What did you do with the dice?

Shangri-La blew his beard and glared, "You bastard, what nonsense! My offspring is better than me, I'm so happy, how could I be jealous?"

"I've taken a screenshot. Let the historian at the Sani Tower record this for our ancestors. On February 6, 548 of the Royal Calendar, Shangri-La told Rusalka, 'I wouldn't be jealous of my descendant Rusalka being better off than he is.'"

Rusalka's words made Shangri-La no longer happy.

It is now the end of winter in February, and many soldiers have nothing to do so they stay in the city to collect salaries. Of course, this is just a joke. Since they stay in the army, they must train every day, so the training ground is full, and the soldiers are practicing marching and deployment in full armor.

Even after Rusalka showed Shangri-La the magic cannon, the latter only thought it was quite powerful. It seemed that Rusalka was quite liked by the Marquis. After all, he had only seen the power of this thing and had never thought of getting one himself.

But when he saw Rusalka's army, it touched upon his limited area of ​​knowledge and really shocked him deeply.

"A heavy cavalry corps? It looks like it's fully staffed with over 2,000 men! How can a viscount like you afford to maintain such an army? Even a small unit would cost dozens of gold coins per year to maintain."

"I am the Duke of Pearly Tears."

"Tsk, so the forging technology and the intensity of soldier training have also improved in later generations? It's winter now, but there are so many troops in your city. I guess being a soldier has officially become a profession in this era?"

Although Shangri-La was born in a humble family, he was worthy of being an acquired noble and his comprehension was quite high. Although he had never come into contact with it, his ideas almost completely guessed the situation of the Pearl Tears Territory.

Although military service has not yet been popularized in Sinidi and soldiers are not considered a formal profession, Sanitta is now gradually completing this transformation system. His goal is to separate the army and the citizens and establish a complete standing army.

Although the cost of doing so is very high military expenditure, Zhu Lei Territory is not short of money, and Rusalka does not love money and has never thought about saving for future generations. That money is really enough, and we can confidently say "We in Zhu Lei Territory are rich and powerful, and we can afford it."

Seeing Rusalka so proud, Shangri-La, still retaining his ancient mindset, disagreed somewhat: "You're just bragging, but you're wasting so much money on such a fancy thing, are you planning to leave an army for your son? What's the point of it?"

Rusalka was stunned. "Grandpa, you're the first person I've ever met who says the army is useless. Your thinking is a bit too advanced."

Indeed, if his idea is applied to Earth, it is also an idea that only the United States in the 21st century can have, as it has too many weapons in stock and no money to maintain them. Isn't this advanced enough?

Shangri-La sighed and lectured Rusalka, "You're a great knight, after all. It's normal for you not to know how to govern your territory. Being a noble isn't like being a knight. Simply strengthening your combat capabilities isn't a good idea. Think about it, if all your subjects became soldiers, who would grow the food, conduct trade, chop the wood, and pay the taxes? You can't lead your army into banditry and plunder without money, right? Wouldn't that make us orcs? Besides, would the kingdom even approve of such a thing? We can't do something that violates the laws of the nobility."

"It's better to reduce the number of soldiers a bit. Keep these cavalry and let them wear light armor to become light cavalry. They will be more than enough to deter the bandits and barons on the hilltops. The rest of the infantry and the like can be used to maintain law and order in the city. Believe in the wisdom of your ancestors. When there is no war, too many troops are really useless."

Rusalka: "Haha, don't worry, ancestor. I can't guarantee anything else, but I will definitely ensure we have enough for the war."

Shangri-La:?

What the hell? Something as horrific as war could be a specialty of this era? Otherwise, why would Rusalka look so happy when she mentioned it?

Chapter 429 Ancestor, You Must Learn to Adapt

"My Lord, please enjoy your refreshments, and let us know if you need anything."

The maid placed tea and snacks on the table in front of them. Rusalka lay on the sofa and breathed a sigh of relief. She could finally take a break. It felt best to be back home.

