"Demon King... my lord..."

Reksen couldn't help but fall into thought.

If it were this guy, he would have accepted without hesitation, right?

"Truly disgusting... Who could throw this thing out?"

Chris cursed with disgust, her eyes still intently fixed in Sarah's direction, seemingly lost in some impractical fantasy.

The expression on Grey Dog's face was as despairing as ever.

Crazy...

All of his teammates had gone mad.

Perhaps it wouldn't be long before he ended up just like them...

Just as Grey Dog was engulfed in despair, that evil Lord Demon King suddenly looked their way and started walking towards them.

Fear appeared on Chris's face as she quickly retreated to the corner of the Stone Prison.

Grey Dog did the same, staring at him with the same horror, as if looking at a raised whip.

However, the feeling of being hollowed out didn't come this time; it seemed the Demon King did not need their Magic Power on this occasion.

"Which of you is a thief?"

Grey Dog swallowed and stammered out a response.

"Both... Chris and I are."

Luo Yan continued to inquire.

"Who is stronger?"

Grey Dog's gaze instinctively went to Chris, including Reksen standing aside, all locking eyes on the disheveled woman.

Chris glared fiercely at her two teammates, then looked at the Demon standing before their cage with a mix of fear and longing in her eyes.

She swallowed, her voice trembling as she spoke.

"...What do you want to do?"

"Train a thief for me, or rather, an assassin... according to the standards of you adventurers," Luo Yan said, bringing the uncomfortable Sarah over.

Chris's eyebrows twitched, her expression taking on a hint of malice.

"Why would I help you, Demon... Aaahhh~"

The off-key scream startled Sarah.

Yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that this guy wasn't genuinely in pain, even somewhat taking pleasure in it?

Her intuition wasn't wrong.

Luo Yan found that he could no longer extract faith value from this person.

The fear of the Lord Demon King had been branded deep into her soul; she had fallen into a follower of the Demon King without even realizing it herself.

Just like Am who was in the cell beside her.

"It seems you need to correct your position. You are but a mere riffraff, a rat that failed to steal, and I could snuff out your life with no more effort than it would take to kill an ant, and I can do so at any time," Luo Yan spoke down to the trembling adventurer on the ground, taking half a step forward and continuing in an authoritative voice.

"Yet, I am, after all, merciful, far more merciful than Saint Sis whom you worship. I will give you a chance for redemption. Just do as I say, and not only will I reward you, but I might even restore your freedom..."

Pausing, he continued.

"What is your answer?"

Chris, shivering all over, flushed a sickly red and nodded tentatively.

"Yes... Lord Demon King."

Reksen sighed and closed his eyes.

Grey Dog, huddled in the corner, held his head, as fearful as ever.

There, it was done.

Even Chris had followed in Am's footsteps.

Of the entire Silver Crescent, it really seemed like he was the only one left...

...

Having conquered the Guardian Clan, the Great Graveyard now had a large number of NPCs that could be used; indeed, there was no need to let Sarah continue standing behind the counter in the shop, constantly harassed by newbies just entering the game.

Moreover, engaging in such a skill-free job all day isn't really beneficial to her personal development.

Since she has the heart to become a strong individual, Luo Yan was still willing to lend her a hand.

He resurrected a Lizardman ghoul from the Great Graveyard's "morgue," hung an [NPC Store Clerk] ID over its head, and then placed it at the post where Sarah used to be.

Although the newly resurrected ghouls are rather dim-witted, an NPC store clerk doesn't really require any technical skills anyway, and the tasks were explained in a few words.

After taking care of this, Luo Yan moved Chris, whose body had been hollowed out, to a separate cell deep in the mines and arranged for her to guide Sarah's training there.

As a reward, he designed a toilet just for her so she wouldn't have to live with the stench of excrement like the other prisoners.

This guy had already been brainwashed to the point that a simple cell upgrade moved her to tears and filled her heart with joy... which made Luo Yan wonder if the cells in Reksen City might be a bit too humane?

This thief can't possibly be in jail for the first time.

That would be too weak.

Having settled these matters, Luo Yan handed Sarah a wooden dagger as her training tool.

"If there's anything you don't understand, ask Miss Chris. If she doesn't teach you properly, come and tell me."

Sarah nodded earnestly, taking the wooden dagger from Luo Yan's hand.

"Mm! Sarah... will study hard."

For a non-Transcendent, her strength was actually not weak, even able to evade the magic circle he set up; the only flaw was that she hadn't undergone systematic training.

Chris was a thief trained by the Thieves' Guild, perfectly suited to make up for Sarah's lack of experience.

Luo Yan nodded, gave Chris a warning look to not teach anything unnecessary or try any tricks, and then left the dimly lit cavern.

At the same time that he came out of the cavern, Alakdo, who had gone to offer condolences for the disaster, had already returned and was waiting in the Blood Palace for quite some time.

"Lord Demon King! Your servant has returned!"

Seeing the Demon King approaching, Alakdo gathered his robust eight limbs and respectfully prostrated on the ground.

Seeing his triumphant expression, Luo Yan casually asked.

"How is the situation at the Weaving Shadow Nest? Are the losses severe?"

"Not severe... not too severe! Thanks to your permission for me to go back and help, the leaking spots have been patched up by our 'diggers'! Though some of our clan died, most of them were just small spiders, not really a big deal!"

"By the way, Mrs. Alachinos says you need not worry, Lord Demon King. She believes with a bit of effort, she can bring those children back to life. Also, she complimented me on becoming stronger, and asked if I could frequently come back to help out if I had the chance..."

Alakdo chuckled sheepishly, his forelimbs awkwardly rubbing together, resembling a big turtle who had just lost its virginity.

Luo Yan stared blankly at him for a moment, dumbfounded, about to say something when he remembered Alakdo was a spider, so saying he was a virgin seemed like a compliment, and thus gave up on retorting.

"As long as it's nothing serious... I was thinking of reducing next month's tax by half if it was too severe."

Alakdo immediately shook his head and said.

"No need, no need, but it would be great if you could provide some Lizardman tails or slimes for Mrs. Alachinos... the Weaving Shadow Nest needs more rich nutrition."

"Mm, I will arrange it."

Luo Yan nodded, then his gaze landed on the long string of tightly wrapped spider silk-covered "zongzi" beside him.

These things looked familiar.

During the "rat plague" in the maze before, the Earth Cave Spiders seemed to have also stored up quite a bit of "dry food" that looked just like this.

"Do you have any other matters to report?"

"I do!"

Alakdo hurriedly nodded, then used his forelimbs to poke at the "big zongzi" beside him.

Those zongzi were actually still alive, twitching as if struggling when stimulated by the outside world.

"What's this?"

"These are adventurers who were washed into the Weaving Shadow Nest by the flood!" Alakdo said eagerly, "You instructed us not to eat the captured adventurers in a hurry, so Mrs. Alachinos sent me to deliver them to you."

Luo Yan counted them; there were as many as fifteen!

Not only that, Alakdo had also brought back their equipment, which was piled up in the corner of the hall.

As the master of the maze, Luo Yan naturally wouldn't be polite with these uninvited intruders, sending them all to generate electricity.

"Transfer them to the newly built cells, and I'll make sure they regret intruding into my territory."

Alakdo immediately accepted the command.

"Yes!"

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