The Invincible Overlord of Heroes.

One by one, when everyone bowed down before Xu Lai, Xu Lai's identity as the king of the underground was no longer in doubt.

"Everyone, please stand up. Since everyone is willing to serve me as king, there is no reason for me to not give you face.

From now on, we are all one family.

We are one family and we won’t talk behind each other’s backs. From now on, everyone in the dungeon, including you and your people, will be under my protection.

I cannot guarantee your absolute safety, but I can guarantee that I will help you get justice if you are wronged.

The so-called justice is that you don't start trouble first.

As you all know, I belong to the Empire. The Empire, the Ramparts, and the Towers are all my allies.

As for them, as long as it is not you who initiated the incident, I will definitely help you get justice if you are bullied.

The rest of the factions, I can promise to protect you, but only when the dungeon is invaded.

If you invade someone else's territory and get bullied, don't say I don't care about you."

“Your Excellency Xu Lai is overthinking. Although we have the habit of looting in our dungeon, from now on, we will never take the initiative to loot humans and elves again.

Moreover, although we often rob others, we never occupy other people's places.

We are a special dungeon race. We cannot survive on the ground for a long time, so we usually just grab a handful and leave. We don’t like to invade.”

Jones explained humbly.

"Mister Mage, since you have already recognized my Lord's status, it seems inappropriate to address you as Your Excellency."

When Jones finished speaking, Gillon immediately added.

Jones smiled awkwardly: "If that's the case, it's really not appropriate to call you Your Excellency. I wonder if my king has a title?"

Xu Lai shook his head. He actually didn't think that things would go so smoothly.

He was prepared for the first round of negotiations to break down, but he didn't want these dungeon dwellers to lose even the courage to resist because of a small friction.

Of course, if they submit to themselves so easily, it must not be that difficult for them to submit to others.

When the next person stronger than Xu Lai appears, these guys may not hesitate at all and immediately kneel down to make others kneel down again.

"We can talk about the account ban later. Let's set the rules first." Xu Lai thought for a while and said.

Several people looked at each other and said in unison: "It's up to our king's orders."

Xu Lai coughed but didn't say anything. Instead, he signaled Jilong with his eyes.

The previous submission was only superficial. He just knelt and bowed to Xu Lai, and it didn't cost him anything. There was no actual loss.

But what we are going to talk about next are practical interests, and the two sides may fall out at any time.

In this case, it is still not appropriate for Xu Lai to leave directly, lest he has no room for maneuver in the end.

Before Xu Lai, he had never considered letting Ji Long be his spokesperson, but as Xu Lai's assistant, Ji Long knew a lot of things.

Otherwise, in such an occasion, Xu Lai would not have signaled Jilong to speak on his behalf.

Jilong nodded in understanding and cleared his throat with a cough.

His cough successfully attracted the attention of others.

"Ahem, my lord's intention is to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties before respecting the king, so as to avoid any trouble in the future."

"That's right, that's right," Jones responded quickly.

"Why not just follow Queen Massage Lil's old system? Everyone is familiar with it anyway." Bull-Head King Gordon slapped his thigh and said.

"Cough cough cough..."

"Cough...cough..."

Suddenly, coughing sounds were heard inside and outside the tent.

People who don’t know might think that there is some acute infectious disease here.

"How can the new king continue to use the old system? Gordon, if you don't understand, you can just shut your mouth."

Queen Medusa, who had been relatively silent, couldn't help but confront Gordon.

Morrell's exploitation was so cruel that everyone present, even Jones, the tribal leader, could not stand it, let alone the tribal leaders of various tribes.

They finally got rid of a queen, and if a new one comes, they won’t be able to survive.

Gordon was not stupid, he certainly knew how cruelly Morrell had exploited him.

It’s just that their Tauren tribe has always been more cooperative, and their racial characteristics are to charge ahead and never retreat.

Because of Morrell, countless people from the Tauren tribe died.

Not to mention the distant past, just when Xu Lai brought Rena to wreak havoc in the dungeon, the Tauren tribe had just lost a chieftain, Dais, in battle.

Therefore, the Minotaur tribe is actually more cared for by Moril and is treated better, even better than the Evil Eye and Medusa tribes.

The reason why Gordon proposed to use the old system was not only because he wanted to repay Xu Lai for saving his life, but also mainly because the old system was more beneficial to the Tauren tribe.

Although according to Morrill's tax collection method, it is still considered a harsh policy.

But as long as Xu Lai doesn't let a large number of Tauren tribe members die in battle, they will be able to accumulate more resources than other tribes.

If any unexpected events occur in the future, their Tauren tribe might be able to rise up strongly.

