The Demon King is unfathomable

Chapter 311 Only the Demon King can save the fallen demons!

Teach was adjusting his collar at the entrance of the fortress, looking at the slowly approaching cavalry team in the distance with a complicated expression.

He never thought that he would meet General Hamelton, whom he once feared, as a "Baron".

Until a few months ago, he was chased by this guy's warship on the high seas and almost died in the belly of the fish...

"Your Excellency the Baron, General Hamelton is here!" Lumire, who was disguised as a servant, whispered to him to pay attention to his expression.

This sly guy——

Just pick the easy jobs!
Teach complained a few words in his heart, but he didn't have time to argue with this guy who didn't feel any pain in his waist while talking while standing.

"I know."

He took a deep breath, suppressed his uneasiness, forced himself to put on a noble smile, and walked up.

General Hamelton spotted Teach, who had been waiting for a long time, and dismounted from his horse with the courtesy he showed when meeting a prominent figure in the empire.

If he were in other parts of the New World, he would never try to please a "down-and-out local rich man" who had reduced himself to a marginal figure.

General Hamelton stepped forward and extended his hand with a smile: "I have heard of your great name for a long time, respected Baron Teach! It is an honor to meet you today."

When Teach heard the words "long-heard of", his heart skipped a beat, but fortunately, there was no sign of it on his face. He smiled calmly and stretched out his right hand.

"You are too kind, General... Compared to a nobody like me, you are a giant whose reputation resounds throughout the vast ocean!"

Holding General Hamelton's hand, Teach's mind subconsciously flashed back to the time when he glimpsed Hamelton from afar.

At that time, he was still an insignificant little man, still hesitating whether to switch careers and become a pirate. Perhaps because of something he had in mind, the other party's eyes frightened him so much that he lost his mind and didn't sleep well for several days.

But the General Hamelton in front of him was polite and humble, without any of his past arrogance... He was like two different people.

While Tiqi was secretly wondering, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Perhaps Lumire was right—

These big shots are also human beings, and they have another face "for their own people" in private.

It was obvious that he considered himself one of his own.

After some pleasantries, Teach invited General Hamelton into the fortress, while Lumire was responsible for the placement of the cavalry following General Hamelton.

The servants of His Majesty the Demon King also prepared a sumptuous meal for them, but it was served in the tent where the servants stayed, and the utensils were made of pottery in accordance with the regulations of the empire.

"What a surprise, is this... uh, your residence?" General Hamelton looked around and saw a circle of low stone walls standing all around. There were only a few hastily erected tents inside the walls. From a distance, it looked like a refugee camp.

Teach coughed awkwardly and explained quickly, "I'm so sorry, General. Originally my mansion was much more respectable than it is now, but unfortunately the storm last month was so fierce that even the roof was blown into the sea, leaving only these walls to block the wind."

General Hamelton was startled when he heard this, and then he showed a concerned look: "I see, Your Excellency the Baron has really suffered."

His attitude was gentle and frank, and came from the heart, which was completely different from the attitude he had just used when he was comforting the residents of Deadwood Harbor.

Teach smiled awkwardly, fearing that he would be exposed, so he did not respond and went straight to the door of the main tent with General Hamelton.

"This is it! My conditions are limited and I prepared hastily. If I have not been able to entertain you well, I hope you will forgive me, General..."

"Haha! How can I treat you poorly? I am just a commoner, not so picky about food. Bread and rum are enough for me——"

Hamilton laughed and walked through the tent door that was opened by the servant beside him, mentally prepared for a simple meal.

He wasn't here to eat, so just show your appreciation.

However, when he saw the sumptuous food covering the long table, he was stunned and almost drooled on his beard.

That can no longer be described by the word "abundant" -

It's simply luxurious!

There was a clean white cloth covering the long table, with silver utensils and wine glasses neatly arranged.

In the center of the table was a golden roasted suckling pig stuffed with spices, roasted carrots and stewed mushrooms.

Next to it is a pot of steaming turtle tail meat soup. The soup base is made with fish bones and sun-dried tomatoes, with vanilla powder floating on it and a faint aroma of red wine.

Further away was a row of cured fish and dried game, served with rye bread and coarse cheese, as well as home-grown dishes from the empire itself - caramelised baked apples and baked beans with onions, and tangy gratinated scallops.

