35: Chapter 35 Is Mingming Back?

Inside the territory.

Xu Qin was crouching at the gap in the Bone Wall, his fingers gesturing on the command panel.

Although the territory's defense system had already established a basic framework, the recent promotion of all units to Tier 2, plus the building upgrades, had consumed nearly 3,000 bones.

To ensure the defenses were solid, he needed to build at least twelve more sections of Bone Wall to seal off several weak points on the perimeter.

Twelve sections of Bone Wall require bones...

Xu Qin crouched on the ground, doing elementary school math.

30 bones per section, twelve sections make 360.

Plus, he wanted to erect two more watchtowers on the perimeter.

Each watchtower costs 150 bones. Total 660.

"It can be built..."

But... there were less than 700 bones left in the bone vault.

Subtracting the resurrection coins for the Minotaur, only 500-something remained.

Xu Qin scratched his head.

"Forget it, wait for now."

He opened the remote monitoring interface of the command panel.

Tian Ming's formation icon was moving toward the territory.

Estimated arrival time: 57 minutes.

"Tian Ming is coming back soon."

He had been out for nearly six hours, so the two Bone Transport Carts must be full.

Once he returned to replenish the bones, he wouldn't need to worry about the Bone Wall.

Xu Qin stood up, walked to the northeast corner of the territory, and used the panel to mark the preset positions for the twelve sections of Bone Wall on the ground.

Then, he marked the spots for the new watchtowers at two blind spots in the firepower.

"Once the resources arrive, the Acolytes will start working immediately."

After marking, Xu Qin opened the panel to check the current building upgrade progress.

bone melting furnace Level 3 → Level 4: 2 hours 58 minutes remaining.

soul hall Level 3 → Level 4: 2 hours 12 minutes remaining.

Dark Altar Level 2 → Level 3: 1 hour 15 minutes remaining.

bone workshop Level 2 → Level 3: 1 hour 40 minutes remaining.

Cursed Temple Level 2 → Level 3: 1 hour 30 minutes remaining.

Undead Forge Level 1 → Level 2: 50 minutes remaining.

Bone Watchtower Level 1 → Level 2: 40 minutes remaining.

Seven buildings were upgrading simultaneously.

Xu Qin sat down next to the obelisk, took out a piece of roasted meat from his inventory, and started chewing.

While chewing the meat, he stared at the countdown for the protection period in the top right corner of the panel.

23:14:07.

Less than a day left.

By this time tomorrow, the light shield would disappear, and his territory coordinates would be exposed on the regional map.

Any passing Lord would be able to see him.

"The defensive fortifications must be completed within today."

Xu Qin tossed the meat skewer away and opened the Human Race communication channel.

He wanted to see how far other Lords had developed by now.

The messages in the channel were scrolling by quickly.

Zhang Yan · Undead Race: Does anyone know how to get Magic Crystal Fragments? I'm stuck on Magic Crystal Fragments right now, I can't find a single one.

Wang Zheng · Undead Race: Magic Crystal Fragments are a byproduct of iron ore; you need to find a vein. I'm short on them too, I've only managed to save up 12.

Lin Wei · Elf Race: Looking for a team! I have a Level 8 Elite Monster nest here, I can't beat it alone, is anyone willing to join? I can send the coordinates privately.

Zhao Tian · Dwarf Lord: Don't bother asking, miss, who has time to help you fight an Elite right now? I haven't even finished upgrading my Level 2 core yet.

Xu Qin looked at the chat messages in the channel and noticed something.

It seemed that several people who chose the Undead Race were developing quite well.

But it looked like they were still worrying about Level 2 and Level 3 core buildings.

Of course, that's assuming they were telling the truth and not just pretending to be weak.

"I don't know what their talents are... but they don't seem as good as mine."

Looking at how Wang Zheng was gloating about saving up 12 Magic Crystal Fragments, it shouldn't be anything special.

"Forget it, I won't show off, lest I bring trouble upon myself..."

