Chen Xu followed Wu Houde into the Black Anomaly dungeon.
A massive fortress stood right at the entrance.
The fortress was packed with people, most of whom were professionals with long-range attack capabilities.
Others were running back and forth; these were logistical personnel transporting supplies.
"This fortress occupies most of the manpower of my Hurricane Warband. The calamity monsters outside are endless, constantly battering the fortress. We can only implement a shift system."
"A shift system?"
Chen Xu thought he had misheard.
"Yes, three eight-hour shifts. Although professionals have enhanced bodies and are tougher than ordinary people, defending here requires near-maximum output.
You see those supply teams? They are transporting mental potions and energy potions. Each person consumes one crate of mental and energy potions per shift."
"Commander Wu, it sounds like you all have it quite rough."
Chen Xu recalled what he had learned in class. The conquered secret realms in the Dungeon Hall were managed by state-owned or private enterprises.
Their working hours were usually only four hours a day. Thanks to the technology of the Heavenly Crafts Academy, many work sites were automated or semi-automated, with manual labor accounting for a small percentage.
Wu Houde understood Chen Xu's meaning and grinned. "Brother Chen, don't think an eight-hour shift is exhausting. These spots are actually in high demand. Those calamity monsters are a great source of experience and an excellent place for skill practice.
Look up there; many of them aren't wearing the Hurricane Warband badge. Those are other professionals who came here voluntarily. Some are college students led by teachers, coming here to experience different types of actual combat."
Listening to Wu Houde's introduction, Chen Xu felt his horizons broadening. He hadn't expected so many people to be fighting for a chance to work and defend this small fortress.
"Commander Wu, your Hurricane Warband has been operating here for so long. Have you ever sent out flying items to scout? For instance, Master Duan's paper crane. These calamity monsters shouldn't have flight capabilities, right?"
"We've tried, but flying items lose control before they get very far. The controllers also suffer a backlash and get infected by the Black Anomaly, which is extremely troublesome."
Wu Houde also had a major headache regarding this.
"Backlash? An infection that travels along mental strength? Interesting."
Chen Xu remembered the dungeon prompt from the Sandworm Scourge. The believers of the Desert God were infected by a mental plague, which then corrupted the god through their faith.
This Black Anomaly could also be transmitted through mental strength, making the two very similar.
"Commander Wu, do you remember the fourth stage prompt in the Sandworm Scourge? It said the Desert God was corrupted by a mental plague. Doesn't it look very similar to this Black Anomaly?"
Reminded by Chen Xu, Wu Houde also realized there might be a connection between the two.
"If this Black Anomaly is the same plague that corrupted the god, then these calamity monsters should be the former believers of the Desert God."
"Yes, I think so too."
Chen Xu nodded, agreeing with Wu Houde's view. "Commander Wu, how many believers do you think a terrestrial divine kingdom protected by a god would have? One hundred million? Two hundred million?"
Wu Houde raised his right hand, extending his thumb and pinky. "Around six hundred million."
Seeing Wu Houde's certain answer, Chen Xu couldn't help but feel curious. "You're that sure, Commander Wu?"
Wu Houde shook his head. "I'm not certain, but there are records in the Yellow Sand Chaos regarding the Desert God, praising him for commanding a million-strong army and six hundred million believers."
"Six hundred million?"
Chen Xu flew to the wall at the very front of the fortress, looking down at the dense black dots in the distance.
"The Bone Thicket is too empty right now; I need to arrange for more skeletons to enter. The materials needed for abominations are also very scarce; it takes about fifty units of ordinary flesh to stitch one abomination. I'm also short on ghosts; the factory has only started one production line."
Looking at the calamity monsters, Chen Xu licked his lips. These were all future subjects of the Undead Kingdom.
He raised his hand, and a spatial gate connecting to the Undead Kingdom opened.
Bone Guard One was the first to charge out.
Holding his shield in his left hand, he swung it in a semi-circle, sweeping through the calamity monsters in front of him. Instantly, clouds of blood mist exploded. A few lucky ones were merely swatted into the air, flying hundreds of meters away.
He then raised the bone blade in his right hand and pointed forward.
The skeleton army within the portal received the command and charged out in unison.
They quickly clashed with the calamity monsters in close quarters.
Black and white, calamity monsters and skeletons.
Like two puddles of different colored paint, they began to fight for territory.
