Chapter 16: Battle for the Lumberyard

Deirdre quietly explained everything to Li Bin. It turned out that the valley where Li Bin was located was the only place on the Bloodthirsty Wasteland continent where tall trees grew. Though this was a game, everything still had to follow certain rules, and so the three lumber mills built within the valley became the only ones on the continent.

Across the continent, apart from the level 7 city Bloodthirst City, there were fourteen settlements of level 3 or below and five towns below level 6. All city construction required vast amounts of timber, making these three lumber mills the focal point of competition among the city lords.

To prevent the cities from squandering too much of their military strength over the lumber mills, under the leadership of Bloodthirst City, the city lords agreed to a pact. According to their agreement, one lumber mill would belong to Bloodthirst City, while the others would be contested through minor battles. Each time, the victor could only control a lumber mill for one week, and would be barred from participating in the next week’s contest.

This arrangement brought a few days of true peace to the valley, but before long, the city lords grew weary. They lacked the troops to wage battles week after week. Just as conflict was about to break out again, one city lord devised a solution: he posted quests, inviting players to fight for control of the lumber mills...

After hearing Deirdre’s explanation, Li Bin finally understood his predicament. He had wandered unintentionally into the lumber mill contest zone, and tomorrow was the very day the next battle would begin. If he couldn’t leave the area by then, he would automatically be considered a participant in the contest.

That would mean a true free-for-all, a chaotic melee where, legend had it, all players in the area fought until only one remained. The victor would claim control of the lumber mill and declare which city they had fought for, thus earning that city’s bounty.

Knowing the hidden talents among the player base, Li Bin had no intention of sacrificing his troops here. He quickly directed Lidas to determine their position, hoping to find the quickest way out of this troubled place.

To his disappointment, no matter which route he took, he could not escape the contest zone before the deadline.

Realizing he could not avoid a hard battle, Li Bin simply halted on the spot. He summoned the ghostly crow to call to Tordina, instructing her to hurry through the night with the Graveyard Demon in hopes of bolstering his forces before the contest began.

Tordina did not let him down. Before dawn, she arrived with the upgraded Graveyard Demon.

Now, the Graveyard Demon could be considered the equivalent of a level 3 settlement. Viewed from outside, it appeared as a vast cemetery spanning over a thousand square meters. Thick white mist shrouded the graveyard, with occasional wisps of ghostly fire or drifting spirits gliding through the haze.

Beneath the mist, layers of tombstones stood upon gray-black earth that still gave off faint warmth. Scattered across the ground were countless fragments of bone, and unless one looked closely, it was easy to miss the many blue medicinal herbs growing among them.

Encircling the graveyard was a nearly rusted iron fence, which, if needed, could merge with the tombstones to form a low wall bristling with spikes. At the heart of the graveyard, the entrance to the mausoleum had grown from just over three meters to more than five, now a two-story structure. On its moss-covered roof flew Li Bin’s Storm Butterfly banner.

To the right of the mausoleum stood a soaring cypress tree, seven meters tall, its branches crowded with fist-sized ghost crows.

Inside, the Graveyard Demon had changed dramatically. The underground space was now divided into two levels. Half of the first floor was taken up by a grand council hall, its central pool of negative energy doubled in size. One battalion of ghostly fire slaves maintained the pool, providing negative energy daily equivalent to a thousand gold coins.

Around the hall were three large storerooms, five hero residences, and barracks of various levels—six of level 1, four of level 2, three of level 3, two of level 4, and one of level 5. These not only allowed stationed troops to recover quickly but could also teleport them instantly to any corner of the Graveyard Demon.

The second floor was a newly developed area, housing all functional buildings. Two battalions of ghostly fire slaves, led by a blue-flamed captain, served these facilities. In addition to the original Undead Research Lab, Undead Conversion Array, Skeleton Altar, Corpse Research Institute, and Soul Control Chamber, there was now an Undead Workshop, dedicated to constructing the undead mechanics Li Bin had studied—including even undead scorpions.

There was a Resurrection Chamber, where fallen heroes or Li Bin himself could be best protected, reducing the penalty time for death by four-fifths.

A Data Archive contained all of Li Bin’s research since entering the game, as well as every map he had acquired.

There was also a small temple, though it had no idol yet and was currently used by the priests under Deirdre for rest.

After settling the Graveyard Demon in place, Li Bin quickly led his three heroes inside. Without unnecessary words, he granted all three the right to recruit troops. Of course, he had not forgotten the promise to allow the corpse soldier captain, Bick, to recruit steel corpse soldiers—a privilege that made Bick, as a junior hero, the envy of his peers.

Yet Li Bin felt little joy. The looming chaos weighed heavily on his mind, and he secretly blamed his own carelessness.

But in order to survive the coming melee, Li Bin forced himself to reorganize his troops, devise battle plans, and consider every possible crisis and its solution.

Time slipped by, second after second. Before Li Bin could finish his preparations, a system message rang in his ears: “The Lumber Mill Contest is about to begin. Please prepare for battle.”

Li Bin’s heart tightened as he led his heroes and troops outside the Graveyard Demon, intent on defending it to the last. Whether he ran or surrendered would be decided later.

But as he stepped outside, he found something odd. The other players who had gathered for the contest had brought hardly any troops at all.

One player, whom Li Bin could tell was at least level 6, had only a small squad of level 1 units and was strolling casually about the battlefield.

As soon as Li Bin emerged from the Graveyard Demon, a player hurried over with four or five little troops in tow.

The player called out, “Hey, you must be new here! Just put your troops away and wait it out. Once time’s up, you’ll be fine.”

Li Bin, looking at this wolf-headed player, asked in confusion, “Brother, what’s going on here?”