Ghost Knight King's Dungeon Project

Chapter 51 [The Choices of Helmeted Necromancers and the Ecology of the Zerg Way]

The number of operable psionic implants in the machine has reached its limit (100/100)

The dark blue pop-up window on the helmet's UI was flashing.

tom!
Another rusted bronze tree was felled and dragged by the bell-helmeted undead to Samael's side.

With a buzzing vibration, the transformed Nether Copper was absorbed by Samael's palm. He then placed his hand on the head of a large rotting corpse demon next to him. The semi-molten Nether Copper flowed and transformed into a one-eyed bell-shaped helmet, which was firmly fixed in place.

The controlled corpse demon gave a knightly salute, extended its tendrils and rotting claws, took a sword and shield from Samael's hands, and dragged its heavy, massive body toward the bell-helmeted ranks beside it.

[Warning: Too many psionic implants have been installed on the machine (101/100)]

Exceeding the limit will cause communication disruptions.

Samael scratched his helmet and tried to control a bell-shaped helmeted necromancer to walk over.

Three elite ghouls in bell-shaped helmets took a step forward simultaneously. One tripped over its own leg and fell to the ground with a thud, writhing dazedly. The other two undead took two steps and collided with each other with a clang, sparks flying from their bronze knight armor.

Samael tried to control the two to avoid each other, but instead, more rotting corpses emerged from the queue and began to wander around aimlessly, bumping into each other.

Okay, okay... I can only build a maximum of one hundred elite units. StarCraft matches still have two hundred units per game. Samael resignedly extended his gauntlet and melted down one of the bell-shaped helmets.

The number of operable psionic implants in the machine has reached its limit (100/100)

The pop-up window on the helmet's UI appeared again.

In other words, the other Ghost Knights' elite undead units number at most 100? Samael pondered. If micro-management were required, controlling 100 implants simultaneously would indeed be very difficult, comparable to manually controlling 100 magic units to precisely unleash skills in StarCraft.

No wonder the forces of the six Ghost Knights seemed to have reached a delicate balance in the Plains of Bones. It turns out that there is a limit to the number of elite undead units. Even if they develop for a long time and occupy more resources, it is impossible for them to completely overwhelm the enemy.

No wonder there are so many rusted copper trees in this woodland, yet the other ghost knights seem completely unconcerned.

Under normal circumstances, the demand for copper is not as high as originally thought.

This is the Necromancer's internal war zone. Unarmored units without psionic implants will be affected by the conflicting signals of the Nether Copper resonance between the two sides, standing still and completely useless in the Necromancer's internal war.

Even building a hundred-strong armored undead army entirely made of Nether Bronze wouldn't require an entire Forest of Rusted Bronze. Besides, there are many more Rusted Bronze trees in other areas of the Heart of the Dead, and there are also vast copper mines beneath the Heart of the Dead. Other Ghost Knights, while building and excavating their own tombs, have probably been digging copper until they were sick of it.

In comparison, this patch of rusted copper forest on the outer edge of the land is negligible.

Is there any way to increase the number of psionic implants? He searched through the tech tree entries in the colony construction system.

[Requirement: Signal relay station (Automation Level 5, Communications Level 3)]

"Got it, so we'll have to find the Temple of the Dead again, right? Maybe there's a 'God of Automation' or a 'God of Signals' buried somewhere in this world?" Samael pondered, slowly putting away the Nether Bronze.

The hundred bell-helmeted ghouls in front of them had been carefully selected. Although they varied in appearance, each one was strong and robust. Some of the ghouls even had organic structures unique to the undead, such as Nightmare Tendrils and Enticing Vocal Cords.

If the limit on the number of psionic implants is only one hundred, then the next step is to improve the equipment quality of elite units—the scythe-wielding corpse demons I saw in Rahadur were equipped with a full set of Nether Bronze chainmail and a complete set of Nether Bronze heavy weapons, with blades also embedded in their Nightmare Tentacles.

