Chapter 296 The Shock of the Mission
On this day, a team flying the banner of the Golden Griffin of the Omar Empire passed through the Black Dragon Pass and arrived at Black Dragon City.
There were several hundred people in the group, with the majestic Silver Knights leading the way, and a large group of retainers and servants. The clothes of these people were embroidered with the family emblem of a double-headed crowned eagle, and they were from the "Spencer Family", one of the top old nobles in Omar.
Today, the area of Black Dragon City is more than ten times larger than before.
The city is backed by the Alcolon Mountains, so there is no shortage of stone. Under the unified planning of municipal officials, the refugees mined stone and built walls that were tens of meters high, one ring, two rings... and now it has reached the sixth ring.
When the Omar delegation saw this majestic city built on the land in the distance, they were all shocked.
In the team, a middle-aged man with a brown mustache started talking to a handsome young man with a fair face.
"This Black Dragon City is truly amazing. It has developed into this state in less than a year. It is truly a miracle. With such a large population, perhaps only the imperial capital Usenbar can be compared to it in the empire..."
"Haha, father, it's just that the geographical location of Black Dragon City is good enough. I don't know where Ymir got so lucky that she actually found such a pass and built a new city west of the Alcoron Mountains. This basin has high-level monster resources, corpse tides, and high-burning coal rich mines. I heard that large gold and silver mines have been explored in the north recently... This Black Dragon City really has all the advantages. If this place is given to me, I can also build a magnificent city!"
"Frank, don't underestimate Ymir. Her talent is recognized by the Empire. At least, she can make those tamed barbarians obediently work for her. This is not something that ordinary people can do."
"Father, don't forget that no matter how powerful she is, she is just a woman. However, I never thought there would be so many sub-dragon beasts here. If we can control the flying dragon army, our Spencer family will definitely become the strongest family in the empire!"
"Indeed. If we can control the 'invincible army' of the Flying Dragon Legion, then the Black Dragon City will be no problem. But then again, how did Ymir make those barbarians so obedient..."
"Why don't we just ask Ymir directly? After all, she'll call you uncle when she sees you, father..."
“…”
The group was not walking fast.
Not long after, a spy from the Blackwater Station came over and brought a scroll of densely written intelligence.
"Your Excellency the Duke, all the information has been confirmed. Her Royal Highness the Princess is the 'Prime Minister' of Black Dragon City, um... the most powerful person in the city."
"Haha, isn't this still the lord? He just changed his words to confuse people. Where is that Ryan Hermes?"
"We have confirmed that the Lord of Rennes has no real power and rarely participates in political affairs. It is all handled by Her Royal Highness the Princess and the Parliament. However..."
"But what?"
"However, I heard that Lord Ren is the princess's man."
“…”
The system of Black Dragon City is different from that of any other city, and the names of many positions are completely confusing.
When the middle-aged man with a mustache heard the report from his subordinates, an expression of expectation and even a little sarcasm appeared in his eyes.
Haha, what is “Prime Minister”? Isn’t it just a different name for the lord?
Hearing this, the young man next to him looked unhappy and asked, "So Ryan is Ymir's man?"
Spy: "Yes. However, it is just a rumor among the people in the city. As far as I know, Her Royal Highness the Princess has not acknowledged this relationship in any public occasion."
Hearing this, the pale-faced young man's expression eased slightly, and he muttered , "That's strange. Since he didn't admit it, why didn't he stop the rumors..."
The middle-aged man with a mustache had a shrewd gleam in his eyes, and he felt as if he had guessed the truth, and smiled: "So, this Ymir is as smart as ever."
After a pause, he said, "If I'm not mistaken, she probably expected the Empire to use the marriage as an excuse, so she came up with this half-true, half-false excuse."
The young man listened and his brows completely relaxed.
The corners of his mouth slightly raised, and he said: "That's right. She didn't even look down on the many talented people in the imperial capital, so why would she choose an unknown person as her man."
