Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

Chapter 131 Plan

Kate's figure emerged steadily from the light of the teleportation array at the Seventh Outpost.

The familiar oppressive atmosphere of the Eternal Night Canyon, mixed with decay and death, instantly enveloped him. However, unlike the tension he felt when he first arrived, his aura was calm and his heart of reincarnation flowed naturally, easily dissolving the corrosive power of the environment as if it were just a light, cool veil.

Without delay, he quickly contacted Evan and Elena via the communication bone rune.

The three reunited in a relatively safe cave.

"Kate!" Evan greeted him first, patting him hard on the shoulder. Sensing the increasingly unfathomable yet refined and restrained aura emanating from Kate, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. "You rascal, what kind of super tonic did you take on your trip back? Your aura—it's almost on par with some seasoned second-tier wizards!"

Elena's silver eyes also gleamed with surprise as she carefully observed Kate: "Your rules of life and death—are more balanced and profound, as if a perfect harmony has been achieved. Moreover, the spatial fluctuations have become more fluid and natural. It seems that your gains during this period far exceed expectations."

Kate smiled slightly: "A slight breakthrough, at least the time wasn't wasted. How are you guys doing?"

Evan shrugged: "Same as always, I took on some small tasks like clearing out the perimeter and scouting, to earn some contribution points and hone my newly acquired witchcraft."

The canyon area remains relatively calm, with no further large-scale clashes reported.

Elena added, "But the calm was eerily quiet. The star trails indicated that the activity of the undead hadn't decreased; instead, it had become more covert and dispersed, as if something was brewing."

We're planning to request permission from command to conduct reconnaissance further southeast; there are several small undead strongholds there that have been unusually active lately.

"Perfect," Kate nodded. "I'll go with you. I've just gotten back and need to get used to the new environment and pace."

The three-person team regrouped and headed southeast.

Kate quietly spread out his mental energy, and after merging with the new spatial perception given to him by Aisha, his perception became more acute and refined. Even under the strong interference of the Eternal Night Canyon, he could clearly capture the subtle flow of energy and spatial folds in the distance.

Soon, the first target location Elena pointed to appeared in her perception—a gathering place of undead located deep in an abandoned mine.

[Seed of Origin Scan: Mine Outpost. Undead Count: Approximately 50. Energy Response: Level 1, Beginner 2 (Bonecrusher, Rotting Giant), Level 4, Peak 5, the rest are Level 3 or below. Threat Assessment: Low.]

"Two beginner level 1 soldiers, five peak level 4 soldiers, and the rest are just regular soldiers," Kate calmly reported the data.

Evan whistled: "Hey, your perception range has increased again? So much clearer? Same old routine?"

"Okay." Kate nodded. "Let's finish this quickly and test our new ability."

At the entrance to the mine, before several wandering skeleton sentinels could react, several invisible wind blades precisely severed their neck bones.

The three of them slipped into the mine like ghosts.

Deep inside, the skeletal mage stood before a simple altar, seemingly performing some kind of evil ritual, with a rotting giant corpse guarding him.

"I'll handle the mages, Evan will control the field and clear out the minions, and Elena will use her barrier to isolate the enemy."

Before Kate could finish speaking, she had already disappeared.

"Spatial flicker!"

The next moment, he appeared directly behind the skeletal mage.

The skeletal mage's soulfire trembled violently. Just as he was about to activate his bone shield and curse, he saw Kate merely glance at him indifferently, a dark and lifeless vortex swirling slightly deep within her pupils.

"Whispers of the Dead - Awe-inspiring!"

A chilling will originating from the soul level, carrying the majesty of a high-ranking undead, instantly surged into the core of the skeletal mage's soulfire.

The skeletal mage froze abruptly, his soul fire flickering wildly, filled with fear and confusion, as if he had seen some irresistible, terrifying being of a far higher rank than himself. The spell he had condensed instantly dissipated.

puff!

There was no need to use the Bloodthirsty Vine at all. Kate's fist, covered in golden thorn armor and wrapped with a highly condensed power of the death rule, easily pierced its skull and extinguished its soul fire, like a red-hot iron rod inserted into ice and snow.

On the other side, Evan's wind grappling hooks and wind blades easily tore apart and imprisoned the swarming zombies and skeletons. Elena's Star Barrier firmly locked the fluctuations of the battle deep within the mine.

The rotting giant corpse roared and charged, but Kate didn't even turn around; she simply pointed with her hand.

"Life is drawn, then withers!"

A very thin, emerald-green thread pierced into the giant corpse's body, causing its enormous form to shrivel at a visible rate.

Decaying, it eventually turns into a puddle of mud and collapses, its death energy drained and purified.

The battle ended in just over ten seconds, and the entire stronghold was completely wiped out.

