Chapter 15: The night wilderness belongs to demons and the undead

In the grand hall of the Lord, a black hole slowly appeared. Virginia and her group watched this miracle with eager anticipation. In contrast, Edward remained calm. Having summoned Angels multiple times today, he had grown accustomed to the spectacle.

"It costs 150 gold coins to summon three dual-winged Angels." After this round of summoning, Edward was left with only about twenty gold coins, not enough to summon a fourth dual-winged Angel. In fact, Edward would have preferred to summon a quad-winged Angel, which holds a higher status and inherently surpasses the dual-winged Angels in both initial level and growth potential.

However, summoning a quad-winged Angel requires a whopping 200 gold coins, and he didn't have enough.

Moreover, a prerequisite for summoning a quad-winged Angel is upgrading the Territory to a [Mid-Level Village]. For now, Edward had to settle for more dual-winged Angels.

Soon, three flawless, beautiful figures emerged from the black hole, radiating an immensely pure light. They appeared as female Angels, with stunningly beautiful faces, fair skin, and statuesque figures, like goddesses of holy light walking the earth.

As dual-winged Angels, they wore silver-white battle armor and wielded Angelic swords, with a pair of pristine white wings on their backs. Their template was no different: starting at level five with the potential to reach demi-god status.

"Greetings, Lord," the three beautiful dual-winged Angels said as they approached Edward and respectfully bowed. In their golden eyes, there was a fervent gleam—a devotion to their faith and reverence for the Lord of Holy Light.

"Mm," Edward nodded with a smile. He then named the three newly born Angels Karen, Nancy, and Lisa.

"Praise be to you, great Lord."

"We swear our undying loyalty to you, may the holy light be eternal."

The three Angels bowed again, their expressions even more fervent. Receiving their names from the Lord was their honor, an honor that would accompany them throughout their lives.

"Angel squad, with your addition, our combat power will surely soar. Also, I hope you will strive on your own. Although you have the potential of demi-gods, I look forward to the day you ascend to godhood," Edward told Karen and the others.

"We will not disappoint you, Lord," Karen and the others said in unison, their expressions resolute. This was the expectation of the Lord of Holy Light, and they would stop at nothing to fulfill it, even if it meant sacrificing their lives.

"That's good," Edward nodded. He then instructed the group of Angels to rest. Come dawn, when the first light of morning illuminated the earth, they would embark on a new day of hunting.

Night fell swiftly, blanketing the entire world in darkness. The location of the Worlds' Floating Isles remained a mystery—whether suspended in deep space or nestled within a dimensional rift, one thing was certain: there were no moons or stars to light up the night sky here.

Venturing outside was like stepping into an abyss where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

With the cloak of night, the number of monsters in the wild surged dramatically, including many of high caliber. By day, it was the hunters' time to chase these creatures. Come nightfall, the roles reversed dramatically.

Any hunter bold enough to linger in the darkness would be torn to shreds by the monsters. The dense roars echoing from beyond the Territory's borders made Edward's skin crawl, thankful he had recalled the Angel squad earlier. Hunting in these conditions would be a suicide mission for them.

"Thank goodness, the Territory is still under newbie protection," he mused. "Until it upgrades to a [Town], it won't face direct attacks from the wild monsters."

Edward believed that without this special protection, no Lord's Territory on the island would survive the first night, including his own. "The wild at night is even more dangerous than I imagined," he thought. "I can't risk sending the Angel squad out until we have a clear understanding of what we're dealing with."

Moreover, he needed to upgrade the Territory to a Mid-Level Village soon to unlock the ability to summon four-winged Angels. With a four-winged Angel leading the squad, night hunting might become feasible.

Lost in thought, Edward stepped out of the Lord's hall and ordered the hundred-plus Goblins in his Territory to speed up the dissection of monster carcasses. He planned to trade the harvested meat for various basic resources to prepare for the upgrade.

Later, Edward summoned a Goblin warrior to inquire about the dangers of the night and the wild, but the answers he received were less than satisfactory. The Goblin warrior simply stated that the weak Goblins dared not venture out at night. As darkness fell, they would hunker down in their Stronghold (Tribe).

"Respected Lord, the night wilderness belongs to demons and the undead. If we encounter them, even we Goblins become mere food."

"Demons and the undead?" Edward queried.

"Yes, Lord," the Goblin warrior replied, trembling. "I've never seen a demon, but I have seen the undead. At night, the wild forests teem with endless undead crawling up from the underworld."

"My father, the mighty Goblin warrior Kork, was slain by these evil undead."

"This seems like good news," Edward muttered to himself.

Of course, the good news wasn't about the tragic death of the Goblin warrior Kork, but about the undead that roamed at night. His Angels, being divine beings wielding the power of holy light, naturally had a strong advantage against creatures of the undead faction.

This meant that once they were capable of hunting at night, the Angel squad could reap significant rewards.

"Dismissed," Edward waved the still-frightened Goblin warrior away, no longer dwelling on the matter. He waited for the dissection work to finish while browsing the [Island Trading Platform].

To his surprise, someone on the platform was selling [Blueprints], exactly what he needed—[Fences Blueprints]. Annoyingly, the blueprint was priced at a steep 1,000 gold coins, way beyond his current means. And even if he could afford it, he wouldn't make the purchase.

"Trading twenty dual-winged Angels' summoning slots for one [Fences Blueprint]? Only a fool would do that."

"Such a greedy merchant," Edward grumbled, seemingly forgetting that his own [Snake Armor], priced at a whopping 3,000 gold coins, was still prominently listed at the top of the trading platform.

But then again, the value of the Fences Blueprint couldn't really compare to the [Snake Armor], a special effect level seven equipment.

Without any gold coins to his name, Edward reluctantly shifted his gaze away from the [Fences Blueprint] listing on the trading platform, continuing his search until he logged off in disappointment. "Let's see if there's anything promising in my friend requests."

Hoping for a professional interested in his [Stainless Steel Sword], Edward considered trading it for some blueprints.

Opening his friend requests, the staggering number of over 9,999 applications caught his eye. Not wanting to sift through them one by one, he used the search function in the friend request list for keywords like [Fences], [Watchtowers], and [Blueprints]. Instantly, the list dwindled to just over fifty.

He scrolled through them one by one. Most were fakes, all talk and no proof. Only one request included a message with an attached blueprint image. "Blacksmith Shop blueprint?" Edward's eyes widened with excitement. "Who's this good Samaritan?"

Without hesitation, he accepted the friend request. As for the others, he rejected them all.

...

Inside a cave, a middle-aged man's suppressed voice suddenly broke the silence. "Edward accepted my friend request." His face lit up with joy. Under the expectant gazes of his team members, he quickly contacted Edward.

"Man, getting you to accept my friend request was no small feat; had me waiting forever. I'll cut to the chase—I want to trade my Blacksmith Shop blueprint for the [Snake Armor] listed on your platform."

As he sent the message, he had already decided to aim for the [Snake Armor], far more valuable than the Stainless Steel Sword.