356: Using profit as bait, they play chess in the abyss.

Bato's lips trembled, the collar tightened, and his scalp stung. "Ap... Approved."

"Not loud enough."

Chen Yu bent down and pinched the boy's chin, forcing him to look up. "Say it again, so all your 'ministers' can hear you."

"Approved!"

Bato's voice was hoarse and distorted, saying with a sob: "Enshrine the... Abyss Church... as the state religion."

The old count took the lead in kneeling, followed closely by the snake-woman priestess, and the remaining nobles scrambled to lie on the ground, their knees thumping against the floor tiles.

Chen Yu licked the corner of her lips with satisfaction, suddenly remembered something, and pulled a communication jade talisman from her pocket.

"Right, one more thing." She swiped her hand across the jade talisman. "The soldiers on the front line are still at a stalemate."

Yin Shu stepped forward. "Marquis Soton's army of two hundred thousand is still on the border of the Frost Luo Duchy. He was originally led by Rex, and more importantly..."

He paused, glancing over Bato's pale face. "Soton has collateral Behemoth race blood. He has never submitted to the late king and has been stationing troops at the border for years, eyeing the throne for a long time."

Bato: "He... he dares?"

"Why wouldn't he dare?" Chen Yu sneered, twirling the candy stick in her hand. "Rex is dead, and the late king's son has become one of the Abyss Church's people. Doesn't he, with his collateral bloodline, feel that his chance has come?"

She looked up at Yin Shu, her expression turning cold. "Old Buck will stay to handle the trifles of the capital. Chiliarch Yin, you take the old count to the front line."

Yin Shu cupped his fists. "Subordinate understands."

"Remember, show Grom and Rex's skulls to Soton first, so he knows the fate of those who jump too high."

Chen Yu tapped twice on the throne's armrest and said slowly: "If he knows the stakes and stays put to defend his position, he can temporarily retain his military power."

"Recently, the human nations have been paying attention to the orcs. Keeping a living Behemoth Marquis on the front line is better than letting them notice any flaws."

The old count suddenly looked up, suspicion flashing in his eyes. "Lord Ferryman, Soton is ambitious; keeping him is a liability."

"A liability?"

The corners of Chen Yu's mouth curled up, revealing two tiger teeth. "Then turn him into someone without ambition."

She looked at Yin Shu, "Take two 'Swarm' launch boxes and prepare three 'Puppet Talismans'. If Soton is restless, don't be polite. With Bone-Corroding Vine spores entering his body and the talismans locking his soul, I guarantee he'll be even more obedient than Bato."

Yin Shu nodded and said: "Subordinate obeys your command."

"Wait, don't kill him directly." Chen Yu added, flicking the candy stick.

"The commotion would be too big. If human spies notice we're the ones taking over after the orc internal strife, they might act prematurely. Keeping his army of two hundred thousand as a shield will just happen to block the views of the Frost Luo Duchy and the Shidun Kingdom."

Bato knelt on the ground, feeling cold all over as he listened.

Only then did he understand that it wasn't that Soton couldn't be killed, but that this lord had already calculated the pros and cons clearly.

Soton's life was never his own from the start; it was a front used by the Abyss Church to deal with the humans.

Chen Yu kicked Bato's leg again. "Tsk, write a royal decree. Write it with your blood, so Soton can see clearly who the new king is now."

Yin Shu handed over a beast-skin scroll and a dagger.

Bato tremblingly cut open his palm, blood dripping onto the scroll, the crooked handwriting filled with fear.

Chen Yu, annoyed by Bato's slow movement, grabbed his hand and pressed it onto the scroll. The bloody handprints were densely packed, looking very much like some kind of witch's curse.

"Done." The White-Haired Loli clapped her hands, turned around, and jumped back onto the throne, curling into the large cushion.

"Yin Shu, take the old count and set out. Report back as soon as possible."

"Yes."

Yin Shu picked up the beast-skin scroll and gave the old count a look. The old count scrambled up and followed behind with a limp, deliberately avoiding the boy's gaze as he passed Bato.

Everyone knew that this new king was just a figurehead; the one truly giving orders was the White-Haired Star of Disaster eating candy on the throne.

After Yin Shu and the old count left, only the new king and the hall full of bowed-headed nobles remained... The smoke of the agarwood incense circled the beams of the Jiaotai Palace for the ninth time before the light screen on the desk was slapped off by Shang Wan Ning.

The faint light of the jade slip had not yet dissipated, reflecting the long, thin shadows of those nobles in Kana City kneeling on the ground before the light screen went out.

"great host, isn't this little loli's move a bit too wild?" Little Four's electronic voice bounced in Shang Wan Ning's head. "The nobles of Barbatos look at the Abyss Church like they're looking at an evil spirit. This reputation..."

Shang Wan Ning leaned back, the hem of her phoenix robe sweeping across the floor tiles, stirring up a small gust of ominous wind. "Wild?"

She picked up two spirit fruits and tossed them into the air. "Only if they are afraid will they not dare to court death. Only then will the commoners below believe, and be willing to offer up their incense offerings honestly."

The spirit fruit fell back into her palm with a crisp "snap."

"Go look at the mine slaves, servants, and lower-class orcs." Shang Wan Ning's divine sense glanced into the void, piercing straight into the depths of the Muddy Alleys of Kana City.

"They hate the nobles so much their teeth itch; they hate them more than any evil spirit. If the Abyss Church can help them chop up the nobles, even if I am called an evil god, they will squeeze those bone tiles until water comes out."

Little Four paused, its electronic voice stuttering. "But... but a righteous god and an evil god, they are not the same!"

"Not the same?"

Shang Wan Ning laughed out loud, her knuckles rapping on the desk. "Anything that can make incense offerings flow into the pool like water is a good 'not the same.' The nobles treat me as an evil god to be enshrined, so they shrink their necks and dare not move."

"The commoners worship me as a righteous god, so they are willing to scrape food from between their teeth to make offerings."

She grabbed the jade slip, her finger sliding over the line "Slave conversion rate skyrocketing," her eyes gleaming with sharp light.

"The group of mine slaves led by Old Buck squeezed out thirty million incense offerings in just one day yesterday. Look at those noble lords; besides kneeling and trembling, they don't even dare to breathe loudly."

Little Four finally caught on, its electronic voice rising half an octave: "So it turns out great host had it all planned out? Make the nobles so scared they wet their pants, and make the bottom layer believe to the point of madness. Whether it's a righteous god or an evil spirit, being able to rake in incense offerings is the hard truth?"

Shang Wan Ning turned a deaf ear to Little Four's chatter and just popped a spirit fruit into her mouth. As soon as the flesh was bitten, several new lines of text "gurgled" up on the system panel.

"Kana City West District Mine, mine slaves spontaneously organized a sacrifice, incense offerings increased by five million."

"Lomond Castle serfs smashed the lord's manor and gathered for sacrifice, incense offerings increased by eight million."

"Rusty Iron Town blacksmith workshop employees hung the foreman by the furnace for a sacrifice to heaven, and incidentally made offerings to the Abyss Church, incense offerings increased by five million."

"Greystone Pass smugglers gathered in groups to worship, incense offerings increased by four million."

The Empress chewed the spirit fruit, the corners of her lips curling up.

"Little Four, see that?" Shang Wan Ning jerked her chin toward the panel. "Isn't it continuing now?"

Little Four obviously noticed this information as well, its tone revealing a hint of surprise. "It seems these people have really been oppressed for too long."

"However, if we categorize it by the quality of the incense offerings, the speed is several times faster than any country in the Mercury Plane."