[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-black-dragon-necromancer":3,"chapter-black-dragon-necromancer-black-dragon-necromancer-chapter-115":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Black Dragon Necromancer",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2312875,4521,"Chapter 115: The Strategy of Distrust","black-dragon-necromancer-chapter-115",115,"\u003Cp>“About Stonekeep Fortress, how much do you know? Sharut, I’m curious.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sharut crouched down and used a branch to sketch rough lines in the gravel of the riverbank; his voice was steady and clear, like stating a plan long surveyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“‘Crimson Throat’ is just the beginning. After crossing it, march along the eastern bank of the Zhuoge River until you see Chi Tie Peak—it looks like a red-hot iron rod, easy to spot. Turn northeast from there, travel two hundred li of rugged mountain paths, and you’ll reach Stonekeep Fortress.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He jabbed the branch hard against a point on the sand map.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That place blocks the last deep-water dock on the upper Mu Du River where large ships can anchor. Take it, and our supplies can flow in continuously by water, no more relying on those damn mountain paths crawled by Giant Tusker Boars and Giant Lizards. More importantly—” he drew several radiating lines, “—it’s the crossroads of the Shatterstone Continent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Northeast, through the Kavo Corridor, leads to the Red Sand Plateau—the vast wasteland covering ninety percent of the continent’s east. Barren, yes, but with immense strategic depth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The branch turned southeast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Southeast, follow the old riverbed of the Fena River for about a hundred kilometers to Fu Ge Dam Lake. From there, switch boats and sail south along the new channel, directly joining the main course of the Feng Na River.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lifted his head and looked at Luo Geni Nuo , his gaze sharp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“—That’s the granary of the Shatterstone Continent, the richest, most fertile land. Control Stonekeep Fortress, and you choke off the water and land throat leading to that abundance.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So it’s not just a fortress, Luo Geni Nuo . It’s the key to opening the doors of the continent’s central and eastern regions, the sluice gate controlling waterways, and the springboard to extend your reach into the richest heartland once you’ve secured your footing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A flicker of almost pitying mockery passed through Luo Geni Nuo ’s single eye; his massive stone claw swept through the air as if sketching a map Sharut had never seen—broader, darker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sharut… it seems your duke didn’t explain certain things to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A low, grinding rumble rolled from his throat, like two boulders grinding deep underground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You think capturing Stonekeep Fortress, controlling the Mu Du River, means a clear path straight to the ‘granary’ of the Feng Na River Basin? The Hekisi Plains are fertile, yes—but fertile enough to feed four hundred thousand demons who’ve rooted themselves, built fortresses, cultivated corrupted farmland, even tamed war beasts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“These aren’t wandering lesser devils—they’re a true Abyssal Legion, and your forces are just meat for the grinder.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping lower, yet hammering each word like a chisel:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not to mention the Blood Fury Sea to the south—its waters themselves are alive, brimming with malice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Before you clear away those abyssal beasts larger than mountains and the endless aquatic demons in that sea, no transport ship dares approach Yusha Bay on the western side of the Feng Na River’s estuary. That’s a death vortex, not a dock.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He straightened, his stone face expressionless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So even if you open this small vein of the Mu Du River, you believe it can feed a massive army deep in enemy territory, to swallow that ‘meat’ wrapped in four hundred thousand poisoned thorns?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sharut, what you hold may not be a key—but an invitation… to a larger slaughterhouse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sharut said nothing; the branch in his hand snapped with a sharp crack as his grip tightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Geni Nuo ’s single eye narrowed slightly, his lips curling into a nearly sly smile. He bent low, his stone claw slowly tracing a winding line in the sand, voice hushed like the whisper of an underground river.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sharut, listen well. Rather than send your men to gnaw on four hundred thousand hard bones in the Hekisi Plains—or feed the fish in the Blood Fury Sea—I advise you to sharpen your ears and carry this back to your duke.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His claw tip jabbed hard against the mark for Stonekeep Fortress, then drove downward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Beneath Stonekeep Fortress… something is hidden. An old road, half-submerged by water, leading straight to an underground river. Water’s a nuisance—but for rock-cliff demons who can tunnel, it’s just a damp curtain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The line snaked from beneath Stonekeep Fortress, bypassing the vast region marked as Hekisi Plains, and stabbed directly into the heart of the Maple Leaf River Basin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Float down that Anhe , and you’ll drill straight into the lakebed of Ka No Lake. Yes—that giant water basin right in the center of the Emo ’s granary.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lifted his head; his single eye glowed with the Youguang  of abyssal ore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What this ‘shortcut’ is for… I don’t need to draw you a picture, Commander?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sharut’s gloom vanished, replaced by a near-ecstatic blaze; he slammed his armored thigh with a loud clang and leapt to his feet from the rock he’d been crouching on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ha! Old friend, this—” his booming laugh burst forth like a gale through the valley, “—cuts right to the bone! Huge help! This is a monumental help!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He strode to the riverbank, eyes blazing as he fixed them on the rock-cliff demon lord across the water; all prior caution had dissolved into the exhilaration of a breakthrough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry! When this war’s over, I’ll report to my duke. I’ll grant you and your people the richest land as a fief!