Chapter 433

"Where to accumulate divine power? My lord currently has three ways: first, transmission from the body; second, offerings from believers; third, feeding those who eat. From the perspectives of time and safety, the third method is best, the second most stable, but risks must be considered; the first causes too much loss and is only suitable for emergencies."

"So first, let's distribute food to everyone, then quietly expand the number of believers—and you, my lord, must go in person, because only you have a divine domain capable of storing vast quantities of grain. If we used ordinary transport, we'd need hundreds of cart teams—far too conspicuous." As he walked, Yinbi analyzed for everyone.

Ang nodded.

Nagelesis sneered: "You make perfect sense, but what about Tie Sha City and Ji Liu Fortress? Are you just abandoning them?"

Yinbi replied seriously: "Of course we prioritize my lord's matters. Bei Feng City is for growing vegetables; Ji Liu Fortress is for selling them. If it were me, I'd never choose such a backward commercial region—no access to financing or consortiums."

Nagelesis's heart skipped: Dammit, he just showed off again—and threw in a display of loyalty.

The group set out eastward with one cart, pulled by two bone horses. Basolo's description of the skeletal knight sounded prestigious, requiring the bone horse's approval and such.

These two bone horses were found in Tie Sha City. At first, when they were brought over, they were wilder—but after Du Luo's glare, they trembled; after Ang's glance, they shivered uncontrollably; finally, Du Luo forcibly imprinted their souls, and only then did they calm down.

Now, for ordinary undead creatures like these, Ang rarely established soul connections anymore—the soul network had too many nodes, uneven in quality, making command a nightmare.

The usual method of the Undead Empire was for the monarch and a few high-ranking undead to form soul links, and those high-ranking undead would then link with ordinary undead, forming a pyramid-style ruling structure.

So these two bone horses became subjects of Ang's subjects—but not bad either. Du Luo was, after all, the Alchemy King; in the past, he'd have looked down on such lowly bone horses.

To avoid being disgusted by them, Du Luo spent time arming the two bone horses—with Earth Iron Hooves, metal joint reinforcements, and more.

"Steel-bottomed Mithril hoof plates, inscribed with the Earth Mark. Each step resonates with the earth, creating shock absorption without diminishing force. Reinforced joints bind the bones into a single whole—even without a soul, the body won't fall apart," Du Luo explained.

"Just pulling a cart? That's excessive," Yinbi said.

Du Luo spread his hands: "So I didn't equip them with full armor." Meaning this was already modest.

Under the pull of these modestly luxurious bone horses, Ang's group headed east. The cart carried nothing but rapeseed cakes mixed with elf beans—each fist-sized cake could fill a stomach.

As they walked, they suddenly spotted a gaunt boy by the roadside. His eyes were hollow, face expressionless, numbly staring at Ang's group—silent, motionless, like a soulless shell.

Yinbi took a rapeseed cake and walked over, handing it to the boy: "May the God of Undeath bless you."

The boy blinked, his gaze falling on the rapeseed cake in Yinbi's hand. He hesitated, then slowly regained some spark.

He couldn't believe it. Carefully, he reached out, glancing warily at Yinbi as he extended his hand.

Yinbi pushed his palm forward, gesturing for him to take it, saying: "The God of Undeath's gift. Take it. May you be full."

His expression was so solemn, he looked exactly like a priest.

The boy snatched the cake in a flash, shoved it into his mouth, chewed fiercely, eyes red and darting like a startled rabbit, fixed on Yinbi.

Yinbi feared scaring him, smiled gently, and stepped back slowly. The group continued on.

Only after the cart passed the boy did he finally snap out of disbelief, struggling to swallow the entire cake. Then, a powerful sense of fullness and satisfaction surged—so strong he let out a burp.

The boy had forgotten how many years it had been since he'd eaten his fill. This intense satisfaction left him momentarily dazed.

Only when Ang's caravan had moved far away did the boy suddenly awaken. He leapt onto the road and sprinted after the caravan.

Luo Ke and Ji Li, at the rear, heard the noise and turned back.

The boy immediately dropped to his knees and banged his head on the ground—bang, bang, bang.

Ang turned back in surprise, for he felt a powerful belief: "May the God of Undeath protect..."

