Volume 3 Containment Operation Chapter 10: The Challenge of the Corpse King
According to Afeng and his friends' speculation, it is impossible for the Church of Light to openly declare war on all players who choose the hidden profession of Necromancer. If so, the weak Necromancer will have no chance of survival at all, which is a serious violation of the game balance rules. Therefore, it is very likely that our development will be curbed through tasks and special events. The fourth-level professionals have already appeared, and the circulation between continents will not be far away. In the face of potential threats, the only best plan now is to improve our own strength as much as possible.
I am still busy in the "Dead Space" every day, running around. In order to improve work efficiency, Lao Zhuang and Phosphorus lead the zombies and skeleton shooters in their respective activity areas to recruit new subordinates for me. I just signed a "soul contract" with a group of zombies, and then rushed to conquer a group of skeleton shooters without stopping. I have no time to rest for a moment. If it weren't for Taotao to take charge of the transportation, I would have been exhausted to death.
This was also a helpless move. Although I learned some information about the high-level undead creature area from Skynet, I still didn't dare to rush in and take risks. He didn't enter there to increase his qualifications. At first, he accompanied the elf witch on a tour, and later he was looking for people everywhere. It was a complete accident of luck that he subdued the disabled black warrior. This kind of ultra-low probability event is like me winning a magic weapon, which is rare and has no great value in improving the qualifications.
My purpose is to increase my qualifications. Although the effect of conquering zombies and skeleton archers on the increase of qualifications and mental strength is not very obvious now, it is better than nothing. We can win by quantity and accumulate a little to make a lot. It is much more cost-effective than challenging high-level undead without knowing one's own strength. It is useless to go with too few people. If we kill all of them, the target will be too big and it is easy to be besieged and a full-scale war will break out. Even if we are lucky enough to defeat one, I have also tested it in the arena. These high-level undead are determined and their souls are extremely powerful. I am not sure that I can conquer them. If the result of paying a huge price is just to kill a black warrior, but I cannot sign a "soul contract" with him, such an action has no meaning at all.
Now, I have an army of nearly 30,000 undead, half of which are zombies and half are skeleton archers. However, too many people are troublesome. Old Zombie and Phosphorus are unable to command the actions of such a large army due to their own strength limitations. I have no choice but to place them in two areas for assembly, allowing them to rest during normal times and mobilize them when something happens. The newly conquered undead have also been brought back here, which are considered to be two new territories opened up by me.
The development of Tongxin League is also good. We won the championship of the team competition in cooperation with Longxing Tianxia, which not only made us more famous, but also indirectly improved the reputation of Tongxin League. Many players applied to join through connections. Moreover, with the help of the architects supported by Longxing Tianxia, the construction of the base has begun to take shape, at least every new member has a basic place to live.
Usually, they focus on group leveling, and occasionally they also take on some tasks, such as the mercenary group mission with the reward item of "Hundred Man Order". The Yamato spirit's British Sun Never Sets Mercenary Group attacked vigorously, dispatched most of their main forces, and showed an attitude of being determined to win. The fact that there are forces affiliated with Hua Mantian in the team further shows that the purpose of this action is to help Hua Mantian form a mercenary group.
According to the setting, multiple people can apply for the mercenary mission and compete with each other, but only those who complete the mission can get the reward. Faced with this big piece of fat meat, the Blue Falun Mercenary Group formed by the Ganges War God will naturally not let it go easily, and they have also participated in the competition with all their strength. As the earliest Tongxinmeng Mercenary Group, they have already completed a similar mission and tasted the sweetness. There is no reason to give up, so they also took on this mission. As for Long Xingtianxia, he is still busy completing the task of forming a mercenary group and is not qualified to participate. Otherwise, it would be even more lively if he were added.
Among the three teams, the Yamato Spirit’s Sun Never Sets Mercenary Group is the most powerful, and they have joined forces with Hua Mantian. Their strength far exceeds that of the Blue Falun Mercenary Group, and they have the best hope of completing the mission. Although our Tongxin League has taken on the mission, it is just a bluff, making the situation even more chaotic. We have no intention of engaging in substantial competition. First, facing the large group of people led by Hua Mantian, Yamamoto Kyushu, etc., even if I join them, I don’t have much chance of winning. Second, Hua Mantian is clearly determined to win this time. We have already defeated him once in the "World Heroes Conference" together with Long Xingtianxia. If it is Tongxin League that makes his dream come true again, the hatred will be huge. In anger, he may launch a revenge against us, which can be said to be more loss than gain. Everything is just beginning, and there is no need to establish enemies too early.
