Necromancer, but pre-collapse civilization

　Their bodies were torn apart by the claws of the vengeful spirits, blood and flesh flying everywhere. Their screams came to an abrupt halt, leaving only a desolate silence.

　However, the deaths of these two mercenaries were not without significance.

　Their screams before their deaths served as the best alarm, quickly relayed to the other mercenaries via the communication channel.

　"Seventh Team, go check out the area Locke and his team are responsible for, but be very careful."

　Under the decisive command of the mercenary captain, some of the dozens of mercenaries responsible for guarding the passengers in the shopping plaza began to take action.

　However, by this point, whatever the mercenaries' initial reasons for boarding the Ocean Miracle, their fate was already sealed.

　As the vengeful spirits tore apart the two mercenaries who broke into Moros's room, the necromancer who was studying magical texts in the demiplane also received a warning from his hero panel.

　The suddenly popped-up battle results panel conveyed a message to Moros—a major incident had occurred on the Ocean Wonder.

　Moros quickly put down the book in his hand and opened the demiplane passage leading to the Ocean Wonder.

　As a spellcaster, he still maintained the necessary caution.

　Although Moros could sense that the vengeful spirit had dealt with the intruder, he did not immediately return to Earth.

　On the contrary, Morros first mobilized a team of Vampire Lords to enter the demiplane passage, and only after ensuring safety did he leisurely return to the Ocean Wonder.

　"Mercenaries? Has my whereabouts been exposed? No, if this is Mu Dalu's doing, there's no reason why it would be such a small-scale operation..."

　The mercenaries who boarded the Ocean Miracle were fully armed and well-trained, clearly the elite of the elite.

　However, if they came for the necromancer Moros, this kind of display is clearly not right.

　After the battle in Fuyuan City, the politicians of Mu Continent were well aware that a small number of elite troops could not pose a threat to Moros.

　To kill him, even the technologically renowned Mu Continent would need to exert all its strength and launch a large-scale campaign.

　Just as Moros was pondering whether the mercenaries who boarded the Ocean Miracle were recruited by him, the Seventh Squad, which had been ordered by the mercenary captain to be deployed to the first-class area, also came into Moros's perception.

　Kill them!

　Moros coldly issued the order and then stopped dwelling on the question.

　For a necromancer like him, who was proficient in necromancy, directly interrogating the souls of these mercenaries was obviously a more efficient way to obtain information.

　The battle proceeded very quickly.

　Faced with the vengeful spirits emerging from the walls of the passage and the vampire count who could slice bullets with his sword, the dozen or so mercenaries of the Seventh Squad were powerless to resist.

　They couldn't even hold out for a minute before the entire seventh squad of mercenaries was wiped out.

　"Let me see what you're here for..."

　Muttering to himself, Moros skillfully cast necromancy, extracting the souls of the mercenaries from their mutilated corpses.

　"I'm not dead?"

　"Am I not dead?"

　"How is this going?"

　"..."

　The mercenaries' souls were clearly unaware of their current predicament.

　However, this wasn't the first time Moros had interrogated souls, and he was happy to help these souls understand their current situation.

　Then, after a series of piercing screams, the mercenaries' souls became able to answer any question.

　Through the interrogation of the souls of the mercenaries of the Seventh Squad, Moros also learned the purpose of the mercenaries boarding this large ocean liner.

　Priceless contraband? A renowned scholar researching Honkai energy? These things were hidden on this ship?

　However, this was only the mercenaries' initial plan.

　When they discovered many well-known figures on the passenger list they had collected, their greed began to swell to an extreme.

　Faced with the temptation of a huge ransom, the mercenaries chose to ignore the risk of retaliation and decided to take the plunge.

　They began to verify the identities of the prisoners one by one, and were surprised to find that among the captured passengers were many highly valuable hostages, such as executives of multinational corporations, powerful politicians, and academic celebrities.

　This discovery delighted the mercenaries, who instantly realized that if they could successfully abduct these highly valuable passengers, the ransom they would receive would far exceed the original mission reward.

　The mercenaries were ecstatic at the prospect of such enormous potential profits.

　Having tasted success, the mercenaries decided to thoroughly search the entire Ocean Wonder, leaving no "big fish" unexplored.

　Then there were those two unlucky guys who barged into Moros's room.

　After extracting the last pieces of information from the souls of the mercenaries in the Seventh Squad, Moros directly...

　Some souls were stuffed into a magic crystal.

　For necromancers, the souls of intelligent beings have a variety of uses.

　They can be used to craft powerful magical equipment, refine precious potions, and even serve as materials for crafting high-level undead.

　Although Moros was financially well-off and didn't lack the souls of these mercenaries, he wouldn't refuse such a near-free profit.

　After putting away the magic crystal that contained more than a dozen souls, Moros did not choose to return to the demiplane to avoid the storm that was sweeping across the Ocean Miracle.

　In any case, with his strength, no one on this ship except Alicia could threaten him.

　Given this, Moros is naturally confident that he will be the one who laughs last.

　Thinking of Miss Pink Fairy, a playful smile appeared on Moros's face.

　He knew perfectly well that the hundred or so mercenaries posed no threat to Alicia whatsoever.

　But if Alicia doesn't want to reveal her special abilities, even as the Herrscher of Origin, she'll probably have a headache.

　This is a great opportunity to deepen the relationship!

　With that in mind, Moros had an idea.

Chapter 45 The Changing Situation

　After deciding to participate in this chaos, Moros opened a demiplane portal without hesitation.

　Come forth, my legion!

