Chapter 55: Production and Development

Returning to the site of his previous battle, Ryujiji quickly located the traces left behind on the battlefield.

The empty husk shed by the large skeleton was now slumped across the ground, and scattered white bone fragments from the small skeleton it had destroyed remained where they fell.

Stepping forward, Ryujiji inspected the bizarre husk. It looked remarkably like a giant insect chrysalis, anchored firmly to the ground.

Since the outer shell was neither exoskeleton armor nor supported by internal bones, the entire thing resembled a pool of flesh and blood, lying there haphazardly.

Standing before this mass of flesh, Ryujiji thought deeply for a moment before raising his Staff of the Dead and casting a Soul-Reaping spell upon it.

After confirming that the flesh mass could not be turned into undead servants or soldiers, he ordered the accompanying skeleton soldiers to take action.

The skeletons momentarily transitioned into workers. They gathered the bone fragments left by the small skeleton, hauled some nearby soil, climbed up onto the mass of flesh, and entered its interior through a gaping tear in the upper surface.

This was the only way inside. The fierce battle between the two skeletons had ripped a massive gash in the creature's back. Crawling through this fissure, one would discover that the interior of the flesh mass actually contained a space of nearly twenty square meters.

Inside, the skeleton soldiers also found some unhatched insect eggs and puddles of dried, yellowish-green liquid. It was evident that the insect eggs carried by the large skeleton had been the creature's true core.

Once the skeletons had transported the bone fragments and soil inside, a prompt suddenly popped up in Ryujiji's field of vision.

[Ding! Discovered the carcass of a distorted behemoth. It can be crafted and developed. Please make your selection.]

[Craft into a minor underworld, or craft into a mobile siege engine.]

Following this, various statistics appeared in Ryujiji's eyes, detailing the resources required for each option and the final resulting effects.

Ryujiji examined the data carefully. Like his own Underworld Palace, a minor underworld served as the foundation for a city. However, this particular minor underworld differed from the palace; first, its footprint was small, roughly equivalent to the space needed for one medium and one small open plot.

Moreover, because this distorted behemoth had fallen by forcefully tearing through the spatial barrier from above, it was locked entirely to this specific node. Unless crafted into a mobile siege engine, it was impossible to move it away from this location—unless, of course, something of significant value was nearby.

If there were mineral veins or raw material sources in the vicinity, building a minor underworld here to serve as an advance base, stationing personnel to patrol and work, would be quite a rational choice.

As for the mobile siege engine, it was easier to conceptualize, functioning much like an aircraft carrier. However, its appearance would resemble the monster from before—a mountain of flesh moving on dozens of limbs. It might lack a head, but it would feature a couple of primary arms, perhaps four meters long, used for attacking or grabbing objects.

This option had one distinct advantage: the internal space was comparable to the minor underworld, accommodating one medium and one small open plot where functional buildings could be constructed. This allowed for simultaneous resupply and movement.

Reviewing these descriptions, Ryujiji formed his judgment. The most crucial factor now was whether there were any usable resources in the surrounding area.

If there were, he would build a minor underworld, turning this place into an advance base to provide a steady stream of various resources. If not, he would transform it into a mobile siege engine so that during combat, he wouldn't need to drag a massive army back and forth as he had before.

Before sending scouts out to prospect for minerals, Ryujiji’s first task was naturally to claim the location.

After directing his subordinates to scout the surrounding area, Ryujiji planted his own banner directly atop the carcass.

Then, he pressed the portable Underworld Palace Altar heavily down against the flesh.

The moment he pressed it, Ryujiji felt a slight change ripple through the gigantic carcass. It felt as though it had become part of his Underworld Palace, yet simultaneously remained outside its systematic framework.

This phenomenon left Ryujiji momentarily speechless, but he quickly understood: it was waiting for his decision. If he chose to convert this place into a minor underworld, everything formed by this carcass would remain here permanently, independent of the location of Ryujiji's actual Underworld Palace.

If Ryujiji were to take his Underworld Palace away, the minor underworld here would not follow; it would stay behind, maintaining a connection through the paths linking to the Underworld Palace. If those pathways were severed, this minor underworld might become an autonomous dominion or be seized by another visiting necromancer, eventually falling into their hands.

So, should he turn it into a mobile siege engine instead?

Such a thought flickered through Ryujiji's mind.

Just then, Ryujiji received a transmission indicating that his undead subordinates had discovered something unusual nearby.

"A mine shaft?" Ryujiji wondered with mild curiosity. Accompanied by his guards, he hurried in the direction from which the message had come.

It was located to the east of the battlefield, about seven or eight miles away. At Ryujiji's pace, the journey took less than twenty minutes. Yet, they had noticed nothing amiss initially, having focused solely on the airborne enemy when selecting this site as the main battlefield.

Now conducting a thorough exploration, Ryujiji realized the terrain held hidden secrets. After all, they had not even stepped beyond the radiation perimeter of the carcass before uncovering something unusual, hadn't they?

Buoyed by a trace of excitement, Ryujiji soon reached the spot where the signal had originated. He noted that the messengers were sword-and-shield skeleton soldiers.

They were not professional scouts, and there had been no sign of any mine. The only reason they made the discovery was that one of the skeletons had accidentally stepped into empty air while patrolling.

Subsequently, they uncovered a massive cavern, from which silvery-white liquid constantly dripped downward.

"Quicksilver?" Ryujiji made his assessment as he observed the fluid dripping from the skeletons who had just climbed back up.

Quicksilver was a prized asset for the undead. Many high-level necromantic crafting techniques required quicksilver to symbolize blood; it could be said that in the later stages, quicksilver would become an absolute necessity.

Discovering a deposit of quicksilver here, regardless of its exact volume, was enough to cement Ryujiji's decision.

"Establish the minor underworld!"