Chapter 37: Production and Exploration

"Want to go outside and chop trees?"

In the Demon King's magic workshop, Luo Yan stopped what he was doing and cast an surprised glance at the skeleton in front of him.

Facing the Demon King's questioning gaze, Whale Fall North and South bowed respectfully and said politely.

"Yes, respected Demon King, your servants lack equipment. Not just weapons, they also need backpacks and bandages... and many, many other things. These extra pieces of equipment will help them improve their efficiency in exploring the labyrinth."

After a pause, Whale Fall continued.

"As your most, most, most loyal servant, I want to share your worries in this matter."

Luo Yan nodded, his gaze falling involuntarily on Xiao Wan, who was tied into a rice dumpling with spider silk.

So that's it.

Did she get the inspiration from this guy?

Because skeletons don't consume, and maintenance costs rely entirely on faith expenditures, the Great Graveyard had always suffered from weak market demand, making it difficult for production activities to start.

Developing the textile industry was a good idea.

But the prerequisite was that someone had to know how to do it.

"Your idea is good, but do you know how to weave? That's not easier than fighting monsters."

Whale Fall North and South smiled and said.

"There are always more solutions than problems. I've consulted some blueprints and materials, such as the early spinning jenny; the difficulty of restoring it won't be very high. As long as you give us a little support, we will definitely not let you down."

That was true.

These players could go online, and even if they didn't know how, finding a few craftsmen on Douyin or Bilibili to copy was no problem, and even if they didn't succeed, it didn't seem like a loss to him.

"Granted."

Although out of caution he didn't want to expose the existence of the Great Graveyard too early, he couldn't just keep hiding in the mine forever.

Let's start moving outward step by step from today! "There is a forest to the north of the North Wind Mine. The monsters there aren't interested in skeletons, so you can go there to get wood, but remember not to go south, and especially try to avoid encountering humans. If fighting is unavoidable, capture them if you can."

"Understood!" Before Whale Fall could speak, the accompanying Shark Away said excitedly, clenching her fists.

After a pause, Luo Yan continued.

"Also, the mine happens to need some wood to reinforce the load-bearing structures in the newly excavated areas. Since you brought this up, let's solve it together."

"I will issue a call for carpenters in a while. If there are skeletons among the Great Graveyard's people who are skilled in carpentry, maybe they can provide you with some help."

Just as his voice fell, You You also issued the 'Collect Wood' and 'Recruit Carpenters' missions at the same time.

Not many players had axes.

As long as they accepted the wood collection mission, they could receive an axe and get permission to go outside.

Of course.

The mission also specifically reminded players to operate within the designated area.

If they died outside the designated area, there would be an additional contribution value penalty.

And after resurrection, they would have to go and pick up the borrowed axe themselves.

"Ah! Thank you so much!" This time, not only Shark Away, but even Whale Fall's eyes lit up with excitement.

So NPC missions could be actively triggered by sharing the Demon King's worries!? This was an incredible discovery!

After the three skeletons thanked him, they excitedly went outside to find the cat-girl to collect logging axes and saws for cutting wood.

And shortly after You You issued the carpenter recruitment mission, a player signed up very quickly.

It seemed this was settled.

"... Using cave spider silk to make backpacks and bandages, I didn't expect these players to have such big brains." Watching the three skeletons disappear into the depths of the mine in the mirror, a pleasant smile appeared on Luo Yan's face.

The leeks not only started moving on their own, but they also grew into shapes he hadn't imagined.

Really good.

"Demon King, speaking of which, You You is curious, has no one in Hell ever thought of using cave spider silk to weave cloth?"

Hearing You You's curious question, Luo Yan explained casually.

"That's Hell, do you know the temperature there?"

You You: "But... the place you stayed seems okay?"

"The Demon Capital is the Demon Capital." Luo Yan said casually, "Once you leave the Demon Capital, you have to be careful at all times."

Actually, that's not all.

Although cave spider silk is excellent in toughness and material strength, far exceeding ordinary fibers, and also has excellent hydrophobicity... the headache is that its stickiness and elasticity are really a bit too much.

As a result, this material is neither conducive to weaving nor easy to collect.

Therefore, although the idea the players came up with was good, to be honest, it was a bit wishful thinking.

However—

This wasn't a big problem.

