Blessed by Abundance, Scourge of Terra

Though this wasn't rigorous, it was a last resort—better than nothing at all.

In the end, with a wave of Huang Cao's extreme maneuvers, the Banshee on the operating table turned from critical to stable, both mother and child safe and sound.

"If I ever really have to make a living off medical skills, I'm definitely not becoming an emergency doctor."

"Why is childbirth always so difficult for humanoid lifeforms, whether in my past life or this one?"

The delivery work wasn't particularly delicate, but it was extraordinarily tense—the key issue being that he'd never done this before.

One slip-up and it could've been two lives lost.

Huang Cao's mouth said he didn't care, but just now had undoubtedly been the most nerve-wracking moment of his entire life.

"I'm still too kind."

Having finished everything, the youth let out a light sigh, barely maintaining his mental state that was teetering from excessive strain.

Watching the happy scene of mother and child, Huang Cao somehow felt a trace of emotion well up from his heart.

Forget it, forget it—consider it building up some good karma for myself. I'll probably be doing plenty of unscrupulous things later on.

Lamian looked at the youth's pale complexion, and a hint of concern couldn't help but show in her eyes.

"Why don't you go rest first? I can handle things here."

"Where is there a place to rest here?"

Lamian glanced at the room whose walls had been scorched to charcoal, and without a moment's thought, pulled the youth into her own wooden cabin.

She forcibly pressed him down onto her bed, tucking the blanket around him with care.

By now, the sky was growing late, nearing dusk.

"Goodnight."

Lamian said softly, drew the curtains, and then quietly slipped away.

Lamian's room was a bit more refined than those of the other Banshees—after all, as the Lord of the Royal Court, she had to maintain a certain appearance.

But it was far from luxurious. Aside from the bed being softer and more elegant than those of ordinary Banshees, and the floor being earthen rather than dirt, there was hardly any difference from the others. At most, there was a slightly nicer fireplace.

Still, lying in the bedding, Huang Cao caught a familiar scent—the sheets were filled with a sweet, milky fragrance.

If this had been before, that aroma would surely have made the inexperienced youth blush with embarrassment.

But unfortunately, during his massages for the Banshees, he'd smelled this scent so many times he'd lost count.

"Looks like I need to adjust my mindset. Otherwise, if I get into a fight, I might end up at a disadvantage instantly."

It was only now that Huang Cao realized his power seemed to be tied to his mental state.

The more nervous he was, the harder it was to bring out his full strength.

Take this time, for example—though he'd stabilized things in the end...

At least he'd discovered this problem early. It wasn't a total loss.

New book, young seedling, begging for all kinds of votes. Thank you, everyone.

Chapter 13: Big T Small T, No Ability [Bonus Chapter]

"Huang Cao, what's your impression of Kazdel now? How does it compare to Yan Country?"

About another month later, after Huang Cao had fully settled in, Lamian suddenly came to find him.

"Of course Yan Country is better, but I don't plan on going back for now. I have a relative here—he's pretty wealthy—and I want to buy some land to invest in industry and commerce."

"Oh? You have a relative here?" Lamian was somewhat surprised.

"Not exactly close. This relative of mine is an Undead Spirit, and I'm a Grass-eating Demon. By blood alone, we're completely unrelated, but he's willing to give me a cut."

That explained it. Undead Spirits were a particularly special race—in other words, members of this race could be relatives to any Sarkaz tribe.

"I'll probably go join him in a while. Staying here forever isn't really an option."

Hearing that the youth was about to leave, Lamian's face, hidden beneath her black veil, showed a faint reluctance.

"Is it not good enough here? I could have a bigger house built for you, or raise the clinic's fees a bit higher."

"It's not a matter of good or bad. This place is too small, and my ambitions aren't here, good sister..."

She could indeed be called a sister—after all, Huang Cao's combined age from two lifetimes didn't exceed thirty.

The Banshees here all had lifespans far beyond ordinary imagination.

A hundred years old was still considered young. Though the Sarkaz people had extremely long lives, their average lifespan was far shorter than other races, thanks to endless wars causing a long-term population decline.

"So, can you help me find Her Highness Theresia? I want to buy a piece of land for my relative."

Huang Cao pointed at the map on the table, then circled a small empty area on it.

"Are you sure your relative wants this piece of land?" Lamian didn't understand the workings of commerce, but as a native Sarkaz, she knew just how barren the land Huang Cao had circled was.

Frequent natural disasters, dried-up water sources, a desolate, uninhabited stretch of earth.

That was everyone's first impression of this land.

Even the multinational coalition invading Kazdel couldn't be bothered to pass through this land.

Was Huang Cao being scammed?

Sister Lamian stared at the youth's pure, untainted gaze, and the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

As the saying goes, strangers get half, but family gets the whole pot.

Sometimes, the ones who cheat you are your own people.

"Is your relative asking you to invest money?"

Sister Lamian's eyes gradually sharpened, and an aura of wanting to protect a cub radiated from her.

Over the years, Huang Cao's clinic hadn't been entirely free—if a Banshee wanted better service, they had to shell out some silver coins.

Huang Cao quickly waved his hands. "No, that's not it. My relative is just lazy and wants to be a hands-off boss who only collects money. Besides, even if he tried to scam me, I'm still in Kazdel, and he has to meet with Your Highness too."

"Alright, I can arrange an introduction for your relative, but it won't be easy. The cost is no small sum."

Sister Lamian let out a light sigh, looking at the resolute youth. No matter how much she wanted to keep him, she could only let him go.

