Underground Research Lab

Jericho, the Terror Knight Commander, let out an angry roar. His right arm, which held the sword, had been severed, and he could no longer use his fearsome two-handed greatsword, greatly reducing his threat.

Li Shuyi stepped forward, anticipating and dodging Jericho's left fist strike. She reversed the hilt of her sword and elbowed Jericho in the chest, causing him to lose his balance.

Just as Jericho was about to fall forward, Li Shuyi followed up with a sliding tackle, while her rapier deftly hooked onto his breastplate and flicked upwards, once again launching Jericho into the air.

The hissing sound rang out again, like a windmill spinning at high speed, each sword strike faster than the last!

This time the Combo count climbed to 7, dealing 24 damage, but because it was concentrated on one point, it still severed Jericho's other arm.

Not only were the bandits dumbfounded, but even Bai Xiaowen, who witnessed this scene through the perspective of the Rageclaw, was utterly astonished.

Bai Xiaowen knew that Zhao Yun was very powerful, and Bai Xiaowen had also anticipated that Li Shuyi would unleash considerable strength after activating "Zhao Yun's Mark." According to his calculations, Li Shuyi, after unleashing her power, should be able to cooperate with the bandits to take down Jericho, the Terror Knight Commander.

However, it seems the bandits won't need to lift a finger; Li Shuyi alone is enough to take down Jericho —this gives a glimpse into the strength of the Lord Tier general Zhao Yun, which can only be described as terrifying.

Zhao Yun may not possess the explosive Excellence Guan Yu, but his strength lies in prolonged battles. With his exquisite Linked Assault skills, the longer Zhao Yun fights, the higher his chances of winning. Therefore, the "wind" in Li Shuyi's "Thunderwind Combo" should be attributed to Zhao Yun, whose attacks are as swift as the wind, dense and all-pervasive.

At this moment, there are still ten seconds left before "Zhao Yun's Mark" disappears!

Within ten seconds, Li Shuyi unleashed another Combo, severing one of the legs of Jericho, the Terror Knight Commander, causing him to collapse to the ground.

Although the duration of "Zhao Yun's Mark" had ended, Jericho had become a toothless tiger, no longer capable of resisting.

"Li Shuyi, stay behind and kill Jericho! Everyone else, listen up! With Wolf King Raging Claw as the vanguard, charge towards the West Tower! After we take down Maki, the Undead Legion will be without a commander, and we'll win!" Bai Xiaowen's voice, transmitted through Divine Might, clearly reached the ears of Li Shuyi, Bonita, Kitz, and the others.

Kitz paused, then muttered to himself: Didn't the lord say Maki was about to die? Now, almost a minute has passed, and it feels like the lord is about to give up...

However, Kitz was a smart man. After his initial shock, he quickly raised his greatsword and shouted, "Brothers, charge with me! Support our lord!"

A dozen Elite Tier bandits, led by Rageclaw, formed a wedge formation, followed by a group of ordinary bandits, servants, and local guards. They fought their way through wave after wave of Undead Guards and charged toward the West Tower.

Meanwhile, Bai Xiaowen was already surrounded by the Undead Guards. Lord Maki finally managed to distance himself from him and began casting a spell, panting heavily.

Intimidation!

Bai Xiaowen's Intimidation skill, which had a cooldown of 4 minutes and 30 seconds, finally expired. He activated it immediately, not only interrupting Lord Maki's skill but also putting the other Undead Guards into Fear Status.

Seizing the opportunity, Bai Xiaowen broke through the encirclement of the Undead Guards. However, he didn't rush to rejoin the bandit guards. Instead, he charged directly in front of Maki and unleashed the same Consecutive Kicks), sending Maki flying towards the Rageclaw!

Before Maki even landed, Rageclaw roared and pounced!

Suppression ultimate move activated!

And then... that was it. For a Suppression three seconds, Maki had to endure the relentless onslaught of a group of Elite Tier bandits, not to mention Bai Xiaowen's Rapid-Fire Mode... He was already a fragile spellcaster, and Bai Xiaowen had drained more than half his Life Value; how could he possibly withstand so much damage?

"Damn it... I... I was promised eternal life..."

Maki struggled to raise his hand, but it fell limply to the ground. This evil lord-warlock, who had opened his territory to Plague Spreader and willingly become Lich, had finally met his end.

After losing three Boss Tier in succession, the Undead Legion of Redleaf Fief was like headless flies, fighting independently. The undead on the outskirts of Redleaf City even began to wander, spreading into the vast villages of Redleaf Fief in their thirst for life.

