Red Dragon Monster Hunter Template.

Upon hearing this, Thor glanced at the human who had spoken, a glimmer of light shining from his molten gold pupils, as if he could penetrate flesh and bone and see through everything to the very core.

This was a high-level spellcaster, carrying many powerful magical items. A ring on his hand was emitting a faint light, forming a powerful mental shielding field.

It was precisely because of this that she was able to resist the dragon's might she exuded and remain calm and composed, unlike the servants at the very back who were trembling and almost kneeling on the ground.

The condition that he acknowledged his sovereignty over the wilderness and allowed him to control his men was not unexpected for Thor, but he felt nothing but disdain.

Does the territory of the great red dragon need recognition from others? To make him retreat, a substantial price must be paid.

"I don't need you to acknowledge my sovereignty over the wilderness. The land is right here; come and take it if you dare."

As for those who invaded the surrounding territories of the Federation, they were nothing but wild monsters. How could they possibly restrain my subordinates?

A sound like the roar of a volcano erupted from Thor's mouth, echoing throughout the entire hall, making it difficult to tell whether it was the red dragon before him speaking or the volcano beneath his feet roaring.

The magical elements suspended in mid-air became agitated at this moment, surging and churning excitedly, emitting a dangerous glimmer.

Thor's refusal did not change Karenville's expression in the slightest. It would be a real problem if the red dragon had agreed to their demands right away.

After a brief moment of thought, she spoke again.

"Could we ask the great red dragon to help us eradicate those dangerous wild animals? In return, we are willing to offer a small gift."

As she spoke, she waved her hand, and a wooden box nearly half a person's height appeared out of thin air on the floor tiles of the main hall.

The thick elm wood lid had already been opened, and it was filled with glittering gold coins, along with a few scattered pieces of various jewels.

With his keen sense of wealth, Thor judged its value to be around 10 gold coins at a glance.

This would undoubtedly be a huge sum of money for an ordinary red dragon, but for Thor to think that he could exchange this for his promise would be a gross underestimation of him.

Moreover, gold coins are easy for him to obtain if he wants to; the spiritual essence brought by the population is what is truly precious.

"This little bit of stuff isn't even enough for me to tile the entire hall. Do you think I'm some fledgling dragon that's just hatched and has never seen the world before?"

"If this is your condition, then hurry up and grab your things, get out of my palace before I lose my temper, or you'll stay here forever!"

As the red dragon finished speaking, the temperature in the entire hall rose sharply, and the volcano beneath their feet trembled slightly, as if it were about to erupt.

This terrifying aura terrified most of the delegation members, who feared that the red dragon might slaughter them all if it displeased them.

These days, being an envoy is a high-risk profession, especially when facing some evil creatures who have no sense of morality and have no regard for the rule of "not killing envoys in war".

Only Karenville and Isolde, the leaders, remained calm. This was not only because they were more determined, but also because the escape methods they carried gave them enough confidence.

After all, everyone knows how dangerous the Red Dragon is, so how could someone who comes on a mission not prepare an escape route in advance?

If negotiations break down, although it will be impossible to bring the entire mission back intact, it will be possible to protect the leaders.

Seeing that the offer was not enough to sway the Red Dragon, Karen Wilt had no choice but to speak again.

"As long as the great Red Dragon is willing to sign a non-aggression pact, we are willing to offer more wealth for it, and you can set the price."

"Should I name the price?"

Thor grinned, his white fangs gleaming dangerously in the firelight.

"I don't need your gold coins, and I don't want to waste any more words."

“If you want me to retreat, send me ten thousand skilled craftsmen, all of whom must be young and strong under the age of 35.”

Furthermore! You must not intercept your subjects; they must be allowed to come freely to my territory.

Karen Wilt immediately shook her head upon hearing this and refused without hesitation.

"That's impossible. Even if we emptied out all the city-states under our rule, we still couldn't gather ten thousand craftsmen."

Furthermore, if too many farmers leave the territory, there will be serious problems with taxes and food supplies. Please change your terms!

"Then five thousand artisans, this is the final concession. If the city-states under your rule don't have them, won't you just buy them or rob them?"

The Zantalin Society, Luskan, Mirabon, and the unscrupulous merchants of Deepwater Harbor, the lower city of Baldur's Gate... Do you need me to help you get the contact information of these slave traders?

As for the exodus of farmers from the territory, why don't you think about why they left, and whose problem is it really?

After saying that, Thor turned his head and looked at the church knights in the crowd.

"Interfering with people's free choice is not the behavior of so-called righteous people. Don't you tin cans have anything to say?"

