Full health is the kill threshold, no matter if you're a god or a demon!

This decision may seem simple, but it is actually quite complicated for NPCs!

Because Gerbin's order carries system privileges, once this assignment reaches Gimli, his status and rank will immediately be upgraded!

Consequently, his subordinates will also be promoted.

This is a way for NPCs to advance; that's how Mekkatorque gradually became a high-level NPC.

Toothpick City originally had a teleportation array, but due to resource scarcity, the Heart of Gears initially closed the teleportation access to Toothpick City. It has now been reopened.

Liu Nian and Tax Minister Mars teleported directly to Toothpick City.

When Jinli heard that he had been appointed as the city lord and would be in charge of such an important cooperative project, he was first shocked, then excited and his face turned red.

"Oh, gold coins above, is this for real?"

"That's right, Lord Jinli City, it will be a pleasure to cooperate with you in the future." Liu Nian rarely showed a smile.

Upon receiving the letter of appointment, Jinli's title immediately changed to "City Lord of Tooth Spikes," and his level was promoted to 50.

This level isn't high, but considering that he was only level 10 before, and Mekkatorque was only level 25 at the beginning, Gimli is already considered an epic buff!

Without delay, Liu Nian used the newly opened teleportation permission to bring Jinli and a large number of dwarf NPCs to the floating city.

Here, the dwarves will have an office similar to an "embassy". Liu Nian is no stranger to the NPCs in this office. They are all disciples of Mekkatorque. For example, Lina, the female dwarf who once made gauntlets for Liu Nian, is among them.

"Hello, warrior! I never imagined you were now the city lord. That's truly remarkable. Do you still need my services?"

Lina's voice was different from the other NPCs; she was clearly someone with memories.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Liu Nian knew that these people would be his "employees" from now on!

After leaving some people to help the dwarfs tidy up their rooms, Liu Nian led Jinli to the city of exile without stopping.

He explained to the current Queen Esmedina the plan to ally with the dwarves to jointly develop the mines. The spider elves, who had long regarded Liu Nian as their master, naturally had no objections and were even overjoyed—this meant food, resources, and technology, and it meant hope for the revival of their race.

Look! Who says the chaotic faction can't ally with the orderly faction? Faced with the pressure of survival, opposing sides can also band together for mutual support.

Soon, the first group of dwarf mining engineers, personally selected by Gimli and carrying a large amount of engineering machinery, marched into the City of Exile through the teleportation array.

Liu Nian personally escorted them to the nearest Yinggang mine, watching as the dwarfs skillfully set up equipment, analyzed the ore layers, planned the mine tunnels, and began their work.

The rumbling of drilling and the hum of machinery broke the silence around the city of exile, marking the beginning of a new, cross-species cooperative production model in this dark land.

Standing on the makeshift command platform, Liu Nian looked down at the bustling construction site below, feeling quite pleased with himself.

Compared to the mine, these dwarves and machines were as insignificant as ants thrown into a mountain, which made Liu Nian sigh that there were still too few workers! He had to find a way to capture more slaves; the previous Abyss Dwarves were simply not enough!

"Pandra!" Liu Nian said to Pandra, who had been promoted to Spider-Elf General beside him, "You're in charge of protecting their safety!"

"Yes, Master!"

Seeing that it was almost time for the day, Liu Nian returned to the floating city.

Arachne has returned, and all the plans there are ready; they're just waiting to begin tomorrow morning.

Liu Nian had given Wu Zhan a heads-up, telling him to tell his men not to go to Yong'an Lake to grind monsters tomorrow, as he was going to take over that leveling spot.

Wu Zhan: Received.

The first thing Arachne did upon returning was to check on the progress of the floating city's restoration. However, without her supervision, the progress was naturally slow, with most of the work being done on clearing obstacles and cleaning. Important restoration work could not be carried out without her guidance.

Liu Nian was aware of this, which is why he was eager to bring the dwarf into the arena.

However, Arachne said that some important technical workshops should be established first, and then the workshops can be used to train gnomes, so that they can learn the various architectural blueprints of the floating city and thus be independently responsible for the restoration work of a certain area.

Arachne also mentioned the problem of "ordinary workers." Currently, there are only a few hundred Abyss Dwarf slaves and some low-level automatic repair robots in the city, which is far from enough!

This third level of the Underdark only has this one group of Abyss Dwarves. I wonder if the other NPC factions are suitable for being miners or repairmen.

Before the Ascension War, Liu Nian still has some time. If there are no suitable slave species in the third layer of the Underdark, he will have to wait until the Ascension War is over and he can access a larger map and higher-level NPCs, at which point he will have more options.

For example, regarding the engineering dwarfs, Gelbin is just a prince, and his story has not yet been explored. Could there be a dwarf kingdom behind him?

This is very likely.

There's a portal in the city of the Abyss Dwarves that leads to the Abyss. Could there be even more dwarves in the Abyss?

……

With these thoughts in mind, Liu Nian drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Liu Nian opened his eyes, ready for another day full of energy.

Above the pitch-black, deathly silent surface of Eternal Dark Lake, the colossal silhouette of the Void Giant Kun, as massive as a mountain, emerged.

"Waaah—"

The behemoth let out a long, drawn-out whale cry, like a horn signaling action.

Then, its enormous mouth, like the entrance to an abyss, slowly opened.

Dozens of elite Silverscale Naga Knights, clad in streamlined scale armor and wielding tridents or strange staffs that shimmered with a ghostly blue light, rode manta ray-shaped mounts. Like arrows released from a bow, they burst forth from the giant maw, tracing elegant arcs through the air before silently plunging into the dark lake to begin preliminary reconnaissance and preparations for clearing the area.

Following closely behind were a large number of Naga engineers and laborers, who landed on the pre-cleared lake shore carrying a large number of packaged metal components, energy conduits, rune substrates and other equipment parts.

Using magic and sophisticated bio-alloy tools, they rapidly assembled a series of complex, large-scale devices, such as the core components of the energy extraction array, high-power energy pumps, and temporary energy transmission towers, like building blocks. The entire process was carried out in an orderly manner.

Liu Nian was not idle either. He summoned the little fire dragon and the echo crab and began to clear out the undead creatures.