We Do Business In Full Auto [EN]: Chapter 232

232

The Grand Duke’s End (2)

Whoosh!

A biting wind sweeps across the snowfield.

A little further north, and you’ll find a stretch of perpetual snow that never melts. It was a region of glaciers, much like the Arctic on Earth.

Originally, there were villages where humans lived, but after the White Lich took over, it became a barren land uninhabitable for people.

Black blood is embroidered on the pure white snow.

The corpses of undead and ice warriors were piled high, and black mages were setting fire to the corpses to burn them away.

“There are to be no zombies in the empire I will build.”

Even when I had just learned black magic, zombies were repulsive. Aside from their unique smell and creepy appearance, they are specialized in spreading epidemics.

If an epidemic spreads in this world, there’s no easy way to stop it.

To some extent, I can block it with vaccines or treatments brought from Earth, but my administrative power isn’t yet sufficient to save the entire continent that way.

In the end, burning them away like this is the best course of action.

The remaining undead legion continued to advance north. The 2 million undead had been halved by this battle, but that was more than enough to crush the ice warriors.

And once I completely take over the Arctic region, I plan to eliminate all the remaining zombies. I can armor the skeletons and use them as labor or recycle them as soldiers.

“Jerin.”

“Yes, Master!”

“What are the local specialties here?”

“If you’re talking about specialties…”

“Areas untouched by human hands are always rich in underground resources. I mean, are there any useful raw materials? Like the bitumen in the Eastern Desert.”

“Ah, there are! The reason we haven’t been able to conquer this place despite the enormous wealth buried here was the White Lich. Now that he’s gone, a huge amount of gold, silver, and jewels will be mined here.”

“Gold and jewels!?”

My head snaps around.

There’s gold and jewels in this Arctic region?

“Silver mines are the main ones, but there are plenty of gold and gem mines too! In some areas, there are even open-pit gold mines.”

“Heh. Really?”

“Until now, I’ve been thinking about it with great regret, but now that you’ve eliminated the Lich, all the wealth here is yours.”

“Hahaha! Things are working out well?”

Enormous funds were needed to develop the entire continent.

Of course, the money earned from Earth was also substantial, but there had to be resources that the continent itself produced.

And to think that such a huge amount of wealth is buried in this remote Arctic region.

Moreover, these are things that don’t even need secondary processing.

Gold and silver can be made into ingot form, and jewels can be cut and shipped. The profits will be unimaginable.

“Wait. Then there’s no need to burn all the zombies.”

“That’s right. Making them work forever is also a good method.”

“Oh ho. This is the Arctic, so it’s relatively safe from epidemics. The produced gold bars can be transported far from the mine and disinfected there before being taken away.”

“Disinfection is…”

“It means eradicating the germs that are the source of the disease.”

“Ah, I see.”

His expression didn’t look very happy, so he probably didn’t understand, but it doesn’t matter.

“As soon as you chase down and exterminate the remaining enemies, develop the mine!”

“Yes!”

“Jerin, I’ll leave that to you.”

“Leave it to me!”

Jerin’s eyes were full of loyalty.

He was destined to be loyal anyway, but smashing the White Lich today seems to have solidified it.

The same was true of the black mages under his command.

They are also trying to show their loyalty to me.

“Are there any famous gold mines here?”

“Yes, there are!”

“Really?”

“A long time ago, when we first started settling down, there was definitely a mine that was being mined. It’s been occupied by the White Lich for about 30 years.”

“Good. Move out!”

“Yes!”

There was still plenty of time left.

Since it’s an open-pit mine, I’ll have to see with my own eyes if such a place really exists.

Does a land really exist where gold is scattered all over the place?

Gold is actually a very precious mineral throughout the universe.

The reason gold is rare is that humans cannot create it, and scientifically, it is only obtained through the collision of neutron stars.

But does this collision of neutron stars happen often?

No. Scientists have cited it as a phenomenon that occurs only once every 100 million years in the entire universe.

The mass of a neutron star is astronomically large, and if it exists within a star system, everything around it is sucked in by gravity.

In other words, gold is formed only in the early stages of the universe.

If this much rare gold is scattered around, it also means that this area used to be a hotbed of neutron star activity.

A huge mountain range, covered in white snow, *is* the open-pit gold mine.

“Hmm?”

“You can tell if you clear away the snow.”

Black mages use Wind Storm and other magic to blow away the snow on the mountain range.

Then, an amazing sight came into view.

Of course, the entire mountain range was not made of gold, but yellow gold veins flowed in places.

Could such a place really exist in the universe I live in? That’s not certain. Perhaps this amount of gold is only formed on the Karen Continent in this universe.

“Amazing!”

“Do you like it?”

“I like it, of course!”