Sanita took the others to the former site of the clock tower - a wizard tower that was converted before the aquarium was built. Vishas ran away with the elves, while Hydra stayed in the military camp.

So the only ones left here were Shangri-La, Rusalka and Phoenix who had been following him.

The large lounge was empty, but aside from the maid standing nearby, there were only three other people. The only servants they had seen along the way were servants. This made Shangri-La, accustomed to the bustle of life, feel a bit deserted. It felt like the City Lord's Mansion lacked a certain atmosphere of life. "Where are the other members of the family?"

"I'm the only one left in the Pearl Tear family. Oh, and Cat."

"why is that?"

Rusalka glanced at Maomao with a guilty conscience and replied with the skill of a good brother, "Well, this happened quite a while ago, about six years ago. They died during the battle for territory with the neighboring Barony of Ropa."

Shangri-La was shocked. This sounded completely unreasonable to him: "Doesn't the Kingdom's Aristocracy Law strictly prohibit nobles from killing each other?"

He couldn't just say, "Yes, it was my wife who did it," so Rusalka continued vaguely, "So they were also destroyed later, and the Viscount was also destroyed. That's how this city came about."

Shangri-La sighed with emotion: "Alas, should I say you are lucky or unlucky? The family's sacrifice has earned you promotion."

Rusalka disagreed with this. His promotion did involve a lot of sacrifices, but those sacrifices were all enemies who blocked his way. Unlike Sanita, he would never sell out his teammates.

Shangri-La returned to his primary concern, marriage. "Shouldn't you marry more wives, so you can have more descendants to inherit the title? It's fine if you enjoy orcish hobbies in private, but you should openly marry a few human wives to expand your family line, right?"

Rusalka thought that she would take the cat back to her hometown in a year and a half. If she wanted to have children, she would have to go back to Earth, not to mention that she didn't have this ability now.

He used his best nonsense to change the subject: "What's wrong with cats? Forefathers, please don't be racist. I just think cats are good."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shangri-La and Phoenix looked at Rusalka with questioning eyes at the same time. The former was wondering why those barbaric bandit orcs in the north could not be discriminated against, while the latter was really wondering whether Rusalka, the leader of the black gangs, was qualified to say such a thing?

Sanita: (If he knew you were the best at telling orc jokes in the world, I wonder what he would think.)

"Marrying an orc has many advantages. You don't have to go back to your parents' home during festivals, and you don't have to deal with conflicts between your father-in-law and your son-in-law. Your interpersonal relationships are very clean. Although I married a white cat, the interpersonal relationships between cats have the advantages of black cats. This is called killing two birds with one stone."

When Phoenix heard Rusalka mention the keyword "race", the tail that had been raised behind her for a long time finally paid off and was hit hard by her.

"And now, you get a free weapon with every purchase. That's like a gift from the gods. Why else would they say the orc army is cheap to maintain? If I had a tail like Phoenix, I'd be twice as efficient at Pearl Tear Farm!"

So he got another tail as he wished, but today he turned into a machine gun shooter, and his little mouth didn't stop. He didn't dare to say that he was holding it in before in the sea, but now he was back on land, he had to make up for it all at once:

"Appearance can be altered with dye, but bloodlines can't be deceived. Those two powerful lashes from my tail just now, and the fact that she's now comfortably lying home with me drinking milk tea, are enough to prove that my Phoenix's fur is indeed pure white. Meanwhile, next door, Hydra, who immediately volunteered to help me at the barracks upon returning home, has a fur that's clearly pure black."

Rusalka's words were in Phoenix's blind spot, but based on her experience, she decided to give him another slap on Hydra's behalf.

Shangri-La was born a knight, but whether he was educated or not does not mean that he can become abstract, so he basically did not understand a word. Does it matter what color the fur of the orcs you like is? You are not going to use them to make clothes, so why should you be so particular?

He saw that no matter how he tried to beat around the bush, he couldn't win against the eloquent Rusalka, and in terms of combat power, he couldn't beat Rusalka, who wielded the broadsword smoothly. This was a double defeat between civil and military. He also believed in martial ethics and didn't want to rely solely on seniority to suppress Rusalka. So he could only choose to tactically avoid it here: "Forget it, forget it, whatever you like."

