Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 407: The Red Army Welcomes You Back!

The moment they heard that "A-Fu" had been spotted, the entire combat team's emotions instantly boiled over.

They crossed the ocean and ventured deep behind enemy lines to arrive here. The first task given by the command center was to find "Afu".

According to the operational plan obtained from the command, any operational team that discovers "Afu's" whereabouts must immediately cease all missions and escort Afu back.

From a purely utilitarian perspective, this is completely unreasonable. After all, the value of exploring and researching such a large-scale ruin as the Ghost Temple is obviously far less than that of "Afu," a mid-level undead.

Undead creatures are essentially consumables once summoned. Moreover, those sent to Eastern Xia on Blue Star are undead creatures whose combat power has been solidified and have lost any potential for further improvement.

A mere flesh and blood giant, placed in the Starry World, would only require a handful of magical materials worth less than one gold coin and a small amount of the summoner's mental energy.

There's really no reason to make a big fuss about it.

Ironically, everyone in the Dongxia Special Forces, from the commander to the soldiers, took this order for granted.

Although they couldn't understand the logic behind this behavior, the stone statues and ghosts that the team brought seemed to be inspired in some way, so much so that in the screech that signaled the arrival of the signal, everyone could actually hear a hint of joy in their voices.

The combat squad immediately launched a fierce assault on the direction of the ghost.

Leading the way were two "shaman" warriors whose bodies were covered in tattoos.

In Dongxia, they are also known as rune warriors. The entire team is over 1.9 meters tall, with strong physiques, bulging muscles, and larger bodies, which allows them to carry more "shaman" runes.

It must be acknowledged that this embedded tattoo, originating from the orc system, is essentially equivalent to giving warriors a layer of passive spell protection, and its most prominent effect is its outstanding resistance to attacks.

With his formidable strength, he was undoubtedly a pioneer who would lead the way.

The black mist spreading from the Ghost Temple has become so vast that even though the Ghost Temple is constantly creating evil spirits through killing and transformation, the density of the ruins guarding the outer ring area is not high, and the strength is quite limited.

Although visibility was suppressed to within twenty meters, everywhere was a swirling, thick darkness that seemed to absorb all light.

But the leading warriors, like steamrollers, easily smashed through the emerging skeletons and zombies, carving a path through the chaos.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the location of "Afu's" aura.

There were no undead creatures resembling Afu at the scene, but several strange skeletons were found instead.

There were four of them, scattered in a simple inverted trapezoidal shape over an area of ​​several tens of meters.

One stood beside a pillar, one crouched behind a building, one lay flat in a crevice of the ruins, and there was a smaller creature with most of its body buried in the soil, only its round head showing.

At first glance, it gives you the urge to kick it.

Li Xun, who was in the front row, recognized it immediately; it was a standard ambush formation.

The four skeletons involved in the ambush were stronger than ordinary skeleton spearmen, but not to the level of zombies. The soul fire strength of low-level undead creatures was clearly visible to the necromancer in the group.

"Moreover, their soul fire fluctuations are different, unlike those produced from the same source, it's more like... they were gathered together?"

"They should be native undead from the Sea Serpent faction; their level seems to be slightly improving..."

Li Xun crouched down behind a scaffold and asked in a low voice, "Could it be Afu's host body?"

"That's impossible. The types and strengths of soul fire vary greatly. Even if the flesh giant is weakened, it's impossible for it to have degenerated to this extent!"

The black mist, or rather this simplified version of the dark canopy, is originally intended for use by the undead. Its main purpose is to interfere with the vision of humans, who rely on their eyes to observe light reflections. It has no effect on undead, who are creatures that rely on perception.

Therefore, at the same time that the Dongxia Special Combat Team discovered these skeletons, the skeletons also discovered them.

However, unlike the ruins guards who would charge at any living being they saw, these skeletons merely glanced at them and continued to stand guard as if they hadn't seen them at all.

Li Xun even saw the skeleton lying in the ruins waving at them. If he wasn't mistaken, it meant... "Hurry up and leave?"
The group members exchanged a bewildered look.

A few minutes later, they witnessed a spectacular encirclement and kill.

The target of the ambush was a group of ruin guards.

The outer ring of the Ghost Temple is mainly guarded by low-level skeletons and zombies. These guys are not strong and are fragile, but for most ordinary people, they are still a nightmare.

In situations where visibility is only a dozen or twenty meters, the blindness of humans and the clumsiness of skeletons complement each other perfectly.

However, when undead creatures face off against each other, it usually comes down to sheer brute force.

On paper, these few frail skeletons shouldn't be a match for the ruins' guardians. However, when the battle actually started, it turned out to be a one-sided affair.

The first thing to move was the large skull standing next to the pillar, which gently tapped the stone slab on the pillar with its skull, producing a rhythmic "tap, tap" sound.

