Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

Chapter 805: 455 Chapter: Dream on if you think you can ride me, run by yourself
 

Tug had never imagined that he would truly be in control of Deloge City, because the city’s defense was in the hands of the Undead Guards. With them around, he was always more of a steward than a City Lord.

However, all of this changed over two months ago when the Undead Guards suddenly went on strike. Tug sought out the Gravekeeper Master, only to find that he had disappeared.

Without the Undead Guards, Deloge City operated on inertia for a few days, inevitably leading to some illegal acts. When the criminals realized that no one was coming to punish them, their brazenness grew.

Tug sent out the City Lord’s Mansion guards to maintain order. Although his guards could pose as a ceremonial escort and present an impressive front, they fell far short when compared to desperate outlaws.

A month and a half ago, over a dozen guards tried to arrest a mercenary who had molested a maid in a tavern and refused to pay, and the mercenary killed six of them and escaped the siege. Tug lost all face, and from that day on, many Commerce Guilds began to ignore him.

It wasn’t until over a month ago that an envoy from the Council of the Undead suddenly delivered the Undead Scepter, choosing to give it to Tug, who was most prestigious at the time, allowing him to summon the Undead Guards from the public cemetery.

Overnight, Tug’s power was consolidated, not only able to summon waves of Undead Guards but also gaining the allegiance of many powerful figures. These followers would become his staff, helping him to gain complete control of the city.

However, to support these followers, he needed more industries and more slaves—old taxes would not suffice.

Slaves were the cheapest labor force; all they needed was enough food to keep from starving. A slave’s wife and daughter could be sold, and a slave’s son would remain a slave as he grew up—a profitable investment indeed.

Wasn’t this opportunity perfect? Tens of thousands of disaster victims had come to the city outskirts, an optimal source of slaves. Starving them for a few days, a single piece of bread would be enough to make them sign indentures and willingly become his property.

Yet before he could act, people from the ‘Undead Temple’ unexpectedly arrived at the city outskirts and began to provide relief to the disaster victims, relocating and distributing them. Suddenly, a small portion of the disaster victims vanished.

At first, Tug was baffled. People from the Undead Temple providing relief? Did anyone still inhabit that temple?

He suspected, but he didn’t dare confirm his doubts—what if these people truly were from the Undead Temple?

After spending half a day, Tug used his connections to gather information and learned that the Undead Temple on the Resting Plains had collapsed ten years prior.

If the Undead Temple had collapsed, where did these people come from? They had to be impostors.

Tug immediately summoned the Undead Guards from the cemetery, quietly surrounding the area with his followers, ready to catch them all in one fell swoop, sparing no blasphemer.

Yes, he had found the perfect excuse; by branding these people as defilers of the sacred, he could try to capture them alive. This way, even if they were from the Undead Temple, he could claim it was just a “misunderstanding.”

However, Rebinya noticed his maneuvers and bravely came to warn them. Ange and the others, though, wore strange expressions on their faces.

Ange even showed a helpless look. If it were to happen again, it would be the fourth time.

Seeing him like this, Anthony hurriedly said, “Lord, Lord, you mustn’t act hastily. Keep it in check, reign it in, please don’t frighten the wand.”

Ange tilted his head.

Anthony quickly explained in a low voice, “This is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate our power. If you act rashly, it’s over too quickly—such a waste. We need to put on a good show, to deter some people, be they enemy or ally.”

Anthony glanced towards Rebinya while speaking, indicating that she was another target that needed to be deterred.

Ange nodded and then tilted his head again.

Anthony urgently said, “We should first do this and that, then another this and that. Oh, and what kind of cool and intimidating thing does the undead series have? Something that can give them a real scare.”

Ange and Negris looked at each other while Durken rested his chin on his hand and said, “Undead Calamity? Undead Tide? Soul Storm? Wail of the Forsaken? Banshee’s Song? Corruption Plague?…”

Durken kept listing, but Anthony had already waved his hands dismissively, “Stop, stop, stop, aren’t you going too far? Are you trying to scare people or kill them?”

Negris said, “If we’re talking about something really cool, there’s the Breath of Death Mist, combined with the Abyss of Bones, with pale bony hands reaching out from the ground, extending as far as the eye can see. That should be quite impressive. Ange, can you do it?”

“Breath of Death Mist, yes; Abyss of Bones, no,” Ange responded.

Negris immediately noticed that Ange had said ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ rather than ‘can’ or ‘cannot’.

“Do you mean, you can cast the Breath of Death Mist but not the Abyss of Bones? Is the level too high?” Negris guessed.

Ange nodded. The Breath of Death Mist was a form of magic that involved large-scale manipulation of the breath of death; it didn’t emphasize level, but rather control over undead energies, which was Ange’s specialty.

In contrast, the Abyss of Bones was a Level 8 necromantic spell, beyond the scope of magic power he could muster.

Once Negris translated, everyone understood. Durken smiled and tipped his hat, “Then let me perform a bit of magic.”

Anthony added, “There will likely be a verbal confrontation coming up. Let’s not be in a hurry, hmm, let the Little Zombie go first, can we? Little Zombie, can you handle it?”