Ghost Knight King's Dungeon Project

Chapter 46 [The Rusty Copper Woods and the Evil Spirit of Copper]

Thousands of strange, bluish-green trees stood before me, forming a dense forest of shadows. Their bark was charred black, rough, and speckled with a bluish-green, coppery patina, faintly gleaming with a grayish-green metallic sheen. The roots and branches were sickly and deformed, almost like wildly proliferating tentacles.

The leaves on the branches are small, dense, tough, and serrated at the edges. From a distance, they don't look like leaves at all, but rather like the dense bluish mold spots on the giant corpse monster's hand.

The strange trees in the woods were scattered at dark angles, casting countless claw-like shadows in the dim light of the sky. A faint white mist, cold and damp, lingered among them, like a sticky, long tongue, silently licking every creature.

The ground was covered with a layer of fine, withered leaves and a few scattered, unidentified shade-loving plants.

Scattered bones lay on the ground, but due to the suppressive aura of a high-ranking undead, no movement was heard from any undead constructs.

"We've entered the demonic realm outside the Heart of Bones. Summon your demonic beast servants." Old Duke jumped out of the car and directed the exiles to set up camp and prepare to gather materials. "Make sure to leave demonic beast sentries on the perimeter. If any adventurers approach, disguise yourselves immediately."

The demon exiles stretched their bodies, opened their arms in the woods, and began to summon and command the demonic beasts hidden in the natural environment surrounding the Soul Heart.

Beside the gnarled roots of the rusty copper tree, a large gray stone was pushed open, revealing a tunnel and entrance covered with roots underneath.

Seven or eight hard-skinned taro plants with wooden horns on their heads kicked and pushed aside the stones at the tunnel entrance with their tiny claws and feet made of roots, and crawled out of the earthen hole, standing shakily at attention in front of the demon exiles.

Like plants, taro tubers are found all over the world, with different shapes and habits depending on the environment and vegetation. The long-legged taro in front of us is a subspecies of taro tuber from the Skeletonheart Plains-Stained Copper Forest, also known locally as the "Horned Taro Monster". It has a single hardwood horn on its head, which is a remnant of the stem from which the taro tuber connects to the plant.

The soil in seven or eight patches of woodland was also turned upside down, and the fat, slug-like Roaring Soil and the shield beetle with its heavy shell shook off the soil camouflage sticking to its body and crawled out of the ground.

"Why summon this? Do you expect Fatty the Slug to set up your tent and carry your stuff?" Old Duke scolded a young exile. "Replace it, replace it! It's disgusting!"

Talia looked around, a faint blue light flashing in her eyes.

A dozen or so skinless, monkey-like, six-limbed bizarre creatures answered the call and emerged from the shadows between the tree canopy and branches. They were as thin as stick insects, with wrinkled, charred skin, and clung to the tree trunks with long, thin claws like human hands. They blended into the shadows of the copper-rusted tree branches, mimicking tree twigs, with ugly, round mouths like sawdust and dark eyes like some kind of strange alien.

"There are also tree monkeys here, a common magical beast in forest environments—the subspecies of the Skeleton Heart looks much uglier than the normal tree monkeys," Talia said in a low voice, controlling the monkey troop to help unload cargo from the exile wagons and set up tents.

Cargo-shaped, rotten root balls, laden with goods, swayed and trotted about, carrying the items to their designated places. Tree ghost monkeys, like dancing stick insects, hopped and leaped between the wagons in bizarre fashion, using their long, slender, agile claws to grab long poles and tarpaulins, setting up makeshift tents. It was as if a wizard from a Disney animation was summoning his servants to sing and dance.

Normal horses would feel uneasy in such a bizarre environment, but the dwarf horses transformed into chimeras of magical beasts showed little panic. They stood calmly, their mouths open to reveal the inner dentary in their throats, rummaging through the ground and nibbling on the enchanted plants.

Amidst a bizarre scene of bustling magical creatures, Samael thoughtfully placed his hand on the rusty bronze tree beside him.

The scanner is now enabled.

[Industrial Ecological Plant Type 1, Copper-Specialized.]

[It can accumulate copper from underground.]

“Strange.” He slowly raised his helmet, gazing at the vast forest before him. “Is there a large amount of copper underground here?”

The Nether Bronze Generator is now enabled.

With a low, buzzing sound, spiderweb-like cracks slowly appeared on a bronze tree, starting from where Samael's palm touched it. A bluish-green substance gathered along the cracks in his palm.

[Replenishing with Hellfire copper...]

The reserves of funerary copper are full.

Crack! The entire rusted copper tree shattered instantly, the copper-drained center turning into scattered wood chips, the fibers mixed with wood dust exuding a metallic scent. The upper half of the rusted copper tree broke off and collapsed forward.