The sound was extremely penetrating, traveling far into the distance along the thick fog. A moment later, a jumbled sound of bones grinding came from deep within the black fog.

A group of a dozen or so ruin guards, a mix of skeletons and zombies, were drawn by the sound and staggered toward this direction.

Just as they were about to step into the ruins, the knocking stopped abruptly. The giant skull seemed to awaken from a dream, and turned to flee in a panic.

The Ruins Guardian's "programmed" task is to eliminate all enemies in this controlled area, whether living or dead.

These guys, dressed in old-fashioned sea serpent uniforms, immediately gave chase.

Faced with the swarming enemies, the big-headed skull ran even faster, but after only a few steps, it tripped over its own leg and fell to the ground with a thud.

He then used all four limbs to escape, rolling and crawling as he went.

"Are they...luring us in?"

The necromancer from the East Xia region, who was observing from the sidelines, had an incredulous look in his eyes.

Although the big-headed skull looked quite pathetic, it was clear to onlookers that the guy had absolutely no acting skills, especially the way he fell down, where the performance was too clumsy.

If this were in Dongxia, he probably wouldn't even be able to play a villain in a short drama about the Dragon King.

However, these unfortunate ruins guards clearly lacked the ability to discern right from wrong and were thus scammed.

Just a few dozen seconds later, the entire chasing team fell into a pit that had been dug in advance and simply covered with a thin slab.

The last two ruin guards barely managed to stop at the edge of the pit. Then, the skeleton that had been lying in the crevice of the ruins suddenly sprang up, positioned itself right behind them, and with a precise kick of its foot, sent the two unfortunate souls tumbling into the pit as well.

The real show is about to begin.

The skeletons in the hiding place, together with the big-headed skeleton that had acted as bait, worked together to push a huge, hanging log stake out of the building ruins. With a push and a release, the giant log, under the force of gravity, slammed heavily into the trap like a hammer.

"Boom!!!"

The dull thud made the ground tremble slightly, and a sharp, soul-like roar came from the crater.

Several ambushing skeletons pulled up the hanging ropes, lifting the log back up, then released it, and the giant log continued to fall.

"Boom!!!"

"Ahhhh-"

Just like that, the wooden stake went in and out, like pounding medicine.

Although Li Xun couldn't see what was inside the trap, he could easily imagine a scene of minced meat mixed with bone fragments.

Meanwhile, the necromancer in the team had already confirmed the enemy's friendly forces during this brilliant ambush.

"Captain, look at how they wrap the joints—a double flower inner cross knot!"

"It's the 'Convenient Self-Maintaining Wrap' technology specially designed by the teaching team of Jiuquan Vocational Technical School. It allows undead creatures to easily wrap themselves, stabilize and disassemble, effectively reducing joint wear and foreign object intrusion, and basically does not affect movement and combat. It should be unique in the entire universe!"

"Also, why did the skeleton that acted as bait crawl on all fours? It was to reduce the pressure on the ground and avoid revealing the trap."

"A spirit who studied physics—this must be related to Jiuquan Vocational and Technical College!"

While everyone was discussing it, the ambush operation was coming to an end.

Traps, heavy hammers, spears, and a thigh bone broken off from who-knows-who—the four skeletons easily wiped out the guard squad, ignored everyone, and quickly began clearing the pit.

The movements conveyed a sense of urgency and a race against time.

The Dongxia team attempted to communicate and make contact, but unfortunately, they received no response.

Over the next period of time, Dongxia's special operations team shuttled back and forth in this black fog, observing repeatedly, and finally figured out the general situation of these undead creatures.

In short, there are three forces within the current area of ​​the Ghost Temple.

The most powerful, and also the most evil, force was undoubtedly the malevolent creatures within the ruins themselves.

Centered around the worshipped evil spirits in the inner ring, they relentlessly slaughter the sea serpent inhabitants of this area, resurrecting them as irrational, bloodthirsty guardians of the ruins, expanding their death army like a snowball.

During this process, the Dongxia Special Operations Team also noticed that the Ghost Temple Ruins were continuously emitting relatively high-ranking evil spirits. After leaving the Ghost Temple, these evil spirits were trying to board the vehicles that left the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent and spread throughout the entire Blue Star.

The second force is the endless supply of "nourishment"—the massacred sea serpent civilians.

The Four-Clawed Sea Serpent's national order—you could say it's still maintained, since its government and military have completely disregarded the lives of its citizens. You could say it's collapsed, yet it continues to massively drive people into this land contaminated by evil spirits. These driven-in people are like nourishment for the ghost temple, constantly feeding this ruin with their flesh and bones.

As for the third force, it is these mysterious "ambush undead".

