If Qin Han had known about Nie Yan’s thoughts, who knows what he would have felt, or whether he would have been so furious that he spat blood.
After a while, a large group of thieves entered this area, searching nearby for Nie Yan’s traces. However, Nie Yan had already left, leaving them with nowhere to search.
“Boss, Crazy Thief Nie Yan has already left. What should we do now?”
Qin Han, who was inside the guild hall, received the message from the thieves and flew into a rage. Because Guardian Angel Karla purified his corpse, he lost two and a half levels’ worth of experience. What upset and pained him the most was the recently dropped Book of Death. This legendary item had taken him great effort to obtain from the Labyrinth of the Undead, where he had died three times for it. Now Nie Yan had easily taken it away—how could he possibly stay calm?
“Strengthen patrols. Report immediately if anyone spots Crazy Thief Nie Yan!” Qin Han gritted his teeth. He needed to accelerate his plans, for the news of the massive emergence of skeletons had already reached Nie Yan. He had to prevent Nie Yan from disrupting his strategy!
Under Qin Han’s command, skeletons near Broki Fortress began expanding further outward, continuously attacking towns and ambushing players on the roads.
Once the danger of exposure was no longer a concern, the skeletons could unleash terrifying power. With the rapid expansion of their victories, the number of skeletons continued to surge.
“Just wait and see how you handle this!” Qin Han thought to himself. It wouldn’t be long before he could gather even more skeletons to attack areas with denser player populations, or even directly assault cities. Once he amassed a million or more skeletons, he would launch a full-scale attack on the Bull Tribe’s fortress!
Nie Yan, riding the Gold Earth Dragon, was clearing skeletons at the perimeter, but he could no longer contain the rapid increase in their numbers.
Nie Yan gradually realized the terrifying power of the Undead Vengeance. Now he understood why, in his previous life, a certain player had swept across the entire Granadyne and Satheran Empires with such a massive army of the undead.
An all-encompassing war was inevitable.
The Bull Tribe had already prepared, but it remained uncertain whether they could withstand the onslaught. Sending large numbers of players to hunt the skeletons was an extremely unwise move. Battling large groups of skeletons in the wild was extremely dangerous—players might not eliminate many skeletons before being overwhelmed and turned into part of their ranks.
Nie Yan pondered for a moment. He decided to first infiltrate Broki Fortress to investigate, and then report the findings to the Elder Council of the Granadyne Empire. On one hand, he could obtain the title of High Prophet, and on the other, he could mobilize the Granadyne Empire’s armies and the Holy Temple’s Templar Knights to deal with them.
With that in mind, Nie Yan stealthily made his way toward the nearby Broki Fortress.
News of the massive number of skeletons appearing east of Emerald City spread through various channels. On the forums, players were buzzing with discussions, speculating about what had happened. Some guessed that a new map area with skeleton spawns might have opened up. Others speculated it could be a quest—clearing the skeletons and defeating their boss might yield legendary items. Not a single player considered the possibility of a new expansion pack.
The forum discussions remained optimistic. Even if the skeletons had destroyed many villages and small towns, who would believe they would dare to march into cities?
Players had yet to foresee the future developments. Even if someone claimed that the skeletons would attack cities, few would believe it. The NPC guards of Emerald City had already launched a large-scale operation to hunt the skeletons. These guards were elite units, level 160 or higher, numbering around two to three thousand.
With the guards mobilized, players felt even more confident about the battle. Large groups from Emerald City began forming teams, preparing to follow behind the guards and reap some benefits.
Approximately a million players in Emerald City were forming parties and heading eastward, completely unaware that they were walking straight into a massive disaster.
Nie Yan stealthily approached the base of Broki Fortress, climbing inside like a spider and hiding within a residential area.
Looking into the distance, Nie Yan saw a large number of skeletons moving about inside Broki Fortress. Many were elite and lord-level skeletons, and their sheer numbers would make any confrontation terrifying.
Nie Yan carefully advanced, using Shadowstep techniques to leap between houses.
He glanced upward. This was a civilian house five yards tall. He pushed off the wall with his left foot, leapt upward, landed on the rooftop, and dashed forward. He leapt across a street five to six yards wide, pressed his body against a tall wall, and quickly climbed upward.
His high agility and jumping ability allowed him to move effortlessly through the fortress’s complex architecture.
In the distance, a temple-like structure emerged from among the buildings. It was extremely grand, with a grayish hue to its walls.
For some reason, this temple gave him an uneasy feeling.
After hesitating for a moment, he decided to investigate.
Nie Yan bypassed nearby skeletons and arrived at the temple’s exterior. He found the iron door tightly shut. It was five yards tall, entirely forged from metal, and completely sealed shut.
