Chapter 228 - 228: Bone Forge
Under Ji Chen’s command, the army marched steadily towards the stone mountain.
During this period, the formation remained unchanged, with Naga Berserkers at the front, Dragon Blood Murlocs and Half-Orc Warriors on the flanks, Elemental Sea Pixies and Murloc Rangers in the center, and explosive creatures like Self-Detonating Water Spiders at the rear.
Ji Chen and the group of heroes positioned themselves at the very center of the formation, the safest spot.
As they say, it’s better to anticipate danger.
The stone mountain seemed not too far away, but the journey was quite a distance.
It took a full three hours to finally arrive within a short distance of the mountain.
Amidst the desolate red gravel, there appeared some discordant white spots.
Intently scrutinizing the scene, they noticed a multitude of white bones hidden beneath the gravel surrounding the stone mountain. Among the gravel, various skeleton creatures roamed about.
Sensing the aura of living beings, the flickering soul flames within the eye sockets of many skeleton creatures trembled.
Driven by an innate craving for life, they instinctively gnashed their teeth and swung their claws, hastening forward on their frail legs with a surge of determination.
They converged into a small wave of skeletal tide.
At a glance, the sight of ferocious skeletons and flickering azure flames was somewhat daunting.
However, every member of their group had experienced countless battles. How could they be daunted by such a show?
With a determined expression, Ji Chen gave the order.
“Naga Berserkers, prepare to withstand the charge!”
“Dragon Blood Murlocs, prepare for the first volley!”
As the wave of skeletons climbed over small hills and entered their firing range, Dragon Blood Murlocs hurled tridents, smashing the skeleton creatures with force and causing secondary damage as the tridents returned.
After a round of exchange, most of the skeleton wave had been killed or injured, with only a few stragglers reaching the front lines, where they were dispatched by the Naga Berserkers.
Seeing this, Ji Chen ordered them to move forward.
The stone mountain appeared to be a gathering point for skeletons.
The closer they got, the more wandering skeleton creatures there were. Under the summoning of higher-ranking skeletons, waves of them charged forward.
The numbers in each wave increased from dozens to hundreds, and then to several hundred.
However, these were just second-tier skeleton creatures and were naturally no match for their forces.
Bang-
With the final skeleton creature shattered, there were no more attacks from the surrounding skeleton creatures.
But Ji Chen didn’t let his guard down and sternly commanded,
“Remain on high alert, everyone!”
Afterward, he surveyed the surroundings.
They were currently in a valley, with elevated ground on three sides, resulting in a limited field of vision.
His extensive experience in commanding battles allowed him to act decisively. Without any delay, he deployed three reconnaissance teams to ascend the three elevated regions and assess the surroundings.
Soon, the three reconnaissance teams sent back messages. They found a skeleton camp located near the northern side of the stone mountain.
Climbing the elevated area, Ji Chen looked toward the stone mountain and indeed spotted a skeleton camp constructed entirely of bones, leaning against the mountain.
Outside the camp, countless skeleton creatures roamed.
At a glance, their combined numbers easily exceeded thirty to forty thousand.
“Should we attack now, Lord?”
“No, let’s observe first,” Ji Chen shook his head.
After around ten minutes of observation, he had a rough idea about this batch of skeleton creatures.
These densely packed skeleton creatures, radiating from the camp’s center, included common white skeletons, skeleton hounds, skeleton mages, skeleton vultures, and black skeletons.
Among them, the most numerous were the common white skeletons, accounting for at least seventy percent of the total.
As for the more formidable forces such as the black skeletons, skeleton hounds, and skeleton mages, they made up a significant portion, roughly around twenty percent.
The least in number were the skeleton mages, with only around three to four hundred observed.
The scarcity of spellcasting units was a common principle among various races.
Apart from that, they hadn’t discovered any new types of skeleton creatures so far, and it was unclear whether they did not exist or were simply not present here.
Ji Chen also noticed that at regular intervals, the skeleton camp would send out freshly risen skeleton creatures that unsteadily joined the sea of skeletons outside the camp.
At this point, Benbo, who was beside him, spoke up.
“Lord, it seems this camp is the stronghold of skeleton creatures in this area.
Furthermore, there’s a recurring emergence of new skeleton creatures. This strongly implies the presence of a potential bone forge within the encampment!”
Bone Forge?
Ji Chen’s brows furrowed. It seemed like he was hearing this term for the first time.
Immediately, he began to inquire more about it.
A bone forge was a unique creation of the Undead class, similar in nature to a military recruitment camp.
As the name implies, it produces various types of skeleton creatures.
However, the difference was that while a regular military recruitment camp typically produced only one type of unit, a bone forge can produce multiple types of skeleton creatures. It was an upgraded and enhanced version of a military recruitment camp.
As he listened, he suddenly recalled.
If he could obtain one, it would be equivalent to acquiring several different types of skeleton units.
This kind of thing should be highly sought after among players of the Undead class, right?
After giving it some thought, Ji Chen opened a forum, entered the keyword ‘bone forge,’ and initiated a search.
He directly entered the post with the highest popularity.
“The bone forge is a treasure comparable to a legendary item for players of the Undead class, especially those who specialize in the skeleton line!”
“A low-level bone forge can produce most common skeleton units from 1st to 3rd Tier. Intermediate-level forges can produce units from 2nd to 4th Tier, while advanced forges can produce units from 3rd to 5th Tier. Moreover, the production rate is much higher than that of regular recruitment camps!”
“If you come across one, you must seize it by any means necessary! Obtaining a bone forge can instantly boost the potential of players of the Undead class!”