Chapter 85: The Tree of Life Rises!
[You've opened the mythril treasure chest!]
[Gained "Gold" x1.2 million, "Blueprint: Tree of Life" x1, "Blueprint: Lifespring" x1, "Castle Leveling Scroll" x1, "Life Gem" x100, "Earth Gem" x100, "Water Gem" x100!]
This reward shocked Zhang Nu.
1.2 million in just gold alone!
That's quite the unbelievable number!
Zhang Nu has never seen so much money before. It's seriously unbelievable.
The reward chests that he gained before are completely worthless and unmentionable compared to this one!
As for the other rewards, those are also extremely rich.
[Blueprint: Tree of Life]. Level 3 blueprint. Costs gold x 200k, life gems x50, earth gems x 50. You can create a Tree of Life in your territory.
The value and cost are both very expensive.
More so than any that has ever been seen before.
That said, it's quite reasonable.
The Tree of Life is a level 3 structure after all!
This is even higher level than his territory's level 2 spirit fields and House of Skeletons.
Not only that, the Tree of Life is an extremely rare top clase structure even among other level 3 structures. This structure is most certainly worth the cost.
It's a multi-functional structure.
It's both a unit production structure and has numerous support abilities.
To put it simply, it can both give Zhang Nu elven units and powers to improve his territory. It's indeed very useful.
Other than that, he also got a level 2 blueprint and a leveling scroll specifically for castles.
[Blueprint: Lifespring]. Level 2 blueprint. Costs gold x30k, water gems x50. You can create a Lifespring in your territory.
This is a recovery type structure.
Lifesprings grant a powerful healing effect.
So long as one is within the range of the Lifespring, HP and MP recovery will speed up.
The springwater generated from the Lifespring is also an unlimited high quality material. It can be used to produce potions or used to directly water the fields to greatly increase the quality of potions or increase production quality.
It too is very useful for the territory.
Zhang Nu took the rewards into his player inventory.
Although he was already quite satisfied with the rich rewards from the treasure chest, it's not the only reward he should have gained from taking Giantree City.
Take, for example, the Dark Ruins that he conquered at the very start.
Zhang Nu had not only gotten a chest, but he also gained the left behind treasures of the former chief from a basement under the ruins.
In that case, the latter was in fact worth even more than the rewards from the treasure chest.
And Giantree City's value is thousands of times greater than that minor village.
Right now, Zhang Nu is Giantree City's master.
He can order about the citizens of this city, and he is of course also able to control all the wealth and resources of the city as well.
Giantree City's treasury has stored within it a great deal of valuables, including gold, silver, jewelry, medicinal materials, ores, equipment, and more.
The Demon King has no interest in the jewelry and works of art that the elves have collected.
He only wants gold!
Thus, he sent the elves to the treasury to bring out all the gold they could find.
Soon after, all kinds of goldware and coins were piled up before him. From the looks of it, his previous demand of 2 million gold didn't completely empty out Giantree City.
[Detected convertible gold. Would you like to convert?]
"Convert!"
[Conversion successful!]
[You've gained 150k gold!]
Zhang Nu nodded, satisfied. These gold, if minted into continental gold, will make around 1.5 million. That's not a small number by any means.
Beyond that gold, Zhang Nu also took a haul of elemental gems.
This includes about -- life gems, 207 earth gems, 185 water gems, 143 fire gems, and 161 wind gems. (T/N: The exact numbers for the life gems were eaten in the raws I'm using, so make due with a placeholder)
At an estimate, they're worth about 500k game gold on the Demon King market at market prices.
Other than the gold and gems, he also took a great deal of good elven wine. The Demon King Castle lacks quality means of pleasure and entertainment, so high quality elven wines can improve his standard of living.
Giantree City's treasury also contains a great deal of art and oddities, as well as various medicinal materials, ores, high quality equipment, etc...
Those items are actually far more valuable than merely the raw gold within the city, but Zhang Nu isn't all that interested.
He doesn't exactly have a good eye for elven art.
Pretty but unusable jewelry is useless to him.
For those things, they don't have any real use other than to look good. Rather than taking it for his viewing pleasures, he's better off figuring out some way to sell them to human merchants and getting gold in exchange from human civilization.
Actually, other than the Giantree City treasury, there are also a great deal of merchant citizens and adventurers in Giantree City. Those people tend to have plenty of gold, and if he seized all of it, it would definitely sum up to be an amazing amount.
That said, he can't go too far here.
While seizing private wealth might bring him a moment of joy, the end result will be utter ruin.
Among the many forest cities, Giantree City isn't actually particularly strong.
The reason why this city was able to stand for 300 years and draw in so many tribes and merchants is mainly because the elves are trustworthy.
To destroy Giantree City's reputation for mere momentary profits will cause him far more damage in the long term!
The greatest treasures of Giantree City aren't these accumulated wealth, but rather its people.
Zhang Nu got the records from Nancilia. Giantree City has around 50k elves, and of them, around 40k or so are normal elven peasants.
Elven peasants are all Normal units.
Although their combat strength is weak, they're all highly skilled in one or more trades such as potion making, alchemy, smithing, or farming.
Elves are very capable when it comes to production.
If those production abilities can be utilized well, the territory's income will definitely explode. Compared to that, what is this bit of gold right now worth?
The elven citizenry make up about half the general residents of the City.
The rest tend to be various races of the Forest or merchants.
They live within Giantree City, so they need to pay taxes every month, which makes a stable source of income. Among them, there are also many with great skills in crafts, various talents, or a great deal of knowledge. If they can be properly used, they're sure to show their value.
Zhang Nu asked, "Are there any empty places nearby Giantree City suitable for habitation?"
