"Are you really the Empress of Azure Water?"
"The one who founded the Azure Water Federation six thousand years ago!"
When Elf Queens Nancilia and Marilyn saw Shui Lan, they both felt as if they were in a dream. The Azure Water Empress! She wasn't just any ordinary figure. She was not only an epic character remembered in history but also a being who had become legendary... and now, such a personage was standing right before their eyes.
Shui Lan nodded, "Yes, it's me. However, I never claimed the title of empress myself. It was a title posthumously bestowed upon me by later generations."
Marilyn said, "But weren't you... six thousand years ago already..."
Shui Lan spoke candidly, "Indeed, I died six thousand years ago. It was the Demon King who discovered my soul and brought me back to life."
What? Resurrected! Marilyn was speechless with shock. The Demon King was too formidable! However, Nancilia found nothing strange about it. The Demon King was omnipotent, and there was nothing he couldn't do!
She immediately stepped forward and said, "Welcome, Empress, to our Giantree City. We came to greet you upon hearing of your visit, and it's an honor for the elves of our city to have you here!"
Three days ago, Shui Lan left the Azure Water Federation. Over the past two days, she had visited several major cities including Ironheart City, the main city of the dwarves; Thundering City, the main city of the giants; Berserk Beast City, the main city of the orcs; and Thousand Fangs City, the main city of the gnomes. She chose the most famous, prosperous, and vibrant main city of the elves as her final stop, and upon hearing the news, both Elven Kings Nancilia and Marilyn personally came to welcome her.
Shui Lan was surprised, "I now work for Darkness City and am just a retainer under the Demon King. There's no need for such esteemed individuals as yourselves to go to such lengths for me."
To her astonishment, the small Giantree City was home to two Elven Kings, one of whom had even reached Level 6. Shui Lan sensed an extraordinary aura from Nancilia and had a vague feeling that this young Elven King's future achievements might not fall short of her own during her prime.
Giant Tree City was truly a place where remarkable talents lay hidden. Shui Lan began her tour of the city. The population had reached 800,000, with eighty percent being elves and the rest being merchants of various races or people working there. This population was insignificant compared to some of the large cities in the Azure Water Federation, but Giantree City exuded a vibrant vitality that most cities in the federation lacked.
Shui Lan visited several key sites, including the super elven farm, elven academy, and the elven workshop. Marilyn explained, "Giantree City is currently the fastest-growing city in the Chaos Forest, apart from the capital city - Darkness City. Our large farm alone, with just a small part of its output, can sustain all races and populations in the entire forest, with the majority being exported."
"Currently, nearly 200,000 elves work here, and we plan to hire 50,000 skilled planters from other races, like goblins, minotaurs, and satyrs. Our elven academy has opened, with thousands of young elves studying, and we also have classes for other races. Our elven workshop is the largest in the Chaos Forest, with daily potion output alone worth two to three hundred million standard gold coins."
"We also place great emphasis on spiritual entertainment. We have opened bars, inns, casinos, theaters, art galleries, and various restaurants for travelers."
......
Shui Lan felt that the entire Giantree City was brimming with vitality and energy. The population was growing rapidly and was far from reaching its limit. The city's resources, such as farms and workshops, were still far from being fully developed. With the Demon King having created the Ancient Tree of Eternity and given rise to the two Elven Kings, Shui Lan could easily believe that in as short as a few months or up to half a year, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of elves from other regions would flock to this place.
Nancilia also mentioned, "Since His Majesty began his campaign against the empire, life in the various cities of the Chaos Federation has changed greatly. Human clothing, handicrafts, and daily necessities can now be found in the stores of Giantree City. And of course, the food, herbs, and materials produced here are being exported to human areas. The people of the Kolo region are full of praise for the products from Giantree City."
"Since His Majesty established the spiritual internet world, the lives of the elves have become richer and more colorful. Everyone enjoys online shopping for products from different parts of Manythe federation."
Shui Lan had noticed that ever since she entered the city, she had seen many groups of transportation caravans. These caravans were composed of gnomes and ogres, using winged beast or jungle giant lizards to transport a variety of goods. Additionally, uniformed harpies and winged-kins were seen delivering packages door-to-door.
These were the people of the Thousand Fangs commerce guild, whose precursor was the gnome merchant group from Thousand Fangs City. Previously, these gnomes specialized in speculative trading in the forest. After the Demon King unified the Chaos Forest, such speculative business dwindled, and the Demon King then ordered the Thousand Fangs merchants to supply the Dark Dragon Chamber of Commerce.
Seizing this opportunity, the Thousand Fangs gnomes underwent a transformation and now had become the largest logistics supplier in the federation. With their extensive trade routes reaching every city, village, and tribe, they purchased tens of thousands of terrestrial and aerial transport beasts for the Dark Dragon merchant guild, forming a powerful jungle transportation team. They could collect specialty products from remote villages and also deliver food, potions, equipment, and other necessities to these villages and tribes.
