Task (Seeking Collections)

The footsteps of the skeletons gradually faded into the mist. Gu Su turned and slowly walked towards the dilapidated tent in the center of the graveyard.

When he faced the goblins earlier, his nerves were on edge. He was only focused on seizing the initiative to obtain corpses and had no time to carefully examine the activation and upgrade details of the Graveyard Demon.

Now that three skeletons were handling things on the periphery, he finally had the peace of mind to sort out the mess in front of him and plan his next survival path.

The conditions for activating the Graveyard Demon were not complicated. The tent panel clearly stated that all missing parts needed to be replenished, and the graveyard needed to be upgraded from gray quality to white.

As for the graveyard upgrade required by the main quest, Gu Su had no intention of touching it for now.

Currently, the graveyard lacked energy, lacked defense, and lacked undead population. It could barely maintain basic operations. Talking about upgrading was like scooping water with a leaky dipper – a complete waste of effort. It was better to handle what he could do first.

He raised his hand and touched the tent canvas. The light blue information screen unfolded again. He checked each repair requirement one by one, and the more he looked, the more he felt that the mess left by this unscrupulous merchant far exceeded his expectations.

In the entire graveyard, only this old tent was still holding up. Although the canvas was torn and the corners were dusty, all its core functions were intact.

It could not only view graveyard data and quest progress in real-time but also use limited resources for basic construction. Inside the tent, there was also a simple wooden bed, one meter wide, covered with a layer of rough straw. At least it provided a place to sleep at night, so he wouldn't freeze to death.

This was also the fundamental reason why Gu Su suppressed his anger and didn't force his way out of the mechanism to settle accounts with the unscrupulous merchant.

Although the other party had black-heartedly deducted most of the functions, they hadn't completely blocked his path, leaving him this core hub.

And this tent was the only building that required no resources from him to repair.

Apart from this, the remaining facilities were in ruins.

The eerie tree, the empty graves, and the decaying fence, although still physically present, were all on the verge of collapse.

As the defensive core of the graveyard, the eerie tree should have actively killed creatures and anomalies within its range like an arrow tower. The outer mist should have been firmly blocked, the air inside kept clean, and graveyard waste automatically decomposed, all maintained by its power.

But now, this withered tree was lifeless. The branches showed barely any yin energy fluctuations.

Gu Su estimated that if it encountered an enemy above level 2, its remaining defensive capabilities would be utterly vulnerable. It might even completely wither away with a gust of wind.

To awaken the eerie tree, one had to bury "fertilizer" under its roots.

Fresh flesh and internal organs were the basics. It also required weapons with attributes, wood of the same kind, or materials containing yin energy.

This thing had a huge appetite. He only had a little bit of flesh on hand right now. Gathering enough nourishment would not be easy.

The situation of the empty graves was even more awkward. The six grave pits were empty. Without corpses, no undead could be transformed, making them useless decorations.

When he commanded zombies to mine in the mine before, he didn't even bat an eye at low-level monsters like goblins.

But now, these weak corpses had become the key for him to activate the empty graves and form an undead squad.

As for the decaying fence, it was less than a meter high, and most of the wooden planks were broken. It could barely block short and stout monsters like goblins. Against slightly stronger enemies, it was as flimsy as paper.

According to the tent's prompt, repairing the fence required at least 10 units of wood. If one didn't pursue extra attributes, simple splicing and reinforcement would suffice. This was the easiest of all the repair items.

But the difficulties of these three aspects were nothing compared to the Yin Fire Pile, the Earth-Binding Vein, and the Corrupting Mycelium.

The Yin Fire Pile was placed in front of the tent, but only a pile of cold ashes remained. The fire seed and fuel were all missing.

As the exclusive "currency" of the graveyard, yin energy was indispensable for construction, upgrades, training troops, and even future graveyard movement. This extinguished fire pile was essentially the graveyard's financial source and energy warehouse.

Although the tent panel provided a list of fuels, stating that only one of the special materials needed to be found to ignite the fire, Gu Su was empty-handed at the moment. He had even used the goblin's bones as weapons. He had no idea where to search for fuel in the mist.

Even more troublesome were the Earth-Binding Vein and the Corrupting Mycelium.

These two core functions had not even left a physical trace, yet they were directly related to the future of the graveyard.

The Earth-Binding Vein controlled the movement ability, and the Corrupting Mycelium was responsible for expanding the territory. If he couldn't figure these two out, he would be trapped in this basketball-court-sized area for the rest of his life, sooner or later to be ambushed by anomalies in the mist or other players.

Unlike the Yin Fire Pile, the tent directly issued exclusive repair quests for these two functions. The wording urged him to follow the steps, but Gu Su's expression turned grim as soon as he saw the quest content.

[Repair Quest: Wandering Souls]

[Quest Description: Movement is the instinct of all living beings, but for the dead undead, movement is their obsession!]

[Quest Requirements: Seal three specters or wandering souls (0/3), install a mobile power system (wheels, propellers, engines, etc.)]

[Quest Reward: Repair Earth-Binding Vein.]

[Note 1: Undead can move, so cities can naturally move.]

[Note 2: If you don't move, you can only be beaten.]

"Seal wandering souls? And install a power system?" Gu Su frowned tightly.

Wandering souls were already ethereal and elusive. At level 1, he only had the Necromancy spell and no means to capture them.

As for power devices, things like wheels and engines were practically a fantasy in this barren novice world. Did he have to dismantle parts from goblins?

He had seen other players use undead to drive simple machinery in the mine before, but he didn't know how. This was probably going to involve scavenging for materials.

As for the other quest, it made Gu Su's expression even more unpleasant.

[Repair Quest: Barren Land]

[Quest Description: This is a degenerate power that can make the land around the undead settlement rotten and barren!]

[Quest Requirements: Brew a pot of special potion (0/1), and apply it all over the graveyard (0/1)]

[Quest Reward: Repair Corrupting Mycelium.]

[Note 1: The potion used for each graveyard is unique.]

[Note 2: When undead units stand on barren land, they return home.]

The special potion was a complete mystery, with no recipe or ingredients. The tent offered no clues on how to brew it, implying Gu Su would have to figure it out himself.

But without a fire source for the Yin Fire Pile, and not even a pot for boiling, how was Gu Su supposed to figure it out?

Gu Su's gaze drifted outwards. It seemed he couldn't stay in the graveyard. After the skeletons returned, Gu Su would have to lead the team out personally.

At the very least, he needed to find some materials to deal with the current task.

Just then, a "kaka" sound of grinding bones echoed from the mist. The skeletons were back.