As for the drinks, it was indeed rum, a common drink in the New World - but that was not important.

General Hamelton finally remembered to swallow his saliva, and couldn't help wiping his mouth with his sleeve, then looked at Teach next to him.

"I can't believe this... you guys usually eat this?!"

Teach was also a little confused.

He was the one who issued the mission, but he didn't expect that the devil's servant would prepare an imperial feast for him with such care.

"Uh... of course! What I mean is, I don't usually make so much, and I can't finish it all by myself." Teach was a little unorganized in his words for a moment, but he just managed to maintain his aristocratic demeanor and not reveal any flaws.

However, General Hamelton interpreted that calm and composed look as something completely different.

The variety of food here is so rich that even a baron can maintain a more luxurious life than when he lived in the empire!
Those spices were used as if they were free, so much that they could even be mixed into the candles burning in the silver candlesticks!

General Hamelton's eyes suddenly became eager.

He had come to the right place!

Seeing his eager look, Tikki thought he was hungry and quickly invited him to sit down.

The two sides chatted for a while, and Hamilton suddenly cleared his throat and finally stated the main purpose of his visit.

"Your Excellency the Baron, I wonder if Prince Colin is nearby? If it is convenient, I hope to visit him later!"

A look of regret appeared on Teach's face, and he said the words that Lumière had prepared for him.

"I'm very sorry, General Hamelton, but His Royal Highness is not in Deadwood Harbor right now. He went to Assam, the holy city of the Ankylosaurs, half a month ago to discuss a trade agreement with the United Kingdom of Gutaf. The Lizardman King admired him very much and kept him there for a few more days."

When Hamelton heard the word "trade", he immediately became alert and asked eagerly, "Trade? What do you need to buy from there?"

Teach shrugged and said calmly, "Food! As you can see, we have no other source of food here except fishing. The land on the northern coast is not suitable for farming. We can only rely on the river valleys and plains in the inland areas... I guess this is why the lizardmen allowed us to recuperate here."

Hamelton pondered for a moment and asked again.

"Then...what is the grain production in the Kingdom of Gutaf? Do you know anything about it?"

Tikki smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"I don't know exactly how many there are. But their population base is there, so there must be a lot of food. Moreover, they use a lot of mechanical power for farming. I heard that one lizardman can manage hundreds of acres of land."

This was also the rhetoric that Lumire taught him, although Teach thought it was nonsense.

Based on his experience as a landlord in his early years, it was considered a high yield for a tenant farmer family to cultivate 10 acres of land relying on manpower.

If there is an ox or horse pulling a plow, the production capacity can be increased to 20 to 30 acres, but it will not reach hundreds of acres... Moreover, even if it can be reached, there will not be so much land for him to plant.

If he was a free farmer, he had heard that some villages next door could cultivate fifty or sixty acres, but generally they needed to hire two seasonal helpers, and their wives and children also needed to assist with farm work.

However, it happened that General Hamelton on the opposite side was a graduate of the Naval Academy. He had never touched a hoe in his life and had no idea what hundreds of acres of land meant, so he did not find it strange.

However, when he heard the mechanical power working, he couldn't help but widen his eyes and forgot to breathe for a moment.

"Mechanical power?! You mean... they're using metal puppets to plow the land?!"

Even today there are still a large number of officers in the Imperial Army who look down upon the power of machines, believing that they are gimmicks brought by the God of Machinery and will sooner or later be eliminated once they completely conquer Hell.

But Hamilton doesn't think so.

As an Imperial Navy officer who dealt with steam engines every day, he knew only too well the incredible power those machines possessed!

The energy contained in the white mist is in no way inferior to the extraordinary power——

If it can be used on farmland, these lizardmen living on the continent of Jana may be more powerful than I imagined!

Teach was slightly stunned. He didn't expect that Hamelton would understand the tractor as a metal puppet.

But he changed his mind and felt that there didn't seem to be any difference in understanding it this way, so he just nodded without making any corrections.

Hamelton fell into intense thought, silently evaluating the weight of this intelligence and the pros and cons of cooperating with the United Kingdom of Gutaf.

At least for now...

