Chapter 246: Understaffed, the Giant Panda Returns

When Su Hao's thoughts connected with the Heavenly Eye Watchtower, a three‑dimensional model of a radius of tens of kilometers appeared before his eyes.

Moreover, by rotating his thoughts, he could also enlarge or shrink the designated scene.

On this three‑dimensional model there was also a cluster of black gas, which functioned like a paintbrush; as Su Hao dragged this cluster of black gas, a black mist appeared on the corresponding area of the model.

This is precisely the area that the Heavenly Eye Watchtower needs to convert into dark elements.

If applied to the wrong place, the solution is simple: just drag that cluster of black gas again and repaint over the black mist's position to erase that black mist.

"It's pretty convenient."

Su Hao smiled faintly and nodded in satisfaction.

Immediately, he rotated his thoughts, dragging that cluster of black gas, and completely blackened a patch of area outside the ten‑kilometer radius at regular intervals.

In a short while, large expanses of black mist appeared outside the ten‑kilometer radius, like a labyrinth.

If viewed from ground level, one would discover that these mists are not merely filling the spaces between the trees.

Rather, they reach a height of several hundred meters, enveloping the entire forest, except for the ten‑kilometer area where the territory lies, which remains uncovered by any black mist.

However, these are only temporary; if later tests prove that the mist allows sunlight to penetrate, Su Hao will also include the airspace above his territory within the mist.

If sunlight cannot pass through these mists, then we can only maintain the status quo, after all plant growth requires sunlight, even with Huayao and their care.

Of course, if sunlight cannot penetrate the mist, the territory would fall into darkness, making life there uncomfortable—"Huh? Wait a minute!"

But just then, Su Hao suddenly thought of something and turned his gaze toward the greenhouse nearby.

His greenhouse, however, differs greatly from an ordinary greenhouse.

An ordinary greenhouse is merely a shed that provides a relatively stable temperature for the plants grown inside.

His greenhouse consists of two parts: an underground section that can convert ordinary soil into fertile soil, and a white sphere hovering in mid‑air.

The function of this white sphere is to absorb surrounding light elements, or draw energy from energy crystals to emit sunlight, illuminating the surroundings and providing the plants with the necessary light for survival.

Moreover, his greenhouse also has growth potential.

When it was first built, the maximum area that its sunlight could cover already reached a diameter of five kilometers.

Over this period, as it continuously absorbed surrounding natural energy, the fertile soil's area expanded to a diameter of one kilometer, and the maximum coverage of its sunlight increased to a diameter of over twenty kilometers.

If this is available to provide sunlight, even if the territory is completely enveloped by black mist, blocking outside sunlight from reaching inside, it would apparently not cause too great an impact.

Realizing this, Su Hao no longer hesitated; he again linked his mental power with the Heavenly Eye Watchtower, adding a layer of black mist over the entire airspace of his territory, enveloping it wholly in black mist.

Once the Heavenly Eye Watchtower had completely converted the elements of these areas into dark elements,

From appearance, his entire territory, together with the surrounding tens of kilometers, was enveloped by thick black mist, forming a hemispherical shroud of black mist, becoming a truly dark forest!

"How can it be called a dark forest without any dark elements?"

Su Hao smiled faintly, but turning the surrounding tens of kilometers into dark‑element mist is no simple task.

Relying solely on the Heavenly Eye Watchtower absorbing energy from the surrounding air to convert it into dark‑element mist would likely take several years to fully convert those areas.

If sufficient energy is available, the conversion speed would increase considerably.

Of course, the premise is having sufficient energy.

"Really, one can't get around needing energy crystals..."

Su Hao gave a wry smile and shook his head; looking over the world, his reserves of energy crystals are already extremely affluent.

Yet even so, it is still not enough to cover the territory's daily expenses.

One can only say that his territory's development speed is truly too fast—it is a terrifying gold‑eating beast that can devour any amount of energy crystals.

But correspondingly, the boost brought by this development speed is also tremendously fearsome.

