16: Chapter 16 Enemies in life, generals in death

The first to walk out was a humanoid Undead nearly 1.8 meters tall.

Its frame was much sturdier than a Skeleton Soldier, with a layer of dark purple bone armor covering its joints.

From the tips of its ten finger bones extended bone claws five centimeters long.

The tips of the claws shimmered with an eerie green light.

In its hollow eye sockets, the purple soul fire was more than three times brighter than that of a regular Skeleton Soldier.

A panel popped up.

【Undead Sand Jackal · Tier 1】

Attack: 21 (+5) (Physical - Tear)

Defense: 9 (+4)

HP: 55 (+15) / 55

Loyalty: 100 / 100 (Eternally Loyal)

Morale: None

Traits:

Group Hunting Instinct: Attack +2 when 3 or more of the same race attack the same target.

Bone Claw Tear: Melee attacks deal 3 points of bleed damage, lasting 6 seconds.

Attribute Notes: Values in parentheses are territory technology bonuses (Unit Rank Up +1, Bone Armor Tempering Lv 2, Soul Fire Infusion Lv 2, Skeletal Reshaping Lv 2).

Xu Qin's eyes lit up.

21 attack plus 5, that's 26 total!

And it has bleed!

Plus Group Hunting Instinct!

When three or more surround the same target, each one becomes 28 attack!

This is fucking fiercer than when they were alive!

When alive, a Sand Jackal Hunter only had 16 attack.

After dying and becoming Undead, it nearly doubled.

The reason is simple.

The Unit Rank Up bonus and the bone melting furnace technology bonus all stacked up.

They came out fully equipped.

Immediately after, the second, the third...

Undead Sand Jackals walked out of the Crypt one after another.

Each one had the same configuration.

Bone claws, dark purple bone armor, and eerie green claw tips.

After walking out of the Crypt, they automatically formed ranks.

Two hundred and eighty-two of them.

Xu Qin looked at this new army, his mouth grinning from ear to ear.

But the show wasn't over yet.

The last six to walk out were a whole size larger than the ordinary Undead Sand Jackals.

They had broad shoulders and thick backs, with two curved bone horns extending backward from their skulls.

In their chest cavities, a dense mass of purple soul fire pulsed between their ribs, blindingly bright.

【Undead Sand Jackal Leader · Tier 1】

Attack: 32 (+5) (Physical - Heavy Strike / Tear)

Defense: 14 (+4)

HP: 105 (+15) / 105

Loyalty: 100 / 100 (Eternally Loyal)

Morale: None

Traits:

Undead War Cry: Emits a howl, increasing the attack of all nearby friendly Undead units by +3 for 8 seconds. 15-second cooldown. Simultaneously applies a "Fear" effect to enemy living units, reducing their attack by 10% for 5 seconds.

Bone Claw Tear: Melee attacks deal 5 points of bleed damage, lasting 6 seconds.

Hiss...

Xu Qin stared at the panel and couldn't help but take a deep breath.

War Cry... it buffs the attack of all friendly Undead?

Not just the same race?

It's all Undead?!

That makes sense. Although they don't share the same origin, they are all brothers in the big Undead family now.

Sharing buffs is quite reasonable.

He turned to look at the three hundred plus Undead units behind him.

Skeleton Warthog, Skeleton Sand Lizard, Skeleton Sand Snake, Skeleton Sand Scorpion, Skeleton Sand Rat, Skeleton Vulture, Skeleton Soldier...

All Undead.

They could all receive this +3 bonus.

Six leaders, War Cry cooldown 15 seconds, duration 8 seconds.

What if they howl in turns?

Xu Qin counted on his fingers.

If the six leaders took turns, they could basically achieve full coverage.

That means...

His entire army could permanently enjoy a +3 attack bonus during battle.

The Skeleton Warthog's Charge damage would go from 21 to 24.

The Undead Sand Jackal's Group Hunting attack would go from 28 to 31.

"Holy shit."

"That's badass!"

Xu Qin couldn't help but curse out loud.

"This is the correct way to play the Undead Race!"