After the Great Demon King created the spiritual internet world, the gnome merchants of Thousand Fangs quickly seized the business opportunity. With the expanding territory of the federation, flourishing economy, and efficient communication through the spiritual network, commercial activities in the federation were bound to thrive, and online shopping was set to become a trend.
The gnomes thus planned ahead, continuing to build the best transportation network and even planning to employ tens of thousands of harpies and winged-kins as couriers. Now that their business was expanding, they were poised to soar higher with the coming trends.
Shui Lan spent a day touring Giantree City and observed that almost every race found its place, value, and work there. Whether elves, orcs, or gnomes, everyone contributed to the construction of the federation without any major conflicts, living harmoniously.
Was this what the Demon King meant by issues of production materials, efficiency, and distribution? Why had no one achieved this before?
Shui Lan realized that the Chaos Forest of the past was different from the present. Did it have an elven farm like the Giantree City's that could feed the entire population? Were there elven workshops producing potions worth hundreds of millions of standard gold coins every day? In the past, orcs had no mines to work, dwarves couldn't sell their equipment, and there was no magical spiritual communication like the spiritual internet world.
All these changes stemmed from the Demon King. He had built numerous magical facilities, including dozens of large and small farms. He expanded the distributable wealth of the Chaos Forest, bringing peace among the races that were once fighting over meager profits or mere survival. Shui Lan finally understood that the Demon King's capabilities were indeed extraordinary. Seeing the transformation from the Azure Water Federation to the development of Chaos Federation, she fully recognized the changes occurring in the world, the complexity of the current situation, and what she needed to do.
Without much further thought, Shui Lan bid farewell to the two Elven Kings and returned to Darkness City. She approached the Great Demon King, Zhang Nu, who was at that moment studying how to deploy the recently acquired Blood Moon Altar. This blueprint for the Blood Moon Altar, obtained from the Rift Tower, appeared to be a summoning altar with powerful offensive capabilities, but as a Level 5 special building, its construction was not cheap.
Seeing Shui Lan appear, Zhang Nu was not surprised but simply asked, "After your travels these past few days, do you have any new insights about the current situation and the Chaos Federation?"
Shui Lan did not answer his question directly. Instead, she said, "I've come to a realization."
"Oh? What is it?" Zhang Nu inquired.
"I must destroy the covenant I created years ago," Shui Lan declared.
Zhang Nu was shocked; he had not expected Shui Lan to have such a thought. The Azure Water Covenant was the foundation of the Azure Water Federation, the greatest achievement of the Empress in her lifetime, and it had a significant impact on subsequent generations.
"Why would you suddenly think of this? Do you realize that dismantling this covenant would lead to the immediate disintegration of the Azure Water Federation?" Zhang Nu asked.
Shui Lan nodded, "I know. But the covenant I signed six thousand years ago for the peace of the marine races has now become the biggest obstacle to the development of the seas."
It turned out that Shui Lan had recognized the problems currently faced by the Azure Water Federation. Her decisiveness to erase her greatest accomplishment demonstrated an admirable strength and responsibility.
Continuing, Shui Lan said, "However, given the current situation of the Azure Water Federation, the disappearance of the covenant will inevitably lead to the most brutal civil war in history. The marine races will be greatly weakened, leaving them vulnerable to other empires. I don't want to see that happen, so..."
She paused before adding, "I hope Darkness City will intervene to quell the rebellion among the marine races and integrate as many of them as possible into the Chaos Federation."
This was quite unexpected. Zhang Nu had not anticipated that a mere tour would lead to such a significant change in Shui Lan's attitude. However, with her statement, Zhang Nu could be reassured that the future expansion of Darkness City's influence into the Azure Water Federation would not only be unopposed by Shui Lan but might even receive her assistance.
......
Meanwhile, in the underworld, the Succubus Queen Han Kexin sat on her throne in Gloom City, deep in thought. Frankly speaking, when Zhang Nu invited her to merge directly with Darkness City, she was very tempted.
Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. And this wasn't actually chicken head, but the head of a phoenix! As the saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them. If she couldn't become a superpower like the Potato Great Demon King, why not become part of a greater whole, even if her share was very small? Such a move promised definite growth! Becoming the CEO of the Darkness City Group would allow her to better utilize her management skills and talents. But to give up her independence so easily was no simple matter.
Just as Han Kexin was grappling with this decision, a greater demon suddenly flew in and reported, "My lord, there's trouble. Several Demon Kings with their armies are attempting to surround Gloom City."
On hearing this, Han Kexin's expression turned grave, "Where are they coming from?"
The greater demon replied, "The details are unclear, but based on our assessment, they seem to be coming from the south."
The south? That wasn't surprising. Han Kexin knew there were many Demon Kings lurking in that area. Each of these Demon Kings was powerful, and they had formed an alliance. Their appearance now likely spelled trouble!
Han Kexin realized that she was in danger.
