Six-Armed Serpent Demon

Page 113

She yawned lazily, telepathically sensing the bomber squadron members hovering above the clouds:

What are the enemy fleet's movements?

The bomber squadron members were still keeping a close watch on the enemy fleet from afar. Telepathic communication was only possible one-to-one, so it took them quite a while to receive a reply.

They abandoned their flagship, and the remaining warships turned north and set sail.

Ivy-Beate thought for a moment, then took out a shrunken meteorite dragon head from her dimensional bag.

【What now? 】

After waiting another minute, the reply came back with a slightly more urgent tone: "They're starting to turn around!"

Ivy Beatrice then put the meteorite dragon head into her dimensional bag.

【Now?】

[...they seem a bit confused, circling around in the same spot.]

After a while.

They regrouped, turned around, and headed north.

Ivy Beatrice suddenly had a strong urge to take the meteorite dragon head out, put it back in, take it out again, and put it back in again… but she remembered the lawyer in the movie who jumped in and out of the yamen gate and was eventually beaten up by Stephen Chow, so she gave up the idea.

Walking the dog can be very rewarding, but it's not fun if you go overboard.

About half an hour later, Ivy-Beate once again used telepathic bomber squadrons to confirm that all two hundred warships of the enemy fleet were heading north.

"We're heading north too."

She said to Steo, "You know how to get to Haysconti, right?"

Medusa immediately looked at her with a horrified expression.

"Are you crazy? That's the Red Dragon Lord's capital city, the capital of the Northern Federation! You just offended his naval legion, are you looking for death?"

"of course not."

Ivy Beate stretched lazily, ignoring Medusa's gaze, which had turned into one of disbelief at her. "I'm just going there to find a bar with three boots hanging on the door, and then I'll go in and drink ten glasses of milk."

Chapter 136 The Colossus of the North

After half a month of tracking and observation, under the high-altitude surveillance of the bomber squadron, the massive fleet of the Northern Federation entered its own waters and anchored on an island.

The island appeared to be a naval base. They replenished their fresh water and supplies there, rested for two days, and then set off again. However, when they set off again, the two hundred-plus warships split into more than ten small fleets flying the flags of different city-states, and sailed in different directions.

"The flags of different city-states" was what Captain Sink said.

Whether it was Captain Sink or the lizardman Chasan, the members of the bomber squadron were originally sailors on the treasure-hunting three-masted sailing ship. They all came from the Northern Federation and were very familiar with the various city-states.

Especially Sink. Before he became a half-red dragon and experienced a second spring in Grandal's life, he was a nearly seventy-year-old sailor. The old man had been at sea for over fifty years, and entering the northern seas was like entering his own backyard; he could find his way with his eyes closed.

"Heisconti, although it is the capital of the Northern Federation, is not a coastal city."

Sink told the mistress, "The Northern Federation, also known as the Northern Seventeen-City Federation, is because the two-headed dragon king (Sink still can't shake his awe of the Northern Federation's ruler) first personally conquered seventeen city-states. He divided these seventeen city-states among his red dragon wives and princes, calling himself the dragon among dragons."

"Later, it grew a second head and began to slumber for many years. But the Seventeen City Federation continued to expand outwards under its banner, and now the Northern Federation's power almost encompasses the entire North Sea, divided into eleven provinces. Although it is still called the Northern Federation, it is no longer the same. The original seventeen city-states all belonged to the Central Province. The governors of the provinces and the heads of local cities can only be descendants of the Red Dragon. There are also some vassal states that surrendered to the Northern Federation, and they each have their own Dragon King."

Ivy Beatrice understood somewhat.

—The territory ruled by this Demogorgon's dragon incarnation was roughly equivalent to Rome excluding North Africa. I never imagined I'd be facing such a behemoth.

But she had a question: "It's one thing for the dragon kings of those vassal states to be so, but why didn't these red dragon city lords go to war against the city of Fiery Earth with the two-headed evil dragon Hesladi?"

