The gold reserves were abundant.
However, they were mainly distributed deep inside the mine and underground.
Which also implied that if Zhang Nu wanted to mine the gold, he must build a mine first. That would require a lot of preparation time.
Zhang Nu was not in a hurry.
'Let's survey around first.'
After circling around the gold mine, a peculiar area caught his attention.
[Flaming Giant Ant Nest] Level 3 lord area. High exploration value.
Description: These are a hive of Level 3 magical monsters dwelling near the gold veins. They have extremely high physical defense due to their impenetrable carapace. The ants also have a power and deadly fire attack ability. They are ferocious and brutal, killing everything that dares to approach their territory.
The gold mine's rating was Level 3 lord as well, probably because of the existence of this giant ant nest.
The value of Level 3 lord monster area was already pretty significant.
Furthermore, judging from the description, every single giant ant here was Level 3.
This nest was the best Level 3 monster area!
With so many monster ants near the gold mine, it would undoubtedly bring a lot of trouble to the mining operation.
From the prompt message, the ant nest extended into every direction, deep into the mining area.
Wouldn't it be time and cost efficient by just taking out the monsters and transforming the existing ant nest into a mining facility?
Zhang Nu descended onto the ant nest.
Several ants were patrolling nearby and their sizes were as big as a cattle's.
[Flaming Giant Ant] Level 3 elite unit.
Skills: Fiery Spit (C rank), Molten Acid Fireball (C rank), Powerful Bite (D rank), Carapace of Inferno (D rank), Scent Perception (D rank).
The giant ants immediately detected the intruder and five jets of high pressure fire shot out.
This was a flame that could melt steel within ten seconds, enough to severely damage anyone without any magic or Qi protection.
-0!
-0!
-0!
Zhang Nu did not feel even a trace of the scorching heat.
For someone with High Anti-Magic like him, these attacks were like a warm and gentle spring breeze caressing his face.
With a snap of his fingers, a stroke of blood colored lightning lashed out.
[You've slain a Flaming Giant An. Gold +1000!]
[You've slain a Flaming Giant An. Gold +1000!]
[You've slain a Flaming Giant An. Gold +1000!]
[...]
'Level 3 elite monsters are awesome, the gold rewards were very generous!'
Zhang Nu continued to stride into the nest.
The nest passages of the giant ants were very spacious and sturdy, almost comparable to a train tunnel. Even a large built man like Zhang Nu did not feel cramped at all.
Click! Click! Click!
Amidst the strange noises from all around, dozens of Flaming Giant Ants poured out.
Hot scorching flames blasted onto Zhang Nu continuously.
The tunnels had limited space for movement, when the number of the giant ants were large enough, their fiery attacks would completely envelope the passages and erase any possibility to dodge.
Nevertheless.
-0!
-0!
-0!
The attacks were not able to penetrate his defense at all.
Intellect was not the giant ants' strong suit.
All they did was continue spraying fire.
Zhang Nu discharged several strokes of lightning.
These terrifying lightning attacks were like a sharp blade, easily piercing through the ants' impenetrable carapace, ripping their bodies apart.
[You've slain a Flaming Giant Ant. Gold +1000!]
[You've slain a Flaming Giant Ant. Gold +1000!]
[You've slain a Flaming Giant Ant. Gold +1000!]
[...]
Zhang Nu kept on going deeper into the nest.
Everywhere he passed, ant carcasses were littered everywhere.
Along the way, around 300 ants were killed.
The gold rewards were up to 300 thousand by then.
This was all too satisfying.
Even if there was no gold mine, the gold rewards were certainly worth the trip.
Zhang Nu was not one bit injured during the whole journey.
The biggest loss was nothing more than a few bottles of potions for MP replenishment.
To be fair, the ants were not weak at all, plus they had terrain advantage. Even if a team led by a few Level 4 experts invaded the nest, they would inevitably suffer heavy losses and casualties.
Unfortunately.
These unlucky creatures encountered a magic immune freak.
Not only did Zhang Nu have High Anti-Magic, he was also in possession of the rare B rank skill, Fire God's Blessing.
So even if the fire attacks were stacked up hundreds of times, it still would not be enough to inflict even the tiniest bit of damage on him.
