"It doesn't seem like I need it?", Fang Hao replied.
He decided to be somewhat evasive.
Their chat came to a sudden halt for a few seconds.
Then Dong Jiayue replied, "Uh, I know, but...Fang Hao, I really need food. Could you consider trading a bit less for it?"
The Shadowstones were of no use to the Human Alliance.
Even though they were a scarce resource, they held no difference from ordinary stones in human hands.
"Can you tell me how you got these Shadowstones?" asked Fang Hao.
He was quite curious about how these Shadowstones were obtained.
"Sure, I found an ancient underground tomb near my domain. I picked them up in there," Dong Jiayue answered.
Fang Hao stroked his chin, deep in thought.
Could it be that Shadowstones could only be gained in burial grounds?
Would he have to construct not only Undead buildings, but also tombs?
"Brother Hao, are you still there? I can agree to trade for less food," Dong Jiayue said hastily, thinking that Fang Hao might have lost interest in the trade.
"Just call me by name. How about this: I'll trade you 30 units of meat for each one. If you find more later, we'll stick to this rate," Fang Hao proposed his offer.
He was not short on food, and besides, he needed the Shadowstones.
"Thank you, Brother Hao. I will list the Shadowstones now."
"Okay."
Soon, a Shadowstone appeared in the designated trade zone, although there was only one.
He immediately traded 30 units of meat for it.
The Shadowstone was now in his possession.
Upon completing the trade, Fang Hao continued upgrading his buildings.
Thanks to the relentless gathering speed of the Skeleton laborers, he had enough resources for the upgrades.
[Materials needed for Level 3 Lord's Hut: 1200 Wood, 600 Stone, 300 Straw, 120 Leather, 50 Rope.]
Confirm upgrade.
A glow flickered.
The Main Hall of the hut had expanded, becoming more spacious.
And it was even more refined and sturdy.
[Level 3 Lord's Hut]
[Owner: Fang Hao]
[Existing Buildings: Level 2 Underground Cemetery, Level 2 Warehouse, Level 1 Burial Grounds.]
(Note: Core building of domain.)
[Materials needed for upgrade: 2200 Wood, 1000 Stone, 200 Brick, 240 Leather, 180 Rope.]
With leveling up to Level 4, a new material, bricks, was now required, which he had yet to acquire.
...
He waited for a while.
There was no announcement for a reward as there had been the first time he upgrades his main city.
Feeling a bit disappointed, he continued inspecting the other buildings in his domain.
[Underground Cemetery] and [Burial Grounds] could not be upgraded due to the lack of Shadowstones.
However, the warehouse could be upgraded to Level 3.
[Level 3 Warehouse: 1200 Wood, 950 Stone, 320 Straw, 100 Leather, 220 Rope.]
Confirm upgrade.
The warehouse was successfully upgraded to Level 3.
[Level 3 Warehouse]
[Storage: 50000/50000]
(Note: Resources stored in the warehouse are better preserved. Food stored will not spoil easily. The higher the warehouse level, the more resources can be stored and the better the effect.)
[Materials needed for upgrade: 2000 Wood, 1500 Stone, 400 Brick, 300 Leather, 220 Rope.]
The total storage capacity had increased to fifty thousand.
But the total amount of resources in his domain was still exceeding the warehouse capacity.
With the warehouse filled, resources were also piled up all over the open ground.
Having finished upgrading, Fang Hao called all his Skeleton soldiers back.
"I should start exploring the surroundings of my domain," he said, tightening his leather armor and picking up a stone axe.
As other lords had started exploring their surroundings, he couldn't afford to be confined to his immediate resources.
Just like Dong Jiayue, who had explored a tomb nearby and found the Shadowstones.
What a pity.
Other than Fang Hao, none of the skeletons within his territory possess the ability to explore and draw maps.
He had to do the exploring by himself.
Of course, compared to other lords, his forces obviously had an advantage.
This made his task less dangerous.
Looking at the skeleton soldiers gathered around him, he said, "Follow me. Your task is to protect me."
The skeleton soldiers didn't respond, standing still holding their wooden shields and stone axes.
"Let's go." Fang Hao took the lead, stepping out of the protective shield.
The forest in front of his territory had a large space cleared.
The skeleton workers were still tirelessly continuing.
He led a group of skeleton soldiers through the dense forest, and saw a grassland with a clear stream flowing slowly.
Fang Hao took out a piece of wood and marked the location of the stream.
This place was closer to where he fetched water from, and no danger was observed.
It was just that he hadn't brought any containers, otherwise he could fill them up and let the skeletons carry them back to the territory.
Following the stream upstream.
Fang Hao's face suddenly changed.
He took two steps forward and squatted down to examine the marks on the ground.
Wheel tracks!
The soil near the stream was soft, bearing noticeable marks of wheel pressure.
"A lord? Or another party?" Fang Hao murmured, observing the tracks
Then, he urged the skeleton soldiers to follow the direction of the tracks.
A sudden appearance of a new neighbor near his territory.
It aroused curiosity but also concerns regarding potential danger.
Very soon, Fang Hao encountered the owner of these wheel tracks.
It was a humanoid creature, with a large dog head and hunched body.
On the cart were bloody animal corpses.
[Gnoll Rock Thrower (Level 2)]
[Skills: Sling]
The Gnoll Rock Thrower wasn't very tall, about 1.2 to 1.3 meters.
Its skin was grey-white, quite similar to a bald dog's.
The group of hundreds of skeletons led by Fang Hao had attracted its attention.
After a momentary shock, it let out a earsplitting howl, swung its sling, and launched an attack.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sling, although primitive, exerted quite a powerful force.
Whirring out, it hit the wooden shields, generating large thuds.
The first row of charging skeleton soldiers were pushed and jolted around.
"Attack, kill them." Fang Hao ordered.
Clatter, clatter!
Hundreds of skeleton soldiers, holding their wooden shields, began to run and charge at the Gnolls.
The difference in numbers was substantial.
Even though the sling was powerful, the skeleton soldiers' wooden shields and leather armor provided substantial protection.
They couldn't inflict significant damage.
The closely packed army of white skeleton soldiers quickly closed in.
There were only about twenty Gnolls. When the skeleton soldiers got in close combat.
They weren't able to resist effectively.
Wielding small daggers, they let out loud cries and futilely waved their weapons, unable to contend with the group of skeleton soldiers.
Screams echoed, and they all fell beneath the shield bash and chaotic axe.
After everything calmed down, Fang Hao stepped forward.
He looked at the dead bodies on the ground, and several cut-off skeleton bodies.
"Clean up the battlefield." Fang Hao instructed.
The skeletons began to collect the equipment dropped by the Gnoll Rock Throwers.
He, on the other hand, had his gaze set to the corpses of the dead Gnolls.
There were white bones resembling vertebras by their corpses.
[Wriggling Spine]
[Type: Consumables]
(Description: A ritual item of the Undead Clan, used for recruiting undead troops.)