"Ninety-five percent of the Northern Federation's annual revenue must be handed over to the city of Haysconti. For this, the Two-Headed Dragon King personally executed six of his wives and two sons who had instigated the rebellion."

Sink shrugged and summarized briefly but philosophically: "They're all dragons."

Yes.

All the dragons in the world of Abel are pretty much the same: greedy, tyrannical, and coveting the territories and wealth of other dragons, willing to do anything for them. Even blood relatives are no exception.

The two-headed evil dragon Hysladili subdued the dragons, enfeoffing his sons and grandsons to rule and expand their empires, but in reality, he used them to endlessly plunder wealth from all over the world.

As long as it has a breath left, those tool dragons have no hope of ever getting ahead.

Forget about joining the war; its dragon sons and grandsons probably all hope that this "Dragon of Dragons" will suffer a crushing defeat or even die. They might even deliberately leak the news to the City of Flame, allowing the Bronze Dragons to easily unite with Giljin and Samarachi.

"It is said that the Two-Headed Dragon King's wealth is enough to fill the North Sea, making him the richest dragon king in the world."

Stewart, a professional dragon's lair treasure hunter who was listening in, interjected, "I think it shouldn't be called the Lord of Strife and Tyranny at all; it should be called the Lord of Wealth."

"...The Lord of Wealth?"

With her emerald green vertical pupils unfocused, Ivy Beatrice couldn't help but drift off into her own world again.

She remembered her past life on Earth.

At that time, she had not yet entered the gaming industry and become a homebody. She was still working and striving with hope, eager to get rich, and then she was discouraged after countless setbacks.

That day, she had been exposed to the scorching sun all day and was exhausted and thirsty, so she found a small restaurant to eat at.

Almost every Chinese restaurant, regardless of size, displays a statue of Guan Yu, the God of War and Wealth.

While eating a cheap rice bowl at a table outside the restaurant, and looking at the Guan Yu statue of the God of War and Wealth surrounded by incense smoke, she thought to herself: Guan Yu, who is placed here to enjoy the incense offerings, must be an evil god.

Because the God of Wealth is an evil deity.

Because she proved through her own experience that a person who works diligently and conscientiously will generally not become wealthy. In other words, if there really were a "God of Wealth" who controls wealth, He would absolutely not bless such kind people.

To explain how to get rich, a group of vicious scoundrels even invented a term that reeks of arrogance: "poor people's mindset." They categorize diligent and hardworking people as those who embody "poor people's mindset," and argue that the reason you're poor is because you embody "poor people's mindset," and that by embracing it, you're cut off from wealth.

This is in line with the ancient joke "Breaking the Five Thieves".

Once upon a time, there was a scholar who envied his wealthy neighbor's daily life of lavish feasts and luxurious carriages. He went to ask him for the secret to wealth. The wealthy man told him, "The secret to wealth cannot be easily passed on." The scholar persisted, and the wealthy man said, "Fine, but at least treat me to a good meal." So the scholar spent all his savings to prepare a feast for the wealthy man. After the feast, the wealthy man wiped his greasy mouth and prepared to leave. The impatient scholar stopped him: "You've eaten the feast, but you haven't told me the secret to wealth!" The wealthy man then told him: "Actually, getting rich isn't difficult. However, to get rich, you must first 'destroy the five thieves in your heart.'" The scholar was a little confused and hurriedly asked the wealthy man: "May I ask what these five thieves in your heart are?" The wealthy man solemnly told him: "These five thieves in your heart are 'benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness.'"

Only those who have broken free from the virtues of "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness" can become wealthy. Therefore, the God of Wealth must be a deity who protects those who "break free from the five thieves." How could such a deity possibly be a benevolent one?

Therefore, the God of Wealth must be an evil god, and a pretentious bastard at that.

However, back then, she was on Earth and hadn't experienced the bloody and violent medieval life we ​​see now, so all she knew was that bastard who was worshipped as a god of wealth, constantly touting his followers about blessings. Well, that's the blessing they received.

Therefore, in her limited imagination at that time, the God of Wealth should be an evil, lawful god.

She went home and shared the idea with him.

