The elder paced back and forth in the greenhouse, holding up the swaddled infant. He discovered that the faint grayish-black color had all faded away, turning into a pure white.
Under the blessing of the Young Master of Life, the impure Origin Substance was purified again after being cleansed by the secret ritual. Even some of the young Nagas that had been slightly deformed had returned to normal.
Huai Shi himself felt refreshed. The pressure brought on by the continuous battles and the damage to his soul had also disappeared.
He had gained a new understanding of his control over Divinity.
He was ashamed to say this, but this was the first time he had used a blessing ceremony that was common to the Young Master of Life. It was even close to becoming an industry.
He had never experienced anything like this before.
But when he came back to his senses, he couldn't help but think: if the Young Master of Life's blessing was the same as baptism, then … … did this mean that he had become the godfather of a few hundred Nagas?
In other words, the moment these Nagas were born, they would be considered as non-believers of the Bahamut Cult?
In his daze, his hand subconsciously trembled, as if he felt a gaze of approval from the abyss. It was so meaningful.
Then, a green light flashed above his head.
The fleeting light condensed into the shadow of a scale, then disappeared again.
"What was that?"
Huai Shi raised his head in shock. Before he could see clearly, he heard the sound of kneeling and kowtowing.
The greenhouse was dead silent. The Nagas were all prostrated on the ground, piously worshipping. Huai Shi almost jumped in fright, "What's going on?"
"It's a blessing! Your Excellency Huai Shi! "
The elder kowtowed in ecstasy, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets as he stared at Huai Shi, "You have received the favor of the merciful Mother of Cruelty!
The Ring of Eternity has specially blessed you! "
[Verdant Symbol]
It was a symbol of nobility among the Nagas, equivalent to the Eternal Ring's Crown Bearers!
Unless one was the chief of a large settlement, or a warrior who had experienced tens of thousands of battles, it was extremely difficult to receive the favor of a ruler … …
Then why was it suddenly given to him?
Huai Shi scratched his head.
He only understood half of it.
After pondering for a long time, she suddenly realized that she had been given an award for being a midwifery expert in the production team. Was that why the team had given her a certificate of merit?
Was this even possible?
But since the certificate had already been given, it would be embarrassing for him to reject it.
It was an honorary title, and it was better than nothing. Moreover, with this employment fee, he could even get a discount … This was very good!
Huai Shi left the underground greenhouse after assisting the elders in blessing and praying for the newly born Nagas.
On the street outside the gate, huge lizards were growling in a low voice. Boxes and packages of various sizes were hanging on their bodies.
In the settlement, everyone was hurrying to pack their things.
A noisy convoy was gradually taking shape.
After the transformation ritual and the blessing of the Young Arbiter of Life, the Evergreen Settlement was about to embark on the long journey of migration.
Under the protection of the female serpent-men, all the hatchlings and young serpent-men were carefully escorted to the rear of the convoy.
Huai Shi's blessing had greatly reduced the pressure on their migration.
After all, compared to hatchlings, eggs that had not yet hatched were the most fragile. Perhaps they would die prematurely under the bumpy journey and the drastic temperature difference.
The first convoy to explore the path had already set off yesterday.
In addition to the serpent-men hired by Huai Shi, the next large group would also set off in the next few days.
"They're leaving already?"
Huai Shi looked at the flying dust. "That's fast."
"In a few months, the tax collectors and legions of the fallen country will arrive." The elder said, "It will be difficult for us to bear the harsh blood tax alone."
Since it was called blood tax, it was not something as gentle and bright as blood donation.
Every once in a while, the legions from the fallen country would periodically sweep and patrol the areas within their reach. Depending on the situation and location, the cycle was uncertain.
It could be a hundred years, ten years, or a few months …
The settlements they passed only had two choices. They could either respectfully submit and pay taxes, or they could overestimate themselves and face destruction.
Unless it was a harsh area that was difficult to survive, it would be difficult to escape. But even in Hell, it was considered a harsh place, so there must be some terrifying thing or remnant of a disaster entrenched there.
If they wanted to survive, they could only submit to the stronger ones.
It was not just the Withered King. The other larger and more powerful rulers also had their own territories and regular taxes.
The Sea of Thunder needed a large number of slaves to work endlessly for them. The Dragon of Decay would regularly collect aberrations. The Land of Bliss was even more direct. Wherever they passed, not a single blade of grass would grow. Everything was used to satisfy the hunger of the Eternal God …
In comparison, the Withered King was already considered a rare benevolence.
He only wanted blood.
More accurately, he wanted life.
He wanted to offer his life to the country that represented death.
Wherever the legions of the fallen country went, the calculating tax collectors would set a fixed standard for continuous collection based on the local situation. The best treatment was that they would only collect three out of ten taxes.
Apart from this, the most common method was to give away half of their lives.
They could either join the Withered King's army and offer their lives to the fallen country, forever serving it. Or they could offer up blood and Origin Substances that represented their lives in order to satisfy the demands of the fallen country.
