Beneath the towering World Tree, an endless tide of Gluttony monsters surged. In the sky, Elmin Salion looked nervously at the seven Demon Lord species opposite him, while Flora and the others calmly gazed at Angelica beside them.
The next second, Angelica reached into the massive Justice and pulled out a fist-sized, ice-blue slime.
"Angelica, what's wrong?"
Lu Minghao opened his eyes, looking at his seven Demon Lord species subordinates in front of him and Elmin Salion in the distance, who was looking at them warily. After a brief sensing, he realized that the Magic Dynasty, besides the handsome man with the appearance of an elf, also had two Demon Lord species-level existences.
However, this bit of power was not a difficult enemy for Angelica and the others now. So, what did they call him here for?
Could it be that they wanted him to have a snack?
"Master, the Magic Dynasty intends to submit to you."
Angelica looked at the Lu Minghao in her hand with a pious expression, a slight smile on her lips. For Angelica, who had been raised as a saintess since childhood, although she had now become Lu Minghao's subordinate, the kindness and gentleness in her heart still remained.
Moreover, this Magic Dynasty still had nearly seventy million citizens, who, in Angelica's view, were all Lu Minghao's most perfect believers.
"Submit to me?"
Lu Minghao turned his head to look at Elmin Salion and the many citizens within the Divine Tree Capital behind him. In Lu Minghao's eyes, these were nothing more than nutrients for his growth. As for submitting, Lu Minghao really didn't need it.
"However..."
The next second, Lu Minghao looked at Angelica, who was smiling at him. Lu Minghao had long known clearly that Angelica still possessed a kind and gentle heart. Angelica was doing this now only to give the citizens of the Magic Dynasty a chance to live.
Although Angelica would perfectly execute his orders with just a word from Lu Minghao, he still had a trace of concern for his subordinates.
Of course, most importantly, it didn't seem like there would be much loss in having the Magic Dynasty submit. The reason he had Angelica and the others destroy the Magic Dynasty in the first place was only because the Magic Dynasty was the weakest kingdom near the Gluttony Kingdom, and its geographical location was also surrounded by the sea on three sides, with the only exit completely sealed off by the Gluttony Kingdom.
It could be said that the Magic Dynasty at that time was already meat delivered to Lu Minghao's mouth, so there was no reason not to eat it.
"Angelica, do whatever you want to do."
The next second, a hint of a smile appeared on Lu Minghao's round body. A mere Magic Dynasty and seventy million citizens were nothing to Lu Minghao now. As long as the Magic Dynasty was incorporated into the Gluttony Kingdom, Lu Minghao didn't care about the rest.
After all, from beginning to end, the Magic Dynasty was nothing more than something delivered to Lu Minghao's mouth to be eaten casually.
"Yes, Master."
After hearing Lu Minghao's words, a sweet smile appeared on Angelica's lips. Then, she looked at the commoners in the Divine Tree Capital, who accounted for the vast majority of the population. They would all be like the citizens in the Gluttony Kingdom who had been eroded by the Gluttony Sin, with parts of their bodies mutated, but still retaining their sanity.
They would become citizens of the Gluttony Kingdom and believe in Lu Minghao.
"Alright, I still have things to do on my main body's side. I'll leave the rest to you."
After saying that, Lu Minghao transferred his consciousness away from the clone. As for what Angelica was going to do next, Lu Minghao already knew clearly. After all, the Gluttony Kingdom had nearly one hundred million humans and monsters. Under the erosion of the Gluttony Sin, they had not mutated into Gluttony monsters, but they had also not perfectly integrated into the Gluttony Sin like Angelica and the others.
They were only in between the two, somewhat similar to the Aberrants in the novels Lu Minghao had read before his reincarnation, who gradually fused with chaotic, twisted power and gradually became stronger. Each time they became stronger, there was the possibility of completely mutating due to the erosion of the Gluttony Sin's power.
For Lu Minghao, these humans and monsters were just a part of the food reserves. However, unlike the Gluttony monsters, they still possessed rationality and could provide a little vitality to the Gluttony Kingdom. In addition, these Aberrants who still possessed rationality could also reproduce normally.
However, the offspring they reproduced were naturally eroded by the Gluttony Sin, and they might be born as monsters or Aberrants similar to their parents, but Lu Minghao didn't care. Anyway, they were all his backup food.
