Skeleton King

On the last day of Pansy Imperial Calendar 1013, Skeleton King's successor, Ace Neumann, finally took over the city, and even the entire Chaos Territory, in front of everyone in the Lord of Chaos Mountain City.

The ceremony was silent, at least for the Pansy Empire, the Finger Empire, and the Magic Isle.

At that time, even the people in the Territory of Chaos did not expect that in places outside this order, all the small broken mountains used by criminals to hide would one day become no less than the Pansy Empire, the Finger Empire, Powers of Magic Island.

Although the Pansy Empire, Finger Empire, and Magic Island learned about the unification of the Territory of Chaos afterwards, they did not pay enough attention to this matter either because of internal affairs or prejudice.

Ace walked on the streets of the main mountain city with Alt, Bill, and the unknown sword master.The main mountain city is the largest hill in the Territory of Chaos. Its area is as large as the five nearby mountains combined, and the streets are well built. Of course, it is only compared to other places in the Territory of Chaos.

Ace looked at this strange city, the street from the gate of the main mountain city to the city lord's mansion was like a dagger pierced into the heart of a monster."We have to redesign it," Ace said.

Bill stood beside Ace with a parchment in his hand. He kept scribbling on it with a quill to record the topography of the main mountain city. Go to Evernight City and give it to General Arnold.

Over the years, General Arnold has recruited all kinds of talents in Eternal Night City, and there are many practical talents who have done urban planning for the Pansy Empire and the Finger Empire.Although General Arnold originally planned to rebuild the city after Ace conquered the Pansy Empire, these talents are now used by the Territory of Chaos first.

General Ace and Arnold also want to build a magic formation for the main mountain city that is no less than that of Eternal Night City. The materials for various formations must be quietly buried underground. This is a big project.

Ace originally wanted to spend money to hire people from the main mountain city, and create job opportunities for them by the way.

But as the planning of the city became more and more perfect, Ace felt more and more that his original idea would not work, not only because the manpower required to build the city planning was an extremely terrifying figure, but also because Ace did not know much about the Territory of Chaos. Not as one-sided as before.People here hate oppression the most, even if Ace pays them, they will feel that their lives are disturbed.

Ace decided not to use the manpower of the main mountain city, and dispatched skeleton soldiers from Eternal Night City.

When Ace told this idea to other people, Bill and the nameless sword master were all liches, so they didn't think much of it.Art looked at this popular city and was worried about its future.

Although Alt knows that Ace has a large foundation in the dead world, he has never been to Eternal Night City with Ace after all, and he does not know what status the heir of the Skeleton King has in the dead world. Wouldn’t it be a problem for the skeleton soldiers to come over?”

Ace thought for a while, and said: "No problem, there are many benefits. Skeleton soldiers are more obedient, and skeleton soldiers are all magical creatures. They may be the only creatures who are born with both magic and martial arts except dragons. The understanding is also very good. It doesn’t cost money.”

Looking at Alter's surprised expression, Ace added: "It's not that I don't need to spend money, but I'm much richer in the dead world than here."

There is no doubt that Ace is rich in the dead world.Eternal Night City is the most popular city in the undead world. All undead creatures living in Eternal Night City have to pay taxes to Ace every day. , and many other cities under his name.

Alter seemed to see the ghostly aura that was about to fill the mountain city of the Lord of Chaos.

"As for the others." Ace looked around at the shops that were still open in the main mountain city, especially the small wooden houses with pink lanterns, the bustling casinos, and the drunken people lying on the street. Smile, "Let's take our time."

……

"You are not good to me." The little astrology doll sat on the desk solemnly, with an ink bottle next to him, holding a quill that was about the same height as others, and complained to the person sitting on the chair road.

Nuoou was practicing sword moves in his mind, and when he heard Ace's words, he calmly opened his eyes and asked, "Why did I treat you badly?"

Ace held a big quill in his two small hands, "It turns out that when I came to you, you would give me incense and prepare a soft bed. You handle government affairs, and I sleep. But now, look."

Now, Nou is sitting in a chair with his eyes closed, and Ace is holding a quill that is as tall as him, helping Nou handle the government affairs on the eastern plains of Louisiana Province.