And of course, the soul-flame offerings were plentiful too.

Ang glanced once and ignored him. Luo Ke and Ji Li occasionally looked back and saw the boy following, ten steps behind—neither approaching nor leaving.

They didn't know what to do, so they walked ahead to ask whether to drive the boy away.

Yinbi sighed: "Let him follow. Driving him away is just sending him to die. A child appearing here—what suffering has he endured? Sigh."

"Death is a new beginning. May his family's souls rest in peace," Du Luo blessed.

They walked until evening. The boy hadn't lost them, but he was staggering from exhaustion. Worse still was Ji Li, who had long been complaining: "When do we rest? I'm dead tired."

"My lord Du Luo, you once mentioned a self-moving cart—when will you build one? I'm exhausted. My legs don't even belong to me anymore."

Yinbi unfolded a map: "We're heading to Deroge City. There's an Undead Temple there. From now on, we're all believers of the God of Undeath. Don't slip up... uh, no—we've always been believers of the God of Undeath, my lord's followers. Remember."

Sometimes even Yinbi forgot: they truly were believers of the God of Undeath—except Ang had too many divine aspects, and he loved planting, clearly aligning more with the God of Cultivation, making people forget his primary divine aspect.

Why emphasize their identity as Undead believers? Because it was the second most useful identity in the entire world—after Undead creatures themselves. No one dared casually harass a group of Undead believers.

Of course, Yinbi didn't really want to use this identity. He'd inquired: the number of Undead believers was extremely small. Without the Undead Empire's efforts to spread it, the Undead Temple might have vanished long ago—it didn't work.

Think about it: the God of Undeath's divine core was in the Prime Plane. Here, believers' prayers went unanswered, no miracles ever appeared. The Undead Empire's promotion wasn't serious. How could believers possibly grow?

But no matter how few they were, this was still the Undead Empire's official religion—the state religion. Even if you didn't believe, you absolutely dared not provoke them.

But this brought another problem: if no one dared provoke them casually, then those who did weren't ordinary people. So Yinbi didn't want to use this identity—he preferred the identity of the Dragon Knight Order.

Too bad the Inner Order's leader had fled too fast, left no proof or token. Impersonating them would be too easy to expose.

Deroge City was still far off. Yinbi waved to the rear, signaling the boy to come.

Along the way, Ang and the others hadn't driven him away. The boy's wariness had vanished. Seeing the gesture, he ran up quickly.

"Tired? Get on the cart. What's your name?" Yinbi lifted him onto the cart and handed him a new rapeseed cake.

"Jamie," the boy replied, taking the cake and biting hard.

One rapeseed cake could fill a stomach, but after chasing the caravan all afternoon, his stomach was empty again.

"Jamie, do you wish to serve the God of Undeath?" Yinbi asked solemnly.

Feeling the warmth spreading in his belly, Jamie nodded his head like a chick pecking grain. If serving the God of Undeath meant daily rapeseed cakes, he was more than willing.

"Good. From now on, you're a priest of the God of Undeath. Remember three phrases: 'May the God of Undeath bless you; may your soul rest in peace.' 'The God of Undeath's gift; may you be full.' 'My lord Ang, save me!' Got it?" Yinbi gave him instant instruction.

Jamie nodded. Was it really this easy? Becoming a priest of the God of Undeath? Who was Lord Ang?

Who cared who he was? Jamie's belief in the God of Undeath was as firm as this rapeseed cake. He swallowed the last bite fiercely, his resolve hard as stone.

Two hours later, scattered firelights appeared ahead—Deroge City.

Deroge City was a major city with over 100,000 people, a teleportation array, an Undead Temple, a Hall of Knowledge, and various guilds and merchant associations—more prosperous than Bei Feng City, another major city.

But now, outside Deroge City, it had become a refugee camp. The scattered firelights were the refugees' campfires.

Along both sides of the main road, countless refugees had hastily divided spaces with stones, leaves, rags, and broken nets—each a makeshift shelter. Too many to count, even firewood was gone. No one dared light fires; families huddled together, shivering.

As Ang's group passed, women and children in these barely-there shelters stood up, timid yet hopeful, watching Ang's party—eyes pleading, yet too afraid to approach.

Luo Ke and Ji Li couldn't bear this gaze. Ji Li instinctively reached for her satchel.