"Oh!" Samael hurriedly grabbed the broken half of the tree trunk, using the immense strength of the undead to hold onto the heavy half before hitting the ground.

Amidst the deafening crash of the tree trunk bursting open, the exiles stopped what they were doing and looked up at him, who was embracing half of a rusty bronze tree trunk in the manner of uprooting a willow tree.

“…I’m sorry.” Samael awkwardly put the heavy tree trunk down gently.

"You can break a rusty copper tree in half?" Archie looked at him. "This thing is incredibly hard. The adventurer outpost, Gold Rush, is close to the woodland, and they use logs from this tree to build their houses. Just cut it down, trim the bark, and it's good as building material. They don't need to repair it for decades."

“There’s a lot of copper in here, no wonder it’s so hard…” Samael answered subconsciously, then suddenly realized something important, “Does Gold Rush City often use rusted copper logs to build houses?”

"Yes."

Samael slowly shook his head.

"How long will they live in a house like this?" he asked in a low voice.

“At most a year or two? Three years is considered a warrior’s time,” Gwyneth said. “It’s rare to find someone willing to stay in Gold Rush City for more than a year. Veteran adventurers know that the Plains of Bones is cursed. Those who come here are usually brave and skeptical newcomers, but they usually only stay for a few months. Timid adventurers are scared away by all sorts of strange phenomena after two or three days.”

“Chronic copper poisoning,” Samael said in a low voice. “Neurosis, brain damage, anemia and impaired liver function... vomiting and diarrhea.”

He recalled the pale-faced people he had seen in Gold Rush City, the irritable adventurers who would punch each other at the slightest disagreement, and the Alliance guards who stood on the street, lost in thought like idiots.

The neurasthenia caused by copper poisoning in the body leads to irritability and absent-mindedness; pale complexion is likely a symptom of anemia and weakness. Frequent vomiting and diarrhea among residents, along with the accumulation of filth, can also easily cause disease and epidemics.

The broken, rusty copper tree cross-section will scatter copper-containing sawdust. Unprocessed or roughly processed logs will produce copper-containing dust on the broken surface and the outer layer of the bark. Long-term exposure to an environment that emits copper-containing dust can easily lead to heavy metal poisoning.

“They need to reduce their use of these trees and also take chelating agents…” Samuelton paused. The medical level here isn't that advanced.

"Were you once a physician, Sir Samael?" Old Duke stopped manipulating the tree monkeys to set up the tent and looked at Samael. "As far as I know, the latest batch of plague scholars from the Florent Kingdom Medical College are currently reporting to the Alliance, demanding that Gold Rush City stop using Rust Copper Trees as building materials in order to reduce costs, and claiming that this is very important."

“I am not a professional physician, just someone with a little amateur experience—but they are right. I think the scholars of the Kingdom of Florence are indeed very knowledgeable. These trees contain a lot of copper, and the cut surfaces of the wood easily produce copper dust, which can accumulate in the human body and cause many adverse symptoms,” Samael replied. “Elder Duke, how long do your tribal caravans usually stay here when they come to the Heartless Plains?” He looked up and asked old Duke.

"It can range from ten days to several months," old Duke nodded.

"Don't you feel any discomfort?"

“It doesn’t seem so.” Old Duke looked at the group of exiled people, and they all shook their heads.

Space aliens, also known as demons, seem to be immune to heavy element poisoning symptoms... perhaps due to their unique biological structure, allowing them to actively expel unwanted excess elements. However, it's also possible they have stronger resistance, and symptoms may not appear for a longer period. Samael shook his head.

They are immune to psionic toxins, but copper is just a heavy metal, not a psionic toxin. The effects on the Daedric race remain unknown.

He thought, "We might need to use scanners to give everyone regular checkups to prevent diseases and copper poisoning."

The rusted copper trees are a type of surface environmental hazard, similar to the dust storms of the Kanas Plain. Fortunately, the Skeleton Heart Plain has diverse terrain, and the rusted copper forest is not the only surface environmental feature. Furthermore, at least underground cities, or rather, underground colonies, should be able to avoid these effects.

However, the rusted copper forest is not suitable as a site for building an underground city.

"Could you please help me control a few magical beasts... I need to check the status of the magical beasts here," he finally said.

The unicorn-shaped rotten root ball and the tree ghost monkey ran up to him. Samael extended his bronze gauntlet and examined it.

[Plant-type artificial life form, woodland subspecies. Decomposer, Level 0 technological creature, used as a cleaner, environmental maintainer, small-scale excavator, and basic laborer. Can craft and use low-level tools. Can be driven.]

