DKIE CH91: New Release

The Demon King wanted to respond, but conditions did not permit it.

In the past, no one in the common populace would have dared to gossip. But as the wanted order remained active, the Demon King’s authority in the public’s mind plummeted.

Some for money, some for attention, the number of people online anonymously claiming to be the Demon King was countless.

In the shadows, the Demon King’s usually blood-dark eyes were staring at an ant on the ground.

On his handsome, perfect face, there was now only a stern coldness.

“The altar.”

In the final seconds before her death, his good wife had left him a major problem.

The fingers of the hand wearing the storage ring turned white with force, clenching tight. The Demon King seemed to have made a decision, a cruel smile on his face.

A moment later, he disappeared into space again.

On the roadside, the few people who had been gossiping turned into a bloody mist.

“Latest news, the Demon King is suspected to have appeared in Yatta City,” Alicia brought the news.

Luka thought for a moment, then turned his face to the ferret.

After attending the victory banquet, the ferret had not yet left. Hearing this, its paw drew a rainbow-like arc, and a few lines of text appeared in the air:
[The aura on the chess pieces has been suppressed by his magic, but there is a critical point. The more he suppresses it, the harder it will be to remove after it erupts.]

“How long until the critical point?”

[Two months.]

Luka nodded. Not too long.

He was more hopeful that the dwarven chieftain would bring good news ahead of schedule, using the mandarin duck jade pendant to catch the Demon King off guard.

The ferret’s paw gestured a couple more times.

Luka smiled. “No need to worry. He’s seriously injured, on the run, and still has to worry about sacrificial offerings. Where would he find the time to notice such details?”

The Demon King’s heart was probably filled with a mixture of love, hate, and rage towards the Saintess right now.

The ferret thought about it and agreed. It was a mental blind spot.

If Luka hadn’t ‘pathetically’ searched for his deceased mother’s belongings right after the war, they wouldn’t have considered this point.

“The wanted order has had a good effect,” Alicia said, standing to the side. She suddenly asked, “Do you want to see?”

See what? Luka was a little curious.

Soon, they arrived at a nearby central city via a teleportation array.

“This is the jurisdiction governed by Prince Claren,” Alicia pointed to the newest landmark building ahead.

A tall statue was turned to the side, the corner of its mouth hooked up in a smirk, one hand extended forward, like a micro-business seller saying, “Come on.”

Because the statue was rather slender, it lacked a sense of grandeur. The creator had specially sculpted a stone cloak that, like the corner of the mouth, flew up with a roguish flair.

Luka was about to be traumatized.

“What is this?”

You tell me what this is!

Alicia’s tone was filled with a mixture of complexity and envy. “The former Demon King’s statue was replaced with yours. Claren has shown his sincerity with his actions.”

Statues were an essential item for the representatives of major clans on the Saint-Demon Continent.

Luka looked at Quill, who had been standing silently behind him, and reached out a trembling hand. “Help me back.”

Quill ushered him into the teleportation array with a pained expression.

Alicia remained where she was, continuing to admire the statue.

For the next period, Luka simultaneously enjoyed the feedback from the Wisdom Tree and the ever-increasing faith from the demon race.

Every time the Wisdom Tree digested a portion of the energy left by the Tree of Life, he benefited from it.

However, because it needed to purify and absolve the souls of the dead, the speed of the Wisdom Tree’s feedback was slowed.

Luka looked at the little golden figure inside his body that was almost completely lit up, and the corners of his mouth… thinking of the statue, the corners of his mouth turned down as they rose.

He tried his best to divert his attention. Great, I’m just one step away from godhood.

Then the corners of his mouth twitched up again.

“That bastard Claren.”

Luka gritted his teeth. How was he supposed to look at himself in the future?

Quill said nothing, only gently patting Luka’s back to soothe him.

The terminal suddenly vibrated.

Cullen sent a message: [Did you see the statue? His Excellency said he wanted to give you a surprise and specially borrowed some skilled craftsmen from me.]