After all, it is unlikely that outsiders can occupy the underground city for a long time.

Just like the people in the dungeon who only like to plunder and not occupy, the above-ground and underground are two completely different lifestyles.

The simplest thing is that the cavemen have evolved so much that they have lost their eyes and are extremely afraid of sunlight. How can they survive on the ground?

The same goes for the people on the ground, except for freaks like Xu Lai, who can sweep the entire underground city alone with only a few guards.

If the rest of the people want to occupy the underground city, they must station a large number of soldiers.

If these people are kept away from sunlight for a long time and forced to live underground, it won't take long for their morale to collapse.

“I also don’t agree with using the old system. Queen Moril is too oppressive to her fellow dungeons, and she doesn’t treat the tribes fairly.

But after all, Moril was born in a pure dungeon, and she had the support of the Red Dragon King and the Black Dragon King.

Our tribes have been rebelling against the Dragon Queen for years, but we have never succeeded.

If my king continues to use Muriel's old system, I'm afraid the underworld will never be peaceful for a moment."

The harpy queen Loria also said.

Seeing that everyone disagreed, Jilong smiled and waved his hand:
"Please don't misunderstand me, my lord has never said that he would continue to use the old system of Moril.

Your Excellency's intention is that we should discuss together and come up with a plan that satisfies both parties and can achieve long-term peace in the future."

Jones shook his head silently in his heart. No matter what, Xu Lai was the exploiting party. How could there be lasting peace?

Don't say that Xu Lai is the exploiting party. Even if he has too much money to spend and instead uses it to support the underground city, the people in the underground city will only think that Xu Lai is weak and easy to bully.

Therefore, there is no such thing as lasting peace.

But this cannot be said openly.

"Mr. Jilong is right. Why don't you come up with a plan first and let us discuss it."

Jilong chuckled and said, "This is not appropriate. If I propose a plan, it will seem like we are oppressing you. You should speak first."

If I bring it up first, I will lose the initiative. Especially in the current situation, losing the initiative is not a wise choice.

Neither Xu Lai nor Ji Long knew how much Morrell collected.

If the offer is too low, it may cause dissatisfaction among Xu Lai. If the offer is too high and the negotiations break down, Xu Lai will still be dissatisfied.

Therefore, in Jilong's position, speaking first is the most disadvantageous choice. "The major tribes have been oppressed by Moril for a long time, and there have been, uh, misunderstandings during this period.

Moreover, the Southern Empire will not let us go and is constantly retaliating against us. The tribes really don’t have much to offer.”

Jilong smiled and said, “Once the misunderstanding is resolved, there will be no more misunderstandings.

As far as I know, the Southern Empire's revenge on you is entirely due to your looting in the Southern Empire.

We have no suitable reason to dissuade this just war.

However, after the misunderstanding between you and me is resolved, you can also focus on fighting against the Southern Empire, right?"

Yeah? Isn't it?

Jones just wanted to use this as an excuse. In fact, the Southern Empire is not important at all.

The people of the Southern Empire were not very courageous to begin with, and this time they launched an attack on the underground city out of an explanation to the people.

Even though it was constantly taking advantage, the Southern Empire still did not dare to go deeper.

After all, they didn't know the actual situation of the dungeon, and the news of Moriel's death was known to at least the middle and high-level officials in the dungeon.

It can be said that as long as those who return to the underground city concentrate their efforts on causing trouble for the Southern Empire, the other party will definitely not dare to stay for long and will quickly return to the ground.

Anyway, they have already gained enough advantage and can explain to either side. If they go back, they will be injured for meritorious service. Why should they stay in this dark dungeon any longer?

"That being said, we cannot create wealth out of thin air. Could you please allow us to recover our strength first according to the actual situation?"

"Queen Moril is indeed a bit harsh, and we are not unreasonable.

But there is one thing I don't understand. Queen Moril has been killed by us. Could it be that the resources she has exploited over the years have just disappeared out of thin air?"

Moril's space ring is big, especially the one that can hold unlimited gold coins and rare resources.

But after all, these were also what Moril brought out, and she must have countless resources that she could not or was unwilling to bring out.

There is no need to think about these things. After Morrell's death was confirmed, they must have been divided up by these powerful people.

However, since Morrell's resources are unevenly distributed, they will not be divided equally among these people.

If it weren't for the external factor of Xu Lai, these people would have already started fighting over the resources left by Muriel.

There was constant quarreling below, but Xu Lai sat firmly on the Diaoyutai, resting his chin on his hand, not saying a word.

The dungeon was crowded with people, chattering and noisy.

Xu Lai's side seemed much weaker, as only Jilong was present in the negotiations.

