Tyrant Simulator

Albic handed Luke a stone about the size of his palm.

Luke stared intently at it; it was covered with pale purple crystals that shimmered with an eerie light.

"This is magic ore, a very precious gemstone. Jewelry made from it is highly sought after by the upper class, so even a small piece like this is worth a fortune."

Recently, the explorers I sponsored discovered this mineral deep in the Merlin in the western Wilderness, and the reserves are astonishing.

If it could be mined, it would be enough to buy half of Vorsal!

Hearing this, Luke was also secretly startled, and his hand holding the ore became more cautious—he hadn't expected this thing to be so valuable, and he had vaguely guessed Albic's thoughts.

"The items are good, but Merlin is the territory of humanoid creatures such as gnolls and goblins. I'm afraid even if you have extraordinary connections, you won't be able to get in there."

"Clever! So... I found you."

Albic's eyes gleamed: "If you can help my mining company to conduct stable and long-term mining there, I can not only release Mobutu, but also return all the illegal gains."

Furthermore, you'll receive 20% of the profits from the ore. This deal is practically a guaranteed profit. What do you think?

Sure enough, this was the "old fox's" true intention... Thinking about it carefully, I do have my own sphere of influence and military power in the wilderness, and I am indeed the best candidate for him to seek cooperation.

"A 30/70 split," Luke said calmly. "And I will be involved in the entire mining process. All workers and managers can only be hired by my people—of course, you have to pay them according to market rates."

Albic laughed instead of getting angry: "Haha, Mr. Luke, you really know how to do business... Alright, except that the management personnel must be from my mining company, I agree to everything else."

Luke thought for a moment, then finally nodded: "Deal!"

Albicy smiled, took out a treasured vintage from the cabinet, poured Luke a glass, clinked glasses, and said with a smile, "Then I wish us a pleasant collaboration!"

Half an hour after Luke left the city hall, Mobutu was acquitted.

As Mobutu walked out of prison, he greedily inhaled the sweet, fragrant air outside: Freedom is wonderful!

Luke was already waiting at the door: "I didn't expect you to release him so quickly. Albic knew I wasn't lying!"

Mobutu's eyes darted around, and he immediately guessed what was going on. He hung his head and sighed, "That old guy swindled a lot of money from us, didn't he?"

Luke chuckled and shook his head: "Quite the opposite, he's here to give us money! Go back and pack your things quickly, leave the business to Huff, we're going on a long trip."

"Oh? Where to?"

"Molin!"

After leaving Fusar, the two returned to Scarborough Fair without stopping.

After explaining the business matters, Mobutu mysteriously led Luke to the basement.

"Mr. Luke, after this period of accumulation, our trading company has made a lot of money... and it's all here now."

As he spoke, he pulled back a huge black cloth, which immediately illuminated the dark room with a golden glow... It was a whole box full of gold coins!

Looking at so many gold coins, Luke was both surprised and delighted: "Did you earn all this money?"

Seeing Mobutu nod proudly, Luke gave him a thumbs up: "You lad... you really are a business genius!"

Ding!

[Congratulations, host, on completing the Mobutu exclusive Tyrant quest: Earned 1000 gold coins. 1078/1]

The Goblin Engineer is now activated, and you've also received the corresponding amenities—a complete set of Goblin Engineering tomes.

[Accepted the next level 1 Tyrant quest for Mobutu - have at least 100 Goblin Engineers 0/100]

[Mission Reward: Activate new unit - Goblin Engineer]

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On both the east and west banks of the marshland, newly built wooden forts stand in rows, and herds of cattle and sheep graze.

Meanwhile, people continued to arrive from the east with their families. After registering with the secretary of Mubao, they received farm tools and rations and officially settled here.

Since the Battle of Golden River Valley, Luke's reputation as the "Free Army" has been firmly established.

In the northern borderlands of the empire, whether they were escaped slaves from plantations or laborers in mines and workshops, large numbers of humans dissatisfied with the elven tyranny were willing to risk crossing the wilderness to seek Luke's protection.

Luke naturally welcomed them warmly and accepted them all, arranging for them to stay at the Wood Castle.

As the wooden forts in places like the river bends gradually became insufficient to support such a large population, he built wooden forts along the Hun River and continued to expand his living space westward.

With more free people, there is a natural need for a strong organizational order to maintain public order and ensure the safety of human property... Luke established a "military and civilian assembly" in each wooden fortress to decide on major matters within the fortress by holding meetings and voting.

In addition, a leader will be selected to oversee daily management, wartime military mobilization, and corps management.

The leader can form a leadership team, appoint two secretaries to manage the finances and documents within the jurisdiction, and one judge to be responsible for judicial trials... The military and civilian assemblies have the power to appoint and dismiss these positions.

Currently, there are 15 such "wooden fortresses," each housing 1000-2000 military and civilians, with a total population exceeding 25,000.

Thanks to the large sum of money Mobutu earned, he was able to purchase and distribute food, livestock, and necessities, allowing the free people to survive the spring and summer of this year... Otherwise, how to feed so many people would have been a real headache for Luke.

These people usually hunt and herd horses, and the chief of the wooden fortress would also provide them with simple training. As a result, they were skilled in archery and horsemanship, able to serve as soldiers on horseback and civilians on foot.

With a large population and herds of wild horses in the wilderness, Luke was able to expand his army and easily raise a light cavalry force of ten thousand men.

Luke returned to the wooden fortress and immediately summoned all his generals to discuss how to develop the Merlin magic energy ore.

After discussing with his subordinates, Luke decided to form an "investigation team" to personally infiltrate Merlin and find out what was going on.

Attila, Pak and Victor stayed behind to guard the wooden fortress on the Hun River and handle any emergencies;

He then led Mobutu into Merlin to search for magical mineral deposits, with four ogres, including Armin, providing close protection, and thirty elite human cavalrymen, including Rogue, accompanying them... This lineup was believed to be sufficient to deal with the various monsters in Merlin.

The next day, Luke led his men away from the River Bend base camp and headed west along the Hun River.

After walking for a whole day, we finally arrived at the source of the Hun River—the southern foothills of the Heiyao Mountains. Further west lay an endless expanse of lush, dense forest.

"Finally arrived." Luke put away the map Albicy had given him, letting out a long sigh of relief. "Fortunately, we didn't encounter any major problems along the way..."

Before the words were finished, a sharp whistle rang out from the depths of the dense forest.

Armin immediately stepped in front of Luke, his rough hands pressing down on the iron hook hanging on his shoulder.

Rogge's cavalry drew their nomadic scimitars in unison, scanning their surroundings warily, their horses snorting uneasily.