Chapter 272: Return to the Sanctuary, the Dwarf King's Capital Relocation Completed

Not long after Zhu Ge Chang Qing and the others left, a second-tier supernatural mechanical troop transport airship flew over from afar, landing beside the machinery vehicle manufacturing factory, and Su Hao alone disembarked from it.

"Boss, you're back!"

Ling Xue'er rushed over immediately, giving Su Hao a detailed explanation of what had happened in his territory during his absence.

First was the trade with Zhu Ge Chang Qing and the others, yielding a large amount of energy crystals and various supernatural ores as a down payment.

Second, the dwarf tribe of Tie Huzi, that is, the capital of the dwarf kingdom, has completed its relocation.

After arriving at the Iron Lump Tribe's settlement, they chose a nearby mountain range and began constructing a new capital both on the mountain and underground.

According to them, they intend to use this place as a new starting point to build a brand‑new and far more extensive dwarf kingdom.

However, this place is neither particularly close nor particularly far from Su Hao's territory.

In Tie Huzi's view, given Su Hao's current formidable strength, the entire Dark Forest and even the surrounding regions will sooner or later become his domain.

Strictly speaking, the dwarves' current location also belongs to Su Hao, so whether a dwarf kingdom can be established here depends on Su Hao's opinion.

After all, founding a nation requires occupying a large amount of land, and Tie Huzi dares not make such a decision unilaterally.

"From now on, whoever dares to say dwarves have no brains, I will be the first to object."

Su Hao smiled faintly, naturally seeing through Tie Huzi's purpose in making this decision.

Anyone who has visited Su Hao's territory, as long as they're not an idiot, can tell that Su Hao and they are no longer on the same level.

The gap in strength between the two sides is too vast; even if Su Hao merely dispatched a detachment, it would be enough to sweep away their forces.

When Tie Huzi previously came to Su Hao's territory to receive a mechanical troop transport airship, he became even more clearly aware of this.

That is why he changed his mind, switching from originally planning to move the capital near the Iron Lump Tribe to intending to use this as a base to establish a brand‑new and even larger dwarf kingdom.

Then, utilizing the mechanical troop transport airship's foldable space and ultra‑fast flight speed, he would bring all the scattered dwarf survivors from around the world back to this new dwarf kingdom to participate in its construction.

Although building the dwarf kingdom on Su Hao's territory would make it a subordinate force, meaning Tie Huzi would no longer be the absolute ruler of the dwarf kingdom, and there would still be Su Hao, a higher lord, above him.

Even so, Tie Huzi did not hesitate much and made this choice.

Having one more person above his head, someone he can communicate with normally, is certainly better than having a degenerate creature on his head.

If the dwarves were under the rule of a degenerate creature, they might possibly survive in this world with luck, but then they might no longer be worthy of being called dwarves.

Under the rule of a degenerate species, a normal living being's degeneration is merely a matter of time.

But under Su Hao's rule it is different; at least Tie Huzi now sees that as long as the dwarves bring Su Hao benefit, Su Hao can provide them with appropriate protection.

The benefit the dwarf tribe needs to bring Su Hao is refining supernatural weapons and mining supernatural ores.

For the dwarf tribe, these two activities are merely their everyday hobbies, not any kind of cost.

As long as they routinely mine supernatural ores and craft supernatural weapons, they can gain the protection of a super‑powerful being—why wouldn't they do it?

Among the dwarf tribe, the only one who must bear a relatively great cost is the dwarf king, Tie Huzi.

From now on, the dwarf tribe will no longer be subject to his sole decision; he will lose his former status.

Nevertheless, as dwarf king he still has the resolve; if it lets his people enjoy a better life, he is willing to make this sacrifice.

But having said that, aside from having one more person above his head, everything else for Tie Huzi is beneficial.

In the future, the dwarves will become stronger, and thus the status he can hold as dwarf king will also become more exalted.

Su Hao naturally understands the dwarf king's thinking and has no intention of refusing.

On the contrary, the dwarf king's approach can be said to be in complete agreement with Su Hao.

The more dwarves under his command, the higher the efficiency of forging supernatural weapons and the faster the mining of supernatural ores will become.

The Dark Forest is no small place; just the underground mineral veins of this region alone would take the people of the Iron Lump Tribe even a thousand years to exhaust.

