Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 366 Whispers of the Ruins: The Eastern Xia's Choice (Next chapter is censored and awaiting revision and judgment)
Since the outbreak of the war, the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent's command post has moved from that small Japanese-style room in Kyoto with its falling maple leaves to this permanent underground fortification.

Despite living in this dark and sunless underground world, these powerful families who control the lifeline of the sea serpents stubbornly, even to an extreme degree, maintain that morbid refinement—a national characteristic deeply rooted in their bones.

With limited land and scarce resources, they could only make do with what little they had, desperately trying to create all sorts of absurd "the way of the immortals" and "the beauty of wabi-sabi".

For example, they really went to great lengths to create a courtyard inside this underground fortification.

The courtyard, located in the southwest corner of the construction site, occupies only thirty taels of land, yet it has been meticulously planned and is quite unique.

The four walls are made of cold gray explosion-proof concrete. The original gray-white color has been deliberately painted with a layer of dark ochre paint to simulate a rough texture of soil. Several pale white LED lights are suspended on the courtyard wall. The lights have been deliberately dimmed and warmed to simulate a dim yellow mood of sunset.

This was the first time that Kishimoto Kenichiro had come to this deep underground cave. When he entered this small courtyard, he was even a little dazed.

What an exquisite dry landscape garden!
In the center of the courtyard stood five dark rocks, varying in size and arranged in a pleasing manner. The surface of the rocks was covered with natural honeycomb-like holes—volcanic rocks collected from the nearby sea, which had undergone special acid washing, polishing, and carving, making them look no different from the original mountain rocks.

Like the most sophisticated no-makeup makeup, it makes you look even more natural than if you weren't wearing any makeup at all.

The ground was paved with a mixture of white sand, quartz sand, finely ground gray slag, and a small amount of reflective mica powder. After being spread evenly, the craftsmen of the family used rakes to create layers of ripples, with the arcs going from dense to sparse, one wave pushing another, rippling outwards from the center of the courtyard.

This artistic conception is clearly the work of a top master!

In a corner of the courtyard, a tea table was set up on anti-corrosion wood, complete with dozens of tea utensils such as a stove, tea kettle, tea caddy, and whisk. Several elderly men dressed in simple dark blue kimonos knelt on cushions beside the tea table, looking relaxed and languid, with their eyes lowered, as if meditating.

The man in the center was so thin he looked like a skinned skeleton, and the dense age spots on his face looked like splashes of ink in the dim light. He was the true mastermind behind the Sea Serpent Empire, and everyone respectfully called him "Royal Attendant." In reality, even the Serpent Emperor, who was called "Royal Empress," could only bow down to him.

"Kenichiro's here, please have a seat!"

Kenichiro Kishi sat down, and one of the elderly men picked up a plain gold teapot and poured a cup of tea into the white ceramic bowl in front of him.

As Anxin got closer, he realized that the stove, charcoal hopper, and fire tongs were all just for show; the water was boiled using a small electric stove.

The old man noticed Anxin's gaze, his wrinkles twitched, and he smiled as he explained.

“The ventilation underground is not as good as outside. When burning binchotan charcoal, the smoke is thick and not good for your health.”

"Besides, this is a difficult time for the country, and we can't afford to be so ostentatious."

The old man stretched out his withered, twig-like fingers and gently brushed them across the iron tea kettle with hammered patterns. "What a pity, this is a tea kettle from the Matsunaga family!"

Kenichiro Kishi picked up the teacup with both hands, took a sip, and gently put it back in its place.

At this moment, Commander Anxin was not in the mood for tea; he was there to await questions.

"Tell me, what's the situation outside right now?"

Kenichiro Kishi took out several thin folders from his bag, held them out with both hands, and handed them to the bigwigs present in turn with impeccable respect.

"Reporting to Your Majesty and all Your Excellencies!"

"Despite the Bald Eagles' repeated attempts to suppress information and exert pressure, according to multiple confirmations from our intelligence system, all the clues are now beyond doubt—the source of this large-scale 'mutant infection' incident is the Bald Eagles!"