"Enemies in life, generals in death!"

He walked up to the six Undead leaders and looked up at them.

The six big guys stood there, bone horns pointing to the sky, the purple soul fire in their chests pulsing.

"From today on, you six are my personal guard officers."

Xu Qin patted the chest armor of the nearest leader.

Thud.

It was like patting an iron plate.

"Designations: Leader One through Six."

The six Undead leaders bowed in unison.

Xu Qin turned around and looked at the entire legion.

Total force now...

He opened the roster panel.

Skeleton Soldier · Tier 1 x 5

Skeleton Warthog · Tier 1 x 56

Skeleton Sand Lizard · Tier 1 x 50

Skeleton Sand Snake · Tier 1 x 43

Skeleton Sand Rat · Tier 1 x 152

Skeleton Vulture · Tier 1 x 18 (Out scouting)

Skeleton Sand Scorpion · Tier 1 x 8

Undead Sand Jackal · Tier 1 x 282

Undead Sand Jackal Leader · Tier 1 x 6

Acolyte x 5

Total force: 625.

Six hundred and twenty-five.

Xu Qin took a deep breath.

From five Skeleton Soldiers yesterday morning to six hundred and twenty-five now.

Less than two days.

"Alright."

He closed the panel and walked to the inventory.

Time to change gear.

Xu Qin took a Sand Jackal War Spear from his inventory.

【Sand Jackal War Spear】

Quality: Green (Fine)

Type: Weapon - Polearm

Attack Bonus: +8

Durability: 120 / 120

Additional Effect: Pierce (Ignores 10% of target's defense)

Description: The exclusive weapon of a Sand Jackal Leader, with a spearhead polished from hard sandstone, supplemented by beast tendons wrapped around the handle. Rough workmanship but astonishing lethality.

Xu Qin put away the stone axe that had been with him for a day and a half into his inventory.

Only 3 points of durability left.

"Old buddy, thanks for your hard work."

He gripped the war spear and weighed it in his hand.

It was nearly a meter longer than the stone axe, but the weight was about the same.

The spearhead was dark gray polished sandstone, sharp enough to reflect light.

Xu Qin opened the Lord panel.

Xu Qin

Level: 16 (298 / 1400)

Attack: 40 (+8) (Physical - Pierce)

Defense: 18

HP: 180 / 180

Talent: War Gift Lv 5

Effect: When calculating battle rewards, total loot quantity x 6

Attack 48.

Plus the Pierce effect, ignoring 10% of defense.

Xu Qin gripped the war spear and gave it a flick.

"Now this looks like a Lord."

He strapped the war spear to his back and turned to look at the Acolytes' work progress.

Fifteen minutes passed.

The Acolytes' repair work was nearing its end.

Xu Qin walked over to inspect.

3 Skeleton Warthogs were reshaped, but 5 were too thoroughly shattered; their skeletal integrity wasn't sufficient to piece back together.

1 Skeleton Sand Snake was reshaped, with 2 lost.

1 Skeleton Sand Scorpion was reshaped, with 3 lost.

Both Skeleton Sand Rats were successfully reshaped with no losses.

Xu Qin squatted down, looking at the piles of misshapen bone fragments on the ground.

【Bone Fragments: Skeletal integrity insufficient, cannot be resurrected. Can be used as bone building materials.】

"Fine then."

Xu Qin collected all these bone fragments into the bone vault.

"The Undead really are treasures from head to toe. They can fight when alive, be reassembled when dead, and if they can't be put back together, they can be used as bricks."

"Very good! Much better than 996; this is 007, squeezing out every bit of value even after death."

Preparation complete.

Xu Qin opened the regional map.

The scouting results from the three groups of Skeleton Vultures had been coming back one after another.

Northeast, one deep red stronghold marker.

Directly north, two.

Northwest, one.

Four strongholds.

Xu Qin zoomed in on the map and checked the density of the red dots.

The number of red dots in each stronghold was between forty and sixty.

About the same scale as the Sand Jackal village he had just destroyed.

"Looks like these are the beginner period perks."