144: Chapter 144 Eternal Sleep Land - Karl

"Lin Tian... it's all because of you! It's all your fault!!!"

On a wasteland that was cold, silent, and where even the wind seemed to carry the scent of decay.

Long Ao stumbled out from the white light of the teleportation, his knees buckling as he knelt on the cold, damp black earth.

He raised his head and looked into the distance beyond the territory that had been teleported with him; his pupils constricted sharply from extreme horror.

This place didn't look like a "territory" at all.

The sky was an eternal, unchanging leaden gray, without a trace of sunlight; only a thin, dismal glimmer of unknown origin barely outlined the surroundings.

The air was thick with a dense, inseparable mix of corpses, mold, and some deeper, more evil Death Qi.

As far as the eye could see was a boundless, desolate graveyard filled with numerous burial mounds and crooked, broken tombstones.

Withered, twisted black trees, like the arms of dead giants, reached toward the gloomy sky.

Further away, indistinct shadows of countless collapsed castles and mausoleums loomed.

However, what made Long Ao's Soul tremble was not the gloominess of the environment itself.

It was the wandering inhabitants.

Among those ruined burial mounds, in the shadows of the withered trees, and within the permeating mist...

Polluted Monsterss of various shapes, emitting an aura of filth and madness, could be seen everywhere!

Some looked like bloated, festering giant corpses; some were twisted monsters pieced together from countless bones; and some were simply rolling masses of flesh covered in eyes...

Their scarlet eyes glowed like ghost fires in the gloom; they didn't attack each other, but merely wandered aimlessly or let out silent roars toward the Void Realm.

Long Ao's Detection Spell instinctively swept over them, and the feedback made his scalp tingle; Silver Rank and Gold-tier were everywhere!

He even caught a glimpse of a mountain-like shadow in the distance, its energy fluctuations surprisingly reaching the Platinum Rank!

Any few of these monsters, if placed outside, would currently be terrifying existences capable of inciting a bloodbath!

"This... what kind of hellish place is this?"

Long Ao's teeth were chattering, and his whole body felt cold. Surrounded by so many high-Rank Polluted Monsterss, how could a territory even exist?

It would have been torn apart and devoured long ago!

"Welcome to my 'Eternal Slumber Land', Lord Long Ao."

A calm, gentle voice, yet one that seemed to carry echoes from the depths of a grave, abruptly rang out in front of him.

Long Ao looked up sharply.

Not far ahead, next to a relatively intact ancient stone tablet covered in dark green moss, a figure stood silently, appearing out of nowhere.

The man was dressed in a spotless, slim-fitting pure black formal suit, with silver, mysterious patterns resembling thorns or neural Meridians embroidered on the collar and cuffs.

His face was pale and handsome, and his short golden hair was meticulously styled.

His emerald eyes were like the finest cat's eye stones, clear yet bottomless, and a perfectly measured, refreshing smile hung on the corners of his mouth.

In his hand, he was playing with a dark gold pocket watch that constantly shifted between patterns of skulls and spirits.

His entire being was out of place in the surrounding deathly silent environment, yet he blended in strangely, as if he were the sole Dominator of this realm of death.

It was indeed the Necromancer Lord, Karl.

"Don't worry,"

Karl smiled, his voice clearly reaching Long Ao's ears with a strange, soothing power.

"They are very well-behaved. Without my command, they won't harm any 'guest' here."

Well... behaved?

Long Ao looked at the Giant Rotting Beast not far away, which was salivating at him and emitting Gold-tier fluctuations.

Looking back at Karl's calm and gentle smile, a chill shot up from his tailbone to the top of his head as he instantly understood something.

Control! This Karl could actually control these frenzied Polluted Monsterss?

And in such vast numbers, at such high Ranks!

Who on earth was he!

No, *what* on earth was he?

Fear, a more intense and purer fear than what he felt when facing Lin Tian's army, seeped through his entire body like cold venom.

He had originally thought he was just finding a backer.

Now he realized he might have stepped into a devil's den more terrifying and unfathomable than Lin Tian's place!

In stark contrast to the deathly silence and oppression of the "Eternal Slumber Land", Lintian City was now overflowing with the joy of victory and bustling energy.

The crimson counter-attack portal had long since closed, and the expeditionary army of seventy-five thousand had returned safely.

In the center of the plaza, one hundred and twenty Black Dragon corpses were piled up like a small mountain!

Even in death, the residual dragon might and hideous forms of these behemoths still emitted a suffocating sense of pressure.

They drew countless soldiers and bold refugees to watch from a distance, eliciting bursts of amazement.

Legendary Rank Black Dragons!

A full one hundred and twenty of them!

Such spoils of war were enough to drive any lord mad!

Standing before the mountain of corpses, even with Lin Tian's composure, he felt an uncontrollable surge of heat and excitement.

These were all true treasures!

Legendary troops are valuable from head to toe; whether used for forging, enchanting, potions, or... his specialty, Fusion Evolution, they are priceless!

However, he suppressed the urge to immediately start "opening the treasure chests."

The spoils wouldn't run away; the priority was to strike while the iron was hot, consolidate the gains, and deal with the surrounding hidden threats.

"Lin Yin, Lin Yan, Lin Yan!" He called out his generals.

"Present!" The three stepped forward.

"You three, immediately assemble seventy thousand brothers in the best condition.

The Heavy Armored Spearmen will be the main force, the Mystic Rock Spirit Guards will protect the backline Archers and mages, Lin Yin will lead her subordinates for cover and sniping, and Lin Yan, your Scarlet Flames and Blazing Fire Mage regiment will also be the main damage output this time!"

"Orders received!" "Understood!" "Yes!"

"Target: the spatial energy anomaly point a hundred miles to the southwest!"

Lin Tian's gaze was sharp.

"Yesterday was just reconnaissance; today, push in a bit! Let's see what kind of monsters and demons are hiding in there, and use it as training for the troops!"

"Remember, advance steadily; if there is an enemy you cannot defeat, retreat immediately. Preserving our strength is the priority!"

"By your command!"

"Lead the Void Ranger and set out immediately toward the south." Lin Tian looked at Lin Feng, who was standing at attention on the other side, and then said:

"Mission: Conduct continuous long-range surveillance and monitoring of the large Minotaur tribe discovered yesterday, which has a scale of over one hundred thousand and is suspected to have Platinum Rank existences!"

"Record their activity patterns, troop movements, and defensive weaknesses! But remember, do not get too close; focus on surveillance and inspection!"

"Yes! I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

With the two major strategic directions deployed, Lin Tian looked at the remaining troops.

He left Commander Lin Yu and over thirty thousand soldiers in charge of guarding the city, maintaining order in the inner and outer cities, and ensuring the security of the rear.

Finally, he turned his gaze toward the east.

"As for that 'neighbor' who is right at our doorstep..."

A cold arc curled at the corner of Lin Tian's mouth.

The plan that was temporarily shelved yesterday due to Long Ao's provocation should now be put on the agenda.

How can I allow another to snore beside my bed?

Moreover, the other party might have already discovered some of my tracks.

"Golden Armored Spearmans, Earth Spirit Guards, follow me out of the city in a moment. We're going east to meet that 'Horned Lion Lord'."

With the arrangements made, the army began to operate efficiently, like precise gears.