Chapter 214: Tyrant Guard

While the meeting was in session, the Great Demon King was inspecting the Citadel of Eternity. The performance of Long Yi, Zhang San, and Li Si was as expected. However, the surprising element was the citadel itself, which delighted and astonished him.

Zhang Nu had speculated that the citadel was far from ordinary, but he had not anticipated its immense power. The eleven citadel cannons were capable of obliterating top-tier powerhouses, and the one hundred missile launch silos could strike targets dozens to hundreds of miles away. When the formidable citadel shield was activated, it was ten times stronger than the defensive barrier of Kolo City.

What was even more impressive was that tens of thousands of citadel soldiers could engage in combat without leaving the citadel. They were all long-range attack units, and their presence within the citadel amplified its firepower significantly. In this recent conflict, at least half of the casualties on the empire's side were inflicted by the Citadel of Eternity. The terrifying power and efficiency of the citadel in killing enemies were evident. It was no exaggeration to call it a battlefield reaper.LaaTest novels on (n)ovelbi/n(.)com

Certainly, the operational costs of the citadel were incredibly high. Zhang Nu calculated the expenses, and they amounted to a staggering 22 million gold. It felt like they were literally shooting money out of cannons. Fortunately, the profits from this war were substantial. But in the case of smaller or less profitable conflicts, there was a risk of operating at a loss. It was necessary to clearly understand the detailed expenditures and find ways to increase revenue while cutting costs.

Zhang Nu found that among all the expenses, the highest proportions were consumed by the shield, cannons, missiles, and the void device. The supreme magitek citadel had a unique characteristic: the magic circuits of the void device, flying device, and shield device conflicted with each other, making it impossible to activate them simultaneously.

Although the Citadel of Eternity was mobile, its speed was not particularly fast. If it moved slowly to the battlefield, it would likely be detected from miles away, giving the enemy ample time to react and focus their attacks on the unprotected citadel during its movement. To counter this, the citadel utilized the void device to teleport instantly onto the battlefield, activating the shield at the first possible moment. Only then could they achieve the desired effect.

Considering the immense size of the citadel, the energy consumption for spatial teleportation was substantial. This alone cost nearly ten million gold. Zhang Nu realized that while the void device was incredibly useful, it was prohibitively expensive and had an exceptionally long cooldown time. In the future, unless absolutely necessary, it was best not to activate it. The rest of the expenditures, totaling over ten million gold, were spent on the shield, citadel cannons, and missiles. The energy consumption of these components was unavoidable, but efforts could be made to reduce it.

Zhang Nu made a decision. He resolved to recruit more citadel soldiers, aiming to fill the entire citadel corps. When the citadel legion became powerful enough with fierce firepower, they could reduce the usage of cannons and missiles, thus decreasing consumption. As for the shield, Zhang Nu planned to supplement the citadel with a team of mages, forming a specialized barrier mage unit to use MP to reduce energy expenditure.

In summary, as long as the usage of various devices and heavy artillery was reasonably controlled, the consumption of the Citadel of Eternity could be kept within a manageable range. This citadel held immense military value, both defensively and offensively.

Moreover, the Citadel of Eternity contained numerous facilities. Aside from various top-tier laboratories, it also had equipment production lines left behind from the ancient magitek era. The gnome magitek scholars from the Thousand Fangs City already possessed some basic knowledge in manufacturing low-grade magitek cannons and firearms. With future mass production, significant commercial value could be generated.

After further reinforcing the forces of the magitek citadel, Zhang Nu summoned Long Yi. The Dark Dragon King respectfully knelt and said, "My master, what are your orders?"

Zhang Nu replied, "The southern border's Duke Bahor has suffered significant injuries in this battle. He won't be able to act for a while. We need to seize this opportunity and expand our territory further."

Long Yi immediately understood, "Understood, we will organize our troops and continue to expand northward, annexing more human territories!"

After further thorough modification and enhancement of Wei Yi, Zhang Nu had planned to enter the Demon King's Space. Recently, thousands of mental programmers had started working. Under the leadership of Elven King Nancilia, they were diligently enriching the Demon King's created spiritual space, and their efforts had been fruitful. In the following events, the spiritual internet, planned to be gradually opened to more citizens, promised to bring immense profit and value to the Demon King.

However, at this moment, Zhang Nu received a private message through his player interface. The sender was none other than his strategic partner, the Succubus Queen, Han Kexin.

Han Kexin asked, "Are you in need of spirit gems and soul gems lately?"

Zhang Nu replied, "You saw my open orders on the various trading channels. Yes, I need to construct a special building, and I require a large quantity of spirit gems and soul gems as well. Do you have them in stock?"

"My stock is probably just a drop in the bucket for someone of your caliber. Besides, I need these gems myself. I can't sell them to you," she replied.

Curious, Zhang Nu asked, "Then why did you ask in the first place?"

Han Kexin responded, "I know of a place. If conquered, it could yield a considerable amount of high-quality spirit gems and soul sems."

Upon reading this message, Zhang Nu felt a surge of excitement. He had been planning to find such a place, but before he could even start searching, Han Kexin had sent him the information.

Immediately, Zhang Nu inquired, "What place is this? Is it highly challenging? Why don't you handle it personally? Both types of gems are quite valuable."

Han Kexin retorted, "Obviously, if I were confident in dealing with it, do you think I'd be offering it to you, a potato seller?"

"Hey, let's keep it civil. Potatoes were one of the early products in Darkness City. Now, our farms produce a wide variety of goods, and the contribution of potatoes to our economy is quite low. Speaking of which, why can't you handle it?"

Zhang Nu was intrigued. In fact, finding a place to hunt monsters was not difficult. There were many wild areas in the Chaos Forest that he could explore. Moreover, he had Hubert the Undying Phoenix's map, which could lead him to numerous relics and magical caves. However, most of these places were too low-level for his current strength. Zhang Nu did not need to engage in conquering the area personally. Being a Level 5 Demon King, he was beyond the necessity of handling such matters. Yet, considering that the Succubus Queen, who was also a Level 5 Demon King, could not handle it, the location's difficulty was intriguing. At the very least, it would not be lower than that of a Level 5 monarch, making it a place of significant exploration value.

With this in mind, Zhang Nu promptly arranged a meeting with Han Kexin. He decided to discuss this expedition further to explore the possibility of collaboration between the two powerful Demon Kings."