Chapter 153 - 152: The First Wave of Battle Ends

Chapter 153: Chapter 152: The First Wave of Battle Ends

’They’re afraid of poison!’

The thought flashed through Gu Su’s mind like lightning. His eyes lit up, and the tension gripping his heart instantly eased considerably.

He had been secretly anxious when he saw the Scale Armor Monsters withstand a full-force blow from a Walking Dead Warrior and the Bone Dogs’ Tearing attacks struggle to break through their Defense.

If all his enemies possessed such formidable combat strength, the upcoming defense would be exceptionally difficult. After all, Gu Su had so few combat-ready troops, he couldn’t even scrape together a full battalion of what could be considered elite.

Gu Su’s forces were already struggling this much against a mere twenty-odd enemies. If their numbers were any greater, he wasn’t sure if they would be completely wiped out.

But now, their weakness to poison had been unexpectedly discovered. It was like a lamp lit in the darkness, instantly creating a breakthrough in the difficult battle. At long last, victory was within reach.

Reassured, Gu Su’s gaze sharpened as he turned back to the battlefield, his eyes locked on the Scale Armor Monsters being ravaged by the poison.

Thanks to the poisoned Scale Armor Monsters’ slowed movements and weakened Defense, the Plague Corps Squad, which had been waiting for its chance, finally erupted. They swung their heavy Warhammers, disregarding their own injuries as they furiously assaulted the enemy. Each powerful blow landed with a dull, heavy thud against the monsters’ scales.

The nearby Bone Dogs also adroitly seized this golden opportunity and stopped pouncing blindly.

Instead, they circled the immobilized Scale Armor Monsters that had been knocked to the ground. They pinpointed the weak spots where the scales were damaged and lunged forward to bite down hard. Their sharp fangs sank viciously into the monsters’ flesh. Yellowish-green, toxic blood dripped from between their teeth, sizzling as it splattered on the ground.

In just a few moments, the tide of battle had completely turned. The once-fearless Scale Armor Monsters gradually lost their will to resist as the poison took its toll. One by one, their skulls were caved in by the Plague Corpses’ Warhammers or they were mauled into a bloody mess by the Bone Dogs, collapsing lifelessly into pools of their own blood.

Seeing that the dust had settled on the battlefield, Gu Su no longer hesitated and gave a crisp order, "Send the Ash Squad to transport all the Scale Armor Monster corpses back to the Graveyard Demon."

Once the order was given, Bone Ash immediately set out with the Ash Squad. Five Spiritual Pick-up Trucks shot forward like arrows loosed from a bow, speeding toward the battlefield.

The squad members moved nimbly, ignoring the Walking Dead Warriors and Bone Dogs that were still finishing off the last of the enemies. They quickly got to work, carefully shoveling the confirmed-dead Scale Armor Monster corpses, the shattered eggshells, and even the soil stained with the yellowish-green yolk and foul blood into the truck beds. They methodically loaded everything, afraid to miss a single usable resource.

While the Ash Squad was methodically clearing the battlefield, the remaining Scale Armor Monsters on the other side were completely wiped out by the combined efforts of the Plague Corpses and Bone Dogs.

Although the Plague Corps Squad had the clear advantage thanks to the poison, the Scale Armor Monsters remained fearless even when cornered. They launched a final, frantic counterattack, managing to take down eight Walking Dead Warriors with them.

Coupled with the heavy losses the Bone Dogs sustained at the start of the fight, the casualty count made it increasingly clear to Gu Su: these Scale Armor Monsters were in a completely different league from the Kobolds, Gnomes, or goblins he had faced in the past.

Those Low Tier monsters were mere cannon fodder that won through sheer numbers, possessing little combat strength and no coordination whatsoever.

But these Scale Armor Monsters were formidable individual fighters with astonishing Defense and a degree of tactical coordination. If he grew careless and treated them like ordinary cannon fodder, he would likely suffer a major setback, or even be defeated without ever knowing how it happened.

At this thought, Gu Su’s eyes narrowed as he began to calculate.

’I need to push the Corpse Witches to speed up their research,’ he thought. ’Only by quickly figuring out the Constitution of these Scale Armor Monsters and developing a targeted poison can I seize the initiative in future battles and reduce my Undeads’ casualties.’

While Gu Su was lost in thought, the Ash Squad finished clearing the battlefield. They drove the five fully loaded pick-up trucks slowly back toward the Graveyard Demon.

The truck beds were piled high with Scale Armor Monster corpses, shattered eggshells, blood-soaked soil, and the bizarre weapons the creatures had left behind. It was a ghastly sight.

Gu Su immediately stepped forward. "Take three corpses to the Corpse Witches right away. Remember, two that we killed, and one that died from the fall."

"Have them focus on studying the corpses’ Constitution and develop a targeted poison as quickly as possible."

"Also, dump all the soil from the trucks in the Main Cemetery Area. Bring the weapons to me first. As for the eggshells..."

Gu Su’s words trailed off, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

The shattered eggshells that had been brought into the Graveyard Demon had somehow begun to melt, transforming into viscous, milky-white puddles. The liquid slowly flowed across the ground, eventually converging near the Yin Fire Heap to the right of the Deceitful Tree.

Then, the soft, muddy ground began to harden. The mucky texture vanished, replaced by a surface as smooth and fine as an eggshell.

Even the inner walls of the irrigation canal, which had been dug specially for the Dew Grass, were now coated in this hardened eggshell substance, becoming smooth and uniform.

At the same time, Gu Su noticed that several jars, looking just like whole eggshells, had appeared along the edge of the canal.

Some of the jars were full of water while others were empty, but Gu Su was certain they were connected to the canal.

They seemed to have an automatic water storage function.

’The only problem is that the jars are a bit too small. They probably can’t store much water.’

Realization dawned on Gu Su. This had to be one of the Graveyard Demon’s own Traits at work. It had treated the broken eggshells like a type of cement, using them to reinforce the ground and line the canal.

This was actually a good thing. At the very least, it saved him the trouble of figuring out what the material was for and what could be made from it.

As for the weapons left behind by the Scale Armor Monsters, Gu Su gave them a cursory glance and lost any interest in studying them further.

The weapons used by his Undead were still stuck in the most primitive stage.

They were nothing more than sharpened scraps of iron—crude, simple, and barely usable in a fight.

To put it bluntly, he hadn’t invested enough points into his Technology tree.

Even if he went all-out to study these bizarre weapons, which were imbued with some unknown energy, he lacked the necessary Technology and materials to figure out how they worked.

It wasn’t as if he could mass-produce them himself, anyway.

"Store these weapons for now. It’s strange, though. They’re clearly powerful weapons, so why don’t they have any Attributes? At least give me a ’+1’ tag or something!"