Preparing to Build a City (3,000-Word Chapter)

"A city?"

Roy suddenly understood.

Although he had lived for fifteen hundred years in this life, ever since learning that this was the Infernal Plane of Coiling Dragon, he had devoted himself to cultivation and knew little about other matters.

Now that his strength no longer placed him in the Lower Class and he had gained a status matching it, his broader contacts naturally meant that others would tell him certain secrets.

Roy's realization came from remembering that after the protagonist, Linley, entered Hell, he too had risen step by step through "tribes—cities—Great Cities—prefects." The greater his cultivation, the higher the circles he came into contact with.

"Yes. The City Lord of a small city must possess the strength of a Five-star Devil. A medium city requires its City Lord to have at least the strength of a Six-star Devil, while a Great City needs a Seven-star Demon or stronger to preside over it."

"Fred of the Zacharias Tribe, Queller of the Queller Tribe, and I chose this place as the site for a new city. We spent over a hundred thousand years of effort to finally meet the first requirement for building a city here."

"However, our strengths were too close, and none of us accepted the others. Thus, we remained deadlocked for two hundred thousand years."

"Your appearance, Roy, has broken the balance among our three tribes. Before those two tribes produce a second High-level God-level expert, they only have two choices."

"Either they join us. A city guarded by three Five-star Devils will be far stronger than an ordinary city, and we will encounter far fewer troubles in expanding outward. Everyone benefits."

"Or they can only leave the area within ten million kilometers. Otherwise, once we build a city here, we will relocate all the people from their tribes into the city, brand them as bandits, issue Devil missions, and launch campaigns against them."

"I see."

After hearing Laurent's explanation, Roy nodded in understanding.

At the same time, much of the pride that had risen in his heart dissipated.

At present, his strength was only equivalent to that of a Three-star Devil.

Yet the Patriarchs of the three large tribes were all Five-star Devils, and likely not weak even among Five-star Devils.

Otherwise, they would not dare establish a city.

A Five-star Devil was a hundred times stronger than he was now.

"Lord Laurent, then what should I prepare?"

Since he had enjoyed the benefits brought by the Morgan Tribe and become its second-ranking figure, Roy would not refuse what he ought to do.

"For now, there is nothing you need to do. Go cultivate first, and in a hundred years, we shall see what choice Fred of the Zacharias Tribe and Queller of the Queller Tribe make."

"If they do not give me an answer within a hundred years, we will immediately launch a campaign against their two tribes."

"Lord Laurent."

Hearing Laurent speak so confidently, Roy could not help asking, "Since our tribe is stronger than the Zacharias Tribe and the Queller Tribe, could they join forces and eliminate us first?"

This was, in fact, what worried Roy most.

If the Zacharias Tribe and the Queller Tribe joined forces, then he would certainly need to hold back one of the two Five-star Devil-level Patriarchs. With a hundredfold gap in strength, it would be almost certain death.

"Hahaha, Roy, you are overthinking it."

Laurent laughed loudly. "When the three of us first came here, we signed a contract. Only members of the tribes under our command may participate in the struggle for the position of City Lord; we ourselves cannot take the field directly. Anyone who violates the contract will have their soul immediately collapse."

"So rest assured."

"I see."

Roy nodded. If that was the case, the danger was much smaller.

"Then, Lord Laurent, I'll return to cultivation first."

"Mm."

Unless deliberately blocked, news traveled quickly in Hell.

What was more, among the God-level experts who had attended Roy of the Morgan Tribe's Godhood Celebration, several still had Saint-level Original Bodies or other Divine Clones.

Thus, in only a few short years, Roy of the Morgan Tribe had become the most famous name within this ten-million-kilometer region in tens of thousands of years.

Even the "slaves" who had yet to become Saints knew of a genius named Roy. He had become a God-level expert less than a thousand years ago, yet had already become a "Strongest Mid-level God" capable of rivaling High-level Gods.

Of course, Roy did not know about this title.

Otherwise, he would definitely track down and beat to death whoever had first spread it!

"Strongest Mid-level God"—what an arrogant title that was!

Theoretically, a Mid-level God who had completely fused five Profound Mysteries of Laws could rival a Seven-star Demon. One who had only a sliver left before fully comprehending and fusing six Profound Mysteries of Laws could even rival an Asura Prefect-level expert.

How could a mere brat with the strength of a Three-star Devil bear such an imposing title?

After learning of Roy's strength, the Patriarchs of the Zacharias Tribe and the Queller Tribe both shook their heads.

Neither of them had expected the balance among the three tribes to be suddenly broken by Roy's rise.

