They left the Trading Hall.
Lin Mu didn't waste a moment.
With the one million two hundred thousand he'd just gotten tucked away, he headed straight out of the city.
Relying on the original owner's memories,
he made his way with practiced ease to a monster hunting ground outside the city, around level fifteen.
The vegetation here was clearly denser than in the low-level areas.
There was also a wild, bloody tang in the air.
[Vicious Savage Wolves], [Giant Ants], and [Shadow Spirits] were all formidable challenges for ordinary teams around level fifteen.
Lin Mu looked around and made sure no one was there.
He raised a hand and swept it outward.
The earth trembled faintly, and the soil churned.
Ninety Steel Skeletons gleaming with a cold metallic sheen burst out of the ground from every direction and stood up with a rumble!
The sight would have terrified any class holder who happened upon it.
Lin Mu skillfully followed the same procedure as before.
He left ten skeletons beside him to stand guard.
He divided the other eighty into eight small groups.
"Go. Do as you please and clear out this area."
He gave them a simple order.
The eight Skeleton Squads immediately marched off in orderly formation.
They advanced in eight different directions and disappeared into the dense forest.
Once he'd finished,
Lin Mu took a camping mat out of his storage space and spread it on the ground.
Then he sat down, completely at ease.
He even took out a bottle of soda and leisurely sipped it.
While his skeleton army fought bloody battles outside, their master lounged in the rear and reaped the benefits.
If anyone saw the scene, their eyes would pop out of their sockets.
Before long, the entire monster hunting ground was bustling with activity.
The Skeleton Squads had split into eight groups, each fighting on its own. Their efficiency was astonishing.
Meanwhile,
at the other end of the area,
three young class holders stood back to back, surrounded by more than a dozen [Shadow Spirits].
Their situation was perilous.
The leader was a level-sixteen [Berserk Archer] named Li Fan.
The other two had just reached level ten. One was a Shield Warrior, and the other was a Swordsman.
Originally,
Li Fan had brought his two younger buddies out to help them complete their First Advancement quests.
The Swordsman's quest required "Giant Ant antennae" as a material.
Things had gone smoothly at first.
They'd relied on Li Fan's ranged advantage
to carefully lure out lone Giant Ants and kill them together.
But when things went well, it was easy to get carried away.
Without realizing it, they'd wandered into the territory of the [Shadow Spirits].
A group of patrolling Shadow Spirits had promptly surrounded them.
Now,
the equipment on all three of them had been battered to pieces.
Blood still seeped from several wounds.
Their healing and mana potions were almost gone, too.
"Brother Fan! We can't hold out! Are we really going to die out here today...?"
The level-ten Shield Warrior gasped for breath, despair in his voice.
His shield was already covered in cracks.
Li Fan used an arrow to force back a Shadow Spirit that pounced at him, his face pale as he gave a bitter smile.
"Damn it, I let my guard down."
He glanced at the few arrows he had left,
then at his two buddies, who were close to collapsing.
His heart was filled with nothing but regret.
"Brothers, it looks like we're done for."
Li Fan took a deep breath, as if he'd made up his mind.
"Write your last words. Put down everything you want to say. If some passing class holder finds our bodies, they might be able to take them back to our families."
At his words, the last glimmer in the other two's eyes went out.
The three of them stopped struggling.
They quickly took paper and pens from their backpacks, intending to take turns recording their final words.
"Holy crap!"
Just then, the Swordsman suddenly yelped.
His trembling finger pointed in one direction.
"Brother Fan, look! What the hell is that?!"
Li Fan and the Shield Warrior followed his finger.
In the nearby woods, around ten "Metal Skeletons" were approaching them.
They marched in perfect unison, steel swords in hand.
Strangely,
two of the skeletons were even carrying several pieces of class holder equipment.
Li Fan instinctively used his scanning panel.
The result made his heart sink.
"Why don't these Iron Skeletons have levels or information?!"
"Heaven wants us three dead!"
The Shield Warrior let out a wail.
"We couldn't even beat those Shadow Spirits alone."
"Now another bunch of even creepier iron lumps have shown up?"
"Brother Fan, don't just stand there! Hurry up and write your last words! If you don't, we won't even have time in a moment!"
At his words, the three of them immediately wrote faster, desperate to get down everything they'd ever wanted to say.
"We're doomed, we're doomed, we're doomed! They're coming! They're coming!"
The Swordsman's voice was already breaking into a sob.
"Ah!"
The three of them screamed and shut their eyes in despair, waiting for death to come.
After a clatter of weapons colliding and a series of shrill screams,
everything around them suddenly fell silent.
The pain they'd expected never came.
The three cautiously cracked their eyes open.
The sight before them left them completely stunned.
The dozen or so [Shadow Spirits] that had surrounded them were now nothing but scattered pieces on the ground.
The ten "Metal Skeletons" stood quietly in front of them.
They neither attacked nor left.
Green blood from the Shadow Spirits dripped from their icy steel swords.
"B-Brother Fan, w-what's going on?"
The Swordsman stammered.
"How the hell should I know?!"
Li Fan was just as dumbfounded, his mind completely blank.
The three were too frightened to move.
They could only communicate silently with their eyes.
Meanwhile, Lin Mu
was lounging comfortably on his camping mat.
He had no idea
that the Skeleton Squad he'd sent out had accidentally saved three unlucky men on the brink of death.
[The Necromancer Lin Mu has reached LV.10!]
The familiar notification rang in his mind.
"Finally!"
Lin Mu perked up and immediately sprang to his feet.
Through his mental connection,
he ordered all the Skeleton Squads out in the field to return, telling them to bring back the equipment they'd picked up as well.
As for Li Fan and the others,
they were staring at the ten skeletons.
Suddenly,
the ten skeletons seemed to receive an order.
They turned around in perfect unison.
With heavy steps, they headed back the way they'd come.
"Brother Fan! They're leaving! We... we're saved!"
The Shield Warrior collapsed onto the ground and burst into tears.
"We were saved by a bunch of skeletons!"
The Swordsman was also overcome with joy and started crying.
"This... this is seriously unbelievable!"
Li Fan watched the skeletons disappear into the distance, his eyes filled with shock and curiosity.
Then he suddenly spoke up:
"Brothers, where did those strange Iron Skeletons come from? Why don't we... follow them and take a look?"
Before you continue