You know, even on his own territory, Ace can push and push such trivial matters, throwing the government affairs of the Territory of Chaos to Bill, and throwing the military to Alter.In Eternal Night City, General Arnold is able to work hard, and he never needs Ace to bother.

But!Ace is now happily running to play with Nou every day, but it turns out that he is dealing with the vulgar things of Green Castle!

For the first two days, Ace still felt quite fresh. Gerald Horsley always kept the parchments in order. He is also a magician with strong mental power, and he quickly reviewed them.

But no matter how novel the job was, it became boring on the third day.

Ace sat cross-legged on the table holding the quill, his expression vividly showing "the baby is not happy".

Nou said softly: "I thought you had enough fun in the Territory of Chaos, now you can combine work and rest."

Every day when Ace came to Nou, he would tell him a good story, definitely not to show off, how he transformed the Territory of Chaos.

Ace seems to have found a fun farming game. Except for the fixed time to find Nou every day, he indulges in it without eating or sleeping. When he comes to find Nou, he does not forget to show his "game" process.

Ace was almost choked by what Nou said, he was doing business, how could it be said that he was playing a game, "I'm not playing!"

Nuo Ou looked at Ace's cute little face with a serious look, he just thought it was very funny, he couldn't help laughing,

It wasn't until Ace's face became more and more stinky that Nou stopped laughing and said, "Ace, I'm about to break through level nine."

Ace blinked his eyes, this look was so cute, Nou couldn't help but patted his head.Ace even forgot to make a bad face at Nou, he asked, "So fast?"

The eighth to ninth level of swordsman, and the ninth to tenth level are all very important thresholds, and people often get stuck for decades and cannot cross them.

Nuo Ou is just 20 years old, and anyone who knows a little bit about martial arts will understand how difficult it is to touch this threshold.

Ace nana said: "Then..."

Before Ace finished speaking, the conversation stopped.He just heard Nou say: "I know, I'd better find a place to retreat at this time, but I haven't taken over the Green family's affairs for a long time. Although the eastern plains of Louisiana Province seem to be calm on the surface, I don't care about it at all." I don't know if there are any nails for Jonah Flynn among those who listen to me, and I don't know if the imperial capital has sent other people to come here."

Ace felt that his heart was being pulled, that Nuo Ou was so young, and he had to bear the burden of the whole family on him.

Ace put the quill pen into the ink bottle, ran to Nou's side, put his hand on the clothes on Nou's chest, and said distressedly: "Let me help you."

Nou patted Ace on the shoulder lightly, and he said, "Ace, I know you don't like to deal with these things, but Mellon University is old, Bernadette is still young, and I don't want her to touch These things. The others, even Gerald Horsley, I can't fully trust. At this moment, Ace, I'm thinking only of you. If you..."

Ace was moved and sad, "Stop talking. I will come to you early every day. Don't worry, I am very good at handling these matters. I was also the heir of the Neumann family when I was a child, Viscount Neumann They also trained me."

This is such a beautiful scene of brotherly love.

It would be better if the successful smile on the corner of Nou's mouth was ignored.God knows that Ace is obsessed with the "farming game" and less and less comes to Nuoou to check in. Nuoou looks calm on the surface, but he is so upset.

However, Nou has indeed had a first glimpse of the threshold of a ninth-level swordsman, and it was not in vain that Ace would diligently come to Nou to check in no matter it was windy or rainy for several months.

……

In the Territory of Chaos, some people woke up intermittently at night and saw the moving skeletons, screamed in fright, and even became incontinent. The foundation of the main mountain city formation and the road on the bright side have been repaired.

The proportion of swordsmen in the main mountain city is indeed the highest in places other than Magic Island, but there are very few magicians here. It can even be said that they have more magicians than the northwest of the Pansy Empire-the place where the least magicians are recognized on the mainland. 100 times less.

A magician not only needs a long inheritance, but also needs a lot of money and precious magic materials.Obviously, the Territory of Chaos still has a long way to go if it wants to train its own magician.

So many unreasonable things, such as the construction of the main mountain city's walls in just a few days, and the roads becoming spacious and smooth, all of these can be attributed to magic.Although the few people who moved to the Territory of Chaos from the two empires not long ago knew that this was very unreasonable, at this time, no one would refute Ace openly.

