Even the tribes he had conquered by force.

Luo Yan believed that, over time, the Stone people of the Soul of Rock and Earth would eventually realize that following him was not such a bad idea.

Even more comfortable than collaborating with the Ogre tribes, to be sure.

Not to mention, the Great Graveyard was the last place lacking coal mines; the storerooms in the Demon King Territory were overflowing and could never be depleted.

On the other hand, after learning that the Lord Demon King had conquered the Clay Golem's tribe, Chieftain Zhuangzhuang of Iron Teeth City, while expressing his deep admiration, actually took the initiative to offer his eager advice.

"Respected Lord Demon King! Your most most most loyal servant has an idea that will ensure those Clay Golems never dare betray you!"

Looking at Zhuangzhuang, who stood next to Bond, Luo Yan, who was inspecting Iron Teeth City, smiled and replied offhandedly.

"Oh? What idea do you have?"

Zhuangzhuang chuckled, gesturing with his thick palms.

"Very simple! Those Stone people's bodies are natural materials for carving. You just need to inscribe some Netherworld Language upon their necks, the kind that can be activated remotely! That way, if they dare to rebel against you, you just need one thought to kill them all!"

As he said this, he also made a throat-slitting gesture.

Luo Yan looked at the little fellow in surprise, not expecting such a vicious strategy to be hatching in that small head of his.

However, by the standards of Hell, this didn't seem to be anything to complain about.

Luo Yan weighed the idea for a moment, then spoke.

"I don't need it for now, but when necessary, I will have you take action."

Hearing the Demon King's response, Zhuangzhuang's face showed a faint hint of disappointment, but he still bowed respectfully and said.

"At your command, Iron Teeth City is always willing to serve you!"

At that moment, a group of Mole People rushed into the entrance of Iron Teeth City, pushing small carts.

The carts were filled with the metabolic products of the Stone people.

As Luo Yan had anticipated, these various-sized stones piled in the pushcarts indeed contained silicate minerals rich in metal ores.

Primarily composed of iron and aluminum minerals.

Besides these, there were small quantities of copper and even gold and silver!

No wonder the fifth-floor Ogre tribes had skipped the fourth floor to trade with these not-too-bright Stone people on the third floor.

Those guys were practically walking gold mines!

And yet what surprised Luo Yan wasn't just that.

A group of Mole People dumped the ores out, spread them on the ground, and began sorting them by type, ready to transport them to newly erected blast furnaces to smelt with coal.

It was then that a Mole Person suddenly held up a piece of gold mica peridotite with serpentine patterns, screaming.

"Diamonds! There are diamonds inside!"

Hearing the shrill cry, Zhuangzhuang, standing beside Bond, was taken aback, an expression of thrilled astonishment as he scurried over all hands and feet.

"Where?! Where are the diamonds?!"

Collecting colorful stones was one of the few hobbies of the Mole People, a trait they inherited from their former masters, the Dwarfs.

Especially diamonds.

These gems could carve inscriptions on any rock or even metal and were thus particularly favored by the Mole People.

Zhuangzhuang moved in closer and indeed found a layer of finely crushed diamonds on the surface of that yellowish-gray peridotite!

Even though these diamonds were of average quality, just small particles, where there's one, there's likely another.

As word spread that the pile of rocks harbored diamonds, a group of Mole People became excited at once, swooping in, even coming to blows over a few broken stones.

Watching the chaotic scene, Luo Yan's face was filled with surprise; he had not expected that the Stone people could do this, besides absorbing minerals from magma!

This definitely needed researching!

Given their harsh conditions for formation, even in the resource-rich Demon City, diamonds were still exceedingly precious treasures.

Needless to say on the surface; with underground resources struggling to keep up and diamonds monopolized by the Dwarfs living in the Ten Thousand Ridges Mountain Range, only a few diamond mines were in the hands of humans on the New Continent.

In this world where Spirit could influence matter, the meaning behind diamonds and gold and other jewels was far more profound than just wealth.

As symbols of wealth and power, from the moment they were discovered by human society, they have been imbued with a certain amount of natural faith.

Apart from the silver credited with demon-repelling and demon-breaking properties by religion, the more precious the substance in people's subjective perceptions, the stronger the "Magic attributes" granted to it.

This trait extended from precious stones, diamonds, jade, and gold, to crystals, brass, amber, agate, and so on!

Hence, people in this world had the habit of setting diamonds and gemstones into weapons and jewelry, not only to exhibit their wealth and status but also to store Magic Power temporarily not in use within them.

In a sense, this was the same act as Demons collecting faith through frightening humans, just different in terms of collection methods and targets.

Long ago, Luo Yan had studied that so-called Faith Crystals were actually just quartz crystals blessed by the Temple.

Watching the normally timid Mole People now fighting viciously over mere diamonds, Luo Yan signaled to Bond, who drew his greatsword and knocked it against the ground.

At the clang of the sword, the squabbling Mole People instantly calmed down, looking towards the Demon King with frightened eyes.

With a gesture from Luo Yan, Bond stepped forward, pulling Zhuangzhuang, plucked of several tufts of hair, from the throng of Mole People.

Gazing at the trembling Mole People, Luo Yan spoke with an authoritative voice.

"Enough! These diamonds are all mine!"

"If I find out that anyone has taken my treasures without my permission, I'll have them eat the whole stone in front of me!"

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