Chapter 53 - 48: Second Wave of Base Building, Inferior Demon Summoning

Chapter 53: Chapter 48: Second Wave of Base Building, Inferior Demon Summoning

「Half an hour later.」

Shen Xing led the Beastman Legion into the torchlit area, returning to his own, rather quiet territory.

Dozens of Beastmen and Skeleton Archers were gathered in small groups.

Some were on patrol, while others were absorbing Soul Stones.

’Yep, no different from when I left.’

"Today’s haul wasn’t bad. Next, I need to spend these resources and start the second wave of construction!"

"First, I’ll build a light tower on each side of the territory."

He pushed his wheelchair in a circle along the edge of the firelight, selecting suitable locations for construction.

Wood -400

Stone -400

Black Iron -40

Soul Stones -40

With the investment of a large amount of resources, the foundations of light towers began to slowly form in the four cardinal directions—north, south, east, and west—next to the two Arrow Towers.

He glanced at the construction time: eight and a half hours.

"Not bad. They’ll be done after a good night’s sleep."

Next, he went to the center of the territory, preparing to upgrade the core structure, the [Campfire].

[Upgrade Campfire to Level 4? This upgrade requires: Soul Stones x50, Black Crystals x50, Black Iron x50]

...

"Tsk, tsk. Upgrading the Campfire is costing more and more materials."

"Good thing I earned a decent amount from that job today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even have enough to upgrade the Campfire."

Shen Xing sighed to himself, then tapped ’Upgrade’.

BZZZZ—

A ball of white light enveloped the Campfire, and its base began to reassemble once more.

More black stones piled together, showing signs of evolving into a proper furnace.

[Upgrade in progress. Estimated time: 13 hours, 17 minutes...]

...

CLAP! CLAP!

Shen Xing clapped his hands and took out another item from his personal inventory.

A ghastly green orb of light floated in his palm, and within it was the hunched silhouette of a winged figure.

[Place ’Inferior Demon Unit Nest (Elite ★)’?]

(Note: Requires at least 30 square meters of open space. Do not place near flammable, explosive, or fragile items.)

...

’Huh? No flammable or explosive items nearby?’

Shen Xing stared at the note with a strange expression. This was the first time he’d ever seen such a warning.

But as the saying goes, better safe than sorry.

He had originally planned to place it next to the Beastman Barracks and the Skeleton Burial Ground, but now he abandoned that idea.

After scanning the perimeter of his territory, he quickly selected a barren patch of empty land to the west.

He pushed his wheelchair over and directly tapped ’Place’.

The ghastly green orb in his hand began to spin, rapidly expanding in mid-air before slowly sinking into the ground.

Immediately after, the area underwent a dramatic transformation in a short period.

The originally black earth melted away, collapsing into a deep pit about ten meters in diameter, from which scorching hot magma began to bubble up!

TSS! TSSSS!

Waves of scorching heat washed over him, even causing the temperature of the entire territory to rise by a few degrees.

’A magma pool?’

Shen Xing mused, "No wonder the system noted not to place it near flammable or explosive things. So this is why."

He was glad he’d listened to the advice. If he had put a magma pool in the center of his territory, ruining the aesthetic would have been the least of his worries. If one of his soldiers accidentally fell in, that would be a real disaster!

Not only that, but he would also have to build some protective measures around this area. After all, it was a safety hazard.

"Next, I can start recruiting Inferior Demons."

"But the recruitment cost for these creatures is too high. I don’t have many Soul Stones left, and I need to reserve at least 100 for my soldiers to level up."

"I only have enough left to summon two of them. What a rip-off."

Shen Xing felt a painful sting at the cost, but he still gritted his teeth.

After all, the sooner he summoned them, the sooner they could start absorbing Soul Stones and leveling up, bringing him one step closer to his bombing squad.

[Consume: Soul Stones x100, Vinar Silver Coins x100, Hellfire Seeds x2, to summon Inferior Demon (Elite ★) x2?]

’It’s fine. Money spent can be earned again. It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt at all.’

Taking a deep breath, Shen Xing tapped ’Confirm’. The magma pool began to churn violently.

GLUG... GLUG...

Bubbles rose from the bottom of the pool, and the strong stench of sulfur filled the air.

Then, from the depths of the churning magma, two smooth, bare heads emerged.

Two pairs of curved black horns grew from their foreheads. Their faces were hideous, and a pair of tattered wings unfurled from their backs.

They were, without a doubt, two genuine Inferior Demons!

[Inferior Demon]

[Level: 1]

[Potential: Elite ★]

[Attributes: Power 15, Spirit 16, agility 11, Constitution 12]

[Skills: Hellfire Ball, Weak Gaze (Fixate on a single target with a malicious stare, reducing all of its Attributes by 15% and with a chance to inflict the ’Fear’ state for 5 seconds.)]

[Talent: Self-immolation (Upon death, the corpse explodes, dealing Flame Damage to enemies in a small area.)]

[Bonds: Demon Tide (Inactive)]

...

Compared to the Level 8, Elite Three-Star Inferior Demon he had encountered in Sickness Village, the Attributes of these two were far worse.

However, compared to the other starting Soldier Types—the Beastmen and Skeleton Archers—they were already much more powerful.

Shen Xing was still very satisfied with their Attributes. He then called out to a Beastman in the distance.

"Hellish Roar, come here."

Hellish Roar, who had been sitting cross-legged on a large rock, quickly walked over and said respectfully, "Lord, what are your orders?"