If you want to get rich, build roads first.After roughly handling the traffic in the main mountain city, Ace began to rectify other places.

Ace didn't ask all the shops in the main mountain city to close, he just set a lot of rules and regulations.Most of the shops that felt that they could not meet Ace's requirements have moved to other places. For example, all the gambling halls have gathered in Mount Mom, the underground competitions have gone to Rishi Mountain, and the skin and meat business has gone to Taya Mountain.

Ace has understood that he can conquer this place by force, but if he wants the aborigines here to really love him, he must make this place a veritable city of sin and build it into a place that the aborigines can't even imagine.The Territory of Chaos is no longer a mountain of rubbish, even they themselves hate the environment here, and all the filth and moths of the two great empires are thrown here.

Ace wants to turn the main mountain city of the Territory of Chaos into a paradise for real criminals. It is not only a refuge for outlaws, but also a place that all ordinary people yearn for. They fear the darkness here and yearn for it The beautiful fruit that blooms.Once they have been here, it is enough to become the talk of life.

Blocking is worse than sparse.

If so.

Under the dumbfounded gazes of Alt and Bill, Ace started drastic reforms.

The Lord of Chaos, Shanchengyuan City Lord's Mansion, sent their most capable stewards to follow Ace's orders.

Ace listened to the manager describe how the gambling house in the main mountain city lends money and collects money.The steward said triumphantly, "No one owes us money." Then he looked at Ace flatteringly, "Of course, Santo, the money is yours now."

Ace was not interested in the hundreds of thousands of gold coins on his account, he looked at the scattered players in the casino, and taunted: "My God, you are too old-fashioned, just a few of you will get money." You can gamble for days with cards and dice, no, you have been gambled for decades. We have never played like this, I want to teach you something novel..."

Ace took out the new city blueprint of the main mountain city, and picked a core location that occupies a large area, "We want to build a five-story post house, use the most luxurious decoration, and paint the outside with gold powder, On the first floor, there are gaming tables below 500 gold coins. We will accept the gold coins from the Pansy Empire, the Finger Empire, and the silver frost shells from the Millais Library.

There is a restaurant on the second floor, and every month there will be a main dish made of monsters above level [-]. As long as other dishes are available on this plane, our restaurant can provide them.

Shops are opened on the third floor, what are they selling?All the things that can make swordsmen and magicians crazy, such as armor, weapons, magic wands, and gems of various attributes, can't people in the Territory of Chaos afford? !God!Is your so-called sin city just entertaining itself behind closed doors?I want it to be Sin City in everyone's eyes.I want them to see the things in this mall and they can't restrain the greed in their eyes, and their eyes can drip bright red blood when they look at this place. "

The steward couldn't help but trembled when he heard Ace's last words, but he couldn't restrain his excitement from the bottom of his heart. He only felt that the blood in his body was stirring because of the blueprint drawn by Ace.

The steward said excitedly: "What about the price? Does the city owner have a lot of goods? We can ship a little cheaper first and make the name of the main mountain city famous. I know there are many strong people, especially those above level eight, no matter Whether it is a swordsman or a magician, they are not under the control of the two empires. When they pass through the forest of monsters, they will go to the main mountain city to purchase from time to time. And the news between them spreads very quickly, and it only takes a few months. spread across the continent."

"No." Ace said coldly: "The price here is [-]% more expensive than outside. The reason why we built it in the middle of the casino is to let the winners spend their money. We want to spread the word The notion that all the money won in the casino will suck his money if he doesn't spend it right away. No matter how much money everyone brings here, I want him to leave without a penny left."

Steward:  …

Steward: This is too cruel.

Ace felt that this would actually prevent some people from going bankrupt and gambling. To come to the casino is to spend money, and whether you win or lose, you are looking for fun.It is better than constantly borrowing usurious loans in the hope of turning over at the gambling table and making a fortune, that is the most stupid.

How could they beat the dealer if they won again?

Never pin your hopes on illusory metaphysics, and don't expect the conscience of the person who runs the casino.Ace would teach that to people who came to gamble, with money from their own pockets.

But there is no need to tell the steward about these things.