Destroyed a low-level undead stronghold, gaining 85 contribution points.

Evan put away his Wind Staff and clicked his tongue, "You... that's way too fast! Why was that necromancer just standing there letting you hit him?"

"A little trick, a deterrent against low-level undead," Kate explained casually.

Elena pondered, "Similar to the suppression of ordinary beasts by a dragon's might? But the effect seems stronger, directly impacting the very essence of the soul."

Kate nodded: "That's a fair way to put it. It's quite effective against undead with low intelligence."

After a short rest, the three headed to their second stronghold—a small necropolis nestled in a natural cave.

This stronghold is slightly stronger, with a mid-stage first-ring ghost captain and an early-stage first-ring cursed lich.

However, the combat process was not significantly different.

The Ghost Captain's ability to become intangible was useless against the space barrier enhanced by Kate and containing the rules of death, and he was easily exposed and killed.

The cursed lich's vicious spell collided with Kate's Samsara Heart domain, but it was like a mud ox sinking into the sea, easily neutralized by the flow of the rules of life and death, and then defeated by Kate with a close-range punch.

Evan and Elena became almost purely bystanders and assistants, responsible for clearing out the grunts and isolating the battlefield.

Destroyed a low-level undead stronghold, gaining 120 contribution points.

After clearing out two strongholds, the three rested in a hidden crevice.

Kate pondered as he absorbed the meager death energy in the environment to replenish his energy—a consumption that was now negligible for him.

Through these two battles, he gained a more intuitive understanding of the current situation on the outskirts of Eternal Night Canyon.

The activities of the undead are indeed more fragmented, with a lack of coordination between strongholds, and they seem to operate independently.

This is not in line with the usual style of the undead legion; it seems more like they are waiting for something? Or hiding something?

"It seems the undead have learned their lesson and no longer easily gather large armies, but instead disperse into small groups, making our cleanup efforts much less efficient."

Evan complained, "The contribution points are being earned too slowly."

Elena shook her head: "I'm afraid it's not that simple. This decentralized model is more like carrying out some kind of widespread surveillance or—resource collection?"

Each outpost appears to be engaged in small-scale gathering of death energy and material collection.

Kate's heart skipped a beat; Elena's observations coincided with his own thoughts.

These scattered outposts are like countless tiny tentacles, drawing nourishment from a massive entity.

"We need more crucial intelligence," Kate said slowly, a glint of wisdom in her eyes. "These outposts know too little. We need to find a 'tongue'—a large enough group that knows enough inside information, but not directly subordinate to the core legion of some undead king."

Evan and Elena looked at him.

"You're looking for neutral, wandering undead factions?"

Elena immediately understood his thoughts.

The Eternal Night Canyon is vast and boundless. In addition to the legions directly loyal to a few undead kings, there are also some relatively independent neutral undead forces that have retained some of their wisdom from their previous lives or formed for special reasons.

They often occupy a side, sometimes submitting and sometimes rebelling, surviving in the cracks, and often know far more inside information than those low-ranking undead who only obey orders.

“That’s right.” Kate nodded, revealing her audacious plan, “Find a suitable target, preferably one whose leader is an early-stage second-ring undead, or a peak first-ring undead with special abilities. Then—”

A cold, confident glint flashed in his eyes: "—Persuade it, with its entire power, to willingly submit to the Pale King."

"Seek refuge with us?" Evan was taken aback. "Why?"

"Gain their trust and infiltrate their ranks," Kate explained. "The Pale King has just experienced the failure of his infiltration plan, losing both the mimic spirits and his inside man. He desperately needs to replenish his strength, especially neutral forces with independent capabilities."

Seeking refuge at this time makes it easier to be accepted and to gain access to more crucial information, such as the specific progress, location, or weak points in the zombie horde awakening ritual.

"You want to control an undead leader and then have it lead its entire force in a feigned surrender?"

Evan gasped. "This—is too risky! How can you guarantee you can completely control it? How can you guarantee it won't turn against you? How can you guarantee the Pale King won't see through it?"

"Therefore, we need to carefully select targets," Kate said in a deep voice. "The targets need to meet several conditions: First, their power should be relatively independent, with little interaction with the king's direct legions, and their foundation should be clean; second, the leader should ideally have a certain level of wisdom, but their soul power should not be so strong as to be uncontrollable; finally, their power should be of a moderate size, enough to attract the king's attention, but not so large as to be difficult to control."

He paused, then continued, "As for control—I've mastered some new techniques at the soul level. Combined with my death rule suppression, I'm confident I can plant an inescapable restriction in its soul core."

If handled properly, the Pale King, preoccupied with the rituals, would find it difficult to detect the tampering with his core subordinates in a short time.

