Chapter 127: Skeleton Sentinel

Chapter 127: Skeleton Sentinel

From Wu Heng's perspective, most orcs looked quite similar.

Especially when comparing them to the wanted posters, it was even harder to tell them apart.

So, Duke needed to verify it.

"Is there a wanted criminal among them?" Wu Heng asked.

"Yes, the last one we killed," Duke replied.

Wu Heng glanced at the wanted poster and compared it to the corpse. The hairstyle was different, but the face seemed to match.

The description on the wanted poster identified him as a level 10 orc warrior, guilty of attacking caravans and kidnapping wealthy merchants.

The bounty was 550 silver coins, plus a mid-level item reward.

"What about the others? With so many left, none of them are wanted?" Wu Heng asked.

"No, they aren't."

Even if someone was guilty of serious crimes, if they weren't on the wanted list, it fell under local law enforcement.

If this were Blackstone Town, they might have seen if the guard had a bounty, but in Rontam City, there wouldn't be any rewards.

At most, it was just "removing evil for the people."

Which was fine, considering they had just completed a bounty in this short amount of time.

Now they could slack off for a few more days.

"Alright, go get the carriage. We'll haul the bodies back," Wu Heng instructed.

"Okay!" Duke ran off to fetch the carriage.

Since they didn't want to alarm the orcs earlier, the carriage was parked far away.

As Duke left, Wu Heng found a broken door in the stone fortress.

He opened the portal, letting the skeletons carry the bodies and scattered equipment through.

Then, he had Bagdong carry the wanted criminal's corpse and wait by the road.

Duke soon arrived with the carriage.

Bagdong placed the corpse onto the cart.

"Let's head back."

"Captain, what about the other equipment? It's worth some money."

"Leave it. It's too heavy, and the carriage can't carry it all."

"Alright." Duke didn't argue, and with a crack of the reins, they headed back to Rontam City.

...…

Before the gates closed.

They entered the city and returned to the guild.

Duke carried the body into the morgue for examination.

Meanwhile, Wu Heng headed directly to the steward's office.

After knocking lightly, he entered.

The steward, Gomes, glanced at him and asked, "How did it go? Was the intel accurate?"

"Confirmed, it was a wanted criminal."

Gomes' expression became serious. He stood up and began donning his armor, saying, "Go gather the other squads in the hall. Prepare to head out and apprehend the criminals."

Uh…

Watching Gomes hurriedly preparing, Wu Heng didn't know how to respond.

After Gomes put on his leather armor, he saw Wu Heng still standing there and urged, "What are you standing around for? Go!"

"Steward, there's no need to go through all that trouble."

"Why? Did they escape?" Gomes asked.

Wu Heng replied directly, "No, the wanted criminal has already been killed. The body is in the morgue for examination."

Gomes froze, then frowned at him. "You killed him?"

"Yes, after confirming it was the wanted criminal, we dealt with him."

"How many of them were there?"

"Eight."

"And how many of you?"

"Two."

"Two against eight?" Gomes frowned in disbelief.

"I also had a few of my servants. It wasn't easy," Wu Heng answered.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and an orc staff member entered with a document.

"Steward, the body brought by the 12th squad has been confirmed as the level 10 wanted criminal from the bounty, no issues."

Gomes cleared his throat. "Issue the 12th squad their bounty and let them choose a mid-level item reward."

"Yes." The staff member left.

The steward looked at Wu Heng and said, "Next time, just tell me straight. This armor is a hassle to put on."

"Understood."

As Gomes began to remove his armor, he added, "When I assign you to investigate, follow through with the investigation. Doing this puts you in danger."

Wu Heng replied, "They had their own detection methods, and we were discovered. We had no choice but to fight back."

Gomes didn't want to say much more.

As he hung his armor back on the display rack, he said, "Alright, you can go now."

"Got it."

Wu Heng left the office and returned to the lounge.

Duke was sitting there, occasionally rubbing his eyes.

Seeing Wu Heng enter, Duke quickly said, "Captain, they sent over the bounty and told us to pick an item when we have time."

"Good, split the bounty, then we can call it a day."

"Huh? What does 'call it a day' mean?"

"It means you can go home."

"Oh, thanks, Captain. I didn't really help much today," Duke said, a bit embarrassed.

Wu Heng handed him a pouch of coins. "Go home. We'll continue investigating the wanted criminals tomorrow. I'll have someone inform you if there's a mission."

"Alright."

The two of them left the guild and headed to their respective homes.

...…

Back at his place.

Wu Heng used the portal to return to the zombie world.

Today had actually been somewhat productive, as the orcs seemed to be of relatively high levels.

Exiting the room, he found the pile of bodies stacked outside the door.

The stench of blood was overwhelming.

He had the skeletons carry the bodies and walked outside.

As soon as he stepped out of the stairwell, he saw Li Yanhong waiting in the distance.

When she saw the bizarrely shaped bodies clad in ancient armor being carried out, she was taken aback.

She hesitated to approach.

It was only when Wu Heng walked over that she spoke. "The woman who jumped with Chen Jinlong… she's not going to make it. She probably doesn't have much time left."

"Let's go take a look."

The two of them stopped in front of a room on the first floor.

After a light knock, a man in a white coat stepped out.

A doctor?

"This is Dr. Guan Zhiguang. He was the on-duty doctor at the prison before the zombie outbreak and stayed behind when it all went down."