The vast majority of them exist in the form of skeleton soldiers. Although they are not strong individually and are poorly equipped, they understand tactics and know how to cooperate. Most importantly, they never target live "lambs" but focus on dealing with the Ghost Temple Ruins.

The longer they observed, the more certain they became that this must be a unit organized by Afu.

The key question is, where did Astolfo, a flesh-and-blood giant, get this ability from, since he's not a lich?
Well, it was just a series of unfortunate coincidences.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. During the battle against the guardians of the ruins, Afu unexpectedly discovered this allied force.

On the land of the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent, there once lived an extreme violent organization called the "Red Army".

They opposed the imperialism of the bald eagle and the occupation of other countries by evil forces; they believed in collectivism and despised capitalism; they believed that "a revolution without bloodshed will not succeed," and they threw themselves into the bloody and violent process of fighting one after another.

Because of the significant disparity in strength between them and the regular army, they relied more on methods such as bombings, shootings, kidnappings, assassinations, hijacking planes, and hijacking ships. This is the main reason why they were later defined as an evil terrorist organization.

This is the biggest difference between them and Dongxia.

The red organization of Dongxia pursues lofty goals through righteous means. There may be twists and turns, but its original intention remains unchanged.

The Sea Serpent's "Red Army" was using illegal means to pursue legal goals, which meant that its fate was destined to be a tragedy from the very beginning.

Of course, there is also a saying that for a race like the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent, which has a general inferiority complex, only a small group can be called human, so naturally, the final outcome cannot be a good one.

Regardless, this Red Army ultimately shone with its own light on the world of Earth.

After the Ghost Temple grew into a large ruin, its self-awareness led it to continue to invade and plunder the world.

Among these is a unique prison called Jianghu Chaoga Prison, also known as Jianghu Detention Center.

After the Sea Serpents were defeated, this place was used to imprison many of their most serious war criminals. As a result, this area became the first place to be infected by the Ghost Temple.

Souls run rampant, the dead awaken!
However, this place was also once an important prison where the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent imprisoned and persecuted Red Army soldiers.

Thus, in addition to those evil spirits, the Red Army soldiers were also resurrected. As the two opposing groups of undead awoke one after another in the black mist, they quickly became a chaotic mess.

The Red Army's dead were not only few in number but also of poor quality, and they were routed as soon as the war began.

Until they met Afu.

The Ghost Temple, a despicable place that Dongxia found so repulsive, filled Afu with disgust. Therefore, whenever he saw any force fighting against these evil spirits, Afu would go and lend a hand.

And so, Ah Fu became the leader of this group of undead creatures.

Under Afu's selfless guidance, these guys quickly learned to dig traps, trip each other up, and use dirty tricks, gradually gaining a tiny bit of initiative on the battlefield.

However, the infection ability of large ruins is too fast. The kind of thing that comes out when you kill one, two will appear, two will appear when you kill two, so Afu has to put out fires everywhere and is busy running around, missing the chance to meet the Dongxia Special Forces Team time and time again.

Until that special moment.

Afu led a squad of Red Army soldiers, frantically fighting his way out of the encirclement of the Ghost Temple ruins, with the ghostly spirits of the Ghost Temple relentlessly pursuing them from behind.

Afu doesn't look good right now. His once huge body has shrunk several sizes, and the muscle tissue covering his body is torn in many places, revealing the blackened bones and dried tendons underneath. From a distance, he looks like a fat man who has lost too much weight and shrunk drastically.

Only about twenty Red Army ghosts remained around him, and each of them was "wounded." Their soul flames were dim, their bones were cracked, and the strips of cloth protecting their joints were torn to shreds.

The two sides, one fleeing and the other chasing, ran head-on into a special operations team from Dongxia.

Because the Dongxia squad was disguised, Afu couldn't immediately identify them, mistaking them for ordinary Sea Serpent civilians. Relying on the battlefield habits he had acquired in Dongxia, Afu offered a warning in slightly broken Sea Serpent language.

"Danger is behind you, stay away!"

At the same time, Afu slightly changed direction.

Everyone immediately recognized Afu's accent; they had memorized that voice feature countless times.

Li Xun suddenly stood up from behind the cover and turned on the megaphone on his gas mask.

Number 004!

"This way, we are the Jiuquan Special Combat Team, ordered to provide backup!"

"Get closer to me, I'll cover you!!!"

Li Xun's roar tore through the thick black fog. For a moment, Afu was slightly taken aback, but he quickly recovered.

With a long roar that was a mixture of ecstasy, relief, and a sense of triumph, Afu turned around without hesitation and led the Red Army, the Ghost Temple Guards, and the long black mist behind him, surging and rolling forward like boiling water.

The pursuers reacted quickly, with more than ten twisted figures rushing out first, attempting to accelerate their interception.

