"I need to find a way to get a batch of precision experimental equipment..."
While serving the Banshees, Huang Cao pondered this in his heart.
He completely ignored the strange sounds coming from the Banshees beneath his hands as they enjoyed their massages, simply because they were too comfortable...
"Could you find me some cloth in a few days? I'll make you something you can drag around." Huang Cao spoke gently to the Banshee beneath his hands.
Considering the average Sarkaz's bosom, it was surprising that something like this had yet to be invented.
Damn it! War really had ruined everything!
New Tree saplings ask for your support. Thank you, everyone!
Theia's Figure Is Disdained
Fortunately, it was the dead of winter, and besides, someone was still the only man in this region.
Under Lamian's orders, the Banshees did not indulge themselves too much.
Huang Cao could not possibly spend all his time massaging the Banshees, either.
The knowledge and experience he accumulated through treating illnesses were his main objective.
Perhaps he could even rely on this skill to make a fortune later. Terra had never lacked talented unlicensed physicians.
Having a skill to fall back on was far better than having nothing at all.
Huang Cao's destructive power was currently immense. A single movement of his body could yank all his roots free, creating enough commotion to shake the mountains.
It looked like his damage was extremely high, but at most, it could only be used to clear out the minor mobs. His area damage was maxed out, but it could not penetrate the defenses of elite units. Later on, he would still have to rely on Originium to strengthen himself.
So he wrote on the clinic's sign: Starting today, massage services will be available for two days every five days. During the remaining time, various difficult and complicated illnesses will be treated.
Regardless of how difficult the treatment was, each session would cost five copper coins. The clinic would be closed at night unless there was an emergency. In case of an emergency, please shake me awake.
Running a business and practicing medicine at the same time might have been manageable, but this distance gave him no opportunity at all.
He had to stay busy while also splitting his attention to control another body. The key was that neither body had a physical form, so the mental pressure was simply too great, not to mention all the accidents that might occur along the way.
So, to be safe, Huang Cao decided to take things slowly for now. Otherwise, it would be terribly embarrassing if things got out of hand.
He might even end up being written into some unofficial history by gossipmongers.
Huang Cao lay on the bed and instantly shifted his consciousness to the general store. It was already very late, and there was hardly anyone on the streets.
He casually put up a few lamps to decorate the storefront, then wrote a sign by hand and placed it at the entrance:
Starting today, this shop will only be open from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. The discount rules remain unchanged. We are also recruiting one female shop assistant with an excellent figure and appearance. Room and board included. Salary: fifty silver coins per month.
He hung the sign on the right side of the door, then placed a wooden cover over it to keep the accumulated snow from crushing it.
But there was obviously no one around at this hour. The general store had already been closed for over a week.
Because the Banshees' bosoms were simply too generous, what had originally been one week turned into several extra days because Huang Cao could not help wandering around a little longer.
As a result, the residents of the town all assumed that the owner of the general store had met with some grisly end.
After all, in these chaotic times, no accident was surprising.
Huang Cao dug several prepared wheat seeds out of the soil, then took an Originium from the cabinet. He activated his power, and before long, the grain had rapidly filled the entire warehouse.
After placing the grain on the shelves, Huang Cao floated to the counter and began checking the account books and the silver coins inside the cabinet.
A week passed, yet the silver coins inside the cabinet had astonishingly not been stolen.
Huang Cao was still dressed the same way. He wore a black robe that concealed his body in the darkness. Even if someone lifted the robe, they could not see his face.
At present, only the Banshees knew his true appearance in this world.
"Dear customer, you've been waiting here for so long. Won't you come out and meet me?"
"Sir, you truly have an eye for detail."
The visitor was also dressed in a black robe, which covered her from head to toe.
But her gentle, flowing voice allowed Huang Cao to make a preliminary judgment that she was female.
Even without making a judgment, Huang Cao knew that the visitor was Theresia.
Speaking of which, as the leader of a nation, did she really have nothing to do if she stayed here for a week?
Or were the people here simply too honest, with no unruly Ursus citizens?
Huang Cao could not imagine a normal national leader spending all day doing nothing but eating, drinking, and having fun here.
If this had happened in his previous life—not to mention modern society, even in ancient times—an emperor who acted like this would have been viciously mocked by his ministers.
Theresia did not say much more. She merely walked around the shop, stroking the grain piled across the shelves.
Her pupils were filled with shock, and she wondered how he had brought so many supplies inside.
For over a week, she had not seen a single convoy pass through the town. She had carefully observed every aspect of the general store, including underground, and there was not even a secret passage.
Theresia was not the kind of woman who had never touched anything with her own hands. As the Demon King who had risen through war, she knew more than most people...
"Sir, may I ask your name?"
"My surname means nothing to me. Nor do I have any need to reveal my real name to you. If you want to buy something, buy it. Otherwise, please leave."
"Please pack all of these up for me. I'll take everything."
Theresia was extremely generous. She spread all the silver coins in her pockets across the counter, with several gold coins mixed among them.
Huang Cao merely glanced at them before spitting out two words: "Still not enough."
"But isn't there a discount?"
"Are you unfamiliar with my discount rules?"
"The discount rules..."
Only then did Theresia remember that the shopkeeper's discount rules seemed rather strange.
In short, food and lust were basic human desires.
Theresia naturally could not reveal her identity. Otherwise, news of her sneaking out would spread throughout Kazdel before long.
"Sir, do you think my figure is poor?"
Theresia pulled her loose robe closer to her waist, revealing an extremely slender waist.
