Chapter 3 | Overtime Necromancy: My Legion Never Sleeps

Time ticked by as the last light in the village finally went out, yet Chen Xu patiently waited another hour just to be safe.

During that hour, his 996 talent gave him another surprise.

【Raise Skeleton (Level 5): Summon a skeleton. If a corpse is consumed for the summoning, an additional bonus is gained based on the quality of the corpse.】

Back when Chen Xu had used over a hundred skeleton soldiers to sweep the forest, Raise Skeleton had already reached Level 4.

After summoning several hundred more skeleton soldiers using corpses, the skill level broke through once again under the talent's influence, reaching Level 5.

Level 5 skeleton soldiers stood two meters tall, their bone blades lengthened and their bone shields sprouted spikes.

At the same time, the ribs on their chests had fused into solid plates, no longer leaving gaps.

Under Chen Xu's command, groups of twenty skeleton soldiers began clearing the houses from the village outskirts, gradually working their way inward.

The houses of the pigmen usually didn't have doors, and only the cellars in the courtyards were locked, which gave the skeleton soldiers the perfect opportunity for a stealthy night attack.

A skeleton soldier would first scout out all the pigmen in a house, and then three would target a single bed.

One would strike the head, one the heart, and the last would deliver a finishing blow.

In a short while, the outer houses were cleared, and Chen Xu activated 【Raise Skeleton】 again, adding over a hundred more soldiers to his undead legion.

Just as the skeleton soldiers were clearing the houses in the central area, a light flickered on in the largest house at the very center, and a roar shattered the silence of the night.

"Hah! Where did you runts come from, daring to sneak attack your Pig Grandpa's territory!"

A pigman over three meters tall opened the door and stepped out, carrying a large pitchfork over his shoulder and a lantern in his hand.

But when the pigman saw the crowd of skeleton soldiers standing outside through the dim light of his lantern, his eyes widened and he froze.

"What... what kind of monsters are these? Could it be those disgusting snakemen crawlers using some kind of voodoo sorcery again?"

Lights flickered on in the remaining houses, and the pigmen villagers, awakened by the shouting, grabbed their tools like hoes, pitchforks, and sickles.

However, every pigman who stepped out and saw the dense crowd of skeleton soldiers froze in their tracks.

Seeing that the assassination could no longer continue, Chen Xu immediately switched tactics.

Over five hundred skeleton soldiers charged toward the pigmen in the center.

"Everyone, huddle up toward me! We'll make our stand at the ancestral hall!" the three meter tall pigman roared at the dazed villagers.

Hearing this, Chen Xu slightly controlled the charging speed of his skeleton soldiers to avoid interfering with the pigmen's gathering, though they followed closely, only two or three meters behind.

Once most of the pigmen had gathered, Chen Xu ordered all his skeleton soldiers to charge.

At the same time, he raised his hand and cast 【Weaken Curse】 on the group in the center.

Instantly, some pigmen could no longer hold their weapons steady, and some even fell to their knees.

Before the pigmen could realize what was happening, the blades of the skeleton soldiers arrived.

The pigmen on the outermost edge were cut down and collapsed to the ground.

Those inside managed to adapt to the weakened state of the curse and fought back with their farm tools.

However, their weakened bodies could no longer deal much damage to the skeleton soldiers, and the fact that the skeletons were fearless in the face of death dealt a psychological blow to the pigmen.

"Everyone, get into the ancestral hall! We'll defend the entrance and wait for the snakemen's spell to end before we charge back out!" the tall pigman ordered.

He charged forward himself, swinging his large pitchfork to cover the other pigmen.

This wave of charging and slashing killed nearly a hundred pigmen, but dozens more managed to follow the tall pigman into the ancestral hall.

They slammed the heavy doors shut to block the skeleton soldiers' advance.

As Chen Xu walked toward the ancestral hall, he casually activated 【Raise Skeleton】, and more skeleton soldiers joined the ranks.

"Beastmen are still not very bright, after all," Chen Xu muttered as he picked up a lantern dropped by a pigman and handed it to a nearby skeleton.

"Pick up all the lanterns and throw them into the ancestral hall. Let's have a pig roast."

Following his orders, the skeleton soldiers picked up the lanterns from the ground and hurled them at the central ancestral hall.

The lanterns smashed against the wooden building, and it immediately caught fire.

"This is bad, Village Chief! The snakemen threw lanterns and set the house on fire!"

"Quick, get water to put it out, or we're finished!"

"Where are we going to find that much water in the ancestral hall? We never planned to defend this place..."

The remaining pigmen fell into a panic.

"Village Chief, what do we do? The ancestral hall is burning, we can't hold out here!"

The tall pigman gritted his teeth, gripped his pitchfork, and said, "Huddle together. I'll take the lead and protect the fastest runners so they can break out. Go tell the town guards that the snakemen runts are invading us."

"Zhu San, Zhu Lei, you two are usually lazy and always stealing food, but you're fast. I hope you can make it out this time," the tall pigman said.

"Once you're out, run in different directions. Get to the town, tell the guards, and have them avenge our people!"