These are the unique "stitched-soul evil spirits" found in the inner ring of the Ghost Temple. They appear to be made by stitching together many corpses, with several arms with fleshy hooks waving on their bloated torsos, leaving trails of sticky filth as they move.

Each of the "Soul-Sewing Evil Spirits" possesses strength approaching or reaching that of a flesh giant. The fact that such elite inner-ring forces were used to hunt down Afu shows that the core of the Summoning Ghost Temple ruins truly despises these guys.

Behind the "Soul-Sewing Evil Spirit" are a tidal wave of skeletons and zombies.

Then, a burly figure crashed out from the side like a heavy truck.

This is a "Rune Warrior"!
Rune Warriors are strong, but their appearance is noticeably inferior, which explains why they are not well-liked in the military.

What the people of Dongxia handed over to the state were handsome young men with delicate features. After being "processed and transformed," they became burly men covered in tattoos.

Not only was his body covered in tattoos, but his head was also shaved bald, covered with all sorts of black, red, and dark blue lines from the top of his head to his cheeks, making him look incredibly ferocious.

With such a great sacrifice made, its power is naturally extraordinary.

The foremost, stitched-up evil spirit, was struck as if by a battering ram; its bloated torso caved in dramatically around the point of impact, bending sharply backward. The rough, spliced ​​bones and flesh shattered instantly, spraying blood and bits of flesh everywhere, knocking over three or four skeletons behind it.

The second rune warrior from Dongxia followed closely behind, the tattoo on his shoulder glowing with a faint earthy yellow light. He let out a low growl, spread his arms, and actually managed to hold back and push away the three charging "Soul-Sewing Evil Spirits," allowing Afu and the skeletons to retreat in a sorry state into their own defensive line.

The mages and healers generously set up spirit crystal arrays, unleashing all sorts of offensive and defensive spells as if they were free. In particular, the two rune masters at the very front received all-around care, their entire bodies gleaming with golden light, resembling two golden Arhats.

"Contact the enemy! Open fire freely, prioritize eliminating high-level evil spirits!"

Following Li Xun's command, the Dongxia Special Combat Team opened fire.

Generally speaking, firearms are considered to be less effective against undead creatures; however, the firearms used by special operations teams are clearly not considered to be of general importance.

The sniper pulled the trigger and began taking roll call.

The specially designed purification projectile spun and plunged into the core of the head of a "Soul-Sewn Evil Spirit." Silver-white holy flames burst forth from its eye sockets and mouth, instantly incinerating its soul fire. Its massive body became a pile of rotten flesh and collapsed with a crash.

The other one was hit on the shoulder, and the holy flames spread rapidly, igniting half of its body. The Soul-Sewn Evil Spirit rolled dozens of times on the ground, but it could not extinguish the psionic flames.

After several dozen breaths, it was already half flesh and half bone, black and white.

The other team members also opened fire.

Enchanted bullets, exorcising longswords, and an overwhelming offensive. The entire battle could be summed up in two words: precision, efficiency, and crushing dominance.

Afu's soul fire pulsed violently.

After it rushed into the defensive line, it did not stop. Instead, it raised the arm that was barely pieced together from broken bones and tendons and pointed it to the outside of the direction from which the evil spirits were coming. There was a tall zombie wrapped in the uniform of a sea serpent officer, surrounded by thin black mist, and speaking in standard Dongxia language.

"Hit it!"

That was the command point for the pursuing forces.

"Understood!" Li Xun turned the gun without hesitation.

Several purification projectiles struck the evil spirit general, causing its massive head and half a shoulder to explode. Its body crashed to the ground, and the wave of evil spirits, now without its commander, momentarily froze and became chaotic.

It's now!

Afu's soul fluctuations erupted with unprecedented intensity. After fighting these ruin guards for so long, they were already mortal enemies, and he had too much pent-up frustration to vent.

The Red Army spirits who had fled with Afu also turned around and launched a fierce counterattack.

Whether it's an illusion or not, the "native" undead in the territory of these four-clawed sea serpents, although they have little intelligence and memory left, have very real emotions. That's why, as soon as they awaken, they have already divided into factions without even knowing what happened.

The Red Army's spirits had been struggling in this black fog for so long, constantly being chased and fleeing in panic. Now, they suddenly had a "backer".

Why not show off properly this time!
Without a commander, the group of ghost temple ruins was quickly wiped out, and the battle ended in a few minutes.

Afu pulled his newly polished, sickle-shaped forelimbs from the chest of a military-uniformed undead, kicked the guy far away, and turned his head slightly to look at this team that was both unfamiliar and somewhat familiar!

Li Xun put away his weapon, walked to a position a dozen meters away from Afu, and solemnly saluted him!
"Number 004, Comrade Afu!"

"Welcome back to the team!"

(End of this chapter)