The necrotic farm has been constructed. Although it hasn't been put into production, its effects as a preliminary structure have manifested. Now, Night Three More's building page has three new structures available for construction:
[Corruption Pool]: A pool of greenish water. It can quickly decompose dead bodies thrown into it into corrupted pool water or decay corpses into white bones. Please refrain from drinking or swimming in the pool, as the consequences are self-imposed.
Construction materials required: 5 corpses, 5 units of timber, 50 gold coins.
[Bone-Cutting Lumber Camp]: This lumber camp provides woodcutting bonuses for working units and offers axe specialization training (please bring your own axe).
Construction materials required: 5 corpses, 10 units of timber, 100 gold coins.
Maximum working units: 4.
[Desolate Bone Graveyard]: White bones buried here will automatically revive as novice skeletons. Daily maintenance cost for camouflage: 001 soul energy per skeleton.
Construction materials required: 10 corpses, 20 units of timber, 200 gold coins.
The Corruption Pool seems to be a decomposition pool, though it's unclear what use the pool water serves.
The Bone-Cutting Lumber Camp appears to be straightforward, but the prospect of woodcutting bonuses and specialized training has intrigued Night Three More. However, the most surprising discovery is the Desolate Bone Graveyard.
This is, unexpectedly, a barracks!
Given that personnel are what Night Three More currently lacks the most, according to the system description, automatic revival means not needing to consume summoning soul energy. Moreover, the maintenance cost has decreased by a hundredfold!
This implies that using the undead resurrection skill with one soul energy can only maintain one skeleton, and it cannot be upgraded. However, using the Desolate Bone Graveyard for resurrection can maintain 100 novice skeletons!
As a sacrifice for gains, Night Three More understands this principle. The term "novice skeleton" likely means these resurrected skeletons won't have the growth potential of individuals like Old Gu. Yet, as cannon fodder and basic labor, it is evidently cost-effective.
Night Three More quickly calculated in his mind.
001 soul energy is equivalent to 01 life force energy, and 01 life force energy probably requires consuming ten loaves of bread to replenish. The daily wage required to hire an adult male farmer is unknown to him, but it surely won't be less than three loaves.
Even if he is fortunate enough to recruit the most diligent farmers, can these farmers work tirelessly for 24 hours like skeletons? Eating, drinking, resting, chatting, slacking off, and loafing around—all these activities consume time and decrease efficiency.
Even if Night Three More is lucky and recruits the most diligent farmers, what if he asks them to go to war with weapons?
If they don't run away, they might have already knocked him on the head with a hoe.
During wartime, be a soldier; in peacetime, be a farmer. No one is more suitable for this phrase than skeletons. Moreover, their unconditional loyalty can help Night Three More keep many secrets.
Therefore, he must build this Desolate Bone Graveyard!
The Corruption Pool can turn bodies into white bones, the Desolate Bone Graveyard can turn white bones into novice skeletons, and these novice skeletons can be sent to the lumber camp and farm for labor.
From this perspective, none of these structures is useless; they must all be built.
However, building all three structures requires 35 units of wood, 350 gold coins, and 20 corpses. Night Three More still has 25 corpses and a surplus of gold coins, but he is short of more than ten units of wood.
"For now, the Bone-Cutting Lumber Camp's role is a bonus. It can be set aside temporarily. First, the Corruption Pool and Desolate Bone Graveyard should be built. Everything else can be discussed once we have subordinates."
Setting the goal, Night Three More rechecked the timber brought back from the old, dilapidated goblin camp. Surprisingly, only one piece was the magical Rolo Bramble Wood the goblin chief mentioned. If not for his identification skill, it would have been challenging to distinguish.
It seems getting goblins to identify Rolo Bramble Wood is a challenging task for them. Perhaps they just used it to make up the numbers?
Regardless, these issues are irrelevant to Night Three More. He picked out that piece of Rolo Bramble Wood and set it aside. Then, from the goblin corpses brought back, he selected some lean and small ones as building materials, instructing Dust and Old to start building the Corruption Pool and Desolate Bone Graveyard.
As for Old Gu, he was sent away to graze and recover early on.
As Dust and Old worked diligently, a pit with a diameter of 3 meters—the Corruption Pool—was constructed next to the necrotic farm. The Desolate Bone Graveyard, on the other hand, appeared like child's play. The method of use was surprisingly simple: throw the white bones in and cover them with a thin layer of soil.
It may seem like child's play, but it works. Night Three More doesn't need any ceremonial feelings.
About ten minutes after burying the white bones in the Desolate Bone Graveyard, the soil suddenly began to loosen. Then, one after another, bone hands emerged from the ground, resembling spring shoots popping up.
One, two, three...
The smaller skeletons sat up one by one, then wobbled to their feet. Except for the fifth skeleton, which retracted its hand as soon as it emerged, showing no further movement.
Night Three More looked up and saw the red sun rising slowly in the east.
The day has dawned...