Chapter 261 - 260: Enhanced Map Room

Chapter 261: Chapter 260: Enhanced Map Room

Gu Su walked into the Map Room, holding the Thousand-Page Seven-Colored Map.

The moment he stepped through the door, the special glass picture in his arms instantly shattered. It exploded into countless fine pieces of Colored Glass, which fell to the ground with a crisp, rustling sound.

Before Gu Su could bend down to pick them up, the scattered pieces of Colored Glass shot into the air as if pulled by an invisible force. They flew rapidly toward the four walls of the Map Room, fitting themselves securely against the surfaces.

The once simple and plain Map Room was instantly enveloped in a riot of color. Its entire style was completely transformed, shedding its dullness for a bizarre yet refined, game-like quality.

On the main wall directly opposite the door, countless pieces of Colored Glass pieced themselves together, quickly forming a complete map.

Its lines were clear, its colors distinct.

Because of the Graveyard Demon’s current location, the map now displayed a panoramic view of Trebot Town.

Every building, road, and ruin was clearly discernible. Even the craters left by previous Artillery bombardments were faintly visible.

Gu Su stopped and stared, pleasantly surprised to find that he could see the real-time situation within Trebot Town through this glass map.

The Undead Teams in the town, the lingering oddities, and even the faint silhouettes of distant battles were all clear at a glance.

What surprised him even more was that the glass map also had flexible Control functions.

With a simple wave of his arm, the glass pieces on the wall would shift, change color, and reassemble into different landmark indicators.

He could view the entire town layout or zoom in to focus precisely on a specific detail.

Zooming the map in or out was simple and convenient.

When zoomed in to the maximum, Gu Su could even see all the locations the Graveyard Demon had passed through on its way here. He could even continuously pan the map’s view to look back at past events.

With this new feature, the large, complete map that originally occupied the center of the Map Room was now mostly useless. That map, once taking up considerable space, had shrunk by half. It was now set aside in the middle of the room, just to ensure it could be found if needed.

In the space that had been cleared, a small, exquisitely crafted wooden box now sat quietly on a stone pedestal.

The box was pitch-black, its surface engraved with intricate Undead patterns and its corners bound in dark bronze-colored Metal. It looked sturdy and substantial.

Gu Su slowly walked over and bent down to open the box.

The moment the lid was lifted, a faint wisp of Yin Qi wafted out, carrying the mixed scent of Leather and Metal.

Inside, he saw many thin, transparent Leather silhouettes neatly arranged. They were as light and thin as a cicada’s wings, shimmering faintly under the light.

The most numerous among them were small, flag-shaped Leather silhouettes in the shape of squares and triangles.

The patterns on the flags were clearly discernible. With just a glance, Gu Su immediately recognized them as the exclusive back banners of his various Bosses and Minions.

Each flag silhouette corresponded to a squad.

Bone Forest, Bone Joint, Bone Spear, Bone Rush, Bone Masonry, Healthy Body... the flags for every Boss and Minion were there, all arranged in neat rows.

Even the White Crow, Bone Dog, and Corpse Rat units, which couldn’t carry back banners, had corresponding Leather silhouettes to mark and represent them.

The White Crow units were represented by silhouettes of white birds, inscribed with the names of their corresponding Bosses and Minions.

The Bone Dog units were represented by silhouettes of canine skulls.

The Corpse Rat units were the most interesting—their marker was a silhouette of a whole cluster of rats bundled together.

In addition, the box also contained a few silhouettes depicting ghost-headed vehicles, their forms strikingly lifelike.

These were the exclusive markers for Gu Su’s Five Ghosts Combat Team.

Each ghost-headed vehicle silhouette was rich in detail. The ghost face on the front grille snarled, intricate vine patterns wound around the wheels, and even the Skeleton driver inside the window was faintly discernible.

This meant that besides the troops directly led by Bosses and Minions, Gu Su could now also monitor those special units not led by them at any time through the map.

All they needed was an exclusive marker silhouette.

