Players' Undead Followers (Complete)
Seeing the troubled expressions on the faces of some players ahead of him, Singo couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
"Luckily, I was prepared in advance."
He patted the bulging money bag beside him, which contained more than a thousand Gold Coin —as a dragon-blooded viscount who received dividends from the Military Industry Group, he naturally had the means to produce such money.
Among the dozens of people in the queue, several had to leave dejectedly because they were short of money, which significantly increased the queue's progress.
The Undead Knight, who was at the very front of the line, reluctantly paid the money and quickly walked into the Undead Creature Research Institute, carrying a body bag.
Maxi put away the Gold Coin and nodded slightly to the players waiting outside. "Please be patient and wait outside for a while."
"Don't worry, Manager Aurest is very efficient."
Not long after, the Undead Knight walked out with a smug look on his face, holding an Undead Follower Rental Contract. He hummed a song and summoned a beautiful long-haired female ghost under the expectant gazes of the crowd.
"Holy crap, that was fast!"
"This Undead Follower is actually quite good-looking."
"Not a buddy?"
"How envious I am—why didn't I think of summoning a wife?"
"Enough! You're an animal too!"
"This is clearly a fighting partner!"
Next, the famous necromancer player [Yu Zhong Cheng Chi] also paid his Gold Coin and couldn't wait to enter the research institute.
In just a few minutes, the next conversion was completed.
"Hehe."
"Let me broaden your horizons."
Yu Zhong Cheng Chi adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses and hat brim as he walked out of the research institute.
Behind him were three imposing, uniquely shaped undead skeletons, the "Yu San Jia Families" from the three major families of the the North.
One held a sharp sword, one raised a long spear, and one wielded a heavy hammer.
These three are all ancestors pulled from coffins by the Yu Zhong Cheng Chi. They were carefully selected and were all famous Fighter and Paladin in life. Even after death, they still have Challenge Rating of up to level six, which is roughly equivalent to three mini-bosses.
When these Yu San Jia combine, and with the added blessing of necromancers, their combat power increases dramatically.
The onlookers were extremely envious.
When will it be my turn?
"So handsome!"
"I also want to keep Undead Follower!"
"I've made up my mind, I'm switching to a summoner build starting today!"
Singo gazed at the receding Yu Zhong Cheng Chi, his expression quite solemn. "His lineup is rather strong in this version; he's an opponent worth taking seriously."
Several more players entered in succession.
"Oops"
Who hasn't gotten their turn yet?
Soon after, Lang Li Bai Tiao, carrying a row of the immortal skeletons of the old ancestor Bosque and clutching the lease agreement, walked past him with an air of swagger.
"You only get three summoning chances a day, and you're just going to use them to show off?"
Singo shook his head and chuckled.
But it's finally his turn.
Without hesitation, Singo handed five Gold Coin to Maxi at the door. With Maxi's friendly smile, Singo dragged the rotting corpse of the Half Giant, surrounded by flies, into the research institute.
"Is this the Undead Creature Research Institute?"
"It's a bit different from what I imagined."
In Singo's imagination, this place should be a forbidden zone for living beings, littered with corpses and covered with cobwebs, but it turned out to be just like a research institute.
The rows of neat lights, the clean and tidy corridors, and the clear directional signs on the walls all demonstrate this point.
Even the bloodstains he left while dragging the corpse were automatically removed by the cleaning spells on the corridor walls.
Singo looked at the heavy iron door at the end of the corridor, staring at the skull and crossbones symbol on it, and finally felt a sense of death.
"Then let me see what the so-called ' Soul Lamenter ' is all about."
He thought to himself.
Singo placed his hand on the skull, and the heavy iron door slowly opened.
"Lord Aurest, I have come to convert the dead."
"Come in."
The voice was deep and hoarse.
But Single could keenly detect a deep weariness in his voice.
It's like the listless, half-dead sound of a corporate slave working overtime all night.
Did he mishear?
That was the legendary Lich! The ruler of the Undead Creatures! The treacherous and cruel immortal who held endless mysteries! Singo couldn't help but look up, the name above its head particularly conspicuous.
[The Soul Lamenter Aurest]
Faction: Embers of the Burned Empire
Affiliation: Undead Creature Research Institute Challenge Rating:??? The lich sat upright on an unremarkable desk, draped in tattered robes, its soul fire in its eye sockets unusually dim, while the skeletal scepter on the shelf next to it was quite frightening.
He held a Bone Pen in his withered hand, writing something on the documents on the table.
Singo finds it hard to describe this quality.
This guy is practically a laborer among liches, completely lacking any aura and exuding an air of perfunctory attitude.
