Chapter 22: Cunningly Occupying the Underground City

  Santos is a standard Drow city, with numerous strange plants that can only grow underground nearby, as well as a variety of mineral resources. The residents of the city are mostly Drow elves, and occasionally other races temporarily reside here.

  The residents mostly make a living by collecting minerals, making weapons and armor, or cultivating some magical plants. They are all members of each family, and the profits from the sale of products also need to be handed over to the family for unified management, which is also one of the sources of family profit.

  Underground, apart from the unified gray dwarves, almost every city has its own gold coins. This chaotic financial system allows many people to discover business opportunities and start trading in Zorvath's gold coins, with many people getting rich from it. As a result, other Zorvath cities have set up places for gold coin purity identification and exchange.

  As for the true specialty of the underground city controlled by the Drow, it can only be said that it is spider silk fabric. Because they have a high degree of compatibility with a type of spider called the Cave Stalker, the Drow can raise these spiders and collect their silk without worrying about being attacked.

  The spider silk fabric made by the Zorvath's unique technique is not only exceptionally beautiful, but also durable and silky smooth. In contrast, fabrics made by other races are either not durable or not smooth enough. Most Zorvath wear clothes made of this fabric.

  These spiders not only provide fabric for Zor, but also serve as an important source of mounts for the Zor's spirit riders. The spider knights, a unique troop type of the Zor, mostly use these cave assassins as their mounts. In the underground city connected by tunnels, the spider knights have unimaginable combat power, not only can they climb up the rocky walls above their heads, but also move swiftly and fiercely.

  If it weren't for the dwarves' unity and the special devices set up to defend against these spider knights, perhaps thousands of years ago, the dwarves would have already become slaves to the Drow elves. Even now, with the dwarves employing various technologies, they can only manage a stalemate against the relatively technologically backward Drow elves.

  "Is that all there is to Santos' resource situation?" After hearing Aishi's introduction of Santos' current resource situation and the items that can be produced in the city, Mo Yan said: "As for the forces within the city, how confident are you in subjugating them?"

  "If we only rely on the power of our family," Gill said, "we can only defeat some small families. If everything goes well, we may also be able to force some medium-sized families to surrender to us. But as for the big families in the city, we are powerless."

  Aisha and Jill sisters, can be said to be a contrasting example. Sister Aisha relies on her own strength, standing out in the family. For plots, she likes to use force to break through, the Blue Rose Guard in the family is trained by Aisha.

  While her sister Jill relies more on her intelligence, she likes to calculate everything and use one conspiracy to destroy another. She also used a conspiracy to subdue the guard trained by Aishi, launched a rebellion that forced Aishi to flee underground.

  Originally, there were over a dozen families with successors, but after repeated struggles, only Aichi and Gill survived. If not for Moe's intervention, the successor might have been left with only Gill. Now, with Moe by his side, Aichi has come to the underground and defeated the newly empowered Gill, reclaiming lost rights.

  Under Mo Yan's request, Aishi, who had not killed Jill, obtained a submissive intelligence. For her to plan and strategize, this allowed Mo Yan to leave the underground city later with peace of mind, letting them take control without worrying about Santos' safety.

  "So, we need a catalyst." Mo Yan thought for a moment and said: "An opportunity to gather all the family leaders. That way, I can defeat them once and for all, and make them sign the Vors' branding iron, thoroughly submitting to Aichi's leadership."

  "It shouldn't be possible to have such an opportunity." Jill shook her head and said, "Every council meeting is held in the central council hall, where the Hunters' and Spider Knights' camps are located. The defense is very strict. And once there's a problem, each family has its own way of dealing with it. Only the heads of the families can enter the council hall alone."

  "So, is there a possibility of gathering them individually?" Liriel asked: "If there's a figurehead, say for business negotiations, would the family leader come out to negotiate?"

  "If it's a big deal, there might be some opportunity." Gill thought for a moment and said: "It's just that the amount of gold coins in the transaction needs to be at least over a thousand to have the ability to attract the attention of all leaders. Generally speaking, deals worth one or two hundred gold coins are handled by specialized personnel from each family."