"Will you come back to visit?"

"Sister Lamian, maybe you've misunderstood. My relative really isn't well-funded. It'll take at least three to five years before he can propose a purchase plan to Your Highness."

Originally, it would have taken about ten years. No matter how barren this land was, it was still part of Kazdel.

Without offering a high enough price, there was no way to make Theresia even consider it.

Relying solely on his small shop and clinic, even if he occasionally ran into a few deep-pocketed fools, the wealth he accumulated would never match the funds needed to buy land.

But why had the timeline suddenly moved up?

Of course, because while Huang Cao was growing, he'd stumbled upon a hidden gold vein somewhere.

Gold—the eternal hard currency!

More importantly, Huang Cao didn't need much industrial processing to extract the gold from the soil.

It was slow, but still far faster than running a small shop.

"You scared me. I thought you were leaving right now. Then I'll pass this news to Her Highness Theresia, but I can't guarantee she'll agree."

"She might not agree now, but who knows about later? I've always believed that where there's a will, there's a way."

That very day, Sister Lamian wrote a letter and sent it off. Unsurprisingly, Theresia flatly rejected the request.

This outcome wasn't particularly surprising. National land couldn't be casually bought and sold, especially in Kazdel, which was practically fully militarized.

But as mentioned before, where there's a will, there's a way. Circumstances change.

Huang Cao, whose main body was rooted in the earth, combined his plant senses with various information from this land and finally reached a particularly chilling conclusion.

Within five years, Kazdel would face a new wave of massive famine!

This famine would spread across multiple countries. Others, if prepared, could still withstand it.

But under this influence, economic blockade laws from nations like Victoria would become completely worthless.

After all, no one dared to provoke a country that had already fallen into utter desperation. Who knew what those demon bastards would do?

No nation wanted to be the first soul to fall under the blade of these madmen.

Kazdel, gripped by internal famine, had to find a way to protect its people.

Huang Cao didn't want to directly offer food aid to Theresia—that would be too conspicuous, and might invite other troubles, even the gaze of certain entities.

A person could live without gold bars, but they had to eat.

As the leader of Kazdel, hailed as the gentlest Demon King in history, Theresia would never let her people act in ways that tarnished the nation's image.

So there was only one path: use money to buy food.

And that money was the gold mine Huang Cao had dug up. Theresia had only one path: trade land for money, then trade money for food.

Of course, if within these five years, Big T and Small T suddenly had an epiphany and launched an industrial plan to revive the stagnant economy, then he'd take it back. But was that possible? These two's governance skills couldn't be called outstanding—barely better than nothing.

Otherwise, this sibling pair wouldn't have fought a bloody civil war to the death in the future.

In the original story, Theresia couldn't even manage a Tower of Babel without calling in the Doctor. What kind of governing miracle could she be expected to come up with?

Maybe in other timelines it was possible, but in this timeline, she was the only Demon King from start to finish.

The previous chapter's formatting got messed up. If it's still jumbled, please refresh a few times. My apologies! So this chapter is a bonus! Please forgive me! I'll do anything! 3

Chapter 14: Warfarin Makes Her Grand Entrance!

After his conversation with Sister Lamian, Huang Cao planned to spend all his time winning over the hearts of the townsfolk.

The recruitment notice had been hanging on the signboard all along, but no one had ever come to apply.

The reason was simple: they didn't know how. Most Sarkaz were mercenaries.

Sending former mercenaries on missions was fine, but asking them to politely serve customers was a bit much.

Besides, anyone with customer service skills was already thriving in the black market and wouldn't care about a few silver coins.

But it didn't matter—soon Huang Cao would sweep the entire population of this town into his grasp.

A king with subjects was a true king; he had no desire to be a commander without an army.

It just took time for his reputation to overshadow Theresia's in this place.

That was easy enough. Though Theresia was a hero who led the Sarkaz people in resisting foreign invaders, the books never said there could only be one hero.

She was one of the Six Heroes—Huang Cao could become the Seventh Hero.

Huang Cao could fill the townspeople's bellies, making him their hero too.

No one wanted to live forever in war and famine.

The town's population wasn't huge—at most a thousand or so. That number was barely passable as the residents of his own territory, but the days ahead were long, and population growth was just a matter of decades.

For now, the most pressing task was how to trick the townspeople into willingly heading to his territory. That wasn't difficult for him.

First, he'd build his reputation here, then coax Theresia into checking out the land he'd purchased. Once his strength developed, he'd spend a year transforming the territory.

This timeframe wouldn't exceed ten years. Technology couldn't jump straight to inventing flying machines in that span, and Theresia's control over the nation couldn't be so tight that she'd know everything instantly.

"It's time to become the local big shot in this region!"

Huang Cao had his hands on a massive gold mine buried deep underground. Even if something went wrong, given Big T and Small T's abilities and the current level of technology, they probably wouldn't discover anything for a while.

In short, the advantage was his! Watch me pull off a nest takeover!

Why was Huang Cao so fixated on establishing his base in Kazdel? Couldn't he pick somewhere else?

Because for now, only this hot land of Kazdel could give him his first development foothold. In other countries, getting a piece of land for himself was as hard as hell mode.

For now, he'd keep mining. Emptying the underground gold mine would give him his first pot of startup capital.

Originally, Huang Cao thought that becoming a plant only gave him the ability to sprout tentacles and slap people with vines. But now it seemed the Goddess's blessing was truly an invincible template.