Deep within a certain rainforest, a massive red-furred baboon leader sat beneath a tree, peacefully enjoying the various fruits brought by its subordinates.
The unique climate of the tropical rainforest made this place a paradise for animals.
Though the plants and animals here were all somewhat strange, as the creatures were either covered in red fur or had blood-red skin that constantly seeped fluid.
The plants were equally bizarre, with trunks covered in red patterns resembling blood vessels and leaves scattered with small, crimson spots.
No matter how one looked at it, the place was eerie.
Yet, a strange harmony existed between these odd animals and plants, as the creatures here were all herbivores, and the vast rainforest provided ample food, making it a veritable sanctuary.
"Screech! Screech!"
Suddenly, a series of urgent baboon cries rang out, startling many birds into flight.
The red-furred baboon leader set down its fruit and looked toward the source of the noise, scratching its head before deciding to climb into the canopy to investigate.
Moving with all four limbs, it reached the top of the tree in just a few bounds, but just as it poked its head out of the dense foliage, a pair of massive dragon claws descended from above.
The sharp bone claws easily sliced through the baboon's fur and embedded into its flesh, the intense pain causing the baboon to let out a wretched howl.
The bone dragon, having successfully struck, felt no sympathy for its prey, instead, the creature's wails served as the ultimate stimulant as it flapped its wings and carried the baboon high into the sky.
From the air, the baboon leader finally understood why its subordinates were screaming so frantically.
At this moment, the originally red rainforest was being painted with new colors: the grayish-white of the undead and the deep blue of the skeleton soldiers.
Swarms of the undead army were pouring in from the dungeon entrance.
On the ground was the skeleton trio, a mixed force composed of soldiers, archers, and mages, while five bone dragons circled above, constantly snatching up animals attempting to hide in the trees.
The composition of this undead symphony included the screams of animals, the thunderous crash of falling trees, the whistling of blades, and the roars of bone dragons tearing through their prey.
The tragedy unfolding in this Crimson Rainforest was not an isolated case, as the same scene was playing out across the other fifty-plus dungeons in the South Realm.
The tentacles of the Lord of the Undead reached into every single dungeon, and his undead army carried out his orders with peak efficiency to conquer each one.
As for the Lord of the Undead himself, he was lounging within the Undead Kingdom.
He lay on a reclining chair, holding an unknown beverage scavenged from an aristocratic manor in his right hand, with a large platter of fresh South Realm fruit sitting by his left.
In the sky not far away, fifty massive screens floated, broadcasting real-time battle footage from the South Realm dungeons.
These so-called 'screens' were actually nothing more than spatial gates connecting the Undead Kingdom to the dungeon worlds.
After reaching the mythic-tier, the spatial attributes of the Undead Kingdom had undergone a qualitative leap, and the mental strength required to open a spatial gate had been greatly reduced, allowing Chen Xu to open tens of thousands of them at once and keep them open permanently.
He could have opened even more, but he wouldn't have been able to maintain a mental balance for permanent operation.
Chen Xu sipped his drink and ate his fruit, occasionally pulling a 'screen' closer to get a better look at a particularly interesting battle.
When things got exciting, he would even grab some nearby undead creatures—like gargoyles or abominations—and toss them through the spatial gate, airdropping them into the battlefield to give the dungeon creatures a little 'surprise' from the Undead Kingdom.
Chen Xu picked at his ear, thinking that while the panoramic live broadcast was great, the howling of the dungeon monsters was far too noisy, as unlike the undead, he couldn't simply immerse himself in the sounds of painful wailing.
Although the spatial gates could block sound one-way, Chen Xu felt that losing the sound effects of the combat made the experience feel incomplete, like watching a silent war film.
He searched through the inherited knowledge of the Lord of the Undead for anything related to spatial gate noise reduction, but no matter how much he looked, he found nothing.
Refusing to give up, Chen Xu thought he might have missed it by browsing too quickly, so he went through it several more times, only to find nothing again.
Just as he was growing confused, the excited roar of a bone dragon came through a spatial gate, and he suddenly remembered that his predecessors were all pure-blooded denizens of the Land of the Undead.
To them, the wails of living creatures were the most beautiful sounds in the world, and just like the bone dragon currently roaring in excitement, the noisier it was and the more creatures that were wailing, the more thrilled they became.
Since there was no ancestral wisdom to rely on, Chen Xu would have to start his own research project, and since it was already near the end of the year, it was the perfect time for some year-end project planning.
...
Twelve hours passed, and back on Blue Star, the Daxia officials and other personnel had arrived in the South Realm to begin the work of governance.
Upon seeing the South Realm's abysmal educational standards—which were practically non-existent—and the average professional level of only level 1, the executive team's heads throbbed, as compared to Daxia, this place might as well be a primitive society, and bringing a group of primitive people into a modern transcendent society was no small feat.
Meanwhile, the investigation teams from the academy and the military academy had arrived at the five special wonders created by the dungeon invasions.
The researchers and professors from the academy were ecstatic, as these unique sights were practically guaranteed to produce plenty of research papers.
The members of the investigation team, however, felt nothing, as they were all battle-hardened veterans, and the monsters here were simply too weak to pique their interest, though the mushrooms were a bit tricky since the air was thick with spores.
Because Chen Xu had only reported the coordinates to Xia Qiming without mentioning the strength of the monsters, Daxia had treated these invasions with the same level of caution as the one in Mohai, sending elite teams drafted from various locations.
This led to an awkward situation where the investigation team, which should have been the busiest, suddenly became the most idle.
There were no other dungeons in the South Realm for them to investigate, as they had all been occupied by Chen Xu's undead army.
The invading monsters were easily handled by combat robots developed by the academy and Heavenly Crafts, leaving no work for the veterans.
Consequently, the captain of this temporary investigation team, Chen Xu's senior, Tang Hezhou, pulled out his Soul-Inducing Token and sent a message to Chen Xu, asking if there was any work for them to do.
As soon as the message was sent, Tang Hezhou's smart terminal rang, and he saw it was a call from Chen Xu.
"Hey, Senior, why are you the one who came here?"
"Hahaha, I'm just riding on your coattails, Junior. The higher-ups saw that I'm familiar with you, so they sent me over, otherwise, I'd never get a cushy assignment like this."
"Well, I don't really have anything I need help with on my end. Those fifty-plus dungeons are already taken care of."
"Done? You've cleared them all? It's been less than a day!" Tang Hezhou was shocked, as the reputation of the Scourge was truly well-deserved.
Rate on N.U.