"Without exception, all the initial outbreak points of the 'mutations' were located within our country's territory, near or directly within the 'temporary refugee resettlement area' under the jurisdiction of the Bald Eagle military base."

"Every single one, without exception!"

"This probability distribution could not possibly be caused by natural or accidental factors."

Unfolding a map covered with densely packed red dots, Kenichiro Kishi took a deep breath and continued:
"A preliminary analysis report from a joint expert group of the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare suggests that this is very much like a planned and systematic large-scale test experiment of human biological warfare agents."

"Bald eagles have a long tradition of conducting biochemical experiments on living people. Chief consultant Professor Asaguchi believes that this may be because the bald eagles needed to conduct large-scale experiments on a special source of infection in order to deal with Dongxia, but the situation accidentally got out of control!"

“Even…even…”

The old man raised his head, a cold glint in his cloudy eyes: "Speak, what can't you say at a time like this?"

"Furthermore... my subordinates and the General Staff believe that the timing and intensity of the 'punitive' beyond-visual-range strike launched by Dongxia against our country may have been within the calculations of the Bald Eagle. They may even have been the ones who orchestrated it."

"Their goal may be to create a large-scale collapse of social order and a refugee crisis in our country, so as to provide a continuous, easily controlled and 'unnoticed' pool of living samples for their subsequent 'experiments'."

The old man at the head of the table stretched out his withered right hand, used an ivory tea scoop to scoop a small amount of emerald green matcha powder from the lacquer box, slowly poured it onto his left hand, and then gently rubbed it, letting the tea powder flow into the tea bowl like sand flowing from his fingertips.

He added water and stirred it a few times with a tea whisk, then let out a soft sigh.

"I'm getting old, I can't even whip up the foam evenly anymore."

"If your mind isn't calm and your hands aren't steady, it's truly time for you to die!"

"Lord Kenichiro, tell me, just how bad is the situation now, and is it still salvageable?"

"Reporting to the Emperor, the entire Ministry of Defense is doing its utmost."

Upon hearing Kenichiro Kishi's words, the faces of the bigwigs present all darkened.

This situation is unlikely to improve.

In the bureaucratic discourse of the Sea Serpent, saying "I'm trying" is almost the same as saying "I'm powerless" and "I'm about to bow down."

Kenichiro Kishi didn't keep the big shots waiting any longer. He took a step back decisively, bent over, and his forehead slammed heavily against the cold floor.

"Because of the attack by Dongxia, the naval and air force structures have been almost completely destroyed, and the army has also seen a large number of deserters. In addition, the 'National Volunteer Army' recruited in the last round of emergency recruitment is poorly trained, has low morale, and is not of great use. At present, the total number of troops that can be mobilized is less than 150,000."

"Among them, the General Staff assessed that only 30% of the units had sufficient morale and ammunition and were 'capable of carrying out offensive missions'."

"There are more than 30 temporary resettlement bases where abnormalities have occurred, and we simply cannot take care of them all."

"Please forgive my incompetence! The situation... is on the verge of complete collapse."

Commander Kishi Shin remained bent over with his buttocks sticking out, and his voice came clearly from below:

"Since the outbreak of the 'mutation incident,' the death toll has been difficult to accurately count because most of the infected areas are inaccessible. However, preliminary estimates suggest that, excluding refugees still stranded in military camps, the number of 'mutants' confirmed to have spilled over from resettlement areas and spread in the wild or suburbs is at least 300,000."

“These ‘mutants’ are moving toward the southern industrial region and densely populated areas on the outskirts of the capital region.”

"According to fragmented reports from local governments, the number of people injured or missing due to 'mutants' or other related causes is at least over one million."

Taking a deep breath, Anxin continued:
"Our current Serpent Guard forces can barely maintain the defense of the capital region and a few major cities. We are powerless to defend the surrounding cities, towns, and villages!"

A deathly silence fell over the scene.

The sea serpent has thoroughly studied this thing called the "mutant," and its conclusion is that while it is indeed terrifying, being a "ghost of the dead," it is not particularly powerful.

Although it possesses immense strength, it is slow in movement and lacks agility and flexibility. It is virtually impossible to catch up with people, and it struggles even to cross a deep drainage ditch. In the face of firearms, it is nothing more than a lump of frozen meat.

