This Lich is a Better Landlord Chapter 91

Back in the Underdark, Withered Rose was clearly in high spirits. Although her trip hadn't yielded any substantial material gains, fighting a war against the Ryan Empire and slaughtering quite a few Paladins was enough to keep her in a good mood for a long time.

However, regarding Ambrose, things hadn't quite worked out the way her best friend had predicted. There was no love at first sight.

Where exactly did it go wrong? She had even delivered the Phylactery. Which step was missing?

Before returning, Withered Rose had a long chat with the eldest Miss Bone Dragon, only to receive a single sentence in response: "You didn't fall in love at first sight either, did you? Otherwise, you would have tied him up and dragged him home long ago."

It made so much sense that Withered Rose was left speechless. She probably wouldn't understand what love was in this lifetime. She blamed it on never having experienced it when she was alive; after becoming undead, she no longer had a heart to feel with.

Still, Ambrose was worth winning over. Knowing the current situation, Withered Rose intended to suggest that Ambrose move.

Naturally, moving directly to the Underdark would be best; it was a paradise for the undead. However, she couldn't bring this up herself, as it might make Ambrose suspicious. Infighting among the undead was often more intense than among the living. The living only killed for money, but the undead had uses for each other's souls.

It would be more appropriate to wait until Ambrose accepted the idea of moving before suggesting the Underdark.

Ambrose was indeed considering relocation. Now that he had a massive private space, moving wasn't difficult; he could just stuff his valuable items inside and leave.

But finding a place to rebuild a castle wouldn't be a quick task.

He had poured a lot of effort into designing this castle. Every laboratory and storage room had specific requirements—ventilation, lighting, soundproofing, and containment. Building it hadn't been a matter of brute force; many details required slow, meticulous work. Rebuilding would be incredibly troublesome.

Ambrose sent a message in the group chat: [Moving is an option, but rebuilding a laboratory is too much of a hassle. It would take at least a few years.]

Withered Rose thought to herself, *That's perfect.* In the Underdark, she could help him build whatever laboratory he wanted. The Deep Gnomes were excellent craftsmen, and if they weren't enough, there were the Gray Dwarves and Drow. These races had plenty of skilled artisans; building a lab would be trivial.

But before Withered Rose could offer her suggestion, someone else in the group chimed in.

[Hates Humans: Why run? Where are you going to find a place where undead can survive easily these days? The City of Alchemy is entering a chaotic era; you should take this opportunity to expand your territory. You're a Lich, are you afraid you can't outlast Dwarves and Elves in a war of attrition? If you can't win in the end, you can run then. You're a Lich; as long as your Phylactery is hidden, you can do whatever the hell you want.]

Withered Rose wanted to tear this vampire apart.

Seeing this argument, Ambrose fell into deep thought.

Right, why should he run? Although the Golden Kingdom of Salokmar was ruled by Desert Dwarves, they also practiced a policy of great integration. Their level of openness and tolerance wasn't much different from the City of Alchemy, they just weren't as rich.

Besides, Ambrose had zero affection for those Bean Sprouts from the Silvermoon High Court. If they were coming to seize territory, he had to leave them some "goodies" at the very least.

Now that Ambrose had this private space, his safety was much more assured. He could consider wrestling with the elves. If worse came to worst, he could still flee.

Thus, Ambrose immediately replied: [You're right. I can't let those Bean Sprouts get comfortable.]

[Hates Humans: It's not just the Elves. The Desert Dwarves aren't any better. Take them all out together!]

[Crown of the Headless Knight: Aren't you a Desert Dwarf yourself?]

[Hates Humans: I am a vampire. After reincarnating as a vampire, I have nothing to do with my previous race. I could say you're human, but the Ryan Empire still hunts you down all the same!]

Reading this, an image involuntarily floated into Ambrose's mind.

In the misty night, moonlight spilled onto an elegant black tuxedo, reflecting a cold, quiet light off the exquisite silver threads. Deep crimson eyes emerged as the legendary vampire slowly approached... but he was stout, and he only came up to one's knees.

The image was truly a bit awkward.

[Hates Humans: Anyway, whether it's Desert Dwarves or Elves, fight them however you want. I can send you some Gargoyles. I guarantee they are good stuff.]

Ambrose seemed to smell the scent of someone who just wanted to watch the world burn.

[Tiga Ultraman: Senior, do you have grudges against both sides?]

[Crown of the Headless Knight: Hahaha, after he turned into a vampire, the Desert Dwarves discriminated against him. If I hadn't passed by and saved him back then, he would have been roasted to death by the sun long ago.]

[Hates Humans: Hey, in front of the rookie, can you leave me some dignity? Besides, didn't I give you a thank-you fee? That was over a million gold coins!]

[Pale Little Skeleton: Oh? Is that so? Do tell?]

Headless seemed to have gone offline; he didn't speak again for a long time.

Ambrose could only lament. Sugar mummies were great, but the side effects were numerous.

[Tiga Ultraman: Didn't you say the Golden Kingdom practices a policy of great integration? Are vampires ostracized too?]

[Hates Humans: That's a decision made only in the last century. When I became a vampire, the Golden Kingdom hadn't been beaten into the dirt by Ryan yet. Although they weren't overly xenophobic, they weren't that tolerant of undead either.]

Ambrose had only visited the Golden Kingdom once or twice while alive, so he didn't know it well. He only started asking which countries didn't discriminate against undead after becoming a Lich.

[Hates Humans: Good luck, rookie. Let our Elegy Society produce another ruler like the Rose Queen. The City of Alchemy is such good territory; don't miss out!]

[Tiga Ultraman: I understand. By the way, when will the Gargoyles be sent over? Is shipping included?]

