Chapter 483
Chapter 483: Hog: Do You Think I Still Have a Chance?
Blood Claw Chief Hog rushed to Plague Town immediately after receiving the summons.
However, his quick arrival clearly showed that Hog had already developed a very keen “political sense.” This fellow must have already set out from Smuggler’s Woods while the little players were attacking Plague Town, correctly guessing that Murphy would definitely summon him after the battle.
Obviously, Hog had no doubts about the victory of the player legion.
This small, thin gnoll was probably one of the “NPCs” on this land who had the most confidence in the otherworld warriors.
Hog wore a long hood to conceal his figure when he was summoned in.
Though this was somewhat like hiding one’s head in the sand.
Because now all the players recognized him, with familiar ones enthusiastically greeting him along the way, and unfamiliar new players specially running over to say some irrelevant things to him, trying to gain some favor with Chief Hog.
When Hog entered the town, he also saw firsthand the swamp serpent that had been knocked down in the ruins, as well as the corpses of the gnoll sorcerers and their vicious creations being dug out from the battlefield and sent outside the town.
All the Plague Clan gnolls remaining in Plague Town were dead, the little players hadn’t spared a single one!
And the sorcerers hunting the giant snake in the swamp were also completely wiped out under Ningkinanka’s fury, which meant that the vanguard of the Black Plague had thoroughly failed, and also meant that the control of this swamp had completely fallen into Murphy’s hands.
Hog didn’t know what Lord Murphy wanted to discuss with him.
But he guessed that if the God of Fate favored him enough, then today he would also receive a hard-earned rich reward, something that his former self wouldn’t have dared to even dream of.
“Here.”
When Hog walked into the only intact room in Plague Town, Murphy immediately threw something to him. Hog caught it and took a look, finding it to be an unusually large skull.
From the shape and position of the teeth and nostrils, it should be a gnoll skull.
“This is your ‘grandfather.'”
Murphy said with a hint of teasing:
“Take it back and enshrine it in your great beast cave, as a treasure of the Blood Claw Clan’s heritage and excellent evidence to prove your identity.”
“Ah?”
Hog didn’t react for a moment.
But he quickly had a jolt of realization, tightly clutching the skull in his paws as he exclaimed:
“This is King Gnawbone!”
“Yes, Filir Gnawbone, the first and only king in gnoll history.”
Murphy looked at Hog and said:
“You can have your clan’s craftsmen make it into some gnoll-style memorabilia to wear on your body. In the future, when someone questions your bloodline, take this out and slap them hard in the face with it.
But I think you’d better not take this thing out before the end of the Fifth Black Plague.
The gnolls who have already formed armies and are preparing to invade various parts of the continent probably won’t like having a successor to King Gnawbone appear above their heads.
Especially one who’s a small subspecies like you.”
“Mm hmm.”
Hog nodded frantically, carefully storing the skull of his race’s only great figure in his black spirit leather bag.
He was sensible enough not to ask where the other parts of King Gnawbone’s remains went, truthfully, he wasn’t very concerned about the answer either.
Pretending to be of King Gnawbone’s bloodline was something Hog planned for after he had enough military strength in the future, he was very patient and in no rush to advance this matter.
Right now what Hog cared most about was how Murphy would handle Plague Town and this swamp.
He looked expectantly at Murphy. The vampire lord with the power of desire clearly sensed the strong yearning in Hog’s heart. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the small but ambitious chief before him whose ambitions were completely different from his size.
He thought for a moment and said:
“I can’t give you control of this swamp, Hog, because your clan didn’t directly participate in the attack on Plague Town.
Being too partial to you would make other factions feel dissatisfied, and Miriam’s approval wouldn’t be possible either.
The Crimson Regent must consider the big picture, and before the Blood Claw Clan makes greater contributions to Transia, the title of ‘Swamp Lord’ is too heavy for you.”
“Awoo.”
