Chapter 442 - 210: Let’s Build a City

What Li Ziyu needed to do next was actually quite simple. He planned to build a large number of Soul Base Stations to expand the Soul Network and wage a war of information.

In addition to this Wasteland, he also needed to place Soul Base Stations in the Desolate Land of Death. His Undead didn’t need to eat or drink, so their location didn’t matter. The Desolate Land of Death had no effect on the Undead whatsoever. This was also why he had the Tabu Minotaur and the Snake-men leave temporarily. The Undead could handle it, but it was best for the living to stay away.

In the following days, Li Ziyu drove the Undead Fortress, which acted like a sower, building Soul Base Stations wherever it went. The range of his communications network expanded further and further.

Thanks to the promotional efforts of the Tabu Minotaur, the Senunet Snake-men, and Zhang Peng, the attitude of the Wasteland’s tribesmen towards the Undead changed.

In the Wasteland where Li Ziyu was located, large Tribes were rare. Most were small or medium-sized. The Natives lived in poverty, constantly worrying about their next meal. Since they couldn’t even feed themselves, their development naturally stagnated.

Ever since the Undead defeated the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army, the Native Tribes of the Wasteland had found a moment of respite. Without the oppression of the three great cancerous Races, their lives had improved considerably. However, they were also worried about what the Undead would do next.

They waited for a long time, but the Undead made no move. This put them slightly at ease, until the "Messengers" of the Undead arrived to announce that the Wasteland now belonged to the Undead, and that they would become its subjects.

This move completely baffled the Native Tribes. Due to their remote location, they had never experienced being part of a unified whole. Even the cancerous Races had never managed to unite the Wasteland. So when Zhang Peng and the others appeared, the Natives were both surprised and terrified, unsure of what they were about to face.

The small Tribes were fine with it. They didn’t much care who was in charge. What they cared about was whether they could eat their fill and whether their Tribe could continue to exist. As for whether the Undead would come and plunder their resources—ha, would they even care?

What could the Undead possibly plunder from them? Food? Rest assured, they couldn’t even feed themselves, so where would they get extra food? Resources? Ha, take whatever you want. It’s not like they had anything good anyway. If you’re so tough, go ahead and tear down our houses and take them with you.

The desperate have nothing to lose.

There were many such small Tribes. They were only slightly better off than nomads. Even without the Undead, they were constantly teetering on the brink of extinction. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t become nomads themselves one day.

Zhang Peng found these poor, sparsely populated small Tribes to be a tricky problem. ’Keep them around? They’re not of much use. Get rid of them? But Li Ziyu gave orders to the contrary.’ How to solve this? He would have to ask Li Ziyu for a decision.

After receiving Zhang Peng’s message, Li Ziyu offered a solution without much hesitation. If these small Tribes agreed, they could migrate and settle around the Soul Base Stations.

The Soul Base Stations were all protected by the Undead, making the surrounding area solid Undead territory. Having the struggling small Tribes migrate to the Soul Base Stations would not only add a bit of life to the area, but the Undead, under Li Ziyu’s control, could also offer them some protection.

Li Ziyu’s idea gave Zhang Peng a new line of thought. The small Tribes struggled to survive and thus offered little value to him and Li Ziyu. The reason they struggled was due to insufficient population and resources, but a lack of resources meant they couldn’t support a larger population. This created a vicious cycle, leaving the small Tribes to simply struggle for survival.

But, if they changed their perspective, what if the small Tribes gathered together? Wouldn’t that be much better? ’Many hands make light work,’ after all. They could trade with each other, and with the protection of the Undead and a relatively safe environment, this would be a great thing for the small Tribes!

Once Zhang Peng figured out the key, he immediately took action. He had Liu Xingxing, the Minotaur, and the Snake-men change their approach and inform the Natives that they could also choose to settle around the Soul Base Stations.

Whether the Tribes would go was not up to them. He figured it would be a tough sell at first. The small Tribes had limited knowledge of the Undead and were mostly terrified of them. Asking them to move to a Soul Base Station and live surrounded by Undead was asking a lot.

However, over time, things should change. Ultimately, it would develop in a positive direction.

With the problem of the small Tribes solved, all that remained were the medium and large Tribes. Their attitudes toward the announcement varied. Some grudgingly acknowledged the Undead Race, while others, concerned about their own interests, still wanted to put up a fight.

Normally, Li Ziyu wouldn’t have cared about this. He would have just worn them down over time. But not now. With a threat like He Zhiping looming, he needed a stable rear base. He couldn’t be fighting a war on the front lines while a fire started in his own backyard.

So, unfortunately, whoever caused trouble would be made an example of.

Any Tribe that refused to submit and tried to cause trouble would receive a visit from Black Knights, Skeleton Knights, and Evil Spirit Wanderers. The outcome, of course, was never very good—at the very least, their Clan Leader or Chieftain was replaced.

To establish his authority, Li Ziyu also wiped out several Tribes, but most of them belonged to the three great cancerous Races. He annihilated over a dozen goblin Tribes in particular, and also cleaned out some Ogre and Giant Demon strongholds.

Li Ziyu didn’t want to resort to a massacre, but that’s just how things were in the Wasteland. Trying to win people over with virtue was useless. The Natives didn’t recognize "virtue"; they only recognized fists. Whoever had the bigger fist, had the final say.