…………

Faced with Thor's questioning, the accompanying church knights were naturally speechless.

In this medieval-like world, all those who do not engage in production are ultimately oppressors supported by the lower classes, and their stance is inherently skewed.

Apart from a very few churches, the vast majority of other sources of funding are nothing more than city-state appropriations, noble donations, and land taxes.

If all the farmers leave, are they expected to forage for food in the fields themselves? It's simply impossible.

Chapter 281 Libraries and Caravans

The negotiations ended in discord, with the delegation claiming they could not make the decision and needed to return to discuss it further.

Thor wasn't angry about it; instead, he mercifully let them leave—after all, he hadn't gotten what he wanted yet, so his actions at the border of his territory wouldn't stop.

He firmly believed that those in high positions would ultimately choose to compromise in order to maintain stability and peace under their rule.

After all, he didn't need that many people; just a small population. Those people only needed to clean up the dark corners of their own territories and crack down on the slave trade, and they would have enough.

So his territory returned to peace. But after this negotiation, Thor felt even more that he had too few capable people under his command, and he had to deal with all sorts of messy things himself.

Those creatures infected with the Mad Dragon's Curse will possess a certain level of combat ability due to the changes in their bodies, but culture and knowledge won't just appear out of their minds for no reason.

It seems that if we want our territory to develop well, we still need to focus on education.

The talents he attracted before were ultimately too low-level; he needs more and higher-level talents.

Those with profound knowledge are either high-level spellcasters or nobles with real power. Money and territory are only good for attracting some down-and-out lackeys; they don't care about them at all.

Even the curse of the mad dragon unleashed by Thor would be something they would be wary of, and they would not easily be tainted by it, for various reasons.

To attract these people, you either need to offer some precious magical items, rare and exotic treasures, or profound knowledge.

Thor doesn't have magical items, nor does he really need them, but when it comes to rare and precious materials and profound knowledge, that's his forte.

Not to mention the ether crystals that represent the primordial energy of the universe, the dragon crystals and celestial stones in his possession alone would surely attract people willing to pay a high price to purchase them.

And isn't the dragon heritage that true dragons are born with just an incredibly rich knowledge base?

Thor has many true dragons under his command. Metal dragons are out of the question; they certainly won't hand over the dragon inheritance in their minds. But the five-colored dragons are a different story. With a little effort, they would most likely be happy to share.

He immediately decided to build a huge library specifically to store various dragon legacies, and to use this as a way to attract high-end talents.

The group of young dragons under my command have been raised for so long, it's time for them to make some contributions.

Of course! Merciful Thor wouldn't let them hand over the knowledge in their minds for nothing; he would buy it back at a generous price of 10 gold coins per spell.

When this order reached the ears of the young dragons who were working hard in the wilderness to build territory for Thor, their faces immediately showed expressions as if they were constipated.

Ten gold coins aren't even enough to learn the simplest trick, let alone exchange them for a spell that can be included in the Dragon's Legacy.

But to say no was out of the question; they wouldn't dare even if they had a thousand lives. In the end, they could only console themselves that the other party was too kind to refuse, even though they could have just robbed them outright.

The group of young dragons had no choice but to hurry back, only to discover with dismay that they would have to copy these things themselves.

Ordinary paper and parchment are far too fragile, and more importantly, they are not fireproof. If placed in the territory of the red dragon, they would easily be burned.

So Thor simply had the Grey Dwarves mix copper, silver, and a small amount of gold and nickel thoroughly, forge them into thin metal sheets, record the knowledge, and then seal them together, thus creating a durable book.

Meanwhile, a low hill not far from the volcano is being rapidly hollowed out in preparation for its future use as a large library.

On the other side of the open ground, where the former giant arena once stood, magnificent buildings were rising from the ground.

This time, it's not a bloody battlefield, but a treasure trove for accumulating wealth.

Although the land in the wilderness is barren, it is extremely rich in various magical materials, animal pelts, and metal ores. However, due to the harsh environment, it has never been fully developed.

Before Saul's arrival, itinerant merchants traveling through the wilderness could often earn dozens of times more profit using only cheap salt, iron, spices, and handicrafts.

Now that Thor has the entire wilderness under his control, he can no longer allow those "rats" to steal his wealth.

He planned to personally assemble a large caravan dedicated to acquiring raw materials from the entire wilderness, processing them into various goods, and then selling them.

In the wilderness, an iron pot can be traded for a fully grown ram, and when resources are scarce, it can even be traded for half a cow. But the ore that can be smelted to produce a pound of pig iron, when sold in the wilderness, cannot even buy a pound of wheat.

