Great, we're doomed now!

"You're from the East, right?"

"The East is a very broad concept... Let me first tell you about the origin of the maze."

Hmm, where should I begin?

Ye Shou sat at the bow of the boat, organized his thoughts, and began to tell an ancient story.

"Mazes are divided into two types: naturally formed and man-made. The former are usually small in scale and are the most common. The latter, however, are full of dangers and hide secrets from ancient times."

It all originated from a being called a 'demon'—not a monster from a fairy tale, but an unknown extradimensional creature that just happened to fit people's imagination of what a demon looks like, hence the name.

It is said that the first intelligent race to come into contact with demons was the elves. They obtained almost unlimited magic from the demons, which allowed them to fulfill all their desires and thus create a perfect ideal paradise—the man-made labyrinth.

Ancient people imprisoned demons in labyrinths as an infinite source of energy, believing that this would ensure eternal prosperity. But how could such a good thing exist in this world?

Everything comes at a price; that's the truth of the world!

The devil accepts people's desires and then fulfills them, but it's like a canvas that's constantly being painted on; the more emotions people invest in it, the more the colors blend together, the closer it becomes to pure black...

Demons, originally purely neutral beings, developed a predilection for feeding on human desires. Once a demon has satisfied its appetite, it craves more and breaks free of the labyrinthine prison to invade the surface world.

"..."

Everyone was speechless. Although it sounded like a myth, it was very convincing in Ye Shou's words. The dwarf Senxi was the first to believe it, and he looked quite dazed, as if he had understood something.

He muttered to himself, "Indeed... that labyrinth is like a living thing; the stronger one's desires and the more one demands, the easier it is to be swallowed up by it..."

Marushir was getting impatient: "But how do you know all this? I've lived for over fifty years, researching labyrinths and ancient magic, but..."

"Because that is a dark history that needs to be completely covered up for elves, people are forbidden from learning black magic—that is, ancient magic related to labyrinths and demons."

"I can't believe it!" Marushir covered her mouth in disbelief.

"Have you heard of the Canary?" Ye Shou asked solemnly. "That's a special force directly under the control of the Elven royal family, dedicated to suppressing labyrinths."

“Canary…” Marushir frowned.

She is indeed an elf, but she is of mixed race and grew up in a human kingdom with her mother. It's not that she's never been back to the elven kingdom, but she has very few memories of it and could not possibly know any royal secrets. Her understanding of the [Canary] is practically nonexistent.

Chilchak looked frightened: "I've never heard of any canary... but do you mean the 'Western Elves' are interested in this island's labyrinth?"

Western elves, that's the collective name for the elven kingdom by a short-lived race... Their fearsome reputation is so great that it can stop children from crying at night among halflings!

Because they were a group of people who made no attempt to hide their pride, showed no respect for short-lived species, and had a clear class system within themselves.

Countless halflings and ordinary humans were taken away without any explanation simply because they were associated with "dark magic." The investigation and interrogation alone could take twenty or thirty years—and many halflings simply died of old age in prison!

"When you say you don't have time, does that mean..."

"That's right, the 'Golden Kingdom Labyrinth' on this island has reached its final stage and is about to go out of control—I'm absolutely certain of this after personally navigating the labyrinth once."

If I'm not mistaken, the elves from the west should be arriving soon!

Ye Shou looked at Farin, which puzzled the girl. Marusir also cast a worried glance at her best friend.

What would happen if the elven army came to the island?

Farin was resurrected by dark magic!

Marushir is the caster!

Someone skilled in this art would certainly be able to detect the error, and there's no shortage of such people among the Western elves!

At that time, not only the two directly related mages, but even Chilchak, Leos, and Sensi will not be able to escape!

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!"

Chilchak nervously covered his face: "I still want to see my wife and children! What if they're captured by the Western Elves..."

"Huh? Chilchuck is already married?!" Everyone was astonished.

"Is this the time to talk about this?"

The halfling suddenly grabbed Ye Shou's shirt: "Since you're so calm, you must have some plan, right?"

What should we do?

"Simple."

Ye Shou smiled slightly: "Why don't we just deal with the Lord of the Maze before they arrive?"

"……well!"

"The Lord of the Labyrinth...a mad magician?"

"You said you'd solve it... how do you solve it?"

"In the end, we have no idea what the Lord of the Labyrinth looks like!"

"Calm down, calm down~"

Ye Shou gestured for them to calm down: "According to my plan, even if we can't kill the Lord of the Maze, we can still keep the Maze under control within a certain range."

Although the Western elves have a bad reputation, they cannot invade human territory at will in this era. As long as I become the island lord and the labyrinth is not out of control, there is still room for maneuver.

Ultimately, you pose no threat to them. I've 'heard about' the leader of this group; he's not interested in anything other than the Labyrinth Lord and demons. Once you grasp this, it's actually quite easy to...communicate with him.

