Chapter 82: Unlocking the Basement

Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Unlocking the Basement

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The Shadow Hunting Beast’s corpse was utterly consumed by the Graveyard Demon, leaving not a single trace behind. Gu Su and his Undead subordinates were all baffled.

Whether it was the Corpse Witches, Magic Skeletons, regular Skeletons, or the Walking Dead Warriors who had just finished their hauling task, none could comprehend this sudden anomaly. They all turned in unison to look at Gu Su, awaiting his judgment.

But Gu Su wasn’t the least bit panicked. As the owner of the Graveyard Demon, he was long accustomed to his territory occasionally triggering special feedback. He immediately turned and strode toward his temporary tent.

The tent served as the control center for the Graveyard Demon. Here, he could view the territory panel and receive system notifications. An anomaly like this would surely be recorded.

After entering the tent, Gu Su immediately pulled up the Graveyard Demon’s dedicated panel and quickly scrolled through the latest activity log.

He had barely read two lines when his furrowed brow relaxed completely. The corners of his mouth curled into a smile, and his tone held a hint of pleasant surprise. "So that’s what happened. I really lucked out."

The panel’s log was perfectly clear.

[The consumed Shadow Hunting Beast (Level 2) corpse contained a unique energy related to subterranean survival, developed from its long history of lurking underground to ambush prey. This energy has been successfully absorbed and converted by the Graveyard Demon.]

Of course, this energy couldn’t be used to unlock the Graveyard Demon’s autonomous movement, nor could it advance the main quest, [Liberating the Earth-Binding Vein].

After all, that quest’s requirements were exceedingly strict, and the Shadow Hunting Beast’s affinity was entirely different.

What he gained this time unlocked a new function for the Graveyard Demon.

Gu Su could now use the devouring effect of the Corroding Mycelium to create a basement equal in area to the current Graveyard Demon.

Of course, using this special ability came with clear restrictions; it couldn’t be unlocked indiscriminately:

First, the basement could only be created through consumption and conversion by the Graveyard Demon’s innate [Corroding Mycelium]. Manual excavation was prohibited.

Whether Gu Su did it himself or dispatched an Undead Squad to dig with tools, neither would trigger the conversion mechanism; it might even disrupt the Graveyard Demon’s equilibrium.

Second, the targets for consumption had strict requirements; not all corrupted areas or structures could be converted into a suitable basement.

Only underground locations that inherently carried Yin Qi, Deceitful Qi, or Death Qi—such as abandoned underground warehouses, desolate subterranean parking lots, or natural caves—could be transformed and absorbed by the Corroding Mycelium to become the Graveyard Demon’s basement.

After reading through these rules, Gu Su couldn’t help but laugh.

For him, this news was an absolute godsend.

He knew better than anyone that the territory of a Level 0 Graveyard Demon was capped at a small, fixed area—an initial game limitation that could not be surpassed before an upgrade, regardless of a player’s actions.

Before, this small plot of land had been sufficient.

Back then, his Skeletons and other Undead units could barely fill half the graveyard.

He couldn’t even form a complete defensive line during combat; the area around the main gate had been more than enough space for any fighting.

But just this morning, when some of the Odd-Eyes Leaders’ Bone Dog squads were temporarily on standby in the graveyard, Gu Su had truly felt the strain of his limited space.

Forget his other units—if all three hundred Bone Dogs returned at once, his own graveyard wouldn’t be able to hold them.

If he didn’t send them back to the Gravepile to hibernate, the current surface area alone would be completely unable to accommodate the number of Undead units Gu Su now commanded.

This didn’t even account for his future plans, which involved using the Soul Summoning Technique to summon hundreds or even thousands more Undead.

’He couldn’t just have all the Undead crowd into a corner of the graveyard, or even hang from the Graveyard Demon’s walls to hibernate, could he?’

This new basement, equal in size to the Graveyard Demon itself, was undoubtedly the perfect solution.

It effectively doubled his territory, giving Gu Su a huge amount of extra space to arrange as he pleased.

Besides, Gu Su knew this was only the beginning.

Based on the game’s mechanics, every time the Graveyard Demon leveled up, it would unlock more territory-related functions. The territory’s area, for one, would increase manifold.

He could create a basement now without even upgrading. Once he successfully leveled up in the future, the basement’s scale would inevitably expand further. He might even unlock second and third subterranean levels, completely solving the problem of insufficient territory space.

’All things considered,’ he thought, ’hunting the Shadow Hunting Beast was an absolute windfall.’

Not only had he eliminated a potential lurking threat, but he had also unexpectedly unlocked the Graveyard Demon’s basement space. The outcome had completely exceeded his expectations.

Unable to contain his good mood, Gu Su closed the Graveyard Demon panel and hurried out of his tent. Shouting orders to the Undead on standby, he quickly assembled a detachment and once again set out from the Graveyard Demon’s territory.

He intended to ride this wave of good luck and scout the nearby area again, hoping to find other special monsters and see if lightning might strike twice.

Unfortunately, it seemed luck had only graced him once.

In the exploration that followed, Gu Su led his units on a wide circuit around the Graveyard Demon’s perimeter, combing through the nearby Withered Wood Forest and thickets. He never again encountered a monster like the Shadow Hunting Beast, only managing to collect large quantities of vines, wood, rubble, rusted metal, and herbs.

Later, the Skeletons dispatched to the Vine Mansion finally returned with the Treasure Chest Wagon.

With the Treasure Chest Wagon, Gu Su’s carrying capacity for supplies increased dramatically. This gave him the confidence to explore farther afield, significantly expanding his potential range.

Yet even so, he still didn’t encounter any surprises. The journey was uneventful, triggering no special events and revealing no other valuable targets.

And so, Gu Su and his Undead wandered outside until the sky began to darken. Twilight painted the horizon, and the afterglow of the sunset stretched the Undeads’ shadows long across the land. Only then, with a hint of disappointment, did he order everyone to return.

It was safe to say that aside from the initial surprise of unlocking the basement, his subsequent haul was almost negligible. He had found nothing but assorted materials.

This fell far short of his initial expectations.

The situation left Gu Su feeling displeased.

He even considered heading out again under the cover of darkness.

In the end, however, Gu Su abandoned the thought.

In this world, something was clearly wrong with the night.

Gu Su had no desire to be ambushed by some bizarre creature in the dark and get himself permanently buried in this godforsaken place.

After arranging the day’s patrols, Gu Su skipped dinner and returned to his tent. He simply closed his eyes and fell straight asleep.

As for Gu Su’s Undead subordinates, however, there was no such thing as being unable to fight at night. On the contrary, their work was just beginning.