A group of weapon-wielding skeletons approached from a distance. Nie Yan quickly hid in a corner.
The skeleton soldiers noticed nothing and gradually moved farther away.
Nie Yan scouted around the temple for a while. Looking upward, he noticed a skylight on the temple’s roof. Wondering if he could enter through it, he climbed up and jumped inside, landing in an attic.
The attic was cluttered with various items. As Nie Yan prepared to leave, one wooden chest among the debris caught his attention. He sensed a powerful dark aura emanating from it. He walked over and rummaged through the chest, eventually pulling out a necklace.
It was an old, tattered necklace. Nie Yan examined its attributes.
The Lost Necklace of the Lich Bodman: Attributes unknown.
This Lost Necklace displayed no attributes, not even with identification. Nie Yan had no idea what it was used for, but he decided to place it in his bag for now.
After further searching the attic and finding nothing else, Nie Yan descended the narrow staircase. Below was a vast hall. The sight before him nearly stopped his heart—a massive bone dragon stood silently in the center of the temple hall. This dragon stood twenty-five to twenty-six yards tall, with a massive wingspan and towering frame, exuding an aura of invincibility.
It stood motionless, like an ancient, unchanging sculpture.
Compared to this bone dragon, Nie Yan’s Shadow Winged Dragon paled in comparison. If standing, Nie Yan’s dragon would only reach the bone dragon’s belly.
A terrifying creature. It was unimaginable what would happen once this bone dragon was revived.
Nie Yan cast Detect on the bone dragon: Level 160 Demonized Lord!
Good heavens! Who could possibly stand against such a creature! Demonized Lords were terrifying beings, albeit extremely rare. Nie Yan had encountered one in his previous life—a Behemoth, though he hadn’t even gotten a clear look at it before being instantly killed.
Nie Yan tried to recall. In his previous life, had there been such a bone dragon? He suddenly remembered—yes, there had been one. It had been slain by Karl of the Holy Temple.
With that thought, Nie Yan felt slightly reassured. Players stood no chance against this bone dragon; only NPCs could handle it.
Nie Yan stealthily moved to a corner of the hall. There were many lord-level Skeleton Kings wandering around. At the front of the hall stood a figure completely shrouded in a black robe, murmuring incantations.
Could that be the legendary Lich Bodman?
According to previous records, Lich Bodman was extremely powerful. Naturally, such an NPC capable of altering the course of history would be terrifying.
Nie Yan dared not advance further. If Bodman discovered him, he would have almost no chance of escape!
Once spellcasters reached the Magus level, they gained specific methods to counter random teleportation scrolls, rendering enemy teleportation ineffective. And someone like Bodman, a legendary mage, would be even harder to deal with.
Was he just going to return empty-handed?
Nie Yan felt somewhat reluctant. Having come this far, leaving without any gains was frustrating.
Suddenly, he remembered the Shadow Assassin skill in his skill bar. The summoned Shadow Assassin had even stronger attributes than himself. Even if it were destroyed, he would suffer no loss!
He opened his skill list, selected Shadow Assassin, and summoned it.
A figure appeared before Nie Yan. The Shadow Assassin looked and dressed exactly like Nie Yan, almost as if they were cast from the same mold. Its attributes were 30% stronger than Nie Yan’s, and its skills were nearly identical. The Shadow Assassin could handle tasks Nie Yan himself could not perform.
Nie Yan placed the Shadow Assassin in stealth mode and directed it slowly toward Lich Bodman.
As several Skeleton Kings approached, Nie Yan immediately commanded the Shadow Assassin to use the Gnome Transformation skill, rapidly shrinking its body.
The Skeleton Kings patrolled around, completely unaware that the Shadow Assassin had already slipped past their feet.
Time passed slowly. Nie Yan, hidden in the shadows, carefully controlled the Shadow Assassin. Without his direct control, the Shadow Assassin wouldn’t be able to intelligently use various skills. If left to its own devices, the Shadow Assassin would simply cast beneficial buffs on itself, harmful debuffs on enemies, and then engage in melee combat. However, under Nie Yan’s skillful control, the Shadow Assassin’s use of skills became significantly more flexible.
The Shadow Assassin gradually approached the distant Lich Bodman, now only about twenty yards away.
Through the Shadow Assassin’s vision, Nie Yan clearly saw Lich Bodman chanting something, deeply focused and motionless, completely unaware of the approaching Shadow Assassin.
Nie Yan raised an eyebrow. It seemed that whatever Lich Bodman was doing was related to the bone dragon, as though he were performing some kind of ritual.
Nie Yan directed the Shadow Assassin to continue advancing toward Lich Bodman. Ten yards away, and still, Lich Bodman showed no reaction.
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