Chapter 301 163: The Great War is Imminent

"The Undead are gone? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"No one understands the Undead better than I do! They wouldn't just vanish like this!"

"A conspiracy! This is all a conspiracy!"

Inside Komeilan City's City Lord's Mansion, White Hair Pulan's roars echoed endlessly.

After the city gates opened today, a large number of Demonized Creatures returned to the city. This struck the City Defense Army as exceptionally strange. Normally, when they returned, their numbers would be at least halved, but this time, it seemed they had suffered almost no losses.

Driven by curiosity, they went up and asked, receiving a piece of news that stunned the City Defense Army: the Undead were gone.

There wasn't a single Undead in the passages. They were completely empty.

Sensing something was wrong, a City Defense Army officer immediately delivered the news to White Hair Pulan. Pulan was floored. His first reaction was disbelief.

'How is that possible? There were tens of thousands of Undead in those passages. For them to vanish in an instant... is this some kind of magic trick?'

But the fact was, every Demonized Creature that returned told the same story. Their accounts were all consistent: there were no Undead in the passages, and they had returned empty-handed.

White Hair Pulan was now bewildered, unable to make sense of the situation. At the same time, a sense of fear crept into his heart.

'If the Undead are gone, what will happen to the Demonized Creatures in the city?'

They came to Komeilan City precisely because of the Undead. With the Undead gone, they would have no reason to stay. Of course they would leave, and Komeilan City would revert to its former state—a mere frontier town.

For the ambitious White Hair Pulan, having tasted the benefits of the city's rapid development and the sweetness of power, surrender was unthinkable. He couldn't let the Demonized Creatures leave. He couldn't bear the indignity of Komeilan City regressing to its former state simply because the Undead were gone!

"Lord City Lord, they said they reached the very end of the passages. There, they found the hole where the Undead came from. That hole leads to the surface," the City Defense Army officer said helplessly, looking at White Hair Pulan's disheveled clothes and wild hair.

Whether the City Lord believed it or not, no matter how much he roared, it couldn't change the fact that the Undead were gone.

All they could do was figure out what to do next. They could either let the gathered Demonized Creatures disperse or find a way to make them stay. Given the speed at which news of the Undead's disappearance was spreading through Komeilan City, they didn't have much time. They needed White Hair Pulan to come up with a plan.

"Have you sent anyone to investigate? Are there any Undead on the surface?" White Hair Pulan staggered up to the officer, grabbing his collar with both hands and demanding with bloodshot eyes.

"According to the Hunters who went out, they didn't find any Undead, but they did find tracks left behind from their departure." The officer tried to lean back, dodging the spittle flying from White Hair Pulan's mouth.

They had found traces left by the Undead. That meant the Undead were truly gone.

'Damn it!'

'What is wrong with these Undead?'

'Why would they leave so suddenly without a word? Weren't we partners?'

White Hair Pulan released his tight grip on the officer's collar. He walked with heavy steps back behind his desk and sat down, cradling his head in his hands as he sank into thought.

"Lord City Lord, what do we do now?" the officer asked.

"Let me think," White Hair Pulan said, his voice muffled.

"But outside..." The officer wanted to remind him that more and more people must be learning about the Undead's disappearance. They were running out of time.

"Damn it, let me think! I fucking said, I need to think! Get out!" White Hair Pulan suddenly snapped his head up, cutting the officer off with a crazed roar.

The officer jumped in fright. Seeing White Hair Pulan's reddened eyes and the black veins spreading across his skin, he looked on the verge of a frenzy. The officer hastily gave a salute and rushed out.

Only after the officer had left did White Hair Pulan take a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his volatile emotions.

'I can't lose my mind. I have to think carefully!'

Having obtained power and experienced its sweetness, he was absolutely unwilling to let it go. He didn't actually care whether the Undead left or not; after all, he wasn't the one going out to hunt them. That was the Demonized Creatures' business.

What White Hair Pulan truly cared about was whether the Demonized Creatures would leave, and how he could make them stay in Komeilan City.

The Undead had left tracks. 'And tracks can be followed.'

After a long time in thought, he decided to break the unwritten rules of the Underworld. He would send people to the surface to track the Undead. And not just the City Defense Army—any other Demonized Creature who wanted to go could go!

He would tell the other Demonized Creatures of the Underworld that his city not only had Undead and intelligence about them, but also a path to the surface—a way for them to return to the world of their Ancestors!

'Yes, that's it!'

'This way, my Komeilan City will once again become the center of attention.'

White Hair Pulan finally understood. The retreat of the Undead might actually be a blessing in disguise.

Now his selling point wasn't just the Undead; he could add the world of their Ancestors to the list. The same situation, with a little reframing, could produce a much better result. Such was the power of words.

White Hair Pulan chuckled slyly. He called the City Defense Army officer back in and told him his idea.

The City Defense Army officer's eyes widened. Tracking the Undead was one thing—whether they succeeded or not didn't really matter. But this spin... this was brilliant. Going to the surface was normally forbidden in the Underworld, but now, with the Lord City Lord framing it under the banner of returning to the world of their Ancestors, it took on an entirely different meaning.