Volume 8: Super Mission ‘Vitality vs. Death’ Chapter 14: Regroup and Fight Again

Because she had just been born and was restricted by the system, Kadocin was completely unable to command any battles for Li Bin. To elevate Kadocin into a true hero, Li Bin had to complete three quests: the transformation of the Nether Dragon Princess, the recovery of the Scepter of Dragon Might, and the Trial of the Nether Dragon Clan. Otherwise, Kadocin would remain bound by three seals: she could not level up, could not use special skills, and could not benefit from infinite resurrection. For now, Li Bin could only leverage her status as a princess to trade dragon corpses for Nether Dragons of equivalent rank, including various advanced forms like Bone Dragons, Corpse Dragons, Ghost Dragons, and even the rare and elusive Dracolich. Furthermore, the knowledge passed down through generations of the dragon royal family was not to be underestimated; through her, Li Bin learned much about the dragon race. Although dragons were divided into four main lineages and over twenty species, there was only one royal line. Every hundred years, a single drop of royal blood would emerge from the origin place of the dragons, and all dragon clans would scramble to claim this blood, fusing it into the finest dragon egg in their respective tribes.

In this way, the egg would possess royal blood, becoming a dragon hero the moment it hatched. After a period of tempering and the completion of several tasks, such a dragon would become the leader of its clan. This time, however, the Gold Dragon clan had met with misfortune. They had intended to find a safe place to hatch their egg endowed with royal blood, but it unexpectedly fell into Li Bin’s hands. His curse transformed the original Gold Dragon egg into a Nether Dragon egg, granting the Nether Dragon clan an unexpected royal princess. Naturally, the Nether Dragon clan would not let such a stroke of fortune slip away. Three days after Li Bin acquired Kadocin, his troops were intercepted by a group of Nether Dragons.

This small unit, consisting of three Nether Dragons led by a dark purple dragon, was visibly moved upon seeing Kadocin in Li Bin’s arms. "It is truly the royal blood," the leader exclaimed. "Heaven has not forsaken our Nether Dragon clan!" The leader then explained the current state of the dragon race: among the four lineages, the Nether Dragon clan commanded vast numbers of Bone Dragons, Corpse Dragons, and Ghost Dragons, yet they were weaker in overall strength than the Metallic, Gem, and Chromatic dragon lineages. Having failed to secure any royal blood for years, they were ecstatic to have acquired this princess through Li Bin. While they could not forcibly take Kadocin from him, as she had already become his hero, they hoped that when Li Bin eventually stopped playing the game, he would return her to the Nether Dragon clan as a gesture of gratitude.

During Li Bin’s time in the game, the Nether Dragon clan would be his strongest ally. He could establish Nether Dragon recruitment circles in all of his cities. For every five Metallic dragons Li Bin killed, one Nether Dragon or a related sub-species would appear in the recruitment circle for his use. Additionally, each month, Li Bin could trade 5,000 gold, 3,000 mana, and 3 units of mercury for a Nether Dragon. Furthermore, the clan would send personnel to assist Li Bin in researching the creation of undead dragons like Bone, Corpse, and Ghost Dragons. After signing the contract, Li Bin received a second piece of good news: Disya’s troops had successfully bogged down the main forces of the Green Leaf Alliance on the southeastern front. To bring the war to a swift conclusion, Disya once again utilized the Vampire Castle to send reinforcements to Li Bin, along with the locations of several key Green Leaf Alliance cities, saving him much travel time in his search for their headquarters.

After receiving the reinforcements, Li Bin organized all the spoils gathered from within the Green Leaf Alliance and sent them back via the Vampire Castle. Jessica’s unit, which had been battered and could not be immediately replenished, also returned with them; she would manage the development of the territory in Li Bin’s absence. Among the plunder were many valuable items, and Li Bin had Jessica set aside a few to send to Disya. Although Disya, as a VIP player, did not strictly need them, it served as a gesture of Li Bin’s appreciation. Of course, Li Bin had his own ulterior motives: as his army of vampires grew, he lacked a hero capable of managing them. He recalled the vampire princess from his time in the beginner’s continent—her quest was still pending, and Disya possessed many of the items required to complete it.

With his troops reorganized, Li Bin and his party set out once again to hunt down the Green Leaf Alliance. With a clear target, they headed straight for the nearest city. According to Disya’s map, this town served as a training base for the archers and cannon fodder of the Green Leaf Alliance. While it lacked high-level units, it housed masses of troops that could be deployed to the front lines at a moment's notice. Li Bin chose this as his primary target not only to pick the "low-hanging fruit" but also because he needed a large number of low-level corpses. Ever since employing the "Sea of Bones" tactic, he understood its effectiveness on the battlefield and knew that the undead faction was better suited for "cannon fodder plus elite" strategies than any other. To ensure that Bai Lingyu and the others would support him fully, Li Bin promised that he would take only the corpses, leaving all other spoils to them.

With this guarantee, Li Bin’s troops, aided by Bai Lingyu’s siege weapons, soon breached the city walls. The two heroes and the players defending the city were die-hard members of the Green Leaf Alliance; knowing they were outmatched, they resisted fiercely, committing not only all the city’s garrison but also the troops stationed there awaiting transport to the front. While this caused Li Bin some trouble, it was exactly what he wanted. In this battle alone, he collected hundreds of corpses around level 7, not to mention the mass of level 2 and 3 corpses.

After dividing the spoils of the city, Li Bin faced two choices: one was the nearby Nature-faction city of "Mysterious Garden," home to Sprites and Unicorns; the other was further away, but it served as the habitat for Treants and Dendroids. Li Bin hesitated, realizing he possessed a natural advantage against Treants and Dendroids, and decided to lead his troops to deal with that city first. Bai Lingyu and the others, aware of Li Bin’s methods for handling Treants, agreed. They were just about to set off toward the City of Dead Trees when an event occurred that changed their course.