Fear stems from the unknown.
When something beyond one's comprehension appears before their eyes, this intangible Fear is completely magnified.
After Tang Zheng effortlessly disregarded all the Magic released by the Demon Manifested People with his own power, Queen Na Su Li Ni gave up resisting.
The entire Tribe of 1,500 Demon Manifested People was controlled by Tang Zheng. Although the number was not large, the overall strength of the Demon Manifested People Tribe far exceeded that of the Blue Maggot Tribe and the Pandes Tribe.
The total number of the three Tribes had reached 8,500, and the southernmost part of the entire Abelion Hills was under Tang Zheng's control.
A castle room was temporarily built on the hill.
Two chopped-down trees were pieced together to form a crude wooden table, full of tiny burrs.
Tang Zheng stood at the edge of the table, carefully looking at a beast hide map made of some kind of Magical Beast Hide, exuding an ancient and old-fashioned feel.
This was a map of the Abelion Hills, contributed by the Demon Manifested People, showing the general locations of various Tribes in the Hills.
As expected of one of the top Tribes in the Hills, the Blue Maggot and Pandes Tribes, who hid deep in the caves and rarely communicated with the outside world, could not produce such a map.
"If I remember correctly, Demiurge quickly dominated the Hills in the future and formed an army of 100,000 Demi-human to attack the Holy Kingdom."
Tang Zheng stared at the map, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes. "With Demiurge's character, these Demi-human are just tools, and he won't care about manpower or emotions."
"So, the total number of all Demi-human in the entire Abelion Hills should not exceed 150,000."
If the Demi-human in the entire Hills were divided into two categories, one would be the Demi-human Race that were inherently bloodthirsty, using humans as food. In game terms, they would be the Demi-human Race with a "Justice Points" leaning towards evil.
The other category might not necessarily have a good impression of humans, but they also had a certain level of morality, such as the Blue Maggot Tribe, the Pandes Tribe, and the Demon Manifested People Tribe currently under his control.
Ordinary Ogres belonged to the evil-leaning Race, but fortunately, they had low intelligence, making them perfect for use as tools.
Tang Zheng picked up a blackened wooden branch, and with the charred black part at the bottom, he marked several bloodthirsty Demi-human Race Tribes.
"Afterward, the Demi-human Tribes that really need to be cleaned up will be placed on these bloodthirsty Demi-human Races."
Tang Zheng raised the blackened wooden branch in his hand. "We need to weaken the strength of the Demi-human in the Hills, but we can't completely deprive them of their power."
"This 'degree' is indeed not easy to grasp."
The sleeve of the red robe slid down as Tang Zheng raised his hand, revealing a bronze-colored armlet, snugly fitted on his wrist.
The bronze armlet had black thread patterns inlaid on it, and upon closer inspection, one could notice faint, flickering light.
This armlet was the Magic Item carried by the Demon Manifested People Queen Na Su Li Ni, named "Death Guardian Armlet."
Although its level was not high, it had the ability to grant the wearer complete resistance to "instant death effects" once a day.
This resistance could even withstand the instant death effect caused by the Super-Tier Magic Darkness Fecund Sacrifice.
Not to mention the eighth-tier Magic *Death and the ninth-tier Magic Grasp Heart*, which Undead King was best at using, both of which caused "instant death" damage.
Of course.
It was useless against Undead King's trump card, Death Knell, which came with complete instant death. The only way to counter this kind of trump card was to use resurrection-type Magic or hold resurrection items.
No matter what.
Before this, Tang Zheng didn't have any means to counter "instant death" effect skills, but now he finally had one.
This way, even if he faced Killing Death in the future, he would have some confidence. He hadn't forgotten that the weapon she often held was the artifact "Charon's Guidance" of the God of Death, one of the Six Great Gods.
The weapon had an eighth-tier "Death Knell" built into it.
Knock—knock—
A soft knock sounded.
"Enter," Tang Zheng said without looking up.
The Lizardman Kuruche, still wrapped in straw, respectfully entered from outside the door. Her snow-white, slender tail dragged on the ground, the tip slightly raised, seeming a little nervous.
"Lord," Lizardman Kuruche crossed her white claws over her chest and respectfully addressed Tang Zheng in the room.
"'Cloud Manipulation', have you mastered it yet?" Tang Zheng asked without looking up.
"N-no."
Lizardman Kuruche's tail tip perked up even higher, her voice even more nervous.
Tang Zheng turned his gaze from the map and looked up at her, "Then what is it?"
Lizardman Kuruche took a deep breath, "Lord, the Ogres and Goblins sent to the border of the Holy Kingdom for the second time have been killed, and the Gold Ore they were carrying was also taken away by the humans."
After saying this.
Lizardman Kuruche lowered her straw-covered head even further, seemingly afraid of Tang Zheng's anger. She didn't understand why the lord was doing this.
But she subconsciously felt that this kind of thing would make Tang Zheng angry.
