Massive Construction

With Chen Xu’s decree, Ghost Axe began scouting for a location within the Undead Dao Court.

A large group of skeleton heroes, riding on hundreds of bone dragons, flew through the Undead Dao Court for several days. They argued and debated along the way before finally deciding on the site for the Heavenly Crafts base.

It was located right in front of the Rune-energy Stone mine, allowing them to source materials on the spot and build a city of magic powered by the stones.

Once the site was chosen, Ghost Axe brought the plans to Chen Xu.

Chen Xu took the blueprints handed to him and began to look them over.

“My Lord, I plan to establish the Heavenly Crafts base in the open area three kilometers away from the Rune-energy Stone mine. First, this allows us to gather materials locally, mining and using the stones to construct a magical city that functions on runic energy.”

“Second, it is at a sufficient distance from the Overlord's Castle, so the construction won't disturb your rest.”

Chen Xu waved his hand. “Don't worry about me. Just focus on what works best for your profession.”

“From a professional standpoint, My Lord, that is indeed the best spot.”

“Furthermore, there are no other special territories nearby. If you fuse with new territories in the future that are beneficial for forging or manufacturing, we can place them there and integrate them into a specialized zone.”

“Mhm, that makes sense. Let it be there, then. Go and execute the plan.”

“As you command, My Lord!”

After receiving Chen Xu’s permission, Ghost Axe led a large group of artisans and began the vigorous Phase 1 of the Heavenly Crafts Project.

Ghost Axe assigned a portion of the skeleton heroes to the Rune-energy Stone mine to transport the raw ore that had already been mined.

These had been mined by the skeleton soldiers long ago in massive quantities, estimated to be several million tons.

At the time, because Chen Xu lacked the techniques to process Rune-energy Stones and didn't have this group of specialized talents, the ore had simply been left there.

He had previously sold some to the Wanbao Pavilion, but under current circumstances, Big Boss was too busy selling treasures from the Land of the Undead and planning its cities. This small amount of Rune-energy Stone didn't really catch his eye.

Since Chen Xu wasn't short on money, the stones had been left to pile up and go to waste.

Only the group of Bone Kun in the Inverted Sea above would occasionally come down to feast on the stones when they were feeling peckish.

However, their ability to devour and digest was far less ridiculous than that of the Kunpeng. It took them a full half-month to digest a single meal of stones, so Chen Xu let them have their snacks.

The skeleton heroes had the bone dragons blast the piles of Rune-energy Stones with Frost Breath, freezing them solid.

Then, some of the artisan-type skeleton heroes stepped forward with bone hammers and chisels, carving the frozen blocks into smooth, round ice spheres.

The ice spheres rolled to the ground and were delivered to the mouths of the Bone Kun. These giant fish were responsible for using their massive tails to swat the ice spheres toward the location of the Heavenly Crafts base.

Immense force was transferred from the tails to the spheres. With a loud boom, the ice spheres shot out like cannonballs.

On the other side, at the construction site, more Bone Kun were already waiting.

Seeing the ice sphere projectiles flying over, they would wiggle their bodies and dash forward, slamming their thick heads into the spheres.

Under the impact of two massive opposing forces, the ice spheres would shatter, scattering the Rune-energy Stone ore onto the ground.

The skeleton heroes would then take the opportunity to pick them up and toss them into the pre-built furnaces.

The process of picking them up was somewhat dangerous. Some Bone Kun were quite playful and had poor aim when headbutting the spheres, often sending them plummeting downward. If one failed to dodge in time, they could be seriously injured on the spot.

There was no workers' comp or orthopedic hospitals here. If they got hurt, they could only rely on their own recovery and the buffs from the Undead Dao Court to heal slowly while dragging their broken bodies to work.

Once the ore reached the furnaces, Ghost Axe took over personally.

Hundreds of stones were melted into a liquid state and poured into pre-made rectangular molds, casting them into standard runic bricks.

Once they cooled, Ghost Axe swung his axe. As it struck, the rectangular bricks erupted with sparks, and the brick bodies flickered with a faint runic glow.

The refined runic bricks were then loaded onto three bone nightmares. The original masters of the bone nightmares, the necrotic knights, had been relegated to manual labor, acting as the links between each stage of the process.

It couldn't be helped. The skeletons had achieved spiritual liberation and were either practicing military formations or busy with their own specialized tasks. Heavy manual labor naturally fell to the necrotic knights.

The abominations were unkempt; although they were strong, their bodies were filthy and likely to soil or damage the finished materials.

The bone dragons only had teeth and claws, which were extremely sharp and could easily leave scratches.

As for the blazing souls, they were soul-type creatures and were assigned lighter tasks, like marking lines.

Other low-tier undead like ghouls, Stygian Dolls, and Corpse Mothers were even less suitable. Ultimately, the heavy lifting fell to the necrotic knights, who were also humanoid.

As knights who charged on the front lines, their strength was naturally unquestionable. People with excellent horsemanship also had great balance; they were practically born for manual labor. It was simply their fate to suffer this trial.

Massive square bricks were transported to the construction site, where the artisan skeleton heroes came forward and directed the necrotic knights to lift them.

The artisans took the opportunity to carve various runes and special pathways onto the four sides of the bricks. These were the foundations of a large-scale array.

Starting from individual bricks and continuing until the building was finished, the array would naturally begin to function.

The artisans carved at incredible speeds, completing a brick in just a few seconds.

Once carved, the bricks were carefully carried by the necrotic knights into the construction site. Under the guidance of the civil engineering skeleton heroes, they were assembled into houses according to the blueprints.

As the Heavenly Crafts Project proceeded in full swing, Chen Xu, Chen Xing, and several other Nephalem watched silently from the Overlord's Castle.

These Demon Seeds had discovered that their big brother had been taken away by Chen Xu and clamored to return as well. Sindragosa couldn't withstand their pestering and brought them back to the Undead Dao Court.

The bustling construction site immediately caught the attention of these Demon Seeds, who began watching the scene like it was a movie.

“Father, Father, why is that one skeleton not working? I’ve seen it standing there for so long, just watching the others work.”

Chen Yinian, the second oldest, asked the question. To help Chen Xu identify the one she meant, she even summoned a tornado to lift that skeleton hero into the air.

Chen Xu looked over and focused his gaze.

【Skeleton Hero: Unnamed】

【Class: Site Safety Officer】

【Skills: Blame Immunity I, Blame Immunity II, Blame Immunity III... Blame Immunity MAX】

“Uh, this skeleton is a bit special. It’s... it’s...”

Chen Xu didn't quite know how to explain. A safety officer? That was something for human society.

In the Undead Dao Court, in a skeleton construction crew, the word 'safety' didn't really exist. Efficiency was king.

Besides, you couldn't exactly put skeletons through three-level safety training or have them fill out 'four non-injury' cards before starting work.

What could possibly go wrong with a group of skeleton heroes possessing transcendent powers working on a construction site? They were building a Heavenly Crafts base, not the Southern Heaven Gate.

“It’s supervising the other skeletons to see if they’re working according to the blueprints.”

“Oh, so it’s a supervisor.”

Chen Yinian dispelled the tornado, and the unlucky skeleton hero fell straight down.

Just as it was about to hit the ground, a necrotic knight passing by somehow twisted his ankle and fell over, landing exactly where the skeleton hero was falling.

Boom! Crash!

The skeleton hero patted the dust off its body, completely unharmed. The brick nearby, however, had slammed heavily onto the ground, its four corners ground flat.

Seeing this, Chen Xu was a bit surprised.

“Holy crap... Strong Luck?”