The dwarves were busy producing headphones recently and couldn’t possibly spare the hands to build a statue. Good craftsmen could only be borrowed from the chamber of commerce.

The hand that was soothing Quill paused.

Luka stared intently at the terminal screen. After an unknown amount of time, he slowly raised his head.

He suddenly remembered that someone had been a little too quiet recently.

The air became terrifyingly silent for a moment.

Knowing he couldn’t escape, Quill confessed. “Back in the Boulder City, you envied the statues on the roadside several times.”

He had originally wanted to give him a surprise, forcing these princes and nobles to show their stance, and had given the designer strict requirements:

1. It must show a sense of being approachable.
   
2. It must have a tall, looked-up-to feeling.
   
3. It must have the look of looking down on all heroes.
   

Quill tried to justify it afterward. “Actually, all the conditions were met. I think it’s not bad.”

Luka stood up, faced him, and struck a “reaching out” pose.

Quill turned his head away in a second.

Luka: “Look at me.”

Look at me! O-O

Quill: “…”

He really couldn’t hold it in. He lowered his eyes, his shoulders trembling slightly as he laughed out loud.

Regardless, the statue was an absolute symbol of status, demonstrating Luka’s prestige in the demon realm.

After the victory banquet, many fiefs began to issue new decrees one after another, and noble privileges existed in name only.

The nobles in the distant human lands were shocked again and again. It had been rumored before that the Saint wanted to abolish the nobility system, and everyone had strongly demanded that Luka take a side.

In the end, he turned around and chopped off the demon race’s privileges with a snap, even more decisive than the Saint.

“That was close. If he had really represented us, we’d probably all be drinking the northwest wind by now.”

At the end of May, Luka announced the date for the first Galai Film Festival, adding some tempting new rewards to the original ones.

There wasn’t much time left for the nobles to grieve. The Rhine Chamber of Commerce had already begun to frequently invest in building cinemas everywhere, and the nobles were also eager to cooperate with some ordinary, talented commoners.

Making a movie was easy, but finding a good plot was hard. Those who had time to study story scripts were generally common people.

The profession of a screenwriter was born out of this need.

Luka had deliberately pushed back the film festival by a few months precisely to wait for more works.

Less than a week later, at the beginning of June, the headphones were officially launched.

Inscriptions developed by Luka’s team, personally manufactured by the dwarves—these two selling points alone were enough for a mindless rush to buy.

Some shops on the street also tried to attract customers by playing music for the first time.

Conducting a private inspection, the streets bustling with demons were filled with the energy of life. For a moment, Luka felt as if a lifetime had passed, as if he were standing on a modern street again.

Suddenly, his eyes caught Quill’s gaze.

“When your divine sense becomes vaster, I will create a puppet. A wisp of your consciousness can cover it, and you can briefly visit other planes.”

Luka was pleasantly surprised. “Really?”

Quill: “But you will be quickly rejected by the world consciousness of the other plane and struck by lightning and sent back in a short time.”

Luka’s heart went cold. Isn’t there a more dignified way to go?

After a tour, he confirmed that more and more merchants of various races were gathering in the safe zone. Everything was like the coming summer, hot and bustling.

Since he had an interview in the afternoon, Luka didn’t wander for too long and arrived at the interview room on time.

Some of the major races were actively preparing for their own news broadcasts. To ensure more accurate information from outside their domains, a closer connection between the races was needed.

They had come this time to discuss this matter.

Since they were here, they naturally had to interview the young Demon King who had already risen to power in the public’s eyes.

The entire interview covered topics such as the future expansion of the safe zone and cultural and entertainment construction policies, but towards the end, the questions gradually went off track.

A war correspondent, prepared to anger Luka and make a name for himself in history, asked, “Next month, cinemas everywhere will officially open. It’s said that a large batch of new films will be released on the same day. Everyone is very concerned, will you have a new film released at that time?”

