Ghost Knight King's Dungeon Project

Chapter 65 [The Schemes of Enemies and Friends]

clang!clang!clang!
The sound of sword and shield striking each other echoed in the dark night sky of the skeleton heart.

The rotting demons, carrying bronze shovels, dug one shovel after another in the rusted bronze forest.

The bronze shovel blade struck the thick, copper-rich roots with a heavy thud, sparks flying amidst the crisp clanging sound.

The roots of the rusted copper tree were extremely hard, almost like metal. The shovel made of mortise copper couldn't break through them in a short time, like a gravedigger's shovel hitting a coffin.

Haven't you dug it up yet?
Samael was getting impatient—he was usually a very patient person, but he had just learned that he and his friends might all be automated tools of a bunch of high-tech jerks, and that he needed their toxic and hazardous waste fuel to keep his companions alive, so it was understandable that he was getting a little annoyed.

He raised his gauntlet, roughly shoved aside the rotting corpse demons who were wildly hacking and shoveling with shovels, and bent down to press himself against the roots of the rusty copper tree.

The Nether Bronze Generator is now enabled.

Amidst a soft buzzing vibration, the roots rapidly shattered, and the copper elements within them were quickly transformed into Nether Copper, which gathered in Samael's palm and was filled into the Nether Copper storage space of his armor.

Amidst the rustling sound of the earth being turned over, the Corpse Demons dug into the soil beneath the roots, but instead of finding any Skeleton Warriors, they found only more soil.

"Didn't they say that skeleton warriors would be hiding among the roots? Why aren't there any!" Samael angrily punched the tree trunk.

He raised his helmet, attempting to control the bell-shaped helmeted root ball scout in the distance.

……

As a dark place that everyone avoids, an eternally cold realm of the dead, a hiding place for all shadows, the night in the Heart of Bones is unlike any other night. A corrupt malice grows within it, hinting at some ancient secret.

The sky is perpetually overcast and hazy, a haze that persists even at night. The clouds obscure the moonlight, leaving only the faint outlines of two moons visible through the clouds.

In the northern part of the core area of ​​the Skeleton Plains, in the gray moss-covered wilderness, the bronze-white twin moons hung high overhead, barely peeking out from the sparse clouds, leaving a blurry outline, illuminating the gray moss-covered wilderness as if it were covered with a velvet carpet.

Torn battle flags, broken swords, and spears lay haphazardly stuck in the hard soil. The sparse woodland was pitch black, and the shadows of deer antlers stood silently in the shadows, while the narrow eye sockets of beast skulls were sunken.

The pale deer skull is held high, its two huge black holes silently gazing at the sky, its eyes fixed on the bronze moon, devout and quiet, like a silent believer praying, or a weary traveler longing for home, as if pondering something, or perhaps yearning for something.

Dead silence.

The monsters dared not make a sound, for fear of disturbing the undead.

That's a characteristic of the undead.

Without the monarch's command, the undead would always gaze silently at the bronze moon with their heads tilted back in a strange posture.

Only when the surrounding living things disturb their evening prayers and break their silence, or when the monarch's command temporarily overshadows the faint light of the bronze moon, will the undead cease their daze and once again transform into dark weapons that slaughter all living things.

Under a suffocatingly dark sky, in front of a stag antler tomb made of molten stone, Ansba lay half-reclined, half-leaning against a gray-white bone tomb shaped like a deer skull, carefully holding a bunch of berries in his thick bronze gauntlets and gently shaking them.

rustling. The bunch of berries trembled slightly.

Not far from Ansba, in the shade of a woodland thicket, a small gray mouse stood trembling, its pink nose twitching slightly. It was tense, cautiously hovering at the edge of the shadows, wanting to reach for the berries but too afraid to.

“Here you go,” Ansbarr said, slowly handing over the berry branch.

But the mice had already been frightened away by his rumbling sound.

He grunted and stuffed the berry branch back into the spot where the mouse had been.