He laughed.

“If that’s the case, this evil god should rule a kingdom where people work themselves to death. The souls of believers in the kingdom do not produce anything; they are all frantically exploiting each other, boasting about all sorts of amazing investment stories, and using investment as a pretext to commit fraud.” He said wistfully, “All cult members take pride in spending other people’s money, and at the same time firmly believe in their hearts that they can redistribute the wealth of the whole society in a completely new way, and that success is just around the corner.”

She laughed so hard she rolled around on the bed, thinking he was really talented.

But since being reincarnated as a demon in Abel, Ivy Beatrice has come to understand one thing.

It turns out that the God of Wealth doesn't have to be a lawful faction.

While it's true that within the framework of order, transactions, terms, and contracts can be used to accomplish acts more brutal than robbery, the essence of power is violence. Only by first possessing violence can you possess the power to establish rules and order.

Violence is the foundation for accumulating wealth.

This is probably why everyone worships Guan Yu as the God of Wealth, because he is violent enough and good at killing people.

Therefore, accumulating wealth doesn't require elaborate transactions; it can be done much more directly.

Ivy Beatrice discovered that she preferred straightforward, brutal robbery to all the superficial, polite pretenses. Like that red dragon overlord with its head chopped off.

Ivy Beattie asked, "So, how should we get to Heisconti as quickly as possible?"

Sink looked at Steo.

Steo looked at Sink again.

"What's wrong?" Ivy Beatrice asked curiously.

Medusa sighed resignedly, “We’re going to the coastal city-state of Georg in the Central Province, where our treasure-hunting ship departed. That’s the headquarters of the Invincible Fleet and the city-state ruled by Georgrosia, the silver dragon wife of the two-headed evil dragon. We’ll land there and then take the land route, passing through two other city-states. It will take a month to reach Hesconti.”

She groaned, her once vibrant, snake-like hair now looking listless.

“Damn it, I still need to come up with a suitable story to explain to our former shipowner’s family,” she said, distressed. “He was a bit of an idealist, but he was a pretty good guy.”

Chapter 137 The Terrifying Dragon Rule

Ivy Beatrice finds it hard to imagine why a two-headed red dragon would have a silver dragon as a wife.

“It has all kinds of wives,” Steo said. “Didn’t Sink say that it executed six of its own wives? After that, it replaced them with six other wives to rule those six city-states, one of whom was Keogrosia. Then it married fifty more, but it didn’t give them fiefdoms or city-states; it kept them all in the harem of Haysconti. It has dragons of all colors of scales—golden dragons, silver dragons… and three of its wives are its own daughters.”

Later, Medusa looked disgusted.

Ivy Beatrice wasn't too surprised.

Throughout Earth's history spanning thousands of years, both ancient and modern, the homes of royalty and nobility were always filthy and repulsive, their debauchery surpassing even that of this evil dragon.

Her focus was: "Is this guy marrying so many wives so that he'll have a backup plan if any of them rebel in the future?"

"Wonderful."

Stewart's eyes lit up: "The word 'backup plan' is brilliant. I didn't realize you had the makings of a writer."

—Come on. If that's the case, there are countless internet writers; you couldn't count them all even if you rubbed them in a dustpan.

Ivy-Beate thought to herself, when she suddenly heard Sink say mysteriously beside her, "The treasure hunters were telling the truth about the Dragon King's harem. Mistress, you must be very careful on your trip to Haysconti."

Ivy Beatrice asked, puzzled, "What does this have to do with me?"

“That guy has a wide range of tastes, and his wives aren’t limited to dragons,” Sink said. “With your unparalleled beauty, if he sees you, there’s a good chance you’ll be taken into his harem.”

"Uh…"

Ivy Beatrice had nothing to say.

Since the Four Symbols Tower used its last bit of energy to modify the system panel it obtained from Demogorgon, Ivy-Beate found that the panel had become more detailed, with a lot of content that was not previously displayed.

For example, she actually possesses a hidden Abyss specialization called "Extraordinary Appearance (Beauty)".

