Chapter 27: Activating Other Buildings
As the situation with the church changed, Gu Xi noticed that the skeleton soldiers he had stationed there began to move toward the cemetery behind the church on their own.
Puzzled by their behavior, Gu Xi followed them to see what was happening.
He had thought that these skeleton soldiers would wander around the cemetery, but to his surprise, they inserted their weapons into the graves and buried themselves.
This situation left Gu Xi feeling a bit awkward, as it clearly indicated that these twenty skeleton soldiers no longer belonged to him.
They were now part of the evil church's standing forces.
Even if Gu Xi were to destroy the evil church, they would not come out to fight for him again.
This was a significant loss for Gu Xi, who was already short on manpower.
Fortunately, the evil church was not without its benefits for Gu Xi.
The twenty skeletons that should be produced this week were already seated on the pews of the evil church, ready to be recruited at Gu Xi's command.
However, Gu Xi's funds were currently insufficient, and he had more important tasks to attend to, so he said, "Combat squads, take out the strange qi beads you have and upgrade the skeletons in your squads. I'll replenish the other forces when I return."
The three skeleton leaders immediately took action.
Thanks to the experience their subordinates had gained and the strange qi beads allocated to the combat squads, they had no problem supporting the transformation into skeleton soldiers.
Before long, all the skeletons had completed their transformation into skeleton soldiers.
At the same time, all the combat squads were reorganized, with the completely wiped-out Combat Squad 1 being disbanded and Combat Squad 2 becoming the new Combat Squad 1.
[Combat Squad 1 (Level 1, Unnamed, Traits: Attack +5, Defense +1, Experience 64/200): Leader (1/1) Level 2 Skeleton Leader, Members (3/43) Level 3 Skeleton Soldiers (3 members)]
[Combat Squad 2 (Level 2, Unnamed, Traits: Attack +4, Health +4, Experience 19/500): Leader (1/1) Level 2 Skeleton Leader, Members (11/38) Level 3 Skeleton Soldiers (11 members)]
[Combat Squad 3 (Level 1, Unnamed, Traits: Defense +6, Experience 124/200): Leader (1/1) Level 2 Skeleton Leader, Members (9/49) Level 3 Skeleton Soldiers (9 members)]
Looking at the total of twenty-two skeleton soldiers, Gu Xi sighed. It was becoming increasingly difficult to fully replenish these combat squads.
However, Gu Xi did not remain idle, as he still had many tasks to complete.
Not only did he need to build a city gate, but there were also two unactivated buildings in the city that required his attention.
He glanced at the three combat squads, "Follow me, we're heading to the candle factory."
Luna, who had left the evil church with Gu Xi, explained the situation of the candle factory to him.
"My lord, I'm not sure why the candle factory is a functional building, but from what I've seen, only by building the candle factory can street lamps be installed along the roads. With street lamps, the training speed of ghosts in Alidovi City will increase."
"You mean the candle factory is for training ghosts in the future?"
"That seems to be the case. Aside from that, I can't see any other purpose for the candle factory."
Gu Xi didn't know what to say after hearing this, but since the candle factory was already built and only needed activation, it felt like a freebie, not requiring him to spend anything on constructing a new building.
So, Gu Xi set aside his other thoughts.
When they arrived at the candle factory, Gu Xi realized it was more of a workshop than a factory.
Like the town hall, it was a two-story building, but much smaller than the church. The entire wall facing the street on the first floor had been removed, and several animal hides were hung on the roadside, still covered in yellowish grease.
Inside the small building, there was a large pot with something being boiled inside.
Piled around the large pot were various types of wood, and in the distance, there were many bundles of dried herbs.
Gu Xi was puzzled. This was supposed to be a candle factory, but it looked more like a slaughterhouse.
In fact, Gu Xi didn't know that in the Western world, besides a small portion made from beeswax, most candles were made from animal fat.
This was why activating the candle factory required twenty corpses of strange creatures.
But now Gu Xi faced a more pressing problem: he didn't have a single corpse of a strange creature, let alone twenty.
"Luna, do you know where we can find strange creatures?"
"I don't know either," Luna said, looking equally helpless. "Why don't we build the city gate first and then go to Victoria City to look for them?"
Gu Xi thought about the situation in Victoria City.
Would cultists be considered strange creatures?
With no other choice, Gu Xi temporarily abandoned the idea of activating the candle factory and prepared to return to build the city gate.
As Gu Xi walked down the street, preparing to head back, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Luna, look at that. Does that count as a strange creature?"
Luna came to the spot where Gu Xi was standing and saw him pointing at the sewer beneath the icy street surface.
In the sewer, a giant rat was quickly scurrying past.
Even through the thick ice layer, they could clearly see that the rat's fur had rotted away.
Gu Xi and Luna exchanged a glance, both thinking the same thing. Without a word, they turned and ran toward the well.
Looking down through the ice, everything below belonged to the sewer system.
Among the three existing buildings in Alidovi City, the well was connected to the sewer, and activating the well required clearing the first block's sewer system.
As Gu Xi ran towards the well, Luna followed him while coordinating the combat squads.
By the time they reached the well, Gu Xi saw that his remaining three combat squads were already in position, just waiting for his orders.
"You're all here, so I'll keep it short. In a moment, Combat Squad 4—oh, it's now Combat Squad 3—will go down first. Once in the sewer, set up defenses first. Two skeleton soldiers from Combat Squad 2 will go down to check the height of the sewer. If it's not high enough, the main force will be the skeleton soldiers from Combat Squad 1.
Alright, don't just stand there. Get moving. Our goal is to clear the entire sewer system this time."