bookbashuk Chapter 155 Territory Expansion
Chapter 155 Territory Expansion
Chapter 155 Territory Expansion
Dui was pleasantly surprised when Oc was unexpectedly transformed into a firebird.
The Firebird perfectly combines the magical operations of dragons and eagles, and with runes representing fire at its core, it forms a new, complete, and fluid magical circulation system. It not only has the size of an eagle but also the fire-breathing ability of a dragon.
Of course, because Oak's own magic power is not high, the transformed firebird is still not as strong as the giant eagle in terms of overall strength.
The flames it spewed out were merely demonic fire, slightly stronger than ordinary flames, and could not compare to the dragon's dragonfire.
But Dui was still very happy and satisfied.
He looked at the firebird in front of him and thought that he had created a new creature.
After transforming into a firebird, Orc can no longer be considered an Orc. Its magic cycle has undergone a qualitative change, and it can be said that it is now a firebird with the soul of an Orc.
In the following period, Duiva became engrossed in his research on the Firebird.
His ambitions were far greater than simply owning a fire-breathing Animagus.
His ultimate goal is to evolve Animagus into a phoenix!
The phoenix is known as the immortal bird, capable of continuous rebirth, and in a sense, it can be called immortal.
If he could possess the Phoenix Animagus, he might also gain the Phoenix's immortality.
As time passed and he lived with the elves, including Alwen, Dui felt an increasing urgency about time.
Wizards are a long-lived race, and the more powerful a wizard is, the longer they live.
But they are not an immortal race, and they don't even live as long as the Dunedan people.
Even when Aragorn was eighty or ninety years old at the start of the War of the Ring, he still looked like he was in his thirties.
But if Dui had lived to that time, he would probably have been an old man.
Therefore, in order to achieve immortality, Dui prepared two paths: one was to evolve the Animagus into a phoenix, thereby gaining the phoenix's ability to be reborn from the ashes.
Another way is to create the Philosopher's Stone, also known as the Magic Stone, thereby achieving immortality.
The idea of evolving Animagus into a phoenix was something Dui vaguely conceived after encountering Beon and acquiring the bird-like Animagus.
After all, isn't there a saying that a sparrow can turn into a phoenix? They're both birds, so owls shouldn't be any less remarkable, right?
The only problem is that there is no phoenix in Middle-earth, so there is no reference point at all.
Dui's idea of having Animagus evolve into a phoenix was like a castle in the air, impossible to realize.
With that in mind, Dui summoned the copy of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" that he had checked in from Mount Gram, opened the table of contents, and found the page on the phoenix.
Newt Scamander, a master of magical zoology, wrote "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which records all kinds of magical creatures from around the world and can be called an encyclopedia of magical creatures.
Newt Scamander's description of the phoenix is also very detailed, and he even expresses his gratitude to Dumbledore at the beginning of the story for lending him the phoenix Fawkes for a period of time to study.
The book also contains a dynamic image of the phoenix Fox, a magnificent bird with luxurious golden-red feathers, a long tail, a golden beak and claws, and black eyes.
Dui looked at the phoenix in the portrait with longing in his eyes. However, after reading through the entire book, Scamander's research on the phoenix focused more on introducing the phoenix's living habits and abilities.
There has been no in-depth study of the structure of the phoenix itself.
The only thing that Dui found rewarding was a somewhat plausible conjecture about the origin of the phoenix in the book: the phoenix is born from flames, a spirit nurtured by fire.
This statement was not Newt Scamander's conjecture, but rather came from Dumbledore.
Although it was just a sentence, it gave Dui a sense of direction.
As one of the few great wizards to own a phoenix as a pet, and with his family having a mysterious connection to phoenixes, Dumbledore's words were certainly not unfounded.
Therefore, Dui planned to explore the mysteries of fire and the phoenix in his next research, and then apply them to the firebird.
If he could create a phoenix in Middle-earth, there would be hope for his Animagus evolution.
As for understanding fire, apart from Gandalf, who possessed the Ring of Fire, he couldn't think of anyone else.
When in trouble, seek help from your teammates. Since he had already joined the White Way, Dui naturally had to ask Gandalf for help.
Moreover, he thought Gandalf would also be very interested in creating a phoenix, so after spending nearly half a year in the laboratory, Duy finally left the tower once again.
Upon arriving, the first thing they did was to meet with the village chief, Luke.
But now he should be called Mayor Luke.
After more than a year or two of development, Hogsmeade Village at the foot of the mountain has grown into a town with a population of nearly 10,000.
Moreover, people come to Hogsmeade every day hoping to join the town and become its residents.
As the town mayor, Luke would regularly go up the mountain to report to Dui on the situation down below.
Although Dui spent most of his time conducting magical experiments, he had no time to meet with him.
But Luke insisted on going up the mountain regularly and recording all recent matters, including taxes and the residents received, in a book, which he then sent to the castle for Dui to review.