The problem is that they don't seem to have any vital organs in the traditional sense. Even if the heart or brain is pierced, it can only slow down their movements slightly.

They will continue to writhe and attack, dragging their remains, unless their limbs are broken or shattered by large-caliber weapons or completely incinerated by incendiary weapons.

For ordinary people, this is an unsolvable problem. Even for local police forces, small-caliber pistols and shotguns cannot inflict any effective damage on it.

They need no rest and spread day and night. Even if they move slowly, they are still a deadly threat to fleeing people who have families, blocked roads, and lack of supplies.

"Residents in many areas have completely lost their composure. The massive panic fleeing has triggered a chain reaction of stampedes, traffic accidents, and supply chain disruptions. The blockage of the road system has increased the difficulty for people to escape..." The old man at the head of the table suddenly spoke up, interrupting Kenichiro Kishi's report: "That's enough, Kenichi!"

"We are now aware of the current situation. What I need you to tell us is how you plan to handle this?"

"Upon returning to the capital, we have implemented maximum communication control and network shutdowns in all confirmed and suspected 'mutation' areas, as well as surrounding areas that may cause panic, to prevent the spread of images and messages and to avoid causing a wider range of... adverse effects."

"Contract the defense line, redeploy the core forces with remaining combat power to the three major metropolitan areas, and deploy police forces and second-line snake guards on the outer perimeter to guard and... delay the enemy."

An old man who had been looking down with his eyes lowered as if in deep meditation suddenly opened his eyelids, swaying his body unsteadily as if trying to stand up, but ultimately failed to do so.

"The second-line Snake Guard can't even defeat a few wild bears. Sending them to defend against the 'mutants' is practically the same as abandoning them."

"This...this is a betrayal of the people!"

"Let him finish speaking!"

The emperor at the head of the table interrupted the old man's questioning, and Kishi Shin Kenichiro bowed deeply, somewhat with difficulty, and said the last solution.

"To quell the situation, firstly, the bald eagles must stop these infection experiments, and secondly, a strong armed force must intervene. As you all know, our country's defense is not in the snake's territory, but is entirely in the hands of the bald eagles."

"To ask the poisoner for an antidote is... I'm afraid it's like a lamb entering a tiger's den!"

"I have spoken with General Wilson, the commander of the White Eagle Fleet, several times, and he has been vague and repeatedly emphasized that the situation is 'complex' and that he has 'insufficient authority'!"

"The best course of action now is perhaps... perhaps only by letting the situation deteriorate further, jeopardizing the safety of personnel and assets at the White Eagle military base, that there might be a chance..."

The meaning is quite clear once the matter has been discussed to this extent.

The sea serpent is already overwhelmed, and its elder brother, the bald eagle, is unwilling to take over. Therefore, the only way to force them to clean up the mess is to involve the bald eagle's base on the serpent's territory on a large scale.

"What should we do?"

"Drive...drive more civilians closer to the White Eagle's base!"

In the small dry landscape garden, the virtual "sunset" slowly adjusted its angle, just like the setting sun. The last rays of light coldly fell on the gray and white sand. At first glance, it looked like a solidified, pale tomb.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

For bald eagles, the current situation is a mixed blessing.

The good news is that the research sample is extremely rich and the research results are becoming increasingly fruitful.

Although the mechanism by which these sea serpent residents, who have not yet been given the SP-017 inducer, mutated is still unclear, the research on "modified humans" is progressing at breakneck speed with such a massive sample size.

Soon, the expert group from the White Eagle Andrew Joint Biological Institute reached a relatively accurate conclusion.

A “catalytic mechanism” that is not yet fully understood and may involve extraterrestrial life technologies or unknown quantum biological effects is violently activated when the SP-017 inducer reaches a specific environmental threshold.

This catalysis is irreversible and uncontrollable in its individual direction; all citizens of the four-clawed sea snake who have consumed foods such as "poisonous rice" and "pig meat" may suddenly undergo mutations.

Large-scale dissection results showed that SP-017 inducers and their derivatives with higher concentrations and stronger activity could be extracted and purified from these variants.

