To be honest, everything that happened today was beyond Li De's expectations.
It wasn't just the goblin's sudden visit that caught him off guard, but more so the information revealed by the goblin that surprised him, the Twelve Magic Scrolls, the underground world that contained a swamp and a black dragon.
All of this gave him a sense of dissonance.
If it had only been a Divine Artifact or a black dragon, he wouldn't have connected the underground world Yor mentioned with the one where Kosso resided. But then the mention of a swamp was thrown into the mix.
There were no such things as coincidences in this world.
In other words, the black dragon that Yor spoke of, who seized the Twelve Magic Scrolls, was highly likely the same black dragon who killed the Level 19 Cyclops, Kosso's father.
However, what slightly disappointed Li De was that, although these two underground worlds could now be linked, Dawn City clearly didn't yet have the time or strength to explore this vast underground world in the near term. As for slaying a dragon? That was even more out of reach. It could only be shelved for now.
Moreover, if Yor truly wanted him to go and seize the Divine Artifact, once Li De came back to his senses, he would probably lose interest anyway. Divine Artifacts weren't so easily obtained.
Just look at what the late Viscount Berna did when he attempted to seize the Twelve Magic Scrolls from Grand Mage Locke.
He opened a Spatial Gate to the Bottomless Abyss, used divine power to forge a mighty weapon, and lured away several top-tier combatants above Level 15 by using them as sacrificial pawns. Every one of these was a grand scheme.
Even so, that mysterious Level 19 figure still remains missing. No one knows whether he was slain by a Transcendent or managed to escape.
Now, a black dragon of unknown level held a Divine Artifact, and its whereabouts were unclear. Its power level couldn't even be confirmed.
Trying to steal a Divine Artifact under these circumstances was nothing more than a pipe dream.
In contrast, what Yor said about the Graymount Tribe's Patriarch possessing another Divine Artifact fragment was a completely different story.
He already had one of those fragments in his hands, an officially system-recognized, bona fide piece of a Divine Artifact.
Although it couldn't compare to a complete Divine Artifact, it was far more attainable.
"Mysterious Fragment
Attached Effects: Restores 10 mana per second when worn; immune to all detection spells below Legendary rank; immune to mind control; reduces mana backlash by 50%.
Description: Appears to be an unimportant corner fragment of some divine artifact."
Although the properties of this fragment were simple, the boost it provided was nothing short of overwhelming.
Just the mana regeneration of 10 points per second was practically invincible.
Under normal nighttime conditions, his mana recovery was only 1 point per second. After drinking Mana-Infused Blood, with a 1000% recovery rate, he'd only just reach 10 points per second.
Wearing the Divine Artifact fragment was essentially the same as being constantly infused with Mana-Infused Blood, drastically improving his sustainability in battle.
And the other three attributes were no less valuable. Immunity to detection aside, just being immune to mind control and reducing mana backlash by 50% was enough to excite him.
Especially the rare attribute of reducing mana backlash damage by half, this was tailor-made for him. With this, he could now modify spells as recklessly as he pleased.
This was indeed a massive surprise.
But setting aside the extremely useful Divine Artifact fragment, Li De's real objective had never been the artifact. What he truly wanted was the goblin race and their alchemical bombs.
Divine Artifacts could elevate an individual's combat power, but goblins could raise the entire foundation of Dawn City.
One was a combat-level asset; the other, a strategic-level resource. They weren't even on the same conceptual plane.
Luckily, this wasn't a multiple-choice situation, he could have both.
Once Grote led Yor away, Li De fell back into deep thought.
"Risel City is a powder keg right now. Trying to save it is nearly impossible.
Dawn City doesn't yet have the power to repel an army of several hundred thousand beastmen.
And my goal isn't to destroy the beastmen or save Risel City. I only want the goblins.
So how can I extract the goblins from an army of several hundred thousand?
Magic? Teleportation arrays? Whispering Bats? Tunnels?"
Li De's thinking was very clear. He only wanted the goblins. Whether Risel City fell or not had little to do with him. He was a vampire, the epitome of a villain, a textbook dark final boss.
It was already generous of him not to pillage and burn during the chaos, let alone play the hero and rescue people. That'd be a joke.
He treated the humans of Dawn City well because they were his own. One day, they would fight for the vampires.
But humans from the outside world were eternal enemies of the vampires. The best-case scenario when they met was a brawl until brains were splattered. If he led the vampires to rescue Risel City, chances were the first people they'd fight would be the Risel City folks, not the beastmen.
As he pondered, a playful smile crept onto Li De's lips, and his eyes gleamed with amusement.
Dawn City had long lacked high-level population, especially educated individuals, because most of those they had plundered were commoners, making it impossible to execute many of his plans.
For example, when it came to building schools, he didn't even have enough teachers.
Now it seemed that a golden opportunity was laid out before him. Risel City was famous as the city of scholars. It was a cultural hub established by descendants of the Risel Empire's royal family from thousands of years ago.
The scholar families of Risel were renowned throughout the Nolan Empire.
So why not take this chance to seize some of Risel City's high-end population?
Li De's smile grew even brighter.
If that goblin Yor knew what Li De was thinking at this moment, he would definitely be weeping bitterly. He had just come looking for help.
He never expected he'd personally deliver himself straight into the jaws of the wolf, worse, into the clutches of a terrifying dragon that had been eyeing them for a long time.
At this moment, Li De slowly solidified his plan. He was going to make a big move.
As a vampire, a legendary dark final boss, doing this kind of thing was exactly in line with his identity.