In front of Zhang Nu was a wall of fire.
He could sense a large number of giant ants behind the wall of fire, and some of them even had especially stronger aura.
This must be the core of the ant nest.
Zhang Nu walked straight through it.
The wall of fire was paid no heed.
Within the core of the nest was a chamber, littered with ant eggs and Flaming Giant Ants.
One of the ants situated in the middle was especially massive compared to the others. It was guarded by two dark red giant ants twice the size of a normal ant.
[Fiery Giant Ant Queen] Level 3 lord unit.
Skills: Psychic Invasion (B level), Mind Lash (B level), Death Embers (C level), Extreme Heat Fire Wall, etc.
[Blazing Giant Ant King] Level 3 elite unit.
Skills: Molten Iron Claw Blade (C rank), Flame Charge (C rank), Death Slash (C rank), Frenzied Self-Detonation (C rank)
Zhang Nu suddenly felt a slight headache.
[You are under psychic attack. HP -10!]
[You are under psychic attack. HP -15!]
The attack was inflicted by the ant queen.
It had attempted to knock Zhang Nu out with its psychic attacks for a while now.
But it was destined to be in vain.
Although the resistance of Anti-Magic was quite ineffective against rare attributed attacks such as psychic, soul, time and space. However, psychic attacks from a mere Level 3 lord monster would never be able to threaten Zhang Nu.
After all, while under Draconian form, Zhang Nu's MP and Will stats were terrifyingly high.
The two ant kings charged forward, their forelimbs were like red hot serrated saws, which were seemingly very deadly. The other giant ants also spewed fire to join the assault.
"Futile efforts!"
Zhang Nu took off into the air, weaved a stroke of Hell Thunderflame onto his right hand and slammed his palm against the ant queen's fat and cumbersome body.
With a loud band, the ant queen exploded.
[You've slain a Fiery Giant Ant Queen. Gold +30000!]
The moment the ant queen died, the remaining giant ants became panic stricken. Zhang Nu proceeded to unleash Dragon Flame, and swept the area with fire.
Flaming Giant Ants had extremely high fire resistance.
And yet, they still could not withstand Zhang Nu's Dragon Flame.
[You've slain a Flaming Giant Ant. Gold +1000!]
[You've slain a Blazing Giant Ant King. Gold +3500!]
[You've slain a Blazing Giant Ant King. Gold +3500!]
[...]
[You've conquered the Flaming Giant Ant Nest. You gained "Magnificent Bronze Treasure Chest" x1!]
Zhang Nu, as a one man army, wiped out the entire Level 3 Lord rank monster area!
This was an incredible feat for the vast majority of Heroes and Demon Kings at the moment. Moreover, he did it without receiving any damage except for a few psychic attacks.
Zhang Nu opened up the treasure chest.
[You've opened the Bronze Treasure Chest. You've gained "Gold" x300000, "Skill stone: Psychic Invasion" x1, "Fire Gem" x45!]
A bronze grade treasure chest.
Of course, it could not be compared with a mithril grade treasure chest.
However, apart from the hundreds of thousands of gold, there was also a skill stone and a large number of gems, which were valuable.
Especially the skill stone.
The "Psychic Invasion" is a good B rank skill.
It could be used for projecting one's mind into the target's psyche, causing psychic damage, influencing them, or even directly controlling them.
But of course, the skill had a flaw.
If one attempted to invade a mind that was far more powerful than its own, then there would be a high probability for a psychic backlash.
'Not bad! Let's learn it now.'
This was a very useful skill.
[Psychic Invasion] B rank skill. Costs 120 MP. Launch a psychic invasion upon a target. While maintaining the psychic invasion state, the skill consumes at least 20 MP per second.
In the future, if Zhang Nu encountered a target much weaker than himself, he could directly control its actions without physically doing anything.
After resolving the matters of monsters, Gru received an order from the Demon King.
He immediately assembled a lot of manpower.
Zhang Nu also had the Draconian High Priest, Li Si, send in a group of Draconian laborers from Darkness Valley to transform the ant nest into a mining tunnel.