Ace said: "The fourth floor is converted into a guest room, which must be cleaned every day, and each room must be equipped with a dedicated butler and attendant. If they need to find playmates, they should also recommend the best quality ones for them, but don't put Their energy is too clean, and their main task is to spend money in the upstairs gambling hall. By the way, only those who have exchanged 500 gold coins in the top floor in a single day can go up.

Whether it's upstairs or downstairs, I don't want the dealers on the gaming table to wear revealing girls. They want that, and they can go to Mount Mom to play. I only need attendants in the main mountain city, and everyone will wear formal clothes for me. , put on a bow tie, at the gaming table, I only see gentlemen.This is an elegant game, a gentleman's game. "

Everything in this world has a price, only gambling is endless.

Ace did not forget to complain about the low end of the evil of the Territory of Chaos, "How much money can be earned by fighting and killing, no wonder the Territory of Chaos has been notorious these years, and you are still living in such poverty. You are wearing the most ragged clothes, but you are worse than Those nobles who lie at home every day have to work hard, they are really stupid. You know, a good reputation can bring a lot of money."

Of course, Ace didn't expect the Territory of Chaos to establish a good reputation, and he was going to start from other places.

Alt and Bill are completely two-way people. Alt is taciturn, and Bill is more talkative, but now, when they look at Ace, they feel that the gap between them and their young master/His Royal Highness is a natural barrier.

Art asked in a trance: "Is this the nature of the young master?"

"It's not like this in His Highness Eternal Night City." Logically speaking, shouldn't you be more open in the Dead Realm?Could it be that General Arnold's meticulous questioning of the military has suppressed His Highness, Bill thought.

Instead, Bill asked, "Did your Highness have any special experiences when he was a child?" For example, Ace was not the son of a nobleman, but the son of a casino owner or a thug, thinking about how to empty the gold coins in the gamblers' pockets every day.

"That's not true." Alter firmly refused that Bill blamed Ace's current appearance on Ace's youthful experience. He said: "Young master was the most well-behaved when he was a child. Apart from reading books, he practiced sword every day."

After Art finished speaking, he also realized that something was wrong.

According to the information he got later, Ace was very precocious when he was a child, and he understood a lot of things very early. His appearance at that time should be mostly faked.But Art still didn't know which link was wrong. When did his little master become like this?

Ace naturally didn't know that Alt and Bill had made up a lot of this. He was following the steward of the original city lord's mansion to the street with high pink lanterns. This is the red light district of the main mountain city.

Ace turned to look at Bill, "Is what I asked you to do last time done?"

Bill took out several windows made of magic crystals from the space ring, just like the outermost display stand of Ace’s previous clothing store. Each crystal window is as tall as a person, and the scene inside can be clearly seen from the outside of the window .

Ace nodded and asked the steward to find a few girls over.

By the time the girls arrived, Bill had installed the crystal window outside the cabin.They all looked reserved and scared, and some of the younger ones were flushed with embarrassment.

Ace frowned, and said unhappily: "Leave under the age of 18, whether it is voluntary or not. Others, if someone doesn't want to do it, they can also leave."

These girls didn't know Ace's identity, but they could tell that the people present were all big shots they couldn't afford.One of the girls who looked very petite said: "My lord, I am in my twenties. I need to do this. My husband is injured and he needs money for medicine..."

The girl thought that Ace and the others wanted to ban their business, and hurriedly argued.

Ace squinted her eyes, and said with a sneer, "I don't care about his life. Whether it's before or in the future, there are ways for you to survive on the mountain." Ace grabbed the girl's wrist, and the girl thought Ace was interested in her, and pulled With a stiff smile, he wanted to cater to this noble lord.

Ace shook her hand away.

He has measured the girl's bone age just now, confirmed that she is over 20 years old, let her go inside, and close the transparent door of the crystal window - the girl is wearing a heavy coat, bloated and sick like a fool in the snow snowman.

Even if Ace didn't like girls, he knew that her appearance would not attract men.He thought for a while,

A ninth-level pink skull was summoned from the dead world. The illusion of the ninth-level pink skull is very realistic, and their true identities cannot be seen at all below the holy level.Professional things still have to be taught to professionals.