At least in Su Hao's memory, looking across the world, at present no faction can match him, with the entire forest filled with supernatural‑world undead creatures and gigantic plant warriors capable of smashing fourth‑rank abominations.

"Hmm..."

If nuclear weapons were used for a strike, many factions would actually have firepower greater than his.

However, such ordinary weapons of the technological side would, after a short time, become unusable in this world because the Little Apocalypse causes the first anomalous strike, rendering all ordinary technological weapons unusable.

Even ordinary mechanical vehicles such as airplanes and cars cannot be used freely; once used in wilderness areas, they invite misfortune and attract more attacks from fallen beings.

However, this situation has no effect on Su Hao.

Since his rebirth, he has never relied on ordinary technological items.

As for the energy laser gun, mechanical troop transport ships, and heavy armored vehicles, etc., although they are also products of the technological side,

but these are not ordinary items; they are supernatural‑grade supernatural items of considerable level.

Even if anomalies strike later, disabling ordinary technological weapons and cursing other technological weapons, it will not affect him in the slightest.

"If I calculate the time, the Little Apocalypse isn't that far off; I could pre‑produce some first‑rank supernatural vehicles to trade with forces like the Divine Summer when the time comes."

Su Hao showed a thoughtful expression, then stopped pondering this matter and continued to experiment with another function of the Heavenly Eye Watchtower—namely, its original primary function, the scouting function. Since there are currently no foreign invaders, the automatic target‑locking feature cannot be used directly, but manually locking onto a target is still possible.

Thereafter, Su Hao linked his mental power with the Heavenly Eye Watchtower.

The three‑dimensional model of the area within tens of kilometers radius reappeared before Su Hao's eyes.

"Full‑domain scouting!"

The next moment.

Su Hao's mental power was being rapidly consumed at a visible speed, and on the three‑dimensional model dense tiny points appeared.

These points represent all living beings within the tens‑kilometer radius.

From as large as giant transformed dragon‑bamboo warriors down to as small as ants, any being whose supernatural grade does not exceed fifth rank will automatically appear on this three‑dimensional model.

Moreover, by rotating his thoughts, Su Hao can enlarge these beings and their surroundings, projecting them onto the edge of the Heavenly Eye Watchtower for others in the territory to view.

"The effect is good, but the mental power consumption is too great..." Su Hao shook his head; such massive mental power drain would likely exhaust an ordinary first‑ or second‑rank supernatural being after a single full‑domain scouting.

Fortunately, it is not the case that only mental power can activate the Heavenly Eye Watchtower's full‑domain scouting.

As long as sufficient energy is supplied, the Heavenly Eye Watchtower's full‑domain scouting function can be activated at any time.

In other words, even an ordinary person who possesses enough energy crystals can use the Heavenly Eye Watchtower's full‑domain scouting function.

According to Su Hao's estimate, using a full-domain scan once consumes about a hundred energy crystals, which is not a small consumption.

But the good news is that this is only the consumption needed to activate the full-domain scan; the energy consumption to maintain it afterward is much smaller.

To maintain the full-domain scan state, only ten energy crystals per day are needed.

If, during the maintenance of the full-domain scan, foreign species enter the territory, additional energy crystals will be consumed according to their number and supernatural grade.

However, overall, this is within an acceptable range.

"Huh?"

At that moment, Su Hao's mental power was depleted again.

Obviously, an outsider has entered the detection range of the Heavenly Eye Watchtower.

Immediately, Su Hao's mind stirred, and he promptly brought up the image of that outsider.

In that image, there is a silver-gray aircraft flying high in the sky.

"A mechanical troop transport airship? It seems Da Xiong Mao and the others have returned."

A hint of anticipation appeared on Su Hao's face.

The main task of Da Xiong Mao and the others on this outing was to explore Old Andrew's thatched hut, bring back the third-grade necromancer's magic potion, and the formulas for the remaining third-grade magic potions.

