Luo Su sneered at this.
"..."
The Black Snake was silenced.
The Yan Country had long practiced a system of one husband, one wife, and multiple concubines in ancient times.
This meant that the nobles, who possessed the most resources, could easily spread their genes a bit too much.
It was indeed pointless to talk about bloodlines with the Yan Country people.
"Alright, since you've decided to speak, then you're my Pokémon."
Luo Su looked at the dumbfounded Black Snake, quickly pulled out a notebook from his pocket, and handed it to the Black Snake.
"Quickly tell me how Grand Duke Baikal and Viscount Kerk are preparing to instigate the Ursus-Yan War, and provide the evidence. Oh, and I remember you have a lot of inheritance too, give me your bank account and resource storage addresses."
He was too lazy to bother.
In reality, his schedule was very full.
Although he said he was going to Victoria for the Wall-facers' conference soon, he had taken money from Raiden Ryoma, talismans from Valon, and owed Skadi a favor due to Victoria's investigation.
This meant that in the coming period, he had to meet with Raiden Ryoma, help Valon plan his criminal empire, and try to help Skadi deal with the cultists tailing her... He was actually very busy and had no time to chat about noble etiquette with this old bastard.
"Oh, Your Excellency Viscount Luo Su, do you think these demands are reasonable?"
Looking at the seemingly anxious young man, the Black Snake in mid-air actually recovered some of his spirits.
Oh.
In Talulah's memory, Luo Su, who had always been at ease and aloof, was actually showing such an ungraceful, greedy side?
Connecting this to Victoria's predicament and the stable political situation in Yan, a smile appeared on the Black Snake's face.
So that's how it is, you're not doing so well either.
Indeed, it would be strange if everything went smoothly when one was simultaneously deploying in three empires.
"You want to take over more than half of the Grand Duke's territory and the Third Army Group without paying any price. Don't you think that's too preposterous?"
The misty great snake said so.
Luo Su remained silent, only grabbing a mouse in front of him.
With a slightly puzzled expression on the Black Snake's face, the man sneered and activated his newest skill.
Flesh Distortion. Taste Buds Proliferation!!!
With the activation of the skill, Luo Su's handsome face instantly turned pale.
An unusual aura permeated the air, and an extremely ominous feeling arose in the Black Snake's heart.
"Your Excellency, what are you doing?"
"You've got one thing wrong—"
"I'm not negotiating with you; I'm threatening you."
Luo Su placed the kunai and the mouse together, making a declaration that made even the Black Snake tremble.
"If you don't give me what I want, I'll stuff your soul into this mouse's body, whose stomach and intestines are covered in taste buds!!"
Chapter 39: Black Snake, give me the gold!
The Red Dragon's power was fire, and its royal family was a natural disaster. In the face of that despairing flame, even cities would be burned to ashes.
The Nightmare's ability was the fear domain. When they charged in groups, riding warhorses, the ocean of fear could easily destroy the minds of the Deity.
The Blood Demon Grand Duke could be described as extremely perverse and cruel; he could easily transform enemies into his servants, becoming an army of one.
As an existence.
Koschei had witnessed many types of Originium Arts.
It believed that no matter how sinister the Originium Arts in this world were, they were no more than those of the Sarkaz Royal Court.
But—
Luo Su... looking at the screaming mouse, even the Black Snake fell into a long silence.
From a rational perspective, he could suspect that Luo Su's words were a deception.
Because, while a person's Originium Arts might have different uses, they generally stayed within one domain.
For example, Talulah could manipulate fire and magma, but definitely not ice.
Frost Snow could conjure blizzards out of thin air and forcibly freeze enemies, but she definitely couldn't manipulate fire.
Because the direction of their Originium Arts was decided from the very beginning.
Ice and fire.
The Black Snake had seen Luo Su's Originium Arts through Talulah; they were a mental type, consistent with its own. The difference was that he leaned towards guiding cognition, while it focused on consciousness transfer.
Creating taste buds on a mouse's large intestine was undoubtedly an ability of the physical modification series.
It couldn't be said to have no connection with the mental type; it could only be said to be completely unrelated.
Logically speaking, Luo Su was definitely deceiving him.
Only—
Looking at Luo Su's face, what appeared in the Black Snake's mind was not the almost invincible cognitive distortion in a one-on-one fight, but the halberd thrusting upwards... A phantom pain struck, making the Black Snake instinctively clench its legs.
That strike undoubtedly had the 'guaranteed hit' attribute, which was also clearly unrelated to the mental type... Furthermore, while consciousness restraint was within the scope of mental abilities, the distance between it and logical distortion was as vast as two different domains... Luo Su had already displayed Originium Arts from three different domains.
"...As you wish, I will provide you with all the help I can."
This Black Snake was silent for a moment, then yielded.
For hundreds of years, this was perhaps the first time it had directly raised a white flag without any thought of resistance.
