Chapter 428

In the House of the Departed, Silver Coin had recorded the conversation between the Cloaked Figure and Leothe, Vice President of the Necropolis Guild, who planned to use rumors of the Skytree to lure out those leaking information and engaging in internal trade.

Everyone had been on guard, unsure what bait they would release—but now the bait was out, and it was up to who would bite; Silver Coin, the true mastermind, would never take the hook.

Setting the matter aside, everyone returned to their tasks; with sufficient manpower, the iron suspension bridge spanning the valley was completed within three days.

Along the way, they also continued repairing the road from Rapid Stream Fortress to the valley bridge, bringing it up to standard for cart traffic, no longer needing to abandon horses and drag them by hand like Lab and his group.

This was a massive project, impossible to finish quickly unless they asked Ang for help.

But Silver Coin had no intention of doing so—if Ang did all the work, what would the refugees do? Sit around causing trouble?

Now they had food and drink, and Ang, a god-tier healer, was present; any wound, internal or external, as long as the victim wasn't fully dead, could be saved.

So everyone had no worries—ate well, worked with peace of mind, and the project progressed rapidly.

After three or five days, Rapid Stream Fortress transformed completely: terraces outside the city grew lush and vibrant, while inside, the environment was clean and sanitary, everyone busy and full of spirit.

Having learned how to command the undead guardians in the cemetery, Ang summoned a group and scattered them across all corners of Rapid Stream Fortress.

Those who hadn't experienced chaos couldn't understand how precious these undead guardians were; seeing them, everyone's anxious hearts settled.

As long as the food problem was solved, Rapid Stream Fortress and Northwind City behind the mountains would become a safe haven—especially precious in this world where order had collapsed.

Ang began leveling terraces into the cliff face; the previous terraces were already planted, so why not open more fields while idle?

For ordinary people or even ordinary mages, this would be a laborious, time-consuming task—but for Ang, it was routine; Level One Earth Crack was perfect here, while higher-level spells were impractical.

Once the ground was leveled, Ang would descend to the mountain base, dig up fertile soil, and carry it into his Divine Domain.

The Goddess of War surely never imagined someone would use her Divine Domain to haul dirt.

One advantage of storing soil in the Divine Domain: anything with a soul inside would die instantly when the Domain closed, and upon reopening, the soil would be pristine—no insects, parasites, bacteria, or eggs remained.

Though this also destroyed beneficial soil microbes, it didn't matter—Ang could restore whatever was missing.

Landing on fertile earth, the little zombie dug frantically, filled its load, closed the Domain, returned to the terrace, opened the Domain, and dug again—efficiency was extraordinary.

"Sigh, using the Divine Domain to haul dirt—how could efficiency not be high?" Negril sneered at Ang's wastefulness.

Suddenly, a distant, piercing cry echoed; after a long while, five bone dragons slowly flew in from that direction, their sluggish pace unmistakably signaling no hostility.

The five bone dragons circled above the cemetery.

Silver Coin Du Luo had arrived the moment the cry sounded; watching the dragons approach, he frowned: "Those were the bone dragon knights from five days ago—why are only five left?"

"They probably split up. If they'd died, the rest wouldn't be moving so slowly," Negril said.

"It seems like etiquette—announcing presence in advance, approaching slowly, clearly showing goodwill. These bone dragon knights are quite polite," Du Luo approved; he liked polite children.

As the bone dragons circled, a voice rang out from their backs: "Hello, we mean no harm."

Then a knight clad in majestic soul armor leapt down, floating like a feather, landing lightly.

"Hello, I am Naven, leader of the Spirit Dragon Knights. I apologize for the intrusion—I've come to request your assistance." Naven removed his helmet, revealing the face of a human boy, then snapped his heels together, struck his chest, and saluted with knightly formality.

"Hello hello! Leader Naven? Welcome, welcome! Your visit is an honor to Rapid Stream Fortress—truly an honor!" Silver Coin rushed forward, showering him with flattery; Naven actually blushed.

