Necrotic Heavenly Crafts, Weapons of War

Chen Xu was astonished to see the skeleton safety officer miraculously avoid the danger.

"Yinian, blow that skeleton up again."

"Okay."

Although Chen Yinian didn't understand why Chen Xu wanted her to do it, she complied. Another tornado formed, lifting the skeleton safety officer into the air.

"Cancel it. Let him fall."

As soon as he spoke, the tornado dissipated.

Thud!

This time, the skeleton safety officer didn't seem to be favored by Lady Luck and slammed straight into the ground.

However, a fall from that height couldn't injure a skeleton hero; his bones were merely covered in dust.

"Well, I thought it was Strong Luck, but it turns out it's just ordinary good luck."

Chen Xu was somewhat disappointed. He had hoped a 'Strong Luck' freak had appeared among his ranks, but it was just a skeleton with a bit of better-than-average fortune.

Aside from this little interlude, Phase 1 of the Heavenly Crafts Project proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Massive quantities of Rune-energy Stones were transported to the furnaces, processed into standard runic bricks, and then used to construct specialized buildings.

Blacksmith workshops for the smiths, weaving mills for the cloth-makers, and various other specialized facilities were erected.

The buildings were linked together by arrays carved into the runic bricks, allowing energy to circulate between them.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye. The Necrotic Heavenly Crafts base had begun to take shape. Workshops stood in rows across the clearing, and skeleton heroes were stationed in their respective sectors, constantly manufacturing goods.

The forge led by Ghost Axe was the most popular, attracting the largest number of skeleton heroes.

"Lord Ghost Axe, when will my custom bone blade be ready? Lord Bone Guard One has already issued orders—I'm heading to the next demon battlefield in three days."

"Without my blade, you can't expect a swordsman like me to use my bare hands to tickle the demons, can you?"

Ghost Axe ignored the grumbling skeleton hero. He simply picked up a wine gourd from the floor and poured the wine directly onto the hammer in front of him.

Then, he began to strike rhythmically, performing the final enchantment on the equipment.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"Big guy, your heavy hammer is finished. Take it."

Ghost Axe leaned down and grabbed the heavy hammer, which had just lost its glow, with his left hand.

The part where his bone fingers touched the hammer sizzled. Although the glow had faded, the hammer was still scorching hot. Ghost Axe, relying on his Iron Fingers, was fearless in the face of high temperatures.

With a casual toss, he threw the heavy hammer into the hands of a tall skeleton hero.

"Lord Ghost Axe's craftsmanship lives up to its reputation. Next time I collect more demon spines, I'll come back and ask you to forge for me again."

"Forging is fine, but stop collecting those low-tier fallen demon bones. Even if you collect ten thousand tons of those, they won't be as useful as a single spine from a greater demon."

After saying this, Ghost Axe pulled a sickle from a nearby rack in sequence and placed it into the heating furnace.

The skeleton hero who had spoken earlier stepped forward to ask again.

"Lord Ghost Axe, about my—"

"Enough, enough. Rest assured, you'll definitely get your weapon before you depart. Can't you see I'm so busy I don't even have time to drink?"

"I haven't even had a chance to apply my Beautiful Bone Powder for days. You'd think you were the only one in a hurry."

"Hehe, I'm just anxious. The requirements for receiving a name are getting higher and higher. If I don't kill a few more demons in the next war, I'm afraid I won't catch the Prince's eye. It's so rare to be granted a name."

The Necrotic Heavenly Crafts base had been operational for two months. Ghost Axe had purchased a large quantity of various ores from the Wanbao Pavilion. Using Rune-energy Stones as a base, he had forged a large batch of standard-issue armor.

This armor was specifically designed to coordinate with Bone Guard One's military formations, increasing the efficiency of energy conduction.

After completing the armor, Ghost Axe continued to forge other equipment.

There were Bone-Crushing Cannons mounted on the bone dragons and Mobile Bunkers built for the skeleton archers.

The deployment of these numerous war machines brought significant changes to the battlefield.

In addition to crafting war weapons, the forge under Ghost Axe was also responsible for creating, repairing, and upgrading the personal weapons of the skeleton heroes.

In the past, skeleton soldiers used standard-issue weapons: uniform bone blades and bone shields.

If a blade went blunt, they would sharpen it on their own shields. If a shield cracked, they would repair it themselves by absorbing necrotic aura.

Now that they had become various types of skeleton heroes, absorbing necrotic aura was used to increase their own strength. It was far better to have specialized personnel handle weapon maintenance.

