Silver Moon January of the fourth year.

The cold winter has gradually passed, the snow has begun to melt, and the mountain stream is flowing with clear water.

The branches have grown new leaves.

In the breeze, the verdant trees gently ripple like the waves. In contrast to this is the large-scale Giant Snake City.

Yes, on a grand scale.

Strictly speaking, the city of Giant Snake is located in a mountainous area, which is not suitable for building a large-scale city-state, but Jones built it out of force.

In the center, high on the hill is a huge vaulted castle that looks like an egg half-buried in the ground, and on top of the "eggshell" are nine towers that can overlook the whole city. Symbolizes the nine heads of the hydra. Hollowed out in the center, rain reaches the interior, creating a small lake in the heart of the castle.

Needless to say, it must be our Hydra Ophelia who lives here. It is now the symbol of the Great Serpent City. As for Jones, he just occupies one of the towers. However, it is also much larger than the original small castle.

Below the giant castle are countless small and medium-sized castles of different shapes. This is the abode of the lichs.

Jones has a castle for every lich who comes here, yes, every one, so it's a super complex of hundreds of castles gathered together. The scale is jaw-dropping.

This is nothing in Serpent City, after all, Mega Snake City now has a large labor force, including dwarves, goblins, and legions of the undead brought by the lichs. Building this kind of thing, it couldn't be easier for them.

The castle is hung with a nine-petal snake flag, which symbolizes the Giant Serpent City.

Outside, there is a large complex of buildings.

The vaulted low-rise houses scattered all over the flat land on the east side were the dwellings of the dwarves.

To the west, the almost hollowed-out hills and dense, rough-looking areas are the dwellings of the goblins.

The hilly terrain to the south is a large commercial area with an airport and convenient for goblin airships to dock.

To the north is the industrial area of Megasnake City, where various refineries, processing plants, and the lich's laboratories are located.

Further outer, there are the walls built by the undead, the barracks of the undead legions, the ore veins, and the endless undulating fields and farms. And, of course, there's the woods that Serpent City never lacks.

At this moment, the snow has begun to melt, and the whole city radiates a bright light under the sun.

Forehead...... Aren't the climate of the Colin Peninsula unpredictable, and why is it snowing so punctually and melting so punctually this year?

Not...... Do you remember when I said that there is nothing in this world that magic can't do, and if there is, add a few more people with strong magic?

Yes, the lichs do, and when you have the support of more than a hundred thousand-year-old lichs, most things in this world are unlikely to be difficult for you. Including the weather.

Even though the land of Mega Serpent City is still as barren.

In short, the city of Giant Serpent became the only place on the Korin Peninsula with a normal climate. Not only that, but due to the sheer amount of labor, its output was frighteningly large, and its scale had long surpassed that of Heard, whom Jones had admired so much in the past. It's the land of Adair's house.

Okay, I know, you've forgotten who Adair is. Adel Sambo, the one with just the right thigh, Jones's brother.

Although Giant Snake City is located in a remote area, it is impossible not to attract attention to such a big movement. If nothing else, the goblins' airships fly overhead every day, and there's no reason not to see them.

As a result, a large number of goblin merchants settled in the southern trade area of Giant Snake City, bringing business opportunities to Giant Snake City and beginning to promote Giant Snake City to the world.

"I want to be in the slave trade, and there's a lot to be done here, really. It can create a huge fortune for the Giant Snake City. And the goblins are especially willing to be sold by me. I really don't understand why I don't agree. ”

"That's the rule of Serpent City, sir. ”

"Why? Slave trade can be done everywhere, but not here?"

"You can go somewhere else and engage in the slave trade. I repeat, the inhabitants of Serpent City are free people, and slavery is not allowed here. Otherwise, you may be subject to penalties in the form of confiscation of all property. With a "bang", the elf lady sitting at the counter stamped the "disagree" stamp on the application: "Next!"

There was no way, and the goblin merchant who failed to develop a new business had to walk away with a stamped application.

