Chapter 232 - 140: Underground Lair
Half a month had passed in the blink of an eye since the battle at the Jackal Wolfman Fortress.
In this half-month, the Otherworld was in turmoil. A new batch of Transmigrators had matured considerably. Some understood the rules and developed their power honestly, building good relationships with the Natives. Others were like Benjamin, Plundering and exploiting wherever they went. Coupled with the conflicts between the Transmigrators themselves, the world’s situation changed daily, growing increasingly chaotic.
Li Ziyu was secluded in a corner, not yet exposed to that level of conflict. The Wasteland he occupied was a resource-poor region. Even if new Transmigrators arrived, their survival and development would depend on fate. Benjamin was a total anomaly.
What truly concerned him was the impending punitive war.
After Benjamin mentioned the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army, it sounded an alarm for Li Ziyu. He had Zhang Peng focus on gathering intelligence on the matter, and Zhang Peng did not disappoint. With resources being channeled into intelligence gathering, the task became much easier. This was especially true in the last few days, as the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army had stopped trying to hide its movements, and more and more information was leaking out.
The reason they stopped hiding was because they couldn’t hide it anymore. They had amassed a full 200,000 troops. How the hell could they hide an operation of that scale? The Natives weren’t blind; the encampments stretched on and on, resembling a city.
As more intelligence came in, it was clear the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army was widely disseminating propaganda about the war. They claimed it was a righteous crusade to protect the peace and unity of the Wasteland, and they cordially invited all tribes to join their great army in its campaign against the Undead.
Their propaganda boasted an army of a million strong to fight the Undead. However, the intelligence Zhang Peng gathered showed that the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army had only assembled 200,000 troops. More Warriors were still arriving, so the final number might reach 300,000. Even if other Natives joined the Alliance Army, the total number was not expected to exceed 400,000.
But even an army of 400,000 would be difficult to deal with. After all, even stretching the numbers, Li Ziyu’s Combat Sequence had yet to exceed 10,000 troops. As for Low Level Skeleton Undead, however, he had an endless supply.
What reassured Li Ziyu was that although the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army was promoting its cause vigorously, pitifully few tribes had actually responded. Most were just watching from the sidelines. In Zhang Peng’s words, in the eyes of the Native tribes, this was a classic dog-eat-dog fight. They didn’t want to get involved; they just wanted to watch the show.
After all, whether it was the goblins, the Headhunter Race, the Lizardmen, or the Undead, none of them were good news in their eyes. It would be best if both sides suffered heavy losses and wiped each other out. That would be true peace.
Getting dragged into a fight between the "Cancerous Tumors" and the Undead was pointless. It was far better to hide and safely watch the chaos unfold.
It was precisely because of the Natives’ attitude that Li Ziyu had more time to prepare. And time was exactly what he needed now—time to expand his forces.
Besides gathering information on the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army, Zhang Peng hadn’t forgotten to help Li Ziyu inquire about Demonized Creatures. Two days ago, he found a settlement of 50 Demonized Minotaurs. After notifying Li Ziyu, he immediately dispatched Undead Warriors to wipe them out, adding 50 Skeleton Ox Demons to his ranks.
However, this wasn’t enough. He was facing the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army, numbered in the hundreds of thousands. A mere 50 Ox Demons wouldn’t even make a ripple on that kind of battlefield.
Li Ziyu felt he could wait no longer. ’I have to take the initiative,’ he thought. ’I need to hunt for Demonized Creatures, but I have no intention of letting the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army off the hook either. I have a Mobile Fortress. It would be a waste not to go mess with them a little.’
For the past two days, Li Ziyu had been preparing for his departure. The Wraith Mountain Range was a resource point he couldn’t abandon. A portion of his Undead would have to remain there to continue mining ore, quarrying Stone, gathering lumber, and collecting Skeletons.
With the collection points established, Li Ziyu wasn’t worried about resource storage. The only issue was that after he left, newly gathered resources could no longer be remotely transferred to the fortress’s Warehouse. At worst, he could just collect them on his next trip back.
Since Li Ziyu was leaving, Zhang Peng and Liu Xingxing would naturally follow. Moreover, Zhang Peng had obtained a piece of information regarding Demonized Creatures. It was a legend of unknown authenticity, which claimed that somewhere beneath the Wasteland lay an Underground City. This city was supposedly home to countless Demonized Creatures—their main lair.
This was great news. If it were true, Li Ziyu could create many more special Undead similar to the Ox Demons, which would be a huge boost to his combat strength. Therefore, his objective for this trip was to find the lair of the Demonized Creatures.
Li Ziyu was confident about finding the Underground City. After all, he had Liu Xingxing. Wasn’t that what Treasure Hunting Catmen were for?
After having Zhang Peng confirm the general direction of the legendary Underground City, Li Ziyu gave the order to set out.
...
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. A Mobile Fortress made of ghastly white bone traveled wantonly across the Wasteland. Countless Undead gathered together, unconsciously emitting a terrifying Death Qi. Wherever they passed, all living things fled.
It was now the tenth day since they had left the Wraith Mountain Range. Li Ziyu had been heading continuously in the direction of the Underground City.
A bright beam of light shot out from the distance, landing on the Undead Fortress. It flashed three times. The Undead Fortress slowly decelerated and came to a stop.
Li Ziyu stood on the roof of the main tower, leaning against the battlements as he gazed out. In the Darkness, a ball of light was rapidly approaching the Undead Fortress. It was Liu Xingxing’s Treasure-Hunting Catman Mobile Fortress.
In the nearly one month since they’d set out, Liu Xingxing and Zhang Peng had also changed a great deal. To prepare for the coming confrontation with the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army, Li Ziyu had not been stingy, allocating a large amount of basic resources to the two of them so they could increase their strength.