11: Chapter 11: Six Times the Profit, Unlocking Large-Scale Infrastructure Development in the Territory

As fifty-eight Skeleton Sand Rats disappeared into the sand layers.

On the regional map, the black fog was torn away bit by bit.

One red dot.

Three red dots.

A dozen or so red dots.

Further out, there were patches of light red markers.

Xu Qin mounted a Skeleton Warthog and adjusted his sitting posture.

"Ugh, it's a bit hard on the butt. Riding it is about the same as sitting on a stone stool."

Xu Qin pulled a piece of animal hide from his inventory and placed it under his butt.

"That's better."

"Now, I am also a cavalry lord."

Skeleton Warthog No. 1 lowered its head, and its bone hooves stepped into the night.

The army followed.

The clacking sound of bones merged into a single chorus across the desert.

...

The Wailing Desert in the second half of the night was much livelier than during the day.

Things that hid in sand holes during the day all crawled out at night.

Sand Wolves.

Poison-tailed Sand Scorpions.

Desert Vultures.

There was also a type of beetle as tall as half a person, with an absurdly thick shell.

When alive, it would bury itself in the sand and wait for prey to approach before popping out to pinch their legs.

When Xu Qin first encountered this thing, he almost got his foot pinched.

Then, twenty-eight Skeleton Warthogs trampled over it.

Its shell shattered into eight pieces on the spot.

Xu Qin stood to the side and gave a professional evaluation.

"Decent defense."

"Too bad it ran into the engineering team."

Night battles have morale penalties.

But the undead don't fall for that.

So this is quite shameless.

Living things get stronger at night, while the undead are not weaker.

Not only was the gap not widened, but because of the visibility, the fear was further amplified.

When the pack of Sand Wolves saw the Skeleton Warthogs Charge, they would turn and flee.

The ambushing Skeleton Sand Snake would unleash a breath of poisonous mist, slowing them down.

The Sand Lizards in the back row would spray corrosion.

The Warthogs would Charge to harvest.

The Sand Rats would track down the stragglers underground.

After the whole process ran through, Xu Qin didn't even have to get off his Warthog.

He was only responsible for pointing at the map.

"Two hundred meters to the left, the Sand Rats marked three red dots."

"Warthog Team One, move up."

"Sand Snakes, cut off the retreat."

"Sand Lizards, don't miss. We can do without the meat, but don't spray the skeletons to pieces."

"Very good, next."

Combat notifications popped up one after another.

[Combat Victory!]

[War Gift Level 4 triggered! Loot × 5!]

[Combat Victory!]

[Combat Victory!]

[Talent Upgrade Progress: 199/200]

Until just before dawn, when the last Desert Vulture swooped down from mid-air, only to be sprayed into a sieve by the concentrated fire of twenty Skeleton Sand Lizards.

The vulture crashed to the ground.

A Skeleton Warthog delivered a finishing stomp.

The panel popped up.

[Combat Victory!]

[Settling loot...]

[Target killed: Desert Vulture × 1]

[Basic drops: Vulture Skeleton × 1, Soul Energy + 12, Feather Bone × 6, Meat × 8]

[Talent "War Gift Level 4" triggered!]

[All loot quantity × 5!]

[Final acquisition: Vulture Skeleton × 5, Soul Energy + 60, Feather Bone × 30, Meat × 40]

[Combat Rating: A (Efficient encirclement, zero casualties)]

[Talent Upgrade Progress: 200/200]

[War Gift upgraded!]

[Level 4 → Level 5!]

[Current effect: When settling combat, all loot acquisition quantity × 6!]

[Next level upgrade condition: 500 combat victories, or achieving a high-rated large-scale battle victory.]

Xu Qin sat on the back of the Skeleton Warthog, his eyelids fighting with sleepiness.

But after seeing this line of golden text, he instantly perked up.

"Sixfold!"

"Good."

"This overtime was worth it!"

Immediately following, the lord level-up notification also popped up.

[Experience points full! Lord level increased!]

[Level 14 → Level 15!]

[Attribute increase: Attack + 2, Defense + 1, Health + 10]

Current Attributes:

Xu Qin

Level: 15 (118/1200)

Attack: 38 (+ 2) (Physical - Slashing)

Defense: 17

Health: 170/170

Xu Qin looked down at the stone axe in his hand.

