Imperial Crown.

Chapter 515 Exploring the Ruins
"Master, the mercenaries are all starting to urge us for their wages."

Inside the castle hall, Raven was enjoying his white bread breakfast, but Thor's inappropriate words had completely ruined his appetite.

"It's only been a month since we last paid out, what's with the rush? If you keep pushing, we'll lock up the mercenary leader!"

Raven snapped impatiently, slamming his spoon into the bowl with a clanging sound.

This scene made Thor realize that he had said the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time. He could only purse his lips and stand aside like a child who had made a mistake, not daring to utter another sound. He cursed Hu Xia inwardly; no wonder he had used the excuse of having a stomachache to go to the toilet and made him talk about this first.

Time flew by, and it was early March. On the continent of Miders, the management of the military—a profession with no battles—was a terrifying, even catastrophic, problem for every lord! Alcoholism, gambling, prostitution… these had become almost daily occurrences! Even more difficult to deal with were those who secretly fought, extorted protection money, stole, refused to pay gambling debts, and slept with their brothers' wives or sisters… familiar yet not entirely repetitive situations played out almost every day! Occasionally, someone would be accidentally killed.

These problems are not affected in the slightest by the fact that the lord is Raven, or because Raven is a transmigrator. Strict military discipline, which might have been somewhat improved in an environment like Eagle City, has now descended into complete chaos thanks to the mercenary horde.

Anyone who has frequently gone through drug rehabilitation knows that the environment has a tremendous impact on a person!

If Raven were to order that gambling and drinking be prohibited during military service, the first to be discharged would not be the mercenaries, nor the Eagle Army, but Thor, this second-generation troublemaker!
Besides, war is a common occurrence on the continent of Miders. Soldiers fight bravely on the battlefield, but drinking, gambling, and prostitution are forbidden off the battlefield... so almost no one would want to be a soldier anymore.

But it can't be too outrageous... Female goblins, eaglewomen, werewolves, tigerwomen... all started setting up small tents nearby, and soldiers were flocking to try them out. Gold coins were practically flowing out. Even if each soldier only exchanged 5 gold coins for merit points, that's a terrifying number for 20,000 to 30,000 people! Add to that the compensation for those who died in battle, the food and supplies for tens of thousands of people since the march from Eagle City, and the five dragons (one large and four small)... If Raven hadn't managed to squeeze over 2 million gold coins out of Count Comos in the province of Morinil, he really didn't know how he would have survived until now.

Prices in the Orc Empire are outrageously high! Buying a little something occasionally for emergencies is fine, but if Raven were to buy on a large scale from caravans, he would probably be bankrupt by now! Although Raven immediately sent someone to contact Marquis Baldwin of the Mangtail Province to transport supplies after the decisive battle, these supplies still cost money. Although Marquis Baldwin could sell to Raven at a fair price, Raven couldn't be naive and buy them at a fair price. Instead, he would pay Marquis Baldwin 2% more than the market price each time, so that he wouldn't have worked for nothing.

Before I transmigrated, I was constantly being chased by online loan companies for repayments. After transmigrating, I'm still losing hair from worrying about money. Didn't I transmigrate for nothing?

Raven clutched his head, frowning as he racked his brains for a solution.

Repairing the Bloodstone Wall is a long-term project, and extra wages are paid for the work every day. Fortunately, there are quite a few orcs willing to do the work, so it is a good deal.

Farming! We must farm!
We must first achieve self-sufficiency in food! Although the Nightthroat Province has fertile land, it has never been cultivated for many years. If we really want to grow lush crops, we need to plow and hoe at least two or three times. If we give this work to soldiers, we will pay them extra. But if we give it to orcs, they will not do a good job.

Only the orcs who were captured and not treated as human beings were able to diligently clear the land. But as Raven signed contracts with the various chieftains, all the captives of the goblin and eagle-man tribes had to be released, leaving only the captives of the boar and tiger-men.

"Why can't reality be like writing a novel or playing a game, where you can just click a few times to build a factory?" Raven thought to himself, frustrated.

