33: Chapter 33 Continuous Pruning

April 9th, 1:10 AM, a narrow section of the tunnel 150 meters south of the second fork.

The second pruning.

Yan Zheng leaned against the wall behind a bend, a peppermint in his mouth, speaking softly to the remote view in his consciousness.

"No. 3, confirm the target."

In the sensory feed of the No. 3 Skeleton Soldier, three black shadows moved north at a steady pace along the tunnel, their steps uniform and their spacing consistent.

Yan Zheng: ( ˊ ꈊ ˋ )

"Three people, standard formation, no extra equipment."

He crunched the peppermint.

"Same route as last time, same time, same number of people. The Hand's shift schedule is more punctual than the New York subway."

He tapped his fingers on the wall twice.

"Everyone get into position, strike as soon as they enter the bend."

Thirty-five seconds later, the tunnel returned to silence.

Yan Zheng stood beside three puddles of water, watching the golden notification pop up on the system panel.

"Three bodies, five materials, zero Dark Energy residue."

He patted the dust off his pants.

"The mosquito legs are a bit small, but three of them are enough to stir-fry a dish."

April 12th, 12:55 AM.

For the third pruning, Yan Zheng changed his ambush point.

"Squatting in the same pit twice is a major taboo for anglers. Fish aren't goldfish; that seven-second memory trick doesn't work on ninjas."

The new ambush point was set 200 meters south of the first fork, where a collapsed concrete pillar split the tunnel in two.

"Skeleton Soldiers split into two groups, one in front of the pillar, one behind. The Brute will hold the main tunnel."

Yan Zheng: ( ˘ ᗜ ˘ )

"Pincer attack from front and back, not even leaving them room to turn around."

Five ninjas came that night.

In the remote feed, Yan Zheng noticed that the one walking in the middle had a different stride than the others—larger, lighter, and always landing in the gaps between the rubble.

"A veteran, or an Elite Ninja."

"Take out the two ends first, leave him for last."

The battle ended within sixty seconds; five corpses, nine materials collected.

The "veteran" dropped two additional Dark Energy residues and one bottle of blood of the black sky.

Yan Zheng: ( ✧ ᴗ ✧ )

"See? The value of an Elite Ninja is just different, like a card pool with a pity system."

April 15th and April 18th, the fourth and fifth pruning.

Yan Zheng's tactics entered version 2.0.

"Always camping in the tunnels is too passive. I need a triggered early warning network."

He buried a Skeleton Soldier at each of the three main tunnel intersections to act as a "tripwire." The Skeleton Soldiers lay motionless in the rubble, using only phosphorus fire perception to scan passing personnel.

"Once a ninja enters the sensory range, send me a signal. I'll judge the number and direction based on the signal, then decide which node to strike at."

"Turning from passive camping to active battlefield selection has doubled the efficiency."

Yan Zheng: ( ꉺ ᗜ ꉺ )

The fourth pruning took down four ninjas, seven materials, one bottle of blood of the black sky.

The fifth pruning took down five ninjas, two of whom were Elites. The Brute took twelve slashes to the chest without his defense being broken; eleven materials, three bottles of blood of the black sky.

Four operations, seventeen kills in total.

Including the four from the first time, a total of twenty-one ninjas have been permanently "collected" into the material library.

April 27th, 2:00 AM.

Antique Shop Underground Room.

Yan Zheng sat on a folding chair, the material list in front of him spanning three whole screens, dense entries arranged in a square formation on the system panel.

He held a cup of hot water, crossed his legs, and muttered to himself in the tone of a jeweler taking stock of annual revenue.

"Reinforced Skeleton Soldier material inventory is at twenty-four. The Skeleton Soldiers have been fully upgraded, with bone density more than double that of the first batch."

He flicked the ribs of the Reinforced Skeleton Soldier beside him; the sound was as crisp as tapping a porcelain bowl.

"The previous Skeleton Soldiers would have their arms cut off by a ninja with one strike. This batch? Three strikes might not even cut through."

"The Brute has been injected with eight bottles of blood of the black sky, increasing his scale armor hardness by over forty percent. A normal ninja's short sword wouldn't even make him itch."

Yan Zheng: ( ˵ ¬ ᴗ ¬ ˵ )

"Six bottles of blood of the black sky remain in stock, which can be saved as base material for the next Elite Stitched Soldier."

"Dark Energy residue is at 6/10. Four more and I can unlock Undead Creation enchantment."

He took a sip of water and leaned back in his chair, the lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses reflecting the fluorescent light of the system panel.

"The Hand's stronghold strength has dropped from thirty people to about nine, with over half of the Elites lost."

"Two more rounds of pruning, and that stronghold will be an empty grave."

"Then I can just take the Brute and steamroll right over."

"Perfect."

Just as he was about to close the system panel, the remote sensory feed of the No. 3 Skeleton Soldier flickered.

Yan Zheng sat up straight.

"No. 3, report."

The tunnel in the feed was empty, but a persistent, faint energy fluctuation appeared at the edge of the sensory range.

Yan Zheng switched to full screen and watched carefully for three seconds.

In the cracks of the tunnel wall, there was a palm-sized yellow paper talisman, with complex runes drawn on the surface and dark red liquid painted on the edges.

The system panel popped up a scanning notification.

[Detected: Occult Perception Talisman. Can track Undead Creations within a radius of 30 meters, duration approximately 72 hours.]

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ˘ ͈ ꈊ ˘ ͈ )

"Tracking talisman."

He put down the water cup and tapped his fingers on his knees twice.

"They've pasted a perception network in the tunnels specifically targeting the undead."

Yan Zheng reopened the map and pulled up the Skeleton Soldiers' patrol routes from the past week.

"The areas No. 3 has walked through in the last three days are all exposed."

"Activity patterns exposed, surveillance points exposed, all ambush zones marked."

He stood up, walked to the front of the map, and put his hands in his pants pockets.

"No wonder the tunnels have been squeaky clean for the past two days, not a shadow of a ninja."

"They didn't retreat; they changed their routes."

"The number of people in the patrol squads must have increased too. A formation of three to five isn't enough; it has to be at least eight or more."

"And the existence of those talismans means one thing."

Yan Zheng turned around and looked at the creation phalanx standing silently in the corner.

Yan Zheng: ( ꐦ ⌓ ꐦ )

"That My Lord Shadow finally couldn't sit still, switching from taking hits to laying out plans."

He walked back to the chair and sat down, finishing the cold water in one gulp.

"But it doesn't matter. If there are fewer chess pieces, I'll make up for it with chess strategy; I'm better at this than he is."

"He changes routes, I change ambush points."

"He pastes talismans, I make the Skeleton Soldiers go around them."

"He adds people, I strike when his forces are weakest."

Yan Zheng placed the empty cup on the corner of the table, his mouth curving into an arc.

"Mr. Nogami, there are only nine pieces left on the board. I'd like to see how you play against me."