Depending on the quality and quantity of blood offered, the lowest quality blood would be given, like the Kobolds and Ratmen, and the tax rate was also the heaviest. Almost every time they came, they would lose their lives.
They were born quickly and collected quickly as well.
They were like leeks from Hell.
Even the desolate Rusty Pagoda Forest, which was located at the edge of the Abyss's territory, couldn't escape the taxes of the fallen country. The taxes here were constant, and they needed to offer up the same amount of blood.
When the fallen country's army arrived, they either had to pay the same amount of blood tax, or they had to take one of the wearers with them.
There would be no exceptions.
If they couldn't pay up, it wasn't uncommon for the entire Hell to be slaughtered.
At this point, it wasn't just the Nagas that were beginning to migrate. Countless tribes had already begun to flee long before that. Huai Shi couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the small fish and shrimps that he had gotten used to eating.
"Do you have a place to go?" Huai Shi asked.
"You don't need to worry," the elder said. "We have tribes in all of the Abyss's territory. Two tribes have already contacted me. No matter where you go, infants and pregnant women are valuable members. "
As he replied, the elder's expression was very calm. He didn't seem to be moved by the fact that the tribes were leaving.
It wasn't uncommon for the Nagas to migrate.
By nature, they wouldn't stay in one place for too long. Once a tribe had too many members and could no longer survive, they would split up on their own and begin a new migration.
In addition, they would often be hired by the leaders of the Abyss's territory to do battle.
Gathering and parting were common.
The cold Nagas did not fear death, nor did they care about parting. As long as the laws and the Eternal Ring still existed and they could return to their homeland after death, they didn't care about anything else.
Now, the original officiant had become the new leader of the Abyss's territory. He replaced the elder hired by Huai Shi and continued to lead the migration of the new tribe.
The elder would continue to serve Huai Shi as the leader of the remaining Undead Army and White-Scaled Guards until the end of the war.
Not only that, he now shouldered a new mission.
— — To recruit more tribes for Huai Shi.
Too much money was annoying.
There were too many spoils of war to use up.
After completely destroying the settlements of the five crown-bearers, Huai Shi naturally took over all of their belongings, including their lives.
Including the treasury.
In addition to a large number of rare materials and treasures, the most abundant items were all kinds of disaster coins and equivalent items that could be used between Hell.
For Huai Shi, these things had no use other than melting them as outer armor.
All of them were rubbish.
According to his plan, these things that he had no use for were actually thrown to the elders, but the amount of wealth was too exaggerated. It was so exaggerated that the elders carefully calculated: Including himself, even if he sold his life ten times, he might not be able to repay this reward.
Based on her respect for Huai Shi and her pride as a warrior, she proposed a new plan.
Cash on the spot.
Apart from a part of it being left to the Evergreen tribe as a reward, the rest of the property was used to recruit other large groups.
So far, there were a total of four Naga tribes in the neighboring depths that responded to the elder's call and were willing to work for Huai Shi.
With the elder guaranteeing their credibility and loyalty, Huai Shi was not worried about trouble.
Not to mention that he had now been conferred the title of Verdant Mark. For the Nagas, he was simply a heroic figure and a spiritual leader. Maybe there would even be an additional morale boost.
Huai Shi simply left all these things to the elder to deal with.
Not long after the blessing ceremony ended, he had already returned to the modification workshop of Sun Ship.
After a complicated rinse and elimination of the outer layer, Huai Shi finally changed into a set of light clothes. After walking into the airtight room, he skillfully dug out a can of happy water from the fridge.
He could finally rest!
He slumped on the chair like a salted fish and took out his phone, wanting to check the update. But when the screen lit up, he realized that there was no signal in hell.
And he had already finished reading all the previous updates.
Half of them were even leave slips!
Huai Shi frowned. This dog author wrote so little every day. He only wrote seventy to eighty thousand words in a month. Isn't it too much to touch?
Next time, I'll tie him up and send him to hell to write!
"You're back so soon?"
In the inner workshop, Anton walked out with a stack of design drawings. He glanced at Huai Shi on the sofa and paused slightly.
"You look a lot calmer." He asked curiously, "Did something good happen?"
"Hmm?"
Huai Shi didn't understand. "Is there?"
"Yes." The old professor nodded. "At least you don't look so scary anymore."
Huai Shi was slightly surprised.
But he had nothing to say.
As a hero who protected the present realm, a member of Celestial genealogy waged war and massacres in hell without any scruples. He didn't even leave the enemy any way out or leeway. He killed them all, not even sparing their souls and corpses.
He shook his head in self-mockery.
Did he start to lose himself in power and desire and do whatever he wanted?
"To a certain extent, I like hell very much."
Huai Shi sighed softly. "Maybe I have some talents that aren't very good, but I can use them without any scruples here. I don't have to worry about hurting the people I care about and want to protect, causing irreparable consequences …
Perhaps, this is my dark side? "
"Even the dark side is very solemn." Professor Anton sighed.
Huai Shi smiled. "The word solemn shouldn't be used to describe such a cruel and cold thing."
