Chapter 130 - 44: [Shadow of the Heart of the Remains: Oak Knight and Greenka]

Chapter 130: Chapter 44: [Shadow of the Heart of the Remains: Oak Knight and Greenka]

"In areas with fewer garrisons, there is almost always some degree of noble corruption and rampant gang activity," Yaki explained. "The Knight Territory has virtually no Empire garrison, and the border troops won’t intervene. The situation around here depends entirely on how the Oak Knight Clan governs it."

"Furthermore, the corruption here in Greenka, in the southwest of the Empire, is also related to the Hai Xin Plain," Yaki added. "Logically speaking, since the Oak Knight Clan’s territory is so close to the Hai Xin Plain, they could have relied on the adventurers’ trade of Demonized Materials to sustain their economy. However, this income is extremely meager and simply cannot support a complete industry."

"Why is that?" Samael asked. "I was under the impression that Luojie City’s economy was highly prosperous. Judging by the rough outlines on the map, the Hai Xin Plain is nearly twenty times the size of the Kana Plain. The Demonized Materials there should be much more abundant."

"Ah, right, this is your first time coming to the Hai Xin Plain." Yaki realized. "The adventurers here wouldn’t dare head into the depths of the Heart of the Remains. They only dare to skirt along the outer edges... sneaking around the periphery to gather low-level resources. Although the Adventurer’s Alliance has outposts, they are practically pressed right against the Empire’s border. They wouldn’t dare venture deep inside."

"Are the Hai Xin Undead really that powerful?" Samael asked.

Yaki swallowed hard. "It’s not just that the Undead are powerful. That... that place, its eerie atmosphere is like a nightmare. The outskirts look relatively normal, but the closer you get to the center, the more terrifying it becomes. There is the twisted Copper Rust Forest, the highly toxic and slimy swamps, and half-rotted Magical Beasts silently roaming through the trees, staring quietly at you with festering eyes. A freezing mist drifts erratically across the entire Hai Xin Plain, guaranteeing that anyone who trespasses recklessly will lose their way.

"It’s entirely different from the Desolate Demon Realm ruled by the Demon Monarch. To adventurers, the Demon Monarch is just a powerful and cruel enemy. But the Hai Xin Plain embodies a chilling terror—a malice as pure as death itself. No one dares venture more than ten kilometers deep. In fact, to this day, no one even knows what lies within the mist-shrouded core of the plain.

"So I... sometimes still worry a bit. After all, none of us knows what exactly resides in its inner regions," he said, turning to look at Samael.

"I’ll do my best," Samael mused.

The real Hai Xin Plain seemed somewhat different from what he had previously imagined. He had originally thought it was just a massive plain swarming with Skeleton Soldiers. Now that he actually thought about it, he realized something was off. If it had been that simple, how could the surrounding kingdoms and nations have allowed such a strategically vital and fertile land to be so easily abandoned?

"By the way, can’t the Demon Race also control the Undead?" he asked, looking up at Yaki and Talia.

"Only a small number, and it’s very difficult," Yaki replied. "The Spiritual Energy required is over ten times what it takes to control Magical Beasts. Furthermore, the Hai Xin Undead are all incredibly powerful. Those insignificant Skeleton Soldiers from the Kana Plain wouldn’t even count as roadside rats in Hai Xin. If one wanted to control stronger Undead Creatures like Skeleton Warriors, Corpse Demons, and Swamp Giants, the Spiritual Energy drain would be far more severe. The Exiles can’t do it at all. Even if a Demon Race Monarch went all out, they could only control a few dozen High-Level Undead simultaneously at best—but the number of Hai Xin Undead is simply incalculable."

"Additionally, once controlled, the quality of the Undead Warriors drops significantly," Talia explained. "It’s as if they’ve rusted. They frequently sway, lose their balance, move sluggishly, and stumble or twitch for no reason. They’re practically useless. Therefore, we generally don’t use the Undead. Not only does it severely drain energy and command capacity, but the resulting warriors aren’t of much use anyway."

Samael recalled the previous descriptions of the Undead:

[Methods of control include but are not limited to: Nether Copper resonance signals, Spiritual Implant modifications, and Ethereal Spiritual Signal forced circuit overrides.]

Ethereal Spiritual Signals—which were the Spiritual Signals of the Demon Race—controlled the Undead through a "forced circuit override."

Such an action likely damaged the original Spiritual Energy structure of the Undead Construct. That explained the sluggish movements and inexplicable twitching and stumbling Talia had mentioned.

He stared blankly at the interior of the carriage, taking inventory of the newly unlocked tech tree entries in his UI interface.

The Level 2 Artificial Lifeology entry, [Circuit Infiltrator], was now unlocked. He could already use corpses to manufacture organically structured Undead.

Level 3 Materials Science was also unlocked. He could finally manage to replenish his Nether Copper inventory through the [Nether Copper Refining Method] or the [Nether Copper Generator].

The [Nether Copper Refining Method] required complex processing procedures on copper ore—far too troublesome. He wouldn’t be using it.

On the other hand, the entry description for the [Nether Copper Generator] indicated that it required the mechanical body to touch objects containing large amounts of copper to facilitate Nether Copper infection and extraction.

Large amounts of copper... It sounded like if he wanted to mass-produce Nether Copper, he still needed to mine copper ore and physically touch it with his own hands; the process merely bypassed the complex steps of refining it.

Samael scrolled through the UI database entries.

Besides Nether Copper, Level 3 Materials Science had unlocked quite a few other material crafting methods, all of which had rather interesting names.

[Molten Stone], [Ash Concrete], [Blood Steel], [Strong-Cast Steel], [Witch Gold], [Holy Iron]...

They weren’t just weapon materials; they seemed more like raw materials for construction and production tools.

Although he had expended a tremendous amount of effort crafting a small scout to infiltrate the tomb of the Caster’s Hall, looking at the gains, it was entirely worth it. He controlled a tiny creature crawling within the empty cavity of his chest plate.

Several Nether Copper Limbs poked out from the gap between his chest plate and shoulder pauldron, struggling to squeeze through. A Copper Helmet Spider, cast from a mixture of Nether Copper and Witch Gold, clung to the armor’s surface with its limbs and slowly crawled into the palm of his hand.

The foundational technology and manpower required to build an Underground City were now fully in place, but... the Hai Xin Plain would present a completely unknown challenge.

The Exile convoy would cross the Empire’s border tomorrow and enter the Hai Xin Plain. But the shadow of the Heart of the Remains had loomed over the borders of all surrounding kingdoms and territories since the very moment of its formation. The lingering effects of death, plague, and terror had even crossed the borders and spread to the Southern Imperial Province, crushing a Splendid City and a Knight Clan in its wake.

Although his own Nether Copper Ghost Knight body possessed absolute dominance over the Undead and did not fear death, plagues, or rot, according to Yaki’s description, the Hai Xin Plain had exerted a massive influence on the state of this world.

Perhaps some unimaginable terror resided there. He absolutely could not underestimate the enemy.

Samael slowly tightened his grip on the Copper Helmet Spider and looked down at the fist-sized Bell-shaped Helmet. On the surface of the Nether Copper Bell-shaped Helmet was a single, hollow eye. The void and darkness within the eye socket silently stared back at him.