The Lord Demon King is Unfathomable!

Attached to the scarf was an extra postcard, with a neat and elegant signature written on it.

[I heard it's snowing on the northeastern coast of the Vortex Sea. I hope this scarf can bring you some warmth from the Demon City. Of course, if you don't like it, feel free to toss it—it's just something I randomly grabbed from a roadside general store, hehehe.]

——Mia

Luo Yan had no doubt that if he really lost this item, that particular person would probably burst into tears.

Though the scarf wasn't any particularly expensive gift, it was perfectly appropriate for their roles as classmates and friends, and the amount of care behind it was overflowing.

Luo Yan honestly didn't care about the value of the gift; as long as it was heartfelt, he would gladly accept even a beetle.

Especially when it came from Mia, who had helped him so many times.

If she had given him yet another expensive present, he'd instead feel stressed about how to reciprocate.

After all, unlike those "rebels turning over a new leaf" in the lower levels of the Maze, she didn't owe him anything, and he couldn't shamelessly take advantage of her without feeling guilty.

But that's not to say he wouldn't thick-skinnedly take advantage of her anyway.

As for Vivian...

That little girl's behavior was still baffling as ever.

Luo Yan never considered that someone like her, entirely unrelated to the Great Graveyard, would join the gift-giving frenzy. Yet, he surprisingly received a magic wand from her.

This was no ordinary magic wand, but a masterpiece crafted by the famed goblin artisan Gnorno Silver Hand of the Imperial City—a legendary golden-tier wand in the wand world!

The entire wand not only bore the ingenuity and design of a top-tier artisan but was also forged from Mithril worth a fortune. Its most crucial core even contained a single Phoenix feather!

On one side of the wand, a fine engraving could be found, the words "Silver Thorn" written in the world's oldest language.

This was the wand's name, as well as the exclusive spell imbued within it, instantly castable with an infusion of Magic Power!

Luo Yan had once seen this wand in a store display but gave up after glancing at the zeros on the price tag. He never expected to obtain it this way.

To say the least, this wand's value could rival the Dragon Skin Bransia had once presented to him.

Though admittedly, most of the wand's value was just market markup.

Truth be told, Luo Yan didn't want Vivian to spend so extravagantly, especially since he could sense she was doing this out of a sense of debt and compensation.

He didn't think of himself as pitiable, nor did he believe that love born of extreme hatred transforming was a healthy feeling.

Perhaps, more than him, she needed her father's love.

Roxey Colin's debts toward his family might surpass those he owed his illegitimate child.

But considering that Vivian's allowance might far exceed his imagination, Luo Yan eventually chose to silently accept the gift, replacing the wand that had accompanied him through his student years.

What if this was just her savings from skimping on spending for one month?

Wouldn't rejecting it make him seem overly pretentious?

And besides, the moment he thought about how the money ultimately came from the Colin family, Luo Yan instantly felt at peace, erasing any lingering guilt he carried.

The completion of the Audience Hall and taking the chance to "squeeze the vassals" was but a passing diversion in the Demon King's daily routine. During this period, Luo Yan wasn't just hosting banquets; occasionally, he'd handle some Demon King duties while collaborating with the Dark Night Elf ancestor, Gray Wind, on research into "humanoid creation."

This particular project, in fact, had become a key focus of his work during this time.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that the progress of this research directly tied to the beta testing schedule and the players' gaming experience!

Though no significant breakthroughs had been achieved yet, Luo Yan had already stumbled upon a viable approach.

That approach was grafting.

Interestingly enough, this idea came thanks to the Life Professional Players on his territory.

Seeing them work with the Dark Night Elves to tinker with flowers and plants, Luo Yan was struck with inspiration. He promptly took plant specimens from Kao Planet and grafted them onto the new sprouts Gray Wind had set up on the fifth floor of the Maze.

Of course, to guard against Chaos contamination, he specifically instructed Gray Wind to implement some preventive measures, like cutting off energy supply to the new sprouts in the event of any risks.

Fortunately, his worst fears did not come to pass. The "Kao Mushrooms" transplanted onto the Maze's fifth floor through grafting exhibited healthy growth—with no signs of dying off or spreading uncontrollably to other Maze floors.

The experiment progressed in an orderly manner.

Additionally, Luo Yan discovered something fascinating.

While these "Kao Mushrooms" originated from a Chaos-corrupted planet, they themselves contained no trace of Chaos contamination.

Not only that, but their spores also carried no signs of Chaos corruption!

This was the most bewildering aspect to Luo Yan.

He had initially thought Chaos contamination had seeped into the genetic level of that planet's organisms, but it turned out things weren't as bleak as he had imagined.

Their genetics might hold tendencies of brutality and bloodlust, but Chaos itself was not inherently embedded within them.

Rather, Chaos felt more like an influence intertwined with cultural lineage, requiring nurturing to pass down, rather than being innate!

In other words—

They had the potential to assimilate into civilized society!

Realizing this, Luo Yan immediately instructed Sano Black Hand to capture some newly emerged Kao beings from the Mushroom Forest and confine them in a breeding facility near the Outpost Fortress for observation.