However, Jilong's voice alone was enough to drown out these dozens of people.

It’s all because Xu Lai is standing behind Jilong, so Jilong’s confidence is extremely strong.

Every time the dungeon dwellers made excuses, Jilong ruthlessly exposed them.

But even though Jilong became more and more excited as he spoke, Xu Lai could not allow him to continue talking indefinitely.

The people in the dungeon just now have proposed to double the share of supply to the empire before, that is, 400 million gold coins per year, plus 10 units of rare resources.

Gold coins are nothing, the main thing is rare resources, especially gems, crystals and other rare resources that are more expensive in the empire.

Even if we only take the average price into account, the amount of gold coins that the dungeon brings to the empire every year is equivalent to about 1 million gold coins.

If it doubles, it will be worth at least 20 million. The key is that even if you have money, you may not have a place to buy it.

However, Jilong rejected such a proposal without even a second thought. He was also from a minor noble family and valued reputation far less than practical benefits.

After this proposal was easily rejected, everyone in the dungeon realized that it would be difficult to impress Jilong without coming up with something substantial, so they proposed the idea of ​​doubling the money again.

Since the tribute was doubled so easily, Jilong certainly wanted to make further efforts.

It was at this time that Xu Lai interrupted them.

I have to interrupt them. If I let them continue chatting, I don't know how much the gold coins and rare resources will increase.

The key point is that Xu Lai has no idea when his existing resources will be used up, and Muriel also gave him a terrible gift.

No matter how many resources you have accumulated, if you fail in a battle, you may just become a burden to others, just like what happened to Muriel.

Therefore, the core thing Xu Lai needs to supply is not gold coins and resources, but warriors.

“Gold coins and resources are just symbolic things. I don’t need too much, and I don’t want you and your tribe to encounter any difficulties because of me.

Let’s put it this way, as for gold coins and resources, we will follow the previous empire’s practice, which is still 200 million and 5 units of rare resources.

However, I have requirements for rare resources. The main part should be gems, and the secondary part should be crystals. If you really can't get them all together, adding a little mercury shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Sir..." Jilong stood up and hesitated to speak.

He had managed to raise the tribute to nearly 8 million, and Xu Lai sent it back in one breath.

Although no matter how much Xu Lai asked for, it was what he deserved.

But if that were the case, then all his verbal sparring just now would have been in vain.

Jilong was unhappy, but the others were all smiling and answered happily that there was absolutely no problem.

However, Xu Lai smiled and waved to Jilong, signaling him to sit down and be patient.

"Don't rush to agree, I haven't finished what I'm saying yet."

Of course everyone knew that Xu Lai had something else to say, otherwise who would give up the money and resources they had obtained?

“I have a map here where I’ve marked some buildings.

You all know that I can't stay underground forever, otherwise I wouldn't need you.

So, I would like to ask you to help me spread this map.

Whoever owns the buildings above will be asked to help me recruit the warriors in the buildings and send them to Mingyue City in the middle of each month.

Mingyue City, do you know where it is? It's where Moril fell. If you don't know, I'll have someone mark it on the map.

In return, I will also open an underground market in Mingyue City, selling resources that are not needed on the ground, such as sulfur, mercury, etc.

Soldiers, equipment, treasures, and anything that doesn’t fit on the ground can also be placed here.”

Everyone was very familiar with the map that Xu Lai spread on the ground, as some of them had it hanging in their homes.

On this huge map, Xu Lai drew nearly a hundred circles of various sizes.

But the good news is that these circles seem to be in the wild, and almost all of them are unoccupied wild buildings, which obviously do not look like the dungeon’s own barracks.

Everyone silently calculated that there were only about a hundred buildings in these circles of varying sizes.

Recruiting soldiers for these buildings is also a huge expense.

But in comprehensive comparison, it is probably much more cost-effective than 800 million gold coins and 20 units of rare resources per year.

Moreover, Xu Lai also promised to open up bilateral trade and exchange resources above ground and underground.

Even the dumbest person knows how much profit is hidden here. Maybe after completing the share handed over to Xu Lai, they can even make some money.

So, everyone lowered their heads and communicated with their eye contact for a while, and without any prior agreement, they all agreed to Xu Lai's conditions.

"Then let's draft a tribute treaty, put all of this into the treaty, and announce it."

People in the dungeon may not care much about reputation, but these are all well-known people.

In addition, Xu Lai's demands were not excessive, and the other party's strength was there, so there was certainly no need to go back on their word, so they all signed the new treaty in Jilong.

"After signing, let's ask those people outside to sign as well. They are all city lords and clan leaders." (End of this chapter)