[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-evolving-my-undead-legion-in-a-game-like-world":3,"chapter-evolving-my-undead-legion-in-a-game-like-world-evolving-my-undead-legion-in-a-game-like-world-chapter-676":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Evolving My Undead Legion In A Game-Like World",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},41770,69,"Chapter 676 Settlement","evolving-my-undead-legion-in-a-game-like-world-chapter-676",676,"\u003Cp>Compared to the cold emptiness of Hell's first floor, this place was the opposite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Warm lantern light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soft carpets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The faint fragrance of herbs and roasted meat drifting in the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Across a long carved dining table sat Arianne Evermoon, watching him with a small smile as she lifted a forkful of food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Michael were honest with himself, the contrast was almost comedic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A moment ago, part of him was crouched on a frozen ridge, watching two barbarians from the Ancient Tribe Realm try to murder each\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>other in a blizzard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, the other part of him was eating glazed beast meat cooked with rare spices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took another bite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He chewed again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he nodded slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is better than mine,\" he admitted in his mind without shame. \"Much better.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Duke's chefs had a reputation for a reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arianne's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You like the food,\" she observed lightly, chin resting on her palm. \"I can tell.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael glanced at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wasn't wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His expression was probably giving it away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's good,\" he said simply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just good?\" she teased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He let out a breath and gave up. He was starting to understand this princess a little.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's excellent.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arianne's smile brightened, pleased for reasons he didn't quite understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You'll eat like this often if you stay in the mansion,\" she continued. \"Father insisted that you rest properly before anything else.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael nodded, letting her words settle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Truthfully, he didn't mind the rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, the food was great.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A servant stepped forward and refilled their cups with a pale blue drink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael lifted the cup, letting the faintly liquid settle before taking a slow sip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sweet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another reminder that this world had its own luxuries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He set the cup down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So,\" he asked, looking at Arianne, \"what now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arianne dabbed her lips with a silk napkin and gave a small, composed\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>nod, as if she had been expecting that question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We will attend a banquet tonight in the royal palace,\" she said. \"Everything else... you'll find out there.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael's brow rose a little. \"Meaning?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arianne leaned back slightly in her chair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Meaning I have already told you everything I know,\" she replied with a tiny shrug. \"Father told me that the banquet will determine other\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>things.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael took another drink from his cup, letting the information\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>settle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Politics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Royalty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nobles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was going to be a long night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arianne smiled again, softer this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't worry. I'll be with you the entire time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They continued their meal, letting the earlier heaviness fade into light\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt peaceful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Warm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, after some time, the Michael in Hell had already reached\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>his location.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He slowed as the landscape shifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What stood ahead of him was... not what he expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael blinked once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is this what the Federation calls a settlement?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had imagined something small.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A fortified outpost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bunker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A few tents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe a simple stone structure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what rose before him looked nothing like a temporary camp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Towering walls stretched across the frozen horizon, carved from a mix of reinforced alloy and black stone. The surface glimmered faintly with runic circuits, pulsing in a slow heartbeat rhythm. The gate alone was massive, tall enough for giants to walk through and reinforced\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>with layers of metal plates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was not a settlement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a small city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael's eyes traced the top of the walls. Movement caught his\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Figures walked along the ramparts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Federation soldiers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their discipline alone gave it away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael also noticed the mounted weapons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Large turrets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mana cannons. This place could flatten a demon horde without breaking a sweat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He let out a slow breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So this is the Federation's first floor base.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was bigger than he imagined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He started toward the massive gates, crunching through the snow. A\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>few meters in, he saw others as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn't alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Around him, spaced out across the frozen plains, were silhouettes\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>moving toward the same location. Teenagers. Young men and women. All roughly his age\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Apparently, he wasn't the only one who decided the settlement should be the first stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael adjusted his pace and continued onward, blending with the slow stream of students making their way to the settlement. The closer he got, the larger the gates appeared\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time Michael and the others reached the entrance, the sheer\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>height of the walls made even the taller students tilt their heads back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And once he stepped through the gate-\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael slowed again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the inside was not what he expected either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead of a strict military outpost like the outside suggested, the\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>interior felt... alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bustling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chaotic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A long central street stretched ahead, flanked by rows of stalls, shops,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>and open structures. The layout resembled a marketplace more than anything else. Voices rose and overlapped, the sounds of bargaining\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>echoing between the buildings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Strong awakeners, cultivators, and even a few non human silhouettes moved among the crowd without shame or restraint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People exchanged items with an almost aggressive enthusiasm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some were trading demon parts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some bartered glowing stones. Some held metal fragments clearly from other races.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One stall even displayed a row of small sealed bottles, each containing\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>a writhing mass of energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael raised a brow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He moved further in, letting his eyes take in the flow of goods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He passed a vendor selling dark bones etched with symbols. Another was selling jagged blue crystals that hummed faintly with icy\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>energy. Further down, someone shouted prices for talismans made from monster hide-runework from a race he didn't recognize. Michael watched as a burly man shoved a bundle of demon fangs toward a hooded woman, demanding double the price. She shoved back. They argued. Neither cared who heard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He continued onward. The soldiers patrolling the roads didn't intervene. They only watched, ensuring nothing escalated beyond shouting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Michael took a slow breath, tasting the faint scent of cold metal, demon blood, and cooked food blending strangely together. For a place inside Hell, it was... surprisingly lively.\u003C\u002Fp>",1016,"2026-05-28T17:47:54.083Z","2026-06-01T04:28:28.562Z",1,"novelbin.me","80e83195813b7098611e6cd62efc8bf66ec33209cc7e8acb7693414c14fe4e46","evolving-my-undead-legion-in-a-game-like-world-chapter-677","evolving-my-undead-legion-in-a-game-like-world-chapter-675",970,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fevolving-my-undead-legion-in-a-game-like-world-cover.jpg"]