Chapter 87 - 69: The Raging Zombie Campaign
Chapter 87: Chapter 69: The Raging Zombie Campaign
[World Chat Channel (789654)]
[Small Private Group Chat]
Lin Yu: "Guys, I think I’ve found a Catastrophe Camp!!"
Ding Dong: "Brother Lin, where did you find it? I’ve been searching for a week with no luck."
Ding Dong: "I have a feeling this month’s Catastrophe forces are different from before."
Ding Dong: "The Catastrophe forces used to attack right at the start of March. It’s been over a week for us, and I haven’t seen hide nor hair of them."
Zhang Lv: "Exactly! I’ve got my troops and defenses all ready, just waiting for them to come and feed me experience. Who would’ve thought they still haven’t shown up."
Zhang Lv: "My forces aren’t as strong as yours, so I don’t dare send teams out to search. I’m afraid my territory will get sneak-attacked. Right now, I can only wander around my own lands every day."
Zhang Lv: "I think this month’s Catastrophe is definitely good at hide-and-seek. They’re either hiding underground in tunnels or they’re some kind of flying creature."
Ding Dong: "Stop guessing. Didn’t Brother Lin say he found something? Hurry up and tell us. Even just a direction to search in would be great!"
Lin Yu: "Brother Zhang was right about one thing. This Catastrophe is, in fact, digging."
Zhang Lv: "Ha! See? Wasn’t I right?"
Ding Dong: "Shut up!"
Lin Yu: "I discovered a Zombie Great Graveyard. It took some effort, but I finally conquered it. After taking it down, I found that I could dismantle it and get building fragments of the Great Graveyard. So I’m guessing zombies are the Catastrophe deployed against us this month, and the Great Graveyards are the Catastrophe Camps."
Ding Dong: "Are you sure you get building fragments?"
Lin Yu: "Positive. Great_Graveyard_Building_Fragment.jpg"
Ding Dong: "No doubt about it, then. Looks like our opponents this month are zombies."
Ding Dong: "Can you describe what the Great Graveyard looks like? And what kind of skills do the zombies have?"
Lin Yu: "Of course. That’s why I’m here, to share my findings with you all."
Lin Yu: "The Great Graveyards are built underground. From the surface, you only see some small mounds of dirt. And the zombies are nocturnal, so they don’t move around on the surface during the day, which makes them hard to find."
Lin Yu: "As for the zombies’ abilities, there are a few things to watch out for: Corpse Toxin..."
Lin Yu truthfully recounted the features of the Great Graveyards and the zombies’ abilities. After hearing his explanation, everyone in the small group chat thanked him for sharing.
It was worth noting that many new people had joined the small chat group, basically all of them powerful players in the current competition. This included Qian Duoduo, and the group had become a communication hub for the strong players of this second stage of the competition.
Before long, someone organized Lin Yu’s statements from the private group and posted them to the World Channel (crediting the source), which earned Lin Yu another wave of gratitude.
As for why Lin Yu was so generous, it was mainly because he felt it was unnecessary to let everyone suffer heavy losses just to keep a small secret.
Based on the zombies’ current behavior, they were dead set on biding their time and building up their strength. It was highly likely they would wait until the latter half of March to launch their attacks on the Lords, which would undoubtedly cause immense losses for many.
Since they had to be fought sooner or later, it was better to take the initiative while the zombies were still developing.
And so, after Lin Yu revealed the zombies’ abilities and the key information for finding the Great Graveyards, everyone realized they couldn’t just wait for the zombies to get stronger. They all dispatched search parties to look for suspicious-looking mounds of dirt.
---
In the days that followed, the Goblin Forest became extraordinarily lively, with dozens of battles breaking out every day.
The fact that the goblins and zombies were colluding, essentially feeding each other experience, was also confirmed.
This was actually a very serious problem. If the zombies were allowed to bide their time and develop, they would surely accumulate many hero units in the late game. For some Lords who didn’t have a single hero, this was a terrifying prospect.
These days, Lin Yu was also very busy. In the daytime, he would go to the Jade Sanctuary to continue learning about being a Druid under Renado’s guidance.
In the afternoons, he would head to the Goblin Forest, accompanied by Lin Chenxi, to dismantle the Zombie Great Graveyards that had been cleared out and had their energy absorbed.
(Although Lin Kong could also handle these tasks, Lin Yu ultimately decided to do it himself to conceal Lin Kong’s origins.)
Even though they were just small mounds of dirt on the surface, the part of the Great Graveyard buried underground was huge. Every dismantled Great Graveyard left behind a pit in the ground like a deep abyss.
They also left behind some special fragmented materials. When taken to the Matter Decomposition Workshop, these materials would break down into various special metals and Energy Crystals. Among them were items Lin Yu had never seen before, like Adamantine, Soul Stones, and Space Stones. Although he didn’t know what they were for, that didn’t stop Lin Yu from knowing they were good stuff.
This was an accidental discovery by the Rat Race members in his party. So now, every time a Great Graveyard was dismantled, Lin Yu would send in a large group of the Rat Race to "pick up the trash."
He even sent people to inspect the former territory of the Skeleton Corps, but unfortunately, they didn’t find anything of value.
After about a week of searching, all the Zombie Great Graveyards in the Goblin Forest were cleared out. They had discovered about 20 in total.
