Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 390 Undead Economics Tunnel Encounter

Although Chen Mo himself is a necromancer and has supported and established the "Return to the Cemetery," a top-ranking necromancer organization on the continent, necromancers, or rather undead creatures, have participated in very few wars in the Vast Ocean Territory, and the scale of their participation has been quite limited.

There are many, and they are quite complex, reasons for this.

For example, there's the issue of combat intelligence. Low-level undead creatures can understand commands to move forward and attack, but they have a hard time understanding what "stealth" means in terms of stealthy advance and "opportunity" means in terms of waiting for an opportunity to attack.

The combat process often appears very stiff, making it easy for opponents to exploit bugs.

As for high-ranking undead, they are like high-ranking commanders in an army—valuable assets that should be used wisely.

The sixth-tier creature that can move freely in the Vast Ocean Territory is called Frost Flow. Unless it's a life-or-death battle, would you dare to use her to charge into the enemy lines?
Another common problem in undead factions is the issue of command transfer.

The command of the undead warriors rests with the mage who summons the undead, but the direct control distance is limited. The weak mage cannot be too close to the front line, which requires a front-line commander.

For undead creatures to accept orders from others appointed by a necromancer, a lengthy transition process is required.

This is somewhat like a vicious dog that recognizes its master. To get it to obey another person, the owner needs to provide various forms of assistance, and there also needs to be a necessary adjustment period.

The problem is that in a large-scale battle, low-level undead creatures are essentially consumables. Spending a month getting them to level up before engaging in combat for even a minute is really unnecessary.

There are countless reasons, but it was only after Chen Mo introduced "Return to the Cemetery" and it had been running stably for a period of time that he gradually gained a deeper understanding of the necromancer's predicament.

In a sense, the decline of necromancers can be described as "the tears of a bygone era."

To put it in the harshest and most blunt terms, it's simply not cost-effective.

Economic problems are often the root of all problems.

When Chen Mo first realized this direction, he found it somewhat unbelievable.

Undead creatures? Not cost-effective?

He also had a special discussion with the expert team from Dongxia on this issue, and Dongxia quickly gave a very positive response.

"You're right!"

Ultimately, the reason is that after the rise of the human race, the population size increased dramatically, and in this environment where ordinary people's lives are not taken seriously, the cost of using "humans" is very low.

Even the lowest-ranking undead skeleton spearman costs the same as a mage's several years of training, a portion of their mental energy, and a small amount of magical materials to summon.

As for ordinary human farmers, whose combat strength is similar to or slightly stronger than that of skeleton spearmen, who can fill the gaps and act as meat shields, and conscripts? Often, all it takes is a lord official to ride into the village, crack a whip on his shield and shout, and those men have to pack their meager belongings and follow.

They often carried bags of dry food on their backs.

Logically speaking, it takes a person ten or twenty years to grow up to the age of becoming a warrior, which requires a huge amount of resources. This is completely disproportionate to the small amount of resources required to summon the undead. But who is investing these huge amounts of resources?
It was their parents, it was themselves, in short, not the lords who were currently using them.

That would mean there's no cost.

The lords paid only the bare minimum of food or simply let them bring their own, a paltry reward or let them plunder their own spoils. As for compensation, it was practically nonexistent for non-professionals.

It would be easier to understand if we were talking about the world of Earth.

Your parents invested hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to bring you into this world and raise you; the country also invested a great deal of resources to provide you with systematic educational support and medical care; and you yourself invested a lot of time in learning and training to become a healthy, knowledgeable, and capable "useful member of society"!
The moment you step into society, the previous investments and expenditures will definitely amount to millions, or even tens of millions.

But what does this have to do with your unscrupulous boss?
The cost to him in using you is just a month's salary.

Moreover, some of these guys are only buying into the best ten or twenty years of your life when you're at your peak physical and energetic. Once you face a midlife crisis, sorry, there are plenty of replacements.