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luo Geni Nuo  slowly shook his head, his stone face impassive, yet his single eye gleamed like a chisel’s tip. His voice was low and firm, each word carved from deep bedrock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fief? Sharut, you underestimate me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised one massive stone claw and slowly extended a coarse finger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First: the Vanguard Banner of the Hekisi Plains must fly on my battlefield. I must watch with my own eyes how those four hundred thousand demons collapse. My chisel must be the first to crack their bones. That’s not a reward—it’s the price of standing firm: fight the hardest battle, earn the highest merit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he raised his second finger; his single eye flared with a cold, centuries-deep killing intent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Second: the Buta Ge Basin, in the middle and upper Mu Du River. There lurks an old demon, barely clinging to life—once challenged Marjash for the title of Abyssal Lord, lost, fled there like a crippled dog, and never showed his face again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice dropped lower, thick with the scent of rust and sulfur.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He must die. No surrender. No negotiation. No whole corpse. This isn’t a condition—it’s a demand. Your duke must do it himself. He killed too many of my descendants. And my eye—he took that too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He withdrew his hand, arms crossed, his rock body as immovable as a mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s my price, Sharut. Only territory and blood debt. Agree, and the map of Stonekeep Fortress and its ‘shortcut’ are yours. Refuse…” he grinned, stone teeth bared, “—then let’s keep staring across this river and see whose stone wears down first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sharut burst into laughter, the sound deep and unreserved, echoing through the valley. He waved his hand, his posture radiating absolute resolve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ha! Refreshing! I like dealing with stone-heads like you—clear terms, no wasted words!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stilled his smile, fixing his gaze on the other with unwavering intensity:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I accept both conditions on behalf of my duke. I know he dislikes others deciding for him.” Sharut shrugged, armor clinking, a trace of defiant candor flashing across his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But frontline intelligence burns like fire—I have no time to wait for a Pifu  from some distant, uncertain command.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By the way, when you meet Sakavi Duke, mention the Red Sand Wasteland.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused, as if recalling that vast, barren land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It looks now like a place even scorpions find too hot to walk on—but if you seal those few leaking abyssal fissures… the water veins choked by demonic energy for a hundred years can slowly revive. In less than a decade, hardy spine-grass and drought-resistant deep-rooted vines will grow on the surface.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He made a rough gesture with his claw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can’t grow delicate grains—but warhorses? Especially those armored heavy cavalry beasts of your human kingdoms? More than enough. Their price—I’ve never left this continent, but I’ve heard the rumors. Not cheap.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sharut slowly drew his arm back. He didn’t move, but his entire aura shifted like a blade half-drawn from its sheath—calm, yet piercingly observant; his gaze locked onto the rock giant across the river, his tone cooling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait, old friend.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He leaned forward slightly, voice low and deliberate, each word weighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Something… doesn’t add up. You know every ridge and ravine of the Shatterstone Continent—I can accept that, this is your domain. You know the ancient grudges between demon lords—I understand, you’ve rolled in this filth together for centuries.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused, a sharp glint in his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This plane was swallowed by the Abyss thirteen hundred years ago. How could a rock-cliff demon possibly know so much about the material plane?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sharut stood straight, arms crossed; his posture was no longer that of an ally ready to fight side by side—but of a commander who’d just spotted an anomaly in his opponent’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By your age and this plane’s history, you were born after this world had already sunk into the Abyss. Those material-plane institutions, products—even the detail that Hekisi Plains once flowed with honeyed water—how did you ‘see’ these?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice held no accusation, only cold inquiry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A man who’s never seen light won’t know how blinding the sun is. Luo Geni Nuo , some parts of your knowledge… don’t seem to have grown in this darkness. Before we charge toward Stonekeep Fortress together, you owe me an explanation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahahaha! Sharut, your caution is as hard as flint—but the answer? When you stand on Stonekeep’s foundation and see those moss-covered carvings with your own eyes, you’ll understand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His laughter faded; his single eye shifted to a quiet, watchful gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But if you let this doubt paralyze you, then I must wonder—whether allying with a black dragon too timid to even touch this risk is leading my people into an even deeper pit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His massive stone claw brushed over a deep, ancient scar on his chest, voice lowering as if touching frozen time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let me tell you the truth: this plane took its last breath six hundred years ago. The final human leader resisted, hanged from the cliff of Chi Tie Peak—back then, I hadn’t yet opened my eyes from the stone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“These things were carved into my ears, stone by stone, by my mother—the former ‘King of the Hollows’—during her endless vigil. Among her relics were a few hard-bound books written in strange symbols… Kexi , my people and I have long forgotten how to read those curled lines.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lifted his head, gazing at the dim sky, a hint of rusted lament seeping into his tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We rock-cliff demons, and the mountain goat-men now uprooted in the Buta Ge Basin—we were once human allies. Now…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused, his stone face unreadable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Without allies, we’ve become turtles pulling our heads in. Has your intelligence agency never investigated this? Or does that black dragon duke simply not care about such details?”\u003C\u002Fp>",1876,"2026-06-20T13:10:04.638Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","bdbbe3c03fec79956611697c6103927636005e981a244a8e4ef7fe8b35f2ce28","black-dragon-necromancer-chapter-116","black-dragon-necromancer-chapter-114",145,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fblack-dragon-necromancer-cover.jpg"]