Demon King, you just need to conquer, and your husband will come up with the solution.

In the eyes of the troll elders, Ains has done his utmost to help you. It is a favor for a high-level demon like Ains to take the initiative to help you.

But you are not satisfied and want to ask high-level demons for help. Then you are asking for more and going against Tiangang!

Seeing that the troll elder was about to raise his staff to beat back the refugees one by one, Irons stepped forward to stop him and said, "It's okay, old man, it's just a matter of writing a few words..."

Then he looked at the group of refugees in front of him and said in his gentle but powerful voice: "Don't worry, I heard your request. Everyone should line up as usual and come one by one."

……

"My husband's name is... Bruman..."

"My wife has a nice name, Mia."

"My father's name is Gerson...Um, can you write my name as well? My name is Gray..."

"Beatrice..."

"Anzhe..."

"Barut..."

……

On a Gobi slope with a wide view, a group of refugees threw their souvenirs representing their deceased relatives into a dug pit one by one.

Some gave up decisively and resolutely, deciding to take with them the lives of their loved ones that could not continue, abandoning the bleak past and starting their own new life.

Some people, however, cannot get rid of the memories that are deeply engraved in their minds. They hold the souvenirs with their loved ones' names written on them and cry, unwilling to throw them away.

The old troll, perhaps the only intellectual with some insight among the refugees, began to pray for the dead.

As demons, the object of their prayers is naturally not the Triune God, but the most widely believed demon god in the demon realm.

Irons moved his sore wrist joints and watched everything from a distance. This occasion was not something that a foreigner like him could get involved in.

After watching for a while, he looked away. On the other side, the green-skinned troll, after putting the old troll's grandson into the grave, returned to the old troll to look after him. He did not accompany others to see his loved one off for the last time.

Irons walked forward curiously and asked, "Aren't you going to see your loved ones off for the last time?"

"Me?" The green-skinned troll was slightly stunned, then scratched his head and grinned, saying, "I don't have any relatives who died on the road. My relatives had all died when I was still in Troll Ridge."

Seeing the green-skinned troll say such words in such a relaxed tone, Irons patted his shoulder with a hint of comfort, and then turned to look at the old troll who was still unconscious.

"So, why do you care so much about this old troll? Who is he to you?"

The green-skinned troll explained, "This old man is from my hometown. We both escaped from the farm. Actually...we didn't have to flee like this.

Although the work on the farm was exhausting, the previous farm supervisor at least knew to feed us slaves who did the hard work, so we could still survive...

Unlike my brother, he was with you and my parents in the mine... That place... is really not suitable for magic to survive... My brother eventually starved to death because my mother couldn't get food by herself.

The reason why my mother was alone was because my father was killed by a landslide while working in a mine. My mother died not long after my brother died. I didn’t know about this until two months later…”

Listening to the green-skinned troll's story, Irons didn't know what to say for a moment, so he could only continue to ask: "So... you said you didn't have to flee, but now you're fleeing from danger?"

"…Because the previous supervisor died, the new supervisor wouldn't let anyone live, so we had no choice but to kill him and run away…"

"How did the previous supervisor die?"

"Um... that fat supervisor ate too much and was too heavy. When he was climbing the ladder, the ladder broke and he fell and hit his head on the ground and died."

Chapter 117

Without slave labor, who would do the work?

Listening to the green-skinned trolls speaking in such a frivolous tone about their past filled with irony and suffering, Irons gained some new insights into the environment in which these trolls once lived.

However, the green-skinned troll who came out of this environment has a natural optimism, as if he can treat all this pain as passing clouds and not be trapped by it.

He asked the green-skinned troll curiously: "Come to think of it, I still don't know what your name is. What's your name?"

In response to Irons' question, the green-skinned troll scratched his head and replied with a smile: "Me? My name is Hal."

"Hal, right... do you hate Troll Ridge?"

"hatred?"

Hearing this word, the green-skinned troll was slightly stunned. He pondered for a long time, and still responded with an uncertain tone: "Sorry, Master Ains, it's really hard for me to say...

To be honest, I hate the troll king who treated us as slaves and made it impossible for us to survive. I also hate the supervisor at the mine who starved my parents and brother to death.

But... there are actually a lot of good demons there. I only hate those specific demons, but I don’t have much to hate about Troll Ridge..."

