The next day, within Darkness City, Zhang Nu received a conquest notification.
[You have conquered Holy Tides City!]
[You gained "Exquisite Stardust Diamond Chest" x1!]
[135,312 members of the White Sand Clan have pledged their loyalty to you. Do you accept?]
Seeing this prompt, Zhang Nu was very surprised. How did Holy Tides City get conquered so quickly? Han Kexin had acted with remarkable decisiveness. Holy Tides City, a large city with millions of population, has relatively lenient conditions for conquest. Generally, achieving actual control of the city and receiving loyalty from the most influential local power can trigger the conquest condition, without needing a complete surrender or loyalty from all residents.
During this battle, Han Kexin deliberately orchestrated a full gathering of the Hero Guild. She seized this opportunity to wipe out the Heroes in one fell swoop, killing thousands, a radical approach that would have been inadvisable before. Among these Heroes, many were prominent figures in Holy Tides City. Such brutal mass slaughter would have caused serious repercussions back then, kingdoms and federations would have been enraged and thoroughly investigated, which was detrimental to the expansion of Darkness City's power.
But now, the situation was different. The Azure Water Federation had already begun to crumble. The entire Chaos Sea was about to plunge into a war more ferocious than before. Who would care about Holy Tides City then? At most, there would be pressure from the Pale Moon Kingdom. However, the Pale Moon Kingdom was not a particularly strong nation. Its top echelons, also part of the covenant nobles, had long since decayed, comprised of a bunch of incompetents who were unpopular among their subjects. They were currently in a state of disarray. Since Holy Tides City was an autonomous commercial city of Pale Moon, once it declared independence and had the support of the Chaos Federation, it was nearly impossible to be recaptured.
In addition to these strategies, Zhang Nu had another trump card for dealing with the sea clans: the legendary Empress Shui Lan. Her identity had not yet been made public, but when the right time came to reveal her affiliation with the Chaos Federation, her presence was expected to exert a tremendous influence. After all, within the Azure Water Federation, Shui Lan was a historically significant figure.
The sweeping victory in Holy Tides City yielded substantial rewards. Apart from the conquest treasure chest, Han Kexin's elimination of thousands of Heroes resulted in collecting thousands of souls and hundreds of skill stones. These resources, which naturally belonged to the Chaos Federation, essentially meant they were Zhang Nu's gains. Earning such rewards without even leaving his castle was immensely gratifying for him.
Upon opening the recently obtained reward chest, Zhang Nu discovered:
[You've opened the Stardust Diamond Chest. You've gained "Gold" x100 million, "Blueprint: Temple of Sea" x1, "Blueprint: Ancient Supreme Magitek Shipyard" x1, "Life Gems" x20,000, "Wind Gems" x20,000, "Water Gems" x50,000, "Light Gems" x7000!]
Zhang Nu was very pleased with these contents. He hadn't anticipated that conquering Holy Tides City would yield a reward of 100 million gold. This was the only instance, apart from the exclusive chest of the Chaos Forest, that such a large sum of gold had been awarded. This was mainly due to the city's large population and wealth. Besides the vast amount of gold and gems, he also acquired two special Level 5 blueprints.
One of the blueprints was for a temple-type building, similar to the Temple of Nature and Temple of War, likely designed to provide buffs to all members of the federation. The significance of temple buildings should not be underestimated. Such seemingly modest enhancements, when applied to all citizens of the federation, could yield extremely high cumulative benefits and value. Hence, the blueprint was highly valuable.
Besides the temple blueprint, there was also one for an "Ancient Supreme Magitek Shipyard." The purpose of this building was quite apparent, serving purely as a shipyard for constructing various types of magitek ships. Holy Tides City already possessed several sizable shipyards, but their shipbuilding speed was quite slow, and they were incapable of constructing vessels over ten thousand tons. All large ships had to be imported or leased from other kingdoms. However, the Magitek Shipyard was a Level 5 special building. Zhang Nu believed this facility could produce top-tier merchant ships, cargo ships, and even warships, which would be significantly meaningful for the federation's future maritime expansion.
His next step was to allocate some funds and resources to construct the Temple of Sea.
[Temple of Sea construction successful!]
[All units have gained the Goddess of the Sea's blessing!]
Zhang Nu felt a surge of divine magic instantly enveloped his entire figure.
[Goddess of Sea's Blessing Level 1] Special Status. Water-attributed attacks +10% damage, Elemental Resistance +15%, Maximum MP +10%, Gain the ability "Underwater Breathing".
The effects were quite satisfactory. While a 10% increase in MP might not seem much, it was a permanent state. In case of war, the level of divine blessings could be enhanced through priests, stacking up effects to significantly raise combat effectiveness. Moreover, the Temple of Sea possessed several other useful capabilities. The Underwater Breathing ability, in particular, was extremely beneficial, allowing many members of the Chaos Federation, who were otherwise uncomfortable in water, to operate in oceans or rivers without fear of drowning.