Furthermore, if this cost can be further reduced, for example, in some countries where people's livelihoods are impoverished, it is easy to hire human workers for a few hundred dollars, and some women even have their uteruses removed in order to continue working. In such cases, the overall cost of using "humans" is absolutely the lowest, which no automated machine or artificial intelligence can compare to.

After all, if the machine breaks down, the boss has to spend money to repair it, and if you get sick, you not only have to pay for your own medical treatment, but you also don't get paid during your leave.

Sometimes you even have to watch your boss's mood!
After careful calculation, Chen Mo concluded that the undead do not need to eat or sleep, which is their only advantage over humans. Therefore, in the Starry World, considering general costs, the cost of using undead creatures will only fall below the cost of using living races after a certain period of time.

No wonder the necromancer race is declining...

However, this problem does not exist in the current Han Hai Territory and the areas under its control, because the Han Hai Territory provides excessive protection for its people, which naturally increases the cost.

When a soldier from the Hanhai Army is mobilized, even if it's just the logistics department, he is provided with a full set of standard military uniforms, boots, underwear, and even gloves from head to toe. In winter, he is also provided with extra cotton boots and winter clothes.

Three meals a day, with sufficient nutrition, and additional rations during intense marches or combat.

If you go to the front lines, you will be issued weapons and protective gear. There will be clear wartime allowances during combat. If you are wounded, you will be treated immediately by military doctors and therapists. If you are killed in action, in addition to the compensation, the territory will also be responsible for the livelihood of your immediate family members and the education of your children for a certain period of time.

Regardless of individual combat prowess, the soldiers of the Vast Sea generally possess extremely high morale. Even the Guiyi Army, a force that had just been transferred from the orc servant army, immediately transformed itself and fought a tenacious battle at Bailang Beach without the need for a supervisory team. All of this was achieved through the lord's substantial financial investment.

At this point, the cost-effectiveness of undead creatures becomes apparent.

Over the past period, the Returning Cemetery has recruited a large number of undead creatures to participate in heavy, tedious, and dangerous infrastructure work such as earth and stone excavation, mineral mining, road construction, and land leveling. This is because, under long-term and continuous labor conditions, they do not eat, drink, sleep, or rest, are not afraid of harsh environments, do not suffer from work-related injuries or protests, and do not have any fake undead such as marriage, childbirth, or illness. They do have a clear advantage over human workers.

More importantly, these daily tasks greatly honed the necromancers' ability to skillfully control large numbers of low-level undead and coordinate their work, accumulating valuable experience for them to take to the battlefield.

Right now, the reason why Lin Xiangming and his group came to the Cracked Claw Canyon battlefield is to have them use undead creatures to counter the orcs' trench warfare tactics.

The Vast Ocean Territory has many ways to deal with the orcs' method of advancing by digging trenches vertically.

For example, they could throw thermobaric or incendiary bombs directly into the trench, or simply pour kerosene into it and roast it alive.

For example, given that the ground battlefield is still under the control of the Hanhai Field Army, firepower can be used to cut off enemy reinforcements in the trenches, and assault troops can be organized to directly destroy enemy scouts.

The former costs a little money, while the latter takes a little more effort.

Now it's time for the undead creatures to make their appearance.

Lin Xiangming brought more than sixty necromancers of the second rank or above, who were heavily protected, and they entered the front-line trenches.

Opposite them, the trenches of all sizes continued to slowly extend forward, and apart from the sand constantly being poured out from underground, not a single orc's head could be seen.

When these guys are working, they practically press their whole bodies against the bottom of the ditch, as if that would help them dodge the opponent's fierce "arrows".

And it did indeed evade the heavy machine gun's aim.

"let's start."

Lin Xiangming took the lead and began chanting the spell.

The altar gates from the underworld opened, first summoning a Soulfire Master, and then four resurrected spirits.

Soulfire Mastery is a formless entity with no combat power, and it doesn't even possess a soul damage mechanism. Its sole purpose is to sense, collect, recycle, and properly preserve the soulfire of undead creatures on the battlefield.

For a long time, the Exile Lands relied on these undead creatures to continuously recycle and reuse soul fire, thus preserving the size of the independent undead creatures in the valley as much as possible.