There is no harm in maintaining good relations with this powerful kingdom. After all, at this critical juncture they do not have the energy to open up a new battlefield.

As for the future...

We’ll talk about the future later.

He could not decide the future strategic direction of the empire on behalf of the bigwigs in the Holy City. He could only make the judgment he thought was correct at the moment.

Thinking of this, his expression froze, and he said solemnly: "Your Excellency Baron, this time I came here... In addition to visiting Prince Colin, I also have an important matter to discuss with him. This matter is related to the supply of the empire's front line. I hope you can convey it to him for me!"

Tikki swallowed and nodded with a normal look.

"General, please speak."

Hamelton's eyes swept across the sumptuous food on the long table, then looked at Teach again, and spoke in a firm and urgent voice.

"The storm that swept across the Vast Ocean has severely disrupted our shipping order in the eastern coastal areas of the New World. Not only civilian routes have been impacted, but military supplies have also been severely affected! In order to solve the supply shortage, I am making a formal request to you on behalf of Saint Ilburg - we hope to purchase a batch of food from you, no matter where it comes from."

Tikki asked calmly as he took a sip of the rum in his glass.

"How many?"

"The more the better!" Hamelton said without hesitation, "We'll take as many as you have!"

There are more than 10 troops stationed in St. Ilburg.

And in the eastern coastal areas of the New World outside of Fort Saint-Il, there are hundreds of imperial military fortresses of all sizes, and more than one million troops are in urgent need of supplies!

As long as the distance required to transport food can be shortened as much as possible, the saved transportation capacity can be allocated to weapons resources.

This is a very simple math problem.

The more the merrier…

Looking at General Hamelton's earnest eyes, Teach was speechless for a moment. He didn't expect him to suddenly make such a request. After a long while, he scratched his cheek with his index finger and said.

"This... I need to discuss this with His Royal Highness, but our port's transportation capacity is limited. I'm afraid we can't support large-scale shipping—"

This should be a good thing.

But he was not sure whether Deadwood Harbor had the ability to take it on.

"That's easy to say." General Hamelton saw his embarrassment, but he laughed and continued, "To show our sincerity, the garrison of Fort Saint Il can help Deadwood Port build a deep-water port! According to the standards of the Imperial Military Port!"

Help us build a deep-water port?!

Teach was stunned for two seconds, then looked at him in surprise, his mouth wide open in astonishment.

"This... are you serious?!" He knew that the Imperial Navy had a high degree of independent decision-making power in the New World, but he didn't know that these generals held such great power!

This is simply pie falling from the sky - oh no, it's clearly a gold mine!
Seeing Baron Teach, who was so surprised that his mouth couldn't close, General Hamelton nodded solemnly.

"There is no joking in the military, of course I am serious!"

There is still a large surplus of materials to rebuild the port of Saldo, including professional port construction personnel.

Anyway, repairing the port temporarily will not be of any use. The only ones who benefit are a group of merchants who only care about themselves and not the empire at all. It is better to move some of the transportation capacity and materials to another colony of the empire - the Deadwood Port on the Janna continent.

At least this can help the Imperial Navy solve the current problems.

It can also strengthen trade cooperation between the Empire and the Kingdom of Gutaf and strive to incorporate the latter into the Empire's tribute system.

The rear command asked him to take advantage of the situation and get through the difficult times, and this was the solution he came up with to kill two birds with one stone!

"Great!" Teach slapped his thigh excitedly and promised immediately, "As long as you can solve the transportation problem, I can guarantee that every cargo ship you leave from here will be filled with dried corn! By the way, is the corn okay?"

"No problem!" Hamelton said with a smile, "Our soldiers are not picky about food, and corn is one of our staple foods."

He was originally worried that the Lizardmen on the Janna continent had a strange diet, such as eating dried rats, insects, or strange wild fruits, but now it seems that there is no difference between them and the Empire?

Staple food is also grown here!

Tikki said with a relaxed smile on his face and nodded.

"That's good."

There happened to be a lot of old grain left in the granary of the Holy Ankylosaur Kingdom, which has now been inherited by the newly established United Kingdom of Gutaf.

After all, it was the granary of tens of millions of Lizardmen. Considering that Lizardmen's food intake was twice that of the average young and middle-aged human, squeezing out a little food for Fort Saint Il was more than enough.

