In a region close to Darkness Valley, there's a small group of kobolds.
They aren't all that numerous, being around 200 individuals in total. They originally lived in a small village they built in a nearby cave.
Recently though, an Earth Bear appeared.
It chased the kobolds out and took over the cave.
The kobolds couldn't fight against the powerful level 2 Elite monster.
Thus, they could only leave their homes and become refugees. Not only do they now need to face all kinds of dangers, they're even under the threat of hunger and disease now.
One can say that they're drowning in misfortune.
They're almost at the end of their rope.
If things continue on as is, these kobolds will definitely be shattered and destroyed.
However, this isn't particularly abnormal either. Situations like this happen repeatedly every day in all corners of the Chaos Forest.
This is simply the law of life in this place.
"Bark, bark! I heard some information!"
"Recently, a lot of minor tribes all defected to Darkness Valley!"
"I heard that there's a powerful Demon King in Darkness Valley. So long as one is willing to loyally follow him, they'll be able to gain his protection!"
"We should go too!"
"..."
That smart looking kobold villager was furiously gesturing as he relayed the rumors that he just heard.
The rest of the kobolds were skeptical.
Some villagers thought that there's something suspicious about it.
Other villagers thought that even if the Demon King really is recruiting subordinates, it still wouldn't be something that a bunch of homeless stray dogs like them would be able to get in on.
The kobold chief decided, "Whether it's true or not, let's send a couple of guys to check it out first. After all, we're not going to be able to survive for much longer either way."
In response, the kobolds all agreed.
LIfe is getting harder and harder.
If they can't find a place to rest or a way out, then most of them are going to die of hunger or sickness.
Even if it's just a thread of hope, they still have to at least try.
Thus, the kobold chief selected two of the strongest and healthiest kobolds, and had them represent the kobold village and head toward Darkness Valley to get more information.
Unexpectedly, the result is that they returned the next day.
They also brought a draconian with them.
"W-who might this be..."
The kobold chief was extremely shocked.
Kobolds might not be all that strong, but they have a very sharp sense of smell and sensory type Talents.
This draconian is very strong.
He was easily capable of wiping out the kobold group singlehanded.
This is actually just a super soldier of Darkness Valley. A super soldier is a level 3 Elite unit, so he is indeed an unmatchable powerhouse as far as the kobolds are concerned.
The super soldier spoke, "Our lord accepts your fealty and thus sent me to receive you. I'm here to solve your issue as well."
Not long after, the super soldier entered the kobolds' cave.
About three minutes later, a number of roars came from inside the cave. There was then a short yet fierce sound of combat before everything went quiet again.
The draconian soldier then came out of the cave with his bladed spear, still wet with blood, in his right hand and a truck-sized giant bear in his left.
"Bark, bark, bark!'
"The Earth Bear is dead!"
"It was killed just like that!"
"Thanks be to the Demon King! Long live the Demon King!"
The kobolds barked excitedly and all kneeled and bowed around the corpse of the bear. That bear was something that they stood no chance against, but a mere subordinate that the Demon King casually sent over dealt with easily.
The kobolds feared and respected the Demon King's terrible power.
If they really could join a being like that, then they won't need to worry about getting bullied anymore.
...
Darkness Valley.
Demon King Castle.
Zhang Nu got another message.
[You've conquered the kobold village!]
[Gained "Decrepit Bronze Treasure Chest" x1!]
Did he get another small village?
[You've opened the Descripet Bronze Treasure Chest. Gained "Gold" x200. Gained "Blueprint: Kobold's Home" x1!]
Not bad.
He actually got a blueprint.
That said, the blueprint isn't very high quality.
It's a unit production type structure. It's basically like the House of Bones from way early on, only able to summon up a small number of level 1 normal kobolds.
It's kind of useless for Zhang Nu now.
Zhang Nu put it away. He could sell it in the future or give it to Chen Guoguo. She's relatively more lacking in the labor force, so it wouldn't be bad for her to raise some kobolds for manual labor.
The faction of Darkness Valley is beginning to expand.
Zhang Nu used his powerful information detection ability and marked out all the nearby native factions before sending his subordinates out to conquer them.