Lilian, waiting in the back, desperately made eye signals to Luka, indicating that he should not respond directly.

In fact, this question had already sparked a heated discussion online.

Everyone wanted to become famous overnight, and “pulling down and stepping on” was the most direct way.

Although Luka had nothing to do with this matter, he was forcibly placed in the discussion group to discuss whether he would participate in this box office competition.

Even during the interview, netizens were still continuously asking about this on Luka’s social media account.
[Can some of you just stop? He’s an accomplished Grand Magus, why would he bother with this kind of excitement?]

[…It doesn’t take that long to make a movie. I want to say, could it be that he’s scared?]

 [The person above is really daring, not afraid of being [cleaver][cleaver][cleaver]]

 [To be honest, even for His Excellency Luka, it’s hard to surpass his past self, right? God of Forging was the peak, and The Real and Fake Young Master benefited from the 3D effects.]
[Was that his past self? It was clearly himself from a few months ago [pushes up 3D glasses][Demon King Saintess emoji]]

The Rhine Chamber of Commerce had ‘purchased’ the rights to use the Holy Court’s portraits from the prisoners of war and created a series of emoji packs.

In the process of being turned into entertainment, the Holy Court became a deeply ingrained villainous image.
…

Due to Luka’s current status and strength, the discussion was currently rather tactful, but there were still some sharp voices among them.

Luka responded calmly, “I will consider it.”

The reporter was stunned. No, he actually dares to film one?

After the interview, Lilian spoke with her team and then caught up with Luka. “That was an orc just now. Orcs are reckless in their actions, otherwise they wouldn’t have offended the Elven King before. They will most likely take your words out of context!”

“…As far as I know, there’s a suspense film, a documentary, and one that aims to match the special effects of God of Forging currently in production. The quality is indeed quite good.”

Luka nodded nonchalantly, seemingly not taking it to heart.

Seeing that Lilian had no intention of returning to her team for the moment, he invited her to the reception room for a short sit-down.

“You made a special trip. It shouldn’t be just for the interview.”

Lilian nodded and got straight to the point. “I’m here to pass on a message from Uncle City Lord. The Saint went to see a diviner.”

Luka was curious. “And then?”

Diviners were usually only good at predicting fate and opportunities; it was impossible for them to divine the Demon King’s whereabouts.

“I don’t know the specifics of how they did it, but the Saint went to a place and found a settlement of curse master descendants. By the time the Saint got there, everyone was gone.”

Curse masters? Luka thought of the time he was cursed during the great war, and his gaze gradually grew cold.

The curse masters probably didn’t escape; they were taken by the Demon King to be used as sacrificial offerings.

In a sense, if there were still living curse masters, they were indeed very suitable for sacrifice.

The sound of hurried footsteps came from outside, interrupting Luka’s thoughts.

Alicia seemed to be forcing a calm expression. Seeing that there was still a guest, she subconsciously closed her mouth.

Luka motioned for her to speak directly.

Alicia: “I’ve been busy hunting down your grandmother these past few days.”

Luka: “She’s your grandmother.”

Lilian: “…” What’s there to be modest about?

“At first, I couldn’t find Princess Mary’s whereabouts. I thought she had fled with her subordinates.”

Alicia took a deep breath. “Until this morning, a subordinate learned from a passing griffin that on the day Princess Mary disappeared, screams seemed to have come from her residence.”

For so many demon generals to disappear without a sound was unlikely, unless there was a contract restriction in place.

The deathsworn and demon guards protecting Princess Mary now were all arranged by the Demon King in the past.

Luka asked in a deep voice, “Which day did Princess Mary disappear?”

“When the news of the Holy Court’s fall came, I immediately led my troops over, but she was already gone.”

Luka immediately came to an almost certain conclusion. The first thing the Demon King did after escaping was to come to the demon realm. After sacrificing his parents, he then sacrificed the demon generals. Not long ago, he found the curse master descendants and performed a second sacrifice.

