CHAPTER 26: CHAPTER 26: STARRY SKY VINE

Haggs, who witnessed all this from the side, felt his heart tremble.

The mighty Treants of the Swamp, under the authority of the Sovereign, had submitted!

No need for battle at all.

This is his Sovereign!

Powerful and fierce Sovereign.

Bain was also extremely excited.

The overwhelming Divine Power not only terrified the Treants of the Swamp but made all the Mud Swamp People tremble.

Lear didn’t care about the thoughts of the crowd, and his gaze turned toward the carriage.

"Transport all the goods over here..."

"With this as the center, build the territory."

"Bain, go explore the surroundings, and after determining the terrain, plan the future territory buildings."

This is when the Mud Swamp People’s hero can be truly useful.

Bain nodded excitedly but then seemed to think of something and hesitated.

"Sir, what should we name our territory?"

Lear replied meaningfully.

"Weilu City!"

Weilu City?

Bain was initially stunned, then his eyes became extremely excited.

Weilu City.

But soon, the first war of the Gods erupted, the Swamp God fell, and the construction of Weilu City became indefinitely delayed.

The succeeding Swamp God also never rebuilt the Swamp Holy City.

From then on, the name Weilu City could only be heard in legends.

This name... is truly significant.

They are to revive the glorious past of the Swamp Race!

To reforged the broken sword!

"Where your gaze reaches, we follow to the death!"

Lear nodded slightly without saying much more.

Letting them go to work, he himself came to the front of the Treants of the Swamp again.

The roots of these large trees had already been re-buried underground, leaving only a mess on the grassy area.

This will take time to nurture anew.

"Is there anything around here that could threaten us?"

The foremost Treant of the Swamp replied in a booming voice.

"Sovereign...↑ To the North, there is a group of wandering Foul Giant Demons, their numbers unknown, → to the East, there are dozens of Two-headed Ogres."

Foul Giant Demons, Two-headed Ogres?

Lear raised an eyebrow.

"How strong are they?"

"The Foul Giant Demons are around level 9 and often come to this area to hunt."

"The Two-headed Ogres arrived three months ago, with an average level of 10."

His gaze sharpened slightly.

Surviving in the swamp, there are no weaklings.

These are two threats that must not be ignored; we have to explore and understand the specifics!

After asking for a while, the Treants of the Swamp couldn’t provide more information.

These level 9 Treants, although not weak in power, suffer from the fatal flaw of being unable to move, having to passively wait for others to approach.

The Foul Giant Demons and Two-headed Ogres have a relatively wide hunting range, so they are aware of each other’s general location.

For everything else... I’ll have to rely on my exploration.

With the level 9 Treants of the Swamp as the home’s guarding force, plus two hundred level 6 Wetland Lizardman Warriors wearing thick armor, there’s no need to be overly anxious.

Strong horses pulled the resources to the central area.

They began unloading.

One tent after another was set up, and all resources were moved inside.

Watching the bustling crowd, Lear felt inexplicably touched.

He would begin anew on this vacant land to establish his own territory.

The feeling was rather wondrous.

It was like playing a real-life farming game, but the feeling was incomparable to the game.

Taking a deep breath, he reopened the intelligence system, looking at the three pieces of incomplete information.

[3. After reaching the center of the Mire Swamp, head southeast for 10 kilometers; there is a stretch of Starry Sky Vine, more resilient than steel rope, yet light in texture, very suitable for building houses in the swamp. (2 Stars)]

[4. In the central region, 30 kilometers ↑ to the North, there lives a group of rotten Centaurs, with an average level of 8, a maximum level of 10, numbering over 500. (3 Stars)]

[5. Beneath the territory occupied by the rotten Centaurs grows a 1-star Magic Plant - Blue Heart Mud Fruit. (3 Stars)]

Apart from the Foul Giant Demons and Two-headed Ogres mentioned by the Treants of the Swamp, the rotten Centaurs 30 kilometers ↑ to the North also need to be wary of.

This is an advanced monster stronghold, and the Wetland Lizard-men’s potential and level need to be upgraded before attempting tentative exploration and conquest.

While contemplating, his gaze fell on the third piece of intelligence - to the southeast, 10 kilometers out, Starry Sky Vine.

Lost in thought, Lear called Bain again.

"Do you know about the Starry Sky Vine?"

This hero of the Mud Swamp People pondered for a moment before speaking softly.

"Sir, it’s said the Starry Sky Vine is as hard as steel and very suitable for swamp growth. The once most powerful swamp city - Mire City - used Starry Sky Vine to build houses..."

Speaking again with some hesitation.

"However, after Mire City was destroyed, it’s rare to even hear of it in legends..."

Lear smiled.

"If we can get the Starry Sky Vine... can you make use of it?"

Upon hearing this, Bain’s eyes lit up.

Did the sir mean... it truly exists?

Patting his chest in assurance.

"Indeed, I can!"

That’s the legendary Starry Sky Vine!

The construction foundation of the Swamp Race’s legendary city - Mire City.

Lear nodded, looking toward Haggs on the side.

"Leave five squads with the Treants of the Swamp to guard the resources... the rest, come with me."

"Yes, Sovereign!"

Haggs immediately went to gather people; with 15 squads converged, Lear didn’t linger more and turned to head southeast.

