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After completely wiping out the goblins, Gu Su finally felt half the weight lift from his heart.
He strolled over to the sewer entrance and surveyed the entire goblin nest.
Bare earth, a crude vine fence, a fire about to burn out—there wasn't a single thing of value in sight.
At last, he muttered at the mess strewn across the ground, "Bunch of deadbeats!"
He wasn't wrong. These goblins had practically nothing to their names.
Aside from their corpses, which could be turned into skeletons, the only thing that could barely be called a weapon was the red banner the Goblin Shaman had clutched in life.
Gu Su bent down and picked up the banner, initially feeling a glimmer of hope. Even the lowest-tier white-grade equipment would be better than nothing.
But the moment his fingertips touched it, the anticipation on his face collapsed. He was left speechless, then utterly resigned.
This wasn't equipment at all. It was just two materials carelessly cobbled together as a prop.
It had probably only been used to help the Goblin Shaman look the part.
Gu Su quickly took the banner apart. After tossing aside the useless bones, ropes, decorations, and other bits, he was left with just two white-grade materials.
[Gloomy Branch (White): A branch that has mutated after prolonged exposure to Yin energy and death energy. It can be used to make weapons such as staffs.]
[Broken Red Balloon Skin (White): A strange balloon that someone has popped. Though it has lost its original purpose and is now just slightly elastic rubber, its eerie aura still lingers.]
These two scraps didn't even count as finished goods. He would still have to make something himself.
Gu Su rolled his eyes, his frustration plain to see. This was a classic case of the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
He suppressed his urge to complain, grabbed the [Broken Red Balloon Skin], which looked like red cloth, and casually wrapped it around the [Gloomy Branch].
Then he turned to the skeletons standing at attention nearby and issued a new order.
"You lot, go take down that vine fence over there and gather up all the materials."
Gu Su pointed to the fence near the sewer, then looked at one of the skeletons. "You, go over to the fire and carefully gather the embers. Don't let them go out."
Finally, he looked over the remaining skeletons and added, "You lot, spread out and search the whole area. See if there's anything else worth taking. Don't leave so much as a pebble behind!"
The skeletons immediately set to work. Some swung their weapons to dismantle the fence, while others carefully gathered the embers with their bony claws.
The rest fanned out, carefully searching the corners of the ruins and the edges of the sewer entrance. The nest soon echoed with the clatter of their busy work.
Unfortunately, all they found was a huge pile of bones behind a tree, along with a few half-dried animal hides. They were probably leftovers the goblins hadn't eaten.
They found nothing else.
The uncovered sewer entrance did catch Gu Su's interest.
When he leaned over to look down, he could make out traces left behind by digging and fighting.
But now wasn't the time to investigate.
There was still a pile of repairs waiting for him at the graveyard.
So Gu Su shouted, "All right, stop searching. Gather everything up and follow me back to the graveyard."
The skeletons immediately stopped what they were doing. They dragged along the dismantled fence, the gathered embers, and the pile of bones and hides, then lined up behind Gu Su. They followed the path they had come by, stepped into the mist, and gradually disappeared into the depths of the ruins.
No one could have imagined what happened shortly after Gu Su and his group left.
Deep inside the pitch-black sewer, a red balloon the size of a human head slowly rose into view.
Its surface shimmered with an eerie sheen, and its aura faintly resonated with the [Broken Red Balloon Skin] Gu Su had obtained earlier. A kobold with a clown face painted on it dangled conspicuously beneath the balloon.
Its doglike head was painted in all sorts of colors, and its mouth stretched into an exaggerated grin, but its eyes held nothing but apathy.
The strange kobold carried a slender wooden spear. Buoyed by the balloon, it hovered above the sewer entrance, its beady eyes warily scanning the surroundings as it poked its head out to observe for quite some time.
After confirming that there was no danger or movement nearby, the red balloon slowly sank, carrying the kobold back into the pitch-black sewer.
Only a faint trace of eerie energy remained, dissipating in the empty nest.
Gu Su led the skeleton squad through the mist and returned to the abandoned stretch of road where they had found the vehicles earlier.
He raised a hand to stop the group, then looked over the wrecked cars before him as an idea came to mind.
"Put down whatever you're carrying for now."
Gu Su pointed at all the vehicles and ordered a few skeletons, "You lot, go over there and clear all the weeds and vines off every car. Don't leave a single bit behind."
Then he pointed to another group of skeletons. "Once the weeds and vines are cleared, try pushing the cars and see if any of them can still move."
Finally, he instructed the remaining skeletons, "Search those cars. Doors, hoods, exhaust pipes—if it hasn't completely rotted away and can be removed, take it off."
At Gu Su's command, the skeletons immediately put down what they were carrying and split up to get to work.
The clacking of their bones mingled with the shrill screech of twisting metal, breaking the silence of the ruins.
Several skeletons gathered around the vine-covered cars and tore at the tangled roots with their bony claws. They ripped off the rotting weeds by the handful, exposing the rusted bodies beneath.
After that, other skeletons would come over and try pushing the cars to see if they could still move.
If they couldn't, the skeletons at the back would step forward. They used their spiked clubs to pry at the doors and rammed their bony shoulders into the hoods, tearing off the metal parts that were still intact and piling them nearby.
They had no idea what Gu Su intended to do, but they obeyed his orders without question. Though their movements were stiff, they carried out every instruction to the letter.
After quite a while, one of the skeletons finally spotted something. It ran up to Gu Su, pointed a bony claw at a tilted pickup truck, and clattered.
Gu Su looked in the direction the skeleton was pointing, and a satisfied look flashed in his eyes.
It was a battered old pickup. The hood was long gone, and its engine compartment was stuffed with dead leaves and dirt.
There were no seats left in the cab, and the vines that had once hung over the windows had already been cleared away, revealing the empty interior.
Most of the tailgate was missing, and a huge hole had been torn through it. A spindly young tree had grown through the hole, its roots already embedded in the truck bed and making the body even more warped.
But all four wheels were still mostly intact. The rims were heavily rusted, and the wheels turned sluggishly, but the truck could still be pushed. That was far better than the other wrecks, whose wheels had melted and stuck to the ground.
Gu Su tried pushing it himself, and excitement flickered in his eyes.
"This one!"
Gu Su ordered the skeletons, "Bring everything we've collected over here. Put the small things in the cab, the big things in the bed, and anything even bigger on the roof."
At Gu Su's command, the skeletons immediately got to work.
They loaded the dismantled vine fence, the half-dried animal hides, the pile of bones, and the car doors, exhaust pipes, metal tubing, and other parts they had removed.
They packed the battered pickup to the brim.
Before you continue