Chapter 128: The Undead Plague! [Request for Recommendation Votes]
2016-09-20
Author: Floating Tower (诸生浮屠)
Modo City, Laboratory.
In Laboratory No. 2 connected to the Shadow Plane, Alice was solemnly assembling the parts in front of her.
Soren was not far away, quietly watching Alice busying herself; today’s experiment was closely related to him because one of the items was provided by Soren.
“Assembly complete.”
On Alice’s testing table, a huge gauntlet was fully assembled, with other parts still unassembled nearby. She turned slightly towards Soren, indicating with a nod, then reached her hand into the gauntlet, saying, “Start testing!”
“Activating Arcane Power Armor [Arm]!”
“Beginning power charging!”
Arcane energy was injected into the light purple crystal tubes, causing Alice’s large fist, with a diameter of about thirty centimeters, to vibrate slightly, revealing a faint glow. Alice first tried moving her fingers and then rotated her wrist joint, recording, “Flexibility is average! Comparable to an ordinary human!”
“Starting strength test!”
After speaking, Alice walked to a heavy iron block in front of her and lifted it single-handedly, recording, “Test weight 1000 kg! Complete! Very easy!”
“Increase weight test.”
Alice then moved toward a second heavy object; this type of testing continued for three rounds, ultimately locking in a weight of 1500 kg.
Not far away, Soren quietly observed all of this. The gauntlet Alice was using was the arm portion of the power armor he once obtained, which he only took out for research after the alchemical technology tree in Modo City had been advanced sufficiently. The strength limit of an ordinary human is 18 points. According to records from the previous interstellar era, the Olympic Games men’s weightlifting champion’s record was 275 kg. Such strength is quite rare, roughly equating to 18 to 19 points in data template. The power provided by the repaired Arcane Power Armor arm was around 25 points; the current testing result was one-handed weight lifting of 1500 kg. If two-handed testing was to begin, the data would likely increase significantly, but the enhancement should not be too large, as this type of construct-enhanced ability is fixed.
“Flexibility test seems to only have around 10 agility.”
Soren watched as Alice removed the power device, silently thinking, “It seems the power device, like the Golem Puppet, has a significant shortcoming in agility.”
At this moment, Alice had already walked over and softly said, “The testing data is almost complete. If fully assembled, it could elevate the user’s strength to the level of an Iron Golem. Even an ordinary person should be able to reach this standard, but ordinary people have too poor resistance that even with the Arcane construct equipped, they cannot withstand the impacts in battle.”
“I think the constructs from the Arcane Empire period should have an energy protection system.”
Soren nodded in agreement, “That should be the case. The combat capability of Arcane constructs should be above that of Iron Golems. There are alchemical constructs in the Arcane Tower; can you use that to repair the Arcane constructs?”
Alice hesitated a bit before replying, “I can try.”
“But I can’t guarantee success. Arcane constructs are more akin to personal armor enchantments; some enchanted armors and gauntlets can significantly enhance the user’s strength, but they are not as complete as Arcane constructs.”
Soren contemplated for a moment and replied, “I understand.”
“However, the limitations of Golem Puppets are significant; their intelligence level cannot accomplish some tasks. Advanced alchemical life forms are also too expensive. Therefore, Arcane constructs are a relatively inexpensive yet sufficiently flexible combat resource.”
“First, try to complete the assembly, then add an energy protection shield.”
After speaking, Soren teleported out of the laboratory.
The attack on the Kingdom of Fear had shown Soren the Golem Legion’s shortcoming: complete inflexibility, with reaction speeds too slow in actual combat. Unless they could form a massive numerical suppression, they still needed a more flexible type of troop to cooperate with, which led Soren to think of Arcane constructs.
Their use was designated for ordinary soldiers. They were much more expensive than Iron Golems but cheaper than Diamond Golems.
A complete Arcane construct could arm an ordinary soldier to legendary levels. For Soren, the quantity did not need to be too large; having one small squad would be enough to compensate for the defects of Golem Puppets.
………………
Days passed quickly.
Just as Soren was busy reinforcing his forces, changes began to occur near Modo City.
Swamp Marsh.
This was another small island close to Modo Island. Due to a significant increase in population, Modo City quickly established a town here. With a large number of Clay Golems as labor, Modo City had an inherent advantage in constructing the town, establishing a port town scale in just half a month. Currently, there were about three thousand people here.
However, today, this Muddy Town was somewhat unsettled.