Doctors were a valuable profession in any situation.

Even someone like Chen Jinlong, who used live humans as bait for zombies, had treated the doctor with special care.

So, Dr. Guan Zhiguang had remained relatively safe, and his complexion was still good.

Wu Heng asked directly, "How's the patient inside?"

The middle-aged doctor knew that the man in front of him was now the true authority here, so he respectfully replied, "The situation is very bad. Her sternum is fractured, and the broken bones have pierced her internal organs. It's a miracle she's lasted this long."

"Can you save her?"

"She needs surgery, but under current conditions, it's impossible to perform it," the doctor said bluntly.

"What's missing?"

"Equipment, personnel—nothing meets the requirements."

"Just try. If we don't, she'll die for sure. If we try and she dies, well, at least we tried."

Wu Heng wasn't acting out of some saintly compassion for the woman.

It didn't cost him anything, and if he could save her, he wanted to.

He was short on manpower and didn't want to see a young woman die so miserably.

The doctor still shook his head. "We can't even begin the procedure. We're lacking the most basic conditions."

"Just tell me exactly what you need. Don't waste time."

"The most critical issue is blood supply. If we operate without a source of blood, all we'll be doing is speeding up her death," the doctor explained.

Wu Heng frowned, considering the problem.

With so few people in the prison, even if they had compatible blood and the right equipment, it wasn't certain the surgery could be completed.

"As long as she doesn't die when you open her chest, right?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, prep for surgery."

"It's not that simple…" the doctor tried to protest.

Wu Heng cut him off. "Just do what I say. Get ready."

With a sigh, the doctor went to make preparations.

Wu Heng entered the room.

The woman lay pale on the bed.

Her skin was ashen, and she was on the brink of death.

She wasn't very old, perhaps married, or maybe she had just started her career.

Facing the apocalypse and encountering someone like Chen Jinlong, she'd been very unlucky.

Wu Heng walked over, and the woman opened her eyes slightly, as if looking at him.

She managed a faint smile.

Wu Heng sat beside the bed and said, "You'll need surgery. Hold on a bit longer. Once it's over, you'll be fine."

The woman blinked to show she understood.

...…

About half an hour later, the surgery began. As soon as her chest was opened, blood started gushing out.

The doctor, holding his tools, looked unsure of how to proceed.

Wu Heng grabbed the woman's hand and immediately cast [Vitality Spell]. A faint magical light enveloped her, and the bleeding stopped instantly, her organs continuing to function in an unnatural way.

"Keep going, speed it up."

The doctor, snapping out of his shock, began extracting the bone fragments from her organs and resetting them.

The whole process looked difficult.

Sweat poured from the doctor's forehead, while his assistant, acting as a nurse, constantly wiped it away.

Time passed slowly.

Eventually, the doctor began stitching up the wound.

He sewed her chest back together completely.

Once the stitching was done, the doctor checked her condition. "She's still alive."

Wu Heng nodded, pulling out a potion and removing her oxygen mask to pour it into her mouth.

The doctor wanted to say something, but held back.

After confirming that there was no immediate danger.

Wu Heng instructed the others to take care of her before leaving the operating room.

"How did it go?" Li Yanhong asked.

"She's still alive. The rest is up to her willpower. We've done everything we could."

"Understood," Li Yanhong nodded.

If it had been anyone else.

Even Li Yanhong, under these conditions, would have given up on a stranger.

And she wouldn't have felt guilty about it.

That Wu Heng would go this far for a stranger.

As Qiangzi would say.

"That's the way of a saint in the apocalypse—bound to end badly."

But at the same time, he admired Wu Heng for it.

If he ever got injured, he was sure Wu Heng would put in the same effort to save him, if not more than this woman.

Li Yanhong quickly caught up with Wu Heng, asking, "The cars are ready. Are we heading back tomorrow?"

"Yes, we are."

Back in the open space in front of the dormitory.

Wu Heng turned his attention back to the pile of orc corpses.

There were seven in total, six melee fighters and one ranged crossbowman.

Wu Heng was most interested in the female orc.

From such a distance, she had almost blown Duke's head off with her crossbow.

That was terrifying.

Wu Heng had the female orc's body dragged out and cast [Raise Skeleton] on her.

Necromantic magic enveloped her.

The white bones slowly stood up.

[Skeleton Sentinel (Level 9)].

[news]

「New work titled: Ember Dragon」

「Description Story:

This red dragon came from the vast wilderness, coveting all the powers of the world. He has held countless titles: Mountain Fury, Purgatorial Calamity, Red Emperor, Ember Dragon…

The world trembles under the shadow of the great dragon. He ignited the surge of the magical industrial revolution. In the empire he established, wyverns roar, cannon fire resounds, steel behemoths appear in the sky and on the earth, and disasters from other worlds run rampant.

"Submit, or die."

Cassius spread his sky-shading wings, looking down upon the trembling humans, elves, and dwarves beneath him, and spoke thus.

...…

A story of a red dragon with a built-in player template conquering, ruling, and transforming another world.

(Pseudo D&D, Fourth Catastrophe, Red Dragon) 」

「The update schedule from chapter 1 to chapter 56 is as follows:Eight chapters per day, one every three hours. It is also available on Patreon until chapter 246.」

Publication starts from November 25th at 00:00 GMT

[news]