Skeleton heroes would collect demon corpses from the battlefield and bring them to the forge to strengthen their weapons.

Excess spoils, besides being used for weapon upgrades, could also be given to other workshops to create different types of items.

For example, the Beautiful Bone Powder that Ghost Axe had just mentioned.

This item was a product developed by a skeleton hero with an alchemist class.

Since skeletons lacked the digestive systems of normal organisms, traditional alchemy was no longer compatible with their lifestyle.

Therefore, that alchemist had innovated. Drawing inspiration from 'pill ash'—the byproduct of failed alchemy—he created the Beautiful Bone Powder, a necrotic version of a medicinal pill.

One only needed to apply the Beautiful Bone Powder to their bones to continuously increase bone strength and the total amount of necrotic aura in their body.

As soon as it was released, it became a hit throughout the Undead Dao Court, becoming a daily necessity for every skeleton hero.

The necrotic knights next door, the undead bone dragons in the distance, and even the Bone Kun in the Inverted Sea above often came to request it.

The necrotic knights sold their labor to earn Beautiful Bone Powder as payment.

The undead bone dragons brought special ice blocks from within the Everfrost territory to exchange for the powder.

The Bone Kun used their own scales to trade with the skeleton heroes for the powder.

While some skeletons forged and others performed alchemy, there were also skeletons who had reclaimed a large area of wasteland outside the Heavenly Crafts base.

Skeleton farmers among the heroes had purchased a large batch of special seeds through Big Boss. After cultivation, they had transformed them into special crops suitable for the environment of the Undead Dao Court.

Although skeletons didn't need to eat, in a transcendent world, crops were often not used for food but for alchemy.

The current popularity of Beautiful Bone Powder was partly due to its effects being perfectly suited for undead creatures, but another major factor was the lack of other materials.

What the skeleton heroes brought back from the battlefield was either demon bones, demon flesh, demon organs, or brains—essentially a full family portrait of a demon.

Why didn't they bring back any local specialties from the war-torn worlds? In worlds scorched by demon fire, what specialties could possibly remain?

Most of the worlds given to Chen Xu by Heaven were those without high-value products.

Rather than having the skeleton heroes stay behind after a battle to scavenge, it was more practical to let them rest briefly before moving on to the next battlefield.

Suddenly, Chen Xu's voice rang out, and all the skeleton heroes in the forge bowed their heads in unison.

"Ghost Axe."

"My Lord."

Ghost Axe quickly dropped the tools in his hands and stood up.

"Come to the Overlord's Castle."

"Yes."

Ghost Axe used his toe to hook his axe off the floor. Exiting the workshop, he ran quickly toward the alchemy workshop.

Sure enough, bone dragons were coming into view. Ghost Axe chose the nearest one and jumped onto its back.

"Big guy, take me to the Overlord's Castle. When we get back, I'll give you a full set of Beautiful Bone Powder."

The bone dragon had initially wanted to struggle and throw the uninvited guest off its back, but as soon as it heard 'Beautiful Bone Powder,' it immediately changed its attitude.

Its massive wings flapped downward as it sped toward the Overlord's Castle. Perhaps fearing that Ghost Axe would go back on his word, the bone dragon used all its strength and arrived at the castle in no time.

"Wuuu—"

After landing, the bone dragon extended a claw and nudged the axe on Ghost Axe's back.

"What? You're afraid I'll skip out on the tab and want me to leave my axe with you as collateral?"

The massive dragon head nodded and even snorted a puff of ice crystals from its nostrils, as if to say it wasn't one to be trifled with.

"Big guy, it's one thing if you don't recognize the other skeletons, but surely you recognize me? I'm Ghost Axe. I have a name, and I'm a skeleton of status in this Undead Dao Court. You still don't trust me?"

"Wuuu?"

The bone dragon had some impression of the name Ghost Axe; he was indeed a rising star who had appeared recently.

Thus, the bone dragon retracted its claw and let Ghost Axe leave.

Before he left, the bone dragon walked a circle around Ghost Axe and even leaned in to take a deep sniff, seemingly trying to memorize his scent.

"Big guy, put your heart at ease. Your Queen herself has spoken; no skeleton would dare skip out on the fare for a dragon ride like they used to."

Ghost Axe walked quickly into the Overlord's Castle and found that besides Chen Xu, there was another person he didn't recognize.

"My Lord, I have arrived."

"Mhm. Ghost Axe, do you or any of the other skeleton heroes know how to craft mechanical traps and hidden weapons?"