The moment they emerged, the controllers of these Soul Flames, which possessed nascent intelligence but limited intellect, were stunned.

The number of soul flames outside is almost comparable to the countless stars in the sky.

What are we waiting for? Let's take it first!
As for resurrected spirits, these native skeleton mages from the underworld, clad in black robes and wielding staffs, can each summon and guide sixteen low-ranking undead skeletons from the lord of the underworld.

The summoned skeleton spearmen entered the bunkers at the front of the trenches and began to undergo simple modifications.

This task was undertaken by the engineering corps.

The young engineering soldier, familiar with the process, opened the [Battlefield Undead Assault Force Combo Set] issued by the unit.

First, take out a few pieces of coarse cloth and, like reinforcing the joints of a puppet, skillfully wrap the important joints of the skeleton, such as elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles, carefully. This ancestral craft of the necromancer's vassals can prevent foreign objects from entering and causing jamming, without affecting the skeleton's normal movement.

A thin iron sleeve with a sharp tip is attached to the front of the bone spearhead, thus creating a metal spearhead, ensuring that it can even pierce the opponent's taut skin.

A broadsword mine is positioned between the collarbones on both sides, secured by a leather strap threaded through the gap between the spine and ribs, with the curved explosive side, marked with a skull and crossbones symbol and the words "This side faces the enemy," facing forward. Finally, the fuse is attached to the skeleton spearman's jawbone.

After double-checking and confirming with the necromancer himself, he turned the skeleton around and activated the first layer of security.

At this point, the landmine was already activated.

When this skeleton spearman raises his head high, the fuse is pulled, and the broadsword will immediately explode.

Of course, cutting off the fuse or severing the head would also work.

Finally, a number was placed on the left chest of the skull, and a photo was taken.

As per Commander-in-Chief Chen's request, these photos will be stored in the archives of the Return Cemetery after the war to "remember every sacrifice."

This is really...

If one day I unfortunately "die gloriously," I hope my remains can be put to this use.

The family should be able to receive another pension!

The young sapper shook his head vigorously to clear his mind of these chaotic thoughts, checked the status of the four skeleton spearmen under his command once again, and then crossed over with the sappers in the next group for a second check.

Once you've confirmed that the entire process is complete and everything is ready, loudly announce that you're done.

As the resurrected, psychic bone staff moved up and down, the first batch of undead skeleton warriors climbed out of the field army's trenches along the planks and staggered towards the enemy's passage.

Without cover, without feints, without artillery preparation, they simply walked across the battlefield openly and boldly.

The orcs quickly spotted these guys.

On the plains battlefield, the orcs buried themselves in digging pits, while the humans half-covered their trenches. These undead, openly moving about in the middle of the battlefield, stood out conspicuously.

But the orcs didn't seem to have any solutions.

This was the front line of the Han Hai Territory, an area inaccessible to the orcs' ranged attacks. They could only watch as wave after wave of skeletons, with their frail bodies, swayed and reached the tunnels the orcs were constructing, before jumping in one by one.

The alleyway dug by the orcs was actually very cleverly designed.

To speed up construction and reduce damage from enemy ranged fire, the orcs' tunnels were only about two meters wide. Instead of transporting the excavated soil and rocks backward, they were piled up directly on both sides of the tunnel to form simple low walls, which could both block bullets and increase the depth of the tunnel.

Those in the front row, responsible for digging the pits, were all orc laborers. They wielded crude pickaxes and shovels, working mechanically under the overseer's whip.

Every so often in the tunnels, a larger troop shelter would be dug to the side. Inside, pillars were erected and iron plates were propped up on the top. Several to more than ten orc warriors were stationed inside, responsible for protecting the tunnels, suppressing the laborers, and being ready to deal with any counterattacks from the humans.

They were expecting a bloody battle for control of the tunnels, but what they didn't expect was that the first thing they would encounter was a "skull falling from the sky".

As soon as the skeleton landed, the laborers at the forefront of the alleyway went wild, scattering in panic and quickly huddling together in the cramped space.

