Chapter 2601 "Soul Absorbing City" Odis (Ⅱ)
Joan stopped and looked around. Stone towers under construction could be seen everywhere. The dwarves and subterranean dwarf masons who were enslaved by the mind flayers were climbing up and down the construction site flexibly, using stone materials of various sizes to build a new house for the master.
Near the stone tower, there is often a circle of relatively low fortresses, which are used to house the slaves of the mind flayers. When the city is invaded, these fortresses can also serve as fortifications.
Unlike the beholder nobles of Udinos, the territory of the mind flayers is generally relatively small. Apart from the stone tower where they live and the barracks provided to the slaves, they have no other private property.
The Los Beast Ranch and Mushroom Plantation that Joan saw in the city were large in scale, and the areas where they were located were planned in advance by the masterminds and elders, and belonged to the "public property" collectively owned by the citizens of the whole city.
For example, the mushroom and tuber plantations are named "collective farm No. 1", "collective farm No. 2" according to the number...
Even the slaughterhouses are numbered like this. The stone house that Joan just passed by is "Slaughterhouse No. 5", and there is a line of slogans painted with "spiritual writing" on the wall——
Our factory is committed to providing nutritious and hygienic high-quality brains for all citizens, welcome to order!
In Udinos, it is not easy for beholders to get together and live in groups. Few giant-eyed tyrants are willing to leave their territory and enter the city to participate in public activities. Besides, the only public facility in the city is the council hall, so there is nowhere to go even if you want to entertain or shop.
Odis was different.
The urban area is not only the geographical center of the city, but also the activity center of the citizens. There are a variety of goods in the market, and there are even fine wines and spices trafficked from the surface world, but the most popular commodity is always slaves.
Joan walked into the slave auction in Odis and found that the environment and atmosphere here were very similar to the "species museum" in Castle Donning. He was amazed by the richness of the slaves auctioned on the booth, and many of them were Intelligent beings from the surface world, including humans, of course.
These surface races usually don't take the initiative to go to the dark area located thousands of feet underground to die. Most of their homes were attacked by the "slave hunters" sent by the mind flayers to the surface world, and they were captured and escorted to Edi In addition, there are merchants who specialize in the slave trade to buy, lure or even kidnap from the surface world. After all, this business is quite profitable.
As long as it is a profitable business, no matter how wicked it is, there will always be someone to do it.
Since some people traveled thousands of miles to traffic black slaves to the New World, it was just a routine operation to go further and traffic slaves to the Underdark.
The fate of the slaves in the auction house of Odis is even more tragic than that of the black slaves in the plantations in the surface world.
They were bought home by their masters, and most of them would not be available if they wanted to be enslaved, and their destination ended at the dinner table.
Mind flayers are omnivores in theory, but their favorite food has always been the fresh brains of intelligent creatures. Unless they have to, mind flayers don't bother to use other foods to fill their hunger, otherwise they will be like "fasting" Gnostics. In that way, he will become the laughing stock of the whole city.
It is precisely because of this special food addiction that Odis has a great demand for human brains. The slave auction site is also nicknamed the "vegetable market". A delicious dish.
Mind flayers only eat soft brain tissue, and have no appetite for biological flesh and internal organs, but the corpses that eat up the brains will not be wasted, and can be used for experiments, or put brain devourers in the empty skulls, The transformation into an obedient puppet.
Joan doesn't think much of the slavery system in his hometown, not to mention the bloodier and crueler slavery system prevalent in Odis. He felt physically uncomfortable after staying in the auction for half an hour. If he didn't want to stand up to the Gnostic Living in Odis for a period of time, inspecting the local ecology and society, I really want to completely destroy this sinful underground city immediately!
In Joan's view, the evil of beholders is mainly caused by congenital defects in neurological function, and it is a kind of "overreacting evil".
Many times, beholders do evil just to divert the pain and fear caused by mental illness. For example, there is no basis for suspecting that someone wants to murder him, so he kills the other person first, which is both hateful and pitiful.
The evil of mind flayers has surpassed instinct, and is a product of pure reason. There is a whole set of logical and rigorous theories explaining the necessity of enslaving and mutilating others. As for the devil, they are both terrible and hateful, but they are not pitiful.
Leaving the slave auction house, Joan walked not far along the central avenue of Odis, and saw a three-story circular building on the side of the road. The scale was not inferior to the theater on the surface world. The noise coming through the window aroused his curiosity. , then turned and walked over.
This magnificent building is the Colosseum of Odes.
In addition to specializing in psychic powers and conducting various weird experiments, mind flayers also have a public entertainment activity, which is to watch slaves engage in bloody gladiatorial matches and place bets.
Surrounding the arena, there are three floors of stands from bottom to top. Only the citizens of Odis are eligible to go to the second floor to watch the game, or pay a little more to book a private room on the third floor. As for the refugees, outsiders and the favored servants of the master, they can only watch the gladiator from the stands on the first floor.
The grandstand on the first floor is actually a circle of stairs. The crowd is crowded with each other and the environment is messy. The only advantage is that you don’t need to buy tickets, and anyone can come in to join in the fun.
Although Joan was a refugee deprived of his political rights, he was a pure-blooded mind flayer and well-dressed. When he walked into the stands on the first floor, the fanatical crowd retreated and made way for him.
Joan imitated Nosti's usual reserved style, with his hands behind his back, he walked unhurriedly, walked through the crowd to the front of the stands, and stopped in front of the fence.
In the wide arena, the white fine sand on the ground is mixed with bloodstains, some of which have not yet solidified.
The host is introducing the next group of players who will be on stage - the ogre standing at the entrance of the left passageway, holding a big stick, and the subterranean gnome with a pickaxe on his shoulder at the entrance on the right.
The contrast in stature between the two contestants was so stark that most viewers assumed that the ogre would snap the little gnome's neck within three rounds, and the side betting odds faithfully reflected this common prediction.
Compared with the players in the arena, Joan was more interested in the guy who opened the bet and ran around the stands on the first floor with a quill and a small book.