Although I was somewhat unwilling, I finally agreed to this plan considering the overall situation. Therefore, the team led by Afeng did not send out Yun Wuying and other absolute main forces, showing a posture of speculating, and the real purpose was just to scout and cause trouble. On the one hand, I took the opportunity to understand the power situation of each party, and on the other hand, I looked for opportunities to secretly help the Blue Falun Mercenary Group of the Ganges War God, hoping that they could complete this task and defeat Hua Mantian with their hands. This kind of borrowing a knife to kill someone is really killing two birds with one stone.
The implementation of the plan can be said to be very effective. It secretly disrupted and helped at critical moments, but its good deeds were ruined several times in a row and failed at the critical moment. It greatly delayed Hua Mantian's actions and even almost allowed the Blue Falun to succeed.
Facing the full-scale challenge of the Blue Falun Mercenary Group, the Sun Never Sets Mercenary Group showed great toughness. After realizing that the opponent was strong and posed a threat to them, the Japanese hero immediately organized a second batch of reinforcements, occupying an absolute advantage. Seeing that things were impossible, Afeng called off the competition early and went back to level up. However, the Ganges War God was slightly inferior in strength and could not resist the joint efforts of the two. He was at a disadvantage in several conflicts and finally ended in disgrace . The "Hundred Man Order" finally fell into Hua Mantian's hands. The establishment of the fifth mercenary group in the Eastern Continent is just around the corner.
Ah Feng also felt very regretful when he mentioned it afterwards. That was actually a good opportunity. It was all the fault of the Ganges War God. If he could seize the opportunity, how could he have gotten the advantage of the Playboy? He was really a hopeless Liu Adou.
It's a pity that I have tens of thousands of troops but I can't call them over. Otherwise, this mission would be easy to accomplish. What's so scary about a Hua Mantian? Oh, this damn skill limit! No wonder the Undead Clan can't flourish.
I entered the "Dead Space" again, but suddenly felt a powerful mental wave coming straight at me. It seemed full of hostility, and its strength was far superior to that of the old zombie. After sensing the direction, I found that it was coming from the vicinity of my zombie territory. I couldn't help but be shocked. Every time before I left, I told the old zombie to behave himself and not cause trouble for me. Could it be that it offended some big shot and came out to cause trouble for me as its master?
Through the spiritual connection, I felt that the old zombies were all safe and sound, so I felt a little relieved. However, they seemed to be extremely frightened. Their level of fear was even no less than when they faced me. Moreover, even the command to summon them was blocked by that powerful force. There was no response from the old zombies, which made me worried again.
Without waiting for Taotao to come over from Phosphorus, I went straight to the zombie territory. I don't know much about this place, who knows what strange things will happen, the old zombies are all conquered by me slowly and painstakingly, and it's not easy to accumulate to the current scale, so nothing can go wrong.
Although I had a bad premonition in my heart, the scene still shocked me when I really faced it. There was not a single upright body among the more than 10,000 zombies in the huge territory. They were all crawling on the ground, trembling under the strong pressure. Even the thousand-year-old zombie king was powerless to resist. Although he did not prostrate himself like ordinary zombies, his body was forced to be half a meter shorter and was shaky and could collapse at any time. All of this was caused by the tall zombie standing in front of the territory, wearing a khaki robe and a black and gold crown.
I have been in the "Dead Soul Space" for so long, and all the zombies I have seen are naked and covered in rotten flesh. Even Lao Jiang, the thousand-year-old zombie king, is naked. This is the first time I have seen a zombie wearing clothes and a crown. Judging from its attire and the momentum it shows, it looks like an invincible emperor. My heart sank immediately, and a term popped up in my mind: Corpse King. This zombie must be the legendary Ten Thousand Years Corpse King.
Although he didn't turn his head to look at me, I could feel that he was always observing me, and his powerful mental power was constantly attacking and oppressing me, trying to weaken my will and make me submit. Fortunately, my mental power was already condensed enough, and although I had no way to fight back, I was still able to barely compete with it, standing there with a normal expression, not making a fool of myself on the spot and being intimidated by its power.
After an invisible contest, the mental oppression of the undead creatures did not have any effect on me, a necromancer. With a muffled groan, the surging mental shock wave retreated like a tide, and the Ten Thousand Year Corpse King slowly turned his body to face me.