[The methods of activation include, but are not limited to: etheric psionic signals, and psionic implant modifications]

A population size of less than 20 lacks collective intelligence; a population size of more than 50 is required to handle relatively complex tasks.

[Non-toxic, edible.]

[Individual Status: Normal] Non-toxic? It doesn't contain copper at all? Samael reached out and grabbed a unicorn taro, activating the [Nether Copper Generator]—if it contains enough copper, the Nether Copper Generator will extract it after it has been enchanted with Nether Copper.

The unicorn taro kicked its short legs made of roots, completely unaffected by the buzzing bronze generator.

It contains no copper. The subspecies of *Bombyx mori* in rust-copper forest environments has the ability to actively excrete excess copper.

Samael drew his conclusion and grabbed another tree monkey.

[Semi-plant-type artificial life form, limited to woodland environments. Level 3 technological organism, used as a cleaner, environmental maintainer, plant caretaker, and basic forest caretaker. Can use simple tools. Can be driven.]

[The methods of activation include, but are not limited to: etheric psionic signals, and psionic implant modifications]

[A symbiotic relationship with a large plant, where the life cycle is closely dependent on the larger plant and the symbiotic relationship actively cares for the larger plant in the environment. Its life activities contribute to the plant's growth.]

The life form of the subspecies is related to the morphology of large plants in the environment.

Samael extended his Nether Bronze Gauntlet and grasped the Tree Demon Monkey's head with one hand, activating the Nether Bronze Generator.

*Crack!* The tree-monkey's body exploded amidst the buzzing vibrations of the generator, scattering into fragments that were half wood and half flesh. Samael was left with only a spine forged from Nether Bronze.

The reserves of funerary copper are full.

Different magical beasts have different characteristics, and the biological structure of the Tree Demon Monkey subspecies is roughly similar to that of the Rust Copper Tree. He shook the Nether Copper Spine extracted and transformed from the Tree Demon Monkey's body, turning it into a Nether Copper Knight's Sword, which he then tucked into his waistband.

He stood up, intending to search for the Rotting Roarer again, but saw the exiles retreating in panic.

"What's wrong... Is there an enemy behind me?" Samael subconsciously turned his head to look, but there was nothing behind him.

“You look a little scary, Samael.” Talia stepped forward and wiped away the splattered pieces of flesh and blood from his armor and half of his helmet with her palm. “You just calmly crushed the head of a monster without saying a word and made a sword from its spine… Standing there silently in front of me, covered in blood, holding a sword pulled from a corpse, it’s hard not to frighten people.”

The blood on the armor's surface was repelled by the bronze, dripping from the helmet and breastplate onto the ground. The shadows cast by the empty gaps in the bronze helmet seemed to lurk evil spirits—perhaps the next second would cause everyone present to bleed profusely.

“That’s much better.” She wiped away the blood, filth, and bits of flesh from Samael’s helmet and breastplate without any disgust, and patted his shoulder armor affectionately.

"Oh, sorry, sorry! I was just thinking about something and my mind wandered for a moment." Samael waved his hands instinctively. "I was just spacing out, not being aloof—don't misunderstand."

“Boss Samael, you sound like a completely different person the moment you open your mouth,” Archie said, peeking out from behind old Duke. “The oppressive aura just vanished.”

“I was a little lost in studying these magical beasts—this isn’t the spine of a magical beast, it’s formed from the copper that accumulates in its body. I just extracted this copper and used it to make equipment…” Samael explained as he quickly walked over to the Rotting Soil Roar next to him.

The Rotten Roarer was not under control. Although it sensed the threat signals from the demons, the fat slug was too slow to escape, so it lay motionless in the pit, trying to pretend that it was a sticky mound of dirt.

As Samael approached, it let out a terrified roar and spat out several dark green, slimy lumps in an attempt to repel Samael. However, the slimy lumps not only failed to cause poisoning, but were even repelled by the Nether Bronze, failing to even stick to the armor's surface to buy time.

[Animal-type artificial life form. Level 2 technological organism, highly adaptable, used as a cleaner, environmental maintainer, petri dish, and biochemical reactor. It can be driven, but has low intelligence and is unable to perform complex tasks.]

[The methods of activation include, but are not limited to: etheric psionic signals, and psionic implant modifications]

[Highly adaptable and resilient; capable of hibernation in the face of severe disasters and extreme environments.]

“You’re a remarkable creature, aren’t you?” Samael slowly crouched down and whispered.

It watched in terror as the tall, hollow bronze armor approached step by step, its gauntlets piercing right through its body.

However, nothing happened amidst the buzzing vibrations.

No copper enrichment was observed.