The goblins in the Goblin Forest were also completely wiped out. The Goblin King was found in a huge cave within the forest. Although he was only a legendary-tier hero, his level was quite high. In the end, it was Meiying who had to personally step in to slay him.
Now, the Goblin Forest had completely become a leveling ground for Lin Yu’s territory.
Traces of zombies were also found in the continuous mountain range to the west of the territory. Scouts were working hard to locate the Great Graveyards. Fortunately, they didn’t find any monster factions colluding with the zombies, like what happened in the Goblin Forest.
In the mountains, these zombies were fighting with the local monsters. Unlike the goblins and zombies feeding each other experience, this was real combat. Lin Yu’s scout team had noticed the signs of battle and followed the trail to find the zombies.
So, after clearing out the Goblin Forest, besides continuing to send exploration teams beyond the forest, Lin Yu moved his main forces to the western mountains to begin clearing out the nearby ranges.
---
Under these circumstances, Yuan Xiaobo and his ten-person squad walked out of the Goblin Forest and arrived at a stretch of plains.
"We’re finally out of the forest."
Lin Kong looked at the plains outside the forest, the small woods and hills dotting the landscape, and the lively animals moving about the grasslands. His mood was exceptionally light.
There were just too many goblins in the Goblin Forest. Wiping out those creatures every day was starting to depress him. Fortunately, most of the goblins were weak. His main body had recently learned a few new offensive Magic spells, which came in handy, and he managed to gain some experience and raise his not-so-high level (thanks to level sharing).
"SCREECH!"
An eagle’s cry rang out. An eagle swooped down from the sky, and after landing on the ground, it transformed into a person.
"Captain Yuan, we’ve spotted a territory up ahead. They’re mobilizing their soldiers. Should we go take a look?"
Yuan Xiaobo subconsciously looked toward Lin Kong, who gave a slight nod.
"Go? Of course, we’re going."
"Everyone, straighten yourselves up. This is our territory’s first contact with another. We can’t bring shame to our home."
The group used Magic to clean themselves, tidied their clothes, and then walked toward the territory.
It didn’t take long for them to arrive at a small town.
The town was only a little over ten square kilometers. Its outskirts were dotted with many farms, pastures, and some scattered mines.
Past the outskirts was the town center, which was about five square kilometers.
The town center was surrounded by a stone wall. The wall wasn’t very large, about 5 meters high and 2 meters wide.
When Lin Kong’s group reached the city gate, a guard stopped them.
"Who are you?"
"We’re an exploration team sent by a nearby lord to search for Zombie Great Graveyards. We saw your esteemed territory and decided to stop by for a visit." Lin Kong stepped forward to speak, as he was the most presentable one in the group.
"Which territory?"
"Divine Wood Territory!"
"Never heard of it... Ah, whatever. Go on in."
The guard saw that Lin Kong indeed looked presentable and not like a monster. Although there were a few odd-looking characters and non-human soldiers in the squad, they didn’t have the savage aura of wild monsters, so he let them in.
’What the hell, that’s it?’
Lin Kong was a bit surprised, but on second thought, all the Lords at this stage had to work together against the Catastrophe Corps. The Lords of the entire continent were temporary allies, and it was easy to distinguish the monster factions, so there was indeed no need to worry about someone trying to raid your home base.
Lin Kong suspected that if he had come to this territory alone, the guard probably wouldn’t have even stopped him. The main issue was that the others in his group looked a bit strange, especially the Death Devourer, Rose, who wasn’t even humanoid.
Walking into the town, Lin Kong observed everything around him.
This was a very typical Human Lord. The residents were all human, and the town was built in a well-ordered manner, as if straight out of a textbook. Clearly, the lord had a good grasp of architectural planning.
The town as a whole had an ancient human architectural style. Walking on the town’s cobblestone paths felt like traveling back to ancient times.
Although the town’s residents were very busy, their faces were filled with happy smiles. Many were excitedly discussing the territory sending troops to besiege the zombies, imagining their home displaying its great might.
On the training ground on the other side of town, over 5,000 soldiers had assembled. Dressed in full armor, they stood in neat formations on the field, full of spirit. They were clearly a well-trained army.
At the very front of the training ground were the Blade and Shield Soldiers, followed by the Crossbowmen and a small squadron of Cavalry.
Besides these standard soldiers, there were also about 2,000 other troops of various types on either side of the field, wearing different attire and wielding all sorts of strange weapons.
Some wore heavy armor and carried only a large shield; some wore leather armor with daggers and longbows on their backs; some were bare-chested, wielding two-handed great axes; and still others wore hooded robes and held Magic Staffs...
At that moment, the territory’s army had finished assembling and was ready to depart. The town’s lord was standing on a platform on the training ground, giving a speech.
And it was at this very moment that Lin Kong and his group appeared beside the training ground.
With their varied appearances, the group attracted the attention of the soldiers on the field, who all turned to look.
The lord on the platform naturally saw Lin Kong’s group as well.
"Now, everyone, follow General Bai to the rendezvous point. I see we have guests in our territory. I will go receive them first and join you at the rendezvous point shortly."
"Victory! Victory!"
Then, a formidable-looking general stepped forward. Mounting his warhorse, he led the army slowly out of the training ground.
After the troops had all departed, the town’s lord, accompanied by a few subordinates, walked over to Lin Kong and the others.