The Blood Corpse has made a move?
But the important business is more important.
The players rose from the campfire and gestured in front of [ Benevolent Father Above ].
After secretly resolving not to save him if war broke out, they all headed towards the location of the three captains.
The nine people each came to the back of the team leader and looked together at the flat open field in the distance.
With night vision enabled, the previously chaotic arrangement of Blood Corpse did indeed show some changes in their field of vision.
Given the players' previous actions, these Blood Corpse should have resembled dissolved sugar cubes, meaning they were denser in the center and more dispersed around the edges.
And now, these Blood Corpse have begun to gather together again.
Those individuals who had originally wandered outside the group began to return one after another, and the shape of the entire Blood Corpse horde gradually lengthened from its initial near-circular shape.
In the dark wilderness, a Blood Corpse wanders aimlessly.
"My child."
A low murmur suddenly came from its mind.
The Blood Corpse looked around in confusion, its instincts making it wary while simultaneously prompting it to engage in simpler thinking.
The voice sounded somewhat familiar, but the Blood Corpse couldn't quite place it, since only a small portion of its brain was functional after being infected by the Corpse Poison.
"My bloodline!"
The voice became much more authoritative and profound, and it also changed to a title that made people's hearts clench even more.
The Blood Corpse seemed to be struck by lightning, instantly freezing in place and no longer moving.
That voice—it was the voice of the progenitor, the voice of the creator and Domination of a lineage.
Once the Blood Corpse realized all this, it had already lost the ability to resist.
The Grand Duke's call was so tender, so tender, that he was willing to give everything for it!
Guided by that force, the Blood Corpse began to slowly move in a certain direction.
Around it, more Blood Corpse in similar condition began to move as well.
They arrived at an ordinary, open space, then bent down and dug their sharp claws into the soil.
"It's done!"
[ Elderly and Children Fly First ] clenched his fist excitedly--
This was originally his idea, and now that the method had worked, he was naturally extremely excited.
Looking at the three entrances that had been carved out simultaneously in the distance below the hill, the three captains exchanged glances.
"Explore together or one on each side?"
[ The Retreat Drum Player ] asked the question that was on the minds of the three men.
Having worked together before, the twelve members of these three teams have already developed a certain level of chemistry.
However, they belong to different organizations, making long-term cooperation inherently difficult.
[ Master Club ] goes without saying, and [ Jack-of-All-Trades Club ] is the former owner of [ Howling Pothos ].
The fact that [ Retreat Drum Player ] and [ Howling Pothos ] have a good relationship doesn't mean the club has a good relationship with this former employee.
From this perspective, exploring them separately seems like a good option.
However, on the other hand, the four-person team entering the underground space where the Grand Duke might be located was inherently fraught with danger.
Increasing the number of players with similar skill levels in the team is clearly a good solution.
Both options have their advantages and disadvantages. After a brief deliberation, the team ultimately chose the option that best benefited them: [ Elderly and Children Fly First ] and [ the Retreat Drum Player ].
"I suggest a joint exploration."
[ The Retreat Drum Player ] said:
"The area below is bound to be fraught with danger. Let alone the Grand Duke, we'd have to avoid even a Marquis if we encountered one."
"Even if the twelve of us join forces, we can barely handle one earl, and that would only be if he hadn't recovered or was in poor condition after recovering."
[ Master Club ] and [ Howling Pothos ] had no prior conflict. Seeing that the members of [ Jack-of-All-Trades Club ] had all agreed to cooperate, they naturally joined in as well.
As an independent player, [ Howling Pothos ] doesn't really have any thoughts on this, except...
He looked at the [ Retreat Drum Player ]:
"Is this a good idea of you cooperating with me?"
What's the problem?
[ The Retreat Drum Player ] hummed:
"No matter how much the club interferes, how can they control how I complete the mission? As long as I can unlock the map, nothing else matters."
"Okay, then I have no further questions."
[ Howling Pothos ] nodded, and the three of them briefly explained to their respective teammates, and a temporary team was quickly formed.
Meanwhile, below, the excavation work by the Blood Corpse has made some progress.
Looking at the soil being dug out below, everyone couldn't help but marvel at how extraordinary the Grand Duke truly was.
When the counts broke the seal, they simply had a group of Blood Corpse dig around outside the seal.
Whether it was Bennett or Luoli, the Blood Corpse they sealed outside always gathered together in one go, resulting in a significant waste of manpower.
Once they reached the Marquis rank, the Blood Corpse had already begun to establish a preliminary division of labor and cooperation. Players had previously witnessed some early divisions of labor with Oliver, but it was unclear whether it was due to a lack of intelligence or strength, as a detailed division of labor was still not feasible.
The identities of ordinary dukes who received the Grand Duke's Blood are currently unclear, but regarding those grand dukes...
The Blood Corpse in their field of vision now appear to be relatively orderly, almost like an early assembly line.
No one knew whether this was because the Grand Duke had a stronger ability to manipulate the Blood Corpse, or because their intelligence and cognitive abilities were inherently higher.
In short, in the past ten minutes or so, the Blood Corpse have dug out a very obvious trail.
And contrary to all the players' expectations, their digging method was not directly downwards, but rather they dug out a sloping slope downwards, like digging an open-pit mine.
The slope dug out by the three teams of Blood Corpse was about ten meters long, and the deepest part at the front was already nearly as deep as a person.
Because the digging wasn't a straight up-and-down motion, the soil excavated by the Blood Corpse in front could be immediately transported to the sides by the Blood Corpse behind.
The group watched as three caves continued to form in their field of vision.
[ The Retreat Drum Player ] put down his simple monocular telescope and said:
"It doesn't seem like we'll be able to dig through anytime soon. Should we log off and meet up again later?"
The players overwhelmingly agreed with this suggestion.
Since we can't start taking action right away, logging off to recharge is a good option.
This can also reduce unnecessary online time and prevent the game system from forcibly logging you off due to insufficient time.
Seeing that there was still time, the players stopped worrying about anything else.
After giving [ Benevolent Father Above ] a good beating, they all returned to the area enclosed by the three carriages, logged off, and left, leaving only the three captains to continue observing the movements of the Blood Corpse.