Chapter 1001: The Undead Consumption War

Lei En emerged from Dragon Valley, did not return directly to Gotham City, but instead teleported with Bo Erqi to the area north of Gotham City.

"Boss, what are we doing here?"

Bo Erqi looked at the desolate land around him and couldn't help feeling strange.

"Do you know where this is?" Lei En asked with a smile, and when Bo Erqi shook his head in confusion, he continued: "Luobosite. During the Third Epoch, the Elf Empire had one of the largest cities on the New Continent, and it was the most famous city for magical research, possessing many magical academies and countless high towers."

"I can't see any of that," Bo Erqi had heard of Luobosite, but as far as the eye could see under the dim sky there was no sign of life, like a dead zone.

This place lies far beyond the illumination of the magical torchlight, more than five hundred li from Gotham City.

The air is filled with the power of death.

Looking into the distance, some undead creatures can be seen wandering over the ground; they are only a few, while countless Undead Army hide beneath the surface.

Luobosite sits on the eastern coast of the New Continent; a few hundred li to the northeast lies the blood elf's Revenge Island, and a thousand li to the northwest enters the Canoed Icefield, where the number of undead creatures increases, fully ruled by the Death Lord, a forbidden zone for the living.

"Luobosite will be the next reclaimed city; today it's on the way, I'll first scout the surroundings," Lei En said as he scanned from high above.

"Boss, let me give you a few laps around," Bo Erqi said eagerly.

"Alright."

Lei En nodded, "Stay low-key, don't disturb the dead buried underground."

Bo Erqi was about to reveal the true form of the golden three-headed dragon, but quickly changed his mind and became a tall, handsome golden-scaled celestial horse.

Its body was covered in golden scales, its crimson mane like burning flames, a pair of broad fiery wings sprouted from its sides, trailing a dazzling long tail, its head's eyes black as ink, emitting wisps of shadowy energy like mist.

Although the golden-scaled celestial horse restrained its draconic aura, its splendid, dazzling appearance would make anyone refuse to treat it as an ordinary warhorse.

Lei En straddled onto the horse's back.

"Boss, hold on tight," Bo Erqi flapped his flame wings several meters wide, turning them into a tricolor streak of light that raced through the sky, fast and steady.

A moment later.

The golden-scaled celestial horse flew two circuits over Luobosite's ruins, and Lei En had already grasped the city's condition, with the outskirts of the ruins fully in view.

The number of undead is estimated to be over a million.

There are already a dozen large undead tombs, each containing several legendary undead; the largest tomb even houses an Apocalypse Knight, likely sent by the Death Lord to this region to command the hundreds of thousands of Undead Army, leading a Black Soul Knight Order.

If there were only an Apocalypse Knight, it wouldn't be a concern; this million-strong Undead Army will sooner or later be converted into our energy.

Ai Luotixiya is still consolidating the Gamma Lan Plain, truly advancing toward the Flog Basin, which is estimated to take one or two years.

Without a Demon war, there is no energy.

Perfectly, these undead can serve as a transitional supplement; we must harvest them hard. Besides bone frames, the undead corpses can also be sent to Black Soul Valley to grow mushrooms.

Lei En already had a count in mind and ordered:

"Fly toward Gotham City."

The golden-scaled celestial horse instantly turned south, soaring along the eastern coastline; Lei En rode on its back, looking down at the earth, the All-Seeing Eye piercing the ground and recording the distribution of underground undead tombs. As it neared Gotham City, he already knew the Undead Army's situation like the back of his hand.

Upon entering the illumination range of the magical torchlight, Lei En instantly, together with the horse, teleported back to the highland fortress.

Seeing the bustling city under a clear sky, a world completely different from Luobosite, Bo Erqi suddenly got excited and asked: "Boss, may I take a stroll around the city?"

"Go ahead, don't cause me trouble," Lei En instructed.

"Never will I!"

With Lei En's permission, Bo Erqi darted out of the highland fortress, disappearing among Gotham City's skyscrapers.

Lei En couldn't help shaking his head.

This fellow just ascended to an ancient dragon; in Dragon Valley he swore earnestly that he would train hard, yet the moment he arrived in Gotham City he couldn't hold back. Still, there's nothing to worry about—the whole city is under his surveillance; if Bo Erqi dares to act up, a single thought can make him behave.

After sitting in the study for a while handling official matters, Falanjiasika came in.

