hearing interesting information, Luo Yan's eyebrows lifted slightly.

"You? How many more of you are there?"

One of the mole-men swallowed and said in an uncertain voice.

"One thousand... no, maybe ten thousand?!"

Clearly, no one had counted carefully, to the point where he didn't even know how many moles were in his own tribe.

Aoke Duo and Bang De watched this group of little guys expressionlessly, while Sarah's gaze was completely drawn to those tails darting around everywhere.

Thinking of the taste of roasted tails, she couldn't help but swallow.

Seemingly sensing that malicious gaze, the mole-men all started making creaking sounds out of fear.

That was the sound of their front teeth chattering.

When this bunch finally stopped their chattering, Luo Yan looked at the three moles closest to him and continued to ask patiently.

"Which one of you is Zhuang Zhuang?"

He couldn't remember the other names, only this one that was easy to recall.

"I, I am..."

A thin, small mole crawled out trembling. His height was a bit taller than a lesser demon, but he looked even more timid than Mixi.

Luo Yan stared into those fearful eyes and continued to ask.

"Who is your boss? What is his name, what is your tribe called, and where is it located?"

This question stumped him; he stammered for a long time before managing to say a complete sentence.

"Boss? We, we don't have a boss... Oh right! The Council! The Thirteen-Tooth Council is the boss of the Iron Tooth Tribe!"

A council?

Are they imitating dwarves?

Luo Yan seemed to have seen in a textbook that some dwarves and gnomes in the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain range practiced a council system.

Considering these moles were highly likely to have migrated from the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain range, and might even have been slaves to dwarves or gnomes, it was eight-to-ten that this was just another cosplay act.

"Then where do you usually hold your meetings?"

Zhuang Zhuang said nervously.

"Just, just behind this great hall... my lord. Including our tribe, everyone is in the back!"

Luo Yan pointed to the road ahead with his magic wand.

"Lead the way."

"Yes, yes..."

Zhuang Zhuang responded timidly and walked ahead to lead the way, trembling. He hadn't even taken two steps before he almost tripped from being scared by a voice coming from behind.

"Listen well, little mouse, if you dare to play any tricks... I will make you regret coming into this world."

This sentence might not have much deterrent power coming from someone else's mouth, but coming from a necromancer, it was imbued with a completely different meaning.

Zhuang Zhuang didn't dare to delay; he let out a shriek and ran forward on all fours.

"Yes—!"

Luo Yan then looked at the other moles, his magic wand pointing at Zhuang Zhuang's back.

"You follow behind him."

"If he takes the wrong road, remember to remind him."

The mole-men all responded in high-pitched voices and nimbly chased after Zhuang Zhuang's footsteps.

"Yes!!!"...

Behind the Mechanical Temple was another empty great hall.

However, unlike the previous Mechanical Temple, there weren't so many complex and strange parts here, nor was there trash piled into mountains. Instead, there were rows upon rows of dense metal shanties crowded into the open space of the hall, just like shelves in a logistics company.

It was very obvious.

The platforms and partitions originally located in this area had been dismantled, and these metal shanties were made from those materials.

These moles were like locusts; everywhere they went was left in shambles.

If the Shadow-Weaving clan was just digging holes and adding illegal structures on the edge of the labyrinth, then these guys were doing the work of a renovation crew, dismantling all the hard and soft furnishings in the labyrinth regardless of anything, and then replacing them with their own style.

Luo Yan had thought this was some kind of breeding farm, but after asking, he learned that this was actually the settlement for this group of mole-men.

Tens of thousands of mole-men ate, drank, and defecated here.

Crowded, chaotic, without any order to speak of... even the rat-men in the Beifeng mine tunnels didn't live as sloppily as they did.

The moles living higher up threw food scraps and feces down; once the metal shanties below were submerged in feces, the moles below would run up to build new houses, repeating that day-after-day cycle... until their feces buried their former upstairs neighbors.

Although the environment here was narrow, it didn't make them feel crowded; instead, it provided them with an unparalleled sense of security.

But relatively speaking, this order and sense of security of feeding each other feces was probably something only this group of mole-men could endure.

Just as Luo Yan expected.

This council thing might be just right for dwarves, but for this group of mole-men who were just copying others, it was still too advanced.

Even when they reached the critical juncture of life and death, not a single guy capable of taking charge stood up.

Those around were either watching the show or leading the way.

The foul-smelling odor made Sarah frown uncontrollably, and she leaned toward Luo Yan's back instinctively... because only there did it smell better.

Luo Yan stopped walking forward as well.

Because he couldn't help but wonder if there was still any need to do this.

Zhuang Zhuang, who was crawling in front, stopped his footsteps and looked back at Luo Yan, trembling, and said.

"The Council... is just ahead, Demon King, are you sure you want to go over? I don't remember if there's a meeting there today... if not, it might be empty."

Just as he stopped, mole heads also poked out from the shadows under the shanties, looking nervously at the four intruders before them.

