Blessed by Abundance, Scourge of Terra

"Your Highness Theresia, I think your idea is very risky. As you've seen, the Banshee River Valley has basically been developed with the Speaker's money, essentially a handout."

"Although the textiles we sell fetch high prices, without the Speaker's help, no matter how well we embroider them, we'd only get a few silver coins."

"Even the telephone lines set up in the valley are exceptionally costly."

Lamian didn't actually know the cost of telephone lines, but the current priority was to dissuade her best friend.

In reality, the manufacturing cost of telephone lines wasn't cheap.

After all, only nobles could use them; they weren't widespread yet.

The communication network Huang Cao had set up for the Banshee River Valley was indeed operating at a loss.

The valley wasn't that large, and he didn't care about such a small amount of money.

"Perhaps you could ask your kin to continue helping us? Maybe we can find a way for the Speaker to make money?"

"After all, we're all Sarkaz, aren't we?"

Theresia hadn't given up, attempting to exchange genuine feelings for genuine feelings. Unfortunately, Lamian wasn't buying it.

This wasn't about letting Mr. Huang Cao make money; asking someone to invest without any concrete plan was not a one-sided mutually beneficial arrangement.

It was essentially a gamble disguised as an investment, or more bluntly, bloodsucking.

Of course, Lamian trusted Theresia's character. She didn't believe her Highness was truly that malicious, perhaps just unaware.

However, if the investment were to succeed in the future, given her Highness's good character, Mr. Huang Cao would surely profit immensely.

But what if it failed?

Given Kazdel's current ecological situation, the success rate of investment was practically zero.

Lamian couldn't be the one to ruin things, especially if it damaged her relationship with Huang Cao...

79

Chapter 79 Lamian: I've never been so dishonest in my life.

But Theresia was very confident. She already had a complete development plan in mind, just lacking a little external support.

In a way, after their growth, this brother and sister duo had made indelible contributions to Kazdel's development in the original storyline.

At least, fewer people were displaced and homeless. Their actions weren't terrible, but not particularly good either.

The only drawback was that Theresia didn't resolve the issues before the conflict fully erupted, which led to the subsequent civil war.

Of course, the blame couldn't be placed entirely on her.

After all, there really weren't any other suitable Demon King candidates in the country. In Kazdel's rotten environment, even the most capable person would struggle.

Lamian deeply understood her best friend's ambition, but if it wasn't possible, it wasn't possible.

The main reason was that she couldn't possibly extend the telephone lines to Victoria.

The telephone lines Huang Cao had laid for her were one-way; others could only reach Eden, not Victoria.

However, Victoria's lines could reach the Banshee River Valley and Eden.

Although telephones now had numbers, Lamian didn't know Victoria's phone number.

Even if she wanted to call, it was impossible unless Warfarin acted as an intermediary.

But wouldn't that easily expose them?

So, it was still not feasible. Faced with her best friend's refusal, Theresia once again resorted to her charm.

She tried to win Lamian's sympathy with a pitiful expression, and the latter could only let the Demon King stay in the valley for a few more days.

Refusing outright seemed impolite. It was better to discuss countermeasures with Mr. Huang Cao first.

Finally, under Theresia's persistent pleading, Lamian could only placate her for the time being.

That night, Lamian used a special Originium Art to transmit her plan into the minds of all her kin through sounds undetectable even by Demon Kings.

There was no need for further explanation; when asked, they were to attribute all credit to the Speaker from Victoria.

The Banshees were also very intelligent. After coordinating, no one revealed any flaws.

Consequently, Theresia became very interested in this so-called Speaker due to a series of words and actions.

Since Theresia's visit was rather sudden, there weren't any spare rooms in the valley. It also seemed inappropriate to have her stay in quarters other than those of the Lord of the Royal Court.

Fortunately, after years of development, Lamian's residence was no longer just a single room with a bed.

After all, sometimes, wandering Banshees who heard her voice would return to their homeland.

Before they had their own residences, they would usually stay in Lamian's house.

Of course, although Theresia insisted she could sleep in a guest room, Lamian still had her sleep in her own room.

Etiquette couldn't be neglected; she was, after all, a Demon King of Kazdel.

As it neared bedtime, Theresia leaned behind Lamian and said with a hint of melancholy in her voice:

"Lamian, I feel like we've grown distant lately. Have I done something wrong?"

They had indeed grown distant. After all, her best friend was doing her utmost to protect her life in the future!

Mr. Huang Cao opened up the situation in Victoria in such a short time. If the worst outcome were to occur...

Lamian didn't think that this pair of siblings would have any chance of winning against Mr. Huang Cao. At that time, it would be a question of whether she could even save their lives.

She could only hope that the future Mr. Huang Cao would be merciful. All she could do then would be to try and persuade him.

"Not at all, Your Highness. It's just that there have been a lot of orders from Victoria recently, and the sisters in the valley and I have been a bit tired. I hope you can forgive us."

Lamian sighed and said with a sincere tone.

Theresia didn't doubt her, but suddenly changed the subject to neighboring Eden.

"Speaking of which, how is Huang Cao's territory developing? I haven't seen him in a long time."

Lamian's expression remained unchanged. "After all, Mr. Huang Cao's territory is much more barren than ours. We lack everything, and often have to rely on me for support."

Talk about the tables being turned! Lamian, you're really good at lying now!

This Banshee Queen swore that she had never told as many lies in her life as she had in the past few days.

