Chapter 373 187: Main Building of the Fortress

"Let's go inside and take a look first," Zhang Peng said, glancing at the other two.

'Are these guys for real? Getting spooked by statues at our own front door?'

Prompted by Zhang Peng, Li Ziyu nodded and led the other two inside.

Liu Xingxing kept his head tilted up, eyes fixed on the two towering stone statues. He was afraid that if he looked away for even a second, a Lance would come crashing down on his head. The statues were so lifelike, their intimidating presence so overwhelming, that he couldn't help but stare.

The two statues remained perfectly still. Only when they had reached the doorway, putting the statues behind them, did Liu Xingxing finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The great doors stood open, allowing for direct entry. Before stepping into the main building, Li Ziyu paused to examine them. They were a classic Skeleton Undead design, crafted from Splicing bones together. The center of each door depicted a massive Skeleton Undead, surrounded by a multitude of other Undead in various forms. What's more, they were alive, constantly shifting and moving on the door's surface.

Noticing Li Ziyu's attention, the Undead even bowed to him before returning to their previous activities.

'Right. Okay. This is very... fantasy.'

Li Ziyu raised an eyebrow and led the others into the main building.

The moment he stepped into the main building, Li Ziyu froze. Information about the structure flooded his mind. It wasn't an overwhelming amount—nothing like the head-splitting torrent of data he'd received from the Great Tomb. The transfer was complete in just a few seconds.

Li Ziyu turned to look back at the two towering stone statues outside. 'Holy cow,' he thought, 'they really can move!'

The information confirmed that Liu Xingxing's guess was spot on. The two statues were not mere decorations but guardians of the main building. The figures on the doors were guardians as well. If the main building came under attack, Li Ziyu could awaken the two statues to fight the enemy.

The Skeleton Undead on the doors, however, needed no commands. They were unable to leave the doors' surface and could only attack enemies that came too close.

"Xingxing, looks like you had good reason to be worried," Li Ziyu remarked.

"Huh?" Liu Xingxing turned his head, a confused look on his face. He had no idea what Li Ziyu was talking about.

"Those two outside can definitely move," Li Ziyu explained with a smile. "I can't say for sure if they're Undead, but... they can fight."

"Holy crap..." Liu Xingxing sucked in a sharp breath.

Zhang Peng patted his shoulder and sighed. "Xingxing, everything here belongs to the boss. You don't have to be scared. Besides, just look at those two out there. It probably takes a lot to get them moving. No need to panic."

Liu Xingxing thought about it and realized that made sense. Calming down, he returned to his usual self.

Li Ziyu then began to give them an Introduction to the new main building. The upgraded structure had a total of 12 floors. The first floor had a ceiling height of 6 meters, while the remaining floors were all 4.5 meters high. Each floor contained numerous private rooms.

In addition to living quarters, it also served as a Warehouse and had combat capabilities. Warriors could be stationed inside, and ranged units like Skeleton Longbowmen and Short Bowmen could be assigned to patrol. It was equipped with arrow slits, watchtowers, and the like.

On top of these relatively normal Fortress functions, the main building also possessed a Magic Defense Barrier and a special Magic: Dark Cloud Covering.

The Magic Defense Barrier and Dark Cloud Covering were both Passive Magic that would activate automatically. When an enemy attacked, the Magic Defense Barrier would engage on its own, its Defense Power determined by the amount of Soul Energy. As for the Soul Energy within the main building, in addition to what Li Ziyu infused, it would also be replenished by drawing ambient Energy from the air and the Void, though this process was rather slow.

Dark Cloud Covering was a support-type Magic. It would activate automatically after sunrise, forming a cloud imbued with death and Dark Power that would shroud the entire Skeleton Undead Mobile Fortress. Undead beneath this cloud would be unaffected by the sun, their combat effectiveness undiminished, just as if it were nighttime.

With Dark Cloud Covering, Li Ziyu could now operate with his Undead at full combat strength during the daytime.

This Magic also consumed Soul Energy, and its area of effect was limited to the Fortress. Once the Undead left the range of the Fortress, they would still be weakened by the sun, but it was better than nothing.

That was the gist of it. As for the rest—things like enhanced Defense Power or how more Undead would make the Fortress more stable—those were either obvious or abilities the previous fort already possessed, so Li Ziyu didn't bother mentioning them.

After Li Ziyu finished his Introduction of the new main building, Liu Xingxing immediately took off running upstairs.

"What are you doing?" Zhang Peng couldn't help but ask.

"Picking a room! First come, first served! Don't even think about trying to fight me for one!" Liu Xingxing shouted as he ran.

Zhang Peng facepalmed. 'Aren't there more than enough rooms to choose from?'

'A twelve-story building... even with only three or four rooms per floor, that's still dozens of rooms. Is he really worried he won't find one he likes? This is just Xingxing being Xingxing.'

Li Ziyu couldn't help but laugh. He reached out and clapped Zhang Peng on the back. Zhang Peng jolted in surprise, looking over at Li Ziyu.

"Go on," Li Ziyu said with a chuckle. "You go pick one you like, too."

"Got it!" Zhang Peng grinned, and then his figure abruptly vanished from sight.

When Zhang Peng reappeared, he was already on the second floor. Liu Xingxing, who was still cheerfully dashing up the stairs, looked up and was completely dumbfounded.

"Y-You... how did you get ahead of me?" Liu Xingxing asked, bewildered.

"You'll have to ask the boss about that! It's what you get for running off first!" Zhang Peng snickered, then turned to start picking out a room.

"Wait, stop right there! Tell me what's going on!" Liu Xingxing's eyes widened as he scrambled to chase after Zhang Peng.