Hog was clearly disappointed.
But he had to admit that besides providing protection and logistical support for the field hospital, the Blood Claw Clan really hadn’t made any eye-catching performance in this battle.
In terms of battle participation, they weren’t even as involved as the other supporting forces.
Such an enfeoffment would seem unjustified, and as Hog was already a small ruler himself, he could understand Lord Murphy’s helplessness.
However, in the next second, Murphy changed his tone and said:
“I will allocate Plague Town as a new stronghold for my warriors, it will become their core base for activities in the swamp.
But you should understand, Hog, my warriors are currently all human, while they can fight in the swamp it doesn’t mean they’re willing to stay long-term in this terrible environment.
Similarly, even if I send out my most loyal batch of people to develop in the swamp, they cannot live here for long.
The swamp terrain is simply not suitable for human habitation.
But you gnolls are very well adapted to rapid deployment and activity in this wet land, therefore, the Foul Swamp will eventually become Blood Claw Clan territory.
I don’t deny this point, nor do I intend to prevent your expansion in the swamp.
My thought is, although Plague Town is destined not to belong to you, you could perhaps mobilize your clansmen to create a new territorial core for the Blood Claw Clan in the vast area beyond this one-third portion.
You can have your own ‘Plague Town’!
I won’t interfere with any of this, and I’m even willing to provide the materials needed for city building, and allow you to hire architects from the Stonemason Guild who can help you build the city.
But you also need to plan your clan’s development plan in advance.
If the civilized camp’s defense line at Barren Mountain is eventually breached by the gnoll army, then your territory in the swamp might be lost in an instant.
Now there are less than 2 months until the Black Plague breaks out, perhaps you should prepare in advance.”
“Mm hmm!”
Having received Lord Murphy’s promise of expansion, those little disappointments in Hog’s heart were immediately thrown to the nine heavens.
While the area near Plague Town controls the road to both the swamp forbidden zone and Transia, it only occupies one-third of the entire Foul Swamp, the remaining vast area is all no-man’s land.
As long as Hog is bold enough, he can claim more than half the swamp as his territory.
This is the proper spirit a swamp lord should have, isn’t it?
However, Hog’s crafty eyes rolled around, and he quickly realized that he might be able to gain even more on top of Lord Murphy’s promise!
So after organizing his words a bit, he rubbed his paws and said very fawningly:
“Lord Murphy, your warriors have taken Plague Town, but this town has been completely destroyed in the war. When I came, I saw that even the town’s foundation had been torn open.
If your warriors want to operate here long-term, they must first repair this place. If it is to be used for defense in the Black Plague war, then its external fortifications obviously need repairs too.
But as you said, human workers working in the swamp is almost torture, therefore if possible, the Blood Claw Clan is willing to take on the work of repairing Plague Town for your warriors.
We have more and more kobolds in our clan!
Gold Tooth’s appeal as a geomancer clearly has great influence, especially after hearing that the Blood Claw Clan can ‘arrange work’ for them, that they can eat their fill and dress warmly and even get candles as wages, the entire kobold population of Transia has begun gathering at Smuggler’s Woods.
Their numbers are too many.
I need to find a place for them before they eat my poor clan bankrupt. Kobolds can also move quickly in the swamp, they’re good at digging trenches and can transport stones.
Yes!
With just the warriors providing necessary food and some trivial candles, these kobolds can not only become the founders and builders of the new town.
Even when necessary they can become cannon fodder, uh, I mean glorious defenders and guards!”
“Sounds pretty good.”
Murphy’s eyes lit up.
He stood up and said:
“Perhaps it can be treated as a ‘special resource’ attached to a special town. If the owner of this stronghold can coordinate the endless incoming kobolds well, the new stronghold’s development will definitely be faster than Torrent Fort.
Considering its responsibilities in the swamp, naturally we don’t need to purely pursue the concept of development level here.
Mm, Hog, your proposal is excellent.