Is this guy trying to say "take advantage of"?

Reckless and audacious...

"So you call yourself a gourmet?"

"I'm not lying. I only realized it was unsafe when I got deeper into the maze."

Ye Shou's gaze was deep: "And there's also the matter of Farin... I don't want to see you captured by the Western elves."

"Ye Shou!"

Leos was deeply moved: "You did this for us? You were wasting so much treasure!"

“A poet from my hometown once said that a thousand pieces of gold cannot compare to the friendship between friends… Although we have only known each other for a few days, I absolutely cannot stand idly by while you, Leos.”

"Wow! You're such a good person!" Leos was so moved that he burst into tears!

Farin and Marushiel felt the same way, and Sensi nodded with satisfaction.

"That's right, partners are very important. You look really cool now that you cherish your partners, Ye Shou!"

“…I’ll believe you for now.” Chilchuck sat back down as if resigned, sprawling directly onto Leos.

"This is bad... I was just about to retire, why did this have to happen to me?"

“If all goes well, I’ll earn enough money this time to last a lifetime,” Ye Shou said earnestly. “I promise you.”

"Ugh……"

"So, the reason you mobilized adventurers was to conquer the labyrinth?" Leos gradually began to understand.

Upon hearing this, Ye Shou revealed a disdainful smile: "Conquer the maze? Them? Don't be fooled by their numbers; when it comes to the final battle, they'll all become nourishment for the maze!"

My greatest hope for them is that they don't empower the labyrinth, nor are they exploited by demons.

"So you set up this scheme?"

"Even if I bought the entire island, I wouldn't have many people I could trust. It would be impossible to control the movements of so many adventurers. Just persuading them to leave would be a huge hassle, but right now, both we and the labyrinth need time!"

Ninety-nine out of a hundred adventurers will follow the path of money. They'll be wary of windfall gains, but they won't doubt the benefits of what they've 'scrambled for'. And all I have to do is tell them where the money is, and I can control them at will!"

"I see."

Leos glanced at the island that was gradually becoming clearer in the distance and roughly understood Ye Shou's plan.

"So you're going to start your conquest of the dungeon master after driving away all the adventurers? But honestly, with just the few of us..."

“It’s a challenge,” Ye Shou smiled. “But don’t worry, it will be easier than you think. We won’t even need to go through the maze.”

Leos couldn't imagine how to defeat the Lord of the Labyrinth without entering the labyrinth, but Ye Shou was so confident, so he must have a way, right?

There's another question.

Marushir suddenly raised her hand and asked, "You still haven't told me... Why do you know so much about these things? Even I, an elf, don't know so many ancient secrets."

"...This involves my family background."

Ye Shou stood up, placed his hand on his chest, and looked very serious.

"Because my ancestor once made a pact with a demon, leaving behind a curse that has been passed down through generations of my family!"

"demon?!"

"That's right—the demon called [Capitalism]!"

Chapter 71 Friend, it's delicious!

"...And so, my ancestor was defeated by the hero 'Dio Luden,' and the demon called 'Capital' was banished back to its birthplace, that void world."

Ye Shou paused for a moment, then sighed, "But perhaps it's punishment for abusing demonic power. Our ancestor and his descendants have been cursed with the 'curse of capital,' unable to escape it generation after generation!"

"The curse of capitalism? I don't understand it, but it sounds terrifying."

"This curse has caused our clan suffering for hundreds of years, and countless people have been destroyed because of it. In this generation, only I am left."

Ye Shou picked up his backpack and casually threw it on the deck. He said in a hateful tone, "'The curse of capital' has ensured that my family will always be well-fed and clothed, and that each generation will be able to accumulate a large amount of wealth. It is no exaggeration to say that we are richer than a country!"

“…Huh?” Chilchak was stunned. “This is a curse? Such good conditions?”

"Ha... Although we live a very wealthy life and seem to be able to do whatever we want, the negative effects of the curse have robbed us of one emotion—[satisfaction]."

Capital is thirsty for everything in the world, and this hunger is not relieved by eating. We are constantly looking for new prey to fill the endless emptiness in our hearts...

"If you get one, you'll expect ten; if you get ten, you'll crave a hundred; if you get a hundred, you'll desire ten thousand!"

"Do you think ordinary people are like this too?"

"But ordinary people feel happy and proud after achieving their goals!"

"We won't!"

Ye Shou clenched his fists and said unwillingly, "Desire will continue to expand within our bodies, and even if we know this, we cannot stop it. We can only watch helplessly as we turn into monsters from the inside out!"

"Monsters... if they're just materialistic, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"

"...Do you like to eat?"

Ye Shou looked at Chilchak intently, then turned to Leos: "There must be some kind of favorite food, right?"

But for us, happiness is always fleeting. Even the most delicious food will become completely tiresome after a few meals, and we can never recapture the feeling we once had.