Chapter 101: A Nine-Star Summoner Army Is Formed! The Second Territory Boss Needs a Million Troops to Charge It!

Chapter 101: Chapter 101: A Nine-Star Summoner Army Is Formed! The Second Territory Boss Needs a Million Troops to Charge It!

[Unit: Undead Elven Summoner]

[Race: Elf]

[Star Rating: Nine-Star]

[Level: Lv.1]

[HP: 6,000]

[Attack: 1,500]

[Defense: 300]

[Trait: Undead Body (Immune to mental magic, feels no pain, and never tires)]

[Skill 1: Withering Call (Active) — Summons plants from beneath the ground to ensnare and slaughter enemies within a designated area. Summoned creatures inherit 220% of the caster’s Attack. Duration: 30 seconds. Cooldown: 20 seconds.]

[Skill 2: Undead Beast Assault (Active) — Summons animals to launch a suicidal charge toward enemies ahead. Summoned creatures inherit 180% of the caster’s Attack. Duration: 30 seconds. Cooldown: 25 seconds.]

[Skill 3: Silent Bloom (Active) — Places all surviving summoned creatures on the battlefield into a state of "Frenzied Withering," increasing all their attributes by 100% and granting each attack a 30% lifesteal effect. Duration: 15 seconds. Cooldown: 60 seconds.]

[Description: Once the oldest Summoners of the Elven race, their souls were reawakened after death through the power of necromancy.]

Standing before the altar, John studied the status panel, rubbed his chin, and pondered for a moment before turning toward Raistlin.

"Raistlin, how about giving this unit type to you?"

Raistlin nodded excitedly without the slightest hesitation.

"Couldn’t be more suitable! This is an excellent unit. With my aura combined with [Silent Bloom], their damage output will be absolutely devastating."

John smiled and made the decision immediately.

"Good. All one thousand are yours."

[Ding! Formation Successful! Undead Elven Summoner ×1,000 have been assigned to the army under Hero "Raistlin".]

Having finished the arrangements, John was about to head back to his main castle.

Just then, a large blue notification window suddenly appeared right in front of him, blocking his path.

[Ding!]

[Hidden Territory No. 2 has been unlocked!]

[Would you like to enter?]

John turned around and glanced at the heroes gathering around him, then immediately changed his mind.

"Looks like these territories have to be unlocked one by one."

He turned toward Sylvie.

"We’re going to clear Territory No. 2. Stay here for now and take care of the subordinate territory and Resource Plots."

Sylvie nodded.

She was never particularly useful in direct combat, and she wasn’t going to insist on following them every time they went into battle.

"Understood."

"Everyone else, come with me."

John led Ophelia, Raistlin, Bladeborne, Arno, Vira, and his main army through the portal to Territory No. 2.

After a brief sensation of dizziness, the scenery suddenly opened up before them.

John froze for a moment, almost thinking he had entered the wrong place.

Unlike Territory No. 1, which was an open stretch of barren land, this entire space was packed with an enormous flat surface covered in silver lines.

The circuits crisscrossed in every direction, connecting countless unknown points. At each junction, a faint blue light blinked on and off.

They looked like signals.

The entire space resembled an enormous circuit board.

"What kind of place is this...?"

Bladeborne gripped his sword and warily surveyed their surroundings.

"Why does it feel like we’ve walked into some kind of metal box?"

Before anyone could answer, John’s attention was drawn to the enormous silhouette at the center of the complex.

At the intersection of countless silver circuits, a gigantic metallic core, several dozen meters tall, floated motionlessly in midair, like the very heart of the entire circuit board.

It had a vaguely humanoid shape, but there was no flesh or blood beneath its metallic exterior.

Its torso was wrapped in layer upon layer of circular metal armor.

Where its head should have been was a cold, metallic faceplate. A narrow red light ran across its center, blinking in time with a low-frequency hum.

Its limbs were nothing like ordinary human arms and legs. Instead, they were constructed from dozens of thick black cables, hydraulic pipes, and intertwined silver metal chains.

The cables of its left arm extended all the way into a high-voltage bus duct beneath the ground, while its right arm was connected to a network of translucent cooling pipes.

Its legs were deeply embedded in load-bearing sockets in the floor, while a thick main cable extended from its spine and disappeared into the central control system.

Most striking of all were the three enormous silver metal pillars extending from its back.

Each pillar was several meters thick, with a fuse-like connector mounted on its surface.

John spoke uncertainly.

"Is this thing... the guardian boss of Territory No. 2?"

As if responding to his guess, the system interface appeared immediately.

[Hidden Territory No. 2: Power Load Nexus]

[Guardian Boss: Overload Core · Valkan (Lv.42 · Lord-Class)]

[HP: 4,800,000 / 4,800,000]

[Attack: 8,000]

[Defense: 4,500]

[Skills: Charging Startup, Voltage Escalation, Circuit Breaker Protection, Triple Fuse Meltdown]

[Description: The energy core of a Steam Workshop, trapped in an endless cycle by its own insatiable demand for power.]

Its stats were more than twice as high as those of the first boss.

John narrowed his eyes.

Just as he was considering how to deal with it, a clicking sound, similar to a relay switch engaging, came from inside the central core.

[Ding!]

[Startup Power: 0 / 1,000,000 kWh (0%)]

[Warning: While the power level remains below maximum, the boss is in "Idle Rotation" mode. All incoming attacks deal only 1% of their normal damage in this state, and no damage animations will be displayed.]

"What does that mean?"

Ophelia frowned.

"My guess is that we need to pump electricity into this core. Once enough power is supplied, the current can flow throughout its entire body, allowing us to actually damage it."

John voiced his theory.

He immediately issued an order.

"Dragon Knights, go up and attack it once."

He wanted to see whether his guess was correct.

A squad of Dragon Knights immediately followed his orders, spread their wings, and thrust their dragon lances toward the central core.

-123!

-90!

-150!

As expected, their attacks struck the core but merely produced a few sparks. The damage was pitifully low, and its HP barely decreased.

"Just as I thought."

John clicked his tongue.

"We have to charge this thing first. The interface says it needs one million kWh to activate. I wonder if troops can be used for that."

As he spoke, he immediately opened his army interface.

"Dark Knights, come out."

Ten thousand Undead Dark Knights emerged from the army portal.

Ever since the battle against the Judgment Alliance, Dark Knights had become the most numerous troop type in John’s army.

He had recklessly recruited them without worrying about the cost, and now had more than thirty thousand in reserve.

John immediately selected ten thousand and sent them into the core.

[Ding!]

[Undead Dark Knight ×10,000投入!]

[Power Supplied: +10,000 kWh]

[Startup Power: 1% (10,000 / 1,000,000 kWh)]

The number flickered, and the power gauge climbed from zero to one percent.

John fell silent for a couple of seconds.

"One unit of electricity per soldier. I just sacrificed ten thousand troops, and it only charged one percent... Who could possibly afford this?"

Just as he was thinking about it, a series of densely packed notification windows suddenly appeared before him.

[Notification: The Undead Dark Knights supplied have been converted into electrical energy. Their HP has been reduced to zero.]

John stared at the notification, and his eyes immediately lit up.

"Wait a minute. If entering that thing means death..."

His mind worked rapidly.

"Then I’ll just resurrect them!"