Chapter 215 - Second Calamity
Han Wu, leading several of his units, launched a direct assault on the bandit king’s secluded cave. Predictably, the bandit king attempted to make yet another escape, but Han Wu had anticipated this move and arrived fully prepared. With swift precision, he issued orders to his Dark Cursed Bugs, who were lying in ambush nearby, to fire a barrage of Shadow Nails, effectively pinning the bandit king in place.
“Wait! Please, don’t kill me! I serve as the informant for the Wei Kingdom’s General Wu Lei! I was specifically instructed to observe this piece of land—”
Despite the bandit king’s frantic squeals, Han Wu remained completely unmoved. He held no interest in the Wei Kingdom or General Wu Lei, and without a moment’s hesitation, he commanded his half-dragon to end the bandit king’s life.
“Transfer all the treasures within this cave into my shelter,” Han Wu instructed. Once back at his base, he set about upgrading his shelter once again. Afterwards, with his eyes gleaming with keen anticipation, he eagerly began the process of tallying the immense fortune he had just plundered.
The chests contained various currency denominations, gold and silver ingots, and sparkling jewelry. However, thanks to the capabilities of his personal interface, Han Wu effortlessly and swiftly converted every single item into readily usable Gold Coins and other essential resources.
[Silver ingot: 10 Gold Coins]
[Gold ingot: 100 Gold Coins]
[Necklace: 300 Gold Coins]
[Hundred-year Agarwood: 2,000 Wood]
[...]
In the midst of converting his recently plundered spoils into useful resources, Han Wu stumbled upon a peculiar item: a massive, finely detailed, hand-drawn map illustrating the local geographical features. Upon closer inspection, he noted with keen interest that significant portions of this hand-drawn map coincided precisely with the topology displayed on his own magical map, leading him to confidently conclude that the newfound map was accurate and reliable.
Upon turning the map over, a detailed drawing of a massive continent was revealed. On the massive map, the region where Han Wu and his fellow students resided appeared as nothing more than a small dot at its center. This dot was, in turn, surrounded by four even more enormous continents, each one tens of thousands of times greater in size.
The four colossal continents were named the Barbaric Lands, the Holy Church, the Black Prison, and the Warring Kingdom. Specifically within the sprawling Warring Kingdom Continent, the territory nearest to Han Wu’s current location was known as the Wei Kingdom.
It became clear to Han Wu that the Wei Kingdom was almost certainly the location the bandit king had desperately mentioned just prior to his demise. This revelation was significant, especially given that the Wei Kingdom itself appeared to be quite massive, most likely several thousand times the size of his relatively small estate.
Within the vast Warring Kingdom Continent, the Wei Kingdom, by itself, spanned approximately one-tenth of the entire Warring Kingdom Continent. The remainder of the continent was fragmented into various other regions, such as Qin, Tang, and Ming, among a multitude of others.
“To think the Warring Kingdom Civilization is so massive! But why didn’t the library contain this information?” he mused, clearly puzzled.
Considering the fact that the Warring Kingdom Civilization and the Divine Civilization were supposed to have close ties with each other, it stood to reason that the Divine Civilization would possess detailed information about this place. Han Wu ultimately came to the conclusion that Imperial College was most likely intentionally withholding complete information from its students. The underlying reasons for such a decision, however, remained a mystery to him.
I should order the Dark Cursed Bugs to continue exploring this region before meeting up with Qin Shuang and Sun Qingnian.
The future felt too distant for him to deal with, so Han Wu decided to concentrate on the present. Just then, an urgent doorbell chime echoed from outside. He immediately knew it was Duan Meng; no one else could’ve rung his doorbell.
As Han Wu ushered Duan Meng inside, her eyes widened with both awe and excitement as she took in his recently upgraded shelter. Han Wu’s Level 7 shelter had expanded considerably once more, now comparable to a small-sized city. Duan Meng’s own Level 5 shelter was, at this point, entirely incomparable to his.
“Han Wu, I never imagined you would achieve something this incredible! You’re simply amazing!”
Han Wu smiled. “Oh, it’s nothing much. I merely had a stroke of luck and managed to nurture a few special units that were particularly well-suited for this place.”
“No, you are quite mistaken on that point,” she responded, playfully wagging a finger in disagreement. “Luck isn’t separate from your abilities—it’s an undeniable part of your strength! Locusts are by nature very fragile creatures, but you, against all odds, have managed to nurture them into such incredibly powerful beings!
“It’s also very difficult to nurture skeletons—their numbers only expand by participating in numerous battles and quite literally stepping over countless fallen corpses... You should seriously consider getting the War Aspect—it’ll definitely help you a lot.”
Her suggestion had been made without much deliberation, but Han Wu himself had taken it quite seriously. He had, in fact, recently begun to delve into the Destruction Aspect, and had already managed to grasp a portion of the essence of destruction itself. He had a feeling that his understanding would expand greatly if he were to obtain the War Aspect.