He thought that Rusalka liked the orcs because he had no parents and had seen too many servants, which led to the lack of love for humans and the lack of being loved by humans. He would go and see if there were any family descendants he knew and arrange a few for Rusalka, and he would definitely be obedient.

Even though he seems to be very rebellious, Shangri-La is very sure that all men are the same. If a good-looking girl is delivered to your doorstep, why wouldn’t you eat her?

Shangri-La, who had no idea what a two-spined newt was, was very sure in his heart, so he calmly wanted to drink some tea, but as soon as the tea entered his mouth, he hurriedly put down the cup and almost spit it out: This tea is not only cold, but even sweet?

He looked down again and saw that the tea in the cup was still a strangely opaque light brown color, but seeing that Phoenix and Rusalka were used to drinking it, he didn't say much and just stopped drinking.

Rusalka is really eccentric to serve guests with such strange-tasting sweet soup.

But there was nothing he could do. This guy might really be his only offspring. Even though Shangri-La was reluctant, he said, "Actually, I left a treasure trove for my family. If it hasn't been discovered, you can take out the money and treasures inside. It will be a good source of money when you run out of money. Besides the money, there's also a very magical treasure inside. I think it must be worth a lot of money."

Shangri-La was very experienced in the world back then and understood human nature very well: "I understand the principle of possessing a treasure, which is a crime. I didn't dare to put it up for auction at the time. I thought that if my descendants were capable enough to deserve this treasure one day, or if my family fell into poverty and had to give it a try, I would definitely renovate the land before moving. That way, I could find the treasure house, and the things inside might save my life."

Rusalka was overjoyed when she heard this: "Really? Is there such a good thing?"

"real."

But unfortunately, this answer was not given by Shangri-La, but by Phoenix.

I only heard Maomao lick the milk tea with his tongue, picked up a handkerchief to wipe Chenzui, and said calmly: "I've taken it all."

Shangri-La didn't know the truth and just felt sorry, but Rusalka knew that it must have been stolen by Mao Mao, so she put her hands on her hips and asked, "Where's that thing? It's half for each of us during the marriage!"

Phoenix was quite pitiful. After marrying Rusalka, she was like a husband who was constantly being asked for money. She really didn't leave any private money for herself. Except for the daggers and short knives that she really liked, all the valuable things on her body were given to Rusalka.

"I've given you all the money, treasure, and what you're wearing."

Oh, then Rusalka understood that the set of level 3 armor she was wearing was actually left by her ancestors.

When Rusalka heard that everything Phoenix had taken was back in her hands, she immediately changed her attitude and changed the subject: "But then again, this money is also my inheritance. We can't split it in half. If you want half of the Pearl Tears, I can give it to you. But if you want 25 gold coins, I really can't give it to you."

Phoenix snorted softly. She had known for a long time that Rusalka was very stingy. She had already hidden some silver coins in the black fog space to buy snacks at the market.

Shangri-La, upon hearing what Phoenix said, subconsciously took a closer look at Rusalka's armor. She was even more surprised when she discovered it was the treasure she had found. "You can wear that armor? I found it inside the corpse of a giant monster when I was helping to clean up the bodies in the ruins of the battlefield in Esdi next door."

"I've had my tribe members wear them before, but no one could pull them off. They all said they were too heavy. Even a knight like me with a 20-horsepower strength couldn't wear them."

Twenty horsepower was an ancient unit of measurement of strength?

Sani Iron Tower: (Can pull 20 horses at full power, about 17-18 strength range.)

Rusalka wanted to laugh when she heard this: (What kind of primitive human stats are these? The older they are, the stronger they are, right?)

Shangri-La continued, "So I sent craftsmen to polish it, trying to reduce the thickness of the armor to lighten it. I even wanted to ask a mage to help carve a rune to reduce the weight, but no matter what I did, they couldn't melt or cut it. The mage even said that its material was strange and couldn't be enchanted. How did you wear it?"