"Notify all department heads to convene at City Hall tomorrow morning," Lei En instructed.

"Understood."

Falanjiasika noted it down and asked, "What's the agenda for this meeting?"

"Luobosite," Lei En said, looking at the documents without lifting his head.

"Isn't this too soon?"

Falanjiasika was initially startled by the remark, then deliberated and expressed her view: "Luoli City was only captured a few months ago; the whole city has only a few basic facilities, only a handful of main roads have been built, with a total population of only a few ten-thousands. It will take at least two or three years to become a decent city."

"Aixingge is also just getting on track."

"Additionally, there are seven smaller cities also under development."

"Lei En, you just approved the railway and road construction plans, spending money everywhere. The finances can barely be maintained, but we lack personnel."

"Another Luobosite, I'm afraid we won't have enough manpower."

Lei En looked up, patiently waited for her to finish, then said, "I just returned from Luobosite and have already clarified the Undead Army's situation. Since we will fight sooner or later, why not act now? You don't need to worry about finances; as for manpower..."

He paused, "I'll figure something out."

"Luobosite is not a small city; it's vast and the land is fertile. I think many people will be interested; by raising some benefits we can definitely recruit from the Empire. In short, have everyone get ready; it won't affect Aixingge and Luoli City's construction."

Seeing Lei En's resolve, Falanjiasika stopped persuading, nodded and said, "Alright."

Then she left the study.

Lei En murmured a few times; the reason for his haste to attack Luobosite is, first, to harvest energy, and second, because of Aoroan's elves.

Last time the Phoenix King sent a messenger, specifically demanding Luobosite, which he decisively refused.

Although there was no further news, and Modante Grand Mage never returned, it proved his speculation correct: the Phoenix King has no interest in expanding the New Continent, yet the Phoenix King cannot represent the will of all Aoroan.

Aoroan's ten major Elf Kingdoms are not a monolith.

Indeed, the political struggles among elves are even more complex and brutal than those of humans.

If any Elf Kingdom, faction, or major figure becomes obstinate and refuses to watch the New Continent fall into human hands, bypassing the Phoenix King and directly sending elves to land on the New Continent, that would be troublesome.

To prevent prolonged uncertainty, they must seize Luobosite first.

Thus, over eighty percent of the New Continent's eastern coast would be under their control; aside from Revenge Island and the southeastern Sunlight Continent, Aoroan's elves would have no options left. Unless the elves can manage to enter the Canoed Icefield, or airdrop into the interior of the New Continent to attack the Netifu Demon's territory.

If the elves possessed such strength, they wouldn't have gone two thousand years without launching a counterattack on the New Continent.

The next day.

Lei En smoothly convened the municipal council.

At the meeting no one raised objections; everyone fully supported Lei En's ideas. Lei En was not surprised—he held the meeting merely to inform them, unify thought, and prepare logistics, not to actually solicit their opinions.

Gotham City decides alone; anyone who dares oppose should just stop.

On the third day, the Extreme Corps, the Duke Guard, and the Holy Spear Knight Corps were dispatched, but only a portion of the troops, moving north out of the magical torchlight's range, engaged the Undead Army.

Lei En's plan was for the Duke Guard to serve as the main attacking force to hone combat experience, the Holy Spear Knight Corps as support to deal with the Undead's Black Soul Knight Corps, and the Extreme Corps to hold the rear, guarding against the Death Lord himself leading troops onto the battlefield.

The Star Destroyer remained cloaked high above, serving only as a platform for transporting troops.

The army steadily advanced northward.

Even though the Undead Army consisted entirely of soulless corpses, under the Duke Guard's overwhelming firepower suppression, the merciless Willpower was useless; wave after wave of Undead surged forward, instantly shattered into fragments, unable to shake the Duke Guard's line.

Each day the Duke Guard and the Holy Spear Knight Corps could advance a dozen or so miles, inching closer to Polost.

At this rate, Gotham City's forces would reach the Polost Ruins in a month, clear a tract of land, and begin constructing a high tower.

Lei En personally observed the battle from the bridge.

On the seventh day of the war, the number of Undead surged dramatically.

The pressure on the Duke Guard multiplied severalfold; countless Undead attacked from the west and north, the black mass of troops seemed endless, and they used their bodies to consume the Duke Guard's ammunition, literally halting the army's advance.

Undead corpses piled up like mountains across the wilderness, forming a debris line miles long and a thousand li wide.