The terminal vibrated a few times.

Luka’s expression softened after receiving a message from the dwarven chieftain—
The repair progress of the mandarin duck jade pendant had reached ninety percent.

Lilian was excellent at reading people. “Is there good news?!”

“I suppose so. In short, don’t worry too much.”

Luka added, “Including the box office matter. Don’t worry, I’m planning to make an animated film.”

“Huh?”

Lilian didn’t understand what an animated film was. Alicia, suddenly hearing the unfamiliar term, was also subconsciously curious.

“The target audience is children,” Luka said slowly. “The main theme is a heartwarming route. Parents bring their children to watch, so that’s at least two tickets to start. Even if they choose other movies, if they find there’s one suitable for children after, they will most likely buy tickets specifically for it.”

“Because it’s aimed at a younger market, the public will subconsciously only see it as a non-competing reference. For example, ‘it’s not even as good as an animated film,’ but they won’t use it for reverse comparison.”

Do you understand the charm of the annual “Bear Infested” movie? It’s a starting price for a family of three every time.

After speaking, Luka calmly tied on a beautifully woven magic apron. “In short, how can I possibly lose?”

“…”

After a long moment, Lilian’s throat moved. “Why are you tying an apron?”

“To prevent ink stains.”

After saying that, Luka violently tore open space and left. He found Quill near the dwarven factory, smiled, and extended his hand. “Look at me.”

Return to your original form, Quill!

Let’s work together on a Q-version cub animation to commemorate our past.

Quill: “…”

The apron came in six colors—orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple—but red was conspicuously missing.

Quill’s eyelid twitched slightly. Is he waiting for me to spit on it?

The rainbow-advocate Luka beckoned with his outstretched finger.

Seeing his eyes curved like a crescent moon, full of smiles, Quill’s heart suddenly softened.

[Sudden Literature]made a long-awaited appearance. The dignified necromancer realized this and almost got goosebumps.

In the end, without any surprise, a minute later, the young man was writing with a pen, the pen’s shaft slightly warm.

A gentle breeze from the window brought the scent of flowers. As it blew across the paper, a vivid and majestic monkey image appeared.

He had thought Luka would directly adapt The Beloved Three-and-a-Half-Year-Old. Seeing that it was a monkey, he felt a bit unaccustomed.

Luka: “I was just scaring you.”

He had deliberately worn the apron to tease him, and had also secretly recorded Quill’s expression at that moment. Later, he would put it next to his own “reaching out” statue, and they would enter the hall of embarrassing history together.

After drawing a few pictures, Quill strangely found it a bit interesting.

From the smoothness of the pen, Luka could guess Quill’s thoughts, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Who could resist Journey to the West?

Each character had their own distinct personality. The Tang Monk, with his “longevity meat” setting; Sun Wukong, who hadn’t been pulled down from his divine pedestal even in the internet age; the once handsome Marshal Tianpeng who later became Zhu Bajie… and Sha Wujing who could hold his own against anyone, and so on.

It was suitable for all ages, always fresh no matter how many times you watched it.

“This is one of the Four Great Classical Novels.”

Its copyright had already entered the public domain, as long as the author’s information was credited.

The journey to obtain the true scriptures had been deeply interpreted by scholars as a journey to seek the truth. It could also form a small closed loop with the philosophy expressed in God of Forging.

Quill took a few seconds to react, realizing that Luka was talking about the other world he had once lived in.

In the past, he would have avoided asking, worried that Luka would feel a sense of rootlessness from being ‘far from home’.

Now that he had brought it up himself, Quill took the opportunity to ask.

Luka fell silent for a moment, stopping his drawing.

He looked out the window. After a moment, he slowly began to tell of a world that contained no magic, but was equally bizarre and full of dazzling lights and sensual pleasures.

Quill listened quietly.

