Chapter 701 Kazumi: What did this bring me here for?
Kazumi and Lei walked out of the rough and desolate training grounds one after another. The training grounds were built adjacent to the Great Graveyard, so Kazumi hadn’t paid much attention to her surroundings just then. Now, as she truly set foot on the roads within Hades City, everything before her felt both familiar and alien, even inducing a moment of dread. What was underfoot was no longer muddy or rough soil, but a road meticulously paved with stones of various sizes. Although the paving work was a bit crude, with clearly visible gaps between the stones, the flatness was sufficient for all sorts of Undead Creatures and vehicles to pass smoothly.
On both sides of the road was a scene of fervent construction – a large number of Undead slaves, armed with bone or stone tools, were working tirelessly yet efficiently. They were either mixing a grayish-white adhesive mud that exuded a faint Death Aura, or transporting stones, or building low walls and foundations according to simple instructions.
Even more so, groups of Ghouls acted as laborers. Their muscles bulged as they carried neatly cut giant stone blocks, pacing heavily as they shuttled between various construction sites, delivering materials to where they were needed.
The entire Hades City seemed like a giant, tireless construction site, filled with the sounds of hammering, friction, and the low roars characteristic of Undead Creatures. A savage yet vibrant order was spreading across this land of death.
Kazumi couldn’t help but stop, taking in the astonishing changes. She looked at the Lich Executive beside her with slight surprise. “Lei, did you arrange all this?”
Lei bowed slightly, his jawbone opening and closing as he emitted a steady report. “Yes, Lord. Recently, General Molsarian has been on foreign campaigns, and the conquest of newly attached territories has yielded considerable results. The supply of basic stone, wood, flesh materials, and the number of newly converted Undead slaves have all increased significantly. The territory currently has relatively ample manpower and resources, and it is my subordinate’s intention to begin the construction and tidying of Hades City’s internal infrastructure to improve overall efficiency and appearance.”
Upon hearing this, Kazumi could only sigh in admiration. The characteristic of Undead Creatures—requiring no rest, no food, absolute obedience, and the ability to maintain high-intensity work twenty-four hours a day—made their efficiency in construction terrifying. In the short time of only two months since she had last personally inspected the territory, the changes within Hades City were nothing short of earth-shattering, completely unrecognizable from the somewhat desolate Hades City of her memory.
She offered a rare compliment: “You’ve done a very good job, Lei.”
This simple word of approval caused the blue Soul Fire in Lich Executive Lei’s empty eye sockets to flare violently, as if infused with immense power. He immediately lowered his head deeply, his skeletal body emitting faint clicking sounds from excitement. He responded in a rough yet incredibly sincere voice, “All glory belongs to you, Lord. All of my actions are aimed at perfectly executing your will!”
Seeing Lei’s eager demeanor, as if he wished to lay down his life to show his loyalty, Kazumi didn’t say much more. Lei’s loyalty had already been tested and proven; there was no need for further confirmation. Appropriate praise served as motivation, but excessive flattery might compromise the dignity and distance a Lord should maintain.
She turned and continued walking in the direction of the Dark Altar. The training grounds were located on the flank of the Great Graveyard in the center of Hades City. To reach the Dark Altar, situated in the outer periphery of the city, required traversing the “residential area” that had been planned earlier.
However, when Kazumi actually reached this area, she could hardly recognize it. Where was the sight of the refugee settlement, composed of scattered dilapidated tents and simple huts, that she had seen during her previous inspection? In its place was a regular road network and a unified, planned residential layout.
What astonished Kazumi the most were the houses provided for the Undead slaves. These were not brick and stone cottages in the human sense, but low, small mounds built from irregular stones. Yes, they resembled graves! They were built close together, with a crude hemispherical exterior, a low opening at the front just large enough for one person to crawl in and out, making them incredibly eerie, yet fitting perfectly with the atmosphere of this deathly realm.