With the swamp treants guarding the territory, this greatly liberated the forces at hand.

Without the caravan to slow them down, the march proceeded rapidly.

Lear walked through the wet swamp, feeling a strong sense of familiarity, utterly comfortable.

His perception expanded to its maximum.

Even beyond his line of sight, he could sense whether there was danger or not.

The range reached 300 meters!

If a powerful life form like a flying dragon appeared, this range would increase several times over.

The swamp was his home turf.

After advancing about two kilometers, Lear suddenly signaled the army to halt.

His eyes were fixed on a reed thicket swaying gently in the breeze, a hundred meters ahead and taller than a person.

"Full alert, there are enemies ambushed within the reed thicket..."

The wetland lizard-men’s amber eyes immediately showed a murderous intent.

They gathered by his side.

Upon sensing their movements, curses echoed from the reeds, with rustling movements.

A group of ugly creatures about one and a half meters tall emerged, glaring fiercely at them.

They had ugly fish-like faces, their dead white eyes extremely sinister.

Their bodies were covered in slick and sticky mucus, exuding a pungent stench, looking nauseating.

They stood on two feet, holding bone-crafted long spears.

Half-Fishmen

[Level]: 5

[Potential]: 1 Star

[Racial Talent]: Slippery Mucus, the mucus on their bodies provides extra resistance to magic, reducing magic damage by 20%.

[Skills]: Slime Fish Spear (1 Star) - Mucus adheres to the weapon, causing a sticking and slowing effect when attacking enemies.

Wetland Life (1 Star) - Gains an additional 30% movement speed while moving in wetlands.

[Evaluation]: A common lifeform in swamps.

In an instant, the number of half-fishmen exceeded 4 squadrons.

Lear’s gaze showed some displeasure.

1-star potential, level 5 wild monsters.

What kind of nobodies dare to ambush us?

"Kill!"

A cold snort.

Haggs charged ahead decisively.

With absolute brutality, he tore through seven or eight half-fishmen, plunging into the crowd.

Blood dyed his body red, making this wetland lizard-man hero increasingly frenzied.

Brutality——When taking damage or initiating an attack, he becomes extremely brutal, increasing all attributes by 30%, fearless of pain, relentless towards enemies.

Blood Frenzy——Upon tasting blood, his size increases by 20%, and strength by 40%.

All his skills were born for slaughter.

Ordinary wetland lizard-men might not be as fierce in combat, but they likewise massacred the half-fishmen.

A wetland lizard-man swung a steel saber in a chop, while the half-fishman it faced dodged nimbly by ducking low.

The spear in its hand thrust fiercely into its abdomen.

But crack~ The bone spear broke directly.

Only leaving a white mark on its armor.

The wetland lizard-man sneered and swung its arm forcefully.

Its sharp claws like knives, swoosh~ pierced through the chest directly, a bloody claw emerging from the half-fishman’s back.

With a powerful wrench, tear~ the body was ripped apart, thrown aside like garbage.

The slaughter efficiency was not much slower than that of level 3 Kelder ratmen.

Ordinary wetland lizard-men individually were stronger than these half-fishmen.

With the advantage of equipment, they immediately exhibited their ferocious side!

Although the half-fishmen were also fierce, the weapons in their hands couldn’t even pierce the armor of the wetland lizard-men.

Swoosh~

One after another, half-fishmen were slaughtered, the number of 4 squadrons dwindled at an alarming rate.

Soon, there were less than 3 squads left on the field.

These swamp creatures finally collapsed.

The terror in their eyes could no longer be concealed, trembling hands dropped their weapons and they turned to flee.

But to guard against their escape, Lear had already preemptively dispatched several squads to block the reed thicket.

The sneering wetland lizard-men began the final cleanup.

The steel sabers swung in unison.

Swoosh~ swoosh~

The sound of long blades entering flesh, the ripping of blood flesh and bone echoed in the sky.

Blood stained the haystacks.

The 4 squadrons of level 5 half-fishmen were all slaughtered!

And the price paid was... over thirty wounded, all with no exception lightly injured. About thirty, all without exception lightly injured.

Lear originally wanted to keep a few alive, but in the end, there wasn’t a single one that could catch a breath left.

Obviously, they had overdone it...

He didn’t dwell on it, looking at the corpses all over, his eyes no longer showed any peculiar emotions, and his tone rather carried a hint of satisfaction.

"Gather them all together."

These corpses were all rich spoils of war.

Having experienced that with the Kelder ratmen, the wetland lizard-men immediately became excited.

Nimbly, they moved the bodies to form a corpse pile, then stood expectantly to one side.

Lear chuckled, without a word wasted, magic flowed through him, enveloping the surroundings in a pale blue glow.

Scarlet life energy floated out from the shattered bodies of the half-fishmen, pouring into the bodies of the surrounding wetland lizard-men.

As these corpses turned to residue, the evolution level on the panel rose from 50% directly to 70%.

Taking a big step forward to break the limit and evolve into 2-star potential.

This made Lear quite delighted.

The level 5 half-fishmen provided more life energy than the level 3 ratmen.

Obviously, the higher the level, the richer the essence of life.

The battles and hunting to come also turned into something delightful...