Further back, tireless Undead dug trenches; the enemy had learned how to evade the Duke Guard's fire, reducing damage.

Lei En gazed toward the Canoed Icefield and saw no Death Lord, not even the Apocalypse Knight.

Only an endless sea of Undead stretched before him.

"He plans a war of attrition," Lei En laughed.

The Death Lord's intent was obvious, and tactically sound; the Undead's greatest advantage is numbers, drowning the enemy with ten‑fold or hundred‑fold armies, driving hope to despair. Even a 100‑to‑1 casualty exchange still profits the Undead.

The Duke Guard's firepower is immense, but their fighting consumes ammunition.

Ammunition is not infinite.

The Undead Army, however, is endless, especially since the Death Lord obtained the artifact "Book of the Dead," allowing him to summon Undead daily from the Abyssal Netherworld; his forces are inexhaustible, indifferent to losses, because he can afford it.

Unless one possesses a large‑area spell like Magical Torchlight that eradicates mid‑ and low‑stage Undead while distinguishing friend from foe, the Undead's human‑wave tactics remain unsolvable.

The Death Lord need not appear personally nor dispatch elite troops.

On the bridge.

Marius, commander of the Extreme Corps, watching the Duke Guard stalemate against an Undead force several times its size, voiced his concern softly: "Sir, should we send the brothers out?"

"No need," Lei En shook his head.

Marius assumed Lei En would fire the Star Destroyer, but quickly realized he was wrong; Lei En smiled: "It's perfect for the Duke Guard to train, accumulate combat experience, and grow quickly. If the Death Lord wants a war of attrition, then we'll see who can afford it."

"Sir…" Marius's complexion shifted; Lei En actually wanted to wage an attrition war against the Undead—far from wise.

He was about to persuade him when Lei En waved him off.

"I know what I'm doing."

"If the situation turns unfavorable, I'll pull the Duke Guard back."

Lei En felt helpless; he couldn't admit that this was exactly the scenario he desired—an attrition war that suited him, allowing him to harvest energy recklessly.

Marius finally relaxed.

In the following days the Duke Guard and the Holy Spear Knight Corps advanced less than five miles, suffering some casualties, yet tens of thousands of Undead were destroyed daily by fire, causing Lei En's soul pool to rise repeatedly, all of which he converted into Soul Diamonds.

Most of the Soul Diamonds were used by Lei En to expand the Pixel World.

With tens of thousands of Soul Diamonds invested, the Pixel World's length, width, and height were all broadened to thirty meters, giving it a volume of 27,000 cubic meters!

That was already enormous.

Lei En halted the Pixel World's expansion and then poured energy into the Heart of the Main Brain.

For a full half‑month the Duke Guard painstakingly pushed forward about thirty miles; Lei En invested 200,000 energy units, raising the Heart of the Main Brain from level 12 to level 13, doubling the number of Soul Fragments it could create to 32,768!

This upgrade did not raise the cap of Thundercast Celestial Soldiers; it remained Legendary Mid-stage.

"It should be upgraded another level."

Lei En tried it and was shocked to discover that raising the Heart of the Main Brain to level 14 would require roughly one million energy units!

He inhaled a cold breath, thinking it was absurd.

Nevertheless, given the current situation, one million energy units seemed not unattainable; if the Undead kept fighting an attrition war for another half‑year, it should be enough. Yet spending that much energy just to raise the Heart by one level was wasteful, with a very low cost‑performance ratio.

"Forget it, we already have over thirty‑thousand Soul Fragments we can't use up."

Lei En decisively gave up.

He instead allocated energy to forge more Thundercast Celestial Soldiers, increasing their number by five thousand, and also tasked twelve Mage clones to construct additional spell models—the more, the better, boosting strength to begin challenging the Grand Mage.

The count of complete Dark Angels also rose to one hundred.

At the same time, the Pixel World stored many Soul Diamonds; Lei En sent a batch to Ao Xi Li Ya in Dragon Valley, enabling her to create more Rainbow Dragon clones.

Each day Lei En's power grew rapidly, a efficiency surpassing the Bottomless Abyss's harvesting of Demon souls, and he found himself somewhat intoxicated.

Lei En thought this attrition war would continue indefinitely.

However, a month later, the endless Undead Army suddenly withdrew.

I overestimated myself, Ka wen is in great pain, broke my promise again… apologies to everyone!

(End of Chapter)