If things go smoothly, perhaps not long from now, Su Hao's supernatural grade could successfully advance to third rank, further enhancing his strength and survivability.

Afterwards, Ling Xue'er was summoned and temporarily put in charge of the Heavenly Eye, to inquire about his monitoring work.

With limited manpower in the territory, Pu Wenyao is responsible for directing the transformation of undead creatures by the Death Tombstone, while Ling'er handles the manufacture of mechanical vehicles and energy-mechanical weapons.

Da Xiong Mao and Bone Dragon Xiao Bai handle external combat, while Old Andrew is responsible for the research and production of regional demons.

Really, there's no spare manpower left, so Ling Xue'er can only be assigned this task.

As for Xue Nv, being the territory's combat ceiling, it's better not to assign her any work.

"Looks like we need to find some time to recruit more manpower."

Su Hao nodded thoughtfully, then left some energy crystals behind, turned and returned to the shelter, waiting for Da Xiong Mao and the others to come back.

……

The mechanical troop transport airship flies extremely fast; in a short while, it descended from dozens of kilometers away to land beside the mechanical vehicle manufacturing factory.

Da Xiong Mao hugged a box with his left hand and held Old Andrew's head in his right, rushing toward the shelter.

"Roar! (Thighs, I've brought everything back!)"

After entering the shelter, Da Xiong Mao immediately saw Su Hao sitting on the sofa; he first placed the wooden box on the coffee table, then took off a storage bag from his waist and dumped its contents out.

Su Hao: ……

Seeing the items Da Xiong Mao had poured out of the storage bag, Su Hao didn't know what to say for a moment.

"No, what's going on with you? You didn't tear down Old Andrew's thatched hut, did you……"

Among the things Da Xiong Mao dumped out were antique furniture, fresh-soil-stained floor tiles, old bricks, thatch, and other building materials.

Obviously, these items were just torn off the house.

During the exploration, being able to take everything that might be useful is a good habit.

But doing that in front of the owner is a bit embarrassing……

"Cough cough, alright alright, put these things away."

Su Hao coughed lightly twice, signaling Da Xiong Mao to stop dumping things out, then turned his gaze to the wooden box on the table.

"Are the magic potions and formulas inside this box?"

"Yes, Divine Chosen Sir, the magic potions and formulas I left in that house during my life are all stored in this box."

Old Andrew broke free from Da Xiong Mao's hand, floated mid-air, gave a slight nod, looked at the wooden box on the coffee table, and his eyes showed a hint of longing and anticipation.

The reason for his longing is naturally that this wooden box was handmade by him during his life and placed in that thatched hut.

The reason for his anticipation is simple: besides some third-grade magic potion formulas, the box also contains two doses of third-grade necromancer's magic potion.

Old Andrew was once a sixth-grade necromancer of supernatural grade, but after being resurrected by the Goddess of Night and Death, his supernatural power vanished completely.

However, his supernatural sequence remains; strictly speaking, he is still a sixth-rank supernatural being, just without any power, having become an ordinary undead creature.

Ordinary undead creatures naturally cannot directly consume third-grade necromancer's magic potion; they should take it gradually from first rank upward, digesting it to third rank.

However, Old Andrew doesn't need to go through that trouble; if he has a bottle of sixth-grade supernatural magic potion before him, after taking it he will soon recover his sixth-grade supernatural power.

Likewise, after taking a third-grade necromancer's magic potion, his power will instantly recover to second-rank supernatural, then gradually over the next few days return to third-rank.

However, the box only contains two doses of third-grade necromancer's magic potion, and it's unknown whether Su Hao will allocate one for his own use.

After all, Su Hao is the Divine Chosen of the Goddess of Night and Death, and this wooden box was obtained through his power.

Therefore, even though Old Andrew was once the owner of this wooden box, he now has no right to use it.

Su Hao didn't know what Old Andrew was thinking; after hearing his reply, he picked up the wooden box from the table and opened its lid.

(End of chapter)