Imperial Crown

The dungeon of Snow Maple Castle is different from that of Eagle Castle. In addition to the cells separated by iron fences, there is even a carefully built water dungeon.

This is nothing, but when he walked in, Raven felt something was wrong, because there were too many torture instruments in one of the cells.

X-shaped fixed brackets, triangular wooden horses, head and hand restraints, whips and fake tails of various models hanging on the wall next to them, and candles piled in the corner.

Raven's expression suddenly became a little strange. Viscount John looked so serious, but he played... so openly?

Do you want to make one for yourself?

"My lord, we're here." The jailer's voice sounded, and Raven came back to his senses.

Unlike other prisons, this cell did not use fences, but was built with large bluestone walls. The door was made of steel, and there was only a hole at the bottom for transporting food.

At Raven's instruction, the jailer opened the door with a loud noise.

The cell was empty, not as dirty as Raven had expected, but rather quite tidy. In the corner was a stone bed covered with straw mats, and in the middle was a stone table fixed to the ground.

Four iron chains were fixed at one end, and the other end extended to the center of the house, tying up a slightly hunched back.

"Chichigak, Baron Raven is here, hurry up and salute!" The jailer knocked on the iron door with a wooden stick, making a heavy sound.

Amid the sound of the chains shaking, the goblin named Chichigak slowly turned around and stood up.

Raven raised his eyebrows, feeling a little surprised.

Because in the rumors Raven had heard, goblins were creatures that were thinner than dwarves, about the size of eight or nine-year-old children, but the goblin in front of him was different.

He was about 1.7 meters tall, which was not short for a human. His hair was brown and straw-like rough. His skin was yellow-green, with sharp ears that curled slightly, a protruding forehead, slightly dirty green eyes, a large duck-like nose, and rusty fangs in his black lips.

These were all very obvious goblin features.

But his physical features were no longer like a goblin.

His shoulders were disproportionately wide for his body, his arms were thick and long, and his sharp gray-white nails almost reached his feet. His knuckles and joints were thick, and even without exerting force, the outline of his thick muscles could be clearly seen. He had a simple animal skin around his waist, his feet were bare, and his big feet were about a foot long.

There were brown-yellow scales on his ankles, elbows, neck, and face, which seemed to have some Warcraft blood.

Although locked by the "Demon Sealing Steel", the dark yellow earth energy in his body is still surging and flowing, reaching the peak level of the second level. Given time, it is not impossible to break through to the third level.

Raven figured out the reason why he has this physique.

Goblins are all over the continent, and their biggest feature is their fertility - they have no reproductive isolation from almost any creatures, and therefore, the offspring born are likely to have strange characteristics.

For example, they grow long ears like rabbits, give birth to pigs and cows, have goat-like horns on their heads, and even grow fish gills or wings.

Qiqi Keke, perhaps he has awakened the blood of some kind of magic beast.

"You, John, are not." Qiqikek stared at Raven and said, "Why are you looking for me?"

Raven found it even more interesting. Goblins are creatures with extremely low IQs, basically no different from wild beasts. He didn't expect that Qiqikek could actually speak, so he asked, "Where did you learn the Imperial language?"

Qiqikek scratched his head: "Yes, yes!"

Seeing that he couldn't explain clearly, Raven didn't ask any more questions, but asked:

"Do you want to get out of here?"

Qiqikek understood this sentence, and he nodded vigorously, not hiding his To disguise his desire: "Think! Think! Qiqikek, fight! Kill! Eat meat!!!"

"You can fight, kill, and eat meat." Raven said: "But the premise is that you must obey my orders and be loyal to me."

Qiqikek made a gurgling sound in his throat, as if he understood the meaning of Raven's words. After a while, he said: "Qiqikek, the strong, obey!"

"You, John, stronger, more?"

Raven understood that this was asking him who was stronger than Viscount John.

After just a little thought, Raven said: "Viscount John has left, this territory, I have the final say!"

This is actually a typical way of talking about something else, but in Qiqikek's ears, it perfectly answered his question.

In Qiqikek's concept, territory is to be fought for. He lost to John in the fight for territory before. Now Viscount John left, and it must be because he lost to Raven in the fight for territory, so he was exiled.