Zhang Nu was satisfied with the effects of the temple. As for the Supreme Magitek Shipyard, he certainly couldn't just let it sit idle. He sent a private message to Han Kexin, instructing her to find a suitable location near Holy Tides City with a deep-water port, ideal for shipbuilding. Once a suitable site was found, the blueprint would be used to start construction of the shipyard immediately.
The Supreme Magitek Shipyard, a production-type building, differed from typical barracks-type unit summoning structures. Barracks had a limit to the number of troops they could house, so the number of units that could be summoned was capped. Once full, no more units could be summoned. However, production-type factories like this shipyard had no such limits, though they couldn't instantly summon products and required time for production. Even so, the speed was exponentially faster and the cost much cheaper than normal manufacturing, making it of immense economic value.
With this Level 5 shipyard, Holy Tides City could not only build various merchant ships, cargo ships, and warships for its own use, but could also potentially export these vessels, possibly making shipbuilding a significant economic pillar for the city.
At that moment, Nancilia arrived in Darkness City. She found Zhang Nu and reported some good news. "Your Majesty, we have received information that recently about a million elves from all directions are coming to join the Chaos Federation," she said.
"A million? That many?" Zhang Nu was somewhat surprised.
Nancilia clarified, "A million is just a conservative estimate. Just from the northeast direction alone, led by the Moonwell Tribe, several other tribal groups of elves add up to about fifty thousand."
Zhang Nu was very pleased with this development. The influx of elves was indeed great news. Elves were highly valued due to their high productivity and average value creation. Frankly speaking, one elven civilian could be worth a hundred or even several hundred human civilians. Additionally, elves, known for their gentle nature, were easier to manage compared to humans.
However, upon learning about the migration route of the elves, Zhang Nu's brows furrowed, sensing a complication. Nancilia noticed his concern and quickly asked, "Your Majesty, what's wrong? Is there something amiss?"
Zhang Nu explained, "Looking at the migration route of the elves, they will definitely pass through some territories of the empire. And with such a large-scale migration, do you think Bachor would be unaware of it?"
Nancilia realized the implication: "Are you suggesting that the empire's troops might obstruct the elves from reaching the Chaos Forest?"
"Not might," Zhang Nu corrected firmly. "They definitely will."
The influx of so many elves into the Chaos Forest would significantly boost its strength. Even without the revelation of the Elven King, Grand Duke Bachor would not allow these elves to join the Chaos Forest at such a critical juncture. The Chaos Forest was already challenging enough to deal with. An addition of a million or even several million elves would make future conflicts even more difficult, going against the interests of both the Duchy of Bachor and the Empire.
Nancilia immediately expressed concern: "This is bad. If the elves are ambushed by human armies along the way, they could suffer heavy casualties. Let me personally go to escort and support them!"
Zhang Nu shook his head and said, "Even with your strength, you alone cannot protect such a large group of elves. I will send Long Yi, Zhang San, and Li Si to accompany you, along with an elite aerial brigade."
Hearing this, Nancilia was overjoyed. As a pseudo-mythic Level 6 entity, with Long Yi being a Level 6 monarch, and Zhang San and Li Si as the top Level 5 monarchs, this lineup could easily handle Bachor.
However, Zhang Nu had reservations. Engaging with the empire would mean fighting on their territory. Not only would they have to fight without prior preparation, but they would also need to ensure the safety of hundreds of thousands of elves, minimizing casualties. No matter how it was viewed, the difficulty of this task was not small. Bachor was no fool. If he aggressively attacked the migrating elves, the Chaos Forest and the Darkness City would not remain indifferent. Such an obvious opportunity would surely not be ignored. Even if the Darkness City's Demon King were to intervene, they would immediately be put on the defensive, falling into a trap.
Even if, by some slim chance, the Chaos Forest remained indifferent, Bachor's annihilation of hundreds of thousands of elves would still be necessary. This would instill fear in other elves contemplating joining the Chaos Forest, slowing down the expansion of the Chaos Forest's power and benefiting the upcoming full-scale war.
Zhang Nu continued, "To ensure the safety of the elven migrants, I will instruct Bai Jie to control the Citadel of Eternity and assist the elves in their migration."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Nancilia felt immensely relieved and grateful. The involvement of the Citadel of Eternity would significantly reduce the potential casualties among the elves.
"Let's not delay. Depart immediately!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, we will bring you good news!" Nancilia vowed to safely bring back all the elven people. By following the Demon King and contributing to his great cause, they too would enjoy the benefits brought by the Ancient Tree of Eternity and the Spirit Sanctum, contributing to the prosperity and strength of the elven race!"