[Hates Humans: Can I say that was just a polite offer?]

Before Ambrose could object, Withered Rose jumped in to twist the knife.

[Withered Rose: I don't think you can. Going back on your word would disgrace the name of The Elegy Society. Are you planning to insult me as well?]

[Hates Humans: No, no, no, Your Majesty, please quell your anger. I absolutely did not mean that. It's just Gargoyles; I'll send you two.]

[Withered Rose: Two Gargoyles? How can you even say that out loud?]

[Hates Humans: Twenty! Is that enough? That's all I can spare!]

[Withered Rose: That's more like it.]

Ambrose looked at the Rose Queen, who had secured him twenty Gargoyles in just two or three sentences, and suddenly felt that this lady was truly charming. Rich, generous, and domineering—worthy of being Her Majesty the Queen.

However, the value of things like Gargoyles depended mainly on the material. Cheap ones were a thousand gold coins, but if the materials were particularly expensive, one could cost tens of thousands.

After thinking about it, Ambrose added: [Are they Enchanted Obsidian Gargoyles? The cost alone is over twenty thousand gold coins. I'd feel bad accepting that.]

The dwarf vampire didn't reply for a long time, presumably having gone offline to prepare the Gargoyles.

Ambrose felt very blessed. The friends in The Elegy Society were so warm and loving.

A friend who could give such an expensive gift certainly wouldn't intentionally harm him, so Ambrose began to seriously consider his suggestion.

Becoming a king or whatever wasn't something Ambrose would consider. He knew his habits well; he was better suited to be a research scholar. Managing an empire would only be torture for him.

When the country isn't yours, the money you earn is for yourself. When the country belongs to you, the whole nation already belongs to you, so who are you fleecing? On the contrary, every time money needed to be spent, Ambrose would feel like it was being sliced from his own flesh.

Ambrose couldn't survive a single day of such a life.

Hegemony was out of the question, but perhaps he could teach those Elves a lesson and let them understand what the wrath of a Lich meant.

But what was the situation in the City of Alchemy right now?

Ambrose realized he had been so absorbed in his experiments that he hadn't paid attention to these things.

"Right, a bunch of my subjects ran away. The Ryan people wouldn't massacre humans, so they probably ran to other territories."

This wouldn't do. Absolutely not. They were his property! It was fine for him to fleece others, but how could he let others take advantage of him?

Ambrose decisively walked out of his laboratory and exited the castle.

He identified the direction of the nearby territories and flew straight over.

...

The sudden disappearance of the City of Alchemy had a severe impact on the surrounding territories.

On the day the entire city ascended into the sky and vanished, all the lords who received the news sent out their scouts to investigate.

After confirming that the city and those high-and-mighty alchemists were completely gone, these lords understood that war was imminent.

The conservative ones began to strengthen their defenses; the more aggressive ones immediately started attacking nearby territories.

Population, money, food, and anything else useful.

Chaos was approaching, and the lords, large and small, who had once been under the protection of the City of Alchemy, now had to consider their own futures.

Weak lords tried to form alliances, while the great lords began looking at maps, choosing which territory to annex first.

In just three days, over a dozen small-scale battles had already broken out on the periphery of the former City of Alchemy, with the death toll exceeding three digits.

Various adventurers, smelling the scent of commissions, began to join this chaotic game.

The Porcupine Knight was an enterprising lord. In this crisis-ridden time, he chose to pursue alliances and active offense simultaneously.

The lords who had previously cooperated to crusade against Ambrose and annexed others' territories became natural allies.

The Porcupine Knight allied with them overnight, integrating everyone's forces. They raided two small territories with maximum speed, connecting everyone's land into a single block, and then began resource integration and defense construction.

Interestingly, although Ambrose's territory was nearby, these lords subconsciously avoided that terrifying place. Even though it was such a large castle, far better than the broken manors of most small lords—easy to defend, hard to attack, and situated in a prime location.

But The Porcupine Knight held back by sheer force of will. Even though they heard that Paladins had purified the castle, he still didn't dare go to occupy it, at least not now.

The horrific scene from that day had become a nightmare for him and several allies. Unless it was the final moment, he would absolutely not step into that cursed place again.

Looking at the rough map on the table, The Porcupine Knight felt a headache coming on.

Although his reaction had been fast, and after uniting several lords they were considered a relatively large force in the vicinity, his troop numbers were still too low. A batch had died in the Lich crusade, and another batch had been taken away by those Paladins. Defending the territory with the current forces was proving difficult.

The Porcupine Knight rubbed his temples and muttered to himself, "If Harvey were still here, maybe he could give me some advice."

He used to look down on that mage apprentice, only hiring him as a consultant because he couldn't afford a real mage. But looking back now, every suggestion Harvey gave was correct; he just hadn't listened half the time.

"Why didn't I trust someone with higher intelligence just because they were an apprentice?"

He was filled with regret now. If the heavens gave him another chance, he would definitely seriously consider the mage consultant's opinions.

A gust of wind blew past, causing the candle flame in the room to flicker. A servant with an anxious expression walked in and reported, "My Lord, a mage says he wants to see you."

The Porcupine Knight hurriedly asked, "Is it Mage Harvey?"

The servant shook his head. "It's not Mage Harvey. It's a blonde elf, and he brought several companions. They look like an adventurer party."

"Elf? Pure-blood elf or half-elf?" The Porcupine Knight asked.

The servant looked troubled. "This... I can't tell the difference, but they all have pointy ears and blonde hair, and they are all very beautiful."

The Porcupine Knight frowned. This didn't sound like adventurers. Why would a squad composed entirely of elves appear here?