The Black Snake, Your End Is Here

Talulah looked at her ally's eyes as they gazed upon the void. It seemed he had never truly faced anything in this world, merely staring toward a distant nation.

As though only the distant Son of Heaven was worthy of being his true enemy.

Unlike the Black Snake, who had spent lifetime after lifetime revolving around Ursus, this man's plans were astonishingly vast.

Ursus, Yan, Victoria...

This man was using all of Terra as his chessboard!!

Your reputation within the Reunion Movement has increased once again.

You are regarded as a conspirator on the same level as, or even above, the Black Snake.

Talulah has developed a certain fear of you. She does not wish to approach you, but she deeply realizes that she remains trapped in the Black Snake's snare. Only by serving you and joining forces to defeat that immortal being can she have a chance to escape the nightmare and fulfill her ideals.

So long as matters of principle are not involved, she will accept all your commands.

The Prompt Device suddenly let out a beep, making Russell, who had been discussing with Valmont whether to fill the swimming pool with champagne, freeze.

Wait.

What happened?

Good news.

Talulah had bowed her head in submission.

Bad news.

He had no idea why he could suddenly order this dragon girl around.

You'd have to ask the dragon girl. That woman had quite the imagination. What a waste that she wasn't writing novels or drawing comics.

Even the Prompt Device sounded a little emotional.

Fuck, a loser who only wanted to feel up Victoria's catgirls' slim waists had somehow been imagined into one of Terra's Puppet Masters.

Russell looked at the Red Dragon who now seemed willing to obey him, thought for a moment, and spoke.

"Raise your head."

The beautiful dragon girl raised her head.

"Hold out your hand?"

"Huh?"

Talulah paused, then extended one hand.

"Shake hands?"

Talulah hesitated for a moment before taking Russell's outstretched hand.

"Do a somersault?"

An angry expression appeared on the dragon girl's face.

"Sir, that is rather excessive."

The Prompt Device had been right. So long as it did not involve matters of principle, Talulah truly would obey him.

Though he had no idea how this girl had come to think that he really wanted to deal with the Black Snake, since she was willing to obey him, she'd make an excellent secretary!

Almost instantly, Russell's DNA stirred.

He had been worried that if he sent the Shadowkhan Army to tighten screws at the factory, mining efficiency would fall—Naruto couldn't possibly dig in the mines twenty-four hours a day, and hiring local beastmen to mine was a little too anthropomorphic.

Now things were perfect. He could have the Reunion Movement people tighten screws instead.

Mm, Talulah had Patriot, a top-tier commander, under her command. Managing a factory would be more than easy for him. She had received the Black Snake's elite education, so having her develop the inhibitor market across the world probably wouldn't be a problem either...

Russell's eyes instantly filled with tears.

He had been worrying about how to manage the Originium Inhibitor Factory, and Talulah had submitted herself to him.

What a wonderful start.

If he didn't exploit her to the fullest, would that be fair to the Black Snake, who was going to be sealed into a Kunai as a Weapon Spirit?

"Very good."

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Russell spoke calmly.

"I have an Originium Inhibitor Factory near the mines north of Chernobyl. It needs two hundred workers. I'll leave the hiring and management to you for now."

"The workers' base pay will, for the time being, be three doses of Originium inhibitor. If the factory meets its production target, they will receive additional bonuses. How does that sound?"

Russell did not name a specific wage. Instead, he chose to distribute part of the factory's output as payment.

—Unlike Huihui and Naruto, who exchanged money for supplies, he had exchanged his money for gold and asked Skadi to buy him a big house—though Victoria's capital was controlled by a certain Sarkaz, it was still one of Terra's most prosperous cities. Without spending heavily, there was no way he could get it.

Russell really did not have much money on hand right now.

If he absolutely had to pay the workers in cash, he could only go back to his original state and find a rope to hang himself with.

Yet upon hearing Russell's offer, not only Talulah, but even Frostnova beside her wore expressions of joy as if they had been knocked senseless by a massive pie.

The price the young man offered was as generous as ever.

No, it had gone beyond mere generosity.

It was practically unconditional aid.

The Reunion Movement was a group of Infected.

One dose of inhibitor.

To ordinary people, it might only be a highly advanced medicine, but to the Infected, it was no different from a second life.

Talulah could not help looking toward the person beside her, her friend Yelena.

