Volume 4: The End of the World Chapter 29 Price
And just like that, things returned to what William had planned at the beginning.
Originally, he came to Ravenwood to dispel the corruption curse and retrieve the Holy Spirit Disc. The main purpose was to negotiate a grain trade agreement with the rulers here for the second half of the year. After all, due to the pollution of the Serpent's Trace, the spread of the blight in the entire Nakuland area in the western part of Blackwater Province has become unstoppable.
I guess that vicious woman Camilla has already projected most of her influence on the world there, and has made up her mind to disgust herself.
But after William learned from Ebony that the current Duke of the Holy Tree had disregarded the lives of the forest elves and forcibly changed the use of arable land in order to meet the Empire's demand for wine exports to the Daemon Continent Tribal Alliance, causing the entire Emerald Province to be unable to make ends meet, he gave up the idea.
After all, whether it is starving the people of Blackwater Province or the people of Jade Province to death, it will increase Camilla's power. It is meaningless to rob Peter to pay Paul.
"Excuse me, judging from your situation this year, it's hard enough to even guarantee your own food supply. And yet you want to export food to Blackwater Province? Are you really not afraid of a large-scale famine?"
William asked this after hearing that the other party was very willing to bypass the imperial blockade and open up an underground trade route on the border between the two provinces.
"You asked this question, which shows that you don't understand the forest elves."
Flora replied after putting on her veil again.
"How do you know?"
"You think they are humans living in a civilized world. In fact, compared to humans who live in stone houses and use knives and forks to eat, forest elves are closer to beasts. This has been engraved in their souls since they signed the contract with the World Tree. Whether it was the rise of humans, the Moon Realm Crisis, or the conquest of Terra, thousands of years of time did not make them more civilized in nature. For beasts, hunger is the norm of life. Only hunger will force them to find a way out."
Although he returned to his previous calm tone, William still heard sarcasm in the other party's words.
She placed the magic medium in her hand across her knees, and continued to speak cruel words in a calm tone:
"Besides, even if someone really died of hunger, the remains of the dead would feed the remaining living beings. According to the Great Mother's belief, this is also a part of nature. In fact, this is also the true meaning of the concept of 'holy communion'. For wild beasts, death is not given a sacred halo, but only becomes firewood to support the burning of the living. The law of the jungle is the norm in nature, and they will not lament about it."
"you mean?"
"If people must starve to death, at least the dead forest elves will cause less waste. And they rarely blame others, and they will only reflect on whether they are not strong enough."
Since you have chosen the way of survival of a wild beast, being balanced by nature is also a necessary part of your life.
After hearing this cold-blooded answer, William was speechless for a long time.
"I've changed my mind. At least in the year of famine, I don't plan to import food from you. But as compensation, I need you to give me the right to use Greenwater Port and Swan Port, and ensure that the hub where the Our Lady River flows into the Blackwater Swamp water network is unobstructed and will not be harassed by looters or anything else along the way."
After a moment of silence, William said this.
"compensate?"
Flora repeated the word, as if she didn't quite understand what William meant.
"With those two ports, I can do business with other people."
William replied.
Since Ava Continent is not covered by the Star Lighthouse, Ms. Hungry and Corrupted cannot affect them.
"If you can find other buyers, that would be a good idea... But even so, I'm afraid I can't make the decision on either of these two matters."
After hearing this condition, the other party immediately said.
Upon hearing this, William stood up from the throne. Lightning flashed behind him, and the prototype of the withered throne disappeared into the space crack.
Then he turned around without saying a word and pretended to leave.
This attitude is very clear.
"Sir, this matter has nothing to do with my will. You should know that the two port cities have now become the outposts of the Imperial Legion's expedition to Ava Continent. Currently, four Imperial Legions are gathering there... If possible, I am willing to open the right to use the port to you."
Seeing this, Flora hurriedly explained.
"Portal."
William stopped when he heard this, turned his head and said a word.
"What?"
Floral asked.