With the urgent ringing of alarm bells, civilians working outside the town rapidly returned inside. Such alarm bells only rang in the event of severe danger. Accompanied by the panicked expressions of the civilians, a hundred-member town guard quickly arrived at the wooden walls, anxiously gazing at the nearby cemetery.
“Father Ferlo!”
A man who seemed to be the guard officer spoke nervously to the priest beside him, “What now? Should we request assistance from Modo City?”
The priest beside him had a serious expression and whispered, “I’ve already sent a message to the temple. However, it may take some time for the temple’s guards to arrive. Your task is to hold this place during this time.”
One thousand meters away.
Eerie green flames flickered over the cemetery.
These were ghostly fires, a type of spirit at Challenge Level 5, as if some foul power had tainted the area. The soil beneath the cemetery began to rustle, and soon a decayed hand emerged from the ground, followed by a rotting body crawling out from a coffin.
There were already over a hundred undead in the vicinity of the cemetery.
Some were deceased humans, while others were originally killed indigenous people.
Three long-dead skeleton wolves huddled together, their pupils burning with the fire of souls, filled with resentment towards the living.
By now, the sky was nearing evening.
The number of resurrected undead increased as night fell; by the end, almost all that crawled out were skeletons, amounting to over a thousand. The Muddy Town had only about a hundred guards, and seeing the assembled Undead Army, they were clearly starting to feel anxious, and the numbers were still increasing.
“Damn!”
“Why have so many undead suddenly appeared here?”
The gathering undead began to attack the town; they seemed affected by some kind of evil power, moving with a swiftness exceeding that of their living days, with even some skeleton archers appearing.
In just a short skirmish, several of Muddy Town’s guards were killed.
What worried them even more was that these fallen comrades quickly resurrected and turned into terrifying ghouls!
“Something’s wrong!”
Father Ferlo’s expression became quite grim, and he softly said, “The dead shouldn’t revive so quickly, and they shouldn’t turn directly into ghouls!”
“Only the Undead Plague could cause such a situation!”
As if to validate his words, within moments of the attacks beginning on the walls, chaos erupted within the town, accompanied by extremely sharp screams.
Father Ferlo was sure that throughout the battle, no undead had infiltrated the town, so he seemed to sense something was wrong, his face ashen as he rushed down from the wall.
Indeed!
He saw a decayed ghoul, an elderly man in his fifties had already transformed into a hideous monster.
Father Ferlo hefted his heavy warhammer and charged forward. If the ghouls were allowed to attack, the entire town would eventually turn into a paradise for the undead. The priests in this world were not merely fragile spellcasters; most used maces and warhammers, donning medium or heavy armor. While they might not possess the refined martial arts of warriors, they could still fight fiercely up close.
Any official priest is a force to be reckoned with!
“Die! Filthy undead!”
The ghoul didn’t hold out long against Father Ferlo’s attack, especially after the priest invoked divine power spells. However, the situation continued to worsen gradually, as more and more ghouls appeared.
One head, two heads, three heads…
The deceased civilians quickly resurrected, subsequently transforming into ghouls, and more unsettling was the fact that some professionals who died became even more terrifying fiends.
These evil beings automatically applied the ‘Ghoul’s Touch’ ability upon attacking, and ordinary warriors simply could not contend against them. Father Ferlo foresaw that the town could not hold out for much longer, but he gritted his teeth and persevered, as his only hope was that Modo City could quickly respond and dispatch temple guards for support.
As if to answer his prayers.
In the pitch-black night, some agile shadows swiftly approached from the coastline, charging into the Undead Army, slaying over a dozen enemies in the blink of an eye.
A girl clad in silver-white armor appeared.
Father Ferlo recognized her; she was Anya Lee from Amber City, a powerful Holy Spirit Priest.
Anya Lee had changed considerably since the past; now, she frowned as she observed the rapidly decaying ghouls in front of her, muttering, “The Undead Plague? There must be a Lich or high-level undead nearby! Have the Tribunal send people to search for the source of the pollution!”
After saying this, she charged forward with her heavy flail.
This was a long-planned attack; the plague had seeped into the town’s residents, and after the undead launched their assault, numerous civilians rapidly perished, transforming into vicious ghouls.
The priests began to cast purification and disease-dispelling divine techniques.
However, the outbreak of the plague was so sudden that over seventy percent of the civilians showed signs of corpse transformation; they could only save about twenty percent.
……………… (To be continued ~^~)