"Loyalty, Qiqikeke, I am willing!"

"Weapons, equipment, meat!!!"

"Untie him and give him meat." After giving the order, Raven turned to Qiqikeke: "You cannot fight with anyone or hurt anyone without my permission, otherwise I will kill you!"

Qiqikeke nodded heavily: "Qiqikeke, I have the credit!"

Leave Qiqikeke for the time being, after all, Raven has no interest in observing others eating.

Before leaving, Raven asked casually: "This Qiqikeke seems to be obedient to the strong, why didn't Viscount John subdue him before?"

The jailer whispered: "This guy is very stubborn. He always thinks Viscount John is his enemy. Although he is strong, he cannot be loyal. Viscount John also thinks it's a pity to kill him, so he has been staying."

I see.

Raven smiled, this was indeed a good gift.

It is unlikely that such a powerful humanoid creature will be used in the army, and Raven does not intend to form a strange alien coalition, but Qiqi Xunke has its place to play its value.

His existence is much more peculiar than a simple second-level transcendent.

That night, Raven had a mysterious guard, and his whole body was shrouded in plate armor.

Early the next morning, Raven received a document sent from Eagle Town last night. Just after checking it, Kuman came to report the situation.

Although Green Forest Town suffered some damage, it was not difficult to repair. At the same time, it also conveyed the gratitude of the residents of Green Forest Town to Raven - a crown ornament made of bear teeth.

Raven accepted the tiara. This thing cannot be worn, but as an ornament, it has a rough and primitive beauty.

After playing with the crown ornaments twice, Raven got down to business: "There seem to be a few open spaces near the river around Xuefeng Town, right?"

"Yes, Lord Baron, those places were originally used for temporary storage of goods." Cuman said.

"Circle two of them for me and build two factories according to these two drawings." After saying that, Raven put the letter he received in the morning on the table: "I don't care how many people you use, but in As long as the construction quality is ensured, the sooner the better, and the longest time should not exceed half a year.”

This is the factory design drawing drawn by Fiona. It was designed according to Raven's requirements. It is quite large in scale. Each one is expected to accommodate hundreds of people.

One of them will be used as a blacksmithing workshop; the other one...

After Kuman took it, he looked at it carefully and frowned slightly: "Lord Baron, there is nothing wrong with these design drawings, but it will be difficult if you want to complete them within half a year."

"What's the problem?" Raven raised his eyebrows.

"It requires money, a lot of money." Cuman said: "A factory of this size needs to requisition part of the civil land that has been sold. If you include labor and materials, the total will cost at least 50,000 gold coins!"

"Fifty thousand gold coins..." Raven rubbed his chin.

The gold coins he brought back from the Bloody Highlands before were about 70,000, and later he brought back about 103,000 gold coins from Men'en City, a total of 170,000.

Although the total price of the various gifts and goods brought back was more than 100,000 gold coins, the value for personal use far exceeded the profit from sales.

After deducting the previous funds for the construction of Eagle Town and the gold coins used to purchase magic and magic plants, the number of gold coins currently on the account is less than 80,000. If 50,000 are spent in one go, only 30,000 gold coins will be left. This does not include the subsequent expansion of the riverside workshop, construction of the brewery, etc.

"In this case, I will give you 10,000 gold coins first, which will last at least a month." Raven rubbed his chin and continued: "You can apply to me if you need money later."

Kuman breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes, Lord Baron!"

After discussing some detailed questions with Kuman, Raven waved his hand and sent them away, uttering the classic emotion again:

"Lack of money!"

In the next few days, Raven completed the banquet according to the previous pace, and solved several minor troubles during the process.

With the successful conclusion of the banquet, Lei Wen's reputation in the Snow Maple Territory has been rising steadily, and he has been universally respected and recognized by the business class. Especially after the announcement of the cancellation of the city gate tax, he has been unanimously praised by the free people. .

At the same time, the news that Raven killed the Earth Bear alone has spread, and the nobles have mixed reviews.

Some people think that Raven has shown the qualities that a noble should have and his strong personal strength; others think that Raven is reckless and unwise. This move is not only a slap in the face of Viscount John, but also takes away Raven's "nouveau riche" temperament. Highlighted vividly.