Like those little guys who crawled out from under the gears, they were all at a loss when facing the intruders, having no idea what to do.

Looking at those rows of dense "hamster cages" and those fearful little heads, Luo Yan finally gave up the idea of going deeper and slowly spoke in a dignified voice.

"No need."

"Since they haven't appeared by the time I walked here, that means their existence itself is a mistake, and there is no need for them to appear before me."

That cold voice made Zhuang Zhuang's heart tremble; his hands and feet went cold, and he shut his mouth, not daring to say another word.

Luo Yan paused for a moment, raised the magic wand in his hand to inject magic power into his voice, and then slowly spoke toward the settlement in front of him.

"When I stepped in here, I was surprised."

That flat, straightforward voice had no ups and downs; the mole-men watching quietly from the side didn't know what he wanted to do and could only continue to watch curiously.

Seeing more and more gazes focused on him, Luo Yan no longer stood on ceremony with this bunch and continued to speak in a cold tone.

"I am surprised."

"I am surprised that in just a few months, a group of stinking rats has ruined my labyrinth into this ugly and foul-smelling state!"

That dignified voice was like the cold wind of midwinter, blowing mercilessly onto the face of every mole-man.

The bone-chilling cold seemed to blow into the depths of every mole-man's marrow and deeply stung their hearts.

Fear.

Anger.

Yet, indifference.

This was the reaction of this bunch.

They were angry at being treated like rats, yet they couldn't muster a shred of courage to resist, and could only bury their heads in fear.

Intimidation—

This was the most concise and comprehensive way to deal with this group of cowards.

Or rather, this was the best way to tame them.

Luo Yan looked around.

Just as he expected, all the gazes that made contact with his lowered their heads in submission, fearing to meet his eyes for even a second.

With a faint smile curling the corner of his mouth, Luo Yan, like a true villain, announced the fate of the Iron Tooth Tribe in a dignified voice.

"You probably haven't figured out the situation yet, so let me explain it to you now."

"This is the territory of Hell, and you are the intruders who have occupied the magpie's nest. Not only have you made a mess of this place, but you have also dismantled parts that should have played a greater role into scrap, making them into those pieces of trash you are so smug about but are actually ridiculously absurd!"

"I have no interest in wasting words with you; you only have two choices—submit, or die."

"I will only give you ten seconds."

At the same time the words fell, the magic wand in Luo Yan's hand flashed with a ghostly green light; that pure evil seemed to come from the deepest part of Hell.

Seeing that the Demon King was about to cast evil necromancy, all the mole-men panicked, letting out fearful, chattering screams.

Facing the threat of death, someone finally reacted, jumping out from the rat pack first and prostrating on the ground, screaming loudly.

"Long live the Demon King!"

Seeing someone take the lead, those moles curled up in the tin shanties followed suit, crawling out of their homes one after another and kowtowing in a panic.

"Long live the Demon King! Long live the Demon God! Long live Hell!"

"The, the Iron Tooth Tribe will be loyal forever! We will submit to you forever!"

"From now on, you are our lord! We will follow your footsteps to the death!"

The chattering voices echoed in the wide hall; from those panicked screams, Luo Yan could feel the fear deep in their hearts.

That was enough.

After all, Luo Yan didn't intend to really kill them all. Even before entering here, he had already thought of the use they could be put to.

Following the Shadow-Weaving clan's construction team, the Necropolis would add a few more skilled renovation teams, as well as skilled craftsmen adept at carving inscriptions.

Compared to the hard-to-discipline rat-men, mole-men still had value in being trained.

"Very good."

Facing the mole-men who had bowed in submission, Luo Yan nodded with satisfaction and extinguished the ghostly green light at the tip of his wand.

"Starting today, I announce the dissolution of the Thirteen-Tooth Council; a new council is established, and the councilors will be those rats..."

As he spoke, Luo Yan looked at the little rats trembling behind Zhuang Zhuang, and then cast his gaze toward Zhuang Zhuang.

"As for you, from now on, you are the chieftain of the Iron Tooth Tribe and the leader of these little guys."

Zhuang Zhuang looked at Luo Yan in astonishment; before he could be surprised by this lord's appointment, he hurriedly kowtowed to accept the order.

"As you command! My lord! Zhuang Zhuang will certainly not fail your expectations and will keep these little guys disciplined and obedient."

The moles gathered around all looked at this lucky little guy with envy and jealousy, including those "former councilors" hiding in the rat pack, their eyes flashing with naked greed.

The moles who had squeezed him out of the rat pack earlier now wished they could swarm up and tear him to pieces to replace him.

Yet, precisely because of this, the little guy named Zhuang Zhuang performed even more diligently, his furry head almost rubbing blood onto the ground.

Watching the little guy desperately showing his loyalty, Luo Yan nodded approvingly and then threw out the final sentence.

"I hope your loyalty doesn't just stop at words."

"If you have any ulterior motives, I will make you deeply realize... what it means when even death is a luxury."

(End of chapter)