  "A thousand gold coins." Vivian nodded and said, "That's a large sum of money. Even the Thunder Cliff only has some Sart gold coins, and their gold content is not particularly high."

  "In fact, we don't need to actually take out a thousand gold coins." Jill said with a smile: "We only need the illusion that we have over a thousand gold coins, and in reality, just a few hundred coins will be enough, after all, we're not really buying anything."

  Once you've attracted the attention of the family leader, after meeting with them, make sure not to lose their trust. After it's all over, use a failed transaction as cover, and the feasibility of the plan will be greatly increased."

  "Alright." Mo Yan thought about the feasibility of the plan for a moment, and felt that there was no major problem. He smiled and said: "Although there is some risk involved, the feasibility is still not bad. So let's carry out this plan, as for the gold coins, I think your family should be able to take out a few hundred. The specific operation will also be handled by you, I will only be responsible for the attack task."

  "Alright." Jill said confidently: "I will make the plan as perfect as possible."

  "I'll also make sure the receiving city is ready." Aishi, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, spoke up without inserting herself, looking at Gil with a hint of competitiveness.

  Thus, a demon merchant appeared in Santos City, demanding to purchase a large quantity of spider silk fabric. After buying up a batch of fabrics with a lavish hand, the merchant claimed that more fabrics were needed and successfully attracted the attention of various families in the city. One after another, invitation letters were sent to the merchant, and the leaders of the families all requested to meet with him for negotiations.

  Those who did not specify a meeting were refused by the demon merchant with the excuse: "Such a big deal, you don't even come to discuss it in person, it's really not reassuring." The demon merchant brought their Minotaur attendants and randomly visited one family after another, but ultimately failed to reach an agreement.

  As the merchant really wanted to do a long-term business, those families who originally didn't plan to meet started asking for negotiations. However, nearly two-thirds of the families in the city couldn't reach an agreement. And after negotiating with them, those families fell into a strange silence, which caught some people's attention.

  "Fors Brand?" The leader of the largest family in the city, hearing this somewhat unfamiliar term, said with some surprise: "You mean to say that the leaders of those families were forcibly branded with the Fors brand on their own family estates?"

  "That's right." A Troll shaman said: "Through my observation with the demonic eye, the magical fluctuations on their bodies are indeed the Furs' branding. The magicians in their family have also discovered this, but we can't do anything about this branding."

  "I understand." If it's really as the law master said, then nearly two-thirds of the family has been controlled. It can be said that she now only faces two choices. Either notify the remaining family to make a final struggle and eliminate all the controlled families. Or, she can only surrender to that demon merchant.

  "After thinking for a long time." The head of the family let out a somewhat weak sigh and said, "Go invite that demon merchant over, I want to have a talk with her."

  The word unity is almost a synonym for laughable in the drow language. Betrayal is as common as breakfast to the drow, and if they ever did unite, the kingdom of the grey dwarves would have been destroyed long ago. So rather than be betrayed and fail, it's better to negotiate with the victors who will soon take over the city and gain a position in their new organization.

  Based on this consideration, almost all the families who discovered the anomaly sent a signal of surrender to Mo Yan. And they all expressed that their family can help Mo Yan manage this city they are familiar with very well. Hoping to gain Mo Yan's reuse and admiration for Mo Yan's power.

  "So, I can say that I have completely controlled Santos now?" Mo Yan sat in the Santos Congress Hall, looking at the Zorvath who were respectfully gazing up at him from their seats, and said to Aishi beside him: "I hope you can manage this city a little better."

  "I will definitely not disappoint your expectations." Eishi exclaimed loudly, "I will definitely make Santos tidy and organized for you!"

  "Hehe." Mo Yan smiled and said to Jill, who was looking forward to it: "And you, help your sister be good, don't let her make some mistakes she shouldn't make."

  "I obey your will." Jill understood the meaning behind Mo Yan's words and smiled inwardly. From the moment she knew Mo Yan wouldn't kill him, she had already grasped her own role.

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  Collect and recommend

  It's so simple to get a city just because of the disunity of the Zorvath.