Raven laughed it off.

Even if someone makes a few comments, no piece of meat will be lost.

If people can't eat the grapes, they can't help but be said to be sour, right?

On the second day after the banquet, Lei Wen first summoned officials from various towns under Xuefeng's leadership and reiterated his policy policy. There were two points that must be adhered to: first, the city gate tax should be completely banned; second, hiring labor must be strictly enforced. Give money.

Officials are more or less dissatisfied with this kind of measures that cut off people's wealth, but no one dares to show it, nor dare not to implement it, let alone play the trick of violating the law.

No matter how aggressive they are, they can't defeat the bear of the earth.

After the meeting ended, Raven didn't delay and immediately set off, returning to Eagle Castle that night and resting early.

Early the next morning, Lei Wen, who was full of energy, ordered someone to take the "express delivery" that had been delivered from the warehouse - the second-level magician badge, six new second-level magics, and two kinds of magic plants.

Today, the secret room of Eagle Castle has become Raven's laboratory, and the unpacking session is also held here.

The Mage Guild strives to reflect the dignity of a magician in every aspect.

The badge of the second-level magician is actually made of purple gold, with a star-like vortex outlined in gold lines. Holding it in your hand is like holding the galaxy in the palm of your hand.

Six second-level magic scrolls are packed in beautifully decorated wooden boxes. The box itself can be sold for at least five gold coins just by taking it out.

After opening it, you can clearly see that the carrier of magic is not common parchment, but magic leather made through a special process. It has fine texture, tough texture, and excellent touch.

Raven looked at the six scrolls shining with different lights and showed a delighted smile:

"This is what you call a magician!"

Finally, I don't have to rely on four common magics to get by!

This time, Raven bought one second-level magic of each of the six elements of earth, water, wind, ice, light, and darkness, spending more than 20,500 gold coins.

Since he has mastered the second-level fire magic with the strongest destructive power, Raven's magic selection is not based on destructive power.

For example, the second-level water magic "Nourishing Rain" is a ritual magic that requires many preconditions. After casting, it can create rain clouds of varying areas according to the caster's rank to irrigate the fields. It is also a necessary magic for planting and cultivating magic plants.

It is said that a great magician above the fifth rank can irrigate hundreds of acres of land with a "Nourishing Rain".

Another example is the second-level earth attribute magic "Surface Manipulation". This magic has a very wonderful effect and can change the surface properties of any material containing earth elements.

For example, it can make the originally rough land become extremely smooth, like ice; it can also make the originally muddy swamp become as hard as steel.

The ideal place to use it is on the battlefield. Once the enemy army launches a charge, a "surface manipulation" will make the ground extremely smooth, and the enemy will immediately roll on the ground.

If this spell is mastered on the bloody highlands, those cavalrymen will not even be able to charge, and will die under the hooves of their own horses!

For single enemies, there is the second-level ice attribute magic "Shivering Metal", which can be applied to any metal object, making it extremely cold and freezing everything it touches.

This magic is most suitable for dealing with knights and warriors.

Applying it to their weapons can make people unable to hold it and play a disarming role; applying it to armor will turn the enemy's armor into a refrigerator. Even if it doesn't freeze to death, it will greatly reduce the opponent's movement sensitivity and increase the consumption of fighting spirit.

The magic that Raven likes most and is also the most expensive magic in this pile of scrolls is the second-level light magic "Mirror Image", which can create four illusions that are no different from the caster himself after using it.

These illusions will appear around the caster in an irregular order, and will keep the same actions as the caster during the duration. Even the magic released will copy the light effect, and each one can be mistaken for the real thing.

Not only can it effectively deal with single magic and attacks, but it can also adjust the position of itself and the illusion at any time, which can be called a life-saving skill.

In addition to these, there are also wind magic "Storm Shield" and dark magic "Night Embrace", which are more inclined to strengthen oneself.

There are six kinds of magic, which can allow Raven to practice for a long time.

After putting these magics away, Raven rubbed his hands, and a smile of expectation appeared at the corners of his mouth. His eyes fell on the huge wooden box next to him-the magic plant was placed in it.

Whether it can open up a new source of income for Eagle Territory depends on them!

…