Lumier said before that if the conditions were favorable to him, he should just agree to them.

If you can't complete it, just blame it on those lizardmen.

Unexpectedly, before meeting Prince Colin himself, the purpose of this trip had been half achieved. Hamelton had a happy smile on his face and almost grabbed Baron Teach's shoulder and called him brother.

The next step is to wait for Prince Colin to come back!
He had to meet the empire's highest-ranking noble in the Janna continent, and many things could not be avoided without involving this mysterious prince.

In addition, construction of the port can start earlier.

The reason why he brought so many warships this time was actually to attract personnel and materials to build a deep-water port.

Repairing the supply line is the top priority, and he will not wait for the stamp before doing anything like the bureaucrats in the rear.

After finishing the matters concerning the port, General Hamelton called a cavalryman over and gave him orders. At this moment, he suddenly remembered a small matter and spoke.

"By the way, I heard from my captain that... the engineers of the Kingdom of Gutaf seem to be very good at repairing steam engine boilers?"

"Of course they are everywhere, since my grandfather's generation."

“Everywhere?!”

Hamelton blurted out, and only realized his slip of the tongue when he saw Teach's strange expression, and he coughed and said.

"I'm surprised... But it just so happens that the garrison fleet in Saint Ilburg needs maintenance. Could you please help? Of course, we will pay according to the market price!"

After all, the money was paid to the Kingdom of Gutaf, so General Hamelton was embarrassed to say, "Man, look, we have built the port for you, can you please let us go of the payment?"

Besides, Captain Derek said that since they didn't mention the money last time, General Hamelton naturally felt embarrassed to buy on credit again.

Teach did not even take the initiative to ask for a waiver. When he heard that the other party was willing to repair the ship according to market conditions, he was even more delighted.

The quote for repairing the boiler in Deadwood Port is 5000 silver coins!
"No problem! That's easy! I'll send a messenger to the Gutaf Kingdom's outpost on the mountain... How many ships do you need?"

Issue tasks to players to repair ships. This is a side job given to him by the Demon King.

As long as he pays taxes, this money will all go into his pocket in the end!

General Hamelton waved his hand and said something that made Teach stop breathing.

"There are 28 ships in total. We need to maintain them all."

He had seen the improvement in the engine efficiency of the Grace, and the craftsmen in St. Ilburg were also amazed and felt it was incredible after seeing it.

He wanted to see if the repair engineers here were really that amazing, or if it was just a coincidence...

As for money?
That was something the quartermaster considered.

……

In the heart of the Stairway to the Sun Mountains, a slight sound of space distortion could be heard between the steep rock walls.

As the dark light flickered above the magic circle, a handsome face slowly emerged from the ordinary open space.

The acolyte who was on standby beside the teleportation array was slightly stunned and initially thought it was a mistake.

Only when several orcs, goblins, and strange demons came down from the teleportation array did he slowly breathe a sigh of relief.

But before long, he couldn't help but start to worry about other things -

Are these guys really high-level demons from the Demon City?
I always feel that they are not as reliable as those guys in the cemetery maze...

"Boss, is this our home base from now on?"

Behind Yig, a two-and-a-half-meter-tall, burly orc couldn't wait to stick his head out and look around excitedly.

The thick nostrils sniffed the fresh mountain air rapidly, sucking out the goose bumps on the back of Iger's neck.

"It feels good! But the facilities are a bit simple!" Another goblin stood on tiptoe and tried his best to look at the scenery in the distance.

"That's not bad! After all, we're just getting started..."

Unlike his thick-skinned subordinates, Yiger had a tense look on his face. He held the straps of his backpack tightly with both hands and looked around vigilantly.

The backpack contains the core of the Demon Lord's Territory - that is the highest level core secret in the entire hell!

Looking at this group of frivolous subordinates, he lowered his voice to remind them: "Don't wander around, follow me closely! Although this place is remote, if an adventurer suddenly rushes out and snatches the core, we will be doomed!"

Although the demons behind him agreed verbally, none of them took it seriously and continued to look around curiously.

In addition to orcs, goblins and demons, there are also several slimes and a group of little demon soldiers with small horns.