Days earlier, the bone dragon knights had rested in Northwind City, where Feiwo hosted them and reported in detail to Silver Coin, so everyone was familiar with this group.

But no one expected their leader to be such a shy boy—who blushed after a few polite words?

Facing this timid boy, the God of Merchants easily seized the initiative: "Leader Naven, what brings you to Rapid Stream Fortress?"

"Oh, yes— we've come to request troops. A rebellion has broken out in Iron Sand City, fifty kilometers away: someone killed the mayor, sealed the gates, and slaughtered the citizens. I'd like to borrow some undead guardians to suppress the revolt."

"Borrow undead guardians?" Everyone paused. Silver Coin asked: "Doesn't Iron Sand City have undead guardians?"

"They do—but they're controlled by the rebels. They wield the Staff of Undeath and command the guardians to kill the mayor."

Du Luo and Silver Coin exchanged glances: there it was—what they feared had come. Altering the balance of power in one place could spark conflict; among so many cities, some staffs would inevitably fall into the hands of the ambitious.

"Why come here to borrow troops? How many undead guardians do you need to gain advantage? How many does the enemy have?" Silver Coin asked.

Naven replied: "We've patrolled the region—your Rapid Stream Fortress is the most orderly, and closest to Iron Sand City. You likely have spare undead guardians to spare. Your fortress is on a mountain, easy to defend; withdrawing some forces won't compromise your safety."

"I see," Silver Coin nodded, then rubbed his hands: "Leader Naven, how many undead guardians do you need? And what payment will you offer?"

"Huh? Payment? Uh… no… no payment. Can you spare fifty thousand?" Naven blinked, as if hearing something unbelievable.

"What? No payment? White… uh…" As a merchant, Silver Coin hated hearing "no payment" most of all.

Even a king requisitioning his own knights would provide rations and pay—how could a knight commander come to a city to requisition troops without offering anything?

"Leader Naven, I can't make that decision," Silver Coin smoothly deployed his "Divine Technique: Deflection"—a skill everyone knew: if it wasn't his problem, push it away.

Naven smiled shyly: "I'm sorry, Mr. Silver Coin, you don't need to decide—I'm not here to ask. I have authority higher than any lord—I can command any city's cemetery guardians."

As he spoke, he pulled out a far more exquisite Staff of Undeath; the skull atop Basso's staff was gray bone, but Naven's was silver bone—just the material was one rank higher.

Silver Coin froze. Such a bold statement—but Naven delivered it so shyly. The contrast was immense.

"If you have higher authority, why not directly command the undead guardians in Sandflow City to help you suppress the rebellion?" Du Luo interjected.

"I commanded them—but they're under some secret control and refuse my orders," Naven said, then turned to them apologetically: "I apologize—I'm about to summon the undead guardians. Please be careful."

Raising the Staff of Undeath, Youlan flames surged from the eye sockets of the skull. Naven shouted: "Rise, souls of the undead! Obey my command! Awaken from your realm of slumber!"

Ang once again felt that faint power—and naturally, he resisted.

The flame inside the skull sputtered… and went out.

Naven's expression changed drastically.

Basso, seeing this, cried out excitedly: "It's out! It's out! His too! His staff looked higher grade than mine—and it broke too? How bad is the quality of these Staffs of Undeath?"

Hearing this, Naven's face flushed crimson: "Idiot! There's a powerful soul in the cemetery! Your staff offended him—he shattered it! You idiot, if yours broke too, why didn't you say so earlier!"

"Huh?" Basso was stunned. Powerful presence? Offended? Not broken—shattered?

Something dawned on him—he looked at Ang in horror.

Naven dropped to one knee, urgently crying: "Forgive me, great one! I didn't know you were here! I didn't mean to offend! I came to requisition guardians to suppress the rebellion in Iron Sand City—please grant me permission!"

Negril leaned over and whispered: "Ang, did you extinguish his staff?"

Ang tilted his head.