When examining the intricate connections between Divine Aspects, it became clear that Destruction was always closely associated with War; the two concepts were, in essence, inseparable. This implied that securing the War Aspect would significantly accelerate his comprehension of Destruction. The challenge, however, lay in the fact that the War Aspect, like the Destruction and Death Aspects, was a Rank 5 Divine Aspect, placing it among the rarest and most difficult to obtain.
Han Wu took Duan Meng’s advice into account, filing it away for future reference. After taking a few moments to look around his impressive new shelter and mansion, Duan Meng finally revealed the true purpose of her visit—she was still hoping to rent some skeletons from him.
“I don’t need higher-ranking ones; just the Common ones will do,” she clarified. “I want to employ them as a labor force to gather resources, just like you have. You see, I’ve already set up a lumberyard, a Stone mine and an ore mine back at my estate, but I’m lacking the necessary manpower to put them to use.”
Though Duan Meng’s lizardmen were robust, they were still living beings. This meant they were not only susceptible to injuries during manual labor, but they also consumed large amounts of food. Consequently, she decided to rent some skeletons from Han Wu, as these undead laborers required no food or sleep and could operate tirelessly around the clock.
Han Wu understood all this—he himself was keenly aware of the immense benefits his skeletons provided. Taking a moment to sit down, he began working on a fair rental price for them. Having just acquired a vast sum of money, he had no immediate need for Gold Coins. Instead, with his decision to concentrate on upgrading his shelter, he was now in greater need of raw materials like Wood, Stone, and ore.
He was keenly aware that the small region he currently inhabited meant his resource supply was destined to run out swiftly. His relentless gathering techniques were such that the majority of resource nodes wouldn’t withstand even a few days of exploitation. Therefore, he was counting on Duan Meng to provide him with a reliable and continuous flow of basic resources.
Han Wu laid out his terms: he would supply her with as many skeletons as she wished, under the condition that payment would not be in Gold Coins, but rather in a predetermined amount of basic resources. To illustrate, he would expect a share of Wood if she used his skeletons for logging, ores if they were used for mining, or Stones if they were used for gathering. This way, Duan Meng wouldn’t need to incur a steep capital cost, while Han Wu would simultaneously secure a steady stream of basic resources.
She readily agreed to the proposition, and what followed was a surprisingly vicious negotiation between the two. After much back-and-forth, Han Wu ultimately conceded, agreeing to claim 30% of the total resources gathered by the skeletons, and to seal the deal, both parties signed an agreement.
For a trial run, Duan Meng decided to rent 100,000 skeletons in one go. Han Wu readily agreed, even offering for her to rent even more if she found them insufficient. After seeing her off, he contentedly held on to the signed agreement, pleased with the new arrangement.
Han Wu soon drifted off to sleep. The dawn of the second day soon arrived, and his rest was abruptly shattered by a loud, insistent alarm blaring directly within his mind.
[Outsiders, the Will of the Warring Kingdom Civilization has prepared the second banquet for everyone. Please enjoy it to the fullest!]
Han Wu was abruptly roused from his sleep, shooting up wide awake as a second alarm blared loudly.
[Outsiders, be aware that due to the influence of the Will of the Warring Kingdom Civilization, you are now required to seek out and combine forces with an ally within the next sixty minutes. Be warned that any who do not succeed in this task will be subjected to a random pairing with another participant.]
It suddenly dawned on Han Wu why Duan Meng had relocated her shelter so close to his own, even before the second calamity. She had clearly been anticipating this precise situation all along!
He swiftly dashed out, extending an invitation to Duan Meng to form an alliance with him. In response, their forces began to rally, arranging themselves into neat rows, all awaiting their respective masters’ commands.
The alliance was quickly established, and a simultaneous notification echoed within both their minds.
[Alliance formed. You now have exactly 1 hour and 59 minutes to prepare your supplies. After the end of the timer, you will be transported to a special space designated for war. All spatial abilities and any equipment possessing spatial properties will be completely sealed and rendered inactive while in this combat zone.]
They looked at each other, and a surprising synergy sparked between them.
“It appears the enemies won’t be directing their attacks toward our shelters. Let’s then prioritize taking every supply we can carry, to ensure we’re ready for whatever unexpected challenges might come our way,” Han Wu said.
Duan Meng nodded. “You have the superior army, while I am abundant in supplies. So, you’ll provide the fighting force, and I’ll make sure we have all the provisions we need.”
“No problem.”
Without hesitation, a huge horde of skeletons swarmed into Duan Meng’s storage, each taking as much as it could carry. Han Wu also prepared a lot of breadfruits for food, just in case their provisions ran low. The preparation time soon ended, and an enormous gate materialized in front of their shelters.
The two led their army through the gate without hesitation.