Chapter 257

Dark Forest.

When Su Hao once again led the pallid undead creatures toward the blood lake, inside the T235 No. 5 experimental base, Su Hao's mission was completed and an intelligent robot was developed.

Afterward, she input the program into the mechanical core manufacturing device, placed the corresponding materials inside, and manufactured the mechanical core of the intelligent robot.

Next, she brought the mechanical core to the bronze robot manufacturing device, and in a short while produced six bronze robots.

These robots' combat strength is not particularly strong; their main feature is a relatively high intelligence, giving them independent thinking ability.

Of course, the phrase 'not particularly strong' is only relative to other more powerful combat-type robots.

These six bronze robots still possess Second Rank extraordinary combat power; slaughtering First Rank extraordinary beings is no problem, and they can have a certain self-protection ability when encountering danger.

To ensure the upcoming mission could be carried out successfully and to cope with any possible mishaps, Ling'er deliberately manufactured six robots and planned to have them operate in pairs.

That way, even if a certain bronze robot encounters an accident, there is still a backup robot that can step in, ensuring the mission proceeds smoothly.

Afterward, Ling'er took her six intelligent bronze robots to the mechanical vehicle manufacturing factory and arranged three mechanical transport flying ships for them.

At the same time, Ling Xue'er also received the notification and began organizing the undead army to head to the mechanical vehicle manufacturing factory.

Among these undead creatures,

The undead creatures have no extra emotions; under Ling Xue'er's command, they arrived at the factory in neat order, forming three tidy ranks.

Each unit of the undead army has the same number and composition: six hundred ordinary skeletons, three hundred stronger pallid skeleton warriors, and one hundred pallid skeleton mages.

Furthermore, there are two powerful pallid bone dragons and one dark bone dragon.

As long as the opponent lacks Fourth Rank combat power or elite Third Tier strength, simply deploying one unit of the undead army can conquer a faction.

Afterward, Ling'er divided the six bronze robots into three groups, each group responsible for commanding one undead army unit, leading the units orderly into the mechanical transport flying ships.

Inside the ships, besides the massive undead army, they also loaded the materials needed for the trade.

These were determined by Ling Xue'er according to the other party's demands after some negotiation.

If the other party sincerely provides information, the bronze robots will hand over these trade materials; if someone does business in good faith, Su Hao will not mistreat them.

But if the other party harbors ill intent, the undead army will launch a merciless attack, and even the opponent's corpse will eventually be transformed into a member of the undead army……

Calamity Swamp.

The depths of the Calamity Swamp

After more than an hour, Su Hao rode a gigantic bone dragon to the shore of the blood lake.

To maintain secrecy, he did not choose to directly pilot the mechanical transport flying ship to the lakeside.

The mechanical transport flying ship lacks stealth capability; that aesthetic is clearly wrong, and a huge ship hovering above the blood lake would blatantly tell the nest monster, 'I'm right here.'

After Su Hao transported the undead army nearby, he quietly disembarked from the ship and hid on the bone dragon's back to arrive here.

Looking down at the blood lake shrouded in green poisonous mist below, Su Hao's expression showed no change at all,.

He lightly waved his hand, and a large number of pallid skeleton warriors and warhorses broke through the green poison gas, appearing silently beneath him.

The undead army felt no fear, even knowing that over three thousand pallid skeleton warriors and warhorses were trapped at the bottom of the blood lake.

Upon receiving Su Hao's order, they entered the blood lake without hesitation.

Whoosh—! As the undead army stepped into the blood lake, the lake surface suddenly surged, and blood waves hundreds of meters high instantly rose, sweeping the pallid skeleton warriors and warhorses into the lake's depths.

Faced with this sudden change, Su Hao sat steadily on the bone dragon's back, his expression unchanged, having long anticipated all of this.

According to the reconnaissance results of the previous undead army, he knew that a gigantic nest monster lurked at the bottom of the blood lake, which is the true ruler of this blood lake.

Now, that monster has awakened from its slumber; such a mighty wave is its doing, attempting to drag all invading enemies into the lake's depths.

That nest monster is the true ruler of this blood lake; as for the twelve bloody octopuses, they are merely guards tasked with protecting the sleeping nest monster.

This is also why, in this blood lake, the twelve bloody octopuses can coexist peacefully.