The green-skinned troll's answer made Irons nod his head, and then he continued to ask: "Then... Hal, let me ask you another question, do you still want to go back to Troll Ridge?"

“Go back to Troll Ridge!?” Hearing this question, Hal shook his head repeatedly, and said with a horrified expression: “No, no, no, forget it.

We killed the overseer, and going to the Troll Lord's territory is definitely a dead end. Even if we don't return to the Lord's territory, we can't survive anywhere else.

In the Demon Lord's territory, as long as you don't commit any crimes, you at least have a chance of survival. The wild areas outside the territory, especially the eastern part, are all wild lands.

The troll tribes there fought each other for a long time in order to seize land and food, and even eat each other in order to fill the gap when food was scarce.

I heard that most of the trolls in the wild are similar to animals, and many of them can't even speak!"

From Hal's description, Irons learned that Troll Ridge was divided into areas, with the Troll Lord occupying the areas with the best land and the best minerals.

These areas are the territories of the Troll Lord, and if you want to live in these areas, it is basically equivalent to becoming a slave of the Troll Lord.

Even for slaves who are easily hungry and cold, trolls often have no way to become slaves. After all, even slaves need food, and our demon king does not have any surplus food.

Outside these territories is the wild land of Troll Ridge. There are not enough resources and food, so the Troll Ridge living in the wild land has become a wild fighting match where people kill each other for food.

Want to survive? Tata! Tata! If you don't Tata, you can't survive!

The trolls surviving in such an environment are really no different from the wild beasts on the grassland. They drink blood, the strong prey on the weak, and the law of the jungle applies to the survival of the fittest.

Therefore, everything is afraid of comparison. In comparison, playing wilderness survival in such an environment is worse than being a slave.

However, Hal and his group were the kind that couldn't even be slaves, so there was only one way left for them. Holding on to a faint hope, they set out on a road of no return to the Demon King's Castle.

Now, the Demon King's Castle is right in front of us. How can we let these trolls who have managed to survive go back? No way! They won't go back even if they are beaten to death!

Irons looked at Hal's resolute and unhesitating answer, and couldn't help shaking his head and said, "Sorry, I didn't tell you the premise. What I meant was, if... Troll Ridge is no longer managed by the current Troll Lord, but by a more benevolent Lord... do you want to go back?"

"A more merciful demon king?"

Hearing this, the fear on the green-skinned troll's face became even stronger. He shouted, "No, no! We have had enough of the Troll Lord's mercy! If anyone is more merciful than the Troll Lord, then we might as well die!"

"..."

Seeing Hal's excited reaction, Irons was a little confused at first, but he suddenly remembered the joke Raphael told him.

In the eyes of troll slaves, mercy is synonymous with torture...

Shit, this joke is actually a nonfiction, right?

"Um, ahem, what I mean is, if you were to go back to a demon king who didn't treat you as slaves and could feed you, would you be willing to go back?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Hal's expression froze, and then his pig brain was overloaded. The long-term life of slave oppression made it impossible for him to imagine what a demon king who did not treat them as slaves and could feed them would be like.

For these troll slaves, their biggest fantasy is sometimes to start work later and have a fuller bowl of yam porridge after work.

For Hal, the imagination provided by Irons obviously went beyond his meager life experience, leaving him unable to give an answer at all.

He asked doubtfully, "Well... Master Irons, if you don't want to be a slave, then you have to be an overseer? But if everyone is an overseer, who will do the work?"

Irons couldn't laugh when he heard Hal's ridiculous question. These trolls had lived in a distorted social system since they were young, and he couldn't find the answers he needed from these poor trolls.

So, he smiled slightly, patted Hal on the shoulder, and comforted him: "It's okay, you will understand these problems when you arrive at the Demon King's City later... Although the Demon King's City may not be that good, it is definitely much better than Troll Ridge."

"Oh! I feel relieved when you say that, Master! My requirements are not high. I just want to be a slave in the Demon King's Castle and have enough food every day!"

"Don't worry, you'll be full."

……

After placing the remains of their loved ones in the graves and bidding farewell to their past and sufferings, the trolls prepared to continue their journey to the Demon King's City.

Before leaving, the troll elder came to Irons with a cane, full of gratitude, and took out a silver ring from his arms and handed it to Irons.

“Master Vampire, we refugees have nothing, so we really can’t repay your kindness… This is the only thing I have that is of some value.