"If it's something that should be done, then do it. Solemnity and seriousness are better than frivolity and perfunctory. Besides, we're not here for a charity event. "
Professor Anton replied calmly, "Alchemists always say that miracles and disasters are equivalent, but I think that mercy and cruelty may also be the same.
No one can be perfect. Huai Shi, you don't need to feel any pressure because of this. "
"Hmm?"
Huai Shi was stunned for a long time after hearing this. "… To be honest, I thought Professor Anton would blame me."
"Why would I blame you?"
The old professor was puzzled. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"Hearing your assurance, I feel a lot more relaxed." Huai Shi breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. "It seems that I can sleep well tonight."
"No, you can't."
Professor Anton had already put on his external walking equipment. He turned around and stuffed a lot of things into Lucien's hands. "Take these things. You have to come and work for me."
"What?" Huai Shi was stunned.
"The internal stress of this batch of finished parts is a bit high. You have to eliminate it. Among the models marked here, there are a lot of unqualified parts that need to be melted down and reworked. Time is a bit tight. I'll give you two hours to finish it."
"Ah, this …"
Huai Shi tried to shirk the work. "If alchemy can solve the problem, can't you find Gregory?"
"Alchemists do everything based on their feelings. He has already broken two batches of crystal plates. This is the last batch. Don't you worry?"
Anton glanced at him and said seriously, "If you ask me, this is your dark side, Mr. Huai Shi. You have to learn to say no to laziness. A real man never needs to rest!
And … "
"And?" Huai Shi was still holding on to the slightest hope.
"And, the lathe's cutter head is broken. You have to make a set of cutter heads first."
Anton urged, "Don't dawdle. I need it urgently."
"…"
In silence, Huai Shi looked at the mountainous pile of work in front of him.
He began to think.
Was it too late for him to implement an eight-hour workday in Hell?
.
.
Thanks to the Pygmy King's remains rewarded by Old Undead Iron, the progress of the Sun Ship's modification had been greatly improved, saving Huai Shi and the others a lot of work.
Pure natural, pollution-free, it could be used directly after being modified.
It also filled in the gaps of a large number of materials.
At the same time, it also gave Anton and Gregory the leeway to further display their abilities.
When the Sun Ship was assembled again, it had become a huge monster that even the workshop could not accommodate. The huge outline supported by the Pygmy King's bones was covered with thick armor, its edges and corners were fierce.
Compared to its original size, it had more than doubled!
Just like a sleeping steel monster, just crawling on the ground, it was like a pitch-black mountain range. And in the middle of the ship's hull, the hanging kobold was spitting out the symbol and emblem of the Ivory Tower bit by bit.
This time, it was not only the armor that was renewed, but also the main battle weapon that was crucial to the warship was added.
Under the pull of the steel cable, the pitch-black cannon body that was almost as long as the Sun Ship was still being slowly and carefully lifted. The two-meter-wide cannon muzzle was enshrouded in darkness, and a jaw-dropping sense of violence assaulted them.
Countless cables modified from the Pygmy King's blood vessels were wrapped around it and sank into the steel. They slowly squirmed like living creatures, gradually lighting up the alchemy array.
After four tests and confirming that the connection was complete, and that all the arrays and instruments were operating normally, everyone in the observation room could not help but cheer.
Unfortunately, due to the scarcity of energy, they could not fire a goddamn cannon to celebrate.
There was also no big toy for them to blow up.
Suddenly, there was no such feeling …
"But it still feels a little empty."
Huai Shi walked around the wide deck twice. He felt that compared to the standards of the Abyss Development Bureau, the current firepower was still not enough.
"Should we get a few more close-range cannons? Or just add two more auxiliary cannons! "
"No, we don't have enough equipment."
Professor Anton shook his head. "I've calculated the load capacity of the Red Dragon. Now, just the Origin Deflection Shield alone takes up most of the computing resources. The fire-control radar's chip set is too outdated. Also, the flight control system is still the same version as the Car of Destiny. It can't support more expansion interfaces. "
This was only the most important part now.
It could not be helped. They lacked everything.
There was almost no damage monitoring, and emergency repairs were basically done by hand. A complete Sun Ship's conventional combat form required at least dozens of crew members to divide the work and coordinate. Now, it was basically controlled by Beelzebub and Huai Shi's large group.
Radar, fire-control, power, communication … Every one of them was a bottomless pit of resources.
"I can think of a way to solve the firepower part." Professor Anton sighed. "But before solving the problem of the components, the modification progress can only be like this."
"A transit station?"
Huai Shi understood.
In Hell, other than the unreachable supply base, there was actually another place that could solve their urgent problems.
An institution left behind from the Utopia.
Due to the deep backflow and the hasty retreat, a large number of equipment and instruments were abandoned in various Hells. There was no lack of precious materials among them.
Even if they were only recovered, disassembled, and reused, it could greatly enhance Sun Ship's combat ability.
After some calculations, Forster had already planned a new route.
This was their next destination.
Depth 51, Samara's third communication center.
And before that, it was time to deal with the most important spoils of war.
In the silence, everyone looked at the iron box on the table.
The last remains of the Dwarf King.
The Heart of Rock Iron.
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