But if the dealings between Banshee River Valley and Eden were discovered, it would not be a small matter. Moreover, Eden was preparing to rebel.

Lamian continued to explain, "Fortunately, I have some spare money... but it's only enough to help one place."

Hearing how difficult Huang Cao's life was, Theresia couldn't help but worry about Eden's development, but she was also powerless.

After all, everyone was poor, and she didn't have any extra funds.

The night passed uneventfully, and a few days went by like this.

Lamian finally coordinated her story with Warfarin. After a transfer, a phone call directly connected to the Victoria Speaker's office.

When the pink-haired Demon King nervously picked up the phone, Huang Cao, who was already feeling playful, was on the other end.

"Let's see how I can trick this Demon King!"

Huang Cao changed his voice during the call, making it sound mature, like a middle-aged man in his forties.

"Hello, Speaker's Office. How can I help you?"

"Hello, I am Theresia. I'm glad you could take my call."

"Theresia, wait, let me check... I don't seem to have your name on my list of councilors. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now."

To seize the initiative, you have to make the person asking for help appear to be begging.

Huang Cao was playing the role of the high and mighty Speaker.

As the pinnacle of Victoria's nobility, his phone number was not something an ordinary person could obtain.

At the same time, it was impossible for a Sarkaz Demon King to answer any random phone call, so it was natural that she wouldn't immediately realize what was happening.

As expected, Theresia on the other end of the phone immediately became anxious and quickly stated her identity and origin.

"So it was Ms. Lamian who gave me this opportunity. Alright, I'll give her some face. Tell me your thoughts."

The mature man's voice came from the phone. Theresia glanced at Lamian with gratitude.

The latter lowered her head somewhat awkwardly.

So embarrassing. Your Highness, please don't look at me with such an emotional gaze. It makes me shy!

Then, for the next half hour, Theresia used all her commercial and economic knowledge to explain the "fact" that Kazdel was a hotbed for investment.

She reasoned with emotion and logic, her tone extremely humble, completely unlike the tone a national leader would use.

At least the person on the other end of the phone was willing to listen and didn't find it boring.

Huang Cao had originally expected that this pink-haired one would spout a long monologue about her ideals during the next half hour, and then he would cruelly douse her with a bucket of cold water in reality.

But to his surprise, Theresia remained completely silent about her ideals during this call.

Instead, she earnestly discussed the potential business opportunities in the land of Kazdel.

She even used a completely pleading tone, her voice extremely gentle.

Although these so-called business opportunities were only her own estimations, and if she really invested money, it might take decades to break even.

However, what Theresia had just said was not entirely without merit. At least one resource she mentioned was very good.

This resource was population and labor.

Coincidentally, his new territory on the border of Victoria was short-handed, and these Sarkaz were very cheap and high-quality labor.

80

Chapter 80: Nations of Terra: Who Will Move Against Leithanian First?

"People? Can you provide the Sarkaz with legitimate work?"

"I can indeed provide it, but the wages might not be as high as you imagine."

Of course, Huang Cao was not willing to be a heartless capitalist.

The title "Scourge" was given to him by others, not something he called himself.

For example, the Duke of Cumberland, who was imprisoned a few days ago, directly sprayed him with "Scourge of Abundance" after learning that the army led by Huang Cao was called the Abundance Army.

However, this reputation seemed to have originated from Leithanian, but then again, his true identity had not been exposed, and the Duke of Cumberland should have just borrowed the term.

After all, even though Leithanian suffered heavy losses, no one knew exactly how much of their hidden strength remained.

Thanks to Theresia's secrecy, even if Gaul and other countries now knew that Leithanian's elite forces were annihilated in Kazdel.

By the time they wanted to test Leithanian's resolve, they found that Leithanian had already amassed heavy troops on the border countries, making it impossible to break through in a short period of time.

At best, their win rate had changed from a fifty-fifty split to a slight advantage, and no one dared to underestimate Leithanian's High Tower Sorcerers.

As for whether this would make Kazdel a thorn in the side of all nations?

There was no need to worry about that either, because they were fighting a defensive war. Didn't the multinational coalition led by Kal'tsit also suffer a crushing defeat when they invaded Kazdel?

If the combined forces of multiple nations couldn't defeat them before, isn't it normal to lose when fighting on their territory now?

If Leithanian were to conquer Kazdel alone, the next target for the entire Terra would not be the Demon King, but the High Tower Archmage.

Therefore, Theresia did not want to miss such a good opportunity for development.

"Although I do have quite a bit of surplus funds, and Kazdel, despite its small territory, is still a country, I cannot change the poverty of this nation."

"But I am willing to offer an employment contract. I need healthy Sarkaz people to build my territory, preferably not those infected with Originium Infection."

It wasn't that Huang Cao was cold-blooded and heartless; it was perfectly understandable for him, as an employer, to want to recruit healthier employees.

His territory in Victoria did not have the "Golden Tree" planted yet, nor could he suppress so many infected individuals, making it very troublesome to feed them seeds.

Therefore, it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble, lest someone suddenly die in his territory while working.

Slowing down the territory's construction speed was a minor issue; the main point was that there was really no need to bother with these infected individuals.

Why bother? Sometimes, there's really no need to torment each other.

Of course, Huang Cao could guarantee that any normal person who came to his territory would absolutely not be infected with Originium Infection during the contract period.

Upon hearing this, Theresia immediately nodded, and the subsequent steps went smoothly, mainly involving discussions on how to divide the wages of these dispatched personnel.