Samael's dry cough suddenly rang out. Ansba slowly sat up, turned his head with difficulty, and quietly looked at the bell-shaped helmet taro monster sitting beside him.

"You once said that the Skeleton Warriors were buried among the roots of the Corrupted Bronze Tree, sealed within its hollowed-out trunk," Samael's voice echoed from within the bell-shaped helmet. "Why haven't I found them?"

"You don't know the origin of the Skeleton Warriors?" Ansba seemed somewhat surprised.

The bell-shaped helmet remained silent for a moment, then answered after about seven or eight seconds:
“Yes—I arrived at the Heart of the Bones a few months later than you, and you probably discovered quite a few new things during those months,” Samael’s voice rang out.

"What are you thinking about? Why is it taking eight or nine seconds to answer?" Ansba asked, looking at the time counter on his UI that was accurate to the second.

A dozen seconds later, the bell-shaped helmet paused.

"The distance is too far, and there is a delay in the transmission of the signal back and forth."

Samael grumbled in the rusty copper woodland, throwing down the shovel of necromancer he was holding.

While helmet-shaped psionic implants can transmit commands, images, and sounds over long distances, enabling stable and reliable precise control of elite undead units, the latency increases with distance.

Both my territory and Ansba's territory are not small, and at this level of image and sound transmission and distance crossing, the delay and stuttering are already close to six seconds.

Although the signal quality remains stable, and the elite units themselves have basic behavioral logic and the awareness to continuously execute orders, achieving smooth and normal conversation is still somewhat difficult—perhaps it should be changed to writing? Or perhaps a hand-made bronze typewriter could be made, with a rotten root ball inserted as a fax machine, and communication could be done by typing?

Previously, I was stationed on the border myself, and the distance wasn't too far, so a delay of one or two seconds wasn't a big problem and didn't affect normal communication. But now that both sides are staying home and sending messages, the delay has almost doubled.

Is there a way to reduce latency in long-distance communication? Samael searched through the UI.

[Requirement: Signal relay station (Automation Level 5, Communications Level 3)]

"It's you again? This is the same thing that popped up when I asked how to increase the number of implanted helmets." Samael pushed the pop-up window aside. Finding the corresponding Divine Remains Temple needed to be put on the agenda.

The image of Ansba in the bell-shaped helmet's field of vision paused for a few seconds, and then moved again after three or four seconds.

“You have to find the body first. It has to be in the root zone where the body is buried, and then use a loop permeator on the body,” Ansba said.

"The rusted copper tree absorbs and decomposes flesh and blood, but bones decompose slowly and gradually fuse with the roots. They also contain copper, becoming heavy and hard. If you use a circuit permeator on this half-copper, half-bone skeletal body, it will become a skeleton warrior."

"How did you discover this?" Samael exclaimed in surprise. "Just by looking at the naturally generated skeleton warriors, you know how to create more?"

“No, that’s not it. It’s just that our job is to find corpses and use the circuit infiltrator on them,” Ansba replied. “While we were searching for corpses, I found half a heavy skull among the roots of the rusty copper tree. It was almost petrified, with copper spots on the bones, and the heavy petrified bones were entangled and connected by the roots.”

"The undead created after using the circuit permeator on that half-petrified skeleton were skeleton warriors. It was a chance discovery."

“Thank you—this information is very useful. I will exchange it for something of equal value later.” Samael pondered.

“That’s unnecessary. You arrived a few months later than us, which means it’s not fair,” Ansba said slowly. “This way, it’s fair.”

“No, I insist—I will later inscribe some of the combat techniques onto your subordinates for free as a gift for the alliance,” Samael replied.

This guy is indeed a good ally—no wonder Rahado kept spouting nonsense, trying to prevent him from meeting Ansba. Such an ally is a powerful and reliable force to anyone, someone you can completely trust with your back.

