The Azure Federation had a larger area and population than the two empires.
However, as a loose coalition of dozens of kingdoms and hundreds of factions forcibly assembled, it suffered from internal power struggles and poor control. Nonetheless, with a vast market to explore, it was currently the most reasonable direction for development.
A few days later, the Bloody Giant, Wang Shi, sent a message that the first batch of ordered space gems had arrived. Zhang Nu immediately paid the remaining 2 million gold for the purchase.
He chose to build the teleportation tower near the Darkness Woods. The tower could not be directly established in the core city area because any lapse in defense could pose a significant threat to the territory.
The chosen location was several dozen miles from the Darkness City, and there were plans to build a Darkness Fortress nearby for the future deployment of Darkness City's troops.
Now, placing the teleportation tower there allowed the Darkness City's military to quickly respond in case of emergencies in nearby cities. Additionally, with the teleportation tower established near a military fortress, it provided better protection and surveillance capabilities.
Boom!
Amidst intense energy fluctuations, a magnificent tower adorned with intricate runic formations emerged. It was pure white and exuded an exquisite charm.
Zhang Nu quickly familiarized himself with the detailed capabilities of the teleportation tower.
The Level 4 teleportation tower had a regional teleportation coverage radius of 5,000 miles, more than enough to cover the core area of the Chaos Forest.
However, this type of regional one-way teleportation was not 100% accurate. The teleportation deviation could range from a few miles to tens of miles, with greater accuracy for shorter distances and larger errors for longer distances. This was a slight drawback, but it would not have a significant impact.
The Level 4 teleportation tower could operate one hundred teleportation fields simultaneously. If the number of targets exceeded one hundred, they would have to wait in line. Nonetheless, the teleportation speed was fast, with each teleportation process only taking five to ten seconds to complete.
While the transport capacity was not ideal for large-scale military operations, it was sufficient for daily use. In the event of an urgent military action involving a force of tens of thousands, it would be difficult to gather and transport them quickly without the assistance of draconian priests.
Of course, this problem could be resolved. As long as the teleportation tower was upgraded, both the teleportation capacity and efficiency would greatly increase.
The most crucial aspect of the teleportation tower was its pinpoint teleportation function, which not only achieved 100% accuracy but also disregarded spatial distances. But of course, this required the coordination of multiple teleportation towers.
At present, Zhang Nu only had one teleportation tower, his second teleportation tower, as well as the teleportation tower of the Succubus Queen Han Kexin, had not yet been constructed.
He then opened the player interface, and several notification messages popped up.
[Taurus City and its 100,000 minotaurs are seeking affiliation under your banner. Accept?]
[You've conquered Taurus City!]
[You gained "Shining Mithril Chest" x1!]
[...]
[Venomscale City and its 60,000 lizardfolks are seeking affiliation under your banner. Accept?]
[You've conquered Venomscale City!]
[You gained "Elegant Mithril Chest" x1!]
[...]
[Thousand Wolves City and its 60,000 wolffolks are seeking affiliation under your banner. Accept?]
[You've conquered Thousand Wolves City!]
[You gained "Gorgeous Mithril Chest" x1!]
[...]
[Feral Tiger City and its 15,321 tigerfolks are seeking affiliation under your banner. Accept?]
[You've conquered Feral Tiger City!]
[You gained "Shining Bronze Chest" x1!]
[...]
Within a few days, numerous similar messages appeared.
There were over a dozen of such messages, including a large city with a population of over 100,000, 5 medium-sized cities with populations ranging from 20,000 to 80,000, and more than 10 medium to large tribes.
The Demon Lord was extremely satisfied. He knew that his elves, orcs, dwarves, gnomes, and other subordinates were diligently executing their tasks according to the plan.
This very fact proved that the truly stubborn and obstinate ones were the minority. Most city and tribal leaders were not blind to the situation.
Although surrendering to the Demon King meant that the city's treasury and savings would be taken by the Demon King's subordinates, and a whopping 70% of future profits from production and business would be allocated as tribute to the Darkness City, it may not be as dire as it seems.
After all, how much could the indigenous forest dwellers accumulate in terms of wealth? The Chaos Forest was a highly underdeveloped wilderness, where most races and members of various cities and tribes struggled and fought for a meager meal.
