This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 614 - 545: Hell Bank Opens

Chapter 614: Chapter 545: Hell Bank Opens

Hell’s official stance had always been "Bayer has never betrayed and has been Zariel’s subordinate from the beginning until now."

Amberser knew very little about Bayer, only that after descending into Hell, he had inquired about some of Hell’s secrets from the God of Alchemy and the Goddess of Wealth and thus knew that these two had some unpleasant history.

As for the specific details, Amberser was not too clear, perhaps only the two Hell Lords themselves could give a clear account.

In principle, Amberser just wanted to keep a low profile and hoped Melina wouldn’t provoke those seasoned Lords of Hell right from the start.

Not to mention someone as sensitive as Bayer.

A Hell Lord who once rebelled against Zariel, succeeded in rising up, only to be brought down by Zariel again and return to being a minor underling, yet still held the title of Blood River Chief General.

Such a major figure should not be underestimated in terms of wisdom or personal strength, and was still too much of a stretch for Melina to handle.

But with the other party coming to him, Amberser had no choice but to brace himself for the encounter.

Carefully reading through the invitation, the Hell Lord known as the "Fork-horned Butcher" was Melina’s neighbor, their territories less than twenty kilometers apart, separated by a wilderness and a small Lava Lake; a Cambion could fly there within half an hour with its wings spread.

Melina’s side was annexing territories and constructing buildings extensively, which had caught this neighbor’s attention.

Out of a devil’s habit, the Fork-horned Butcher hoped to meet with Melina, to confirm whether this new neighbor would keep to her own waters, or if he should be preparing for war early on.

It sounded like no trouble, as meetings and negotiations were considered "honest and straightforward" compared to other Hell Lords.

But the time and place were determined by the Fork-horned Butcher.

He invited Melina to a Hell tavern called "Pig and Sloth," setting the meeting for three days hence.

Amberser, not very familiar with Hell, deduced from the content of the invitation that this must be a very famous place. The other party left only a name without specific coordinates or any further description.

Obviously, "Pig and Sloth" must be so well-known that it required no further details.

Fighting a devil was no problem, but you had to be cautious when they sought you out for a fight; once you arrived at the agreed-upon place, you might very well find a hundred thousand troops rushing out to beat you up.

With a devil’s code of conduct, they were capable of anything.

But this Fork-horned Butcher seemed to have deep ties with Bayer, and Amberser could not ignore his invitation, lest a war erupt sooner or later.

After pondering for a moment, Amberser replied on Melina’s behalf with a letter to the Fork-horned Butcher.

The content was brief: the meeting place remained the same, but the time was postponed by a month, with a simple reason, "Preparing to meet with Duke Zariel, currently preoccupied, unable to make time for a meeting."

Melina had already gained the authority of a Hell Lord, which Zariel could easily verify with a casual inquiry.

So it was impossible to keep it hidden for long; anyway, the authority was already in hand, and Amberser had already settled subsequent cooperation with Zariel; it was a good time for Melina to make her official appearance.

Having sent even his daughter to work for Zariel in Hell, the Archduke of the Devils would surely be pleased with his "token of submission."

Amberser replied in this way, then ordered his people to find out where this "Pig and Sloth" tavern was and its background. At the same time, he needed to inquire about Bayer’s situation; perhaps the Fork-horned Butcher had sought Melina out for a talk with the consent of Duke Bayer. Amberser had to be prepared.

Decades of experience had taught Amberser that negotiations were often settled before the actual meeting, and the real encounter was just a formality.

Having dealt with this matter, Amberser then turned his attention to the construction of Melina’s territory.

Because all of Melina’s exchanged lord privileges were conducive to territory building, new fortresses with inner and outer walls were erected in no time.

Amberser, taking into account the characteristics of Gloomyland, transformed the territory into two areas, above and below the ground, and then divided their functions according to the typical devil fortress.

From the surface, Melina’s territory seemed just slightly larger and a bit empty, but the key parts were underground, and the intricate terrain was only suited for the race living under the ground all year round.

With the rise of this new territory, the abundance of Soul Fragments brought many devils to their service. Although most of them were inferior demons, Imps, and other weak individuals, Amberser welcomed all comers, completely unlike the habits of other Hell Lords.

It was a world where only the strongest survived, especially those territories guarding the edge of Blood River, which also bore the duty of hunting solitary demons.

Most of these weak devils were transformed from the souls of sinners; any farmer could kill them with a pitchfork. Such weak devils were meant to become the food of other devils; they didn’t even qualify as cannon fodder on the Blood River Battlefield and were merely provisions for demons.

With such a fertile territory and taking in a bunch of imps with no combat ability, what was Melina planning to do?

Cambion had advised Melina more than once that with the territory just starting to be managed, they couldn’t take in so many useless mouths that wasted food. Even if the production of Soul Fragments was high, it couldn’t keep up with such wastage.

But Melina dismissed Cambion’s advice, coldly stating, "This is my father’s arrangement."