Even more concerning to Kazumi, with her keen perception of Death Energy, was that she could clearly sense that the seemingly simple and bizarre grave-like dwellings, with their stone-laying methods and the faint, barely visible etchings on their surfaces, formed a rudimentary yet effective rune array, emitting a weak attraction that was slowly gathering Death Energy from the surrounding space! This meant that the Undead slaves living in these houses not only had shelter but also enjoyed a continuous, faint energy nourishment, which was highly beneficial for maintaining or even slowly enhancing their Undead nature!
Remembering that the last time Kazumi inspected, Punk had been complaining about a shortage of manpower, unable to even assemble a logging team, and those pitiful, converted Undead slaves could only cram into worn-out leather tents salvaged from human strongholds. How much time had passed since then? Not only had they moved into permanent stone structures, but their housing now even came with functional enhancements? This development speed was astonishingly fast.
“Lord,” Lei, who had been closely observing the Lord’s expression, quickly interjected, “Some time ago, the Ghost Gate guided a special Undead—a Tombstone Artisan. I have arranged for him to settle here. he specializes in carving tombstones and Undead runes, and can effectively increase the efficiency of Death Energy gathering. The tombstones in the mass graves are now all carved and blessed by him. The simple soul-gathering runes on these residences are also designed and guided by this Tombstone Artisan.”
“Hmm,” Kazumi nodded, understanding dawning on her. The Ghost Gate Lei spoke of was the fourth ability of her wonderous building—the Gate of the Underworld. This skill could periodically guide different types of Undead soldiers, special items, or units from unknown death planes. The quality of the guided entities seemed to be related to the overall concentration of Death Energy in the territory. While the Water Ghouls, Soul-Suppressing Willows, and other entities guided previously were useful, they felt more like scraps. But this Tombstone Artisan was undoubtedly the real deal! The ability to increase Death Energy output alone had a tangible benefit to the territory’s overall strength, let alone that he was a desperately needed construction talent in the current period of extensive construction!
Her gaze lingered on these grave-like dwellings, imbued with the wisdom of the Undead, for a moment before Kazumi’s attention was quickly drawn to the vast scene behind the residential area. It was a boundless, breathtaking expanse of pure white flowers—the main food source for the Undead slaves, the Bone Flower fields. It was currently the blooming season, and countless bone-like flowers were vying to bloom. They had no leaves, only pale stems topped with bizarre flowers composed of clusters of miniature skulls or finger bones, emitting a rich yet not acrid fragrance, containing extremely pure and easily absorbed trace amounts of Death Energy. For the lowest-level Undead slaves, this was already a great tonic.
Scattered among the flower fields, Undead slaves were busy working. Kazumi noticed that they no longer even needed to wear the specially made leather masks. Initially, the masks were to prevent these not-yet fully converted slaves from inhaling too many Death Spores, which could accelerate their death. But now, after prolonged exposure to the Undead environment and nourishment from the aura of the flower fields, they had long since completed their transformation into Undead Creatures. Inhaling these Death Spores was now not only harmless but even a pleasant energy supplement. They picked the ripe Bone Flowers with numb yet skilled movements, placing them into the back baskets woven from ribs.
Adjacent to the Bone Flower fields was the slightly smaller but equally orderly and spectacular Rotten Flesh Fruit fields. The plants grown there were more grotesque, with dark red vines clinging to bone structures, bearing fruits that resembled twisted hearts or contracted stomachs, dark red and black in color, with strange vascular patterns on their surfaces, also emitting a strong Death Aura.
And at the edge of this vast expanse of orderly fields, a small, relatively irregular area had even been opened up. The crops in this area were quite varied. Many plants of different shapes, even peculiar ones that Kazumi couldn’t name, were growing there. Some emitted a pungent odor, while others flickered with faint elemental light, appearing to be an experimental crop field.
