Volume 9: From Greenleaf to the Undead Chapter 11: The Mission’s End

When Li Bin regained consciousness, he found himself inside the Resurrection Temple in Ghost Butterfly City.

He rose to his feet without bothering to check the final outcome of the battle. Instead, he first opened his character panel to see how many of the heroes who had taken part in the battle had survived.

Apart from Watermoon Sky, who had remained behind in Ghost Butterfly City from the beginning, and Jessica, who had later been sent back, every hero under Li Bin’s command bore the mark: “Killed in battle. Reviving…”

Aska’s final strike had, in effect, wiped out Li Bin’s entire army.

After reading the notifications, Li Bin let out a long sigh. Unlike players, whose heroes could revive after death, his own heroes required not only the Resurrection Temple but also enormous amounts of money and resources supplied by the player.

After transferring all the energy stored in Ghost Butterfly City into the temple, Li Bin received a system notification. The earliest of his heroes would not revive for another seven days. The Nether Dragon Princess, Kadoqin, was even less fortunate. One of her five available revivals had already been used, and the cost had been the highest among all the heroes.

Li Bin sighed softly at the news. After thinking it over, he spent ten times the price required for an ordinary hero, along with half a level’s worth of experience, to place Frostmourne into the Resurrection Temple as well.

He then began searching through the final battle report.

The last notification from the system nearly frightened him out of his wits.

The power of Aska’s final self-destruction had been astonishing. In an instant, it had engulfed half of the territory controlled by the Verdant Expanse Alliance—three-fifths of the northern continent.

The system reported that, following the explosion, all the forests in the region had been destroyed. The land was filled with deathly energy, and no plant could grow there again. Every privately owned city had been annihilated, all public cities had been downgraded, and every mine had collapsed. All players, heroes, and troops within the blast radius had died.

The Verdant Expanse Alliance had been declared destroyed.

At the same time, a new quest appeared in Li Bin’s quest log:

“Vitality versus Death,” the final main quest: “Tell the Truth.”

Inform Kelaosa of the entire situation.

Bring this series of quests to an end.

A small line beneath it stated that the rewards would be distributed only after the main quest had concluded.

Seeing this, Li Bin knew that he could no longer remain in Ghost Butterfly City waiting for his heroes to revive.

He had the Netherworld Ghost Servant summon Watermoon Sky and Jessica.

Then, right in front of them, Li Bin spread out a map depicting the territory of the Verdant Expanse Alliance before its destruction.

He drew a line across it with his finger and said, “Everything south of this line was conquered by Dysia. It belongs to him now. Everything north of this line is currently ownerless land. Therefore, I order you, Jessica, to take your troops and quickly occupy all the public cities. After that, visit the former locations of the private cities and see whether any City Cores can be dug out and recovered.”

Jessica glanced at the map and nodded to show that she understood.

Li Bin then drew a vertical line across the map, beginning at Ghost Butterfly City and pointing straight toward the northernmost part of the continent.

“Your task, Watermoon Sky, is to open a passage along this route as quickly as possible. Once the passage is established, use it as your main axis and occupy all the mines along the way. If you lack manpower, ask Wine Jar to help you. He is a player, so he will be able to revive soon enough.”

Watermoon Sky was particularly fond of occupying mines. He agreed enthusiastically.

Li Bin then assigned tasks to the heroes after their resurrection. Once everything had been arranged, he immediately boarded the Vampire Castle and headed toward the northernmost part of the continent.

After the Vampire Castle flew beyond Dysia’s defensive line, Li Bin soon saw the devastation left behind by Aska’s self-destruction.

The land, once green, had turned completely black. From time to time, thick smoke rose from scattered locations.

A few withered trees stood in lonely isolation across the earth. Countless rivers had been reduced to nothing but dry channels, while the sites of many cities had become little more than fields of ruins.

The farther north they flew, the more pronounced the devastation became. It was especially severe in the desert along the coast. Every grain of sand had turned black, and even the seawater had become a dense, murky darkness.

Li Bin brought the Vampire Castle to a halt near the dunes. With several newly recruited vampire warriors at his side, he walked toward the place where Kelaosa was staying.

When he saw Kelaosa again, Li Bin still felt the immense pressure bearing down upon him. But Kelaosa was no longer the green skeleton he had once been.

His entire body had now turned black, and withered yellow vines filled the gaps between his bones.

The moment he saw Li Bin, he spoke slowly.

“You have come to inform me that the Forest-Densification Plan has failed, haven’t you?”

Li Bin froze for a moment, then nodded.

“Yes. I’m here to tell you that nothing can grow in the northern part of the continent anymore. Your Forest-Densification Plan may never succeed.”

“I knew that the moment Aska died.” Kelaosa sighed softly. “I simply never imagined that you possessed the ability to force Aska to his death. It seems I underestimated you from the beginning. If I had killed you at once, perhaps the entire plan would already have succeeded.”

“But you didn’t, did you?” Li Bin smiled at Kelaosa, his expression calm.

“No. I did nothing, because I was too confident—too confident in the arrangements I had made over all these years. But I was wrong. I lost not only two of my disciples, but also Lord Chanas’s sole remaining chance at resurrection.”

Kelaosa’s voice grew softer and softer.

“So my death has already been decided. But I waited for you to come here for one reason alone…”

At that moment, Li Bin felt the atmosphere around him grow far more sinister. Kelaosa’s voice seemed to come from every direction at once.

“My disciples and I are all quest heroes. None of us will ever revive again. But apart from Aska and Dreamy, I have one other disciple who is a player. He will become your nightmare. He will return to take revenge on you.”

As he finished speaking, Li Bin watched helplessly as the light in Kelaosa’s eyes faded.

Then Kelaosa’s body, like stone weathered by countless years, crumbled before Li Bin’s eyes into dust, which scattered in every direction on the wind.

At that moment, the system notification slowly sounded:

“Player Li Bin, you have completed the concluding quest of ‘Vitality versus Death.’ The system will now calculate your quest rewards…”

After the system completed its calculations, it announced that Li Bin had completed six quests in the series: “Three Days of Energy Replenishment for the Spirit-Mechanical City,” “Intercepting the Pursuers,” “Rescuing Galai City,” “Repelling the Verdant Expanse Alliance’s Ninth Attack,” “The Truth of the Quest,” and “The Holy Unicorn’s Interception.”

He had completed five main quests: “The End of the Forest,” “Stealing the Shepherd’s Whip,” “The Final Battle Against the Verdant Expanse Alliance,” “The Duel with Aska,” and “Tell the Truth.”

As for the side quests: “The Fate of the Dragon Princess,” “Dreamy’s Great Druid Assault,” …