However, unexpectedly.
A light laugh came, causing Lizardman Kuruche to pause. The human lord didn't seem angry.
"Then send another group of Ogres and Goblins," Tang Zheng said.
"Yes, Lord," Lizardman Kuruche quickly responded respectfully.
"Wait a moment."
A faint smile appeared on Tang Zheng's face behind the black mask, and he continued calmly, "This time, don't carry Gold Ore. Take a basket of Medicinal Herbs instead. If they are still killed, then switch to Magical Beast Hide, Agate, Gems, or cave Crystals."
"These things are not very useful to Demi-humans, and the Hills area is not lacking them."
"Yes, Lord," Lizardman Kuruche bowed deeply and carefully retreated from the room.
"It's only January now, no rush." Tang Zheng's gaze returned to the map, and he muttered to himself, "Experience, class..."
...
Holy Kingdom border.
Central Fortress Stronghold.
A slightly dim room with walls made of brick and windows wide open to let in the cool breeze.
Several figures were standing around a round table. They were all captains of the Central Fortress soldier teams. Besides them, two men were sitting at the round table. And these two.
One was Orland Campano, with strong muscles, thick eyebrows, and an unkempt beard that gave him a rough and wild appearance. However, a pair of beady eyes broke the heroic feeling of his face, adding a touch of humor and incongruity.
Dang! Dang dang!
The most conspicuous was the one carrying eight single-edged swords, whose simple movements caused the blades to rub against each other, creating clanging sounds.
Another man was sitting.
His body was equally strong, but much leaner than the other, as if he had shed excess muscle, honing his body for extreme Agility.
His sharp, piercing black eyes made people tremble with just one glance; they were incredibly frightening. He carried a delicate and expensive magic bow on his back.
The air in the room was somewhat quiet.
The fact that only two men were seated while the rest stood was enough to indicate their high status.
And indeed, it was so.
These two men were two of the Nine Colors of the Holy Kingdom. The one with eight swords was Orland Campano, and the one with the bow was Pavel Baraja.
The so-called "Nine Colors" were titles of nine colors bestowed by the Holy King. Those granted "Nine Colors" were talents from various Domains within the Holy Kingdom.
These two were also the highest-ranking individuals in the entire Central Fortress Stronghold.
At this moment.
Everyone's eyes were on the three head-sized Gold Ore pieces placed on the table.
Several standing squad leaders were clearly trying to restrain themselves from looking at the Gold Ore on the table, but their eyes couldn't help but drift towards it.
A brief silence.
"Something's not quite right," Pavel, with the bow on his back, spoke first, his Darkness eyes fixed on the Gold Ore on the table, with no trace of greed, only suspicion.
Not long ago, Pavel had heard about a squad that had accidentally obtained Gold Ore, and at the time, he had sighed, impressed by their luck.
Now! Ogres were actually delivering Gold Ore again, and this time the Gold was not only larger but also more abundant, with three head-sized pieces.
Judging by its density, Pavel couldn't determine its exact value if refined, but he knew it would be worth at least several hundred Gold Coins.
Was this situation normal?
Of course not! Historically, Demi-humans attacking the Fortress walls were either remnants of Demi-human Races defeated or driven out from the Hills, small in number and posing little threat, hardly qualifying as attacks.
Or they were genuine large-scale Demi-human forces attacking.
But regardless, there had never been a situation where they brought Gold Ore to attack the Fortress walls, at least not in Pavel's memory.
No… now it had happened twice.
"Not normal?"
"I don't think so," Orland, wearing heavy leather armor, said with a light laugh, "Don't always be so tense, Pavel. What's not normal about free stuff coming to our door?"
"Anyway, it's fine to just kill these Demi-humans no matter what."
Pavel glanced helplessly at Orland, feeling that discussing things with him wasn't a smart decision, but he agreed with his words, "That's true."
Currently, there were only two such incidents, which could indeed be described as accidents. After all, the Demi-human situation in the Abelion Hills was complex, and anything could happen.
This matter was neither a big deal nor a small one, and reporting it upwards would seem like making a mountain out of a molehill.
Pavel still had some doubts in his heart, but he couldn't analyze any useful clues.
The most fundamental reason for holding this small meeting was that the value of these three Gold Ores was too high, completely different from the first time.
If they were completely handed over to the team that handled corpses, it would probably... definitely cause dissatisfaction among other teams.
"What's the situation now?" Pavel pondered for a moment, then raised his head to look at the captains standing there.
"Your Excellency, your subordinate has tried his best to block the news, but I'm afraid it has already spread." One of the captains stepped forward, a sheepish smile on his face, and said softly.
"Is that so."
Pavel sighed softly, knowing that it wasn't the other party's fault. After all, many people had seen it at the time, and it was too late to block the news even if they wanted to.
"Since that's the case, let's discuss the distribution plan." Pavel became more serious and spoke to Orland.
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