Take the example of the Giantree City. Since joining forces with the Demon King, it had experienced rapid development and become one of the most prosperous cities in the Chaos Forest.
Even the Berserk Beast City, notorious for its terrible reputation and savage nature, now had 30,000 orcs employed as laborers to exploit a large gold mine under the Demon King's assistance.
As of now, the value of the gold they excavate on a daily basis alone amounts to millions of gold coins in the continent. Even if a significant portion was handed over to the Darkness City, the remaining daily profit surpassed what the Berserk Beast City used to earn through plunder and pillage.
Furthermore, with increased efficiency in gold mining, the development and exploitation of over a dozen other large mineral veins would be imminent.
Berserk Beast City, with the help of draconian laborers, had constructed a large smelting workshop and an equipment manufacturing center. In the future, the Demon King would aid the orcs by bringing in a group of exceptional dwarven craftsmen from the Ironheart City.
It is conceivable that in a year or two, the Berserk Beast City would become Chaos Forest's largest source of minerals and one of the largest equipment manufacturing centers. It was conservatively estimated that the orc citizens would have their wealth increase by tenfold per capita by then.
Furthermore, after pledging allegiance to the Demon King, the most challenging issue of food scarcity was no longer a problem.
Cities could directly purchase food from Giantree City and the Darkness City, which not only had good quality, stable supply, but also reasonable prices.
Suffice to say, all the cities that pledged allegiance to the Demon King were now thriving in their newfound prosperity.
On the contrary, cities that stubbornly refused to surrender or attempted treacherous tactics, like the notorious Magi Mojo City, met a grim fate.
Once a bustling forest city with a population exceeding a hundred thousand.
It suffered the wrath of the draconian legion, resulting in a massacre of over ten thousand people. The horrifying incident spread like wildfire throughout the forest, sending shivers down the spines of other cities and tribes.
Under such circumstances, only those with a severely abnormal mindset would persist in resisting against such insurmountable odds.
Recent reports indicated that the Thunder Empire launched a full-scale assault with their official army to invade Chaos Forest, only to be decisively defeated by the Demon King at the Bloody Fortress.
This victory sent a resounding message.
The Dragon Demon King possessed the capability to fend off external forces from invading. For thousands and tens of thousands of years, one of the main reasons why the Chaos Forest had been in constant turmoil was the suppression and interference from external forces.
However, the rise of the Dragon Demon King was unstoppable, even for the Thunder Empire.
The unification of the forest was inevitable, and the cities and tribes naturally pledged their allegiance. Although Zhang Nu had anticipated such an outcome, the speed of progress and execution efficiency surpassed his expectations, which pleased him.
He eagerly opened the treasure chests he had easily acquired.
[You've opened the Mithril Treasure Chest. You've gained "Gold" x1 million, "Minotaur Base Camp" x1, "Blueprint: Earth Defense Tower" x1, "Life Gem" x100, "Dark Gem" x100, "Fire Gem" x100!]
[You've opened the Mithril Treasure Chest. You've gained "Gold" x700,000, "Lizardfolk Lair" x1, "Level 2 Normal Building Upgrade Scroll" x1, "Life Gem" x100, "Water Gem" x100!]
[You've opened the Mithril Treasure Chest. You've gained "Gold" x800,000, "Direwolf Taming Grounds" x1, "Blueprint: Wind Blade Tower" x1, "Life Gem" x100, "Wind Gem" x100, "Dark Gem" x100!]
[...]
After opening over ten treasure chests, Zhang Nu gained more than 4 million gold and a dozen blueprints, mainly ranging from Level 2 to 3, with a focus on barracks and defense structures, which would greatly aid in territory development.
In addition to the reward chests, the treasuries and accumulated wealth of various cities and tribes were promptly delivered to the Darkness City. Among the spoils were 2 million worth of gold, along with invaluable production materials and energy gems of multitude elements.
With Zhang Nu's current reserves, even though he could not be considered filthy rich, it was still a substantial income. After tallying his disposable gold, he once again surpassed the mark of over 10 million. In addition, he acquired a considerable supply of energy gems.
After careful planning, Zhang Nu made an important decision. He decided to create the first monarch of his own.
At present, Zhang Nu had just enough resources to meet the upgrading requirements of an Earth Drake Sovereign.