"Oh, how much assets do you still have?"
Luo Su quickly put away the kunai.
Luo Su was actually bluffing.
His abilities were actually only two: cognitive distortion and gungnir.
The armament for restraining souls was something he had obtained through Hui Hui from the Crimson Demon Clan chief. He knew nothing about the technique of soul restraint.
He did have the Sheep Talisman, an item that could target souls, but due to his limited knowledge of mysticism, that talisman didn't have much room to shine.
He just felt that with such a malicious skill, it would be a pity not to use it to coerce others.
So, he simply put on a show.
Judging from the Black Snake's performance, it worked quite well.
I'm truly a little genius.
Luo Su gave himself a thumbs up.
Then, he very straightforwardly handed a small notebook and pen to Koschei.
Koschei quickly filled it with information. Luo Su picked it up, looked, and then frowned.
"Why is there only information about Grand Duke Baikal and Viscount Kerk? Where are your assets?"
Could this be an attempt to defy him, who possessed the power of Flesh Distortion?!!
The young man sneered, once again raising the kunai and the mouse.
Koschei's mouth twitched. Talulah wasn't even this righteous when she asked him for money.
"I am merely Koschei... not the complete Black Snake."
"Strictly speaking, I cannot even fully control Koschei's inheritance—when I 'died,' other 'Black Snakes' took over my position of power."
"All I can give you is information about Grand Duke Baikal and Viscount Kerk."
Koschei spoke.
The young man opposite remained silent, but his hand seemed to be gradually reaching for the kunai in his pocket.
Koschei felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.
Luo Su seemed to be using the Originium kunai as a staff, which meant he was about to continue casting Originium Arts.
Whether that guy was going to perform a divine declaration or a soul-binding-into-mouse trick next, it would be a terrifying ordeal for Koschei.
"Please don't be so impatient. Although I have lost Koschei's domain, I still have certain connections with some officials and nobles. I believe securing ten mines for you should still be within my capabilities."
Under the pressure of 'chrysanthemum full of mountains' and 'enjoying the beauty of Lao Ba,' Koschei burst out with a strong will to survive.
Hmm, very good.
Ten more mines.
Gold, like water in a sponge, always yields some when squeezed.
Luo Su put away the kunai with satisfaction, feeling as cheerful as a farmer seeing a Nigga passionately working in a cotton field.
But speaking of which, will there be ten more mines all at once?
Ah... Naruto can handle one, and the Shadow Legion given by Valon can handle one or two.
What about the remaining mines?
Luo Su fell into a happy dilemma.
Seeing the joyful expression on Luo Su's face, Koschei breathed a sigh of relief, and a sense of exhaustion emerged. The things it had encountered today were more troublesome than all the unpleasant things it had encountered in the past few centuries combined.
[Ah, it feels like you're becoming Koschei's psychological trauma]
The prompter sent a message.
Luo Su thought that was quite normal. First, he took thirteen 'Thousand Years of Death' attacks, then was forcibly arrested as a Pokémon, and now was threatened by him into spilling all his gold. If Koschei had any good feelings towards him, then one could only suspect if Koschei had some problem with his XP.
[The advantage of this is that, in the short term, Koschei probably won't dare to confront you, but the disadvantage is that you will also find it difficult to get its full assistance—this old thing knows Ursus inside out. If you try to deal with Grand Duke Baikal, at most you can only ruin the debts and swallow a small portion of that Grand Duke's assets, because you are not the only noble in Chernobog. If you want to swallow everything, you'd have to kill all the other nobles.]
[But if you do that, you'd simply be treating the people of Saint Junta Fortress as monkeys—if all the nobles in the city die and only you remain, and you've swallowed a bunch of noble assets, then you'll probably be wanted by Ursus. At that point, you'll likely have to go to another world, otherwise you won't have a good outcome.]
[However, if you let this old slithering snake handle it, it can allow you to swallow all of Viscount Kerk's assets and at least 60% of Grand Duke Baikal's assets.]
My goodness, 60% of Grand Duke Baikal's assets?!!
Luo Su whipped his head around, looking at the Black Snake with a burning gaze.
That gaze made the Black Snake's heart skip a beat.
No, what new trick is this bastard trying to pull now?
Chapter 40: My Black Snake, threatened, crying and making a fuss, so pitiful.
"Your Excellency Black Snake, as the will of the Ursus nation, you must be able to directly swallow all of Grand Duke Baikal's assets, right?"
The young man's eyes were more fervent than ever before.
The Black Snake gasped sharply.
Swallowing all of a Grand Duke's assets in one go.
Is this guy even speaking human language?!!
Since the reforms of the former emperor, Ursus's martial prowess had soared to a degree that made surrounding nations uneasy.
However, the current emperor was not adept at centralizing power, which directly led to a large number of armies falling into the hands of great nobles, and Grand Duke Baikal was a typical example of this.