Chapter 445 - 211: Establishing a New City

Li Ziyu’s decision to build a city didn’t surprise Zhang Peng and Liu Xingxing. In their previous lives, they had all lived in cities. Wasn’t building one a perfectly normal thing to do?

But for Mumu, Tas Tuling, and Zaliki, the news was incredibly exciting.

Resources were scarce in the Wasteland. Building a city there was something only a Great Tribe could attempt. No, even for a Great Tribe, building a city was a difficult task. Only a truly powerful Race was qualified to undertake such a project. A city was a symbol of strength.

The news that Li Ziyu had decided to build a city spread quickly. When the Natives heard it, they were stunned.

’What? The Master of the Undead not only has no intention of killing us, but he’s also going to build a city?’

’What kind of bizarre move is this?’

The fact that the Undead could coexist with them was already unexpected. Now, he was even going to build a city for them. Not even their Ancestors would have dared to dream of such a good thing!

Regardless of what the Natives outside were thinking, Li Ziyu, Zhang Peng, and Liu Xingxing holed themselves up in a room and entered seclusion mode to plan the city’s construction.

None of the three had a background in civil engineering or architecture, but having lived in cities for so long in their previous lives, they knew the basics. They figured that since this was the Otherworld, "good enough" would do. They didn’t have very high standards.

In just three days, an extremely simple city blueprint was drawn up.

The city was square and very orderly, designed to expand outward in concentric rings. This was for the sake of the future; for the current population of tens of thousands, a single ring would be enough.

The center would be the Soul Base Station and the Undead Race’s buildings. This was non-negotiable. Moreover, for the sake of future development, Li Ziyu deliberately expanded the area to avoid running out of space when adding more buildings later.

From this central point, four main roads would branch out, dividing the city. Residential areas would be located on both sides of these roads.

Li Ziyu requested that the houses have an earth-and-brick structure. Vegetation was scarce on the Wasteland, making Wood a luxury for construction. Earth and brick were perfect. Besides, in a world with Magic, there was no need for messy things like cement. Magic was far more convenient—even the city walls would be built this way.

Next was vegetation. Although the Wasteland lacked plant life, if they were going to build a city, the landscaping had to be done right. Li Ziyu planned to gather hardy plants from the Wasteland and place them in the city. This would both improve the urban environment and serve as a preparation for the future. He hoped to create a green city with vegetation covering every part of it, which would also help prevent soil erosion.

Zhang Peng was responsible for the underground construction—sewers, wells, and the like. The Gophers could handle it.

By the way, some Races in the Otherworld preferred to live underground. Li Ziyu had also specifically planned for underground living spaces. He would need to coordinate with Zhang Peng, as they had to avoid the tunnels the Gophers were digging.

In their previous lives, this simple little city wouldn’t even have measured up to a town. At best, it met the standard of a modernized village, and even that might have been a stretch.

But so what? Adjustments could be made later if they weren’t satisfied. Li Ziyu was only responsible for laying the foundation and creating a prototype. Was he really expected to build a complete city for the Natives?

He certainly didn’t have that kind of free time.

Once the blueprints were finished, the three of them immediately got to work. The Skeleton Undead knew no hardship or fatigue, and they were obedient. Simple tasks like carrying bricks were nothing to them. They could work 24 hours a day without a break and required no pay. Even a capitalist would be moved to tears.

As for the Natives, they couldn’t be left idle. After all, they would be the ones living in the city, so they had to help. Their main task was to make earth bricks.

In his previous life, Li Ziyu had watched wilderness survival shows where experts built houses from scratch. He refused to believe that these Otherworldly People couldn’t even make simple earth bricks.

Indeed, it wasn’t difficult for the Natives to make earth bricks. Even without the help of Magic, they were able to produce large quantities of them. Each brick was as hard as stone—the quality was quite good.

After Li Ziyu led an inspection, he selected a few types of earth bricks and had the Natives work overtime to produce them. The finished bricks were then transported by the Undead to build the houses and city walls.

At first, the Natives were terrified of the Undead and kept their distance. But later, they discovered that the Undead were growing in number, appearing everywhere until there were tens of times more of them than there were Natives. At that point, hiding was pointless. They might as well get back to work.

The Undead paid no mind to the Natives at all. They just diligently carried their bricks, their attitude earnest and responsible. This quickly allowed the Natives to let down their guard. As long as the Undead had no intention of attacking them, everything was fine.

The great, bustling construction began.

Li Ziyu added a few new buildings around the Soul Base Station, such as the Prayer Cemetery. To put it bluntly, this building was just a graveyard, but it had a special property: the Prayer Cemetery could absorb Soul Energy. It could convert the Power of Faith from those who came to pray in the cemetery into Soul Energy, which in turn could give birth to new Skeleton Undead.

[Prayer Cemetery]

[Introduction: Can absorb Power of Faith and convert it into Soul Energy. Can absorb stray Soul Energy. Corpses buried in the Prayer Cemetery will automatically transform into Skeleton Undead (transformation Speed depends on stored Soul Energy).]

[Construction Requirements: Skeleton*50 units, Wood*100 units, Stone*100 units]

[Area: 2 units (expandable)]

The Prayer Cemetery was perfectly suited for this type of settlement. Li Ziyu decreed that from now on, anyone who died in the city must be buried in the Prayer Cemetery. Relatives and friends could visit the deceased there.