These guys are brothers that Iger made when he was serving on the front line. They had just set foot on this strange continent through the teleportation array.

Everyone seemed extremely excited at the thought that they would become subordinates of the Demon King in the future, and maybe even become a Demon General.

Isn't this much better than being cannon fodder on the front line?

Obviously they don't know that cannon fodder is cannon fodder wherever they go.

However, they don't have to worry about being ambushed by adventurers who suddenly appear. After all, Deadwood Harbor is just a port full of "refugees" - it is actually on the same starting line as the Demon Lord's Territory, which they have not even seen yet, so no adventurers will come here.

"Mr. Eagle."

Just when Yig was feeling at a loss, the acolyte beside him nodded slightly, bowed to him and said.

"I am His Majesty Luo Yan's servant, and I have been ordered to wait for your arrival here. Now that you are here, please follow me."

He was not optimistic about this high-level demon from the Demon City.

It is said that when the Demon King took up his post, he was alone, and he landed in a human town... but he had never been so confused.

However, perhaps this is exactly why the Demon King chose him.

"Okay, okay! Thank you for your help!" Looking at the acolyte walking up to him, Yiger nodded quickly, then hurriedly called on his men to follow.

A group of strange-looking monsters and demons followed behind a handsome young man, which was funny no matter how you looked at them.

If there were really adventurers passing by here, they would probably just mistake the guy with a small backpack for a victim of kidnapping by the devil, and would never think that there was something incredible hidden in that backpack.

The group of demons passed through several narrow canyons along the mountain road. The rocky road was filled with sunlight, and the blue ocean in the distance gradually emerged into view. The demons were very interested, and even the expression on Iger's face relaxed a little.

However, when they rounded the foot of the mountain and the port in the distance appeared before them, Yig's expression froze instantly.

On the northern coast, majestic warships were quietly anchored in the harbor, with the Imperial Griffin flag flying in the wind on their bows, looking majestic and solemn.

"...Is that the Empire's navy?" Iger's voice was obviously a little nervous, and he obviously hadn't adapted to the battlefield outside the desert yet.

The acolyte nodded calmly, glanced at these young soldiers from the Demon City, and said lightly.

"It is General Hamelton's fleet."

"Hammelton!"

Upon hearing the name, the expressions of the demons instantly changed from nervousness to fear, especially the orc warriors who had been extremely active just now, who shrank their necks and their hair stood up.

"It's actually the Imperial Griffin Hamelton!"

"How, how could it be him?!"

"Is that the legendary general who defeated General Cebes?!"

"Isn't this the countryside of the Empire?! What is that guy doing here?!"

Although General Cebes was suspected of letting his men off the mark in the Battle of Port Saldo, this legendary general still made his brothers on the Eastern Front suffer in the subsequent Battle of the Bloody Wasteland.

They had not had the opportunity to experience it in the central region before, and it was fortunate that they had not had the opportunity.

Otherwise, considering how reliable their leader is, it is still unknown whether they can survive until now...

Not only the cannon fodder from the front line were terrified, but their eldest brother Iger's face was as pale as paper, and his panicked eyes were like a frightened deer.

But even so, he still fulfilled his responsibility as a commander and shouted to his subordinates while pretending to be calm.

"You guys... don't, don't be afraid! Senior... I mean Lord Luo Yan, he will definitely not leave us alone!"

However, his thin body was not even half as big as General Hamelton's, and his generous words did not boost the morale of the cannon fodder like the latter.

In terms of pre-war mobilization, the Empire seemed to have gained another point—

The demons who had just set foot on the continent of Janna had not even seen the shadow of adventurers, and their morale had already fallen to the bottom.

The monk leading the way in front smiled coldly, not taking their fear to heart, and walked in front with a calm expression.

Originally he still had some beautiful fantasies about hell, but now it seems that these demons hiding underground have already lost their bravery and fighting spirit thousands of years ago.

No wonder they are still being pinned to the ground after so many years!
It is worth mentioning that after seeing how corrupt the high-level demons were, the monk's faith not only did not waver, but became even more firm.

His heart is full of sincerity.

no doubt--

Bayeli could no longer save them.

Only the Demon King, who is chosen by God, can save these fallen demons!
(End of this chapter)