You can return to Smuggler’s Woods now to gather kobolds to come to the swamp. I will require my warriors to prepare enough food to keep them from starving.”
“Mm, kobolds are very easy to feed, my lord.”
Hog chuckled and said:
“They can actually hunt for themselves. Just give them some weapons and entice them with candles, they can even hunt small alligators for food.
The most crucial thing in taming kobolds is that the warriors must let the kobolds know who the master is.
Once they choose to be loyal, kobolds will maintain quite good loyalty until their master’s demise.
If there can be regular candle gifts, that will make them quickly develop more dedication and effectively improve their somewhat poor work efficiency.
I heard that those kobolds we sent to the Maginot Line even received commendation and praise from the Stonemason Guild. Obviously, your warriors already fully understand how to deal with kobolds.
This is just a small suggestion from humble me to you, Lord Murphy.
I think the definition of ‘subjects’ in Transia could perhaps be more ‘relaxed.’ As long as you recognize that gnolls and kobolds can also become your subjects…”
“Trust me, Hog, I want to accept you all more than anyone, it’s just not time yet.”
Murphy’s sigh this time wasn’t just putting on an act.
He truly hoped that when his administrator system counted the number of subjects, it could register gnolls and kobolds. Just with the terrifying numbers of kobolds alone, Murphy would definitely instantly gain at least 4000+ spare player slots.
Regrettably, the administrator system doesn’t have this function yet. Currently it only counts the number of vampires and humans on this land who submit to Murphy’s management.
The vampire lord guessed that the “non-human subjects” function would definitely be opened in the future, but as he said, now was far from the time.
After sending away the ambitious Hog, Murphy used the computation bead to contact Miriam who was far away in the Crimson Citadel.
The regent had already received the frontline battle report, so when the communication connected, she very formally congratulated Murphy’s warriors on their splendid victory, but then immediately got down to business discussing the work ahead.
This smooth transition of procedures made Murphy sigh that Miriam had probably awakened some remarkable attributes.
Hey, that standard dead-inside tone you female corporate slaves use when discussing work with superiors is really enough! I’ve told you all not to browse those weird anime on the forum and immerse yourselves in them.
The lives of otherworlders are not the same as our current situation!
“Regarding the most suitable among the currently eligible guilds for the third stronghold delegation, naturally it would be the ‘Crimson Beast Team’ who just entered the hall of fame.
Whether it’s their contributions in this battle, or their loyalty to the Transia regime, as well as their important ecological position in the Blood Vulture Clan, all determine that they can serve as a symbol of ‘commendation.'”
Miriam said to Murphy:
“Because the entire Crimson Beast Team has been vampirized, once they get the control rights to the third stronghold ‘Wolf Fort,’ it can also be seen as the Blood Vulture Clan’s pioneering in the Foul Swamp direction, which will also help increase your and Lady Tris’s prestige in vampire society.
However, the problem with the Crimson Beast Team is that they are all combat professionals.
The few administrative members are currently also serving as village chiefs and managers of Collective Farm No. 4, which means if they get control of Wolf Fort they won’t have enough members for daily management.
Plus the war-ravaged area needs rebuilding.
This series of events will seriously drain their energy. Considering they are currently the backbone among new members of the Blood Vulture Clan, you need to make a trade-off.
If this matter affects the power improvement of Beast Team members, that would undoubtedly be a losing proposition.”
“Mm, I already know the administrative team’s opinion.”
Murphy nodded and said:
“Then prepare the stronghold control delegation documents and start the registration procedure for them. The stronghold repairs and rebuilding have the Blood Claw Clan’s aid.
As for management…
They have wide connections, and will quickly find suitable candidates when they need administrators.
At least before the Black Plague ends, the third stronghold will serve as a semi-military gathering place. However, I’ve never had any unrealistic fantasies about the development level of towns in the swamp.