Other Ghost Knights' elite armored soldiers are probably similar, and may even use stronger undead units as their base—Ghost Knight civil wars rely entirely on the quality of their elite units, so perhaps they should also look for higher-level undead that are stronger than the Corpse Demon.

This is probably why the corpses of the demonic insects are so sought after, to the point that Ansba, the stag-horned frog-beaked knight from the north, went to great lengths to destroy the corpses, preventing Rahador from acquiring new, powerful elite warriors.

High undead as the base... Swamp behemoth? Skeleton warrior?

When I chatted with the exiles before, everyone seemed to be deliberately avoiding this offensive and unpleasant topic, as if they were worried that such a topic would offend the undead Samael, which resulted in Samael not knowing much about high undead.

We need to gather more information and search the surrounding areas to see if we can find any high-level undead that haven't been taken by other ghost riders yet.

Samael counted the number of bell-helmeted undead and suddenly realized there were only 97. Then he realized that the remaining three bell-helmets were on the head of the Drum, Sword and Shield Corpse Demon, helping to direct the other undead at their work site.

The other two bell-shaped helmets were placed on the head of the unicorn taro root ball and in the open space in the middle of the camp, so that exiles going to fetch water or gather materials could carry them with them when leaving the camp to prevent attacks from uncontrolled undead.

This means we've lost three elite units... but it's necessary.

He casually forged another set of Netherbronze breastplates and welded them onto the Corpse Demon's body. Such armor and heavy shields would slow them down slightly, but in a necromancer civil war where everyone wielded Netherbronze weapons, the armor and shields would at least withstand a few more attacks.

Samael put down the Nether Bronze Tree trunk beside him, distributed the knights in bell-shaped helmets around the camp, and planned to check if there was anything else he could help with in the dungeon construction, and also ask about the higher undead.

Archie and several other architects were mixing mortar. Amidst the clattering war drums of the Sword and Shield Knight Armored Corpse Demon, several undead wielded their bronze hammers, smashing the Molten Stone and large chunks of limestone found on the outskirts of the Highgrass Plains into powder.

The architects, including Yachi, manipulated the tree monkeys, using shovels made of rusted copper branches, roots, and planks to scoop up different powders of molten stone and limestone, piling them together and then pouring in water to create a thick, heavy mortar. Some demon architects, finding the tree monkeys too slow, even grabbed shovels and buckets themselves to start mixing the mortar.

Even in another world there's dust... Samael rubbed a piece of dark bronze shovel, intending to go help, but he had only gone halfway when Archie and several other architects screamed at the same time!

"No! Don't come any closer!" Archie shouted. "Boss, the temperature around your body is low, which will affect the setting time of the concrete grout—if it sets prematurely, something bad will happen!"

"Oh, sorry!" Samael retreated repeatedly, gripping the cold, metallic shovel.

Talia has already dug the passageway for the insect tunnels, and the molten stone has been mostly filled by the larvae of the demonic insects. The pouring of the dome is about to begin.

Gwyneth and several other gardeners stood not far away, having just emerged from the worm tunnel with a large group of root rot balls.

The gardeners used psionic signals to drive the root-rot balls, catalyzing plant growth, using the tangled plant roots to reinforce the insect tunnels, and sowing a certain amount of seeds. They were searching for something near the tall grass.

"Is there anything else I can help with, Miss Halder?" Samael melted the bronze shovel and retrieved it, then stepped forward to ask.

“We are looking for suitable soil, Sir Samael.” Gwyneth and several other demon exile girls had mud on their faces. They wanted to lift their skirts to bow, but then realized their hands were covered in mud, so they gently pushed each other forward, letting Gwyneth nod and smile as their representative. “We’ve filled some holes in the dome with soil to provide space for the dormant spores of the luminous fungus to grow.”

They opened their muddy palms to show off tiny, wrinkled fungal balls the size of pigeon eggs.

