Chapter 142: Journey Through the Wilderness

On the road, Lando learned from his fellow passengers the reasons behind the unrest in the south.

Essentially, a group of slave miners, unable to endure their grueling daily labor, had risen in revolt. In itself, this was nothing unusual; such events occurred in the south periodically. They were merely starving slaves, and a small detachment of troops would normally suffice to suppress them.

One only needed to execute the ringleaders. The rest would either surrender and return to the mines to toil until they died of exhaustion, or flee into the wilderness, where they would be devoured, flesh and soul, by the undead creatures lurking in the wastes.

But this time was different. Among the leaders of the rebellion was a strange individual—someone powerful, cruel, and, most importantly, someone who refused to be bought off.

Such defiance challenged the bottom line of the Imperial Court. Yet, despite their fury, the authorities in Brock found themselves temporarily powerless against this adversary. As the greatest city in the south, Brock naturally had a legendary powerhouse stationed within its walls. However, this guardian could not easily leave; if they were to depart, a riot of legendary undead from the wilderness could destroy the city in an instant, and that would be far worse than a mere slave uprising.

The city’s three ninth-tier experts had each pursued the rebel leader, but unfortunately, he had escaped every time. The situation had dragged on until a simple matter had festered into a crisis, ultimately forcing them to request reinforcements from the Imperial Court.

The ninth-tier undead grand warlock dispatched by Prince Gige was no ordinary figure. Proficient in all manner of curse magic, he was considered one of the most formidable combatants among the ninth-tier ranks.

With the rebel leader already accounted for, the task for Lando and the other reinforcements was simple. It generally fell into one of two categories: the first was to garrison a mine or resource site, which were common targets for the rebels. This was relatively safe and presented opportunities for personal profit. The second was more dangerous: operating alone or in small squads to scour the mountains and forests for the rebels. If one were to encounter enemy powerhouses or powerful wild undead, one could only pray for their own survival.

The method for calculating merit for individual operations was straightforward: the slave miners were branded on their faces. Killing one and peeling off the skin of their face served as sufficient proof.

Though Lando felt no empathy for the miners, he had no intention of going out of his way to hunt them. He had already planned his course: he intended to head deep into the wilderness to collect legendary-level undead creatures, and for that, he needed to make careful preparations.

After a brief rest, most of Lando’s fellow travelers opted for garrison duty. Lando, naturally, chose to act alone. After politely declining several invitations to join a squad, he left Brock, only to quietly circle back.

His primary objective was to gather intelligence on the wilderness. Given that Brock had stood in the south for so long, he reasoned that even if they lacked detailed maps, they should at least have records of the number and distribution of legendary undead creatures.

Because there was a legendary powerhouse in the city, Lando did not intend to loot the place. The risk of exposure was too high; it simply wasn't worth it. After a quick search and securing the information he needed, he departed Brock in haste and began his adventure in the wilderness.

Once he was sufficiently far from the city, Lando had Little Gray organize and display all the intelligence they had gathered. It included a detailed map of the south under the Imperial Court’s jurisdiction and a rudimentary map of the wilderness.

Marked on the map were the approximate locations of three legendary undead creatures—each a direct threat to Brock.

In the center of the wasteland stood a massive volcano. It had no name until a corpse dragon took up residence there, after which it became known as Corpse Dragon Mountain. Dragon-kind, in any world, represented innate power. Even after being transformed into an undead creature, this remained true. While the corpse dragon was not at the very top of the hierarchy of draconic undead, it was still considered far too dangerous for the local Imperial Court to provoke.

Fortunately, the corpse dragon had inherited the draconic tradition of sleeping. It spent most of its time in deep slumber, waking only occasionally to vent its temper. Once it had slaughtered a few villages or towns, the authorities would present it with treasures, and it would return to its sleep. In a way, it was relatively easy to manage.

To the northwest of Corpse Dragon Mountain lay the Damp Bone Forest, home to a Wraith Lord. This legendary undead possessed an intense, insatiable craving for souls. It had attacked Brock multiple times, hoping to feast, but had failed each time. The Imperial Court had dispatched several legendary powerhouses to suppress it, but due to its unique nature, it always managed to escape. The consequence was that it only harassed Brock more viciously, eventually forcing the Imperial Court to simply leave it be.

If the first two legendary undead were merely threats to Brock, the third made it impossible for the city to sleep in peace.

The wilderness area closest to Brock was known as the Zombie Plains, ruled by a legendary-level Zombie King. The Zombie King’s individual strength was the lowest of the three, but it commanded an army of hundreds of thousands of zombies, many of which were high-level entities. It was the greatest hidden danger to Brock.

After reviewing the data on the three legendary undead, Lando’s eyes glowed with excitement. If he could subdue all of them, he believed he could stand his ground even against the Imperial Court.

The Zombie King was of particular interest to him. Reality was not a game; in a game, if you subdue a boss, the minions immediately elect a new leader for the sake of "game balance." But in reality, if he subdued the Zombie King, he would instantly inherit the entire zombie legion. Should Lando decide to declare himself king in the south, the Imperial Court would likely rush to process the paperwork for him themselves.

Lando closed the map and set off into the wasteland.

***

Sultan Fisher, a ninth-tier undead grand warlock specializing in curse magic, held a prestigious position even among his peers. He had been focusing on preparing for his breakthrough to the legendary realm and had zero interest in the orders from Prince Gige and another high official to handle the miner rebellion in the south. Given his status, he was entitled to refuse, but the rewards offered by the two lords were too enticing. Though the requirement—to capture the rebel leader alive—was slightly strange, he accepted the mission after a moment's consideration.

Upon arriving in Brock, Sultan first paid a visit to the legendary powerhouse within the city. As for the three ninth-tier "trash" who had failed the mission, he did not even deem them worthy of a second glance. After obtaining the intelligence on the rebel leader, he set off alone.

He hoped to finish the task quickly and return. After all, a slave ringleader known as the "Blood Tiger" was nothing more than an ant in his eyes.