The skeletons' footsteps gradually faded into the mist. Only then did Gu Su turn around and stroll leisurely toward the shabby tent in the center of the graveyard.
When he had faced the Goblins, his nerves had been taut. He'd focused solely on getting the jump on them and claiming their corpses, with no time at all to examine the details of activating and upgrading the Graveyard Demon.
Now that three skeletons were handling things outside, he could finally calm down, sort through the mess before him, and plan how he would survive from here on out.
The conditions for activating the Graveyard Demon weren't complicated. They were laid out clearly on the tent's panel: repair every damaged part and upgrade the graveyard from gray quality to white.
As for the graveyard upgrade required by the main quest, Gu Su had no intention of dealing with it for now.
This graveyard lacked energy, defenses, and undead. It could barely keep itself running at the most basic level. Trying to upgrade it now would be like carrying water in a sieve—a complete waste of effort. He was better off taking care of what he could first.
He raised a hand and touched the tent canvas. A pale-blue information screen unfolded once more, and he checked each repair requirement one by one. The more he read, the more he realized the mess that heartless profiteer had left him was worse than he'd expected.
Of all the structures in the graveyard, only this shabby tent had held up at all. Its canvas was torn and dust had gathered in the corners, but all its core functions remained intact.
It let him check the graveyard's data and quest progress in real time, and use its limited resources for basic construction. Inside, there was also a crude wooden bed, a meter wide and strewn with rough straw. At least he had somewhere to sleep at night and wouldn't freeze to death.
That was the main reason Gu Su had suppressed his anger instead of forcing his way through the exit system to confront the profiteer.
The other party had been greedy and withheld most of the functions, but hadn't completely blocked his path forward. They had left him this central hub.
The tent was also the only structure that required no resources from him to repair.
As for everything else, there was nothing but devastation.
The Weird Tree, the Empty Graves, and the Rotten Fence still existed, but all three were on the verge of falling apart.
As the graveyard's defensive core, the Weird Tree should have actively slaughtered creatures and horrors that entered its range, like an arrow tower. Its power was also what kept the surrounding mist firmly at bay, purified the air within the graveyard, and automatically broke down its garbage.
But now, the withered tree was lifeless. There was barely a trace of dark energy in its branches.
By Gu Su's estimate, it wouldn't stand a chance against an enemy above level 2. A gust of wind might be enough to finish it off for good.
To awaken the Weird Tree, he had to bury "fertilizer" beneath its roots.
Fresh flesh and organs were the bare minimum. He also needed weapons imbued with attributes, other kinds of yin wood, or materials and items containing yin energy.
The tree had a huge appetite. Gu Su had only a little flesh on hand, and gathering enough nourishment would be no easy task.
The Empty Graves were in an even more awkward position. All six pits were empty. Without bodies, they couldn't be converted into undead, making the graves nothing more than decorations.
Back when he'd commanded zombies to mine in the Mine, he hadn't given low-level monsters like Goblins a second thought.
Now, however, their weak corpses had become essential to activating the Empty Graves and building an undead squad.
As for the Rotten Fence, it stood less than a meter tall, and most of its boards were broken. It could barely keep out short, stocky monsters like Goblins. Against anything stronger, it was no better than paper.
According to the tent's prompt, repairing the fence required at least 10 units of wood. If he didn't want any extra attributes, he only needed to patch it together and reinforce it. Of all the repairs, this one was the easiest to complete.
But compared to the Netherfire Pile, the Earthbound Vein, and the Corruption Mycelium, these three were hardly a problem.
The Netherfire Pile stood in front of the tent, reduced to a heap of cold ashes. Its kindling and fuel were all gone.
Yin energy was the graveyard's exclusive "currency." Construction, upgrades, training troops, and even moving the graveyard in the future all depended on it. In essence, this extinguished fire pit was the graveyard's source of income and energy reservoir.
The tent's panel had provided a list of fuels and stated that he only needed to find one special material to light the fire.
But Gu Su had nothing on him at the moment. He'd even put the Goblin's bones to use as a weapon, and had no idea where in the mist to look for fuel.
More troublesome still were the Earthbound Vein and the Corruption Mycelium.
Neither of these two core functions had even left a physical trace, yet both directly affected the graveyard's future.
The Earthbound Vein governed mobility, while the Corruption Mycelium was responsible for expanding the graveyard's territory. If he couldn't get these two things sorted out, he'd be trapped for the rest of his life in an area the size of a basketball court, sooner or later surrounded by horrors in the mist or hunted down by other players.
Unlike with the Netherfire Pile, the tent had issued dedicated repair quests for both functions, urging him to follow the instructions step by step. But the moment Gu Su read the quest details, his expression darkened.
[Repair Quest: Wandering Souls] [Quest Description: Movement is instinctive to all living beings. But for the dead, movement is an obsession!] [Quest Requirements: Bind three Ghosts or Wandering Souls (0/3), install a Mobility System (wheels, propellers, engines, etc.)] [Quest Reward: Repair the Earthbound Vein.] [Note 1: If undead can move, then cities can move too.] [Note 2: If you can't move, you can only get beaten up.]
"Bind wandering souls? And install a mobility system?" Gu Su furrowed his brows.
Wandering Souls were elusive to begin with. At level 1, all he had was Raise Skeleton. He didn't even have a way to capture them.
As for a mobility system—wheels, engines, and things like that—in this barren new-player world, they were pure fantasy. Was he supposed to strip parts off a Goblin?
He had seen other players use undead to power simple machines back in the Mine, but he had no idea how to do that. He'd probably have to go out and scavenge, and see if he could find any materials that would work.
The other quest made Gu Su's expression even darker.
[Repair Quest: Desolate Land] [Quest Description: This is a corrupting force that can rot the land around an undead settlement until nothing can grow!] [Quest Requirements: Brew a pot of Special Potion (0/1), then spread it across the entire graveyard (0/1)] [Quest Reward: Repair the Corruption Mycelium.] [Note 1: The potion used by each graveyard is unique.] [Note 2: When undead units stand on Desolate Land, they are home again.]
He had no idea how to make the Special Potion. There was no recipe or list of ingredients, and the tent hadn't said a word about how to brew it. He could only assume he was supposed to figure it out himself.
But the Netherfire Pile had no kindling, and he didn't even have a container for brewing. How was Gu Su supposed to figure anything out?
Gu Su glanced outside. It seemed he couldn't stay in the graveyard. Once the skeletons returned, he would have to lead an expedition himself.
At the very least, he needed to find some materials to deal with the tasks at hand.
Just then, a clattering sound of bones scraping together came from the mist. The skeletons were back.
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