…
And just when the Omar delegation arrived, there were mountains hundreds of miles away from Black Dragon City.
Here the sky was covered with dark clouds, lightning and thunder were flashing, and it was clearly a rainy day with a large thunderstorm.
In such bad weather, even large monsters would avoid it. On the highest hill, a burly figure was sitting cross-legged in meditation.
“Crack!”
From time to time, a beam of strong lightning streaked across the sky, as if it was pulled, and struck the figure accurately.
After being struck by lightning, the figure remained motionless.
Half an hour later, the thunderstorm gradually dissipated.
The naked figure stood up. He looked up at the dispersing thunderclouds and said to himself, "It's over again. My body can withstand 500 million volts of lightning. It seems I can try a stronger lightning next time..."
As he finished speaking, the golden metallic luster on his body gradually disappeared, and his normal skin color returned.
And the wounds burned by lightning healed instantly under the warm sunlight of the healing technique.
He waved his hand, and a huge thunder crow flew down from the clouds, turned into a palm-sized thunder sparrow, landed on his head, and pecked it affectionately.
This person was naturally Ryan, who was practicing alone in the wilderness.
The method of lightning tempering is also familiar, so there is no need for someone to follow in case of accidents. Although the Karatwa Basin has entered the thunderstorm season, it is not always near the Black Dragon City.
With the Thunder Crow that can accurately sense the thunder element in the air, Ryan can always accurately find the thunderstorm area. So in the past half month, he has been chasing thunderclouds and running around.
Walking to the stone pestle in the distance, Ryan picked up his clothes and put them on.
Only then did I realize that the clothes were a little tight.
He raised his eyebrows, feeling quite satisfied, and murmured, "My muscles have grown again..."
His arms were worn out all night, and the clothes covered his muscular body. His body, which looked like a humanoid monster, was concealed, and his domineering aura was restrained.
During the past six months, the magic potion of [Voodoo Master] has been completely digested, his fighting spirit has skyrocketed several times, and the number of Gang lines has also skyrocketed; and because of the secret method of lightning body tempering, his body has become stronger and stronger, and the speed of [Hercules Art]'s body refining progress is incredibly fast, he has already reached the small success level of "Divine Gang Realm", and his strength is nearly three times as much as before.
Even Kanosa was shocked by this progress. Not to mention the extraordinary realm, just talking about this body refining secret method, she had only just reached the "Godly Strength Realm".
And the results of Ryan's practice in the past six months are comparable to her ten years of hard practice.
Ryan put on his clothes and wanted to leave, but at this moment, a black shadow passed by and rushed straight towards Ryan's back.
It was a fourth-level [Dragon Scale Snow Leopard] that had been lurking for a long time. It was eight meters long, with scales covering its four legs and head. It was a common sub-dragon creature in the basin. It was fast, could spray frost, and had an amazing bite force...
Even an ordinary fourth-level transcendent would have a headache when encountering this kind of magical beast.
The fishy smell wafted into the air, and it opened its bloody mouth and bit Ryan, as if it was going to eat this lone human.
Ryan listened to the noise behind him, his ears moved slightly, and a cold look flashed in his eyes.
Like a conditioned reflex, he condensed a strong purple fighting spirit in his right fist, turned around and punched the huge figure. The flowing fist seemed to have eyes and hit the snow leopard's lower back.
“Bang!”
It seemed as if I heard a crisp sound of bones breaking.
The cheetah weighing several tons was actually knocked away by a single punch!
The claw that was originally strong enough to break the fourth-level magic shield only left a few painless scratches on Ryan's golden skin, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“Bang!”
With a loud bang on the ground, Ryan rushed forward a hundred meters and punched like rain, pinning the snow leopard to the ground and beating it hard before it could react.
A man and a leopard started fighting fiercely on the hillside.
A quarter of an hour later, the hillside was full of holes caused by external force. The snow leopard, which was once full of energy, was beaten to a bloody mess and lay on the ground unable to move.