Elena's silver eyes flashed with starlight as she rapidly calculated the situation. After a moment, she said softly, "The star trajectory indicates that although this plan is risky, there is a sliver of chance of success. The key lies in the precision of target selection and control."

To the southeast, near the Shattered Skull Mountains, there seems to be fluctuations matching your description—a nomadic force led by a "Skeleton Warrior." The leader's strength is approximately between the peak of the first ring and the early second ring. They possess some combat technique memories from their barbarian ancestors, are relatively independent, and recently seem to have been ostracized by other undead forces, putting them in a precarious situation.

"Skeleton Warriors — Skullcrushing Mountains —" Kate noted down this information. "Okay, let's go there and take a look."

After resting, the three-person team changed direction and stealthily headed towards the Skullcrushing Mountains, which Elena had indicated.

The closer you get to the Skullcrushing Mountains, the more treacherous the environment becomes.

The terrain here is as if it had been cleaved by a giant axe, with steep cliffs and deep valleys. The air is filled with a violent fighting spirit and a bloody atmosphere, and the wandering undead are mostly in the form of warriors.

Soon, they discovered the lair of the undead forces deep within a well-defended canyon.

The entrance to the lair was constructed of massive skeletons and rocks, exuding a savage aura.

Dozens of skeleton warriors and zombie soldiers, dressed in tattered bone armor and wielding giant axes or warhammers, guarded the entrance. Their discipline was significantly better than the scattered soldiers they had encountered before.

Inside the canyon, more undead could be vaguely seen moving about, and there were even several huge skeletal mammoths wandering around.

[Seed of Origin Scan: Skullcrusher Gang. Undead Count: Approximately 200.]

Energy Reaction: Level 2 Early Stage 1 (Bone Warrior Grom), Level 1 Intermediate Stage 2 (Lieutenant: Shadow Assassin, Blood Priest), Level 1 Beginner Stage 3 (Berserker Beastmaster, Bone Shield Guardian 2), Level 4 Peak Stage 20, the rest are all Level 3.

Threat assessment: Medium. Possesses a certain level of military organization and specialized combat capabilities.

"A warrior in the early stages of the second ring, along with assassins and priests—" Evan's expression was grave. "Kate, are you confident? This is a tough nut to crack."

Kate's sharp gaze swept across the canyon: "Tough nuts to crack are more valuable. Elena, can you sense Grom's specific state and emotions?"

Elena closed her eyes and focused, her silver eyes sparkling with starlight: "—Anger, anxiety, resentment—its soul fluctuations are very unstable, as if it has just experienced a conflict, its power is somewhat depleted, and it is full of vigilance and—a trace of resentment towards its surroundings? The target meets your requirements."

"Excellent." Kate's lips curled into a slight smile. "Out of sorts and emotionally unstable, this is the perfect time to strike. You all stay here and provide cover. I'll go in alone."

"Be careful!" Evan and Elena warned at the same time.

Kate nodded, her figure slowly blending into the shadows, her aura completely concealed. Like a top-tier ghost assassin, she silently avoided all visible and hidden sentries, stealthily heading towards the deepest part of the canyon, towards the direction from which the strongest energy fluctuation came.

Deep within the canyon, in a massive cave adorned with animal bone trophies.

Grom, a skeletal warrior nearly three meters tall, clad in heavy black bone armor and wielding a giant axe burning with eerie green flames, paced irritably.

The soul fire in its eye sockets flickered violently, radiating a violent aura.

"Damn skinners! Just because they're His Majesty Pale's direct legion, they dare to rob my soul crystal mine!"

Sooner or later, I'll dismantle their bones and use them as firewood!

It emitted a low, resentful roar of the soul.

Below, its lieutenants—an assassin shrouded in shadow and a priest in blood-red robes—both bowed their heads, not daring to provoke it.

"Chief, the Skinner Legion is powerful, and they may have—the tacit approval of His Majesty—backing them," the Shadow Assassin said cautiously.

"Hmph! His Majesty? His Majesty only cares about that damned ceremony! He doesn't care about the lives of us peripheral forces at all!"

Grom roared and slammed his giant axe into the ground, creating a crack.

Just then, a cold and calm voice suddenly rang out in the cave: "So, are you content to be forever ostracized, forever only able to scavenge the scraps left over by others, and even potentially sacrificed as cannon fodder at any moment?"

"Who?!" Grom turned around abruptly, his soul fire surging, and his giant axe held horizontally in front of him.

The two adjutants instantly went into battle mode, scanning their surroundings warily.

Kate's figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the cave entrance, her aura restrained yet possessing a profound and unsettling quality.

He looked calmly at Grom: "Someone who can provide a real way out for you and your warband."