In the vast Calamity Swamp, each region usually has only one overlord ruling it.

One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers; powerful extraordinary beings, for territory and resources, often engage in fierce struggles until one side is driven away or killed.

The existence of the nest monster precisely explains why, in the blood lake, there are twelve bloody octopuses living in peace.

The bloody octopus was never the overlord of the blood lake; under the nest monster's rule, naturally no conflict would arise.

As a Third Tier extraordinary monster, the bloody octopus itself possesses astonishing strength and speed, as well as terrifying regenerative ability and a near-immortal flesh.

However, even such a formidable bloody octopus, under the nest monster's control, can only serve as a guard.

Thus, the nest monster's strength must be greater; otherwise, how could it command twelve Third Tier extraordinary bloody octopuses?

However, since the time when the previous batch of pallid skeleton warriors and warhorses were dragged into the lake's bottom, a long time has quietly passed.

Yet after such a lengthy period, Su Hao sensed only the deaths of over three hundred undead creatures.

This result precisely indicates two explanations: either the nest‑shaped monster's strength is limited, making it difficult to kill all the undead dragged to the lake bottom.

This means that, although the nest monster occupies a dominant position in the blood lake, causing powerful beings like the bloody octopus to submit willingly and serve as guards.

But its current strength is insufficient to annihilate all the undead dragged to the lake bottom, which still suggests that its power likely has not reached Fifth Rank extraordinary.

Or, the nest monster's strength is sufficient to slay all the undead dragged to the lake bottom, yet it simply has not done so.

Rather, it deliberately slows the killing speed of the undead to create an illusion for Su Hao, making him mistakenly believe the nest monster's power has not reached Fifth Rank.

Thus, it lets him lower his guard so that when he enters the blood lake, the nest monster can launch a lethal attack.

If that is indeed the case, then it is certainly a clever scheme.

If Su Hao brought a limited number of undead creatures, upon seeing so many troops trapped he might attempt a rescue to reduce losses and preserve combat strength.

However, those over three thousand Third Tier extraordinary undead creatures indeed form a formidable force, but to Su Hao, whether it's three thousand or thirty thousand undead, they are merely expendables.

How could he possibly rush into the blood lake just because of the loss of these 'expendables'? In fact, if it weren't for his curiosity about the blood lake itself, Su Hao might have left this place long ago.

One reason he chooses to return to the blood lake again is the reconnaissance results of the undead creatures.

As a Crimson Bone Demon, his strength can be significantly enhanced in a blood‑rich environment.

If he could successfully slay the nest monster and, through refinement and synthesis, obtain its special ability, Su Hao might gain the power to rapidly release blood and create a blood lake.

This would be a tremendous boost to both his combat power and his survivability.

Moreover, as long as Su Hao himself is willing, he can summon undead creatures without limit.

This means that before the situation is clear, he has absolutely no need to risk personally stepping into the Blood Lake.

He can simply, as he is now, assign the task of exploring the Blood Lake and determining the true strength of the Insect Nest Monster to the undead army to complete.

If the final result shows that the Insect Nest Monster is a Supernatural Fifth Rank existence, Su Hao will without hesitation choose to temporarily retreat, waiting for a future stronger opportunity to challenge.

With his current strength, he still cannot directly confront a Fifth Tier monster.

But if the Insect Nest Monster is merely a Supernatural Fourth Rank monster, Su Hao will without hesitation have the monster 'lend a small hand,' letting it slightly sacrifice its own life.

Regardless of the outcome, Su Hao is in a position where he can advance to attack and retreat to defend, suffering no loss at all.

"I actually want to see just how deep this Blood Lake is, and how many of my undead army it can swallow!"

Su Hao smiled slightly, gazing at the surging Blood Lake below.

As pale skeleton warriors and pale skeleton warhorses continually poured into the Blood Lake, the Insect Nest's counterattack seemed to gradually weaken.

Some undead creatures, as soon as they were dragged into the Blood Lake, immediately broke free of their bonds and swiftly surfaced.

As time passed, some undead creatures gazed toward the sky, the soul fire in their skulls flickering, transmitting the latest battle situation to the nearby pale bone dragon.

Afterward, they dove back into the Blood Lake, using their lives to probe the true strength of the Insect Nest.