This was left behind by a succubus I met in Troll Ridge when I was young. She was a succubus who escaped from the Demon Lord's castle. My father felt sorry for her and hid her.

The succubus was knowledgeable and told me a lot about the outside world. She even taught me some words. Before she left, she gave my family this ring as a thank you gift.

This ring has been in my hands for more than a hundred years, but it has never been dirty. I think it must be a good thing.

I once received this ring out of a moment of kindness. And now, for your kindness, Master Vampire, I think this may be the most suitable thing to repay you."

The troll elder's eyes, which were cloudy due to old age, were now filled with a light of hope. Irons knew that he could not refuse this silver ring, so he nodded and solemnly accepted it.

Seeing that Ains accepted it, the troll elder also revealed a gratified smile and nodded, then turned around and led the refugee team all the way towards the Demon King's City with his crutches, continuing to advance.

Looking at the familiar trolls walking past him, Irons silently prayed for these trolls in his heart.

When the green-skinned troll named Hal passed by Irons carrying the old red-skinned troll, he suddenly said, "Master Irons, I thought about what you asked."

"Ok?"

"If...if Troll Ridge really replaces a demon king who can feed us, I think I would still like to go back and take a look...because my parents and my brother are all left there..."

As he spoke, the green-skinned troll shook his head with a wry smile and muttered, "Of course, this is impossible. How can the Demon Lord be replaced so easily? And what he replaces may not be a good thing.

I heard that the troll king has been kind to us troll slaves since his grandfather's generation."

"Who knows?" Irons responded, "We have to have some hope. Who knows, maybe one day the troll king will accidentally fall off the ladder and hit his head on the ground and die~"

"Ah...hahahaha!"

As soon as these words came out, Hal couldn't help laughing. He laughed so hard that his arms and legs were bent all over, and he was out of breath. He even laughed until tears came out of the corners of his eyes...

"Hahaha...ah...good! Good death! It's better for him to die like this!"

"Well...he will die like this..." Irons muttered quietly, with a hint of cruelty in his eyes.

Chapter 118

The Magic Dragon's Amazing Brain Circuit

After sending the troll refugees away, Irons and others continued their map surveying work. They were busy for half a day and didn't even have time to eat anything.

So, everyone started a fire again, boiled some vermicelli, and put some dried shredded gourd into it.

Although the melon is high in fiber, it becomes much easier to swallow after being cut into strips across the grain, and it even tastes crispy.

This combination method was naturally proposed by the gourmet Ains. After all, although starchy foods are high in sugar and calories and are a great way to resist hunger, eating too much can easily cause indigestion.

High-fiber vegetables such as melon can solve the indigestion problem caused by long-term consumption of pure starch foods.

Therefore, Irons easily came up with a solution from his past life experience, which was to cut the melon into shreds and cook it with vermicelli, similar to the hot and sour vermicelli in his past life.

However, hot and sour noodles are usually made with bean sprouts, which can produce similar effects.

"Ah... I thought that the life of the demons outside the Demon King's Castle might not be as good as that in the Demon King's Castle, but it shouldn't be that bad... I didn't expect it to be so difficult..."

A little devil painter sat by the campfire, stirring the vermicelli soup in the pot and muttering to himself.

Raphael said, "I was also quite shocked... We painters basically have enough food and clothing. I thought that the demons living in shacks in the outer city were still the most miserable demons in the Demon Realm.

I didn’t expect that even living in a shack in the outer city was a good life for those demons outside… No wonder I never heard those troll friends complain about their lives.”

Another painter muttered, "Shh... Today's experience really opened my eyes... I think I can paint a picture when I go back. I'll paint these refugees from Troll Hill."

This proposal was immediately recognized by other painters.

"What a good idea! Now that you mention it, I feel like I can start painting a new picture."

"Don't mention it, your idea is exactly the same as mine. The face of the troll elder, which was almost entirely made up of wrinkles, really left a deep impression on me. I must draw him!"

As a proposition was put forward, the painters began to discuss it in a buzzing voice, but the noise did not belong to Irons or Finia.

At this moment, Finia laid her dragon body on the ground, and coiled her tail into a backrest for Ains to lie down comfortably, letting him rest in her arms.

And Irons, lying in Finia's arms, held up the silver ring given by the troll elder and looked at it carefully.

At this moment, Finia said, "It is quite dramatic, Mr. Irons."

"Huh? What's wrong?"