The spacious government hall was full of people, countless people, of all races. There is no Bloodline.

Why? Because it's daytime, they can't get out.

The most common race is the goblins, as they are mainly concerned with trade and commerce. The entry and exit of goods in and out of Giant Snake City, and the development of commercial activities, all need to be approved here.

"I don't understand why my goods are being seized. My customer is in a hurry to get the goods, and if there is a breach of contract, do you have to compensate me for my losses?"

"There was a problem with the quality of that shipment. ”

"I knew, I knew there was a problem when I bought it. My clients also know they have problems. I bought it because it was cheap. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"It says 'Forge of Giant Snake City'. Exporting such goods would affect the image of Megasnake City. ”

"And I'll polish those words out?"

"Still no, we can't let such goods be exported. You can only choose to rebuild these goods, and as for the person who sold them to you, we are investigating him. ”

Of course, there are also administrative and people's livelihood content, but there are relatively few of them. They have another place.

"We want to get married. Not...... I know it's weird, after all, we're all goblins, and goblins don't usually get married. ”

"No, it's not surprising. Every resident of Mega Snake City is a free man, and you have the right to marry. ”

"Oh, that's great. May I ask, by the way, what difference will there be when you get married?"

"Of course, your rights will be protected by the Serpent Lord, and you will have to fulfill your obligations. Most of them are related to property. Here's a copy of the material you can take a look at first. ”

"But I can't read. ”

"Then you can go over there and find out more about it, we have a marriage counter dedicated to goblins. ”

"By the way, we're both men, is there a problem?"

"No problem. Miss Elf replied with a smile.

"Okay, thanks. The two goblins went away happily.

Miss Elf leaned over and picked up a cup of tea.

Another elf lady next to her sighed and said, "Recently, there have been more goblins going through marriage formalities suddenly. ”

"Yes, that's a good thing, isn't it? They don't think of themselves as slaves anymore, they already know how to own their own lives. ”

"But if you look at their registration forms, it's all men and men, women and women. I'm a little worried. ”

"That's a good thing, too, Polona. You don't know how much headache we had when we first started. Goblins are multiplying so fast that we even feared that they would eat up the entire Serpent City. At the very least, this will reduce their rate of reproduction and achieve some degree of natural sterilization. ”

"Hmm...... Speaking of which, too. By the way, Sister Ami, how long have you been staying here?"

"It's been almost a year. ”

"It's only been a little over a month since I was bought back by the city lord. To be honest, I don't quite understand why he bought me back. After all, elf slaves don't come cheap. ”

"Maybe he just thinks it's too annoying to have someone else sit in your current position, the life expectancy is too short, and it's too annoying to train all the time. As she spoke, the elven girl known as Ami laughed.

Polona laughed too.

For the vast majority of people who had just arrived in Mega Snake City, especially as a slave, Jones' behavior was very incomprehensible.

He bought back the slaves of all races with gold, but gave them back their freedom, even allowing them to leave Serpent City instead of just working for themselves. In the beginning, even because of his actions, it led to the financial crisis of Giant Snake City.

As a lord, what does it feel like to open your treasury and find only two gold coins left?

If it were an ordinary lord, it would probably collapse. Jones is okay, after all, he is used to the days of negative equity. And he also has a brother Adair, who has nothing but money. Occasionally, it is easy to overdraft tens of thousands of gold coins to save an emergency.

Speaking of Adair, he is also doing very well now. Maybe even the best descendants of the Sambo family in his generation.

"Adair, I need three million gold coins. ”

"Yes, no problem. I'll let them prepare it for you. ”

"I haven't told you what I'm going to do with it. ”

"Does it matter? As long as you want it, I will support it unconditionally. ”

"Thank you so much. Actually, I'm going to use it for magic experiments, and those materials are too expensive. And the odds of failure are a bit high. ”

"It's okay, I've got your back. ”

Well, it still sounds like a loser, investing with his eyes closed.

However, is this not the case?

Apparently not.

