Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 246: Mossvale continent

[Night retreats, dawn arrives]

Today is the last day of the leaderboard event, and Alex is very focused on her ranking.

She checked and saw that she had pulled nearly ten points ahead of the Justice Alliance. They had no chance of catching up.

Indeed, killing Raphaela was the right move, dropping her to lv1 Monarch and severely limiting her development.

Alex stepped out of the palace. The resources seized from the Hardbeard clan had arrived, and Alex processed them, upgrading Undead City.

It took the resources from an orc camp and a dwarf clan to upgrade Undead City by one level.

There were still some surplus resources in the warehouse, which Alex used to charge a few fortress Essence Shards for future use.

Undead City's area expanded again, with a significant portion of its eastern territory now extending into the Dark Forest.

The resources required for the next upgrade were even greater, increasing exponentially each time, making future upgrades more challenging.

"This event is finally almost over, but I'm only lv2 Monarch. It's really frustrating," Xiao Hui said as she entered the palace, wearing a black dress. She complained to Xiao Mu while eating.

Due to the event, for everyone's safety, they hadn't gone out to fight, making their experience gain painfully slow. They had mostly been idle for a week, leaving them at only lv2 Monarch.

Sophie, who hadn't reached Monarch level yet, felt a bit embarrassed hearing this and pretended not to notice.

Meanwhile, in the Desolate Mountains, at Drake's town.

Drake smiled as he looked at the system dashboard. He had found a way to relocate his castle.

This was a new trading method emerging in World Chat, known only to Lords who paid close attention to it.

It involved trading castle locations.

Typically, a lone wolf or a Lord not yet gathered with an Alliance would offer their location for a price before moving to join their allies.

Naturally, this wasn't free. These Lords came up with the idea to profit by selling their location.

They would list a common food item at an exorbitant price, like 100,000 magic crystals, in the trading post.

Interested Lords would then privately message them to get the location and Alliance information for verification.

Drake found a Lord willing to trade their castle location and negotiated a price of 150,000 magic crystals.

The Lord's castle was in a primeval forest, with no further details. As for danger, there was always some risk, but it wasn't overly concerning. Few Lords traded locations, and even fewer could afford to buy them. Such listings often stayed on the trading post for a long time.

If the location were truly dangerous, these Lords would have sought allies long ago. No one would risk their life for money.

However, Drake had to proceed with caution. Having left the Justice Alliance, he knew Raphaela's methods well. She had a unique ability to control Lords without their submission. Drake couldn't be sure this wasn't a trap set by Raphaela.

To be safe, Drake proposed to ally with the other Lord to verify the location.

[Sky Dominator]: "I need to verify the location in person."

[Pink Vibrator]: "You know the location is highly confidential and can't be disclosed without extra payment, right?"

Drake frowned. This was the first time he'd heard of paying extra for verification, but he had no choice and agreed.

[Sky Dominator]: "How much?"

[Pink Vibrator]: "50k!"

[Sky Dominator]: "Deal. Let's start."

[Pink Vibrator]: "No, pay first."

[Sky Dominator]: "I'll pay a 20k deposit first. If it doesn't work out, forget it."

[Pink Vibrator]: "Fine."

The Pink Vibrator's Lord, Lenny, agreed to Drake's alliance request. The Portal of Transit connected, glowing brightly.

Drake stepped through without hesitation, feeling a dizzying sensation before arriving at the new location.

He immediately went on alert, fearing an ambush by Raphaela, but quickly realized there was only a sleazy-looking man waiting for him.

Lenny seemed pleased with the money Drake had paid.

Drake stepped outside the Portal of Transit and was stunned by the surroundings.

The sky was green, with leaves blocking out the sun, creating a Tyndall effect as sunlight filtered through the gaps.

Giant ancient trees surrounded him, one tree trunk even wider than Lenny's town. The town nestled at the tree's roots looked tiny in comparison. Drake had never seen such massive trees.

Even a dragon flying among them would look like a small bird. The sight deeply impressed Drake.

This was indeed a primeval forest, but magnified many times over.

"What do you think of the surroundings?" Lenny asked.

Drake snapped out of his reverie at the question.

"A forest this large can't be without danger."

What kind of creatures lived here? Drake couldn't imagine.

"Information costs money. I risked my life to gather this intel," Lenny said matter-of-factly.

"But considering your interest, I'll give you a discount. Just 5,000 magic crystals, and the information is yours."

Lenny extended his hand.

The information was crucial. To impress Alex, this small amount was nothing.

Thinking this, Drake immediately traded 5,000 magic crystals to Lenny, who smiled upon receiving the payment.