"I’m putting these two Inferior Demons under your command. Just teach them to focus on absorbing Soul Stones and raising their level."

Shen Xing gave the command, simultaneously handing over the territory’s last remaining assets—86 Soul Stones—to Hellish Roar with a heavy heart, telling him to let the little ones absorb them.

Staring at his once-again empty inventory, Grand Lord Shen suddenly felt a bit wistful.

’Why does it feel like I never have enough resources?’

’If only I were rich. Then I could go to the Trade Association and buy Soul Stones in bulk, and I wouldn’t have to worry about resources for the territory’s development.’

He subconsciously thought of Mei, his landlady who owned more than a dozen properties.

’Maybe... I should just give in to her?’

But as soon as the thought popped into his head, Shen Xing shivered and shook his head repeatedly.

’No way, absolutely not.’

’I just want to be a minor Lord and be able to stand on my own two feet one day. I don’t want to become an ox that does nothing but plow the fields!’

With that thought, Shen Xing took off his glasses, ending his work for the day.

"What a fulfilling day."

He stretched, deftly climbed out of bed, and transferred to his wheelchair. "Ever since I started this game, I feel like every day is packed full."

He looked out the window.

It was now late at night. A full moon hung high in the sky, bathing the entire city in its silvery glow.

"The weather is nice tonight. It looks cool and breezy. I think I’ll go down to the river for a bit."

The idea came to Shen Xing on a whim. The old residential complex where he lived was near the river, and there was a riverside park.

Many nearby residents would go there for a stroll after dinner or in their free time.

However, he usually only went out late at night, so he never ran into anyone.

That was his thought, and that was what he did.

A dozen or so minutes later, the elevator stopped on the ground floor.

Shen Xing pushed his wheelchair out of the elevator and moved alone along the empty street.

The dim yellow streetlights cast a long shadow on the ground. The surroundings were so quiet that the only sound was the soft WHIR of his wheels rolling over the concrete.

’Logically speaking, a guy with limited mobility like me, out alone late at night... I must be the perfect target for some criminal, right?’

It wasn’t that Shen Xing hadn’t considered it before—the possibility of being attacked by thugs or getting extorted by some street punk.

But Jiang City’s public safety was pretty good. At least, before he started playing that game, he had never run into any trouble.

Of course, even if something did happen, he wasn’t afraid.

’After all, I’m a Level 5 Pioneer now. I’ve eaten a lot of Bone Fruits and Flesh Fruits these past few days, and my Attributes have increased significantly.’

’Plus, I’ve mastered the two major Skills: [Void Hand] and [Hellfire Ball].’

’It’s no exaggeration to say that if I went all out, taking down a hundred-man squad would be no problem at all.’

’A single Fireball could even destroy a building.’

’In an urban fantasy novel, I’d be a Building-Bursting Level master!’

Lost in these random thoughts, he arrived at the riverside.

The cool night breeze caressed his cheeks. The lights from countless homes on both banks were reflected on the river’s surface, swaying gently with the ripples.

In this time and place, Shen Xing felt the urge to recite a poem.

"O, great river... ahem, never mind."

He coughed dryly and looked around. Thankfully, no one was nearby.

He quietly admired the night view for a while before pushing his wheelchair back toward his apartment.

He didn’t run into any drunk, blonde-haired girl passed out on the street, nor did he encounter a homeless high school girl looking for a stranger’s house to crash in for the night.

After all, this was just one of his thousands of ordinary days. If something unexpected had actually happened, that would have been truly bizarre.

This left Shen Xing, who had been vaguely hoping for something to happen, feeling a little disappointed.

Back in his apartment, he opened his phone. There were already many new messages in the group chat.

Loves Playing with Coriander: "Wuhu! I finally got my Master of the Shadow Stream to Elite Two-Star! Your boy Qin is pretty amazing, right?"

I Eat and Eat: "It’s so-so, I guess. I’m already on my third Elite Two-Star, and my Stone Giant is about to reach Elite Level too. You’ve still got a long way to go, Qin."

Loves Playing with Coriander: "Holy shit! Are you serious? Just because you pulled a starting Two-Star Soldier Type, you’re that far ahead of me!?"

Qin Lang sent a bunch of poop-throwing emoji stickers.

Xu Jiayi threw them right back, and even sent him a giant one.

Loves Playing with Coriander: "Whatever, I’m not gonna compare myself to you two monsters. I’ll just wait for you guys to carry me."

"Oh, right, I found a couple of good ’study materials’ recently. I’ll send them to you in a bit, @Starfire."

Shen Xing scoffed. ’Am I that kind of person?’

He immediately told him to send them over, ready to give them a thorough critique.

I Eat and Eat protested, "Are you guys keeping it all to yourselves? Post it in the group! This queen wants to see too!"

Under duress, Qin Lang had no choice but to forward it to the group chat.

Shen Xing chuckled and saw that Xia Wanyin had also sent him a few messages.

As usual, they were mostly about her daily life.

However, mixed in with these messages was a particular photo that caught Shen Xing’s attention.

In the photo, Xia Wanyin was wearing a white dress, white stockings, and a pair of high, white Mary Jane shoes. She was lying on the sofa in a languid pose, holding a small cake in her hands.

Her long, fair calves, her slender, graspable waist, and that high, swelling...

’Huh? Seriously? This is what you’re using to test a cadre’s resolve?’