Aurest stopped writing and impatiently urged, "Do you still want to convert? Hurry up!"
"OK."
Singo quickly banished these distracting thoughts, stepped forward, opened the shop panel, and browsed through it rapidly.
The Lich's Rental Shop
Base price:
Skeleton: 5 Gold Coin, 350 experience; Mummy: 5 Gold Coin, 350 experience; Ghost: 20 Gold Coin, 950 experience; Corpse Demon: 100 Gold Coin, 1550 experience; Bound Spirit: 100 Gold Coin, 1550 experience; Undead Skeleton: 100 Gold Coin, 1550 experience; Death Knight: 12500 Gold Coin, 75000 experience; Lich:??? Conditions unknown. [Please provide the item you wish to convert.] The special options below, such as Death Knight and Lich, are clearly not designed for current players.
Therefore, he skipped those and, given that he brought complete corpses, chose the [Corpse Demon], which could turn killed creatures into zombies, as the best option.
"Lord Aurest, I wish to transform into a corpse demon."
He untied the heavy body bag, revealing the rotting, stinking corpse of the Half Giant inside.
The lich glanced at it and said indifferently, "Half Giant professionals need to pay extra."
A new transaction window popped up immediately.
[The Soul Lamenter - Aurest offers you a new deal.] [Half Giant Ghoul Leader: 800 Gold Coin, 5500 Experience]
[Do you agree to the transaction? Yes/No] "This"
Even Singleo felt a pang of regret.
These Gold Coin and experience points would almost wipe out his savings of the past few months, something even he had to consider carefully.
"Hurry up."
Aurest urged impatiently.
Tempted by the prospect of increased power, Singo gritted his teeth and made his decision, clicking the "Confirm" option on the panel and handing over the bulging money bag.
"Sir, please help me with the transformation."
"Good."
Aurest removed the skeletal staff and skillfully pointed it at the bloated, rotting corpse of the Half Giant.
Immediately, a series of low growls rang out.
The Negative Energy of the gray mist enveloped the corpse, and a ghostly light flickered in its dark eyes. Finally, it slowly stood up.
The corpse demon, nearly three meters tall, was covered in filthy, rotten flesh and blood, yet its former strength was still evident.
[Half Giant Ghoul Leader]
Challenge Rating: 7 (3100xp)
Aurest took a blank scroll from the cabinet, continued writing on the table, and then casually tossed it in front of Single.
"Alright."
"For the sake of the Embers of the Burned Empire."
He uttered that classic line, but it sounded somewhat eerie coming from a lich.
"For the sake of the Embers of the Burned Empire."
Singo responded by pounding his chest with his right hand.
He thought to himself, "A lich loyal to the empire, how strange."
However, his attention quickly returned to the corpse demon he had just transformed into, and a look of joy appeared on his face.
"Great! It really is a boss-level follower!"
Singo left with the scroll, while the Half Giant ghoul came under the control of the Undead Creature Research Institute.
After all, the players are only renting; the ownership belongs to the Imperial government, or more accurately, to the Emperor himself—no, to this dragon.
"How much longer will we have to live like this?"
Aurest watched the door slowly close and sighed deeply.
Transforming the dead is truly a laborious task.
However, each time he transforms these "Starfallers" into Undead Creatures, he feels a surge of pure energy, similar to a soul, flowing into his body, allowing him to continue maintaining his Phylactery.
Perhaps, he can reach true immortality in this way.
"Tsk"
"Thank my master."
The lich, utterly exhausted, sighed, but then footsteps sounded again outside the door; the next player to transform into Undead Creatures was about to arrive.
At this moment, hundreds or even thousands of players had already lined up at the entrance of the Undead Creature Research Institute.
However, Aurest was unaware that, in order to control the lich's power, Keosius had taken a 90% cut of the experience he gained.
Soon, news of the Undead Creature Research Institute spread throughout the forums, and the top-tier followers that were comparable to bosses made many players extremely envious.
Thus, a fierce "battle for corpses" was launched within the empire, which was known as the "Great Excavation Movement".
Hundreds of thousands of players roamed throughout the empire, digging up graves, searching ruins, and even exhuming fallen enemies from the ground, much to the amazement of the native inhabitants.
The remains of a high-level Fighter can fetch hundreds of Gold Coin on the black market, and many people who are short of money have even dug up their ancestral graves to sell to players.
At the same time, specialized industries such as coffin manufacturing and corpse preservation have flourished, giving rise to several "emerging enterprises".
Strange legends began to circulate within the empire that "the Starfallers like to eat old bones" and "they especially like old skeletons."