However, the undead on the outskirts are all weaklings at the servant level, which is just enough to give the strong farmers and adventurers in the village something to do, and they are not a threat.

The Elite Tier undead soldiers in the central square had become a disorganized mob. Under Bai Xiaowen's unified command, they were easily divided, surrounded, and annihilated one by one.

After wiping out the main force of the Undead Legion, Bai Xiaowen ordered ten guards to disperse and sweep through the entire city.

Soon, a notification message sounded:

"You have already taken control of over 75% of Redleaf City."

Please select: Occupy, Abandon, or Destroy Redleaf City?

"Special Note: You will be questioned by the Empire for your attack on Redleaf City."

"Abandoning Redleaf City will subject you to general questioning. However, as long as you provide a reasonable explanation and obtain the approval of more than half of the lords in the Northern Frontier, you can be exempted from imperial intervention."

"Destroying Redleaf City will subject you to serious questioning. You will need to provide a suitable reason and obtain the understanding of the Imperial envoy in order to avoid Imperial intervention."

"Occupying Redleaf City will subject you to severe questioning, and even if you provide a valid reason, the Empire may still intervene and force you to leave this territory."

Bai Xiaowen thought for a moment.

"These three options are also carefully considered. Attacking Redleaf City, regardless of the method, violates imperial law. Abandoning Redleaf City would minimize the crime, but yield no benefit. Destroying Redleaf City would allow for the plundering of a considerable amount of wealth, but the crime would be more serious. Finally, occupying Redleaf City would be tantamount to forcibly annexing another lord's territory, which would inevitably arouse the empire's high vigilance..."

Bai Xiaowen didn't think for long before choosing the "Occupy" option.

Imperial envoy? Intervention? No problem, we have connections!

As for who's on the list, that depends on the actual situation... Who is truly interested in the threat of the "Necrotic Plague"? Whether it's Archbishop Arlo or Prince Nicholas, they'd both be willing to pay a good price for this "Heroic Tier side quest."

However, what puzzled Bai Xiaowen was that even though he had already killed W-01 and destroyed the Necrotic Plague lair in the former White Stone Fief, the first step of the Heroic Tier side quest, "The Truth of the Plague," had not yet received a completion notification.

Bai Xiaowen thought about it carefully and immediately ordered his bandits to capture several Redleaf Fief undead servants and cast Heart-Confounding Talisman on them.

"I see." After reading fragments of a vengeful servant's memories, Bai Xiaowen opened her eyes.

He led Li Shuyi and the others, turned and walked towards the collapsed Lord's Manor, bypassing the ruins of the front hall to reach the backyard.

Standing in front of a manhole cover with a diameter of one meter, Bai Xiaowen crouched down and turned the dial on the cover. With a soft rumble, the manhole cover rotated open, revealing a downward-facing staircase.

Bai Xiaowen led Bonita and Li Shuyi down the stairs to the underground.

Wow! What a huge Underground Palace!

Bonita looked amazed.

Ahead was an underground hall filled with numerous culture containers. Upon closer inspection, one could see that the containers contained a pale green liquid, each holding a naked humanoid experimental subject.

On the spacious experimental table were numerous instruments and thick stacks of written documents... all of which were experimental records. Judging from the dates, this place had been used as a research site for the Necrotic Plague for nearly a year.

A notification message regarding the Spirit Realm Rules has arrived:

"You have discovered the Underground Research Lab for the Necrotic Plague in Redleaf City."

"[Heroic Tier Side Quest Step 1: The Truth of the Plague] Completed. Completion Rating: A (Excellent)."

"Please proceed to Blackrock Fortress and find Archbishop Arlo or Prince Nicholas to obtain the quest reward and continue to the next quest."

Bai Xiaowen's experience bar increased dramatically, rapidly reaching 94%! Keep in mind that before attacking Redleaf City, his experience bar was only slightly over 60%. This single Heroic Tier side quest, Step 1 (B-Tier), boosted his experience by more than 30%.

The upgrade from level 3 to level 4 is a significant hurdle, requiring a substantial increase in experience points. Many awakened individuals need to undergo several explorations of the Spirit Realm before they can complete the upgrade.

It's clear that the rewards for Heroic Tier missions are incredibly generous. And this only includes the combat experience rewards; there are also three Leader Tier chests, over a dozen Elite Tier chests, and more than twenty regular chests waiting for Bai Xiaowen and his companion to open.

Although the treasure chests inevitably contained some inflated numbers due to the involvement of bandits in the attack, the quantity was still substantial, enough to make a fortune in Psionic Points alone.

