Chapter 432: Contract and Restoration

"Spread the news; that Dwarf is bound to give the bald ones an explanation!"

In the city of Ta-Sabai at the southern end of Nehekhara, a tall mummy clad in heavy armor and wearing a majestic funerary crown threw an empty box onto the ground; with a tap of the long staff in his hand, the box seemed to pass through a thousand years of time, rapidly decaying before turning into fly ash.

This staff was terrifying to behold; its tip was a ribcage, with two rows of ribs extending neatly, and a black crystal radiating evil energy suspended at the head of the staff, surrounded by a ring of teeth!

This staff was named the Staff of Nagash, crafted personally by the Lord of Undeath—the raw material was none other than his own younger brother, King Tutpu, master of Khemri! He had used this magic staff in his conquests and, after being cast into the underworld for the last time, passed it on to his top general.

This general was none other than Arkhan the Black; after breaking into Gaoyuanbao and seizing the box, he had vaguely felt something was wrong, and after returning to his base and studying it carefully for a long time, he finally confirmed there were no hidden mechanisms or compartments—he had been completely and utterly tricked!

Taking advantage of his absence, that wretch riding a Dragon in the forest had led a bunch of human scum who valued money over their lives to push the front line out of the rainforest—all the efforts of these past two years had been in vain, and he would have to find another way to obtain suitable sacrifices from the Wood Elf main deity.

"The grimoires are of great importance; I carry this one with me for protection, praying and purifying it day and night. The other is suppressed in a secret location, even safer than the one I carry; please tell His Excellency the Arch-Bishop not to worry."

After receiving the intelligence, Kasimir VII paid a visit, and Sinuoli, without a word, took out the one Settra had just returned to him to show him; the old bald man verified it was the real thing and left, relieved, which saved a lot of talk.

"This is also fine; by focusing Arkhan's attention on me, he shouldn't harass the Southlands wantonly. If he really dares to bring a small mobile force to launch a surprise attack on me, I wouldn't mind trying to keep him here permanently."

Sinuoli thought bitterly while swirling the beer in his cup, and over there, Arkhan was also thinking. This was also a move of open conspiracy, forcing Sinuoli to reveal the true whereabouts of the Nine Scrolls. In the Lich King's mind, carrying them with him was the most likely scenario; perhaps that Dwarf was secretly studying them too!

"You stay to defend the city; those fellows in the rainforest shouldn't come out, and if it really comes to it, just retreat to the Black Tower. I heard my old flame is doing well in the north; it's time to let those fellows who drank the elixir contribute to the Lord's resurrection."

He summoned the Tomb King of Ta-Sabai who was attached to him, gave a few simple instructions, and then gathered his personal guard. The forbidden knowledge recorded in the Nine Scrolls was also of great help to Arkhan; he could start with other things regarding the troublesome Dwarf Demigod, and it wouldn't be too late to come back and trouble Sinuoli after his own strength had increased.

"They retreated? Then he probably intends to go find the Vampires to cooperate; whether it's useful or not, it's better to send a warning."

After treating the wounded and assigning positions to the newly recruited civil servants, Sinuoli received a message from Auleiliya Xingge. The Woodland Lord hoped to continue having human mercenary troops to take advantage of Arkhan's absence and pull out the bridgehead of Ta-Sabai that was invading the rainforest.

Sinuoli certainly knew what Arkhan was going to do, but all he could do was release the news; as for asking those Chosen Ones not to go far—just because an Undead Demigod wanted to capture them to provide Divinity for the Lord of Undeath in the underworld, don't joke around.

"Promote the Karak Gold Bank and notify all fortresses to raise their alert levels, both internally and externally. Andemuge, have the people in the West Yard work overtime; those fellows I brought back from the Old World will surely be up to something! Our peaceful days might be briefly interrupted."

Summoning the high-level officials of the Southlands in the hall, Sinuoli clearly put forward several requirements; he needed the Second Dwarfs to gain a firm foothold in the grassroots of human society while remaining firmly in his own hands, so that the war potential of the Southlands could be mobilized.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for unlocking Contract Authority!"

A month later, the gold banks in various places were on the right track, and the constant thoughts of the beneficiaries condensed a new seed for Sinuoli. It had an effect similar to 'word becomes law', though it was negligible at the starting stage.

"If one generation isn't enough, then two; time is on my side now."

Examining the system, Sinuoli muttered; his wealth-related faith was already growing rapidly, and he had unlocked the Rust Plague, which could weaken enemy armor. The Southlands were far from a development bottleneck, and the Rune Colossus could be activated at any time, so he didn't need to be too anxious to start operations.

"Slowly revise the textbooks; this thing is delicate work. Establishing virtue, merit, and words—if done well, it's a matter for generations."

Burying his head back into the manuscript on the table, Sinuoli studied it word by word; he wanted to add his own private agenda to the knowledge in a relatively decent way, ensuring that as many of the audience as possible could develop the concept of being "Southlanders" and pledge their loyalty to him.

"The one at Jiliuguan can already move; it just needs final debugging and maintenance to be put into battle. Next, I need to spend some time creating more new cores. There should be progress in Kislev; my strength is growing with each passing day."

Half a year later, Kelage finally sent good news; Buluokesen mentioned more than once in his routine telegrams that the Colossus had long been drivable, but the strict Master kept nitpicking the details, causing the food for the celebration banquet to be prepared three times over.

"I don't even count on producing new ones; I'll have my hands full just repairing all the existing ones. Although the Southlands don't have them, Eight Peaks does; it's reasonable to ask Belegar to share some with me after I help him retake it, right? By the way, Eight Peaks!"

Sinuoli, amidst the clutter of official business, stood up and looked toward the north; he knew there were still lost fortresses waiting for him there. The time was coming, and he could start making preparations.

"The Southlands change almost every year under your governance; perhaps it won't be long before Gaoyuanbao catches up to the Everpeak!!"

A few days later, Belegar Ironhammer was invited south; the last bloodline of the Angrund Clan still maintained a robust physique and high spirits, not eroded by the comfortable life of a lord, though Sinuoli believed the day-and-night prodding of the four ancestral spirits played a big part.

"Isn't Keladeluomen the same? I'm worried that if it continues to develop, you'll treat that place as Eight Peaks! Speaking of which, how is the restoration of Dragon Crag going?"

Sinuoli squeezed Belegar's arm and made a joke; the two had been communicating frequently over these years, and the young king had completely accepted Sinuoli's philosophy—if the ancestral laws couldn't recover the ancestral lands, how could things go on without changing?

"Quite well; just as you said, if you want to be rich, build roads first. The stubborn rocks smashed by my HolyHammer these years are more numerous than rat heads!"

Like Sinuoli, Belegar provided jobs for immigrants by building roads, reorganized the Earth Vein Network from Keladeluomen to Dragon Crag and Red Cloud Mountain, and was recently planning to extend the rail line north to Red Cloud Mountain.

(End of chapter)