"Luke, what brings you here today?" Dui greeted him in the reception room and asked.
Luke's face was beaming with undisguised joy. He said eagerly, "My lord, I have wonderful news! Do you remember Mayor Lucky of Breeze? He recently came to Hogsmeade to see me in person!"
"He originally wanted to visit you, but you were busy at the time, so he didn't come to bother you."
"Oh? What brings him to see me?" Dui asked with some curiosity.
He remembered that Mayor Latch of Bree was a man with a strong desire for power, status, and money.
However, there were countless people like this in Middle-earth, so they didn't pay much attention to it.
Luke couldn't help but exclaim, "My lord, Lachish says that the town of Bri is willing to pledge allegiance to you, become a town under your jurisdiction, and accept your rule!"
Dui was very surprised when he heard this.
The town of Brie wants to pledge allegiance to me? Are you kidding me?
"Was it the mayor who said that? Was he willing to do it himself? Can he represent the opinions of all the people in the town?" Dui asked doubtfully.
As far as he knew, the mayor was extremely power-hungry. As the mayor of Buri, he held an absolute position and power in Buri and was willing to have someone above him.
"Of course he doesn't want to!" Luke said with a mocking smile, his tone full of schadenfreude. "But if he doesn't do this, he can forget about being the mayor."
Dui looked at his expression and raised an eyebrow: "What did you do?"
Luke wasn't surprised that Dui could guess. He chuckled and said, "I just convinced the residents of Breeze to move to Hogsmeade."
After all, not only are our taxes very low, but we also have large tracts of fertile land to allocate. Not to mention, with you here, sir, no one would dare to offend your territory.
"So how many residents of Brietown came to Hogsmeade?" Dui was even more curious, not expecting Luke to pull such a stunt.
"Only half of them came," Luke said regretfully. "More could have come, but that old man Lucky realized what was happening..."
They immediately closed the city gates and used a bunch of sweet talk to persuade the remaining residents to stay.
Dui's lips twitched. Half of the residents had already been dug up, yet he still looked regretful.
He could already picture how furious and enraged the mayor of Buri must have been when he found out.
After all, if the person is gone, how can he/she become the town mayor?
Are you going to be a lone commander?
"Since there are still half of the residents, why do they still need to rely on me?" Dui asked again.
Luke's face showed a mixture of smugness and cunning.
"I instructed the residents of Breeze who had moved to Hogsmeade to actively write letters to their relatives and neighbors there, praising Your Excellency's power, justice, and benevolence; the grandeur and beauty of Your Castle; the happiness and peace of Hogsmeade; and the fortune and honor of being Your citizen..."
Then Lucky could no longer control the residents of Brie; after all, who could refuse to be your subject, sir?
"Therefore, the residents of Bree have strongly demanded that Bree also accept your rule and become your subjects, so that they can enjoy the same treatment as the residents of Hogsmeade."
"And that old man, Lucky, if he doesn't want to lose his position as mayor, he'll have to obediently and voluntarily accept your rule."
Dui was impressed with Luke.
I never expected you, Luke, to be such a cunning person.
If Mayor Luke of Brie knew, he'd probably hate him to death.
Dui originally had no intention of annexing Buri Town, but now that they had offered it to him, he naturally wouldn't refuse.
With Dui's approval, Mayor Lach of Buri and town representatives soon arrived at Windrise Castle again, bringing with them land registers, tax ledgers, and other documents.
In the hall, witnessed by everyone, the mayor and representatives presented land registers, tax ledgers, resident registers, and other documents, formally pledging allegiance to Dui.
Thus, Bri became the second town under Dui's rule.
As for the mayor, Dui still appointed Lach as the new mayor.
There is a severe shortage of capable managers. Although Mayor Lach is power-hungry, he can at least manage the town of Buri well.
Anyway, with him keeping things under control, and with Luke, whom I don't get along with, supervising from the sidelines, there's no need to worry about Lucky having any disloyal thoughts.
When Larch heard that Dui wanted him to continue serving as the mayor of Buri, he was overjoyed and repeatedly expressed his loyalty to Dui.
At the same time, he really had no other ulterior motives; he just wanted to try his best to please Dui so that he could continue to serve as mayor.
And he strives to replace Luke as the number one under the Lord's demonic power.
Don't think he doesn't know that the problems in Brietown these days are all the work of his old rival, Luke.
Although they are now colleagues, he vowed to ruthlessly crush his old rival Luke and never let him surpass him.
Although Hogsmeade is close to the Lord, don't forget that Brietown is the intersection of the East-West Avenue and the North-South Avenue, making it easily accessible.
Lucky vowed to develop Brietown even better than Hogsmeade, so that the lord would see his talent!
Dui, above, saw the subtle tension between Mayor Bree and Mayor Hogsmeade below and a smile flickered in his eyes.
As long as it's not a conspiracy or trickery, Dui won't interfere with their normal competition.