A living chemical reactor… it can control the reactions of substances within its own body, actively expelling unwanted copper. Perhaps demons also possess similar biological mechanisms. Samael released the incessantly howling Rotten Roar and shook the sticky residue off his gauntlets.

The obese, half-human-sized Roaring Soil Cricket, like a large, pitiful snot bubble, buried itself back into the soil.

“I think I understand… This place is indeed rich, everything is perfect.” Samael turned to look at the crowd. “An excellent location for construction. Although there are many environmental difficulties to overcome, as long as we can excavate and build an underground base—”

“We need at least one Earth-Eating Demon Worm.” Talia nodded. “It should be deeper in the Heart of Bones Plains.”

“We must go deep into the woods… we may have to cross the woods to find it. After all, the Corrupted Woods is not a suitable location for an underground city.” Samael reached out and pressed his hand on the half-broken Corrupted Wood tree trunk at his feet, activating the Nether Copper Generator once again. He extracted copper elements from it, enchanted and shaped them into a Nether Copper kite-shaped shield, then clasped his hands together and forged a long Nether Copper chain.

He swung the chains, wrapping the cold chains around his shoulders and waist like Zartanos in the movie Ghost Rider.

"How deep into the Heartless Plains are we now?" he asked.

"About twenty kilometers," Old Duke estimated. "Very few adventurers dare to venture deep into the Heart of the Corpse. Beyond twenty kilometers, dangerous undead such as Corpse Demons begin to roam. Beyond forty kilometers, it's no longer suitable for demon exiles. After fifty kilometers, most areas begin to be shrouded in an unpredictable fog, and only a very few, such as map-drawing teams with exorbitant bounties from the Alliance and pioneer teams of high-level adventurers, dare to enter."

"Seventy kilometers beyond lies utter unknown—though seventy kilometers is only the beginning of entering the heart of the skeleton."

“So, we’ve only scratched the surface of the Heartless Plains. I need to go deeper—I need to know more.” Samael reached out and grabbed a unicorn taro root ball. Molten bronze flowed and shaped it, forming a bell-shaped helmet on its head. He then broke off a rusty bronze branch and stuffed it into the unicorn taro root ball’s small claws.

Wearing a bronze bell-shaped helmet, the hard-skinned taro ball clung to the rather large rusty bronze branch with its root claws, swaying as it stood at attention like a knight wielding a giant sword, giving a knightly salute.

“I’ll leave it here. When dangerous undead appear nearby, it will knock on its own helmet, emitting a copper resonance signal to drive away the surrounding undead.” Samael picked up the little taro ball and placed it on the roof of the wagon in the center of the camp.

The taro ball clung to the branch, sitting obediently, its bronze bell-shaped helmet scanning the traces of the undead.

"Everyone, please set up camp and rest for a while. I'll go deep into the Heart of Bones to see if I can find the Earth-Eating Demon Worm, and also to select a site for the construction of the underground city."

He turned around, carrying the familiar sword and shield on his back and the chain around his arm, preparing to venture alone into the unknown territory of the Soul Heart.

A jet-black, claw-shaped armor was pressed against his shoulder armor. Samael turned his head, facing Talia's gray eyes.

"You're not planning to let me come along, are you?" Bright gray eyes reflected the cold, empty bronze armor.

“There may be danger ahead,” Samael replied. “I cannot guarantee your safety.”

"Is this your reason for leaving me behind? Is there danger ahead?" Talia looked at him. "Then I'm even more determined to go with you. We're dealing with something that you find dangerous, and it's always good to have an extra helper."

“The point is, I am dead. I have an indestructible necromancy body that cannot be easily destroyed, infected, corrupted, or killed. And you are still alive,” Samael said in a low voice. “In the past, we faced dangers together because I had a well-thought-out plan and sufficient knowledge to ensure your safety. But now, everything in the Plains of Bones is an unknown.”

“It’s rare for you to be so uncertain… You’ve always seemed so confident in the past.” Talia laughed. “You’ve never encountered Earth-Eating Insects before, you don’t know their habits, and you don’t know how to tame them. Without me by your side, how do you plan to find and capture Earth-Eating Insects? Are you just wandering around aimlessly, hoping they’ll pop out of the ground and trip you up? And the location of the dungeon needs to take into account the living environment of magical beasts, so at least one demon should accompany you, right?”

“…” Samael fell silent.

“You like taking care of others, but who will take care of you?” Talia placed her hand on his shoulder armor. “Tip: Look at the person in front of you.”

Samael gazed at her silently.

“Let’s go, partner,” he finally said.

Talia put on her helmet and dragged her hammer and spear.

The two walked side by side into the mist deep within the rusty copper forest.

(End of this chapter)