“Punk this guy… really has some skills…” At this moment, even Kazumi couldn’t help but softly praise the former slave trader whom he had personally brought up. Perhaps it was the threat of death and the urgent need to be useful that had caused Punk to unleash astonishing management skills and creativity. Moreover, he was commanding a group of Undead laborers who didn’t need rest and were absolutely obedient. Not only had he made the basic agricultural industry flourish on a large scale, but he had even begun to experiment with researching and cultivating new crop varieties. While Kazumi herself disdained these low-level crops, their massive output was a crucial basic resource for feeding the territory’s ever-growing Undead army and enhancing their strength. Furthermore, Kazumi had tasted the tea brewed from various crop fruits that Punk had presented previously; it had a good taste and was effective in restoring Death Energy. It had indeed improved the girl’s quality of life within the territory. Moreover, according to Lei, the research and development of pharmacology in the future would also depend on these varied magical plants as ingredients.
While marveling at Punk’s competence and the terrifying efficiency of the Undead, Kazumi and Lei had passed through the residential and agricultural areas and arrived near the city walls of Hades City. The tall and majestic obsidian city walls stood like silent giants. On the walls, Skeleton Forbidden Soldiers, fully clad in armor and wielding rune-inscribed weapons, stood like statues, their Soul Fires in their eye sockets coldly scanning the desolate plains outside the city.
The huge Ghost Gate was the main gate of the city. Currently, gigantic doors made of countless screaming faces and twisted bones were tightly shut, bound by thick metal chains that flickered with sealing runes. At this moment, the Forbidden Soldiers on the city wall seemed to have received an order and began to turn enormous winches. Accompanied by the heavy and ear-piercing sound of metal friction, the thick chains that formed the Ghost Gate began to slowly loosen and slide down.
Following this, the two immensely heavy doors, as if containing endless death, began to move inward with a slight tremor of the ground, opening a gap. This gap, merely small relative to the Ghost Gate’s massive size, was actually large enough for four carriages to pass side by side! As the city gate opened, a wave of iron-blooded, grim, mixed with the coldness of the Undead and the bloodiness of returning from battle, surged in like a tangible tide.
Uniform, heavy hoofbeats, chilling to the bone, approached from afar, like war drums beating against the heart, with a clear rhythm and an unstoppable crushing force. Leading them was the commander of the Death Raider Legion—Molsarian! He sat astride an exceptionally tall warhorse clad in black bone armor, his exaggerated greatsword casually slung over his shoulder. His massive Undead body exuded a bloodthirsty and destructive aura that was almost tangible. His scarlet Soul Fire burned fiercely in his eye sockets as he scanned ahead, as if still searching for enemies to cleave.
Behind him were the neatly arrayed cavalry of the Death Raider Legion. They too rode warhorses clad in bone armor, their formations as precise as if measured with a ruler, silent and wordless, with only the roar of hooves on the ground and the occasional cold clang of armor and weapons. Their bodies were engulfed by the malevolent aura accumulated over years of slaughter, and the uniform greenish-blue Soul Fire in their eye sockets conveyed an absolute indifference and cruelty towards the living.
At the rear of this awe-inspiring cavalry unit were several dismounted soldiers. They led the Undead warhorses responsible for transporting supplies, their backs and the simple bone trailers following behind them piled high with the spoils of this expedition—bulging leather bags oozing dark red liquid, bundles of raw materials, and a few unknown items emitting energy fluctuations. Molsarian saw Kazumi and Lei standing at the front of the road from afar. He didn’t even need words; he simply raised a skeletal hand and made a gesture backward. The entire Death Raider Legion, which was on the move, instantly slowed down. The previously thunderous hoofbeats quickly weakened, finally coming to a complete halt about ten meters away from Kazumi and Lei. Their movements were uniform and synchronized, displaying extremely strict discipline.
“Dismount!” Molsarian let out a low but thunderous roar. He was the first to dismount, his movements swift and decisive, his heavy body landing with a dull thud. Behind him, the entire Death Raider Legion dismounted in unison, as if a single entity, their movements clean and without hesitation.
Following this, under the illumination of the Soul Fires of all the Skeleton Warhorses which instantly calmed down, led by Molsarian, all the Death Raider Knights knelt on one knee in unison, their metal armor and bones colliding with the ground, producing a heavy and uniform clang! Molsarian lowered his enormous head deeply, and his rough yet reverent voice echoed in the now quiet area of the city gate: “The Death Raider Legion, returned from conquest! We salute you, Lord!”