The prerequisite is that you must be as sincere as him to form an alliance. Ansba's slowness is merely a facade; he is astute and intelligent. If the other party were like Rahado, Ansba probably wouldn't even bother to say a word, and when he gets annoyed, he would simply ride his armored chariot-like antler bronze warhorse and crush them.

Samael pondered. The Skeleton Warriors possessed a unique structure; their bodies were semi-petrified, hard and heavy, and infused with rusted bronze roots…

"If we don't add corpses, can we create Skeleton Warriors by directly applying the Circuit Permeator to the roots of the Corrupted Copper Tree?" Samael asked.

“You’ll see once you try it yourself.” Ansba’s low, rumbling laughter echoed through the delayed signal transmitted by the bell-shaped helmet.

Samael reached out and pressed his hand on the roots of the rusty copper tree, a buzzing sound coming from his gauntlet.

The loop permeator is now activated.

[Testing biological materials...]

[Material Completeness: Good] [Entry Condition Detection (Meets at least one of the following)]

[Condition Check 1: Can the architecture support constructor loops?]

[Test Results: The prototype life form structure belongs to "Category III Basic Artificial Life Science." The current architecture is too rudimentary to withstand the infiltration of complex psionic construct circuits.]

【Condition 2: Is it a specialized material for the structure?】

[Test result: Not applicable.]

[Penetration failed.]

Crack. The roots of the rusty copper tree were forcibly pulled and shook, a crack appeared on its bark, and then it fell silent.

What does this mean? Samael tried pressing on the tree trunk, which activated the circuit permeator again.

Crack. A crack appeared on the surface of the tree trunk, but there was no other reaction.

[Penetration failed.]

The same pop-up window appears again.

Samael seemed lost in thought. For a fleeting moment, he thought he could create something similar to a "necromantic tree."

However, according to the description, plants seem to be too primitive to support the psionic circuits that create the undead.

A series of fragmented thoughts suddenly flashed through my mind through the helmet.

"You've tried it?" Ansba chuckled hoarsely. "It's either the remains of intelligent beings or specialized necromantic materials; otherwise, it can't support complex necromantic circuits."

Samael had a thought for a moment, but he didn't say it out loud; he just pondered it.

“In the territory of Prancing, I once encountered a swamp behemoth,” he said slowly, “but it was composed of a large amount of humus—could pure humus also create undead?”

“The swamp troll contains half-rotten corpses,” Ansba replied. “If you look closely, you can see that it’s similar to the skeleton warriors, based on assembled rotten corpses, with an extra layer of humus on the outside.”

"However, there is a special material called [Deteriorated Humus], which can be manufactured using the [Nether Copper Generator]. This material is one of the specialized materials for necromancy, capable of supporting necromancy circuits and creating some very low-level, inferior necromancy."

"However, the creations of [Deteriorated Humus] are just lumps of wriggling mud, unable to be inscribed with any combat skills, slow-moving, and without any means of attack. They are purely used as low-quality slave laborers and are of little use in battle."

Rahado seemed to have mentioned such a material as well... Samael entered the term "deteriorating humus" into the UI and was surprised to find that he had already unlocked it.

[Deterioration of humus]

[Materials Science Level 1, Artificial Life Sciences Level 2.]

[Hydrought-like substances possessing specific psionic circuit adaptability to constructs. Typically used as a substrate for cultivating plants, accelerating their growth in psionic environments and enhancing their psionic adaptability. Alternatively, it can be used to create construct slaves to assist in the care of crops.]

【@refresh@】

[Method for producing degraded humus]

Select humus rich in organic matter, place it in the copper conversion circuit, and continuously and stably irradiate the humus for several tens of hours until the humus turns into a bluish, viscous slurry.

This kind of thing can be made using the [Nether Copper Generator]... Samael nodded.

"How many troops would be needed to conquer Rahadur's territory?" he asked, using his bell-shaped helmet as a shield.

“The most crucial thing isn’t troop strength,” Ansba said, “but the fog. Rahador hides a lot of things in the fog, things you can’t see. You know that, right? He likes to hang bells on undead units.”