"Large portals . Even though it is now operated by the Star Council, the power to open it is still in your hands, right?"
William continued.
"That's right. The authority to open or close the large portal belongs entirely to me, the guardian of the Jade Province..."
Although a little confused, Flora nodded and answered.
She wasn't quite sure why the other party suddenly brought this up.
"That's all. I will take some time to visit those two ports soon. When I do, please completely close those two portals. That's all I need you to do."
William turned around and said.
Shut down... shut down the portal used by the Empire to transport the legion? What does he want to do?
Hearing this request, Flora was startled as she thought of a possible possibility.
So she asked carefully:
"Are you planning to restart it after shutting it down, connect it to Blackwater Province, and then send the troops of Thorn City to launch a surprise attack on the imperial legions stationed in Greenwater Port and Swan Port?"
If this is true, it would be tantamount to her openly announcing that she has joined the Blackwater Province camp and is opposed to the Empire.
It was betrayal of the worst kind.
"No."
In response, William shook his head.
Although her heart stopped beating, the other party's answer still made Floro feel relieved.
"I know what you're worried about. I won't make it too difficult for you on this point. You just need to make up a story that the portal has an abnormality and needs to be repaired, or some other messed up reason. In short, you just need to make the two large portals silent for 24 hours."
"But...why do this?"
"Prevent the Empire's legions from fleeing."
"The Empire's army... fled? Why?"
Flora felt that the other party was talking about some fairy tale.
But William did not answer this question. Instead, he looked around the entire hall and started talking about the next topic:
"Besides that, I hope you can provide a complete set of technical ideas for transforming the Bone White House into a temple."
The basic repair work of Dawn Fortress is almost finished, and Remedios is also planning to send a group of high elf craftsmen and enchanters to the Mourn Mountains to install "offensive defensive enchantment weapons". However, the original framework designed by Sibilla has long been lost, and designing a system from scratch is too time-consuming.
After all, it is estimated that there is no other enchanter in the world who possesses the talent of [Eye of God].
But the previous test made William feel that the temple-like Bone White House in front of him seemed interesting.
Although the strength is mediocre, the creativity is quite good.
With his eyesight, he could see that the other party used the "Withered Throne" as the core of the entire temple, using the vitality of the World Tree as fuel. Then, through the identity of the ruler of Ravenwood, he ruled the entire temple as his own territory.
This method of combining classical ritual magic with modern magic does have some tricks. And more importantly, if this system can be replicated, William will have all kinds of thrones in his hands - the Throne of Withering, the Throne of Starlight, the Throne of Thorns, the Black Iron Throne, the Frostfang Throne...
In other words, he could even add a multi-core driver to the Dawn Fortress...
To be honest, if she hadn't been involved in the Moon Realm Cult, he would have been reluctant to kill her when all this was over.
"You still want the full set of rituals from the Kingdom of the Witch King?"
Compared to the previous request, Flora seemed to be more sensitive to this one. William noticed that the other party's hands unconsciously hugged her chest, which was a sign of vigilance and uneasiness.
"As long as the general idea of the framework is available, there are definitely many areas that need to be optimized."
In response, William shrugged and replied.
His answer made Flora hesitate for a long time, and it seemed as if she was balancing the two ends of the scale deep in her heart.
This great ritual called "The Kingdom of the Witch King" is not only the foundation of her life, but also has extremely important significance from an emotional point of view.
If someone else had made this request, she would definitely send the person off without saying a word.
but……
Before William was about to lose his patience, Floral finally spoke:
"Compared to the previous closing of the portal, your request will cost much more. I want to know what price you can pay for it."
"You can try to ask for anything. There are probably only a few things in this world that I can't do."
William answered frankly.
After confirming that the other party was serious, Flora took a deep breath and stated her request:
"About a thousand years ago, William Kane used the curse of Lady Hungry to destroy half of the World Tree's core. Now, I hope you can help me use the power you got from Lady Hungry to destroy the other half of the core."
"That's the only price I'm offering."