Xu Qin shook his head and exited the channel.

Yes, he couldn't get arrogant.

His troops looked numerous, but not enough to withstand a few breaths from the Dragon Race.

Moreover, he still didn't know how far that Dragon Race had developed.

Forty minutes later.

Ding!

[Bone Watchtower upgrade complete!]

[Detection range expanded: radius 300m → 500m. Undead vision increased by 50%. New feature: Night Vision Enhancement.]

Immediately after... Ding!

[Undead Forge upgrade complete!]

[New feature unlocked: Equipment Forging · Basic (Can forge basic exclusive equipment for Hero units)]

[Material decomposition efficiency improved: conversion ratio 8:1 (originally 10:1)]

Xu Qin perked up.

Equipment Forging was unlocked!

Just as he was about to click in to take a look, the panel suddenly popped up a new notification.

[Hero · Tian Ming's formation has entered the territory detection range. Estimated arrival in 3 minutes.]

Xu Qin looked up.

On the distant desert horizon, a dark, dense silhouette was approaching.

Three minutes later.

Tian Ming led 1,500 Undead, neatly passing through the beginner protection light shield.

Two Bone Transport Carts followed closely at the end of the formation, stacked to the brim.

"Tian Ming is back?"

Xu Qin stepped forward to welcome him.

Seeing his master, Tian Ming stopped.

Xu Qin looked at the various skeletons and material bags stacked on the transport carts and directly opened the remote settlement summary.

Bones: +6800

Soul Energy: +78000

Wood: +4200

Stone: +3600

Iron Ore: +460

Minotaur Skeleton × 2400 (Pending conversion)

Sand Jackal Skeleton × 3100 (Pending conversion)

Minotaur Chieftain Skeleton × 84 (Pending conversion)

Sand Jackal Leader Skeleton × 63 (Pending conversion)

Scale Lizard Beast Skeleton × 45 (Pending conversion)

Meat: +18000

Hide/Thick Hide: +14200

elite soul core: +6

Magic Crystal Fragments (scattered collection): +38

Seeing the "Soul Energy +78000" line, Xu Qin let out a long sigh of relief.

You know, there were only 6,500 left in the bone vault...

"What a timely rain."

Xu Qin scratched his head, looking at the fully loaded transport carts and the 1,500 Undead lined up and waiting for orders.

Over 6,000 troops, plus the skeletons pending conversion that Tian Ming brought back... after converting them all, it'll be another 5,000 or 6,000.

By then, the total troop strength will break 10,000.

Ten thousand Undead.

Standing together, they could cover every inch of ground in this territory.

"Too many troops is also a burden."

This was the first time Xu Qin had such a thought.

Resources couldn't keep up with the speed of troop expansion.

More importantly, 10,000 troops squeezed into a territory with a radius of 150 meters didn't even have space to turn around.

He had to quickly upgrade the Graveyard to Level 5.

But the Abyss Bone Seed...

"Don't think about it for now."

Xu Qin patted Tian Ming's bone armor.

"Well done."

Tian Ming lowered his skull.

Xu Qin walked quickly to the bone vault and began unloading.

Resources were put into storage.

The numbers soared.

He watched the bones jump from 672 to 7472, nodding in satisfaction.

"That's enough."

Then he turned to the two Acolytes waiting on the side.

"Bone Wall, twelve sections. Watchtowers, two. Build them now."

The Acolytes received their orders and dispersed.

He turned and walked to Tian Ming.

"Continue going out. The mission remains the same, prioritize skeletons and souls. Return when the transport carts are full."

"Also, expand the exploration range further. You've been wandering within ten kilometers before, this time you can push to fifteen kilometers."

"But there's one condition... if you encounter any unit with a level above 15, or a situation you're not sure about, retreat immediately."

Tian Ming nodded.

With a wave of his bone staff, the 1,500 Undead set off again.

Boom, boom, boom.

The orderly sound of footsteps gradually faded away.