Chapter 15: The City's Guardian Hero (A Tribute to the Hero)

[Transcendental Book: A book recording transcendental knowledge. Reading it grants one random transcendental passive skill (knowledge-based) immediately!]

Since the description stated it was random, Liu Zhi did not bother saving it for later; he simply used the book right away. However, upon using it, he realized this item was different from the others. Previously, he could learn skills just by tearing open the item, but this transcendental book required him to actually read the contents. With a sigh, Liu Zhi put the book away, intending to deal with it when he had some free time.

Once the books were set aside, all that remained were the architectural blueprints and various troop units. These were the real treasures from the treasure chest. Out of the six items, two were gold-tier, three were silver-tier, and one was bronze-tier. What caught Liu Zhi's attention most was a golden model that looked like a skull. It resembled a skeleton soldier that had just crawled out of the ground, yet Liu Zhi felt there was something different about it.

[City Guard Hero: Mand]
[Class: Mage (Lich)]
[Level: 1]
[Abilities: Necromancy (converts fallen troops), Armament Theory (troop equipment +1), Lich Scholar (Lich effectiveness increased by 50% when defending a city), Mist Veil (automatically casts mist during city defense to reduce ranged damage)]
[Description: Mand was one of the most skilled generals in the necromancer army. Before he was transformed into this terrifying Lich, he was not a mage, but a general known for his quick decision-making on the battlefield. When his enemies fed him lethal manticore venom, he did not hesitate to drink Namtaru venom. The Namtaru venom allowed him to cheat death, but the combination of the two poisons had a devastating effect on his body, turning him into a walking skeleton.]

Upon activating the model, Liu Zhi felt a slight tremor in the ground. A skeleton standing 1.8 meters tall, clad in heavy black armor with a faint green glow flowing over its surface, stepped out. After emerging, the skeleton looked up at the distant city walls, nodded with satisfaction, and then turned to look at Liu Zhi.

"You must be the City Lord. I am a Level 1 hero and can command five units simultaneously, with a total headcount not exceeding 300."

Liu Zhi had undead servants, but this was his first hero. Hearing this, he couldn't help but ask, "60 people per unit?"

"No, that is not how it is calculated. There is a complex formula involved. Generally, the weaker the troop type, the larger the number per unit. Of course, for someone like you who doesn't understand, troops are usually divided into battalions, companies, platoons, and squads, corresponding to 60, 30, 10, and 5 members respectively. The 300-man limit I mentioned refers to the fact that I can command 60-man battalions of fodder troops; it doesn't mean I can only command that type of troop."

"Can't these units be combined? For instance, can two 5-man squads form a platoon?"

"No. For example, Dread Knights travel in 5-man squads. If you have 6 Dread Knights, you must command them as two separate units; there is no way to combine them."

Understanding Mand's explanation, Liu Zhi asked, "So, the troop limit for one hero is 300?"

"Of course not. Depending on the hero's level, they can command up to seven units at once. Additionally, heroes can appoint deputies, each of whom can lead three units. If a hero is fully staffed and uses fodder troops, the total number can reach 780. That is the ideal state, of course, but you wouldn't have such a high-level hero leading only fodder, would you?"

Liu Zhi nodded in understanding. If it were him, between 60 skeleton soldiers and 5 Dread Knights, he would certainly choose the 5 Dread Knights.

"That works out well," Liu Zhi said. "I happen to have two new units. Why don't you take them under your command? One of them is a full-strength, high-level city defense unit."

As he spoke, he took out the other two models. Both were silver-tier. One was a gargoyle model meant to perch on the corner of a city wall, with the number '30' written beneath it. The other was an Evil Eye model with the number '10' written beneath it. It was clear these corresponded to a combat platoon and a city guard unit respectively.

Picking up the gargoyle model, the information surfaced:

[Obsidian Gargoyle (City Guard Unit, Level 5): A company of gargoyles. They can remain on city walls as statues and fully revive during battle to swoop down and attack all enemies. (All are Level 5, promoted to Obsidian Gargoyles. They can improve during battle but cannot be trained or replenished.)]
[Gargoyle Promotion Path: Gargoyle (Level 1, Peripheral Unit) - Obsidian Gargoyle (Level 5, Formal Unit) - Elemental Gargoyle (Level 10, Elite Unit) - Adamantine Gargoyle (Level 15, Heroic Unit)]

A group of black gargoyles appeared in the sky. They looked rather bulky, but they could fly and were quite fast. With prominent claws, fangs, ram horns, and tail maces, they were clearly capable of all-around combat. Liu Zhi handed the unit model to Mand. In the next instant, he noticed that the claws of the gargoyles gained a distinct metallic sheen. Was this the effect of Armament +1?

Watching this, Liu Zhi picked up the Evil Eye model.

[Evil Eye (Combat Platoon, Level 1): A platoon of Evil Eyes. They are a mid-tier unit of the dungeon, naturally unable to congregate in large numbers; a single unit can contain at most 10 Evil Eyes.]
[Evil Eye Promotion Path: Evil Eye (Level 1, Peripheral Unit) - Toxic Eye (Level 5, Formal Unit) - Beholder (Level 10, Elite Unit) - Eye of Chaos (Level 15, Heroic Unit)]

Compared to the imposing gargoyles, the Evil Eyes looked quite useless when released. They resembled large eyes floating in the air, with nothing more than a few tentacles growing from them. Yet, for some reason, Mand seemed to value these Evil Eyes more, appearing to have plans to cultivate them.