To build a profitable factory in reality, you need blueprints, plans, construction craftsmen... and afterwards, alchemy equipment, employees, and managers... If you lack any one of these, you can forget about getting it done!
"Yes"

Soon, Raven had a brilliant idea, but it wasn't quite right yet, and the timing wasn't right either. With that thought, Raven chuckled mischievously, wiped his mouth and hands with a napkin, threw it down, and said to Thor, "Go, bring the second-generation transcendent and Chuchu Linga."

Soon, Chirping Linga and all the second-generation superhumans gathered in Raven's castle hall.

“Chirp Chirp Linga, I think there’s no better time than today. Take us to that ruin today!” Raven said to Chirp Chirp Linga because there was still the matter of the ruins.

Chiu Chiu Linga was taken aback at first, then nodded and said no problem.

"Alright, this trip is very dangerous. You should all go back and prepare." Raven waved his hand. "We'll set off when it gets dark."

After dismissing everyone, Raven summoned Hu Xia. "It's March now, and these scoundrels are bored out of their minds again. Here's what you'll do: just like in Eagle City, set up a martial arts tournament. Let's call it the 'Raven Arena Tournament,' and a ranking list called the 'Eagle Ranking'! The first place winner will receive a 'Battle Mother Potion,' which allows them to instantly advance to the next realm! The second place winner will receive a 'Battle Qi Ignition Potion,' which increases their internal battle qi, saving them years of arduous training! The third place winner will receive a 'Magic Rune Stone,' which allows them to cast spells! The ranking list will only record the top 20; the remaining 17 will all receive merit points!" Raven intended to promote the merit point system, essentially creating a new currency at zero cost, similar to virtual currency in his previous life. Since merit points could only be spent through Raven, the cost would ultimately come from the recipients, meaning he wouldn't lose out either way. After a moment's thought, Raven continued, "Replicate this system in the Eagle City arena as well. Also, send someone back on a dragon to inform Viscount Denise to gather a large quantity of Angel series products and potato chips, along with 3 million gold coins and 50,000 serfs, and send them over." Watching Hu Xia scribbling away, Raven suddenly remembered something. "Oh right, have Poirot and Philip come along too, along with a group of construction craftsmen. Build three factories here: an Angel's Tears factory, a potato chip factory, and a clothing factory. And also… bring over a batch of Kapibalas; the growth of the magical plants and young dragons depends on them."

Desperate for money, Raven plans to expand the Angel series of products, such as Angel Feathers.

Suits, suspenders, stockings, lace, high heels, sex toys, sunglasses, business attire… everything was arranged. One advantage of the Orc Empire was the endless supply of fur. These things that had previously gone to waste could now be made into bedding sets. There were also coats, scarves, wolf-hair pens… The thought of his territory being filled with hairless orcs made Raven unable to suppress a laugh.

But his smile quickly faded, because this so-called Raven Tournament was originally an event to celebrate his wedding to Nancy, and it was Anthony who suggested it! Raven and Nancy's wedding took place around March or April, so the tournament's timing was fixed within that period. It's been exactly 10 years now! Aside from a few interruptions during wartime, this should be the sixth tournament. In just 10 short years, his beloved had passed away, and Anthony had died at his hands. Truly, the world changes, and fate is unpredictable.

After sending Hu Xia away, Raven went to check on the Eagle Yellow Moss. Igni had ordered someone to bring 20 pieces of Eagle Yellow Moss—yes, not 20 plants, but 20 pieces. Because Eagle Yellow Moss must rely on Eagle People's dung to grow, it had been cut into forearm-length cubes. The stench was unbearable, even worse than the zoo in his previous life.

"Damn Murphy's Law."

Over the years, Raven had amassed a large number of magic cores, containing almost every element except for a void-attribute magic core. But as fate would have it, the primordial reversion of the Eagle Yellow Moss required both lightning and void-attribute magic cores! This damned Murphy's Law actually managed to ignore space and time and produce its magical effects.

The so-called reversion of the demonic plant to its ancestral form involves Raven using his Eye of Truth to extract the corrupted essence from the plant, then pulverizing its core and filling it with the elemental power it needs. Of course, during this process, the corrupted essence in the core must also be completely removed, leaving only pure elemental energy! Fortunately, with over a decade of practice, this process is a piece of cake for Raven!
"Igni said she'd send over some Void Cores soon, but I don't know if that'll be true. Oh no, I forgot to tell Hu Xia to write it down so my aunt could buy some Void Cores over there," Raven muttered to himself, covering his mouth and nose.