Yinbi called from the front: "Ji Li."

Ji Li turned. Yinbi shook his head. She was indignant, ran forward, and whispered: "I just want to give her my beef cake. Isn't that okay? That child was only two—starved, head swollen, eyes fixed on me."

"If you want to cause chaos—or kill them—then go ahead," Yinbi sighed. "Don't rush. Let me see what's going on here first."

The city gates were obviously closed at this hour. Ang's group found a secluded corner to rest. Yinbi went out to gather information.

Soon, he returned with a human who shared his demeanor but was even more timid. No need to ask—he was a merchant.

Yinbi had the human merchant wait at a distance, then reported: "My lord, two months ago, Deroge City experienced some chaos, but the major merchant guilds maintained order. Over a month ago, the Empire sent the Undead Scepter here—then everything stabilized. Refugees from all around flocked here."

"At first, Deroge City took in some refugees for work. But as their numbers grew, the city could no longer accommodate them. Now they refuse to hire anyone, even closed the gates, restricted food leaving the city, and barred outside relief efforts—probably hoping the refugees will disperse on their own."

"Disperse on their own? That's just waiting for them to starve to death. Who's restricting food from leaving? Who's blocking relief? Who wants to come help?" Nagelesis asked.

Though Nagelesis didn't understand human affairs, it understood history. There were countless historical examples of rulers letting famine victims starve to eliminate hunger. It saw through the city rulers' malicious intent at once.

Refugees gathered outside the city with no food aid—they couldn't go anywhere else. Only two outcomes: die on the road fleeing, or die here.

It was inhumane—but often the only option. Unless the city could magically produce food, if supplies were insufficient, they dared not even attempt relief—otherwise, refugees from elsewhere would flood in, devouring all reserves.

In the Prime Plane's Eastern Diocese, Anthony allocated resources, diverted refugees, organized production—so especially horrific humanitarian disasters rarely occurred.

But now, the Undead Empire's structure had collapsed. No one could allocate resources or divert refugees. Everyone only rushed toward places with food—either devouring it all, or starving.

"Has it gotten this bad?" Du Luo asked in surprise.

Yinbi shook his head: "Not yet at its worst. Though many refugees are here, food still exists—no one dares release it, all hoarding it 'just in case.' If production doesn't resume and planting is missed, next year will be the worst."

"Then what do we do? We must hurry—otherwise more will starve," Nagelesis fretted.

Yinbi said: "I didn't expect so many refugees outside the city. Let's change our plan—recruit workers, under the name of the Undead Temple."

Early the next morning, several local merchants carried the silver coins Yinbi gave them and began shouting through the streets: "Hiring! Undead Temple hiring! Those who believe in the God of Undeath may apply—food provided."

Thud! Food provided? Everyone who heard this instantly felt their faith in the God of Undeath surge.

Yinbi had already arranged everything the night before: order maintenance, crowd guidance, food distribution—all staff ready. With experience from Ji Liu Fortress, he organized the crowd effortlessly.

Everyone received a rapeseed cake. As they took it, they heard: "The God of Undeath's gift; may you be full."

Chewing the rapeseed cake, fragrant with vegetables, feeling warmth spread in their bellies, many couldn't help crying—truly grateful to the God of Undeath.

Ji Li quietly found the mother and daughter who had stared at her yesterday, slipped them a beef cake.

Over ten thousand refugees were outside the city. They brought Ang two waves of soul-flame: one belonging to the God of Cultivation—every person who ate the cake offered it; another belonging to the God of Undeath—from those who sincerely thanked the God of Undeath.

Previously, Ang hadn't cared much about faith energy, because none of his divine arts worked here—neither the Speed Death Aura, nor the Goddess Fist, nor Elemental Conversion, nor Ultimate Transformation. Accumulating too much faith energy was useless.

But now, with these two waves of soul-flame flooding in, Ang felt something strange. He stomped hard on the ground—and the Speed Death Aura spread out.

Ang immediately kicked it off. The area was full of living people—starving refugees. The rapeseed cake they'd just eaten would be digested clean within two minutes under the Speed Death Aura.

But Nagelesis sensed it, flew over, and exclaimed in shock: "The Speed Death Aura can be used?"