Chapter 4: The Sudden Expedition

When he woke up and saw that the novel had apparently been given a front-page spotlight, he had no idea how long it would last. At a moment like this, failing to unlock a chapter to stir up some popularity would be letting down the great Starting Point, so I am lifting the ban. Everyone, throw your monthly votes and recommendation votes at it as well!

When Li Bin said that, it only made Disia more astonished. He asked, “Why are you doing this? The Greenleaf Alliance still hasn’t come after you.”

“I’m undead too. They will never let me go. Rather than wait for them to come knocking, I might as well strike first,” Li Bin said darkly.

Hearing this, Disia, who had been preparing to defend himself, was deeply moved. He slapped Li Bin on the shoulder and said, “Good. I accept you as an ally. Rest assured, once you leave, I’ll take care of the defense of your territory. I guarantee nothing will happen to it.”

“All right. I’ll go back and pull all my troops out. If they want green leaves everywhere, then I’ll give them undead everywhere,” Li Bin said, rising to leave.

But Disia held him back. “Don’t be in such a hurry. Finish the tasks in your hand first, then recruit a few more troops before you go. When striking deep into enemy territory, elite troops are better…”

Over the next few days, Li Bin followed Disia all over the place. With Disia’s help, he reached two holy sites within Disia’s domain and completed Subiven’s quest there. Afterward, he directly transferred the right to erect the reward statue from that quest to Disia, as thanks for all the help he had received these past days.

Disia then showed his goodwill in return by designating Li Bin as an ally, allowing Li Bin and his troops to enjoy all the blessings bestowed at the holy sites by the undead deity worshiped there.

After that, the two of them also signed an agreement for mutual trade and exchange within their territories. Disia even opened some special unit types to Li Bin, letting him recruit them freely.

Li Bin chose a few vampire variants from among them, then quickly brought the Vampire Castle back to his own territory.

After Li Bin left, Iris asked in confusion, “Master, why did you open those special troops to someone like him? We could handle that Greenleaf Alliance ourselves.”

“Iris, you are mistaken. I’m helping him not because of the Greenleaf Alliance, but because of this man himself. He gives me the impression of not being an ordinary player. If we can form an alliance with him this time, it may make expansion to other continents much easier in the future,” Disia said calmly.

After returning to Ghost Butterfly City, Li Bin did not immediately begin any major reforms. Instead, he had the ghost-flame slaves summon all of his heroes back to Ghost Butterfly City.

Facing these heroes, whose faces were still full of excitement, Li Bin said sternly, “How is the territory situation now?”

“Master, while you were away these past few days, we have already conquered all the cities in the plan. We were only waiting for you to return before we could begin the eastward expansion plan,” Toudina answered at once.

“The eastward expansion plan is temporarily postponed. Make your preparations. We are going on an expedition,” Li Bin said evenly, but the moment those words were spoken, none of the heroes could remain calm.

Deirdre stood up and said loudly, “Are all of us going? Then what about the territory’s defenses?”

“It doesn’t matter. Disia will help us handle that. We only need to leave Waterside Moon and Wine Vat to guard the mines,” Li Bin said slowly.

“How can that work? How can Disia be trusted?” Shenling said loudly.

“I trust him,” Li Bin said firmly.

“Then why do I have to stay behind? I want to go too. Just let Waterside Moon be the mine guardian,” Wine Vat said with obvious displeasure.

“No. This time we’ll be facing players and heroes of the nature faction,” Li Bin said slowly.

“So what? It’s not my country. Why should I be afraid? Maybe I can even serve as a scout,” Wine Vat said after a belch of wine.

“The scout is my duty,” Shenling said, staring at Wine Vat with irritation.

“In any case, I’m going,” Wine Vat said, completely oblivious to Shenling’s murderous glare.

“All right.” Li Bin hesitated for a moment, then still took Wine Vat along. He ordered, “This counts as an emergency mission. Get ready; we leave immediately. Remember to bring your best troops.”

As soon as Toudina and the others heard that, their eyes lit up. They understood what Li Bin meant. After a brief discussion among the heroes, they adjusted the troops under their command.

In the end, the forces Li Bin sent out were as follows:

First Scout Corps: Shenling, with three Valkyries, two squads of Jungle Hunters, two squads of Swamp Ambushers, two squads of Harpy Venom Mists, three squads of Harpy Specter Spikes, one squad of Harpy Wraiths, and one squad of Vampire Scouts.

First Air Corps: Reed, with his subordinate hero Blood Night, four Bone Dragons, and eleven False Bone Dragons.

First Cavalry Corps: Ted, with one squad plus six Death Knights, five squads of Skeleton Knights, and three squads of Terror Knights, which would later be delivered by the Alliance of the Seven Undead Lords.

First Archer Corps: Groo, with seven squads of Phantom Undead Archers.

Second Archer Corps: Little Kett, with three squads plus nine Necromancers and two squads of Death Crossbow Wagons.

First Main Corps: Toudina, with her subordinate hero Great Nanmu, two squads of level-nine Ghost Nagas, two squads of Phantom Undead Archers, three squads of Vampire Warriors, and two companies of mixed level-seven Skeleton Soldiers, Corpse Soldiers, and Ghost Soldiers.

First Priest-Mage Corps: Deirdre, with her subordinate hero Bik, two squads of Skeleton Priests, one squad of Vampire Priests, one squad of Vampire Mages, one squad of Skeleton Mages, one squad of Human Priests, and seven squads of Iron Corpse Soldiers.

First Mixed Corps: Jessica, with six Judges of Sanctity, one squad of Human Knights, three squads of Elven Hunting Masters, three squads of Human Heavy Crossbowmen, five squads of Crusaders, two squads of Human Priests, and one emergency tent.

Second Mixed Corps: Ridas, with two squads of level-six Poison Sword Spiders, two squads of level-six Web-Spinners capable of hurling webs and poison gas bombs, two squads of level-six Amazon Rapid-Panther Fighters, one squad of level-six Amazon Falcon Archers, one squad of Amazon Priestesses, one squad of Amazon Divine Guards, one mobile bow-making workshop, and one mobile poison workshop.

Third Mixed Corps: Wine Vat, with one squad of level-six Dwarf Firebreathers, Wine Vat’s special unit, dwarves who breathe fire when they drink too much, one squad of level-six Dwarf Throwers, two squads of level-six Dwarf Guardians, two squads of level-five Dwarf Diggers, six Dwarf Rune Elders, and one mobile blacksmith forge.

Personal Guard Corps: Li Bin, with the magic hero Sannei, three squads of Staff-bearing Mummies, three squads of Blade-art Mummies, three squads of Death Crossbow Wagons, one squad of level-nine Vampire Slayers recruited from Disia, one squad of Mummy Curse Mages, two squads of Nether Lantern Genies, three squads of level-four Sand-Converted Mummies, the strongest force recruited from Mummy City, which Li Bin intended to use to see just how far the mummies could evolve, one of Kett’s mechanical carts, and one mobile research laboratory sponsored by Disia.