When Nancilia and the Elven Elders heard that, they guessed that the Demon King must be planning to set up a long term garrison.
Although they have some unavoidable reservations at the thought of needing to interact with the Demon King's soldiers and the entire City's safety and defense being controlled by the Demon King's army, this can't be helped either.
Nancilia thus immediately replied.
"There is. There's a large plain between Giantree City and Giantree Forest."
"If your majesty the Demon King wants to set up a garrison, that location is fairly suitable. Not only is the geography wide and open, it's also conveniently close to water sources."
Zhang Nu nodded, "Let's go take a look!"
Accompanied by several dozen elves, the Demon King came to a grassy plain. This location immediately borders Giantree City and the towering Giantree Forest stands on the other side. The space between, however, is enough to build another two Giantree Cities within.
Zhang Nu got curious though.
He took a look at the Giantree Forest.
The Forest really did make a magnificent sight.
[Giantree Forest]. Level 3 Overlord zone. Extremely high exploration value...
What?
Overlord level zone?
Zhang Nu couldn't help but visibly react to that.
He immediately took a closer look at the relevant information.
Description: The Giantree Forest was once a paradise that the elves lived in for over a thousand years. Three hundred years ago, a terrible disaster swept through this forest, killing the vast majority of the elves there. Only a minor portion of the surviving elves managed to leave the Forest and build Giantree City... Although 300 years have already passed, the barrier that the elves worked together to create still seals this zone. However, the barrier's energy has clearly weakened.
After reading through the description, Zhang Nu finally understood.
So that's why the elves left the Giantree Forest to build Giantree City. It's because they couldn't stay in Giantree Forest anymore, so they had no choice but to move out.
Nancilia asked in confusion, "Lord Demon King? What is it?"
Zhang Nu shook his head, "Nothing. This location is quite good. Make some space now, I'm going to prepare a few things!"
He had to admit it, this Overlord leveled zone did get him quite interested.
Zones this high leveled truly are a rarity!
That said, now isn't the time to research this. He can form an exploration team later on after he's finished with his current work first!
"Watch carefully now."
"I shall grant Giantree City and you elves a great gift!"
[Message: Would you like to use "Blueprint: Tree of Life" x1, gold x 200k, life gems x50, earth gems x50 to summon the Tree of Life?]
Zhang Nu didn't hesitate, "Yes!"
The young elven city lord and the elven leaders were all quite confused.
What is the Demon King acting so mysterious for? This place is utterly empty, with only wild grass, weeds, and flowers around. What great gift is he talking about!
Just then, all the elves react with alarm.
They all felt a powerful energy at the same time then.
At the same time, the earth started violently shaking. The grassy plain and dirt suddenly erupted out, and a sapling covered in light sprouted out from the earth.
"This is..."
Nancilia could clearly feel it.
The vital energies contained within that sapling!
The elves didn't even have the chance to figure out what it was before that tiny sapling grew at an unfathomable pace. It got taller and taller, bigger and bigger, practically piercing the clouds!
100 meters!
200 meters!
500 meters!
...
That enormous canopy was like a huge umbrella, nearly covering the majority of the plain in an area comparable to the size of the entirety of Giantree City.
Every single leaf was shining with magical patterns.
It was lit up like a Christmass tree, but the light is very gentle and natural, easily lighting up an enormous area at night.
[Tree of Life construction successful!]
[You've unlocked the ability to summon elven units!]
[You've gained new summonable population: Elf warrior +8000, elf mage +2000, elf high warrior +800, elf high mage +200, elf dragonhawk knight +100, elf dragonhawk mage +50, ancient tree high priest +1!]
Currently, Gaintree City is very large in size. Bigger than even Darkness Valley.
The Demon King's control over this area isn't stable yet.
Right now, his urgent priority is to stabilize his position, and to do so, he must combine the carrot and the stick. He has to both keep militar dominance while also winning the hearts and minds of the people.
Therefore, Zhang Nu made the decision to place the "Tree of Life" next to Giantree City.
With how valuable this blueprint is and how expensive the construction cost of the Tree of Life is, logically, he should place it in the Valley in order to guarantee its safety.
However, after considering the pros and cons, Zhang Nu felt that placing it in the Darkness Valley is less useful and less valuable than placing it next to Giantree City.
First of all, the Tree of Life can be used to increase the population of elven units. Not only can it summon elven units, it's even capable of summoning up to level 3 units.
If Zhang Nu wants to fully control Giantree City, he first has to replace its defense forces.
If he were to place a draconian army here, the elves will have a hard time not feeling oppressed faced with these different and vicious looking draconians each and every day. In addition, their own pride would be hurt as well, and over time dissatisfaction is sure to arise.
If there's too much oppression or conflicts arise, then the loyalty value will lower.
If he were to replace elves with elves, then such issues won't exist anymore.
The ones holding Giantree City will still be elves, only these elves are summoned up by the Demon King, and summoned units have their loyalty locked.
Zhang Nu's control over Giantree City would thus be unshakable, while the elves would at the same time slowly forget about the fact that they were conquered.
Besides that, the "Tree of Life" is a mysterious ancient tree recorded in elven records. In the past thousands of years, no elven tribe within Chaos Forest has ever successfully grown this legendary ancient tree.
The fact that Zhang Nu brought this to Giantree City is the same as granting the elves of Giantree city an enormous gift.
Thus, the elves would definitely be beside themselves with gratitude while at the same time awed with the Demon King's powers.
This is what it means to be loved and feared alike.
Finally, the Tree of Life gives the highest boost to elves.
Thus, the more elves around it, the better.
From the standpoint of effectiveness, placing an ancient elven tree at Giantree City is far better than placing it in Darkness Valley.
Zhang Nu glanced at a few elves.
From the look on their faces, his goal was reached.