Volume One: The Infernal Lord’s World Chapter 24: Seizing the Heart of the City

Although it was his first time seeing the Heart of the City at such close range, Chen Gu had already learned in school how to handle such a thing.

The Heart of the City was the most precious possession in the world of lords, the true core of any city. Once activated, it was always placed in the most prominent spot within the city council hall, supplying all the energy required for the city's development. As long as someone seized control of the Heart of the City, the entire city would change hands.

Chen Gu had studied various methods of claiming the Heart of the City. But just as he was preparing to take possession of it, Alan’s voice came through the crystal at his side.

“It will be much easier if you claim it in my name.”

“No need, I have my own plan,” Chen Gu replied.

He had already mastered more than four methods in school for claiming the Heart of the City. After obtaining the talent of [Pet Synthesis], he gained yet another new method. Now that he had arrived here, everything was under his control.

Alan, the commanding hero of the Third Archer Battalion of the Fafner Legion in the Elven Kingdom—who was he to dictate terms? He could provide information, but he had no say in Chen Gu’s actions.

Setting the crystal aside, Chen Gu reached out and touched the Heart of the City.

As his hand approached, the Heart of the City emitted a repelling force.

This put Chen Gu at ease—this was the normal phenomenon that occurred when the Heart of the City changed hands. Without certain special techniques, Chen Gu would have to spend seven hours here just to make contact with it. Then, it would take another ten to fifteen hours to inscribe his attributes onto the Heart of the City, completing the transfer of ownership.

This was the slowest and most dangerous method. During the transfer, Chen Gu would be defenseless; if anyone attacked him, the process would be interrupted, and he would have to start all over again.

What Alan had suggested was to use the rules and privileges of the elves to bypass these procedures and directly inscribe the new owner's name onto the Heart of the City. But Chen Gu was no fool—if he did as Alan said, the name inscribed would not be his own.

He had other ways to handle the situation. For instance, he could smash the Heart of the City down with brute force, but doing so would reset its level to zero. Even if Silverpine Vale was otherwise intact, Chen Gu would have to rebuild from scratch. He would only use this method as a last resort.

There was yet another way: contaminating the Heart of the City with certain substances. If the energy supply was interrupted, he could inscribe his name in the brief window before the power returned and complete the transfer. However, this required a suitable source of contamination—a strict prerequisite.

These three methods were what Chen Gu had learned in school, but none were suitable for his current situation.

The method he now intended to use came from his own talent.

“I need to perform a Nest Synthesis.”

Chen Gu planned to treat Silverpine Vale as a nest. He was gambling that his talent would take priority.

[Nest Synthesis initiated...]
[Please provide a building stone with the appropriate attributes or a piece of the Heart of the City (0/1); please provide a successfully synthesized formula (0/1); please provide ten portions of synthesis materials (0/10).]

As this prompt sounded, Chen Gu's hand passed through the barrier and made contact with the Heart of the City.

He had already decided which synthesis formula to use. Grasping the Heart of the City, he swiftly entered the formula for the Corpse-Eating Vine.

With a wave, several Corpse-Eating Vines landed in his hand. He used them as substitutes for the man-eating vines required in the synthesis, thus influencing the Heart of the City before him.

With a confident smile, the synthesis of the Heart of the City began.

The Corpse-Eating Vines quickly separated, reverting to their original form as man-eating vines and were fed into the list of synthesis materials. The Heart of the City began to glow.

The name previously engraved on it vanished, leaving only the attributes of Silverpine Vale.

[Nest Synthesis complete. Acquired: Level 3 Town – Silverpine Vale]

[Territory Attributes]
City Name: Silverpine Vale
Owner: None
Level: Level 3 Town (maximum level 3)
City Attribute: Elven
City Type: Underground Fortress (small)
Population:
Civilians (city inhabitants, 0/50,000)
Laborers (workers responsible for city infrastructure, 0/10,000)
Guards (internal patrol and security forces, 0/6,000)
Soldiers (deployable troop formations, 0/6,000)
Officials (supervise laborers or direct guards in defense, equivalent to city heroes, 0/10)
Leader (city lord, hero responsible for city management, 0/1)
Buildings:
Blacksmith (Level 3, basic building, produces weapons, ornaments, and siege weapons; built; includes forge for siege weapons)
Farmland (Level 3, produces exclusive food for the territory; built; includes an underground irrigation system that increases crop yields)
Barracks (Level 3, soldier gathering point, prerequisite for all troop training grounds; built; includes a training camp that boosts soldier strength)
Warehouse (Level 3, material storage, prerequisite for market; built)
Market (Level 2, enables resource trading; built; includes black market for trading treasures)
Tavern (Level 2, allows hero recruitment; built; includes thieves’ guild for gathering intelligence)
City Wall (Level 2, defensive system; built; includes three arrow towers)
Magic Tower (Level 2, allows magic study; built; includes Wall of Wisdom)
Docks (Level 2, ship anchorage; built; includes shipyard)
Garden Cottage (Level 3, trains fairies, dryads, and flower spirits)
Elven Cabin (Level 2, trains wood elves and elven archers)
Storm Hut (Level 1, trains elven blade dancers)
Stone Circle (Level 1, trains elven druids)
Hero Altar (Level 1, allows heroes to be resurrected)
Aifera Sacred Tree (Level 1, grants immunity to necromancy summoning)
Specialties: Whitewater Fish (500 units per week), Silver Needle Fruit (1,500 units per week)
Training Speed: Fairies (18 per week), Dryads (18 per week), Flower Spirits (18 per week), Wood Elves (7 per week), Elven Archers (7 per week), Blade Dancers (3 per week), Druids (3 per week)
Weekly Visiting Heroes: Two
Description: This is an elven city hidden beneath the earth, but once you inscribe your name, everything in this city will change.

Chen Gu glanced over the information for Silverpine Vale, knowing that everything now depended on his decision. As soon as he signed his name, Silverpine Vale would be his—but some of the city’s attributes would change in the process, as the Heart of the City was still being synthesized.

If he were an elven hero, he would never make such a choice. But Chen Gu knew exactly what he wanted.

Pet Synthesis—this was his foundation.

Having read through everything, Chen Gu signed his name as the owner.

“Gu Qi!”