This is a special skill that only abyssal creatures possess when their charm reaches a certain level. In short, because of her exceptionally high, extraordinary beauty, every smile and gesture is incredibly captivating. With her willpower, she can bewitch any creature within a radius who glances at her, causing them to become infatuated. This bewitching effect can be cast once a day.

The Six-Armed Serpent Demon Reborn has never used this feat effect. Before, it was because he didn't know; now, he simply doesn't want to use it.

Growing up like this is purely a burden.

Now, after hearing Sink's introduction, Ivy-Beate became interested in the other corresponding Abyss Specialist.

That special ability is called "Extraordinary Appearance (Ugliness)," and it's something only abyssal creatures with high enough charisma can possess. It's an unforgettable ugliness, with a particularly intimidating appearance. It's enough to make any other creature within a radius vomit up their dinner at the mere sight of it, and this effect can be used once a day.

—If only I had that ugly talent.

Ivy Beate lamented inwardly, regretting that she hadn't accumulated enough soul energy. Otherwise, she could have directly consumed that ugly-to-the-point specialty and wouldn't have had to worry about Heislati's philanthropy at all.

"That's right."

Stio, standing to the side, gloated, "Everyone in the Northern Federation knows that guy has a wide range of sexual fetishes. Several of his fifty wives are human, dragon, and elemental... there's even a goblin and two centaurs."

"H-Hobgoblin?"

Ivy Beatrice stammered, "Half-centaur?"

She felt the hairs on her body stand on end.

—It seems that having an ugly specialty isn't necessarily a guarantee of safety...who knows what weird fetishes that guy has.

Steo chuckled and said, "And it also has men in its harem."

"M-Male?"

“He used to be a man,” Steo said. “That lecherous dragon believed that only those whose bodies it had possessed could gain its trust. It had two guards who were extremely loyal and capable. Hesrati was very pleased with them and decided to entrust them with important responsibilities. So, she first used shapeshifting magic to turn them into women, adding them to her harem, and having them bear her many offspring. Only then did she use magic to restore them to their original gender and send them to be governors of two different regions. By the way, one of them, whom you've dealt with, is the naval commander-in-chief, Zacharsa.”

Ivy-Beate swallowed hard, the image of the red dragon that she had blocked outside the captain's room with her "Blade Barrier" flashing before her eyes.

“I think I killed that guy’s son, the captain of that flagship,” she asked uncertainly. “Could I have killed the son of the two-headed evil dragon?”

“Oh, oh, oh, then you’re dead,” Steo said with a look of horror, then burst into laughter again. “Hahaha, just kidding, it can’t be. That’s a son that Zachasa had after he became male again.”

She waved to Ivy Beatrice.

“It could absolutely not be Hesrati’s son,” Steo said. “Everyone in the Northern Federation knows that the Two-Headed Dragon Lord never leaves offspring of any other race except for the sons of a true dragon born from its wife. They are all eaten by it as soon as they are born. The wives of other races are nothing more than its sex slaves and tools for producing food. That’s why it has a nickname: the Child Eater. But no one dares to say that in public.”

Ivy Beatrice found that her worldview shattered more in those five minutes than in all her previous ones combined.

"Let's go to Keogu first."

"That's the coastal city-state ruled by the silver dragon Geogrosya," Steo said. "I grew up there, or rather, in its sewers. It's a pretty nice place. Although the whole city-state is chaotic and rife with bandits, at least one day a dragon king will suddenly descend from the sky and burn down a block or two just because he's constipated and needs some relief—yes, I'm talking about Hesconti. You actually want to go to that godforsaken place? If you're not a dragon prince or grandson with fire immunity, going to Hesconti is practically suicide."

Ivy Beatrice understood her meaning: "You don't want to come to Hesconti with me?"

Why should I go to Hesconti?

Steo chuckled slyly, “Don’t forget, you entrusted me with an important task: to recruit people for your Black Sail Town. What kind of population could Haysconti have? I have to travel to various coastal cities around the sea—no, I have to find suitable people willing to migrate.”