Collaboration With a Hero?

[145 minotaurs have surrendered to you!]

[You've conquered the Bloodhoof tribe. You gained a Bronze Treasure Chest!]

Zhang Nu was quite satisfied with the results here.

He had caught over 200 minotaurs previously. Add that to the 100 or so minotaurs that he gained here, his labor force for his mine is finally taking shape.

Just as Zhang Nu was getting ready to finish cleaning up, his gaze suddenly shifted slightly and fell onto one particular minotaur. Then, his lips shifted into a cold smirk.

He simply flicked a finger.

A scarlet bolt flashed.

That minotaur was blasted out from the crowd.

Her form quickly shrunk and turned into a fox-kin girl. She was completely charred and was only barely still breathing from where she fell.

"Ho? So there is still a Hero here?"

Zhang Nu was more specialized for melee combat in dragon form, so the power of his magic type skills aren't as powerful as they are in his draconian form.

If not for that, given that Hero's abilities, there's no way that she could have survived even a casual blow like that.

Zhang Nu was quite curious about the Hero's appearance though.

She's obviously a fox-kin, so why was she here in a minotaur tribe? Plus, her Talent is quite special as well.

Among Heroes, those who have Talents are beyond rare.

A Hero's Talent will grow and evolve as they grow stronger.

Su Yan gained a Talent called "High Grade Transformation". She can turn herself into any target or race that she has seen.

Although it's just a surface level transformation, the disguising aspect of it is completely perfect.

She was probably trying to mix in with the surrendered minotaurs in order to find a chance to escape.

Not even Zhang Nu's dragon eyes can see through it at his current level. The reason why he was able to see through her identity as a Hero is all because he saw her information popup through his appraisal.

Zhang Nu extended his claw and instantly held the struggling Su Yan down.

Before the enormous dragon, she was like a mere ant.

She hurriedly and panickedly spoke, "Mercy, boss. Don't kill me!"

Zhang Nu grinned and asked curiously, "You're a Hero and I'm a Demon King. For what reason do you think I should spare you?"

Su Yan hurriedly spoke, "I have a reason why you shouldn't kill me!"

Zhang Nu was somewhat surprised, "Oh? Is that so? Tell me then. However, you'll only have one chance. If I'm not satisfied with your reason..."

As he spoke, Zhang Nu started breathing out hints of Dragon Flame from his mouth.

Su Yan sweated profusely.

What to do?

She's dead for sure now!

She has to quickly think of a reason why she should be kept alive!

But what reason can she give?

Money? Or maybe seduction? Aren't those all useless though!

Su Yan glanced at Zhao Lei's head, still on the ground.

In that instant, she remembered Zhao Lei's actions as well as the words he said to her before, and a light bulb lit up in her head.

Zhang Nu spoke, "Have you thought of one yet? I'll give you three more seconds!"

Su Yan hurriedly replied, "I can collaborate with you!"

Zhang Nu didn't actually intend to leave her alive.

He was just curious as to how low this girl was willing to go for the sake of survival, or what kind of laughable reason she might come up with.

He never expected her to bring up collaboration.

A weakling of a Hero wants to collaborate with a powerful Demon King?

Su Yan hurriedly followed up, "I was caught and imprisoned here by Zhao Lei, so I'm actually enemies with him. Thus, even if we're in different camps, we don't necessarily have to be enemies!"

She felt her thought processes clear up as she spoke.

"Boss, think about it. The only reason you have to kill me is for the rewards, but with me as weak as I am, it's basically not even worth mentioning. Given that, just how much reward do you think I can yield?"

"If you let me go and agree to collaborate with me, then I'd be able to do a lot of things that you'd find difficult via my status as a Hero..."

"Like gathering information from other Heroes, or helping to spread misinformation to lure more Heroes to your nest."

"Wouldn't it be far more worth it to kill them than me?"

Su Yan had finished her speech.

Given so little time, this was the most convincing reason that she could think of.

If not even this was enough to buy back her life, then she really was fated to die here.

"Huh. Your words do seem a bit interesting!"

Who says Heroes and Demon Kings can't work together?

This Su Yan is pitifully weak, so killing her might yield two talent points at most.

What could two measly talent points do for him at this point?

However, if she could help him trick some Heroes into coming for him, especially if they're Heroes over level 1, then just killing any one of them will end up being far more worth it than just killing her here and now!

Of course, there's no way that Zhang Nu could trust her with just a few words like that.

No matter how it is, she is still a Hero after all.

They're naturally on opposing sides and a Demon King like Zhang Nu can be considered a priceless treasure for any Hero.

They'd be able to practically reach the top just by killing him alone.

Zhang Nu released her from his claws and ordered, "Take her back with us!"

Su Yan had managed to escape death for now.

He'll first drag her back and imprison her for the time being.

As for whether he's going to kill her or work with her in the future, that's something that he's going to have to think and plan about first.

Not long after, the other fox-kin were also discovered.

Those fox-kin also showed their willingness to offer their loyalties.

Fox-kin don't generally have any special abilities, but they are fairly intelligent. The Castle does lack some servants, and it's not like it would cost that much to keep a few dozen fox-kin alive, so he just took them along.

Finally, Zhang Nu opened up the chest.

[You've opened a Bronze Treasure Chest. You've gained "gold" x4000, "Blueprint: Minotaur Encampment" x1, "Strength Crystal" x1]

He managed to get a blueprint!

The blueprint he got this time is no ordinary one either.

It seems like something like the "House of Bones" that he got way back when. It's a unit production structure, one that seems like it unlocks the summoning for minotaur units!