　As the necromancer gave the order, a large number of undead soldiers poured out from the slowly rotating, blue-fluorescent demiplane passage.

　The lithe skeleton archers wielded bone bows and arrows, their skulls glowing with a soft green light from the soul fire within them; their attacks were precise and deadly.

　Despite their bulky appearance, the sluggish Plague Zombies possess powerful defenses thanks to their bodies modified by necromancy. They can withstand a lot of damage, making them highly cost-effective meat shields on the battlefield.

　Intangible vengeful spirits wandered in and out of the cabin, occasionally emitting chilling wails.

　The vampire counts stood gracefully beside their masters. As noble mid-level undead, they not only possessed formidable combat power but could also assist necromancers in commanding lower-level undead.

　Despite being limited by the battlefield environment, Moros did not bring out the larger and more powerful undead units.

　But with just these low- to mid-level undead, the necromancer was confident enough to conquer the entire Ocean Miracle.

　That's right, Moros's goal was not simply to protect himself.

　If he only wanted to protect himself, then Moros only needed to retreat into the demiplane, and even if a Herrscher came, he would be helpless, let alone a mercenary.

　Of course, the Second Herrscher, the Herrscher of the Void, is an exception!

　Since Moros pulled so many undead soldiers out of the demiplane, he naturally had to get enough benefits in return.

　Not only did he have to help Alicia out of a predicament and improve her relationship with Eden, but Moros also had to retrieve one of the mercenaries' initial mission objectives—the contraband smuggled aboard the Ocean Wonder.

　As for the renowned scholar who studied Honkai energy, Moros lost interest after learning from the information extracted from the mercenary's soul that he was male, rather than the green-haired woman he had been hoping for.

　He was well aware of the value of a system completely different from magic, but Moros understood even better the principle that one should not try to do too much at once.

　After years of learning in the Magic Guild, Moros has a clear understanding of his talents and abilities.

　He possesses exceptional talent in the profession of necromancer, and with enough effort, he could even ascend to the legendary rank on his own.

　However, that was the extent of Moros's talent.

　He was confident that with enough effort and resources, he could advance to the rank of High Legendary (level 25 and above) Necromancer.

　However, Moros was not confident that he could complete the next life level advancement and step into the realm of the Destiny Legend (level 30 and above) on his own.

　Therefore, it would be unwise for Moros to venture into a system completely different from magic.

　Very few people are able to transcend cognitive barriers and ignore the cognitive obstacles between different systems.

　Clearly, Moros is not a prodigy of that caliber.

　Therefore, in Moros's view, continuing to explore the path of the necromancer and focusing on the area he is familiar with is the more suitable choice for him.

　Go! Locate those mercenaries, then guide the combat team to kill them!

　As Moros gave the order, the vengeful spirits quickly merged into the bulkheads of the ship and vanished without a trace.

　With their speed comparable to an AH-64 attack helicopter and their keen sense of perception of living beings, the mission was very simple for the vengeful spirits.

　Next, Moros began to organize his undead soldiers methodically, grouping them into several combat squads.

　Each group is led by a noble vampire count, who commands dozens of plague zombies and skeleton archers.

　In Moros's eyes, such a pairing

　It is sufficient to deal with a mercenary squad like the Seventh Squad.

　After leaving behind the necessary guards, Moros led the vampire counts, who served as his guards, along the passageways inside the Ocean Wonder towards the shopping area in the middle of the ship.

　Based on Moros's understanding of Alicia, she was most likely still lingering in the shopping area at this time.

　Considering the relationship between Alicia and Eden, in the current situation, finding Alicia is equivalent to finding Eden.

　As Morros led the Vampire Earl's Guard toward the shopping district, the mercenaries' commander felt unprecedented pressure.

　After easily capturing the main control room of the Ocean Wonder, they successfully obtained the suitcase containing concentrated Honkai energy condensate.

　Then, while screening the prisoners in the shopping area, they found another part of their mission target—the renowned scholar who specializes in Honkai energy.

　At this point, the mercenaries had actually completed their mission successfully.

　But things went wrong after that.

　Driven by their insatiable greed for the huge ransom, the mercenaries launched a full-scale search for the large ocean liner.

　Then, Locke and his companions, who were searching for someone in first class according to the passenger list, encountered misfortune.

　Initially, the commander did not consider this a serious problem.

　After all, it's to be expected that powerful passengers would retaliate against such a massive cruise ship.

　However, when the screams of the Seventh Squad came through the communication channel, he realized that things had gotten out of control.

　Before the mercenaries' commander could come up with any countermeasures, the communication channel exploded.

　"Ghost!"

　"They've seen us! Run!"

　"Don't run! Open fire, kill them!"

　"Damn it, the bullets aren't working... Ah, don't come any closer, don't come any closer—"

　"Die! Let's die together!"

　"..."

　The mercenary commander listened with a grim face to the screams and chaotic shouts coming from the communication channel, a strong sense of unease rising within him.

　He didn't know what had happened, but he was certain that something serious had occurred on the ship and the situation was completely out of control.

　He took a deep breath, trying to calm his inner turmoil.

　The mercenary commander knew that he had to remain calm, or the entire mercenary force would descend into uncontrollable panic and chaos.

　He shouted loudly into the communication channel.

　"Quickly! Assemble on the lower deck! We're retreating!"

　However, all he received in response were more screams and chaotic shouts.

　By this point, how could the mercenary commander not know that the mercenaries he had sent out were finished?

　Looking up at the mercenaries guarding the prisoners in the shopping plaza, the mercenary commander shouted loudly.

　"Take the mission objective and let's go! To the lower deck!"

　"Boss?"