Just like the Five Ghosts Combat Team, whose specific locations he could now pinpoint at any time on the map using their exclusive ghost-headed vehicle silhouettes.

At this thought, Gu Su paused, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

He casually picked up a silhouette for the Five Ghosts Combat Team and gently placed it on the glass map on the wall.

The instant the silhouette touched the glass surface, a miniature point of light appeared on the map. The light point moved slowly, indicating the real-time position of that Five Ghosts Off-Roader within the town.

What delighted Gu Su even more was that the silhouettes’ function went far beyond simple positioning.

When he zoomed the map in all the way, a clear combat scene appeared.

Although the battle scene had the simple aesthetic of a shadow play—with figures outlined by light, their movements slightly stiff, and a color palette of only black, white, and gray—it thoughtfully displayed a health bar for every single unit.

The Life Value status of both allied Undead and enemy oddities was clear at a glance.

Even more thoughtfully, when an enemy used a powerful move, a corresponding light-and-shadow warning effect would appear on the map’s ground, clearly indicating imminent danger.

For example, when an enemy oddity prepared to spew Poisonous Fog, a faint green halo would appear beneath it. The halo’s edges were blurry and slowly expanding.

If one of Gu Su’s Elite Skeleton Warriors was nearby, it could evade in advance.

Gu Su stared at the scene on the wall, a bit amused by the simplicity. Yet, the corners of his mouth secretly curled into a smile.

The design might seem crude, even a little ridiculous—the little shadow-play figures brandished their weapons with the stiff movements of puppets, and the health bars wobbled above their heads—but for him, it was an undeniable blessing.

At least he no longer had to send his troops out and completely lose track of them, forced to passively wait for reports as he had before.

Now, just by looking at the map, he could grasp the real-time status of all his forces at any moment.

Which squad was advancing, which was engaged in combat, and which had suffered heavy casualties and needed support—it was all perfectly clear.

Gu Su stood before the map, observing carefully for a moment.

He reached out a finger and slid it gently across the glass map, pushing the perspective closer to the church area.

Sure enough, the Skeleton Warriors led by Bone Joint were locked in combat with a group of rat-headed oddities on the church’s perimeter.

Judging by the health bars, Bone Joint’s squad had taken little damage, while the health bars of the oddities were rapidly depleting.

He then switched the view toward the water source.

Bone Forest had led a squad of Elite Skeletons to the well. A few Corpse Rats were dropping poison packets into it, and a progress bar showed the contamination task was seventy percent complete.

Next, he shifted the view to the train station.

Ten Elite Skeleton Warriors had taken Control of the dispatch room. The communication equipment was smashed to pieces, and the dispatcher’s body lay in a pool of blood. A green "task complete" icon lit up on the map.

All three green-marked tasks were progressing smoothly. The troops he had dispatched were all in the final stages of their missions, with no unexpected issues.

Gu Su nodded in satisfaction and withdrew his finger.

The only regret was that the figures of Jin Chang, Xi Yue, and the others did not appear on the map.

Because Gu Su didn’t have exclusive Leather silhouettes to represent them, he couldn’t use the Thousand-Page Seven-Colored Map to check their specific locations or combat status.

He tried pushing the view toward the town center but could only see blurry building outlines and a few flickering health bars. He couldn’t make out the figures of Jin Chang and Xi Yue.

But Gu Su knew perfectly well this wasn’t a limitation of the map itself.

As long as he could find or create exclusive Leather silhouettes for Jin Chang and Xi Yue, he could bring them into the map’s surveillance range as well.

At that time, the entire battlefield situation in Trebot Town would be completely under his Control.

He could even plan retreat routes for Jin Chang and Xi Yue on the map, using the silhouettes to mark safe escape corridors.

Gu Su looked again at the colorful glass map on the wall, a sense of wonder rising within him.

’This Thousand-Page Seven-Colored Map, placed here in the Map Room, is truly an indispensable treasure,’ he thought.

With it, all future battlefield deployments and troop movements would be far more precise and efficient.

Whether on offense or defense, he could grasp the bigger picture instantly, never again to be caught off guard by sudden developments.