However, compared to the four-meter-tall skeleton soldiers, the monsters were like weak children.
The skeleton soldiers at the very front didn't even need to draw their blades. They simply held their shields horizontally with both hands and plowed into the crowd like bulldozers, clearing space for more skeleton units to come through.
"My god! Which Necromancer's work is this? How can there be such massive skeleton heroes?"
"Look at the skeleton soldiers below! Their size is enormous too! Why are they different from the ones we usually see?"
On the fortress, the crowd witnessing the skeleton army's offensive let out shocked cries one after another.
"In the sky! Bone dragons! It's bone dragons!"
"There are actually nine bone dragons! Have those solitary Necromancers started forming groups?"
In the sky, nine Undead Bone Dragons were also summoned by Chen Xu.
Led by Sindragosa, they flew toward the distant swarm of calamity monsters and began releasing Frost Breath.
The freezing Frost Breath instantly froze a large area of calamity monsters.
Crack!
The shield-charging skeleton soldiers smashed right through them, shattering them into pieces.
Before long, the skeleton army had cleared a large area of territory. Skeleton archers, skeleton mages, and skeleton priests all arrived on the battlefield.
Once all the soldiers were present, Chen Xu closed the spatial gate to the Undead Kingdom.
"Brother Chen, your skeleton army is shocking no matter how many times I see it. Compared to you, the other Necromancers in Daxia are like the earth compared to the sky."
Wu Houde also came to Chen Xu's side, looking at the vast expanse of white below, which was even more terrifying than the calamity monsters.
"Oh? I wonder what those other Necromancers are like. Commander Wu, could you tell me about them?"
Since his class change, Chen Xu had been leveling up alone and had never met any senior Necromancers, nor did he know their combat styles.
"They also summon skeletons, but not nearly as many as you. Most have hundreds of thousands of skeleton soldiers paired with tens of thousands of skeleton archers.
Furthermore, their skeleton soldiers and archers don't look as terrifying as yours. Brother Chen, your skill level must be quite high, right?"
"Yes, my skill levels should be a bit higher."
With the bonus from his talent 【996】, Chen Xu was absolutely on a level of his own regarding summoning skill levels—a T0 level above T1.
"No wonder. Most of their skeleton soldiers are used as tools to support high-level units, such as exploring traps, testing enemies, or assisting high-level units in combat.
Most of them also minor in curses and bone spells. I noticed you almost never use those kinds of spells, Brother Chen.
But then again, if I had a skeleton army like yours, I'd be too lazy to do anything myself."
As the vice commander of a large warband, Wu Houde was indeed very knowledgeable. Through him, Chen Xu learned many things he hadn't been exposed to before.
Chen Xu then took out two bottles of soda from the Undead Kingdom, the same kind found in the refrigerator of the military academy base's conference room. He handed one to Wu Houde and continued chatting.
The two of them drank soda while watching the skeleton army battle below, listening to Wu Houde talk about his experiences over the years.
"Is Brother Chen's soda finished? I'll have someone bring up a crate. Our warband has a warehouse under this fortress with plenty inside."
Chen Xu waved his hand and used his mental strength to crush the soda can into a thin sheet.
"Something interesting is happening up ahead. I'll go take a look; it should be related to the flying item backlash."
After saying that, Chen Xu flew into the air, mounted the head of the returning Sindragosa, and flew toward the front lines.
"My Lord!"
Bone Guard One looked up at Chen Xu.
"This black mist is interesting. It's somewhat similar to God's Resentment."
Below, many skeleton units were lying on the ground—soldiers, archers, and mages alike.
Wisps of black mist were coiled around them, suppressing the skeletons' souls and rendering them unable to move.
To Chen Xu, his perception was even clearer. This black mist was actually competing with him for control over the skeletons, attempting to contaminate the skeleton soldiers' soul cores.
"Is this... corruption?"
This was the first time Chen Xu had encountered such a thing.
However, to snatch the soul core of an undead creature from a Lord of the Undead, one would either need a Hell Demon King to act or eliminate the Lord of the Undead first.
Chen Xu snapped his fingers, and the Overlord's Castle was summoned.
The moment the fortress symbolizing the Lord of the Undead appeared, a dense necrotic aura scattered in all directions, instantly dispersing all the black mist.
In ancient times, an emperor would lead a personal expedition; now, Chen Xu was leading a personal expedition with a castle.
Rate on N.U.