The girl transformed by the pink skull looks like a noble lady in her thirties who still has charm. She swayed her plump figure and saluted Ace.

Ace pointed to the row of girls and told her, "They will be under your control from now on. Your task is to teach them how to look beautiful, seduce men, empty their wallets, um, the things you usually do Teach them all. In the future, if newcomers come, it will be up to you. Be careful not to accept involuntary ones, and girls under the age of 18 will not be accepted regardless of whether they are voluntary. Let them go home if they are too young, homeless If you return, take it to the City Lord's Mansion and let Bill arrange it."

The lady transformed into a pink skull has charming eyes and brows. She pulled up her skirt and saluted Ace again. Anyone with elegant movements can go to the banquet, "Yes, Your Highness."

The Pink Skull didn't care about Ace, and said directly to the girl standing in the window: "Come on, take off your clothes."

The girl looked at the people in front of her, crying, and quickly took off her clothes. The pink skull giggled, "I'm not telling you to take it off, but don't dress so bulky." Speaking of which, the design of the window girl is still It’s from Evernight City, it’s their Pink Skull’s specialty, she continued to smile and said: “Come on, smile at the passers-by on the street. Isn’t that all right? People who pass by will see you, you have a sad face, they Will it come to you? Don't just stand there, do some movement, any silly movement will do."

Under the guidance of Pink Skull, several girls walked into the window and made various charming movements towards the street to attract the attention of pedestrians.

The steward stared straight at the girls with different styles in the window, and he felt that the person who came up with this idea was a genius.

But now is not the time to be in charge of things, Ace glanced at them, and explained: "This whole area needs to be remodeled, and then arrange them on the small streets, not the main streets. There are prepared behind every window." It’s a good heating formation, we don’t need the money.”

The steward felt that it was extravagant, and was about to persuade him, but Pink Skull seemed to have seen through his thoughts, and took the initiative to say: "Idiot, we didn't pay this money, the man who came to find them will naturally pay."

She giggled, "50 gold coins each time. Whoever they fancy, they can go in directly. The door of the crystal window can be opened. After entering, just draw the curtain, and people outside can't see inside. The curtain must be It’s bright red, the fabric is more textured, there are small rooms behind the crystal window, and all kinds of facilities in it must be complete. Everyone must pay 50 gold coins, and I don’t allow anyone to lower the price.”

She completely brought over the set played by the pink skull in Evernight City.Since the history of Deadland, there has been their business, and she will also train these girls well to make them worthy of the price.

"Your Highness." Pink Skull giggled and said, "Two of them are sick. Do you want me to treat them, or Lord Bill to send a human doctor?"

Ace said, "Bill will send a doctor over."

It is too advanced to directly establish a hospital. Ace plans to train some doctors first and let them be general practitioners.Two or three medical clinics are opened on every street in the main mountain city, and each medical center has a few doctors on duty, and strives to make every permanent resident of the main mountain city have a regular doctor in the next few years.

Ace originally wanted to go to the underground competition, but unfortunately, the steward of the original owner of the mountain city told Ace that none of the underground competitions felt that they could meet the requirements of the new city owner, so they consciously moved to Lishi Mountain.

The steward persuaded: "City Master, we can relax the conditions a little bit. People in the main mountain city cannot do without underground martial arts competitions. Although many people will die in underground martial arts competitions, many people will feel happy watching them, and there will be fewer violent incidents in the city." A lot. On the contrary, many innocent people were saved.”

Although what the steward said was fallacious, there was some truth to it.

This is why Ace is determined to retain the "dross" of the main mountain city. With regular channels for gambling, playing with women, and watching murders, many people will stop making trouble.

Ace said: "My rules will not change. They are gone, and the main mountain city needs it again. Naturally, there will be new underground competitions."

After rectifying several industries that Ace is most uncomfortable with, Ace can finally do something meaningful.He watched kids running around in the street, doing exercises and trying to steal gold coins from the pockets of passers-by.

From time to time, the Lord of Chaos will send a group of children down the mountain to work as pickpockets in the border cities of the Pansy Empire and the Finger Empire.They are flexible in stature and nimble in their hands and feet. When they are lucky, they can get a few gold coins in half a day.