So this thing was also picked up by my ancestor, right? I thought my ancestor was a mixed angel with both light and dark powers, and could even eliminate an opponent's card when it landed. It turns out I was excited for nothing.

"luck."

Seeing that Rusalka couldn't explain it clearly, Shangri-La didn't want to pursue it further. He just said that the result was a good thing: "Maybe this is fate. You were born to have it."

Although the tea tasted bad, fortunately the snacks tasted good. It was the first good thing that happened to him after his "resurrection". However, while eating, Shangri-La recalled that he was in the main hall, surrounded by his family.

That day was also the day when his first grandson turned one year old after he became a nobleman, and he was very happy to share the baked sweet cookies with his grandson sitting on his left. At that time, the baby had just learned to speak, and he smiled at him while holding the cookies and called him grandpa.

"Hey, Grandpa, we're a family, so let's talk behind closed doors. Don't let the elves find out you've never tasted cookies before. That would be embarrassing. After all, when they took their first bite of cream cake in their lives, they weren't as excited as you, with their eyes red. They were only half red."

"You little bastard, who said I haven't eaten before? It's all because you're not motivated enough. If you had married more wives and filled up this place, would I have to sit here all alone, eating cookies with you?"

Rusalka made a pause gesture, interrupting the ancestor's adaptive ability to steer the topic back to childbirth. "Stop, stop, stop. Let me tell you something, ancestor, these cookies are just a treat in our Pearly Tear Territory. They're not even worth the price."

These words made the maid standing at the door look uneasy and self-doubting. It seemed that she was the one who baked the cookies today.

Shangri-La: "What do you mean?"

Rusalka: "My wife Phoenix's cooking is ten thousand times more delicious than this."

Shangri-La showed a classic expression of disbelief again. In his impression, the orcs ate raw food. How could a race like them, who were said to never be able to hold anything except weapons from birth to death, learn such delicate cooking skills as baking cookies?

The maid who was listening nearby felt relieved all of a sudden, because Phoenix's cooking skills were indeed recognized as the best in the lord's mansion.

Besides, even if some of the food Phoenix cooks is not tasty, she will admit that she is second to none. There are only a few people in the Silver City who dare to claim to be first, such as Miss Ai Li, Miss Weishas, ​​and the Archmage Sanita.

Perhaps there was also the person who, according to rumors, had shared life and death with the Lord since he was still a Lord, and had made their first deal in the midst of war...

"Report! Merchant Clown and the head of the supply department have come to visit us. They said they have cargo they can't fit in and want to speak to Lord Sanitta. Is it still the same as before?"

Speak of the devil, and he will appear. Every time Rusalka comes back, she will be the first one to come to Clown's door on time. The guards in Silver City who are responsible for guarding the door and have nothing new to do all year round are already used to this routine.

Rusalka: (Hey, bro, Crown is looking for you. Even the warehouse manager came to visit this time. What did you buy online again? Did you buy an airship in Esterlen?)

Sani Iron Tower: (Oh, the goods I asked him to get have probably arrived. I'm testing the new blueprints and the Mage Tower function here, so I won't be back. If you have anything, just privately chat with me.)

Rusalka: "Tell him to leave the package at the door."

The gate guard was a little bewildered: "Huh?"

Rusalka: "I mean, you call him in."

The gate guard nodded: "Oh! I'll be there right away!"

Okay, since my good brother is too lazy to show up, it means it’s not an important matter. It’s just like the meeting with Estrom. I knew that Tata would be the one to hold the meeting, so I was sent to go through the motions.

The same goes for Haili. He knew that Tata would be the one to drive, so his good brothers didn't come and sent himself as a formality.

Rusalka: (Could it be that Klauen is also a demon lord in disguise, and today is the day he is exposed?)

Sunita: (I don't quite understand your train of thought. If you want to make a meme, just be direct. I'm very busy here, so I won't reply to you from now on.)

Chapter 430 Rusalka's Unethical Conduct

Sani Tieta was directing dozens of wizards in the tower to conduct tests and record data. He even called two royal wizards from Alice City to ask them to give some "guidance" on this wizard tower built with ancient magic technology.