They both envied, resented, and hated Laurent Morgan. If Roy had belonged to their tribe, then the position of City Lord would surely have been theirs.

Of course, neither Fred nor Queller harbored the slightest dissatisfaction toward Roy's appearance.

At the end of the day, if they wanted to advance further, building a city was essential. Whether they wished to obtain more resources or win the favor of important figures, they had to take that step.

As for Roy's title of "Strongest Mid-level God," the two merely laughed.

Fred and the others had cultivated for who knew how long to become Five-star Devils, and they had seen countless geniuses. People like Roy were rare, but not unheard of among the great clans.

They had even seen Mid-level Gods who had fused the Profound Mysteries of Laws from a Three Law System.

Once such geniuses became High-level Gods, they would at least possess the strength of Five-star Devils.

Having striven here for more than three hundred thousand years, neither Fred nor Queller was willing to give up this opportunity. The moment they received the news, they left their respective tribes and rushed to the Morgan Tribe to discuss the construction of a city with Laurent.

In the end, the Three Great Tribes issued a joint declaration. In one hundred years, the Zacharias Tribe and the Queller Tribe would join the Morgan Tribe, and together they would establish "Sanhe City" at the Morgan Tribe's current location. Tribes within the surrounding ten-million-kilometer region could choose to move into the city or continue developing independently.

The moment this declaration was issued, the tribes throughout the region erupted into excitement.

A city—this was a city!

Unlike tribes, which could be attacked at any time, every city was watched over by Sovereigns, who dispatched Sovereign Legion forces to garrison them. Fighting was forbidden within a city; otherwise, it would be seen as a provocation against the Sovereigns, and the offender would be hunted down by the Sovereign Legion.

Not only that, the Devil Association would also establish branches in cities, and many merchants were willing to conduct business there, bringing countless convenient goods.

As the first residents of the city, they would receive five hundred years of free residence. Of course, only "people" above the Saint level could enjoy this benefit.

The "slaves" below the Saint level still had to mine.

If they wished to become "people," they could only cultivate diligently in the intervals between mining, striving to become Saints within these hundred years and enjoy the benefits of the city's founding.

"Hahaha, Strongest Mid-level God, it's been a hundred years since we last met, hasn't it?"

"Hehe, Alva, stop making fun of me."

Roy and Alva walked through the tribe's plaza. Members of the Three Great Tribes, along with people from more than a dozen surrounding small and medium-sized tribes, had gathered there as well.

It had been exactly one hundred years since Roy's celebration for becoming a Mid-level God.

Under Fred and Queller's leadership, all the people of the Zacharias Tribe and the Queller Tribe had already gathered here.

Roy had merely become so absorbed in cultivation that he forgot the time. Laurent had sent Alva to summon him.

"Hahaha, this must be our great contributor, Roy. You truly are an outstanding young man with extraordinary strength."

Upon seeing Roy, a burly bare-armed man laughed. "Laurent really got lucky. If Roy had been born in my tribe, I would be the City Lord."

Fred also nodded at Roy and smiled. "Indeed. Even I have heard the name Strongest Mid-level God."

A Mid-level God who had fused two Profound Mysteries of Laws would, upon becoming a High-level God, possess at least the same Five-star Devil strength as the three of them.

And that was assuming Roy made no major progress in the future.

If Roy achieved further breakthroughs, surpassing them would not be difficult.

"Hehe..."

"Greetings, Lord Laurent. Greetings, Lord Queller. Greetings, Lord Fred."

After paying his respects to the three Patriarchs, Roy smiled wryly. "Lord Queller and Lord Fred, you jest. I know exactly what I am capable of."

"This is no jest, Roy."

At this moment, Laurent spoke.

"It may be hard to say elsewhere, but in our Sanhe City, calling you the Strongest Mid-level God would not be wrong."

"Indeed. At any rate, I admit that I am inferior to you."

As soon as Laurent said this, Alva chimed in.

Mark beside Queller also nodded in agreement. "That's right. I have the most right to speak on this. The injury from that move of yours a hundred years ago took me nearly twenty years to recover from."

"Hahaha, if Mark needed twenty years to recover, then I might need two or three years less."

After everyone laughingly defined Roy's title of "Strongest Mid-level God" as "Strongest Mid-level God of Sanhe City," Laurent winked at Roy, who smiled and expressed his thanks.

The title "Strongest Mid-level God" attracted far too much hostility.

Ordinary people were one thing, but the descendants of those great clans would not tolerate hearing it.

If someone came looking for him because of it, Roy would be in serious trouble.

By comparison, "Strongest Mid-level God of Sanhe City" was limited to Sanhe City alone.