Time flew by. After dragging Lux into playing a few more games that nobody really enjoyed, Raven took a shower, ate a meal, and put on makeup. Then it got dark. Raven and the others rode several young dragons and flew towards the Bloodhowl Province under cover of night.

Silvermane suffered a crushing defeat. Not only was the entire Bloodhowl Province in disarray, but even the Khajiit tribe itself was torn apart. Silvermane went into complete hiding! So what if he was a sixth-tier warrior? He was now terrified of Raven, knowing that Raven had a multitude of trump cards up his sleeve. He would not show himself again until he was absolutely certain of victory.

In the middle of the night, the group returned to Kozan City, which had once been Chiu Chiu Linga's lair, but was now ravaged by locusts, leaving nothing behind. Chiu Chiu Linga's face showed extremely complex emotions.

"Don't worry, I'll have Zolzaen come and deal with these locusts later," Raven said calmly.

Since it's not their own territory, they don't mind spewing dragon breath and Raven as much as they want, as long as the locusts are wiped out.

After placing the baby dragon in the old castle, the group followed the underground passageway of the castle toward the seven ancient tombs.

"Damn it, we're not there yet?"

To ensure safety, Raven brought all the second-generation transcendents with him, including Pindt, making a total of 16 second-tier transcendents! After running wildly through the tunnels with Chirping Linga for several hours, and with dawn approaching outside, they still hadn't reached the ruins. Thor couldn't help but ask.

Raven was carried in shifts the whole way, so it didn't feel like a long time. He just felt a bit stuffy, probably because he was so deep below the ground.

"Almost there, almost there," Chirping Linga muttered. "It's been a while, I almost forgot, I took a wrong turn just now."

"You'd better not try anything funny!" Thor hissed. "The patriarch came along this time. If anything happens to him, do you believe I'll skin you alive?!"

Seeing the murderous look on Thor's face, with bloodthirsty flames surging in his eyes, Chiu Chiu Linga knew Thor wasn't joking, and immediately shrank back, nodding repeatedly, "Don't worry, Thor, how could I possibly harm Lord Raven!"

"what's wrong?"

The procession stretched into a long line, with Thor and the others leading the way, Raven being carried in turns in the middle, and Pind and the others bringing up the rear. So Raven didn't hear their conversation. When he saw the procession stop, he subconsciously asked.

"It's alright, it's alright! I'm just checking the route." Chirp chirp Lin Ga's shouts came back.

Raven yawned. "Hurry up, I'm sleepy. Don't you know that old people don't have much energy?!" He muttered to himself, "You don't care about old people at all."

“Your Excellency, why don’t you rest here for a while? Let’s go in with Chuchulinga and see what’s going on first,” Beta said cautiously from the side. As the son of Baron Kate and a member of the Heyaz’s outlying faction, Beta wasn’t very close to Raven. Taking advantage of the opportunity to carry Raven’s sedan chair, he quickly spoke up.

"It's nothing," Raven waved his hand.

Including his age before and after his transmigration, Raven's real age is indeed 4-50 years old, only a few years younger than Eric. He does have a generation gap with a young man like Beta in his early 20s, and they don't have much to talk about.

The group started moving again, and after walking for several more hours, suddenly, excited shouts came from ahead: "We're here! We're here! This is it!"

To prevent others from discovering this place, Chiu Chiu Linga sealed it off after opening it up, leaving two people with Raven while the rest of the second generation began digging with Chiu Chiu Linga.

These individuals, who were originally glamorous second-tier transcendents, now looked like a group of tomb raiders, panting and working hard with their buttocks sticking out.

More than half an hour later, Thor came over and said, "Master, it's open. But the entrance is too small to carry you in. Why don't we go in and explore first? I've heard that there are curses in these ancient ruins."

"I come!"

Pind stepped out from behind. "As a dwarf, I have a long lifespan. I will take Chuchulinga inside first."

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Raven, awaiting his decision.

Raven nodded. "Go ahead."

……

(End of this chapter)