It is about two meters tall, not taller than the old zombies, but its body shows no signs of decay. It is more like a dried corpse like the Darth Vader. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to describe it as a mummy. Its pair of white eyes emit a faint gleam of light. It looks aloof and arrogant, and has extraordinary strength. This is how I evaluate it.
"I am the fifth corpse king, Kaben." This information echoed in my mind.
The fifth Corpse King, that means there are at least four more ten thousand year old Corpse Kings. "I'm the intermediate necromancer wizard A'dai." I couldn't figure out what it was here for, so I could only try to make my tone sound friendlier.
"They," the Corpse King Carbon raised his chin slightly towards the zombies crawling on the ground, "are they all your subordinates?"
"Yes." I answered a little nervously.
"Then, I, the fifth Corpse King Kaben, challenge you on behalf of the five Corpse Kings!" He said it firmly, without a trace of hesitation.
It seems that they are in trouble not because the old zombies made any mistakes, but because they are coming directly for me. Isn't this bullying? I didn't provoke them. I have always conquered ownerless zombies, and the territories I choose are in remote and uninhabited places. I have never violated the vested interests of others. Why are they coming to my door?
"Why?" Since you challenged me so abruptly, you must give a reasonable reason. According to the rules, low-level undead creatures will not start a war casually.
"Since ancient times, according to the law of the dead, there can only be five zombie kings in the zombie world, each commanding tens or even hundreds of thousands of zombies. New strong people must challenge one of the five zombie kings. The winner will succeed to the throne as the new zombie king. The loser will lose everything he has, and his soul will dissipate, waiting to be reborn."
"But I don't want to challenge your authority, nor do I intend to compete for the position of the King of Corpses. Besides, I'm not a ten-thousand-year-old zombie. I'm a different kind from you. Can you not accept the challenge?" I'm just a small figure and I don't have such a big ambition to be king.
"It's impossible. Although you are not one of us, you are similar to us in essence. You already have more than 10,000 zombies under your command, which meets the requirements to become a zombie king. After collective discussion by the five zombie kings, they decided to give you the same qualifications as us. Therefore, according to the rules, you must accept the challenge of the zombie king."
This is a rape of public opinion. They didn't consider my feelings at all and arbitrarily granted me the qualification of being a ten-thousand-year zombie without even looking at me carefully. Although I am a little bit short of being handsome and elegant, I am definitely not an ugly zombie.
"Can I ask some questions?" I asked tentatively, not knowing whether the zombie boss was obligated to answer questions.
"Okay." Fortunately, the setting is still somewhat humane.
"Who are the five Corpse Kings? Who is the weakest? Do I have to challenge you? Can I freely choose my opponent?" Judging from the tone of the Corpse King Kaben, it seems that the challenge is a foregone conclusion and there is no room for negotiation. In this case, I might as well learn more about the situation and see if there are any loopholes to exploit. Besides, if I am asked to accept the challenge from just any one of them, what if this one turns out to be the strongest? Wouldn't I be fooled?
"The fifth Corpse King, Kaben, commands 15,000 zombies; the fourth Corpse King, Luha, commands 30,000 zombies; the third Corpse King, Tana, commands 50,000 zombies; the second Corpse King, Sando, commands 100,000 zombies; the first Corpse King, Heitian, commands 200,000 zombies. The strength increases level by level. I am the weakest. When you have a zombie army equal to the number of zombies commanded by a Corpse King, you will be challenged by the Corpse King of that level. Once you succeed, you can replace it. In theory, you can actively choose any Corpse King as your opponent, but if your strength is too weak, the higher-level Corpse King has the right to refuse."
I see. Forget it then. Challenging a higher level person will lead to death faster. Alas, I accidentally recruited too many subordinates and actually reached the limit of the challenge of the Fifth Corpse King. It's a pity that no one told me how I should know these damn laws of the dead.
"What if I give up voluntarily?" There was still a glimmer of fantasy in my mind. If the punishment would be lighter if I gave up voluntarily, I would consider it. I thought about how much effort it took to deal with a thousand-year-old corpse king. Facing the even more powerful ten-thousand-year-old corpse king, I had no confidence at all.
Carbon was stunned for a moment, and seemed unable to answer for a moment. Perhaps other ten-thousand-year-old zombies had never made such a timid response. The spiritual fluctuations in the air were disordered, and it felt like it was communicating with other spiritual bodies. It took a long time to reply, "Give up the territory and all the zombies under you, and be permanently exiled. You are not allowed to step into the zombie area again."
