Chapter 393 - 133: A Resounding Victory and Lynch’s Great Harvest

Chapter 393: Chapter 133: A Resounding Victory and Lynch’s Great Harvest

All of Lakefront Town was swept up in a jubilant celebration.

The streets were decorated with lanterns and banners, ale flowed freely in the taverns, and soldiers and militiamen alike sang songs of triumph with their arms around each other’s shoulders, celebrating this unprecedented victory.

Yet Lynch, the man most responsible for this victory, was a whirlwind of activity.

In a secluded valley in the mountains behind Lakefront Town.

Lynch had sealed off the area with a massive Array, barring entry to the public.

In the valley, a mountain of corpses was slowly decomposing under the influence of a special Negative Energy Array. A necrotic aura rose from them, gradually coalescing into dense Negative Energy and Evil Qi.

From a distance, the entire valley was shrouded in a gray haze. Mounds of white bones, piled into small hills, loomed intermittently through the mist, creating a scene like Hell on earth.

This was a special structure of the Undead System that Lynch had built, named the Corpse Mountain Bone Sea.

The academy also taught how to create a similar, though cruder, structure called the "Bone Pile." Its function was much more limited, serving only to prevent the spiritual essence of bones from dissipating over time.

The Corpse Mountain Bone Sea, which Lynch had learned from the Death Codex, was an upgraded version. It integrated various complex Negative Energy Arrays and was considerably more difficult to construct, but in addition to preserving the spiritual essence of the skeletons, it could also harness the energy released by decomposing corpses to continuously accumulate Negative Energy and Evil Qi.

The combination of these two energies formed "death qi."

As more corpses were processed, the death qi here would grow ever denser. In the future, it would form a small dead zone, which would gradually begin to naturally spawn wild Undead Units, such as Skeletons, walking corpses, or ghosts.

Furthermore, if his already-converted Skeleton Servants were left here to slumber, they would slowly absorb the death qi, eventually developing a Soul Fire and growing even stronger.

"Sir, this batch of prime corpses was collected from Gray Claw Gorge. There are ninety-seven in total, all carefully selected according to your instructions."

In the garrison basement, Aus directed his Soldiers to carry the bodies into the Sleeping Tomb. Each one had possessed at least Tier One strength in life.

Lynch nodded, sighing helplessly as he looked at the mountain of corpses before him.

These prime specimens had to be prioritized for conversion into Skeleton Servants or zombies; they wouldn’t be unceremoniously tossed into the Corpse Mountain Bone Sea as mere fuel.

Lynch had to personally handle the process for the choicest specimens, especially those qualified to be cultivated into Black Corpses.

"Let’s begin."

Lynch formed a series of hand seals as the Mana in his body surged, and he began to cast.

A massive Negative Energy Array lay before him. At its core were Negative Energy Crystals and various other materials of the Yin Attribute.

As Lynch cast his spell, the corpses began to rise one by one, bathed in the Array’s light. They shuffled to the side, letting out meaningless, guttural moans, and formed neat rows to await the next step.

Lynch followed up by casting the ’True’ Corpse Enhancement Skill within the Negative Energy Array, using various corpse-enhancing materials. He continuously injected Negative Energy and the materials into the zombies, making their skin tougher and their muscles firmer.

The Sleeping Tomb was one of the first Undead structures Lynch had established.

Initially, it was only the size of an ordinary basement. But as the number of zombies under his command grew, Lynch had been forced to expand it repeatedly. He had to purchase Yin Attribute materials to craft more ’corpse-nurturing’ coffins and collect Negative Energy Crystals to replenish the constant drain of Negative Energy. The resource cost was immense.

Now, deep within the tomb, rows of stone coffins stood in neat lines, each one covered in carved runes.

After performing the preliminary treatment to turn a batch of zombies into Black Corpses, Lynch had them lie down in the corpse-nurturing coffins one by one. He then commanded them to close the lids themselves. Next, they would slowly gestate inside, absorbing Negative Energy and Evil Qi as they transformed into true Black Corpses.

"Hooo..."

Finishing this batch left Lynch feeling drained, both mentally and physically.

But he wasn’t done yet.

Catherine and Jinke had also brought back a huge number of corpses upon their victorious return, all awaiting his attention.

An expression of both pain and joy spread across Lynch’s face.

For a long while after, he once again entered a state of seclusion.

His days were a blur of activity, spent either cultivating or processing corpses. He was constantly busy, but his life felt exceptionally full.

Fortunately, the process of handling the corpses allowed him to accumulate experience for his ’True’ Skeleton Resurrection Skill, ’True’ Skeleton Enhancement Skill, ’True’ Corpse Resurrection Skill, and ’True’ Zombie Enhancement Skill. His proficiency with these skills was skyrocketing, so it was a rewarding endeavor all around.

Meanwhile, as Lynch was busy processing his spoils of war and cultivating...

「Orlando City, North Wind Legion Headquarters.」

Inside the private office of Desari, the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Strategy Department.

The middle-aged man, who wore gold-rimmed glasses and had a somewhat effeminate face, sat expressionlessly behind his desk.

He held a battle report in his hand, his eyes reading the same lines over and over through his lenses—the report from the Iron Wall Battle Group and Lakefront Town’s Ninth Battle Battalion.

"Lynch Blackwood..."

Desari muttered, his brow deeply furrowed.

’There is one thing I just can’t figure out.’

’How in the world did Lynch discover that ’Blood Hand’ Johnny was planning to raid Lakefront Town!?’

’The plan was supposed to be flawless. After all, I, the Deputy Chief of Staff, was the one to subtly guide events and push it forward from behind the scenes.’

’But somehow, Lynch not only learned of it in advance but even set up an ambush, completely annihilating ’Blood Hand’ Johnny’s two thousand elite troops in Gray Claw Gorge.’