Ryan stood up, looked at the monster corpse on the ground, and took a few deep breaths. In a blink of an eye, the bite wounds on his body that were enough to be famous for ordinary third-level extraordinary people were all healed.
It is normal to encounter monsters when traveling alone in the wilderness, and he is used to it.
If he were at the same level as Black Wind Lord back then, and encountered this fourth-order [Dragon Scale Snow Leopard], even ten of them might not be able to defeat it.
But today, martial arts have already been mastered.
In the system dream, he could not last more than ten moves against "Umu". His surging strength and martial arts allowed him to easily kill his old opponent .
Ryan put away the snow leopard's body and put on his clothes.
At this moment, Ymir's voice came from the strange conch-like device next to the clothes.
"Ryan, go back to the territory. Someone from Omar is coming."
"good."
This is the "Goblin Communicator", a biological communicator created by Grandpa Tust based on the goblin drawings.
The function is a bit like a walkie-talkie, and it can communicate over long distances under special conditions.
But it is not electricity that is used, but bioelectricity.
These "communication snails" are alive, a pair.
He had one in his hand and Ymir had one.
…
Because Black Dragon City is built on the ground, the streets are not as narrow as those in Mechanical City.
The road is paved with bluestone, and it is very lively with people coming and going.
Omar's visiting delegation entered the city in a high-profile manner, and this group of noble lords in gorgeous clothes naturally attracted the attention of passers-by.
However, unlike the treatment in other territories, facing this team that obviously held the title of duke, the common people not only did not bow their heads and avoid them, but some bold guys pointed at them and whispered to them.
Seeing this, the pale-faced young man in the team looked unhappy and muttered: "Humph! These people in the wilderness are really uneducated. Commoners actually dare to look directly at the nobles. They really don't know the etiquette at all. If this happened in Omar, they would have been flogged long ago..."
In Oma, the nobility has an absolute status.
When commoners encountered a group of nobles on the street, they had to give way.
Especially in the territory of the Spencer family, when the Duke travels, the people have to kneel on the street and wait until the team leaves before they can raise their heads.
Grand Duke Haus frowned slightly and felt offended, but he didn't say anything.
After all, from his perspective, he naturally saw that the fact that Black Dragon City could attract so many refugees in a short period of time was directly related to the policies of this city.
The pale-faced young man continued with disdain in his tone, "Father, is this the legendary 'equality for all'? Haha, being equal to a group of untouchables is simply an insult to the bloodline of the nobles. It is indeed a good thing that the 'New Deal' was not implemented. It would be absurd if commoners could have the same status as nobles."
Although he also disliked being pointed at by a group of civilians, Grand Duke House saw it more deeply and frowned, "This Black Dragon City should not be underestimated..."
The appearance of the residents of Black Dragon City made him feel incredible.
When he went to other territories, he saw that the nobles and commoners had numbness and fear on their faces, and it always seemed lifeless.
Without any comparison before, he didn't find out where the problem lay.
Now, he realized that everyone in Black Dragon City had a different expression on their face. It was satisfaction with life, hope for the future... It was an emotion called "happiness".
This kind of scenery was originally only seen among the nobles and wealthy class, but it is everywhere in Black Dragon City?
Everyone is very busy.
The Duke and his entourage were not welcomed by the residents.
Craftsmen were busy building the city, the security team was busy patrolling, hunters were busy going out of the city to hunt, and merchants were busy shouting...
The shops on the street, selling fruits, cakes, clothes, and daily necessities, were crowded with people...
Seeing this, Grand Duke House thought he had arrived at the Imperial Capital of Omar.
Because only in the wealthy Oma Imperial Capital can common people have spare money to spend and shops can be so prosperous.
In this city that has only been built for less than a year, are there really so many people who can afford fruits, cakes and other daily necessities for aristocratic families?
In his impression, aren't the only shops that can survive in a hunting city that sell all kinds of equipment?