“Yes, he uses bells to command low-level unarmored necromancers.” Samael nodded. “However, to spread the Nether Bronze resonance signal, elite units still need to personally shake the bells; simply wearing them on their bodies is useless.”

“Those bells aren’t just for command,” Ansba said calmly, “they’re also for creating confusion. Almost every one of his undead, whether they have a helmet or not, wears a bronze bell. In the fog, the cacophony of bells can distract you and make it hard to pinpoint the location of your target.”

"Moreover, his Necromancer Leaf-Foot Serpent can create a thick fog on the battlefield—although it can only be used a few times in a single battle, it is enough to turn the tide of battle."

Samael remained silent for a moment.

“I understand roughly,” he said. “We need some time to prepare. Once we’re ready, we’ll deal with Rahador. In the meantime, we can trade undead, add more units, and confuse Rahador’s intelligence—then, during the attack, we can catch him off guard with the chaotic new units.”

"I want combat techniques," Ansba suddenly said. "Inscribe combat techniques onto my body as well."

“No problem, get the undead units ready, I’m coming over… Wait, what did you just say?” Samael was taken aback.

“Me. My true form,” Ansba said.

"You can also inscribe combat techniques on my body, right?" he asked.

“Uh, I’ve never thought of that before… Can a Ghost Knight inscribe combat skills onto another Ghost Knight?” Samael hesitated. “Alright, we can… give it a try—hey, wait a minute.”

Samael looked through his bell-shaped helmet at Ansba, who sat quietly in front of the tomb.

“Yes, we can trade combat skills this way,” Ansba replied calmly. “I can then acquire combat skills, add them to my resource library, and inscribe them for the necromancers myself. I won’t need to repeatedly exchange corpses for the same inscription service from you anymore—I’m not stupid. I won’t buy anything too expensive. I won’t fall for clumsy marketing tactics.”

“Our jobs are completely opposite—I won’t rely entirely on your superior abilities, otherwise my troops will be affected when we part ways due to our jobs after conquering the Heart of Bones.”

"At that time, you can choose to submit to my work objectives, or wage war against me until one of us yields."

He bluntly stated all his goals and ideas, not caring what Samael would think, nor whether Samael would sever their alliance as a result.

Although it may sound harsh to say that our alliance will eventually break down when we form it, it is honest—and is more trustworthy than Rahadur's sweet talk.

Okay...okay. Samael nodded.

“Regardless of our ultimate stance, I am delighted to have an ally like you, Ansba, my friend,” he replied curtly. “But until the crusade against the undead is over, our cooperation remains a strong and reliable covenant.”

Ansba was, after all, a Ghost Knight of Destruction, one of the chosen exceptional souls. In fact, he was perhaps more experienced and shrewd than many other knights.

Although it is pleasant to get along with each other, the alliance cannot last forever.

If I am to conquer the Soul Heart, then after conquering half of it, I will eventually have a fair and square battle with Ansba.

Then they will have to face Ansba, who has obtained the other half of the Skeleton Heart and is even more powerful and influential.

The initial strategy has been decided. Samael got up and walked across the path in the tall grass plain.

Hidden among the tall grass stood a building resembling a temple of the dead. He stepped up the molten stone steps adorned with bas-reliefs of skulls, as if treading on the souls of the dead through the temple gates, into the throne room of the knight's tomb.

The lifeless knight sculptures, wielding bronze weapons, stood guard on both sides of the throne room, their swords flashing in the darkness.

With the clatter of his dark bronze boots on the ground, he slowly sat down in his knight's tomb, leaning on the molten stone armrests carved with hand bones and sword hilts. The two swords hanging from his waist by dark bronze chains swayed slightly, echoing with a soft clattering sound.

A ring of dark light shone through the circular skylight overhead, illuminating the throne and Samael's armor.

He slowly leaned back, resting his imposing bronze body against the throne in the tomb.

(End of this chapter)