“They grow in the soil-supported base reserved in the dome, and as they grow, they enlarge the soil-supported holes, allowing other apical creatures to live in them,” Gwyneth explained. “Archie and the others hate these little guys. Because of their presence, the underground city dome required frequent inspections, reinforcements, and repairs every year for the first few years after its construction, adding a lot of work for the architects.” “However, limestone coral polyps can be found in the deeper and older rock strata underground. As long as the limestone coral polyps live on the dome, they will secrete stony substances to reinforce the structure, and Archie and the others won’t have to go through the trouble of inspections every year.” She smiled and pointed to Talia in the distance, who was controlling the larvae of the magical insects.

"Lady Talia is having the demonic insects dig deeper to search for resources in the earth's strata—this task will be much easier once the dome is cast."

“That’s about enough.” Gwyneth gestured to the other gardeners, instructing them to take the root bulbs to fill the last batch of soil holes, while she remained where she was, watching Samael.

"Is there anything you need?" she asked gently.

Having left the human settlement, Gwyneth removed the gauze covering her face, revealing thin, dark blue scales growing faintly where the light red scars on her cheeks once were, symbolizing her demonic identity.

“Miss Halder, I would like to ask about the situation regarding high undead,” Samael replied. “Are there any powerful undead in the Skeleton Heart Plains, besides the swamp trolls and skeleton warriors?”

Gwyneth paused for a moment.

“There are some…rumors.” She shook her head slightly. “Near Oak Knight’s Territory and Gold Rush City, there are rumors that deep within the Heart of Bones there is a [Mist Reaper] wielding a huge scythe, shaking a small bell in the mist, mimicking the speech of a living person, luring adventurers close and then slicing them in two with a single blow. They often lead a large number of low-level undead.”

“Uh…those are my own kind of subordinates,” Samael replied. “Anyone else?”

“Yes, for example, the [Rotten Legion] – a colossal beast formed by the fusion of dozens of rotting demons, a huge lump of flesh with the upper bodies of seven or eight humanoid figures on it, wielding bone spears, bone shields, flesh whips, and flesh crossbows that spray poisonous stings.” Gwyneth seemed a little uncomfortable when such creatures were mentioned.

"There's also the [Sludge Blast], a small, self-destructing monster made of mud. Its body contains unstable fermented liquid and clumps of semi-rotten plant material, almost like a blasting potion bottle. When it explodes, it scatters mud and plant material everywhere. These things even appear in groups and are very common in swamps."

"And the [Bone-Digging Ram] is a massive, horse-shaped skeleton monster made of bones and limestone that digs bones, fossils, and limestone from the soil to reinforce itself."

“If there’s more…maybe some subspecies of swamp trolls? I’m just hearing about it.” Gwyneth shook her head.

“That’s enough. Thank you very much, Miss Halder.” Samael nodded slightly in thanks. “Also, although I’m very busy and tired right now, I would like to trouble you with one more thing. Please forgive me.”

“Nothing… Is there anything I can do to help?” Gwyneth smiled.

“These tall grasses around here,” Samael pointed to the tall grasses that surrounded the area, extending his bronze gauntlet, “are their seeds edible?”

“Hmm?” Gwyneth seemed a little surprised. “I’m not sure… We haven’t encountered this plant before. Maybe it’s a subspecies unique to Skeleton Heart.”

She bent down and picked up a tall blade of grass, searching for seeds at the tip of the blade.

The seeds are pale brown, hard, and only half the size of a wheat grain.

“Perhaps it is. But the quantity is far too small. To go through the trouble of collecting such a small number of seeds might not be worthwhile.” She pondered, “How did you know that?”

“I have a method to determine the potential role of plants and animals in our underground colony—I mean, in our underground city,” Samael replied. “The information I have mentions that there is a symbiotic relationship between plants and animals, and that the care of the animals can increase seed production—perhaps a gardener as skilled as Miss Halders knows something about these symbiotic relationships.”

“Ah…you flatter me.” Gwyneth blushed slightly. “These symbiotic plants and animals are indeed a common phenomenon in the psionic garden ecosystem of the dungeon. The most famous example is the complex symbiotic relationship between the root rot ball and other plants and animals. However, the tall grass symbiotic species here may have been slaughtered to a very small number by the undead, or even become extinct.”

