Ainz Ooal Gown: Noble Knight.

Chapter 83 Ainz's Plans

Inside the throne room of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

The light from the magic lamps poured down from the dome, illuminating the entire hall as if it were daytime.

Towering stone pillars lined both sides, their surfaces carved with countless intricate patterns, each line exuding an ancient and solemn aura. Sunlight fell upon the throne deep within the hall, illuminating the entire chair with a shimmering glow.

Ainz Ooal Gown sat on the throne.

A semi-transparent management system interface floated in front of him, the light reflecting on his fleshless, skeletal face, making the two dark red flames in his eye sockets appear exceptionally deep.

The interface is densely packed with various data, including daily maintenance costs, number of servants, operational status of magic traps, and energy consumption of each layer of the defense system.

Ainz's gaze fell on the "Gold Coin Reserves" section.

The numbers are still long. Given Nazarick's current consumption, this reserve is enough to sustain them for a considerable period.

But Ainz was still somewhat anxious.

"We can't just keep activating these defensive traps and wait until our resources run out."

He sighed silently to himself.

Although Demiurge had already analyzed that the enemy was unlikely to have the ability to breach Nazarick.

Those deductions about "dragons" and the assessment of the opponent's upper limit of strength did indeed relax Ainz's tense nerves a bit.

However, it cannot be ruled out that the other party intended to lull Nazarick into a false sense of security and then launch a surprise attack at the next moment.

In the game YGGDRASIL, gold coins can be used to purchase items, as well as for various other purposes such as maintaining guild bases, summoning non-automatically respawning monsters of level 30 and above, using some magic as a medium, crafting items, and reviving dead NPCs.

Gold coins are the lifeblood of this guild.

And the blood is being lost little by little.

Ainz remembered the money he had earned in the Ye-Rantir Adventurers' Guild.

But that money could not be recognized by Nazarick's system.

The same applies to the platinum coins that Sebastian obtains through runes.

Those exquisitely crafted, high-purity precious metal coins were nothing more than a pile of meaningless metal pieces in the face of Nazarick's management system.

External gold coins cannot be directly used to replenish Nazarick's resources.

Of course, if you use the coin exchange box, you can indeed get some YGGDRASIL coins.

The Coin Box is a special item that converts items into YGGDRASIL coins.

After Ainz came to this world, he conducted an experiment: he put a Clementine weapon into a coin box, and the box dispensed a corresponding number of gold coins based on the item's rarity and material.

However, Ainz didn't think he was in such dire straits that he would need to sell his possessions if he were to use items from Nazarick to exchange for them.

Every item and piece of equipment in the Great Tomb of Nazarick is the result of his and his companions' hard work.

Ainz would never sell them just to temporarily deplete his gold reserves.

How about exchanging it for external goods?

Ainz considered this possibility in his mind.

If we could transport large quantities of resources from the Kingdom, Empire, and Theocracy into Nazarick and convert them into YGGDRASIL gold coins through the coin exchange box, the problem of gold coin reserves would be easily solved.

But Nazarick couldn't do it.

To prevent the Guardians from being defeated one by one, all the Guardians except for Sebastian, who was investigating and acting as bait, retreated back to Nazarick.

Mare and Aura stopped going out, Cocytus stayed on the fifth floor, and Demiurge also suspended his activities outside.

Nazarick's control over the outside world has become very limited.

Without sufficient external support, it's impossible to acquire substantial resources from the outside world. Without resources, it's impossible to replenish gold coins through the coin exchange box. Without gold coins, it's forced to continue depleting its reserves to defend against potential invasions by "dragons."

We're stuck in a vicious cycle.

Ainz was very distressed.

He leaned back in his chair, the dark red light in his eyes flickering uncertainly.

The expressionless skeletal face revealed no emotion, but if any other "Supreme Beings" were present, they would surely sense the lingering unease.

Just then, Ainz remembered something.

Information sent by Aura's retinue.

The Angelicia Mountains lie between the Bahars Empire and the Kingdom of Ri Yestij, forming the border between the two countries.

Located at the foot of the mountains at its southern end, north of the Great Forest of Duwu, lies a vast lake.

This huge lake, covering an area of about 20 square kilometers, is shaped like an upside-down gourd and is divided into an upper lake and a lower lake.

At the southern end of the lake below lies a large area where lakes and wetlands intersect, and within this vast wetland area are numerous buildings.

This is the home of a subhuman race known as the Lizardmen.

Lizard people.

Ainz touched his jawbone with his finger bones.

Judging from the feedback from Aura's followers, those demi-humans are not very strong.

They lived in tribes in the wetlands, making a living by fishing and hunting. They had a simple social structure, but their level of civilization was far from comparable to that of human nations.

More importantly, they are relatively isolated. The lizard people rarely interact with the outside world; their activities are basically confined to that wetland, and they don't have much contact with the surrounding human villages.

Ainz's thoughts began to race.

Conquer that place.

Kill all the lizardmen and transform them into the undead.

The undead need no food, no rest, and never tire. They can tirelessly gather all valuable resources in the wetlands.

The wealth accumulated by the lizardmen, the herbs and minerals in the wetlands, and even the usable materials in those buildings can all be collected.

Then put all these resources into the exchange box and convert them into YGGDRASIL gold coins.

In this way, gold coins can be replenished without expending Nazarick's own power to collect resources from the outside world or using the reserves in the treasury.

The entire process only requires one deployment: to crush the lizardmen with overwhelming force, and then let the undead transformed from these lizardmen carry out the subsequent looting.

Clean and neat.

At the same time, eliminating the lizardmen has a deeper meaning.

After being taught by Demiurge, Ainz began to learn Demiurge's techniques.

This could serve as a test of the dragon that controls Shalltear.

After taking control of Shalltear, the dragon went into hiding, and Ainz knew far too little about it.

If it weren't for the fact that players in YGGDRASIL couldn't choose a pure dragon as their race, Ainz would have even suspected that this cunning dragon was a player.

If Nazarick were to send out an attack to eliminate the lizardmen, how would the dragon react?

Furthermore, although the probability is very low, what if this dragon happens to inhabit this area of the lizardmen?

Ainz mentally went through all the possibilities.

If the dragon is indeed hiding in the lizardmen's territory, then Nazarick, with all its forces mobilized, should be able to completely destroy it.

Even if the opponent's strength exceeds expectations, Ainz is confident that he can at least remain undefeated by combining the power of all the guardians.

This is a situation where you're guaranteed to win.

Ainz made a decision.

He raised his hand and closed the management system interface.

Ainz turned his head.

Albedo was standing below the throne.

Albedo.

"Yes, Lord Ainz."

Albedo's voice immediately rang out.

Ainz's gaze lingered on her face for a moment.

"Notify all Guardians," he said, striving for an unquestionable tone of authority, "to attend a meeting."

Albedo lowered her head deeply.

"Yes, Lord Ainz."