Negril knew he was right: "This kid's decent. Polite. Help him out?"

Du Luo turned too, wearing the same expression. Naven was polite, idealistic—still thinking of maintaining order in such a moment. Everyone liked him.

Even Silver Coin only disliked the "no payment" part—that was merchant instinct. He had no ill will toward Naven himself.

Ang nodded.

As he nodded, the cemetery stirred. Everywhere visible, tomb lids flipped open; skeletons and zombies rose, surging toward the gate in a tide.

Basso's suspicions were confirmed—he now understood: Kua Bada, Ang was the powerful presence that shattered the Staffs of Undeath! The staffs weren't broken—they just needed Ang!

No wonder only Ang could use them! Kua Bada, I'm such an idiot!!

Naven cried out in excitement: "Thank you, great one! Thank you! I'll return every guardian intact—no fewer, no more!"

He leapt upward, soul energy surging, lifting him toward the circling bone dragons.

"No fewer, no more? Intact is fine—but how can there be more?" Negril puzzled, then saw Ang walking with the tide of undead guardians down the mountain, little zombies following.

"Uh, where are you going?" Negril asked.

"Iron Sand City."

"Why are you going? We've got plenty to do here!"

"If I don't go, they won't listen."

"Huh? He can't control them? Just give them a new order!"

Ang shook his head: "The staff's out."

Naven's silver staff's soul node had been shattered by Ang. Without Ang accompanying them, the skeletons and zombies would halt halfway, confused: "Why am I here?"—then turn back.

Negril rejoiced and hurried after him. Rarely did Ang leave his vegetable patch—no matter what he was doing, Negril was happy.

Others followed too. Oil cakes had been prepared in advance—enough for a month. The main problem in Rapid Stream Fortress was food; as long as food held, order wouldn't collapse.

Iron Sand City was fifty kilometers from Rapid Stream Fortress. Even with undead guardians' tireless pace, they wouldn't arrive until midnight—thanks to Naven leading the way.

Of the five bone dragons sent to requisition troops, only Naven remained ahead; the others had returned earlier.

Naven rode his bone dragon at the front of the undead tide, his dragon occasionally letting out soulful roars to urge the undead forward faster.

Everyone ran—hundreds of kilometers a day.

As they neared Iron Sand City, Du Luo suddenly stopped, scooped up a handful of black-gray sand, rubbed it between his palms, and said: "Now I know why it's called Iron Sand City—the soil here is rich in iron. There's a high-grade iron deposit."

Negril leaned over: "How do you know? Just touching it tells you the iron content?"

"Of course," Du Luo said confidently, tapping his Gold-Making Rod against the iron sand in his palm.

The sand melted instantly, impurities separating; the remaining liquid coalesced into a single silver-gray iron bead.

Negril tugged Ang: "What's the weight of the impurities and the iron bead?"

"Six grams, four grams."

"Forty percent iron content? That's high. Too bad it's iron—if it were mithril or adamantite, we'd be rich." Negril sighed.

Du Luo and Silver Coin exchanged glances, expressions strange.

Seeing their looks, Negril realized he'd made another common-sense mistake: "Did I say something wrong?"

"Not wrong," Silver Coin said. "A ton of mithril or adamantite is worth more than a ton of iron—but if it's a hundred million tons, you pick iron."

"Mithril and adamantite are useless in excess—they enhance enchantments and alchemy, but iron is the foundation. Without iron, you don't even know where to enchant mithril."

Negril understood: "So this iron mine is more valuable than a mithril mine?"

Du Luo nodded: "A high-grade iron deposit means advanced alchemy. Iron Sand City isn't an ordinary town."

Just then, Naven ahead screamed in anguish: "Ambush! Watch out! It's the Round and Round Demon King!"

Pfft—Round and Round Demon King? Negril nearly burst out laughing. What a cute name? Round and round—and a demon king?

The ground trembled. Sand and stones bounced. Everyone turned forward—and when they saw the Round and Round Demon King's form, they stopped laughing.