In his opinion, these Aberrants were like the cattle and sheep raised by humans. Usually, he would let them grow and expand their numbers at will. When he needed them, he would devour them all cleanly. And most importantly, they possessed rationality, so he didn't need to spend the effort to take care of them like humans herding cattle and sheep.
Therefore, in the situation where the Magic Dynasty's submission didn't have much meaning to him, Lu Minghao also agreed to let Angelica do as she wanted. Anyway, it was just turning the citizens of the Magic Dynasty from backup food into grazing 'cattle and sheep'.
Moreover, as time passed, these 'cattle and sheep' could not only become a part of the future combat power to destroy other kingdoms, but also provide more nutrients when he devoured them, and the number of souls harvested would be greater. It was completely a win-win business.
Perhaps, among them, there would be a few perfectly adapted individuals like Angelica and the others, becoming tools that he could reuse.
"Elmin Salion, now that Master has agreed to your submission, next..."
After Lu Minghao's consciousness left, Angelica carefully put the Lu Minghao clone in her hand back into its original position. Then, she raised her head and looked at Elmin Salion opposite her with a smile. Since they had chosen to submit, they had to give up resistance.
"I understand. From today onwards, all the people of the Magic Dynasty submit to Master."
Elmin Salion looked at the seven Demon Lord species, including Angelica, and the endless army of Gluttony monsters below. After a few seconds of silence, he waved his hand to let all the citizens of the Magic Dynasty behind him give up resistance. After all, they had no power to resist at all.
Not to mention the seven Demon Lord species in front of him and the endless army of Gluttony monsters below, the existence that Angelica had just called Master was most likely a True Demon Lord who had already awakened, although he had never heard of this existence.
But that was not an existence that the Magic Dynasty could resist. In addition, after knowing that the Magic Dynasty was about to submit to a True Demon Lord, Elmin Salion's last trace of unwillingness disappeared, because this was a world where the weak were prey to the strong.
"Then let's begin."
Looking at the Magic Dynasty that had completely submitted, Angelica and the others smiled softly, but they did not have the slightest idea of being careless because of this. They all took out the Lu Minghao clones in their hands, and the endless Gluttony Sin instantly eroded all the remaining territory of the Magic Dynasty.
In the royal capital, the citizens of the Magic Dynasty at this time looked around in horror. The originally ordinary ground, houses, and even various plants all seemed to come alive. A large amount of flesh and blood grew on the stone ground, and the wooden houses grew huge mouths full of fangs and terrifying pupils...
Besides everything happening around them, many citizens of the Magic Dynasty found themselves also beginning to mutate. Bizarre, twisted whispers echoed in their minds, and the skin, flesh, and hair on their bodies began to twist as if possessing their own consciousness.
Some Magic Dynasty soldiers, whose bodies had already been largely corrupted by the Gluttony Sin during the previous battles, rapidly proliferated, swelled, and mutated into indescribable Gluttony monsters before the horrified eyes of their companions.
In just a few minutes, at least one-third of the Magic Dynasty's original seventy million citizens had mutated into Gluttony monsters. This was only because Angelica had deliberately reduced the Gluttony Sin's influence on them. Otherwise, at least ninety-nine percent of the entire Magic Dynasty would have become Gluttony monsters by now.
"...Lady Angelica, please..."
In the air, Elmin Sarion looked at the mutated citizens within the Divine Tree Capital behind him. Their indescribable appearances and mournful howls caused him, who thought he was prepared, to feel a sense of suffocation. This feeling of watching his own people mutate and being powerless to do anything... forced him to plead with Angelica.
At least... at least let those who haven't mutated yet be spared from harm.
"Rest assured."
Angelica glanced at Elmin Sarion, who was passively accepting the Gluttony Sin's corruption, with a gentle smile. Then, with a thought, the Magic Dynasty citizens who had already mutated into Gluttony monsters departed and became members of the Gluttony Army.
"Angelica, did Master say which kingdom we should destroy next?"
At this moment, Flora, with her hands behind her head, looked at Angelica with excitement. For a demon craving destruction, battle, and slaughter, Flora's greatest desire was to completely destroy this world.
"No, Master told us not to casually destroy the remaining kingdoms for now. However, if you're bored, Flora, you can go help Nina."