"The creatures here are a type of sub-dragon, giant herbivores with a gentle nature, generally not dangerous.

But beware of the carnivorous dragons. They're violent and prey on herbivorous sub-dragons. However, to them, we're too small to be worth their attention, so they're rarely a threat.

As for strength, most low-tier adult sub-dragons are around Monarch level. They're not very intelligent and lack domains, but they're tough and powerful, stronger than typical Monarchs.

There might be more intelligent sub-dragons, but I haven't seen any yet."

Lenny shared all the information he had, though it was unclear if he held anything back.

Most sub-dragons couldn't fly. As Drake suspected, the creatures in this giant forest were also enormous.

Some bipedal sub-dragons could reach 150 feet, comparable to an adult dragon.

Though not as strong as dragons, they had dragon blood, making them formidable.

"Sub-dragons, huh?"

Drake wondered if this was fate. His troops were dragons, and now he was in a forest full of sub-dragons.

Seeing Drake deep in thought, Lenny worried he might back out. This was a big client.

"Don't worry. I've lived here for over ten days and seen many sub-dragons. I'm still safe, aren't I?"

"No, I like it."

Phew—

Lenny sighed in relief.

"Then don't delay. Move your castle here immediately."

Lenny urged Drake, eager to finalize the deal.

"No rush. I need to observe a bit more."

Drake remained cautious. He had to be thorough.

He inspected the surroundings, finding nothing but endless giant trees. Satisfied, he returned to the town.

Lenny frowned slightly at Drake's caution.

After confirming the area was safe, Drake returned to the town and closed his eyes under Lenny's watchful gaze.

An invisible dragon's aura enveloped the town. Though not as powerful as Raphaela's angelic sense, it was enough to detect any life forms nearby.

Moments later, Drake opened his eyes. The town was empty except for Lenny, with no ambushes. It seemed safe.

"Alright, invite me."

Drake said to the puzzled Lenny, who smiled and used the alliance function to invite Drake.

"Done."

Drake nodded, confirming the invitation and transferring the remaining magic crystals to Lenny.

But Drake didn't return to his castle. He stood there, staring at Lenny, and accepted the invitation.

In just thirty seconds, a town appeared in the primeval forest.

"Welcome to your new domain."

Lenny smiled and left the alliance with Drake. The Portal of Transit dimmed.

"By the way, what's this forest called, and which continent is this?"

Drake almost forgot to ask.

The Portal of Transit glowed again as Lenny rejoined his original alliance.

"These low-intelligence sub-dragons don't name forests. This is the Mossvale Continent."

Lenny seemed in high spirits, grinning widely, likely from the joy of making money.

But after two minutes of staring at each other, Lenny still hadn't left.

"Why aren't you leaving?" Drake asked, puzzled.

"We agreed on 300,000 magic crystals, but you only paid 150,000. How can I explain that to my allies? How can I leave with peace of mind?"

Lenny smiled, his eyes turning sinister. The Portal of Transit glowed as four more Lords emerged, surrounding Drake.

"I advise you to listen to my brother and pay up."

Drake laughed. He hadn't expected these Lords to try and rob him.

"Big brother, stop wasting time. He's just a sucker. Kill him quickly; I have another client waiting," one of the Lords urged.

Their conversation made Drake realize they weren't genuinely selling locations. They lured people in to kill them, having done this many times.

The five Lords drew identical magic wands and began chanting, unaware they had picked the wrong target.

Drake might not match Alex, Raphaela, or Satan, but he was still a top-tier Lord, not someone these small fry could bully.

"I intended to be honest, but you want to rob me. Don't blame me for not leaving you a way out."

Drake's tone was calm, devoid of emotion. A brown domain slowly expanded, unnoticed by the five Lords, who continued to approach with sinister smiles.

Suddenly, they found themselves unable to move. Looking down, they saw their bodies encased in stone, leaving only their heads exposed.

"Oh my, he's a Monarch level!!"

Their eyes filled with terror, realizing they had provoked an unbeatable foe.

They froze for a second, then, unable to break free, began begging for mercy, crying and pleading, ready to kneel if not restrained.

Drake found their noise annoying. With a flick of his finger, the ground's sand formed a sharp blade, slitting their throats.

Blood spurted, and their cries faded. The castle began to shake.

Drake sneered. These Lords could have developed properly but chose robbery, sealing their fate.

After killing the five Lords, the system began tallying their alliance's resources. Drake returned to his castle, awaiting the rewards.

"50K magic crystals?!"

Seeing the amount, even Drake was shocked. How many Lords had these scoundrels robbed?