"Is the power of the blood wave weakening?"

Su Hao lightly stroked his chin, his eyes flashing with thoughtful light.

If merely thousands of undead creatures are enough to make the Insect Nest seem overwhelmed, then the Insect Nest Monster's strength is very likely not up to Supernatural Fifth Rank.

However, Su Hao is quite calm and has no intention of personally entering the Blood Lake; even if his regenerative ability is extremely strong, he is not completely immortal.

If, after all, this is still an illusion released by the Insect Nest Monster, then rashly entering it might well land him in the Blood Lake.

"Too bad the Dark Dragon Pearl hasn't finished charging; otherwise, we wouldn't have to go through all this trouble."

Su Hao rode on the broad back of the Bone Dragon, looking at the blood wave that had been let go below, and let out a slight sigh of regret.

The Black Dragon Clan is a sixth‑tier black dragon, and the item they created is a Supernatural Fifth‑tier item,

It releases powerful energy, forming an indestructible shield that protects him from all attacks; even a Supernatural Fifth Rank would find it hard to break.

At the same time, it possesses strong attack power, capable of releasing a Black Dragon Breath of Fifth‑tier standard, inflicting heavy damage on a Supernatural Fifth Rank.

Initially, it relied on this dragon pearl to complete the black dragon's mission, instantly killing the Shadow Priest.

Although this is because the black dragon‑crafted dragon pearl can inflict extra damage on the Shadow Priest.

But there is no denying that the Dark Dragon Pearl is a powerful item that combines offense and defense, a Supernatural Fifth‑tier item.

Only, the charging speed of the Dark Dragon Pearl is really too slow, far below Su Hao's expectations.

After so many days, the charging progress has completed only a small half, making Su Hao quite helpless.

Otherwise, having the Dark Dragon Pearl in hand, even if all this is an illusion of the Insect Nest Monster, and it actually possesses Fifth‑tier power, Su Hao is not without means of resistance.

He can simply rely on the Dark Dragon Pearl's shield and the Black Dragon Breath to escape.

With such a slow charging speed, Su Hao's dissatisfaction with it is nothing new—it's been going on for days.

Coincidentally, the proficiency of the Synthesis Heart has now reached perfection; in the next day or two he will fuse the Dark Dragon Pearl.

As for the fusion target, Su Hao has two ideas.

One is to fuse it with the Omniscient Magic Book, which might strengthen the book's boost to dragon‑system magic and dark magic, and there is a fairly high chance of also obtaining the Black Dragon Breath as an active skill.

Another idea is to wait until after consuming the Black Dragon Heart, then use the Dark Dragon Pearl and the Dragon Clan's talent for fusion.

As for which specific fusion plan to use, Su Hao is still hesitating.

With the passage of time, the number of undead creatures breaking free from the Blood Lake and resurfacing is gradually increasing.

Among them, one undead creature successfully sank to the lake bottom, contacted the undead creatures trapped there, and thereby obtained more information about the Insect Nest Monster.

After that undead creature floated to the lake surface, it raised its head to look at the sky, the soul fire in its skull flickering slightly, and reported the obtained information to the nearest bone dragon.

After being passed along through multiple layers, this information reached Su Hao's ears.

So that's how it is; looking at it this way, this insect nest monster is bound to die...

After receiving this information, Su Hao's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he developed a strong interest in this new discovery.

If this information is true, then Su Hao can be certain that the insect nest monster's Supernatural Grade will not reach Third Tier; at most it will have the strength of the peak of the Supernatural Fourth Rank.

Although Su Hao's physique and spiritual power have not reached the peak of the Fourth Rank, he possesses many Supernatural Fourth Rank skills in his hands.

He even has two pieces of Fifth Rank equipment that he can use; his strength among Supernatural Fourth Rank beings, while not invincible, is enough to overwhelm most Supernatural Fourth Rank individuals.

He has over an eighty percent chance of killing the insect nest monster! More importantly, according to this information, Su Hao is certain that the blood lake's formation was caused by the insect nest monster.

If the insect nest monster is slain and its corpse is refined and synthesized, there is a high probability of obtaining the ability to create a blood lake.

However, this information was merely relayed by a pale skeleton warrior; its accuracy still needs continued observation, and Su Hao did not act rashly.

(End of chapter)