Total Attack: 40.

This newbie stone axe only had 6 points of durability left.

From chopping trees to chopping monsters, it had endured an entire day with Xu Qin.

It had worked hard.

"Old buddy, hold on a bit longer."

"When I get a new axe, I'll erect a monument for you."

The stone axe didn't respond.

But Xu Qin felt it must be very touched.

...

When the horizon turned white, Xu Qin returned to the territory.

At this moment, with dark circles under his eyes, riding on the back of the Skeleton Warthog, he was swaying unsteadily.

This night wasn't just simply not sleeping.

It was full focus the entire time!

Of course, the harvest in exchange for this "all-nighter" was also abundant, with resources directly overflowing the warehouse.

There was also a much larger exploration map.

Within 1,500 meters to the southeast of the territory, it had been mostly explored by the Sand Rats.

Two stone mineral veins were found.

Another iron ore vein was added.

There was also a magic crystal fragment associated point, which Xu Qin marked as a small purple dot.

Xu Qin flipped off the Warthog.

His legs went soft when he landed.

He steadied himself by holding onto the Skeleton Warthog's tusks and took two breaths.

"Not bad."

"Didn't die of sudden death."

"After all, as a Lord of Calamity, my physical fitness is on point."

He walked to the open space next to the Crypt and opened the command panel.

Three building projections appeared before him.

[bone melting furnace]

Construction materials: Stone × 80, Iron Ore × 20, Soul Energy × 300

[soul hall]

Construction materials: Wood × 50, Stone × 40, Soul Energy × 150

[bone vault]

Construction materials: Bone × 30, Stone × 50, Wood × 20, Soul Energy × 100

"bone melting furnace, start construction."

"soul hall, start construction."

"bone vault, start construction."

[Consumed: Stone × 170, Iron Ore × 20, Wood × 70, Bone × 30, Soul Energy × 550]

The three building projections landed.

Acolyte No. 1, Acolyte No. 2 (Pig-head), and Acolyte No. 3 (Lizard-head) stepped forward.

Dark purple energy surged from their palms and poured into the building projections.

[bone melting furnace under construction... Remaining time: 1 hour]

[soul hall under construction... Remaining time: 30 minutes]

[bone vault under construction... Remaining time: 30 minutes]

Xu Qin looked at Acolyte No. 4 and No. 5 (Snake-head).

"You two go repair the bones of the injured soldiers."

"Especially Warthog Seven, its ribs are cracked like a curtain, don't let it fall apart."

The two snake-head Acolytes turned and slid toward the rear of the legion.

Xu Qin walked to the Crypt and opened his inventory.

After deducting the materials for the three buildings, the remaining resources are as follows:

Wood: 1900

Stone: 1800

Iron Ore: 350

Magic Crystal Fragments: 40

Bone: 1600

Soul Energy: 9000/25000

Meat: 3000

Animal Hide: 900

Feather Bone: 180

Poison Sac: 96

Shell: 72

Warthog Skeleton: 36

Sand Lizard Skeleton: 30

Sand Snake Skeleton: 24

Sand Rat Skeleton: 96

Desert Vulture Skeleton: 18

Shell Sand Scorpion Skeleton: 12

Xu Qin stared at this string of numbers, and his sleepiness faded a bit more.

This is the gold content of sixfold loot.

Others hunt all night, and go home to calculate battle losses.

He hunts all night, and goes home complaining that the warehouse isn't big enough.

"No expanding troops for now."

"Wait until the buildings are up to see what the Level 3 Crypt requires."

"Resources must be planned well, can't spend recklessly."

After Xu Qin finished speaking, he sat on the steps of the Crypt.

He took two pieces of animal hide from his inventory, folded them, and placed them under his head.

After thinking for a moment, he called over a Skeleton Sand Rat.

"I'm going to sleep for a while."

"Wake me up in an hour."

"If you can't wake me up, bite me."

The Skeleton Sand Rat hopped to his head and lay down.

Xu Qin closed his eyes.

This time, it didn't take three seconds before he was dead asleep.