Angelica turned to look at Flora and the others. Before leaving, Lu Minghao told her that after destroying the Magic Dynasty, they needed to remain quiet for a while, as the remaining kingdoms near the Gluttony Nation all possessed top-tier experts.
As for the Jura Forest, Lu Minghao still needed Rimuru, his beloved friend, as a scapegoat to attract attention. Therefore, if Angelica and the others were bored, they could either go find Nina to cause trouble for the Eastern Empire or stay within the Gluttony Nation and await Lu Minghao's summons.
"Then I'll pass."
After hearing Angelica's words, Flora shook her head. After all, she was different from Nina, who had completely integrated into Lu Minghao's Abyss of Evil and could be resurrected at will. Although she craved battle and destruction, she had no desire to die at the moment.
"Then, I'll go play first."
In the next second, Flora turned and flew towards the Gluttony Nation. She remembered the few human children she had encountered when destroying the Yst Kingdom. At the time, she had deliberately spared them when destroying that town, and now Flora planned to go play with them.
Beside her, Edras and the others also turned and left after seeing Flora leave. They were going to gather all the mutated beings within the Gluttony Nation, as it was easier to manage and increase the number of cattle and sheep when they were kept together.
"Elmin Sarion, can you take me to see what's below?"
After Edras and the others had all left, Angelica turned to look at Elmin Sarion, who was barely maintaining his human form under the Gluttony Sin's corruption, with a smile. Now that he had been corrupted by the Gluttony Sin, he posed no threat to Angelica, who was Lu Minghao's subordinate.
"Yes, Lady Angelica."
With the wriggling of his skin and flesh, Elmin Sarion returned to his previous handsome appearance and led Angelica towards the Divine Tree Capital behind them. From now on, they were all citizens (cattle and sheep) of the Gluttony Nation.
......
Meanwhile, on the other side, a group of new guests arrived at the underground cavern in the Lizardmen territory in the center of the Jura Forest.
"Is this the Lizardmen's territory?"
In the dim cave, Rimuru, riding a Tempest Wolf, looked around with nostalgia. The humid and dark environment reminded him of the cave where he was born. There, he met his first friend after being reincarnated, the Storm Dragon Veldora, and they gave each other names as a testament to their friendship.
"Lord Rimuru, something seems off with these Lizardmen?"
At this moment, Benimaru, riding a Tempest Wolf member, approached Rimuru and said softly. As the next leader of the ogre village in the south of the Jura Forest, Benimaru knew a little about the Lizardmen's personality and strength.
However, the Lizardmen soldiers they had seen since entering the underground cavern were completely different from the Lizardmen soldiers Benimaru remembered. The arrogant, narcissistic personality of the Lizardmen soldiers had completely disappeared.
Benimaru had been prepared to be ridiculed after they arrived at the Lizardmen's territory, but now every Lizardmen soldier they saw gave them a cold look, without the slightest intention of ridicule. In fact, these Lizardmen soldiers gave Benimaru the feeling of being the most elite army, iron-blooded, indifferent, and strictly disciplined.
"Benimaru, what's wrong?"
Rimuru asked curiously after hearing Benimaru's words. In fact, after seeing the appearance of those Lizardmen soldiers just now, Rimuru breathed a sigh of relief, as their iron-blooded appearance completely dispelled Rimuru's worries that these Lizardmen soldiers would have the same thoughts as Gabiru.
With these elite Lizardmen soldiers, their chances of winning the war against the orcs would be greatly increased.
"These Lizardmen are completely different from those I've seen before."
Benimaru turned to look at the Lizardmen soldiers walking not far away. Their neat ranks, strong muscles, and iron-blooded, indifferent aura completely exceeded Benimaru's impression of the Lizardmen.
"Are you Rimuru?"
At this moment, a Lizardmen soldier nearly two meters tall with bulging muscles and wearing black armor walked in front of Rimuru and the others, his cold eyes looking at them through his helmet.
"Yes, I am Rimuru."
"Okay, please follow me, the leader is waiting for you."
After saying that, the Lizardmen soldier turned and walked towards the cave where Lu Minghao was. Seeing this, Rimuru and the others exchanged glances and followed. When they walked outside the cave, Rimuru and the others' expressions became serious under Gobta's confused gaze.
In the next second, terrifying pressure crashed down on Rimuru and the others like an avalanche, but it disappeared in an instant. The tightly closed stone door slowly opened, and three figures were waiting for them inside.