However, the Avalon Church plans to use the remaining treants to create a small ‘natural forest’ near Wolf Fort in the swamp. Remember to approve a land deed document for them.
Finally, Miriam, I need you to prepare two gifts in the name of the Transia Governor’s Office, and dispatch envoys to send them to the Goldflower Kingdom and Nordtov Kingdom respectively.
These are gifts for King Louis and the Wolf Queen.
Tris and I have already selected the gift bodies, you need to be responsible for selecting the envoys and preparing a series of proper diplomatic rhetoric.
This is Transia’s first formal diplomacy with its two neighbors, the significance cannot be overstated. I hope you can take it seriously.”
“Leave it to me.”
Miriam said confidently:
“I will complete this work! Also, regarding your proposal from last time – that player festival proposal – my secretary has already done the planning and needs your review and confirmation. The Sacred Blood Festival, which is of great significance to vampires, is in 10 days. If you plan to celebrate with the people, then the entire Blood Vulture Halls needs to start preparing decorations now.
Also, the personnel we’re dispatching to Shaldor Port are making final preparations. They will set out after the Sacred Blood Festival.”
“Mm, I’ll return once I handle things here.”
Murphy responded, hung up the communication and turned back to look at Tris who was holding a glass of wine standing by the window looking at the ruins outside. He said:
“By the way, how did you all celebrate the Sacred Blood Festival before?”
“Vampire grand feasts of course, wine, food and balls lasting ten consecutive days, celebrated the same way year after year. To be honest, after turning 100 years old, blood clan members don’t have much expectation for the Sacred Blood Festival anymore.
In vampire society it’s very hard to see necessary breakthroughs and changes. You sleep for a day and wake up feeling everything around has changed, but when you wake up after sleeping for 10 years, you realize actually nothing has changed.
Completely stagnant water.
Previously the only thing to look forward to was the ‘sacred blood wine’ distributed by the clan leader to clan members on the last day of the Sacred Blood Festival.”
Tris took a sip of wine and turned back to say:
“That’s a drink made by adding weak, specially processed source blood to blood wine. It can give vampires a tiny, negligible power increase.
For weaker clan members that was free power.
Other than that, the entire festival was really nothing special.
However, the people of Kadman City do look forward to the annual Sacred Blood Festival, because during those 10 days vampires all stay in their castles drinking and making merry all night long, with no time to cause trouble for them, and every day there’s free bread with jam distributed, everyone can eat their fill.
It can be said that those 10 days of the Sacred Blood Festival each year are the 10 days when ethnic tensions in Transia are most relaxed. Unfortunately, after the 10 days pass, everything returns to its terrible original state.
So I’m looking forward to seeing how the first Sacred Blood Festival under your governance of Transia will be celebrated?”
“This isn’t up to me to decide.”
Murphy shrugged his shoulders and took the wine glass Tris handed him.
He looked at the lipstick mark on the rim, glanced at Tris, and threw his head back to drink the wine like an indirect kiss.
He said:
“I’ll make this into an event. I’ll just give them a theme, as for how my warriors want to spend their first major festival in Transia, it’s completely up to them.
I believe my warriors’ creativity in this aspect definitely won’t disappoint me.
Ah, speaking of the Sacred Blood Festival…
I suddenly thought, perhaps we should also set aside a third gift from our conquest of King Gnawbone to present to Lord Payne, letting the lord taste the flavor of victory together with us.
Tris, you’ve met the lord, what kind of gift do you think the lord would like?”
“Emmmm, what the gift is isn’t important, but the artistic value must be high! Otherwise the lord won’t even look at it. That person is actually quite easy to please.
Salrokdar used to be very good at this. His gifts could always get Lord Payne to personally write a thank you letter in return, but our old clan leader was probably the individual with the highest artistic cultivation in the Blood Vulture Clan.
After he unfortunately passed away, everyone left is just a bunch of bumpkins.
Mm, including this drunkard me.”