The chicken lays the egg, and the egg lays the chicken; it's a positive cycle.

Worryingly, these "modified humans" show no gratitude to the bald eagles that painstakingly raised them. Not only do they not understand human language, but they also exhibit strong aggressive tendencies.

Apart from the "mutants" who are also dead, all other creatures seem to be within their attack range.

Although the spread of the mutation has so far followed the White Eagle's prediction, primarily following the O-type gene marker and spreading among the people of Aisha Continent, especially the males, whether secondary or tertiary mutations will occur in the future, and whether they will backfire on the White Eagle's own country, is entirely unpredictable.

After all, White Eagle had experienced this backlash from releasing demons more than once.

We must intensify our experimental efforts and figure out the principles and mechanisms as soon as possible!

And so, the four-clawed sea serpent and the bald eagle embarked on a two-way journey.

In the following few short weeks, the number of mutated four-clawed sea serpents increased exponentially.

In front of global satellites and a few international media outlets that have not yet been blocked, these two countries, which once touted themselves as "models of civilization" and "beacons of human rights"—one that would shut down the entire country to save a sparrow and whose ability to rescue cats during every major disaster moved all of humanity, and the other that scrubs dishes seven times and whose toilet water is drinkable—joined forces to stage a shocking humanitarian disaster.

Essentially, it's just repeating the dirty deeds they did in the past.

Under these circumstances, Dongxia, which had been on high alert, finally received "technical guidance" from the Starry World.

According to the assessment of the necromancers of the [Return to the Cemetery] in the Vast Ocean Territory, these native evil spirit liches, while consuming resources in the process of catalyzing undead creatures, are also constantly growing.

The SP inducer provided by the bald eagle acts as a highly efficient "catalyst," greatly reducing the consumption of evil spirits, thus making the lich's growth rate terrifying.

If left unchecked for too long, it could create a cycle in which undead creatures and liches mutually enhance each other.

In his letter, Chen Mo clearly stated that at this stage, the evil lich can only catalyze zombies and poses almost no threat to armies equipped with firearms. However, as the lich continues to evolve, new and higher-level undead creatures will inevitably appear.

A think tank from the Starry World offered three suggestions for Dongxia.

It's truly been a long time since we finally got to hear the advice and suggestions from the "wandering son" (a person living away from home).

The first approach is to proactively intervene and eliminate the root cause.

Capture and eliminate all the wandering liches, and violently destroy this growing undead ruin.

The advantage is that it has a very high probability of solving the problem once and for all, eliminating future troubles. The disadvantage is that it requires going deep into dangerous areas and may directly clash with the remnants of the White Eagle or Sea Serpent forces, posing the highest political and military risks.

It's not that we can't win, but it's not worth spending so much money and risking a major blow to help someone else get treatment!

The second approach is to cut off their supplies by eliminating their lifeline.

Since the "lich" relies on catalyzing the growth of living people, then before it catalyzes, it should preemptively "dispose" of living people who may become its "materials," thus cutting off the source of the evil spirit's growth.

For example, kill all the living people in that area first, crush them to the point that they can no longer be used, or simply turn them into their own undead, so that the lich does not have the opportunity to catalyze them into the enemy's undead.

The downside is that it will provoke fierce resistance, and there are also some ethical and moral flaws.

The last option is to build high walls and stand by and watch.

They set up various defensive structures, leaving the floodwaters outside to rage and forcing them to fend for themselves.

With Dongxia's national strength and organizational capabilities, as long as it doesn't fall into chaos internally, these slow-moving zombie hordes from the outside are unlikely to pose a real threat. As for how they will ultimately evolve, and how the white eagles and sea serpents will end up, that's up to their own fate.

This suggestion was most likely made by Chen Mo himself; it would be difficult for others to understand Dongxia's special attachment to sea serpents.

How will Dongxia choose?
"The primary principle is to ensure the absolute safety of the Eastern Xia homeland and its people. On this basis..."

"Evaluate which scenario is more efficient and carries the least risk!"

"As for the suffering outside..."

"Respect them and the choices of the government they have chosen."

(End of this chapter)