Clear the Sewer (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

At Gu Xi's command, the three Battle Squads quickly entered the sewer through the Water Well.

The sewer beneath the Water Well was quite large, with none of those countless branching paths. It was simply an Underground Passage a kilometer long and wide enough for four or five people to walk abreast.

On both sides of the passage were sewage drains the size of human heads, connecting all the buildings in this area.

The moment he entered the sewer, Gu Xi understood why it had become part of the buildings transformed by Aryadovi City.

It turned out that the sewer was one of those things that had been copied, yet could not be copied completely.

The sewer's layout could be replicated, but the accumulated filth within it could not.

Moreover, after Aryadovi had been banished, no one had lived here for so many years, and there had been no drainage either.

When Gu Xi came down, he found that the sewer was surprisingly clean. There were barely even any traces of water.

At the same time, the Skeleton Soldiers of Battle Squad 3 raised their shields and took position at the front, guarding against enemies that might appear at any moment.

Gu Xi looked both ahead and behind. The Water Well happened to be located right in the middle of the sewer, with roughly five hundred meters stretching in either direction.

With Gu Xi's eyesight, he could clearly see that the sewer continued at both ends, but it was shrouded in a mysterious black mist that made it impossible to see what lay beyond.

This was just like the White Mist they had encountered after entering Aryadovi. Both were features of this world.

Gu Xi did not need to know what the black mist was made of. He only needed to know that the areas shrouded by it were places he had yet to conquer.

Yet this left Gu Xi somewhat unsure how the Water Well was supposed to be activated.

What exactly did it mean to conquer the sewer of the First Street Block?

There was nothing in the sewer before them.

This was completely different from what they had seen through the ice on the surface earlier.

Gu Xi exchanged a glance with Luna, then pointed forward.

"Advance. Push all the way to the black mist."

The Skeleton Soldiers of Battle Squad 3 quickly raised their shields, drew their Longswords, and moved forward.

Gu Xi led the remaining Battle Squads behind them, cautiously guarding against threats from all sides.

They first headed in one direction, intending to reach the end and test the black mist. If it did not change, they would turn around and check the black mist at the other end.

But Gu Xi had overthought things. The instant the Skeleton Soldiers of Battle Squad 3 touched the black mist, a swarm of rats rushed out from within it.

The rats came in all sizes. The largest were as big as sows, while even the smallest were as thick as a normal person's arm.

As they emerged, all the rats immediately activated charge-type skills, intending to run through the sewer toward the other end.

Without needing Gu Xi to say anything, Luna reacted immediately. She unleashed Touch of Frost, slowing the rats' Movement Speed.

At the same time, the Skeleton Soldiers of Battle Squad 3 advanced with their shields raised, blocking the larger rats.

Behind them, the Skeleton Soldiers of Battle Squad 2 also raised their Long Spears and began picking off the smaller rats.

The Long Spears were not especially fast, and their effectiveness dropped in close combat, but their attack power was high. Every strike killed a smaller rat; once pierced, none survived.

Before long, more than a hundred small rats had been skewered into bloody masses beneath the Skeleton Soldiers' Long Spears.

Meanwhile, the larger rats still had not broken through the defensive line formed by Battle Squad 3.

Gu Xi barely made a move from the rear. He simply watched the notifications keep appearing while extracting the rats' souls.

Skeleton Soldier (Summoned Creature) killed Ghoul Rat (Level 0). You gained 0 experience points, the Battle Squad gained 0 experience points, and the Summoned Creature gained 1 experience point.

Skeleton Soldier (Summoned Creature) killed Ghoul Rat (Level 1). You gained 1 experience point, the Battle Squad gained 1 experience point, and the Summoned Creature gained 3 experience points.

Skeleton Soldier (Summoned Creature) killed Giant Ghoul Rat (Level 2). You gained 1 experience point, the Battle Squad gained 1 experience point, and the Summoned Creature gained 11 Points.

...

You obtained Ghoul Qi Bead (White) *3

You obtained Ghastly Rat Meat (White) *2

Ghastly Rat Meat (White): Rat meat carrying a ghastly aura. Can be consumed by ghoul, demon, and similar troop types.

You obtained Ghastly Rat Skin (White) *4

Ghastly Rat Skin (White): Rat hide affected by ghastly power. Can be used for leatherworking.

...

As the battle progressed, Gu Xi gradually discovered that the Ghastly Rat Meat picked up from the battlefield was the ghastly corpses needed to activate the Candle Factory.

However, there was not much of it. It took roughly five small Ghoul Rats killed to yield one piece of Ghastly Rat Meat. The larger Giant Ghoul Rats did not drop such meat at all; what they dropped after being killed was Ghoul Rat innards.

Not only did those not count as ghastly corpses, but their quality was also rather high.

Gu Xi was left speechless. At first, he had thought he would need to find ghastly corpses on the larger Giant Ghoul Rats.

Who would have thought he instead needed to look for them on the smaller rats?

After piecing things together like that, Gu Xi managed to gather fifteen ghastly corpses after killing all the Ghoul Rats here.

At this point, the black mist at this end of the sewer had turned into a translucent white curtain of light. Through it, they could see the situation in the next section of sewer.

Gu Xi understood. This was the boundary line of the sewer. Beyond it was no longer part of Gu Xi's territory.

Of course, Gu Xi could secretly pass through here and use the Sewer to attack Aryadovi's other territories, but the other side could do the same.

The situation before them was like this curtain of light—a single thin membrane. It all depended on who pierced it first.

Gu Xi glanced at the Sewer beyond the light curtain without saying anything, then pointed toward the other end of the Sewer.

"Go over there and clear that side out."

The Skeleton Soldiers immediately changed direction and charged toward the other end of the Sewer.

Luna followed alongside the Skeleton Soldiers. The battle just now had shown that these rats possessed considerable speed and impact force.

Without Luna's Touch of Frost, they might not be able to kill the rats quickly, so she had to go over and keep watch as well.

As for Gu Xi, there was no need for him to hurry. He carried the Bone Shatter Wooden Stick in one hand and the Ghastly Head in the other, following behind at a leisurely pace.

Gu Xi estimated that by the time he covered this distance of over a thousand meters, the battle would be more or less over.

So what was there to rush about?

Thus, Gu Xi secretly slowed his pace even further.

But just as Gu Xi was about to reach the battlefield over there, Luna suddenly flew back.

"My lord, my lord, we found something unexpected!"