Tree people naturally would not refuse having more dwarves join the territory to work for them, mining ores and forging equipment.

Su Hao then nodded and ordered: "Go tell Tie Huzi that we welcome all dwarves to come to the Dark Forest."

"As long as they can mine supernatural ores and forge supernatural equipment for me, I can dispatch a squad of undead creatures to ensure their safety and provide them with sufficient food and supernatural plants."

"All right, boss, I'll immediately tell Tie Huzi this good news."

While speaking, Ling Xue'er's five fair jade‑like fingers rapidly tapped the communication bracelet, sending Su Hao's decision to Tie Huzi.

After sending the message, Ling Xue'er pointed toward the direction of the bloodsucking demon vine and said:

"Moreover, the Third Exploration Squad has returned with the tree people and the stitching monster; I have temporarily stationed them there, with the bloodsucking demon vine and five hundred pale skeleton warriors standing guard. Do you want me to bring them over?"

"Hmm… never mind, I'll go take a look myself."

After a moment's thought, Su Hao shook his head, turned, and walked toward the direction of the bloodsucking demon vine.

For ordinary people, the appearance of the stitching monster is unpleasant and can easily drive one's sanity mad; it's better not to bring it out to nauseate people, which is why Ling Xue'er kept the stitching monster confined in that place.

To reduce the chance of accidents and also to conceal the stitching monster's nauseating appearance, Ling Xue'er deliberately had the bloodsucking demon vine dig a huge pit, so that the stitching monster would be kept underground.

Beside that huge pit stood a tree person over two meters tall, who at that moment was leisurely squatting on the ground; upon seeing Ling Xue'er approach, he quickly rose and performed a respectful salute: "Lady Ling Xue'er, may I ask what you need me to do?"

Ling Xue'er: ……

How oblivious can you be—you didn't even see me standing behind Boss Su Hao? When you greet someone, you should first greet Boss Su Hao; if this were some narrow‑minded leader, I'd probably be kicked out just for stepping out with my left foot tomorrow.

Fortunately, Ling Xue'er knows Su Hao isn't like that, and there aren't many petty rules in this territory; as long as one isn't doing something harmful to the domain, Su Hao usually doesn't interfere.

After a moment of silence, Ling Xue'er stepped forward, assumed a solemn expression, and introduced in a low voice:

"This is Boss Su Hao; whether they can ultimately join the territory is for Boss Su Hao to decide."

Upon hearing this, the tree person's face instantly changed; he never imagined that after finally arriving in Su Hao's territory, today would bring about such a clueless incident.

He was just about to do something to make up for his earlier mistake when he saw Su Hao tap Ling Xue'er's head and say with a smile:

"Don't scare him; I don't care about these formalities."

"Stop hitting my head, or I'll really become stupid…"

Ling Xue'er covered her head, retreated behind Su Hao, and made a funny face at him. After living together for a long time, Ling Xue'er is no longer as reserved as she once was.

Although she remains careful when handling Su Hao's assigned tasks, in private she has far fewer scruples.

Su Hao paid no heed to Ling Xue'er's little gestures; he looked at the tree person, a thought stirred in his mind, and sent over a contract invitation.

【Lord Su Hao has sent you a contract invitation. Do you accept the invitation?】

After hearing Ling Xue'er's introduction of the treeman's abilities, Su Hao planned to take the treeman in; otherwise, he wouldn't have let someone bring the treeman back.

The treeman's ability helps accelerate the growth speed of supernatural plants, alleviating some of the burden on people like Hua Yao, and this ability alone meets Su Hao's recruitment requirements.

Furthermore, from the previous transaction, at least we can see that the treeman's conduct is not too bad.

Moreover, with the contract binding him, there's no need to worry too much that he will do anything harmful to the territory, so Su Hao decided to incorporate him into the territory.

Besides that, Su Hao has another idea regarding the treeman's talent.

If it works, the treeman, besides accelerating the growth speed of supernatural plants and easing the burden on people like Hua Yao, can also strengthen the territory's combat power.

However, whether this idea is feasible remains to be seen after trying it later.

"Agree, agree, I agree!"

The treeman looked at the contract invitation that popped up before him, and after his ecstasy, he agreed without hesitation.

He had been looking forward to this day for a long time; how could he possibly refuse?