Even if the knights from the border cities of the Pansy Empire and the Finger Empire caught them, they often couldn't do anything about them.They are too young, generally less than 10 years old, put them in prison, they stay more comfortably than at home, after they are released, they will return to the Territory of Chaos to stay for a while, and then wait a while longer. Come out and resume your old business.

Unless they are locked up forever or killed, any punishment, including beatings and branding, is innocuous to these children and their parents.

Ace looked at these children running around in the street, he thought, they would not like the life he was going to give them.However, people live in this world, hell is everywhere, and no one can escape.

Ace didn't believe that he couldn't control the big ones, and he couldn't control the small ones.

Ace said to Alter: "You should know about the Knights. I allow you to choose from the Io Mercenary Group and the Territory of Chaos to form a new Knights. Alter, this will be the one that you build and build by yourself. , a knight order that can fully demonstrate your tactical style. Many years ago, I heard the heads of several knight orders in the Pansy Empire say that your talent in leadership is no less than your talent in swordsmanship. I believe that you are not will disappoint me."

Alter looked at Ace calmly, and said, "I will not disappoint the young master's expectations."

Ace is very relieved of Alter, he is not a person who can make a fool of himself.

Ace said again: "The future of the Knights should also be paid attention to. Let's set up a training camp like the Pansy Empire. We don't need any trials in the first year." Because Ace thinks that no one will come .Ace thought about it, and put his idea on Wuming Juggernaut, "The Wuming Juggernaut will select children of the right age, we only need 1000 people with the best roots, and send them invitation letters. All those who receive the invitation letter, either Leave the Territory of Chaos, or come to the training camp to participate in training."

Ace tried his best to be considerate, and he said: "Tell them, during their training, I will cover all the basic necessities of life, weapons and armor, and even magic potions." Even the Pansy Empire and the Finger Empire would not be so rich, That's all for the rest, the magic potion used by thousands of people for years is not a small amount.

"The training time is six years. After the training is over, we will select newcomers to join the Knights. I need them to serve for six years, and they must not refuse. After that, they can stay or stay as they please." Ace said: "That's all for now, I have thought of it I'll add more."

The main mountain city has hundreds of thousands of permanent residents, and at least tens of thousands of school-age children.If the range radiates to the entire Territory of Chaos, the number of people will be even greater. Even the nameless sword master will feel terrible when he hears the workload.

But Ace gave the unnamed swordsman a second life. Since he has sworn allegiance to Ace, he will complete even the most difficult tasks.And to test the child's bones, there is no need to go up the mountain of swords and into the sea of ​​fire, and there is no need to worry about his life. There is no reason for the unknown sword master to refuse.

"Yes, Your Highness." Despite this, the voice of the unknown sword master was still weak.

Ace smiled and said, "Let General Arnold give you a bottle of Star Potion later, as a reward."

Only then did the eyes of the unknown sword master show a hint of joy.To be honest, at the level of the Unknown Sword Saint, there are very few things that can impress him, and Star Potion is one of them.If he had obtained the Star Potion thousands of years ago, and took it every few tens of years, he might be able to take it a step further now, and he would not have ended up in this fate.

The Unnamed Sword Master even hoped that every year in the future, Ace would ask him, a child from the Territory of Chaos, to test his talent.

In the end only Bill remained unassigned.

Bill knew that Ace was worried about him. Although the unknown sword master had only been with Ace for a short time, both Ace and General Arnold trusted him more than themselves.

Bill was also very knowledgeable and interesting, and said: "The most honorable thing for me is to take care of Your Highness. I hope His Highness will still let me follow you."

Ace didn't worry about Bill, unless he fell into the forbidden magic circle of Finger Palace and couldn't use magic, otherwise there would be a contract, and Bill couldn't find his palm.Furthermore, in Finger Palace, Bill also proved his loyalty.

"I want to build a magic school in the main mountain city." The Territory of Chaos has more magical elements than most places. The children born here should have good magical talents. Ace is not short of money, so he wants to pick some and cultivate them.

But the reason why Ace didn't want Bill to intervene was not only because he had personally experienced Bill's perverted teaching methods, but also because, "I want to be the principal of this magic school."