The price difference is more than a hundredfold; all that's missing is a simple smelting process.

Thor wanted those 5000 skilled artisans so that his territory would have the ability to independently turn raw materials into commodities to meet its future development needs.

With the magical abilities of those true dragons and various powerful creatures, production capacity might even exceed demand, allowing for further dumping into human settlements.

As for saying that noble dragons are unwilling to do such lowly work?

The farmers use oxen to plow the fields so that the wheat can grow better.

In Thor's view, the powerful creatures under his command are cattle, and the weak ones are crops; all are his property, and he treats them all equally, without distinction of high or low.

If a cow makes a mistake and eats the crops, it will be whipped.

Time passed day by day, and the territory underwent tremendous changes almost daily, truly a case of rapid transformation.

During this time, some creatures also wanted to slack off, steal, and cause destruction, slowing down the pace of territory development. After all, this was an instinct rooted in the blood of chaotic and evil creatures, and it was not so easy to change.

As for their fate, they naturally become nutrients for other organisms, and the rest can be used to fertilize fields.

Once enough people have died, those who remain will naturally learn what it means to follow the rules and obey orders, and even their own chaotic factions will begin to lean towards one side.

Isn't this a form of natural selection? Perhaps after a few more generations, we can achieve a leap in faction.

Of course, this method is ineffective against beings like demons and angels, since they are born from the concepts of chaos and order, which are the foundation of their existence.

Two months later, Thor finally received a reply from the Federation of Human Lords. Just as he had expected, they agreed to his request.

5000 artisans will be sent in batches later, and the movement of people within the territory will not be interfered with.

However, as a condition, from this moment on, none of Thor's creatures are allowed to cross the border.

Chapter 282 Slaves

The long caravans of slave traders moved across the desolate wilderness, their old wheels grinding against the earth with a grating creak that was particularly clear in the vast emptiness.

Large numbers of ragged humans and orcs, along with a small number of dwarves and halflings, were imprisoned in a long prison wagon, crammed together like sardines in a can. Their heads swayed from side to side with the jolts of the vehicle, their faces blank with numbness.

They didn't know where they were being taken, and they didn't even care—their situation was bad enough as it was now, and how much worse could it get? Even death, in a way, was a kind of relief.

Only a few people who had been captured for a short time or who were exceptionally determined had not given up the idea of ​​survival. They kept an eye on the path they had taken while secretly looking for a way to escape.

Lyren Reed was one of the few who still held onto hope. He was a carpenter in a village on the edge of the High Forest when, a few months earlier, a band of vagrant slave hunters had suddenly attacked their village, stealing not only their valuables but also most of their able-bodied men.

Then began a nightmarish period. Their hands and feet were shackled, and they were imprisoned in cages like livestock. After several transfers, they were eventually joined by this long and arduous slave-catching team.

Throughout this period, he had been constantly looking for an opportunity to escape and had never given up.

However, as the surrounding environment became increasingly desolate, his hope grew increasingly faint, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of despair.

In such a remote place, without weapons, armor, food, or water, how could one survive even if they managed to escape from the slave-catching team?

Not to mention the various dangerous monsters and wild beasts they might encounter along the way, the sheer hunger and thirst alone would be enough to take their lives.

Suddenly a commotion broke out ahead. When Leiren looked up, he saw several slave traders opening a cage cart in front of them and dragging one of the slaves out, while another slave was desperately trying to stop them.

But the long period of imprisonment, coupled with malnutrition, had already made their bodies extremely weak, so how could they possibly overpower the strong and powerful slave traders?

Seeing that someone dared to resist him, one of the slave traders immediately slapped him hard across the face. The slave who had tried to stop him staggered and crashed heavily into the wooden frame of the cage cart, and could only watch in despair as his companion was abandoned on the wasteland beside him.

He was a young man who was only seventeen or eighteen years old. Leiren could even see his chest rising and falling slightly, but his face was frighteningly pale, and there was a wound on his thigh that was already red, swollen and festering.

The slave traders were clearly afraid that he had contracted some disease and that it would cause even greater losses to other slaves, so they planned to get rid of him in advance.

Seeing this, a thought immediately crossed Leiren's mind: if he pretended to be seriously ill, would he also be abandoned by the roadside?

As for whether he can survive, that will have to wait until he regains his freedom.

However, the slave traders' subsequent actions instantly shattered the thought that had just arisen in his mind. He saw one of the slave traders walk up to the abandoned youth, draw his longsword from his waist, and stab him down, twisting it forcefully.

Blood instantly seeped out, staining the young man's clothes on his chest. His body convulsed for a moment, then fell silent.