These issues were not mentioned in the intelligence.
When Duke House saw this place, he thought the people here were incredibly wealthy.
He knew about low taxes, but...how could low taxes alone support the operation of such a large city?
Now that commoners and nobles are equal, how can the lords ensure that their rights are secure?
Problems popped up one after another, but they all ended up in a dead end.
He was still enjoying the benefits brought to the nobles by the centralization of power among the lords, and it was difficult for him to understand for a while this social system that had surpassed the entire era by several stages.
He felt that everything in front of him was "unreal".
It was as if someone had deliberately staged a stage play for them to see this completely incredible scene.
…
The more they looked, the more amazed they were. Everything in the city overwhelmed the members of the delegation who came from the imperial capital of Aola.
I originally thought that I had come to a remote and poor rural area to "go to the countryside", but unexpectedly, it seemed like I was here to broaden my horizons.
Grand Duke Haus also pricked up his ears, wanting to hear what the residents were saying.
As they passed by the street, they saw a young couple kissing and hugging each other passionately, as if they were celebrating something.
"Oh, Ilona, let me tell you a piece of news. I passed the selection and successfully joined the army. Not only will I get free food and accommodation, but I will also be allocated genetic potions. In three years, I will be able to obtain permanent residency!"
"My dear, maybe it won't take three years. I heard that Uncle Carter's son joined the army just a month ago, but because of his meritorious service in combat, he has become a second lieutenant. Now his whole family are permanent residents of the city."
"Oh, praise our great Lord Ren! I will also work hard..."
“…”
Duke House frowned when he heard this.
This special military service system was also written in the intelligence.
He knew that Black Dragon City had recruited a large number of troops, but they were not noble knights.
This is simply unimaginable in other territories.
The army is not a group of noble knights, so how can we ensure their loyalty to their lord?
Grand Duke Haus walked forward slowly with doubt in his eyes.
At this moment, his attention was drawn to it, and various scattered sounds came to his ears.
"I heard that the great swordsman Lambert is here too. He went to the Black Dragon Academy yesterday to apply for a swordsmanship teacher position. Such a powerful swordsman, but because he offended the nobles in Omar, no one dared to employ him..."
"Mechanic Grandmaster Fielding is here too. I heard that he came here because there is a mechanic inheritance in Black Dragon City that is even better than the Omar Royal Academy of Sciences..."
"Anyway, I came here for Master Kavo. I heard that he is the honorary dean of the Black Dragon Academy and occasionally teaches in person..."
"Have you bought the 'social pension insurance' that the city hall just issued?"
"Of course! It won't cost much. Anyway, this money comes from tax exemptions. When I get old and can't hunt or work, the territory will pay for my pension..."
"Want to go hunting? There are extra contribution rewards for opening up the western wasteland..."
“…”
There are people from all walks of life on the street, and they talk about a wide variety of topics.
As Grand Duke Haus listened, his expression became more and more solemn.
Although I didn't understand what those policies were all about.
He also saw that residents were very satisfied with these policies.
Moreover, in just less than a year, the residents of this city actually developed a sense of "identity" and "belonging"?
Among these residents, all of them aim to become "permanent residents of Heilongcheng" and are proud of becoming "permanent residents".
This is what scares Duke House the most.
Black Dragon City suddenly appeared, and both empires faced the problem of population loss.
Originally this was not a big problem. After all, with the influx of population, the key is whether they can stay.
Once Black Dragon City collapses, everything will disappear.
In everyone's view, Heilongcheng's policies of "low taxes" and "equality for all" are just a temporary fad and will collapse sooner or later.
If Glory City could become a kingdom of nobles, they would think that Black Dragon City would definitely follow suit...
But now, instead of collapsing, it is becoming more and more prosperous!
Seeing this, Grand Duke Haus realized that if Black Dragon City continued to develop, the aristocratic system would probably face an unprecedented crisis and even shake the foundation of the empire!