Now all the survivors in the world know that Su Hao commands a powerful army composed of second- and Third-Tier undead creatures; saying it is the strongest known force in this world is not an exaggeration.

As long as one can join Su Hao's territory, basically there's no need to worry about safety; with enough food, one can live very comfortably.

After the treeman entered Su Hao's territory, even his worries about food disappeared.

He discovered that on this land, he could not sense any ominous curse, and all plants could grow freely.

Moreover, for some unknown reason, he found that the growth speed of plants on this land was noticeably faster than elsewhere.

In such an environment, the treeman is confident that, relying on his ability, one person can cultivate enough food for hundreds, even up to a thousand people.

Being able to join such a territory where one need not worry about safety or food is something many people dare not even dream of.

"Xue'er, take the treeman to the planting area and let Hua Yao arrange his work."

Su Hao patted the treeman's shoulder, looked at Ling Xue'er, and instructed.

As for verifying the speculation about the treeman's talent, he wasn't in a rush; he still had more important things to do.

"Okay, boss, I'll first take Su Neng over there; the Stitching Monster is in this big pit below, so I won't go in."

Ling Xue'er breathed a sigh of relief and led the treeman toward the planting area.

If possible, she really doesn't want to look at the Stitching Monster any more; it's really nauseating.

Su Hao, on the contrary, because the Crimson Bone Demon is a Supernatural sequence, he does not find the Stitching Monster disgusting at all.

Moreover, since this concerns his Supernatural sequence advancement, he is actually especially eager to see the Stitching Monster.

Su Hao pushed open the simple wooden door above the pit, entered the bottom of the pit, and saw the Stitching Monster, its whole body pierced by dozens of black bone spikes, under the guard of more than a dozen pale skeleton warriors.

As a Supernatural Third Tier monster, the Stitching Monster possesses strong regenerative abilities; normally, relying solely on dozens of black bone spikes, it would be difficult to bind it at the bottom of the pit.

But with more than a dozen pale skeleton warriors guarding it, the situation is different.

Once the Stitching Monster recovers somewhat, those few pale skeleton warriors will come over and slash it a few times until it calms down, ensuring it stays alive without escaping.

When Su Hao came down, he happened to see a pale skeleton warrior wielding a bone knife parasitized by a hellish creature, swinging hard at the Stitching Monster's body.

It is unknown whether the Stitching Monster's pain perception system is special, or it has become numb from the constant torment of the pale skeleton warriors; the bone knife striking its body elicited little reaction.

"Don't be afraid, I'll give you a quick end soon."

Su Hao smiled faintly, not rushing to kill it, but instead took out the Omniscient Magic Book to record it.

The Omniscient Magic Book exerts stronger effects based on the number and variety of species recorded.

After the battle with the Bloody Octopus, whenever Su Hao encounters an unrecorded species, he takes out the Omniscient Magic Book to record it.

【Stitching Monster】

Supernatural Grade: Third Tier

Introduction: It usually only arises when extreme flesh experiments go out of control.

Once the Stitching Monster is born, it gains an astonishing ability to quickly absorb and fuse surrounding flesh tissue into its own body, continually enhancing its strength and size.

The Stitching Monster's bodily structure is extremely special; its flesh has no vital point.

Ordinary physical attacks, even if they can cause injury, often fail to be lethal.

Only by destroying the sutures on its body or annihilating its soul can this monster truly be killed.

Therefore, when facing a Stitching Monster, challengers must possess extraordinary insight and combat skill to locate and strike these key weaknesses, thereby defeating this formidable opponent.

……

"Good, it seems I didn't mistake the target; then I'll give you a quick end."

Su Hao smiled faintly, then drew the Death Scythe and swung it at the Stitching Monster's head……

Um…… irregular lumps of sausage meat, tentatively counted as a head……

As the Death Scythe fell, a glint of relief appeared in the Stitching Monster's eyes, and then it breathed no more.

Afterward, Su Hao's thoughts stirred, and he used the Item Refining Technique on it.

It is a Supernatural Third Tier corpse; to complete its refinement, it will take an hour or so.

During the wait, Su Hao went to the T235 Experiment Base, took out the heart of the Flesh Butcher and the Demon Bone Shards, and proceeded to synthesize them.

(End of Chapter)