Chapter 231 - 230: White Bone Church

Chapter 231: Chapter 230: White Bone Church

Please subscribe, recommend, vote with monthly passes, and offer other support!

——————————

It wasn’t until the mycelium had completely receded, its blood-red tentacles shrinking one by one back into the crevices at the foot of the wall, that the small chapel, the cemetery, and the wild boar’s corpse were finally considered fully consumed.

The Graveyard Demon’s territory expanded outward another layer. The freshly turned soil was pitch-black and gave off a damp scent. At the edges, a few shards of shattered glass that hadn’t been fully digested—purple and blue—could still be seen, shimmering with an eerie light from within the dirt.

Gu Su leaped down from the wall and walked toward the main graveyard.

The changes to the main graveyard were greater than he had anticipated. The path leading from the city gate straight to the foot of the Deceitful Tree was still there, but the gravepiles on both sides of the road had all been rearranged.

On the left side, rows of Level 1 Tombs were lined up perfectly, as if someone had measured them with a ruler. An arm’s length of space was left between each tomb, neither too crowded nor too sparse.

The earth on the grave mounds was freshly turned and so black it shone. No grass had grown on them yet; they were bare but looked solid.

In the middle of the rows of Level 1 Tombs stood a strange building.

Gu Su took a few steps closer to get a clear look at it.

It wasn’t large, occupying an area just a bit wider than a single grave mound, but its appearance was so bizarre that he couldn’t look away.

The pillars were made of bone, standing one by one. The bone surface was smooth and emitted a cold gleam. There was no telling what massive creature they had been taken from.

The pillars supported a roof, but it wasn’t made of tiles or wooden planks. It was a pelt, so thick it looked like it had been peeled whole from some Giant Beast. The fur was grayish-brown, and the dried, hard edges of the hide were still visible.

The door was a pair of tusks, standing there in a curve. Their tips pointed to the sky, their roots buried in the earth. The surface of the tusks had fine lines etched into them, feeling rough to the touch.

Between the tusks was a narrow opening, just wide enough for a person to squeeze through sideways.

Through the open doorway, an altar built from skulls could be seen inside.

Below the altar were six long benches made of white bone and fur, arranged in two columns of three rows.

Looking at the building’s overall shape, Gu Su recognized it as a church.

It wasn’t the kind of church with soaring spires and bright stained-glass windows, but a crooked, stone-piled one you might find in the countryside.

It was identical to the small chapel that had just been devoured, only this one was dressed in bone and fur.

[White Bone Church (Level 1): Converts all Skeletons into Skeleton Soldiers without consuming any Gold Coins, Yin Qi, or Resources.]

[Skeleton Soldier (Level 1, Summoned Creature): Experience (0/200), Attack 3, Defense 2, Life 10, Traits: Undead Creature]

In the area to the right, mirroring the Level 1 Tombs on the left, all the Level 2 and Level 3 Tombs were neatly arranged. Their tombstones stood in orderly rows, with a faint Yin Qi lingering around them.

And in a corner of this area, a Level 4 Tomb, coalescing from shattered stone and Death Qi, was slowly forming. The patterns on its surface grew increasingly distinct, and the aura it emitted was gradually strengthening. It was expected to be fully formed soon.

Gu Su paid no mind to this clear-cut division of the main graveyard. To him, as long as the tombs were orderly and his Undead forces could be upgraded normally, the specific arrangement didn’t matter.

His full attention was firmly locked onto that bizarre White Bone Church.

Gu Su brought his gaze back to rest on the White Bone Church.

Gu Su soon discovered that with the completion of the White Bone Church, all of his Ordinary Skeletons—those not yet upgraded into advanced Undead like Skeleton Warriors or Skeleton Swamp Hunters—had undergone a significant change.

Each of them now held a Bone Sword. It wasn’t long—a fair bit shorter than the sword of a proper Skeleton Warrior—but it was keenly sharpened, its edge glinting with a cold light.

The Skeletons’ gait had changed as well. They used to shamble along; now they strode. Though their pace was still unhurried, they looked much steadier.

Clearly, this was the basic combat power the White Bone Church had bestowed upon the Ordinary Skeletons. Gu Su was not the least bit dissatisfied with this change; on the contrary, he was secretly pleased.

’After all, it’s a free boost to my combat strength without consuming any Resources. What’s not to like?’

’At the very least, these Ordinary Skeletons, who could previously only serve as laborers and had no combat ability, now possess a basic means of self-defense when they go out alone. I no longer have to worry about them being easily killed by low-level aberrations, nor do I have to worry about people complaining about how my Level 0 Skeletons could possibly have such high combat power.’

’Now they’re all Level 1 Skeleton Soldiers. Having a bit of combat strength should be justifiable now, right?’

With these thoughts, Gu Su’s mood visibly improved. He turned and walked out of the White Bone Church’s entrance.

Gu Su now planned to command Alice to direct the Graveyard Demon to the next target area to continue its consumption and expansion, accumulating more Death Qi and Resources.

’After all, from the looks of it, all these things are nourishment for the Graveyard Demon’s growth.’

But just as he paused at the entrance of the White Bone Church, preparing to summon a Communication Puppet to contact Alice, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye: a small, copper collar hanging in a gap between the tusks that formed the doorframe.

The collar had a faint sheen, though traces of dirt and blood still clung to it. It was clearly not something that belonged to Gu Su, and he had no idea where it had come from.

Gu Su took it down to have a look and realized it was something meant to be worn around a pig’s neck.

It wasn’t very big; the kind of collar a piglet would wear, which would likely be removed after it grew up.

However, this one seemed a little different. Although it was rusted, it was clearly made of high-quality copper.

Rubbing the cool copper surface with his fingertip, he discovered a small line of blurry yet faintly discernible text engraved on the inside of the collar: ’Champion of the Wisconsin Prettiest Piglet Contest, Princess Bai Xue!’

In other words, the wild boar that was as big as a small mountain had once been the prettiest piglet in Wisconsin.

Looking at the somewhat comical inscription, Gu Su felt no inclination to laugh.

’Who would have thought that the hulking, violent rock-skinned boar would have such a dainty name?’

At the same time, the image of the eerie, yet-to-be-encountered Little Butcher surfaced in Gu Su’s mind, and an unusual feeling stirred within him.

Gu Su had a feeling that this wild boar’s situation was the exact opposite of the Little Butcher’s.

The Little Butcher treated people like pigs.

Whereas this wild boar had clearly been a pig treated like a person.

’Is there some significance to this difference?’

This line of thinking gave Gu Su the faint feeling that in this bizarre, shrouded region of Wisconsin, all the strange creatures seemed to hide unknown pasts. They weren’t all purely violent and evil; some always existed outside the conventional cycle of these aberrations.

And this rock-skinned boar named "Princess Bai Xue" was perhaps one of them. Its appearance might not have been a coincidence, either.

’Perhaps it really did come here to die, all to change its fate.’

’It’s just that the moment the creature arrived, it immediately launched into a reckless charge, giving me no opportunity to communicate whatsoever.’

’In the end, it died and left nothing behind.’

’What use could a single collar be?’

Hanging the collar back on the tusk lintel, Gu Su shook his head and walked out.

Just then, a DING sounded in Gu Su’s ear.

[White Bone Church (Level 1) activated. The chance of a Talented individual appearing among skeleton-type Undead is increased by 1%.]