"Village Chief!"

"The rest of you, follow me! Protect San and Lei! Charge!!"

The tall pigman stood before the doors and gestured to two other pigmen, each holding a door plank, to charge out.

The other pigmen shielded Zhu San and Zhu Lei in the center and followed them out.

Chen Xu wasn't sure what was happening inside until the doors suddenly burst open and two door planks came charging out.

It startled him for a moment, as he thought some hidden hermit master might be hiding in the pigmen's ancestral hall.

The planks hadn't made it far before they were blocked by the skeleton soldiers.

Only then did Chen Xu see it was just two pigmen using door planks to charge, and looking at the pigmen following behind them, he immediately understood their plan.

"Heh, you want to break through my skeleton army? Who do you think you are, eaglemen or Zhu Bajie?"

Chen Xu waved his hand, and the skeleton soldiers surged forward like a tide.

In a literal sense, wave after wave of skeleton soldiers pounced, directly burying the dozens of pigmen under a mountain of bone.

The pigmen underneath tried to resist at first, but as more and more skeleton soldiers piled on, they were pinned down and unable to move.

Once the pigmen were immobilized, Chen Xu directed the remaining soldiers who hadn't jumped on to start finishing them off from the edges.

The poor pigmen were pressed to the ground, forced to feel cold bone blades stabbing into their bodies from every direction as they gradually lost consciousness.

Every time a pigman was killed, Chen Xu activated 【Raise Skeleton】.

The newly summoned skeleton soldier would then use its bone blade to stab inward.

From the outside in, circle by circle, the pigmen grew fewer and fewer.

Before long, the pigmen had all stopped breathing and were transformed into skeleton soldiers to join Chen Xu's ranks.

After the last pigman was converted, Chen Xu stored the pile of skeletons into his Necrotic Space and then released them back out.

"Soldiers who do not fear death and execute orders perfectly... they are true killing machines. As long as they aren't facing a regular army, there's no chance of resistance," Chen Xu remarked.

"And even a regular army, without enough strength or conviction, probably wouldn't last long against these skeletons."

He ordered the skeleton soldiers to fetch water from outside to extinguish the fire in the ancestral hall.

Then, he dispersed the soldiers to search the houses for anything useful while he stepped into the ancestral hall himself.

"It's a pity that initial dungeons only have a final completion reward and no rewards for killing monsters. Otherwise, taking down so many enemies and capturing a village would have at least given me some new equipment or items," Chen Xu grumbled.

The initial dungeon was, in essence, a benefit provided by this world to humanity.

One would not truly die in an initial dungeon; failing or dying would only result in being teleported out.

But while this world was generous, it was also a bit stingy.

The initial dungeon only offered a single final reward upon completion, with no rewards for monster kills, location captures, or tasks.

As a result, only newcomers who were confident in a full completion took the initial dungeon seriously, such as those like Chen Xu who had awakened a rare class.

...

"It seems this initial dungeon poses no difficulty for student Chen. Once a Necromancer's snowball starts rolling, sweeping through the ten races is only a matter of time."

"His skeleton soldiers have already developed breastplates. He reached Level 5 so quickly; he is truly gifted!"

"Old Xia, does your Military Academy want this prospect? Once a Necromancer develops and coordinates with your military formations, they can completely suppress a dungeon area. They might even open up another city for Daxia."

"What are you saying? It's not like only military formations can provide a boost. Our Daxia Academy has more books, stronger theory, and many skill-type dungeons. Student Chen's talent would be even more useful with us."

The recruitment teachers began to argue, while City Lord Mo whispered to Headmaster Huang beside him.

"It seems our Linghai is quite lucky this year. Chen Xu is already a sure thing, and the other one, Xu Wu, just contracted a Kodo beast. It looks like a variant, too. He'll likely secure a spot as well."

Headmaster Huang nodded. "That's only two. No need to rush. This year, the Blackrock and Great Wetland areas have also produced some good classes like the Blackrock Artisan and Wetland Priest. The academies and Heavenly Crafts will definitely take those. We need at least a few more to take the lead."

"Heh, I'm not like your academy. You get reward resources from Daxia for taking the lead. I just hope Linghai produces a few more dragons. Maybe they'll give us more defensive strength in the future for the sake of their hometown. The Sea Race has been getting more restless lately."

"Sigh, the Dragon Seed Program... only someone like you, Mo Zijiang, would dare to dream of it. If getting into the big three is like learning to babble, then becoming a Dragon Seed is like composing poetry."

City Lord Mo remained noncommittal. "Who can say for sure?"

...

"Oh? There really is a harvest!" Chen Xu looked at the simple map in his hand, which had been found in the tall pigman's house.

According to the map, this place was located at the border between the pigmen and the snakemen.

There was a pigman town nearby, surrounded by eight villages, and this was one of them.

"There's still time before dawn. Since I know the distribution of the town and villages, I'll settle this quickly. I'll sweep the remaining seven villages tonight to isolate the town, and then I'll lay siege and finish it tomorrow night."