The huge labor force not only built a magnificent city-state for Mega Snake City, but also built the roads leading to the surrounding territories of Mega Snake City, which greatly stimulated his business.

At the same time, new products from the Lich enter the market. You have to admit that no matter how good the dwarves are, they can't match the magical armor of the lichs. Moreover, the dwarves in Giant Snake City are not bad, and they are even getting better and better, and they are close to the most authentic dwarven products in the Dwarven Valley.

Not just armor and weapons, but also potions, furniture, clothing, almost all industries are involved.

This is a nightmare for the original business system of the Bloodline. Not only that, but Jones has been buying slaves, which has directly led to the price of slaves being the most stable of all trades, and indirectly raising the cost of other blood lords.

When the goods produced by Giant Snake City went to the world, a large amount of money also flowed into Giant Snake City frantically. Among them, the most active is the Gangero family, one of the three major blood families and known for their banking industry.

The Gangero family has a huge fortune and is keen to invest. However, their investment in Mega Snake City hit a wall. With Adair and Jones' relationship, the Sambo family ate almost the whole cake.

You know, this is currently the biggest cake in the entire Collin Peninsula, and even the entire continent.

The industry and commerce of the Colin Peninsula have been beaten to the point that Jones has been unable to hold their heads up, and the profits are terriblely thin, and even losses abound. The slave trade maintained its price, but it was not pleasant. After all, the depressed business environment was forcing the lords to sell their slaves, which had a knock-out effect on the merchants who depended on the slave trade for their livelihoods.

Looking at it, it seems that only Giant Snake City is left as a profitable investment now.

As for the larger range...... The whole continent is in the midst of war, and it is a disorderly war to some extent. Even if they didn't, they would have a hard time competing with Jones, who had the support of the Lich. What's more, in the human world, Jones has connections far superior to theirs. Even the dwarves, elves, and the title of the son of the Jones Lich King have a strong credibility guarantee, which is not comparable to ordinary blood clans.

Other than that...... Jones was also known for freeing slaves, which gave him an excellent reputation among other ethnic groups.

The traditional blood lords did not have any of these conditions.

At the same time, Jones is not satisfied with the status quo and is still trying to develop new businesses.

"We have received good feedback on the weapons we have exported to the Kingdom of Isaac, and Speaker Benedict of the Southern Alliance has liked it very much. But he demanded even more. Can the sword no longer be limited to just sharpness, so that the armor is no longer limited to the pursuit of lightness and defensive strength? ”

The lich Irene was stunned when she heard this: "I ...... I don't really understand. ”

Jones continued, "I mean, can you make swords and armor stop just swords and armor, make them like wands. ”

"But the user is human, and humans have no magical powers. ”

"Yes, I know. Allows humans who don't have magical powers to use magic. You know what I mean?"

"Uh...... I seem to understand. Erin said, "You mean, attaching magic to equipment, and then the user can activate it to achieve the same effect as magic? We did. ”

"Yes, that's what I meant! With a slight difference, he wanted the magic to not be a one-off, but to add a core to the equipment, and when not in use, it would naturally accumulate mana. After all, they can't just ship the equipment back every time they use it and let us re-bless the magic. And our magic isn't limitless. ”

"I see what you mean, it's similar to that damn magic circle of the Black Dragons. It's a lot of difficulty, we need to spend a lot of time researching, and the results are not necessarily good. However, if he is in a hurry, we can give them a little replacement. ”

"For example?"

"For example, a magic sword that can perform fire magic three times is gone when it runs out. It's a bit stronger than just being able to use it once. ”

"Okay, I'll just reply to him. At the same time, research on magical equipment that can be used again and again must also begin, after all, we will definitely need it in the future. ”

"Okay. ”

In short, the once abandoned territory is now thriving, and everyone who lives here is busy, changing and growing almost every day. Full of dreams.

In the blink of an eye, the time had come to the middle of January of the fourth year of the Silver Moon, and as the highest authority of the Blood Clan, the envoy of the Blood Clan Elders' Council came to Jones.