Yelena's bodily functions had deteriorated terribly due to prolonged Oripathy infection, and she often fainted.

As her Oripathy continued to worsen, her body temperature had fallen far below the hypothermia threshold, nearly paralyzing her entire body. Her physical mutation had reached the point where even drinking a hot beverage would burn her internal organs.

Patriot, the Reunion Movement's strongest warrior, was likewise suffering terribly from Oripathy.

When he was young, he had been considered Ursus's strongest warrior. Now, tormented by illness and with his armor damaged, he could only take on three Imperial Guards.

If he could recover his health...

Talulah felt her breathing grow so rapid that she could barely control it.

This was exactly what the Reunion Movement needed.

Frostnova beside her was even more stunned.

In Yelena's understanding, nobles were basically vampires among vampires.

And yet Russell, a noble by bloodline, was this generous?

The price of Originium inhibitor was simply not something workers could afford.

This man...

Unexpectedly, he had some human warmth to him.

Beep. Yelena's favorability toward you has increased greatly. Tsk—who wants the favorability of that poor girl? Oh, oh, oh, Talulah's favorability has risen too. Host, you have taken a huge step forward on the road to becoming the father of Victoria's next-generation ruler.

The Prompt Device's words perfectly embodied looking down on people with dog eyes.

Emm...

Russell did not care about that.

Seeing the utterly undisguised smiles on Talulah and Yelena's faces, Russell smiled as well.

He liked people who would work themselves to the bone for him while still smiling.

They won.

I won too.

Mm, a win-win.

P.S.: It felt like the protagonist's skills were a little too monotonous.

He was considering whether to give the protagonist a skill that could make taste buds grow in people's small intestines.

Black Snake, Your End Has Come

"So, when do we leave?"

While Russell was still chatting nonsense with the Prompt Device, the Reunion Movement's representative—Talulah—forcefully suppressed the excitement in her heart and spoke solemnly to Russell.

Yet the faint upward curve of her lips still revealed that she was in an exceptionally good mood.

She could barely wait to go to the factory and work 996 hours for Russell, creating surplus value for him.

Frankly speaking, Russell should have had her sign the papers immediately.

After all, workers with such enthusiasm were hard to find.

But—

Russell carefully examined Talulah's beautiful face, then shook his head.

Before that, he had to deal with that damned Black Snake. Otherwise, if some special forces suddenly showed up halfway through and attacked his Originium Inhibitor Factory, he would have to rush back overnight from Victoria. That would be awful.

The Black Snake was easy to beat.

There was no doubt about it.

The Tiger Talisman—the Edict of Unity and Division.

Once its power was activated, it could split a person with two personalities into separate individuals.

That old Black Snake bastard had been caught.

The people who wanted to deal with it could probably line up from Saint Petersburg to Moscow.

Even Russell would have to queue up if he wanted to kick it twice.

But completely getting rid of the Black Snake was actually difficult—Koschei's Originium Arts involved the transfer of will and soul. That bastard's ability to flee was no ordinary thing.

In terms of Study of Escape, Huihui and Talulah could only be considered apprentices compared to it.

Russell did not intend to let that old bastard escape so easily, so he had asked members of the Crimson Demon Tribe to forge a Kunai capable of binding souls.

That thing had not arrived yet...

"A-Tong, give me some advice."

Russell muttered inwardly.

Mm, isn't it just delaying for seven days? Those Reunion Movement people have strong motivation to work, but their physical condition is terrible. Open the granaries, distribute food and cotton coats, and let them recuperate for seven days. Once their health improves, it'll be easier for them to work overtime later.

The Prompt Device's words were as full of scumbag energy as ever.

I like it.

Russell nodded, then spoke to Talulah.

"There is no need to be so anxious."

"I have no interest in watching a group of skin-and-bones people work in my factory. That would be a real buzzkill."

He sounded like a proper old master the moment he opened his mouth.

The master was kindhearted and could not bear to see poor people, so he would not drive them out of the factory.

"Are you asking me to spend some time screening the workers, sir?"

Talulah looked somewhat troubled. The people under her command were not in very good physical condition—the damned tundra environment and Oripathy were practically constant torture.

If Russell's requirements for workers included being in excellent health.

Then probably only Patriot's Shield Guards would qualify.

"No. What I mean is that I will open the granaries and let those workers recuperate for seven days first."