Chapter 399: Initial Construction of the Underground City
“What is this?” After Siluo woke up, the first thing she noticed were the cavemen who were busy working. Although they looked ugly, there were really few underground creatures that looked good, so she was just curious about their origins.
“Slaves, timid, hiding.” Owen was still stubbornly trying to boil dragon bones into soup. He answered Siluo’s question casually in the concise way that only the smartest ogres could master in the ogre language.
Siluo took the initiative to elaborate on Owen’s words, meaning that these cavemen were slaves of the old black dragon just like the goblins, but they were more timid than the goblins, so they didnโt show up in yesterday’s battle. They only came out after the battle ended.
It sounded fine, but if you asked carefully, it would be easy to find some flaws. Unfortunately, Siluo was like an eighty-year-old mother pretending to be a child. She thought she had Owen firmly in her grasp and took it for granted that ogres were stupid, so she believed Owen’s words without hesitation. As expected, a man’s mouth is a deceitful ghost, and this is especially true for men who look honest and don’t seem to lie.
After waking up, Siluo didn’t touch the dragon bone soup Owen made. She ate some mushrooms and giant snails, and then started cleaning up the dragon lair.
The treasures that the old black dragon had collected over the long years were obviously not brought out. Now the dragon lair probably only contained what had been collected recently. However, given the old black dragon’s previous state, it was obviously unable to plunder powerful forces, so the treasures in the dragon lair were pitifully few. Most of them were copper coins, silver coins, and a small amount of gold coins. There were only a few gems and crystals.
Although there were few, Siluo still carefully collected them. These were important funds for the development of the underground city.
After finding that she hadn’t missed a single copper coin, Siluo used dragon blood and crystals to set up a simple magic circle. Its function was very simple, similar to a beacon or lighthouse, indicating that this was an open area, allowing free entry and exit, used to attract wandering underground creatures and merchants. It was an essential mark for any underground city.
If Siluo was alone, she definitely wouldn’t dare to use it, but with a legendary ogre in hand, it was the wisest choice to take full advantage of it to accelerate the development of the underground city.
Owen didn’t care about Siluo’s actions and didn’t bother to manage them. After adding more firewood, he was busy cutting the softer dragon skin from the old black dragon’s abdomen into two-foot square pieces, soaking them in magic potions, peeling them off layer by layer, selecting smooth and resilient ones, stringing them together with dragon tendons, and decorating them with dragon bones. He made a very rough ogre cookbook.
By the time Siluo found out, Owen had even made dragon bone pens and dragon blood ink. She felt a pang of heartache.
Although they had occupied a territory and shamelessly called it an underground city, Siluo was not blind and knew the actual situation, so she had already planned out the old black dragon’s skin, flesh, and bones.
Although the meat and internal organs were valuable, they were perishable and had limited uses. They were eaten. The most valuable were the dragon skin, dragon bones, dragon teeth, and dragon blood. These were hard currency anywhere, and selling them in exchange for resources was enough to build the framework of the underground city. Who knew that in the blink of an eye, so much would be wasted by this damned ogre.
If it took so much effort and wasted so much dragon skin to make a magic book or something, Siluo would have accepted it, but what the hell was an ogre cookbook?!
Was it the literal meaning?
Opening it, she saw that the “Two Eggs and One Fishy” soup that had been enough to give people nightmares last night was on the first page. Siluo rolled her eyes in anger and almost fainted. It took her a long time to recover.
However, seeing the clothes that the ogre had specially made for her, and the fact that it was a time of entrepreneurship and she needed to rely on this stupid ogre, Siluo could only give up. Then she picked up the clothes and looked them over, figuring out how to wear them. After all, these small pieces of cloth were connected with ropes, and if worn incorrectly, they would be like a cat’s cradle, strangling her.
In addition to the rope pieces, there was also a close-fitting short cheongsam and high heels.
The short cheongsam could not only be used to cover the rope pieces in the front and back, but it could also reduce the frequency of the front armor shaking during battle. As for the seemingly inconvenient high heels, with a drow’s balance, this was not a problem at all, let alone the heels polished from dragon teeth. One kick could pierce plate armor, which could be considered a lethal weapon.
This whole set was sewn from the inner soft skin of the dragon and was also enchanted, having a lighter weight than ordinary clothes and a defensive power that surpassed plate armor.
This craftsmanship didn’t look like something an ogre could do at all, and Siluo was puzzled.
But before, Siluo had repeatedly tested and confirmed that this was a real ogre, not some strange creature using transformation magic, and its brain was indeed not very good, but the abilities and magic it mastered were as if they were innate, which really puzzled her.
Obviously, they both knew each other well, but they always felt that the other party was hiding something. Siluo was helpless. After all, generally speaking, it was the drow who were better at hiding things.
Since she couldn’t figure it out, Siluo wouldn’t waste too much time and energy on it. After changing her clothes, she was ready to go out, but before leaving, she needed to settle this ogre first. If it ran away, she wouldn’t even have time to cry.
Because she was too aggressive, Siluo almost couldn’t leave that day, but seeing the ogre lying there lazily, she was somewhat relieved. Suppressing the feeling of transparency and fullness from the inside out, she hurriedly went out.
As soon as Siluo left, Owen relaxed and prepared to exchange for an Assembly Hall, a tavern, a blacksmith shop, and a Nest of Griffins.
The Assembly Hall, originating from Heroes of Might and Magic, was different from the Town Center. It didn’t have the effect of assimilation, but it had the special ability to collect magic power and convert it into materials, which meant it could provide gold coins for recruiting troops. In addition, it could be used to store resources. Although its function was single, it was indispensable, so it was the first thing Owen exchanged for.
The tavern could increase the territory’s attractiveness to wanderers and merchants, and occasionally heroes would appear who could be recruited, so it was the second thing to be exchanged for.
The blacksmith shop could not only forge equipment, but also manufacture war machines. Apart from the expensive price, its cost-effectiveness was quite good.
The last one, the Nest of Griffins, was a Tier 2 troop building. Although the Harpies it could recruit had average combat effectiveness, they were fast, agile, and good at flying in complex environments. They were considered good flying troops in the underworld.
While Owen was busy building the underground city, Siluo, who didn’t return for several days, breathed a sigh of relief after sensing the magic beacon.
Siluo, who was somewhat dusty, wore the still-bright short cheongsam and looked at what was behind her with a sense of accomplishment. That was the result of her trip.
Dozens of goblins, a wandering duergar, and a wanted demon warlock were all fooled by the dragon-slaying deeds and the name of the ogre king.
If Siluo hadn’t known there was a gathering place nearby, she wouldn’t have been able to gather so many people in such a short time.
Unfortunately, drow were too rare and too unpopular, so most drow would choose to hide their whereabouts. Even Siluo couldn’t find them for a while, let alone trick a few back. This caused her wish to become a matron to be postponed. After all, she couldn’t lay an egg by herself.