In the recent battle at the Bloody Fortress, Zhang Nu obtained two Level 5 souls and a substantial amount of Level 2 and 3 souls, both in terms of quantity and quality.
However, he still needed a little more souls to activate one of his Level 5 talents.
Considering his current formidable strength, Zhang Nu realized that instead of painstakingly collecting souls and using them all to activate a new talent, it would be more practical to allocate a portion of the soul resources to create a brand new monarch champion for the Darkness City.
With this thought in mind, he immediately took action.
Zhang Nu used the Soul Altar to synthesize a Level 5 soul. With this, he had gathered three souls and then filled in the remaining energy gem shortage by spending several million gold on the Demon King market.
Everything was set.
Zhang Nu summoned Zhang San, the Earth Drake Grand Marshal, and led him to ascend the Demon King's Altar.
[Upgrade "Earth Drake Grand Marshal" to "Earth Drake Sovereign"? The upgrade costs 10 million gold + 2000 dark gems +2000 earth gems + 3 Level 5 Hero's souls!]
"Upgrade!"
Zhang Nu confidently confirmed his choice.
The Demon King Altar erupted in a powerful blaze of light, so intense that it made it impossible to keep one's eyes open. The radiance persisted for several minutes before fading away, replaced by an aura of majesty and dominance.
The draconian grand marshal, Zhang San, underwent a remarkable transformation. His scales retained their semi-transparent diamond-like texture, emitting a subtle golden glow, resembling a piece of art crafted from the finest yellow diamond.
Notably, his height and physique had increased significantly, expanding by at least three or four times. Even in his humanoid draconian form, he stood imposingly at nearly five meters tall.
Zhang Nu immediately opened Zhang San's information panel and glanced at it.
[Earth Drake Sovereign: Zhang San] Level 5 monarch unit. HP 8500, MP 3150, Strength ???, Constitution 680, Agility 350, Will 355, Loyalty 100%(Locked), Fatigue 10%, Hunger 10%.
Skill: Earth Drake Sovereign Form (Talent), Earth Domain (Talent), Gravity Manipulation (Talent), Adamantine Dragon Body (Talent), Earth Drake Sovereign Fear (Talent), Adamantine Dragon Scales (A rank), Dragon Sovereign Aura (A rank), Qi Aura (A rank), Earth Aura (A rank), etc...
This transformation was nothing short of extraordinary. Ascending from a Level 4 overlord to a Level 5 monarch, Zhang San had undergone a profound metamorphosis that extended far beyond a mere increase in rank.
As the Earth Drake Sovereign, he not only awakened his own unique Monarch's Domain but also unlocked an array of talents exclusive to those of his exalted status.
One such talent was "Gravity Manipulation." This ability allowed the Earth Drake Sovereign to better suppress foes in combat, compensating for its relatively slower speed.
Moreover, through the manipulation of gravity, Zhang San could achieve flight, overcoming the inherent disadvantage of the earth drake species's inability to soar through the skies.
Furthermore, Zhang San now possessed the same Adamantine Dragon Body talent as Zhang Nu. This extraordinary skill bolstered his defense significantly, while simultaneously reflecting the force of incoming attacks. Armed with unparalleled defensive capabilities, he could now counteract besieging assaults by reflecting the incoming damage.
"Thank you, my master, for this promotion!" Zhang San's voice trembled with excitement.
He could hardly believe that he had been given the opportunity to become the Earth Drake Sovereign.
Zhang Nu nodded, his expression filled with satisfaction. "From this moment forward, you are the sole monarch level presence among the draconians in the Darkness City, aside from myself."
With unwavering determination, Zhang San replied, "I will never let you down, my Lord. I shall dedicate my newfound power to the Darkness City, and I am prepared to give my life in service to you."
Monarchs were known for their immense pride, often unwilling to bow down to others.
However, Zhang Nu had no worries in this regard. Zhang San was merely a summoned subordinate of the draconian lineage. These types of subordinates obtained through summoning possessed an unyielding loyalty towards their master, with their allegiance securely locked in place.
Even if Zhang San became a mythic dragon or even a more powerful being, let alone a mere monarch, his loyalty to the Demon King would never waver.
With the addition of the Earth Drake Sovereign, Zhang San, as the Demon King's second monarch level subordinate, the might and power of the territory and legion of the Demon King grew exponentially.