“Is that so?” Samael seemed a little disappointed. “I thought these seeds might solve some of the food problem.”

“Don’t worry, we brought seeds, and the garden ecosystem should be established quickly. Food shouldn’t be a problem then. Besides, we can also look for edible plants and animals in the surrounding area. Gardeners have some knowledge of the characteristics of plants and animals, and they can easily determine whether unfamiliar plants and animals are edible,” Gwyneth explained.

“We’ve already discovered several enchanted shrubs in the previous Rust Copper Woodland. Their berries and root tubers can sustain us for a while. Besides, the vegetation in the Mossy Plains to the north and the swamp terrain to the south may be even more lush and resource-rich. There also seems to be a huge lake deep in the mist to the east, where we could even fish or raise fish in the dungeon.”

“Uh… if I’m not mistaken, those seem to be the territories of my kind.” Samael hesitated.

Several ghost knights are hogging the natural resources these living beings need, even though they don't use them themselves, and they refuse to give them up. Must we wage war against them so that the dungeon can have more species and natural resources?

If they don't need these natural resources at all, could we negotiate to exchange some species resources?
Or, why not simply send elite bell-helmeted undead to secretly cross the border and gather some back? After all, they only care about minerals, corpses, and undead resources, not these plants and animals.

So far, I've only had direct contact and communication with one Ghost Knight, Rahador. He's quite cunning and seems like a two-faced scoundrel, so it's hard to say whether we can negotiate. I wonder what the other Ghost Knights are like.

Just as she was thinking, Gwyneth suddenly seemed to notice something, and carefully bent down to look at a certain spot in the tall grass in front of her.

Hmm? Samael followed her gaze.

On a grass stalk, there was a small gray mouse, no bigger than a walnut, using its pink paws to slowly climb up the two-meter-high stalk.

After climbing up, it bit open the seed pod at the top of the grass stalk, stuffed the seeds inside one by one into the cheek pouches on its face, and then released its paws from the grass stalk.

*Thud.* With a soft sound, it fell directly from the top of the grass stalk. But it was small, and the grass blades provided cushioning as it fell. After the little gray mouse landed on the soil surface, it simply shook off the dirt, slipped through the soil between the roots, and burrowed into a hole.

“I think its symbiotic species are not completely extinct,” Gwyneth whispered.

"How do we protect it? Does it need to be raised?" Samael asked, a little nervously.

“No, no, it’s alright. I think doing nothing is enough—because you’ve already taken control of the undead in this area. They’ve become strong laborers building the dungeons and no longer hunt living creatures in the environment. With fewer predators, their numbers will increase automatically.” Gwyneth smiled. “Actually, what we should be worried about now is what to do when they multiply too much with the tall grass.”

“There’s no need to worry. You can always trust the necromantic power of the undead, whether they are animals or plants.” Samael smiled, with the tendril undead carrying long bronze swords standing quietly behind him.

“It’s getting colder and colder.” Gwyneth stood up and looked at the sky above. “It may start snowing soon—although the Heartless Plains can no longer be considered a northern region, the winter temperature will still drop significantly.”

"Do you need me to arrange for the necromancers to build a temporary surface dwelling first?" Samael asked.

Gwyneth shook her head.

“The worm tunnels have been reinforced with the root-rot balls, and the worm tunnel trees, tendril ferns, and bioluminescent fungi have been planted and are currently undergoing catalytic growth. If it snows, we can stay in the outer worm tunnels for now. The thick root walls and soil will prevent heat loss—which is why the underground city is like spring all year round,” she replied. “In addition, the underground dome will be completed in two days. At that time, we can move the entire structure underground and begin planting underground gardens, transforming the ecology, and building the underground castle.”

It sounds like everything is going well.

Samael suppressed his unease.

Perhaps that's how it is—perhaps most things in the world are like this: before starting, we're filled with anxiety, thinking about how many difficulties and dangers there will be, and devising various countermeasures. But once we actually start doing it, we find that everything isn't so difficult. The hardest step is actually letting go of our worries, mustering our courage, and taking action.

(End of this chapter)