Moreover, you'll definitely receive a substantial reward when you complete the task; just thinking about it is quite exciting.

Li Shuyi's combat experience bar has also risen to 89%. Due to the difference in combat experience required for leveling up, her leveling speed will definitely catch up with and surpass Bai Xiaowen's.

Bai Xiaowen suddenly remembered something, and he summoned the Zombie Doctor back into existence.

"Hey, can you please stop summoning me back? As a Zombie with independent consciousness and a personality, I really dislike those summoning spaces where I can't do anything. It's like being locked up." The first thing the Zombie Doctor said after he came out was a complaint.

"This is for your own good. You probably don't know how brutal today's battle was. All four Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier, the Shadow Assassin were all wiped out, and dozens of the bandit legions I recruited also died. If I hadn't recalled you, you would probably have had to wait 12 hours to respawn," Bai Xiaowen said.

However, after taking a clear look at the surrounding situation, Zombie Doctor had already ignored Bai Xiaowen's words.

"Wow, what am I seeing? A fully-fledged Underground Research Lab! Although the equipment here is fantastical, the materials are rather primitive, and there aren't any sophisticated instruments... it's enough! This is my research facility!"

"To be precise, it's mine, at least in terms of ownership," Bai Xiaowen corrected, "But I'm generously granting you the right to use it."

Zombie Doctor curled his lip.

"I think we should make some progress in our research on the Necrotic Plague here, right?" Bai Xiaowen pointed to a thick stack of written documents on the lab table. "I just looked at it; it contains all the experimental records."

Zombie Doctor became excited again and began to look through the experimental data.

"Hmm, so the purpose of this research institute was to improve the virus of the Necrotic Plague, making it more contagious," Zombie Doctor muttered, "And further research on how infected individuals could mutate into Undead Species... Good heavens, the previous owner of the institute actually wanted to create gigantic infected beings, scientifically named... Pustule Giant? What a brilliant idea..."

"This research institute is nothing short of a concentration camp of evil!" Bonita exclaimed indignantly, unusually without stuttering. "We should report it to the Archbishop and have this entire place purified with sacred fire!"

Bai Xiaowen shook his head and said, "Foolish. The purpose of exploring the darkness is to defend the light. Every page here is valuable enemy intelligence; only a fool would burn them. Only by understanding the secrets of the Necrotic Plague can we create an antidote and save those humans who have the plague virus Stealth in their bodies but have not yet been infected."

Bonita's momentum faltered. "Then, then you're right. I'm not stupid. I... I'm just angry."

Bai Xiaowen looked at the Zombie Doctor: "So, how long will it take to make an antidote for the Necrotic Plague?"

Zombie Doctor pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "It's very difficult. Even if I were a top-tier... scholar, it would take me at least three days to read through all these experimental reports and grasp their progress. Only then could I begin to create the antidote, and that would be even more uncertain. It could take as little as a week, or as long as a month or two without any results."

"Too slow. You're Zombie now, you don't need rest. Produce the antidote within five days; that's my second order this month," Bai Xiaowen said. "If you can do that, then the third order this month can be waived."

"Tch..." Zombie Doctor curled his lip and muttered under his breath, "That's why I hate all laymen—layman bosses, layman bureaucrats, layman investors..."

"Huh? What's wrong?" Bai Xiaowen looked up.

"Nothing much, I...I'm trying my best to complete this task," Zombie Doctor said, then began to shoo people away. "Any other instructions? If not, I need to get to work. Oh, and remember to bring more experimental samples."

"Sample?" Bai Xiaowen was slightly taken aback.

"It's just human samples," the Zombie Doctor said casually. "From newly infected human samples to samples from three days old, seven days old, and samples on the verge of mutation... Only with sufficient samples can I quickly grasp the characteristics of the Necrotic Plague."

"How can I identify it?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

"Couldn't we just use that Holy Light Plague Detector?" Zombie Doctor said. "The brightness of the green light seems to vary depending on the virus's Stealth period. If you find that troublesome, just bring me healthy samples. I'll temporarily infect them with a larger dose, which will also serve as a comparative observation..."

"That's enough. I'll get you enough samples. You're forbidden from experimenting on healthy human subjects without my order," Bai Xiaowen warned.

Bonita's gaze towards the Zombie Doctor had changed from looking at one pile of shit to looking at many piles of shit...

She muttered, "I don't want to stay here," and hurriedly left the Underground Research Lab.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi did not leave. After the Zombie Doctor started working, the two took out the treasure chests, intending to have a fun treasure chest opening lottery to relax their tired minds.

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