The skeletons were lined up very neatly, one after another, maintaining a distance of more than two meters between each other, just enough for them to hold their bone spears level.

One shot pierced through, then another.

The movements were steady and precise, with the stiffness and indifference characteristic of the undead.

The rough iron spearhead pierced the unprotected laborer's body, drawing out sprays of warm, scarlet blood.

If these laborers dared to resist, they might be able to fight these crude, low-level skeletons to a standstill. However, being driven by orc whips, bombarded every few days, and witnessing their comrades' corpses being thrown out of the tunnels almost every day, these laborers were on the verge of collapse.

The slightest disturbance could trigger their collapse, let alone the grotesque-looking skeleton soldiers that jumped down.

The tunnel quickly descended into chaos.

Orc warriors rushed out from the troop-hiding cave closest to the front line.

Leading the way was an orc squad leader, over 1.8 meters tall, with bulging muscles, wielding a heavy battle axe, and bloodshot eyes. He forcefully carved a path through the weak undead creatures.

"A bunch of charlatans!"

Using the momentum, he flexed his muscles and swung his heavy battle axe in a wide arc, smashing it down on the foremost skeleton with the force of splitting mountains and shattering rocks!

With a single axe strike, not only was the bone spear cleaved in two, but the axe blade, propelled by the immense force, also pierced directly into the skeleton's chest, instantly shattering its thin ribs into numerous pieces that flew everywhere in the alleyway.

The axe got stuck. The orc squad leader roared and pulled hard, managing to lift the entire skeleton off the ground.

The skeleton looked up without hesitation.

boom! ! !
A burst of fire erupted as nearly a thousand steel balls shot forward in a 60-degree fan shape at an initial velocity of over 1,200 meters per second. The nearest orc squad leader was riddled with holes before he could even react.

Originally, there were only holes in his face, but now there are at least dozens more. As for his whole body, it has been blasted like a giant showerhead, with dense lines of blood gushing out.

Behind the orc captain, the warriors who followed closely behind were also affected, but thanks to the cover provided by their allies in front, they were fortunate enough to only take some of the damage.

Some are the left half, and some are the right half.

An unlucky fellow was struck in the groin by several steel balls. His eyes bulged out and his mouth opened to an exaggerated degree, but he could not make a sound due to the extreme pain. His face turned from blue to purple in an instant, and he slowly knelt down with his body bent over.

It's obvious she's not feeling well...

However, due to the narrow tunnel, the people in the back row could not see clearly what was happening in front. The fall of the people in the front row only fueled the ferocity of the orcs in the back row. They stepped over the corpses of their teammates and continued to roar as they pounced forward.

"Boom!!!" The second broadsword exploded.

"Boom!!!" The third shot.

These low-ranking skeleton spearmen were indeed powerless against orcs, but they were equally vulnerable against broadswords.

The two sides then began exchanging casualties, with one skeleton for over a dozen orcs.

The narrow alleyway had turned into a scene of death, and the orc warriors finally realized what they had encountered.

They began to retreat frantically, shoving and trampling the orc laborers without mercy, trying to get away from the explosion zone.

In this sudden engagement, the orc warriors suffered relatively acceptable casualties, but the resilient laborers in the front lines who had dug their way through under the threat of artillery fire suffered heavy losses, leaving the area in ruins.

In Han Hai's position, after watching the entire Makaga match through drone monitoring, he clicked his tongue slightly.

"It's still... a bit of a waste!"

"By the way, have all the undead warriors who went out to attack retrieved their soulfire?"

The adjutant stood at attention and replied, "Reporting, Commander! Preliminary statistics show that the recovery rate... is only about 60%."

Why did so much leak?

"The orcs... the orcs are too fast, and they've placed barriers in the tunnels. Our undead warriors can't get through, and... they can't climb out!"

"They're still trapped inside!"

"That won't work!"

Macaja slapped his thigh: "Have Dean Lin arrange for some high-ranking undead to go and bring them back."

"By the way, don't bring the broadsword back. Consider it a souvenir for the orcs."

(End of this chapter)