In order for more efficient gold mining and effective management and control over the Berserk Beast City, Zhang Nu collected 50 dark gems from Bloody Giant Wang Shi and built the Level 3 structure 'Orc Base Camp' directly within the basin close to the gold mine.
There were numerous mine veins in this vicinity.
It would be much more convenient to have this base camp.
And since the camp was not far from the city, having a line of troops here directly under Zhang Nu's control would be beneficial in governing Berserk Beast City.
[Orc Base Camp construction successful!]
[You've unlocked the ability to summon orcish units!]
[You've gained a new summonable population: Orc Warrior +10000, Orc Berserker +5000, Orc High Berserker +2000, Orc Bloodwolf Rider +200, Orc Berserker Lord +1!]
Level 1 normal 10000 units, Level 1 elite 5000 units, Level 2 elite 2000 units, Level 3 elites 200 units and a single Level 3 lord unit.
Zhang Nu took a glance at the summoning cost.
[Orc Warrior] Costs 15 gold.
[Orc Berserker] Costs 300 gold.
[Orc High Berserker] Costs 2000 gold.
[Orc Bloodwolf Rider] Costs 10,000 gold.
[Orc Berserker Lord] Costs 150,000 gold.
Zhang Nu gained at least 700,000 gold just from the ant nest.
He decisively spent 300,000 gold and recruited the Orc Berserker Lord, along with 10,000 normal rank warriors to establish the scale of the base camp.
These orc warriors could be put to use in the mining operations, as well as Berserk Beast City's defense duty.
The next day, the orcs from Berserk Beast City led by Gru arrived at the camp and they were immediately stunned by the sight before them.
"This...this...how?"
Gru and the others were in complete awe.
A huge, orcish camp had sprung up in a basin surrounded by steep mountains, and tens of thousands of orcs were occupied nearby.
The orcs were in full swing and had already started working.
Draconian laborers and craftsmen were busy constructing dwellings to provide accommodation for the later orcs, as well as forging and crafting mining equipments and tools.
All of these.
It was difficult for the orcs from Berserk Beast City to believe.
It was a day's journey from here to Berserk Beast City.
These Berserk Beast City orcs were hundred percent sure there was absolutely nothing here before but a barren land filled with dangerous magical monsters and creatures.
How did the Demon King do all these?
Where did these orcs come from?
There was no reasonable explanation.
As if everything appeared out of thin air.
Demon Kings were really unfathomable and incomprehensible beings.
At the sight of these inexplicable feats, Gru felt deep reverence and fear at the time for the Demon King.
A Draconian priest approached.
"From today onwards, the primary task for your Berserk Beast City will be developing this large gold mine, as well as dozens of other mines of various sizes nearby."
"Thirty percent of the golds and ores you produced will be reserved for the development of the Berserk Beast City and the improvement of the lives of the orcs. The remaining seventy percent will be handed over to the Lord!"
"The earnings will be enough to double the income of Berserk Beast City immediately. You should be able to live a better life than before. I hope you will not let the Lord down."
Hearing this.
Gru was ecstatic in his heart.
He quickly knelt down on one knee.
"Gru thanks His Majesty for his great kindness!"
"The orcs will forever remember this debt!"
Even the orcs, who were warlike by nature, did not want to live their lives on knife edge every day.
Gru had a deeper understanding of the world.
He knew that the old city lord's development model was not sustainable in longer terms.
It was all due to being unable to secure a stable source of income for the city.
Now, with the appearance of the Demon King, things have taken a turn for the better.
It wouldn't take long.
Soon, the life of the orcs would improve significantly.
Berserk Beast City could also be gradually reformed into a normal city.
By then, the orcs would be grateful to the Demon King. Even if given the choice to return to their past lives, the majority of the orcs would be unwilling to do so.
Zhang Nu had finished his work here.
The remaining chores should be left to the subordinates.
Now, he only needed to head back and wait for big piles of gold to be delivered to his doorstep.
Just as he was about to leave Berserk Beast City.
"My Lord!" A Draconian soldier came to report. "A Hero claiming to be from the Divine Sword Hero Guild has requested to meet you!"
A Hero?
Divine Sword Guild?
Never heard of it.
Zhang Nu was somewhat surprised, "Hoho, this one has some nerves. Since he's so fearless, I shall grant him an audience."