In a few short days, whether by threat of force, actual conquest, or the targets joining of their own accord, he has conquered 18 areas including this small kobold village. Thus, he has gained 18 treasure chests from that.
However, the quality of those chests aren't all that high.
Even if he managed to occasionally get a blueprint or skill, they're not all that beneficial to Zhang Nu at this point anymore.
These are all small villages and tribes nearby. Generally, they're only around 300-400 in population, with even the biggest not being more than 800. All in all, they total to only about 8000 or so, so they can only be considered very minor factions.
That said, a journey of a thousand miles takes one step at a time.
Nancilia is also sticking near the Demon King recently.
She was unable to resist asking out of curiosity, "Just what are you after really?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Zhang Nu replied, "I'm currently absorbing all the factions within the area I'm capable of holding!"
Nancilia just scratched her head, "Those tiny tribes and villages are really weak and poor though. It's not like absorbing them will be of any benefit to you though!"
No benefit?
Not necessarily!
Every place conquered will get the Demon King a treasure chest.
Although it's not much every time, adding them all up, the 18 chests will have gotten him at least 20k gold!
Of course, Zhang Nu can't exactly explain that.
Thus, he instead took another tack, "Even the weakest and most easily overlooked goblin has worth in their existence in this world."
"I plan on taking in, combining, and reorganizing all these factions and using them to build proper villages or cities. Then, I'll have them exploit the resources of the forest or work in production to create value."
"..."
When she heard that, Nancilia was very surprised.
She feels like she's beginning to understand what the Demon King is trying to do.
The Demon Kings' goal is to create a new order in the world. The meaning to their existences seem to be to destroy the previous order of things and then recreating a new one in its place.
If something like this happened in a civilized world, then the Demon King's conduct would unquestionably be a calamity. After all, the process of destroying the previous order and creating a new one in its place would cause countless sacrifices and deaths.
No wonder they're known as Demon Kings!
For normal countries and people who live normally under civilized laws, Demon Kings may very well be terrifying or even evil.
However, this Chaos Forest never had any law or order to speak of since ancient times.
This place is squished between three great empires. For the billions of lives over the past thousands of years, the only law that exists is the most primordial law of the jungle. It's kill or be killed. All kinds of battles and wars have never stopped, even as rivers of blood were shed!
If there's a powerful Demon King, though, then he would be able to create order in this lawless place, to create new law and order in this place that never had any. If that happened, then that may not actually be a bad thing!
While Nancilia was thinking about it, the draconian priest Li Si came up with a report, "My lord, we caught an injured elf nearby. He seems to be one of the leaders of Giantree City!"
Nancilia was shocked to hear that.
Zhang Nu was also slightly taken aback, "One of the leaders of Giantree City? Why would he appear near Darkness Valley? And injured too? Bring him forth!"
Li Si quickly brought a middle aged elf forth.
That elf was seriously injured. He lost an arm, apparently having gone through an extremely vicious battle.
"Third Elder!"
"How did this happen to you!"
Nancilia started shouting in surprise.
This middle aged elf is actually the Third Elder of Giantree City's council of elders. When he saw Nancilia, he was stunned for a moment before lighting up in joy.
"My lady, you're not actually dead. Thank goodness..."
"Just what happened? Why are you so hurt so badly? What happened to the First Elder? Something happened, didn't it!"
The Third Elder spoke with difficulty, "The First Elder... Is dead!"
"What?!"
Nancilia was utterly frozen in shock.
The First Elder was like a father to her. Although he's not actually blood related, he was still practically family to her. She had a hard time accepting such terrible news right away.
"It was the former guardian elf Jules..."
"He killed the First Elder, conspired with Berserk Beast City, and usurped the position of city lord... So many of our people were savagely killed by him!"
"My lady, our Giantree City... Cannot be left in the hands of someone like that. You must take Giantree City back!"
When Zhang Nu heard this news, the first thing that came to his mind was:
Shit. Why did that old guy have to die so suddenly? Doesn't that mean that he's not going to be able to get the remaining 3 million gold he's owed anymore? He's still waiting on that money to raise more soldiers here!
Jules is Du Mingfeng.
Jules is his elven name.
That guy really is a black-hearted and vicious person!