As expected, the two on the other side even phrased the same words: "My magic particles aren't very stable here, and I can't hear clearly through the telepathy, but it sounds to me like the structure of the magic you're describing is a bit problematic and dangerous. So, Master Sanitieta, the 'Sin Treasure' wizard, please don't rush to start. I'll bring my students over to help you take a look at what's going on."

After they finished speaking, they pinched the runes on the stone, not even giving Sanitieta a chance to call through a second time. Judging from the speed of their speech, Sanitieta felt that they would arrive within a week with a large amount of free labor.

Hey, that's the good thing about mages. What's with all the talk about discussing spell flaws? Could this system-generated spell from the Time Sect's [Ancestor Stone] talent restoration have flaws? Come over and work for free!

Those elves refused to work after receiving the "travel expenses" from the sea tribe, resulting in the manpower and quality of help being reduced by half. It is necessary to capture a group of fresh wizards as labor.

Where are the most high-quality mages? Alice City, of course!

But this is also a lesson. I will know it next time I have the chance. Before everything is done, I have to delay the payment of the elves' wages, otherwise they will become lazy after having money. This is not acceptable. The Sani Tower will never allow such lazy creatures to exist in the Pearl Tear Territory before the war.

Sanitieta waved his hand. "Hey, over there, go get those two barrels of 'Pink Shell Pearls' from the second shelf of shelf 6 in the next room. Grind all the pearls into powder, then add the squid ink from the bottom shelf of shelf 2 in the same room. Heat and stir until no sediment remains. Mix 100 pounds first. As for the formula, ask the sorting administrator at the door. Just say you want a recipe for 'Reflecting Star Ink.'"

The apprentice straightened his back and saluted the Sanita Tower with tears in his eyes: "Okay, got it!"

Rusalka: (The cows are shouting, the horses are bleating, the cows and horses are receiving.)

Sani Iron Tower: (That’s just a sarcastic remark, but I’m really worried they’ll make a mistake. Those materials are so valuable, they can’t afford the compensation even if they sell them.)

Rusalka: (DM letting you cross over for free and then not paying is such a shame. I didn't expect you could even play "My Different World Capitalist Mage Simulator" here.)

The [Sinful Treasure] mentioned by the two archmages just now is the "Grandmage Title" that Sani Tieta had just acquired. Every archmage belonging to the Kingdom of Sinidi will get such a title and an exclusive badge. In fact, it has no effect, it is just a reputation prop, and it can be regarded as a way of saying "I recognize Sinidi as the orthodox force of the Supreme Arcane Magic, and I choose to stand on Sinidi's side."

The rank of this badge is equivalent to that of a marquis, which is an honorary marquis one level higher than a viscount. He enjoys his treatment but has no actual land. However, he can ask the royal family to provide him with a free experimental area and residence.

Of course, this was the rule when Sinidi was founded. According to the theory of value and based on the current market conditions, there are only three archmages in Sinidi, which is less than the four dukes who have now joined Rusalka. It can be said that the law is dead, but human feelings are alive. There would be no fool who still treats the archmages as marquises.

It can be said that even if Sanitta went to visit the home of Grand Duke Delei, who did not get along well with Rusalka, the other party would definitely consider his face and give him a separate seat on an equal footing.

As for who came up with the name [Zuibao], let's first rule out himself, and then leave it as a suspense without revealing the identity of the person who gave it the name.

Even though Crown has achieved great success now, he is still impatient and rushes around when doing things. In the past, people called his character rash. How could he be so impulsive when doing business?

Now people praise his character as a model of positivity and progress, and believe that doing business should be done in this way, generous and straightforward, without being fussy about details.

He was walking in front, while the head of Silver City's supplies department followed behind cautiously.

The former walked in with a stride, stepping hard on the carpet, and said to Rusalka, "Ah, Lord Pearl Tear, it's been a long time since we last met. You look so radiant. I know you. You must have won another great victory, right?"