Free Web NovelChapter 13: Chapter 12: There Is an Intruder
The scorching sun hung high in the sky, the temperature rising until the air itself seemed to shimmer. On the ground, the low-lying plants did little to bring a hint of coolness to the Wasteland.
In contrast to the blistering heat outside, the Mobile Fortress, now in Hibernation Mode, was pleasantly cool, with no feeling of stuffiness at all.
Instead of sleeping as he usually did, Li Ziyu sat on the White Bone Throne, browsing the system’s construction interface. The battle with the Lizardman Robbers had been a bountiful harvest, and he finally had the resources to upgrade his Mobile Fortress and boost his power.
Last time, he had built the Weapon Workshop, which had strengthened the Skeleton Undead and led to his recent victory. But there were still shortcomings, stemming from the Mobile Fortress itself, so Li Ziyu planned to upgrade the fortress.
[Skeleton Engine]
[Introduction: The power source for the Mobile Fortress. Can increase the Mobile Fortress’s movement speed.]
[Construction Requirements: Skeleton x50, Soul Energy x500]
[Area Occupied: 10 units]
For a Mobile Fortress, speed was naturally a top priority. Li Ziyu had wanted to build the Skeleton Engine for a long time, but its resource cost was not small, and he’d never had the chance. Now was the perfect time. The resources collected from the Lizardman Robbers were enough to build the Skeleton Engine, with some to spare.
Without hesitation, he added it to the cart and paid instantly, constructing the Skeleton Engine. He believed that with the help of the Skeleton Engine, the next time he encountered foes like the Lizardman Robbers, not a single one would escape.
He still had some materials left. Li Ziyu mulled it over and decided to give the Skeleton Undead another power boost by building an Armor Workshop.
[Armor Workshop]
[Introduction: A place for forging armor, shields, and other defensive gear.]
[Construction Requirements: Skeleton x10, Stone x10, Soul Energy x10]
[Area Occupied: 4 units]
After issuing the construction command, he glanced at the other buildings in the system and sighed. ’It’s all good stuff, but I don’t have enough resources. I have to be frugal. I wonder when I’ll ever be able to truly develop... This starting location really puts me at a disadvantage.’
He opened the chat channel for a look, but finding no interesting news, he finally went to sleep peacefully.
In his dream, Li Ziyu was surrounded by beautiful women: Fox Girls, Snake Women, Rabbit Girls... all of them gorgeous, each with their own unique charm. They smiled sweetly at him. ’Ah, this is just like heaven. I hope this never ends.’ freēwēbnovel.com
[Intruder Detected]
Two words floated through the air.
’What the hell? My eyes must be playing tricks on me.’ He ignored the floating words and continued chatting and laughing with the beautiful women, playing games.
[Intruder Detected... Intruder Detected... Intruder Detected...]
Like a flood of bullet comments, the words were so dense they blotted out his vision, irritating him to no end. But what truly upset him was that the beautiful women surrounding him, one by one, popped like illusory bubbles and vanished.
"What the f—"
His pleasant dream interrupted, Li Ziyu groggily opened his eyes, a wave of morning grumpiness washing over him. He was about to curse out loud when he suddenly remembered the words from his dream. He shivered violently, a jolt running through him that shocked him fully awake. Turning his head, he saw a Skeleton Undead staring fixedly at him, the Soul Fire in its eye sockets flickering erratically.
Apparently, the "bullet comments" from his dream had come from this guy.
"What kind of intruder? Where are they?" All sleepiness gone, Li Ziyu sat up and asked nervously.
’I’m already in Hibernation Mode, so how could someone still find me?’
’This shouldn’t be possible. Hibernation Mode is supposed to be safe. It conceals all signs of life, making the fortress like an inanimate object, like a stone. How was I discovered?’
Li Ziyu’s mind was a mess. He couldn’t figure it out, no matter how hard he thought. But he knew the Undead would not lie to him.
He had always felt safe in Hibernation Mode, which was why he could always sleep soundly after activating it. Now, an Undead was telling him that Hibernation Mode wasn’t safe anymore. The thought was terrifying.
The Soul Fire in the Undead’s eye sockets pulsed twice, transmitting a message to Li Ziyu: "Gophers. Outside the fortress."
’Fortress... outside?’
Li Ziyu was stunned. The Mobile Fortress had sunk underground; it was surrounded by dirt and stone. ’Where is this "outside" you’re talking about? Are you kidding me? And what the hell is a Gopher anyway?’
’This is all a mess. I’d better go see for myself.’
Li Ziyu closed his eyes and connected his consciousness to the vision of an Undead, allowing him to see what it saw. He normally disliked using this ability, as he always found the Undead’s vision to be strange and different from a human’s. Every time he used it, he felt disoriented when he switched back to his own sight.
But right now, the Undead’s vision was extremely useful.
In the vision of an Undead, there wasn’t much color. Most things were varying shades of gray. Only living beings had color, and the brightest things of all were their souls. To an Undead’s eyes, the soul of a living creature was as dazzling as a giant lightbulb.
After connecting to the Undead’s vision, Li Ziyu switched between a few of them until he found the so-called intruder. The fortress was still underground, but now there was a tunnel connecting to it, dug from who-knows-where. At the mouth of the tunnel stood a small, quiet figure that wasn’t making any aggressive moves.
Outside, the Gopher’s heart was pounding. Of course it was. Any living creature would be terrified when stared down by a group of Undead with ghostly flames in their eyes. It was the instinctual fear of the living for death itself.
He had made it here alive, but he didn’t know if he’d be leaving the same way. Still, for his City Lord, and for the future glory of the Gopher clan, even paying the price with his life was worth it.
As the Gopher thought this, his fear lessened somewhat. He puffed out his chest slightly, even though his legs were still trembling.
Sitting in the main tower, Li Ziyu watched the small figure and frowned slightly. ’So this is a Gopher. It doesn’t look like a powerful being at all. A creature like this dares to attack my fortress?’
’Could it be that this guy is one of the Natives and just happened to dig his way to my Mobile Fortress by accident?’
’That doesn’t seem right either. If it were an accident, he should have run away. But this guy is just standing there. Not attacking, but not running either. Something’s not normal.’
Since he couldn’t figure it out, he decided to just ask.
"What is your business?" Li Ziyu used the Undead’s Soul Fire to transmit the message to the Gopher.
The message that suddenly appeared in its soul startled the Gopher, who almost turned and fled. It then realized this was the Undead asking it a question and barely managed to hold its ground.
’It’s good that we can communicate. If we can communicate, I might have a chance to live,’ the Gopher sighed with relief. Not daring to delay, it quickly said, "I have come on behalf of my master, the Lord of Gopher City, to pay my respects to the Undead City Lord."
After speaking, it peeked at the Undead in front of it, only to find they were still staring at it without any reaction. They had fallen silent.
The Gopher didn’t know that it wasn’t the Undead who had gone silent, but Li Ziyu. From the Gopher’s words, he had gleaned a crucial piece of information: this creature was not a Native, but the subordinate of another Transmigrator. And that Transmigrator had clearly discovered him.
The question now was, what did this Lord of Gopher City intend by sending someone here?
