Chapter 7: The Creation of the Undead

Chapter 7: The Development of the Undead

Though undead troops could be mass-produced through specialized buildings, their standard attributes were the result of tireless research by necromancer players. Even when one obtained the standard manufacturing methods for some renowned units, necromancer players would continuously tweak and adjust them to craft their own unique forces.

It was quite common, therefore, for someone like Li Bin to begin researching new troop types whenever he acquired a new corpse or had a fresh idea.

So, when Boom-Boom Bull and the others saw Li Bin dissecting the corpse of the Harpy Queen for study, they wisely refrained from disturbing him.

In this atmosphere, Li Bin swiftly dismembered the Harpy Queen’s body into numerous pieces and meticulously drew diagrams of her anatomical structure. He discovered that the Harpy Queen had one defining characteristic: lightness.

Her entire skeleton was hollow, filled with a kind of gas. Her muscles, too, contained large amounts of a special gas. Normally, this gas was stored in solid form within her body, but during combat, it would be expelled through the Queen’s fine pores, allowing her to execute sudden, lightning-fast maneuvers.

Li Bin suspected that all harpies shared this trait, with higher-level ones able to control both the quantity and quality of the gas within. With this understanding, Li Bin had already devised a plan for creating an undead version of the Harpy Queen.

He intended to replace all the special gas in her body with a volatile poison gas. Though this would make the undead Harpy Queen bulkier and slow her aerial turns, it would also leave a thick cloud of toxic miasma in her wake. Any enemy entering her flight path would become dizzy, disoriented, and suffer continuous damage until death.

Additionally, Li Bin planned to enhance the flexibility of the Harpy Queen’s wings and limbs through mechanical means. He also intended to modify her hands so they could extend and retract freely, wielding daggers with agility, and thus transform her into an assassin-type unit.

After recording his designs, Li Bin began reassembling, crafting, and adjusting the already dismembered Harpy Queen’s corpse. Soon, the system prompted him that, if he proceeded as designed, he would create two new level-6 undead units and asked him to name them.

Upon seeing this message, Li Bin nearly jumped out of his skin. He had encountered such prompts many times during his research into undead gargoyles—each time, when failure was imminent, the system would prompt him to name the unit, only to follow up with, “However, due to certain reasons, this research cannot succeed at this time. Please continue refining your approach.”

Nevertheless, Li Bin managed a wry smile and named the two undead units “Toxic Harpy” and “Shadow Talon Harpy,” as prompted by the system.

Sure enough, the system responded again: “Due to the Harpy Queen’s corpse being too thoroughly dismembered, it does not meet the requirements for creating Toxic Harpy and Shadow Talon Harpy. This attempt has failed. The required materials for these two undead units are: one Harpy Queen-class corpse or two standard level-5 corpses, liquid poison…”

Disappointed, Li Bin tossed aside the half-made Toxic Harpy and was about to drag over two level-5 standard corpses to continue experimenting when a thought struck him. “The system said the corpse was too thoroughly dismembered—meaning the usable material was too little, resulting in the failure. What if I reduced the size specifications for the Toxic Harpy?”

Inspired, Li Bin resumed his research. Before long, a small Toxic Harpy appeared in his hands.

This mini Toxic Harpy was only a third the size of the original Queen. Her once-golden feathers had turned a smoky green, and her talon-formed feet glimmered with a cold blue light. Her body was shrouded in a thick green mist, which lingered for at least five minutes wherever she flew.

After making all the necessary adjustments, Li Bin finally infused a standard soul into the mini Toxic Harpy. The system promptly announced, “You have created a level-4 undead unit. Please name this unit. The probability of mass production is 74.2%. Below are the required materials and the city level, resources, and other data needed for mass production.”

Satisfied at last, Li Bin put away all his design blueprints. The successful creation of the mini Toxic Harpy proved his designs for the Toxic Harpy and Shadow Talon Harpy were on the right track. In the future, he would have a flying unit to replace the undead gargoyle.

At this point, Boom-Boom Bull and the others noticed Li Bin’s achievement. While they were astonished by his creativity, a tinge of envy crept in, for only Li Bin could so readily replenish his forces.

Of course, there were always a few dissenters. Light Fluttering Butterfly, just emerged from the pond, cast a critical eye over the mini Toxic Harpy and sneered, “Such a tiny thing—what use could it possibly have?”

Li Bin paused, glanced at the mini Toxic Harpy perched on his arm, and gave a rueful smile. He was about to put her away when he happened to see a Forest Pursuer next to him recalling his hawk.

A thought flashed through his mind. He called a Forest Pursuer over. “What’s the purpose of your hawk?”

The Forest Pursuer replied respectfully, “It’s used for scouting or providing some auxiliary attacks.”

Li Bin considered this, then amended the mini Toxic Harpy’s attributes so she could control the emission of her poison gas at will. He handed her to the Forest Pursuer and asked, “Could this replace your hawk?”

The Forest Pursuer set the mini Toxic Harpy on his shoulder and tested her. “Communication is very easy, and her attack power surpasses the hawk’s. If not for the -1 morale penalty, she’d even outclass the upgraded battle hawk.”

“Looks like it works well,” Li Bin nodded, now having ideas for utilizing the mini Toxic Harpy. He planned to study the corpses of fallen Forest Pursuers and create an undead pursuer. Equipping them with mini Toxic Harpies and two other effective undead creatures, he was certain the undead pursuer would be much stronger than its living counterpart.

All this, however, was only a plan in Li Bin’s mind. He knew that creating and perfecting a level-6 unit would require a great deal of time. Without the aid of a research lab, he couldn’t hope to achieve his goals so quickly.

Moreover, it was already time to rest, and Boom-Boom Bull’s group was ready to set out. Li Bin couldn’t afford to hold everyone up for his own research.

So, he brought the mini Toxic Harpy aboard his undead scorpion, organized his troops, and set off with the others toward the Temple of Magic.