Indeed, by ordinary standards, the Demon King's figure was excellent, especially her waist. After all, a person could not keep thrusting out her hips forever like in an initial character illustration.
Unfortunately, the XP System was not interested in that.
It was not that Theresia had no appeal, but compared to the Banshees, she was utterly outclassed.
"Look at the wooden sign by the door. I'm recruiting someone with a seductive figure. You're covering yourself with a scrap of cloth right now. Who knows whether you're attractive or not?"
"Let me put it plainly: even if Her Highness Theresia came here hoping to become my shop assistant, she still wouldn't catch my eye."
When Huang Cao said the name "Theresia," its owner nearly lost her composure.
What do you mean, I don't catch your eye? Do I really look that bad?
Theresia had originally intended to reveal herself directly and speak frankly with him.
But if he really was Sarkaz...
Of course, as a Demon King loved by her people, Theresia had never compared herself with anyone.
Huang Cao was shrewd as well. Instead of directly exposing her identity, he had expressed his meaning through subtle hints.
Even if the Demon King came here, he would not change his mind. At worst, he could simply run.
He was a spirit, after all. It remained to be seen whether she could catch him faster than he could flee.
I'll Do This? Seriously?
"Welcome back next time. Please close the door when you leave."
Forced into a corner, Theresia had no choice but to keep taking out money.
Overjoyed to receive another gold coin, Huang Cao waved goodbye to the benevolent Demon King.
Although he could not see Theresia's expression, Huang Cao guessed that she was not feeling very good.
Not only had he thoroughly insulted her appearance, but he had also shown her the door.
Huang Cao did not intend to have too much contact with the Demon King for now. Until he had finished developing, the longer he could delay things, the better.
"Good grief, did the Goddess not give me the ability to create space? How am I supposed to carry away all these silver coins?"
Huang Cao looked at the coins covering the entire counter and felt deeply troubled.
The silver coins were increasing by the day, but unless he spent the money, it was nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.
Money was ultimately just metal. But money was not merely metal; it was simply that the physical properties of these precious metals made them the best vessels for currency.
Money only counted as money once it was spent. Otherwise, to certain people, several tons of gold would be no different from a rock.
"I need to find a way to spend all this, or somewhere to store it. Speaking of which, does this place have banks?"
No matter the world, banks had never been a new industry.
But given Kazdel's current environment, forget banks—there probably were not even pawnshops.
"Should I buy a plot of land and become a duke myself?" Huang Cao muttered, but the more he thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed.
Did anyone in Kazdel lease land? Or perhaps he could be more direct and have someone sell it to him.
Huang Cao searched the Originium Database directly, only to discover that this world had already developed the rudimentary form of Mobile Cities. However, they were extremely rare, and for now, only major powers such as Victoria possessed them.
After all, when the multinational coalition led by Kazimierz destroyed Kazdel, the Steam Knights already existed, but Mobile Cities were still nowhere near habitable.
Network technology had not been developed yet, but basic physics should already have been flourishing for quite some time.
Therefore, in the absence of Mobile Cities, the people living on this land had extremely weak control over other territories.
Natural disasters made the transmission of information extremely slow. A messenger might well die halfway to his destination.
When a major power possessed Mobile Cities, at least if a rebellion broke out somewhere, the nobles could move troops there. They could also deploy the army when natural disasters struck.
The natural disasters of Terra had turned a considerable portion of the land into wastelands that were almost uninhabited.
A large portion of these lands belonged to nobles. They simply could not be bothered to develop them.
It seemed that he needed to gather some information...
Time flowed gently. In the blink of an eye, winter's heavy snow had passed. No one knew how many lives had perished beneath the snow, nor how many would be able to revive amid the greenery of spring.
Time passed slowly in the River Valley. The Banshees living here had plenty of time to recover from the aftereffects of war.
"What? You're saying one of our people is about to give birth, and you want me to deliver the baby? She went into obstructed labor on the way here?"
Huang Cao had just been shaken awake. Upon hearing the news, he felt utterly numb.
The Banshees did not merely live in the River Valley. Many Banshees chose to venture out into the world after reaching a certain age.
They married people of other races and had children with them. However, if the children displayed Banshee traits, they had to be handed over to their own people for upbringing.
If the mother wanted to raise the child herself, she had to return to the community, but outsiders were not allowed to enter Banshee territory.
It was extremely conservative, but this conservatism allowed the Banshees to continue multiplying to this day instead of vanishing completely like the other Royal Courts.
However, the desire for genes to express themselves on this land was far stronger than it had been in Huang Cao's previous life.
Sankta gene expression was extremely recessive, while the Banshees' genes were the exact opposite. Male Banshees had been exceedingly rare throughout history.
The Banshee who was about to be carried into the clinic had ventured out decades ago. Only recently had Kazdel stabilized, and with a child on the way, she had chosen this time to return to her homeland and entrust her daughter to her people.
Thus, after spring began, the Banshee River Valley welcomed a new life.
Looking at the anxious pregnant woman, Huang Cao briefly burned the room to sterilize it before beginning the labor induction.
Fortunately, the Banshee awaiting delivery on the operating table did not object to Huang Cao's presence as a man, nor did she ask why a strange man had appeared among her people.
In heaven and earth, nothing mattered more than the child!
Fortunately, Huang Cao had not merely taken advantage of the Banshees these past few months. He had learned quite a lot.
For example, since the current environment had no sterile operating rooms, he simply covered his house in iron plates and set a fire to burn the entire interior.
Before you continue