Especially for a top student at the Demon King Academy, solving this was a matter of minutes. A long time ago, someone in Hell had studied weaving yarn with cave spider silk, and even figured out a magic potion formula that 'allows cave spider silk to lose its excessive elasticity and stickiness while retaining its strength'!

It's just a pity that this hydrophobic but non-heat-resistant material was of no use in Hell, where 'it doesn't rain, it only rains sparks'.

And because Hell and the surface have been in a state of war, they at most smuggle some precious metals between each other, and there is no large-scale trade. Therefore, this obscure formula had even less use.

Previously in the library of the Demon King Academy, Luo Yan had just happened to learn about this obscure formula.

Although he couldn't remember the specific proportions, he remembered the materials needed to configure the magic potion, and most of them happened to be directly collectible from cave spiders.

Restoring the magic potion formula wouldn't be difficult for him; he could just add a little when reeling the silk.

Thinking this, Luo Yan had already taken out the crucible and beaker for configuring the magic potion, and moved his shoulders with great enthusiasm.

"Oh well—"

"This time, I'll do a good deed."

On the other side, deep in the sewer corridor, two skeleton soldiers were continuing to explore deeper into the labyrinth.

Along the way, they killed countless slimes, and the magic crystals they collected were almost out of space.

Fortunately, not long after, they discovered an adventurer's corpse wrapped in slime.

The clothes on the corpse were almost digested, leaving only the boots, belt, and waist bag that were not easy to digest.

A few slimes like rice cakes were squirming Q-bouncily on it, as if chewing.

After solving the slimes, Ye Zhiqiu recovered the belt and leather waist bag from the adventurer's remains.

Inside the waist bag were some personal items, as well as some copper metal coins.

Returning the personal items to the original owner, the two put the collected magic crystals into the waist bag, finally freeing up Brother Hu Wan's hands.

Out of curiosity, Ye Zhiqiu squatted beside the corpse and carefully observed his situation.

Although the tissues on this person were almost decomposed by the green slime and the original shape could no longer be seen, he still saw a clue from the bones that had not yet been digested.

"The bone was cut," feeling the fracture on the rib, Ye Zhiqiu said, suppressing his excitement, "This wound... doesn't look like it was caused by a slime!"

Sure enough—

His guess was correct!

There were other monsters hiding in the sewer corridor!

"Looks a bit like a beast's claw..." Hu Wan also observed for a while, looking at Ye Zhiqiu with a solemn expression, "What do you think it could be?"

"Creatures with claws in the sewer, I suppose it could only be a gecko... or some other overhead fantasy species."

This thing should be stronger than a cave spider!

Realizing this, Ye Zhiqiu felt no fear in his heart, but instead became excited.

He wondered how much experience these guys provided! Thinking this, his right hand explored upward along the adventurer's corpse, finally stopping at the back of the neck.

"This is... a magic crystal?!"

Looking at the crystal Ye Zhiqiu pulled out of the corpse, Hu Wan widened his eyes in astonishment.

Do humans drop magic crystals too?!

"Hmm... as far as I can see, that's the case."

Examining the dark green crystal in his hand, the expression on Ye Zhiqiu's face fell into deep thought.

For some reason, he remembered a passage he had seen on the official forum of "Catastrophe OL", which roughly said that since the death of the God of the Underworld, the death and reincarnation of all things were no longer equal.

So where did people go after death in this game world?

Or did they not go anywhere, but instead became existences like himself...

Considering the particularity of extraordinary power.

He always felt it was terrifying to think about.

Behind that mythological story, perhaps there were information and clues he hadn't read...

In the dark.

A pair of amber pupils were staring intently at the two skeletons, the forked tongue flicking in and out by the mouth, swaying flexibly.

Servants of a necromancer? Here? After weighing the pros and cons for a long time, the crawling creature lurking in the shadows ultimately didn't make a move, but turned and slowly retreated into the depths of the shadows.

His mission was to hunt adventurers, and these bone racks were not on his menu.

The labyrinth was currently in a precarious situation, and any disturbance had to be met with high vigilance... even if their Earth Dragon clan had already become the overlord of the first floor of the labyrinth with absolute advantage.

In addition, the previous rat tide seemed to have an inseparable connection with the appearance of these undead.

Being able to scare the rat-man clan that summoned the Chosen Ones into scattering and fleeing...

They should perhaps be more cautious when dealing with the guy standing behind these undead.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 38 =====