In the gentle and complex description, he tried to glimpse the trajectory of that child who refused to submit to fate.

Luka’s mood adjusted quickly, and he soon picked up his brush again.

Quill was confident that this time it would be a satisfying and exhilarating story. After all, there was a monkey with top-tier combat power, and the team members seemed very complementary.

With this lineup, how could it be frustrating?

The morning passed quickly. In the afternoon, Luka specially invited the dwarven chieftain over.

Because of the repair of the jade pendant and the headphone orders, this race had been so busy recently they didn’t even have time to be jealous of others.

The dwarven chieftain glared at Luka, indicating that he had better have something important enough to summon him.

“I have a new product I want to find you for.”

Upon hearing “new product,” the dwarven chieftain’s eyes lit up, but they were quickly tinged with suspicion. “You’re not lying to me?”

He had heard from Nellie that he was now dedicated to making some kind of animation.

“The animated film is just a primer to open up other markets,” Luka didn’t elaborate for now, taking out his terminal. “Wait a moment, I also have a meeting with the Elven King.”

After the remote get-together, he didn’t forget to include Cullen in this business deal and had sent him a message early in the morning.

As luck would have it, Cullen had to go to the military department later to promote the latest weapons and had already scheduled the time.

He didn’t want to miss this opportunity, but it was not appropriate to ask to delay the meeting for his own sake.

Luka helped him have the best of both worlds. “You go to the military department. Just leave a photo of yourself for us.”

Participation is what matters.

Moving the vase and snacks from his desk, Cullen solemnly placed a large photo frame.

————

In the week after the video conference, Luka also became incredibly busy.

Market research, inscription studies, and keeping an eye on the Demon King’s trail—everything piled up.

Speaking of the Demon King, besides the disappeared Princess Mary and a group of demon generals, there had been no news of him since Yatta City.

While the demon realm was flourishing, a dark undercurrent seemed to be lurking, ready to erupt at any moment.

The public’s hot topics changed daily. The topic of what Luka was going to film had just hit the hot search when the cinemas announced they would open a week early.

When Rio came to find Luka, the latter was busy with animation editing.

His golden eyes lit up. The art style was bright and vibrant, and each of the palm-sized characters looked very interesting.

Of course, Rio’s favorite was the mutated cub.

Luka knew this well.

Admit it, dragons just love cute things in their bones.

After admiring for a while, Rio got down to business. “The Saint contacted the dragons and asked us to help him keep an eye on some of the cinemas.”

The early release was intentional. Each cinema chain had set up a hidden teleportation array. If the Demon King chose to cause trouble on that day, reinforcements could arrive at any time.

Luka paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Will the Demon King really come on that day?”

Rio shook his head. “Hard to say.”

If it were the Saintess, she probably would. The people of the Holy Court valued ceremony. With the Demon King, the uncertainty was much greater.

A large hand patted Luka’s head. “You just focus on preparing for the release.”

The dragons would book out the theaters, one dragon per theater, to keep watch and guard legitimately.

Luka: “…”

He talked them blue in the face, finally convincing them to drop the idea of booking all the cinemas.

For the next half-month, Luka worked day and night, and the animation progress was a thousand miles a day.

The moment before he lost all sense of time, he let out a long breath to the sky, fell back, and went to sleep.

Quill caught him in time and carried him to the bed.

On a hot summer day, the necromancer’s body temperature was the best regulator. Luka unconsciously leaned over, nuzzling twice against the familiar scent.

“Made it!” he muttered unconsciously.

The night before the new cinemas opened, it was finally finished.

The nuzzled Quill: “…” This is killing me.

Excerpt from Luka’s Diary:

Repost and like the wanted notice for the Demon King. I’ll draw two movie tickets from today’s visitors [Let me see][Orange candy]

Lilian: You’re so busy, how do you still have time to write in your diary?

 Cullen: This is no longer a diary, it’s an industrial chain.

 Alex says nothing, just keeps reposting.

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