The Harbinger of the Undead Scourg

With nothing pressing to do, Haotian decided to inspect the daily progress of his territory. Thanks to the collective efforts of the desert settlers, roads leading to the eight gated walls had already been laid out, and now the surface was being compacted and leveled.

The iron mining was proceeding smoothly. Each day, vast quantities of iron ore were extracted. Remarkably, what they mined wasn't raw ore but refined iron, ready to be crafted into standard equipment without the need for further refining—a truly wondrous occurrence. However, it was only a small mine with limited reserves. At the current rate, the mine would be depleted in about a month, with approximately 30,000 units of refined iron being extracted daily.

Haotian wasn't concerned, though. As long as he upgraded the territory, the mine's capacity would increase, providing more refined iron and alleviating worries of it running dry.

The harvest of the Red Dragon Fruit had long been completed, yielding over ten thousand pounds—double the previous harvest. This increase was linked to the territory's level up. Now, the Red Dragon Fruit trees were entering a new growth cycle. With Haotian's use of the [Plant Growth Accelerator Potion], the growth cycle had shortened by a third, meaning it wouldn't be long before another harvest.

Next, Haotian visited the livestock farm. The number of desert coyotes had soared to nearly ten thousand, and the number of moose had surpassed fifty thousand, all healthy and robust. The population of silver-tailed fish and native fish species in Sapphire Lake had also grown significantly. The lake teemed with large fish, especially the native species, which reproduced far more rapidly than the silver-tailed fish. Without the territory upgrade that expanded Sapphire Lake, these native fish would have started to impact the silver-tailed fish's habitat.

Considering this, Haotian summoned Gnoll Argul. "Gather a group of female settlers to weave fishing nets and baskets. Start fishing for the native species in the lake tomorrow or the day after."

"Yes, Lord!" Argul quickly went to relay Haotian's orders. Haotian then headed to the [Professional Skills Tower]. Many of the territory's tasks didn't require his direct involvement, so he took the opportunity to enhance his skills and strengthen himself.

...

Two days passed quickly. After spending hundreds of thousands of units of wood and stone, Haotian upgraded all three hundred [Arrow Towers] to advanced levels, significantly boosting their attack power. The advanced arrow towers were now powerful enough to threaten high-level magical beasts and advanced professionals.

The decision to upgrade the arrow towers was driven by two factors: the large increase in the territory's resource reserves and the escalating number of undead appearing in the wild. Even with the Royal Gryphon Knight Corps resting only a few hours each day, they couldn't kill them all. The battle zones had even encroached near the Golden Oasis, with undead occasionally breaking through the hunting perimeter and entering the arrow towers' range. This prompted Haotian to upgrade the towers.

"It seems the situation is getting worse," Haotian remarked to the old butler, Horden, in the town hall.

"Indeed, young master," Horden replied, his expression grave. "Initially, I thought this undead wave wouldn't last long, but I didn't expect their numbers to keep growing. I took a flight on the golden gryphon this morning, and everywhere I looked, there were undead. Especially in Shalin, where they've begun establishing outposts, amassing piles of corpses of beasts, animals, and even ratmen, attempting to create mountains of death."

"If we don't contain it soon," he continued, "the Shalin region might become a dead zone under the control of undead."

Haotian asked, "What about the Ratman Kingdom?"

Horden responded, "The Ratman Kingdom was defeated, leaving tens of thousands of ratman warrior corpses behind as they retreated to their underground kingdom. The extraordinary mage who appeared couldn't secure a victory for them. Instead, he was severely injured by a swarm of gargoyles and specters."

Hearing this, Haotian's eyebrows twitched. He hadn't expected even an extraordinary-level mage to be overwhelmed by the undead forces.

"I had planned to break open that tunnel entrance and lure the undead to the Ratman Kingdom," Haotian mused, "but it seems even without our interference, the Ratman Kingdom won't hold out for long. Sooner or later, the undead will discover them."

Horden nodded. This undead scourge was unexpectedly terrifying. "What worries me most now is if countless undead also appear in the farther desert regions. That would be a true undead catastrophe! In such a scenario, the entire Karral Desert would be overrun, and the Desert People's Kingdom, along with the major non-human factions, would all suffer."

Haotian smiled. "If an undead catastrophe does occur, the natural elves of the Forest of Life, the human kingdoms of the Fertile Lands, and other intelligent species from various regions wouldn't remain passive. They would send armies into the Karral Desert."

Undead, being undead, wouldn't be confined by the desert. An undead catastrophe would affect the surrounding regions as well. To prevent a worse situation, those powerful factions would intervene to curb the undead's expansion. For instance, the natural elves wouldn't sit idly by as the undead army grew and threatened the Forest of Life.

Haotian said, "No need to worry too much. Our priority is to accelerate the development of our territory and ensure we survive this undead disaster. Sometimes, chaos can be an opportunity."

"Understood, young master," Horden nodded.

...

After Horden left, Haotian checked his Lord Talent information.

[Lord Talent – Holy Emissary of Light]

[Grade: Rare (Upgradeable)]

[Talent Information: Your affinity for light elements is at a perfect level, making you a promising talent in the Light faction. Your troops (excluding undead, dark, and other evil faction troops) deal 80% more damage to evil faction creatures.]

[Next Level: Epic Talent]

[Upgrade Requirement: Kill 5 million evil faction creatures.]

[Current Kill Progress: 472,000]

...

Two nights ago, his talent had successfully upgraded from [Holy Saint] to [Holy Emissary of Light]. The damage boost against evil faction creatures had surged from 30% to 80%, a significant increase.

"In just two days, the Royal Gryphon Knight Corps has killed nearly fifty thousand undead," Haotian mused. The reasons for this were the sheer number of undead and the expansion of the Royal Gryphon Knight Corps. With recent recruitments and the acquisition of [Troop Number Blueprints], Haotian's forces now included nearly nineteen thousand Royal Gryphon Knights. By the end of the night's recruitment, they would surpass twenty thousand.