With this amount of gold, I will be able to get the funds to develop the entire Karen Continent. It was as if the saying ‘I struck gold’ originated here.

“Let’s develop this open-pit mine first!”

“Yes. What about the gem mines?”

“There are mines of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc., but which one do you want first?”

“Let’s go with diamonds.”

“Yes!”

A diamond mine.

I have no idea how much of the gems will be produced.

I was a little excited and gave various instructions.

I’m looking forward to a month from now.

Beren, the capital of the Calin Empire.

A large force of about 500,000 men surrounded Beren.

It was only around 3 p.m., but thanks to arriving a few hours earlier than scheduled, it seems we will be able to fight in the light.

Beren is making a lot of noise.

Soldiers in despair, and people trembling with anxiety.

In addition, the Grand Duke placed the people on the walls to use them as shields.

“Wow, what a piece of trash.”

“Even women and children.”

“There are old people too!”

We looked at the scene and clicked our tongues.

I arrived here 30 minutes ago.

Soo-jeong demonstrated tremendous command skills and arrived an hour before I did to surround the city.

A metropolis with a population of 500,000 had tremendous power in itself.

Even after 300 years of war, the buildings didn’t go anywhere, and the height of the walls reached 50 meters as they were repeatedly expanded to protect the capital during that time.

A city surrounded by such a tremendous height seemed like an impregnable fortress at first glance, but it was so wide that there were holes in the troops.

“Dad, this won’t work!”

“I think so too.”

It was better to avoid civilians as much as possible, even in war.

In the case of a war of conquest, not a war of plunder, the principle was to minimize the damage. From their point of view, it didn’t matter who became the ruler.

But if it comes out like this?

I have no reason to choose the orthodox way.

“Calvene!”

“Yes!”

“Send one of the Four Heavenly Kings [elite commanders] to deliver an ultimatum.”

“How should I write the letter?”

“If you don’t move the elderly, women, and children back, I’ll move myself.”

“I understand!”

Soo-jeong also nodded.

Certainly, the capital was bound to collapse even if only the Grand Duke died.

How few troops must he have to put the people forward as shields.

Grand Duke Lied doesn’t know the value of life at all. Such a human being is not qualified to be a ruler.

“You son of a bitch. Let’s see how you come out.”

Calin Empire Imperial Palace.

In the grand hall, Grand Duke Lied, no, the self-proclaimed Emperor, who was drunk on alcohol and drugs and out of his mind, was screaming at the top of his lungs.

Urgent reports were coming in from all over the place.

“Your Majesty! The enemies have completely surrounded the city!”

“The surrounding lords have refused to participate in the war!”

“There are signs of rebellion from within!”

“Soldiers are refusing to participate in the war and deserting…”

“Stop it!”

Lied screamed.

His eyes were bloodshot and his blood vessels were bursting.

Tears of blood came out, and he looked like a demon.

The knights gritted their teeth.

They were seriously considering whether they should protect Lied as he was.

How long has it been since the rebellion was suppressed, and another rebellion is breaking out again?

You could easily guess from Lied’s behavior.

The upper stream must be clear for the lower stream to be clear, but the upper stream was rotten.

So naturally, the lower stream is bound to rot.

“Your Majesty! An envoy has arrived!”

“Ha! What envoy?”

“He says he has come to deliver an ultimatum!”

“Cut off his head!”

“However, beheading the envoy is…”

The knights refused with all their might.

Beheading an envoy during war was a taboo among taboos. Under no circumstances should an envoy’s head be cut off.

That alone would seriously push them back in terms of justification and be condemned by everyone.

The knights’ eyes changed.

If necessary, kill Lied!

There was an order to behead the envoy, but the envoy did not die. This was because she had killed all the soldiers who were trying to kill her and was walking here.

It was a beautiful woman. The one I saw earlier.

“You piece of trash. I’m giving you an ultimatum. If you don’t open the gates and surrender, His Majesty has decided to move himself and punish you.”

“Ha! You dare threaten me!?”

“Ah, okay. That’s a no, right?”

“Kill that bitch!”

Whoosh!

She disappeared from the spot.

“Damn it! Damn it!”

Lied felt a threat to his life.

The enemy emperor is moving himself?

For a moment, his head felt clear.

“Strengthen the guards! We have to be prepared to escape if necessary!”

It was getting dark.

Lenya, who had gone as an envoy, came to report.

“Master! Lied is out of his mind. He ordered me to be killed and said he has no intention of surrendering.”

“He tried to kill the envoy?”

“Yes.”

“This guy is hopeless.”

I had guessed from the moment he mobilized the people for war and put them forward as meat shields. He was a more trash-like human being than I thought.

“I’ll have to go and cut off his head myself.”

My patience has reached its limit.