Indifferent and Warm

Chapter 71: Indifferent and Warm

As Zhao Hai continued on his journey and passed through several villages, he noticed an increasing number of people along the road, which relieved him and his group. However, Zhao Hai couldn't help but feel a sense of insignificance when he saw the reactions of the villagers. Despite being powerful as a 6th level Dark Magician, he was nothing compared to true experts like Green and Merine. In the eyes of ordinary commoners, however, he was like a god, capable of slaughtering them at will without any chance of rebellion.

Zhao Hai knew that without the existence of the Space, he would be just like those commoners in the eyes of true experts. He wanted to grow stronger, but unfortunately, drinking the Water of Nothingness prevented him from learning any new magic or battle skills. His only remaining advantage was the Space.

Feeling like an insignificant ant, Zhao Hai resigned himself to a life of ease. But he also understood that achieving an easy life would not be easy. If he didn't want trouble to find him, he needed to have the strength to guarantee a peaceful life. At present, he possessed such strength.

Zhao Hai realized that strength was everything. No matter how much wealth he accumulated, without strength, it would eventually be taken away. He yearned for power like never before, but he had no way to improve his strength. The Space was mysterious, but it lacked offensive power. He could only rely on subduing Undead Creatures and using them to his advantage. However, collecting Undead Creatures was not an easy task. Going to Carrion Swamp to collect them would be equivalent to courting death. Zhao Hai vividly remembered the overwhelming scene of Magic Beasts and Undead Creatures in the swamp when he stood on the castle wall. It was a shocking sight.

Zhao Hai realized that if he wanted to protect himself and live a peaceful life, he needed to find a place where nobody could find him. Black Wasteland was a good choice in that regard. It was a place of ominous reputation, and no one would pay attention to it. However, the problem now was the people who had previously offended the Buda Family.

Others might not pay attention to them, but the established nobles would definitely keep an eye on them. To avoid their attention, Zhao Hai thought of a solution—sending Drunk and the others to Carrion Swamp to subdue Undead Creatures as quickly as possible. It would be even better if they could create other distractions to divert the attention of these nobles.

Zhao Hai also considered another method: quickly leveling up the Space. Once the Space reached Level 10, he could clear the ranch. By clearing the ranch and introducing various animals into the Space, he could level up the Space even further. This way, he would gain the ability to subdue Magic Beasts, which would provide him with additional strength.

However, Zhao Hai realized that he couldn't bring Magic Beasts into the Space at the moment. He had tried to do so when they first arrived in Black Wasteland, but it had been unsuccessful. He concluded that he could only do it after clearing the ranch.

Zhao Hai's thoughts revolved around leveling up and gaining strength. He saw it as a game where low-level players were constantly bullied until they reached a high level and could dominate. He fantasized about raising a group of Divine Beasts to crush his enemies.

As Zhao Hai pondered these thoughts, he released Alien to patrol the area around the city. They intentionally avoided entering the city and found a hiding place outside where they spent the night before entering the Space.

However, Zhao Hai had Green gather information about the recent events in the city. He wanted to stay updated on the progress of certain matters. To his surprise, the situation wasn't as serious as he had expected. Green reported that Purcell Duchy had merely issued a symbolic warrant for the arrest of the undead Mercenary Group responsible for the recent deaths. Purcell Family had reclaimed the land of the affected villages and sent slaves to cultivate it. The matter was considered closed.

This news left Zhao Hai feeling a bit bewildered. He began to grasp the power dynamics among the nobles on the continent. To these nobles, the lives and deaths of commoners meant nothing. In fact, they might even want commoners to die so that their land could expand. Zhao Hai sighed bitterly, realizing that he still couldn't fully adapt to the mindset of these people. In his eyes, regardless of social status, every person was a person. Even if someone was a slave, they were still deserving of basic human rights.

Purcell Family's response to the incident involving the undead Mercenary Group was indifferent, but they showed great enthusiasm when dealing with two other matters—the attack on Markey Family and Zhao Hai's situation. Purcell Family treated Markey Family with warmth, with the Duke personally greeting them and granting tax-free privileges. On the other hand, they paid close attention to Zhao Hai, who had suddenly appeared as an advanced-level Dark Magician. This was a dangerous existence, and Purcell Family couldn't afford to ignore it.

Although Green's information was not completely reliable, Zhao Hai believed that where there was smoke, there was fire. Purcell Family's attention was now focused on Zhao Hai as a Dark Magician, which inadvertently provided some security for Adam's identity.

However, Zhao Hai and his group noticed an increase in the presence of mercenaries and adventurers around them. These individuals had no malicious intentions, but it was clear to Zhao Hai that they were being monitored.

Anticipating this situation, Zhao Hai deliberately staged performances to mislead the monitors. During the evenings, after entering the Space, he left Alien outside to create the illusion that the rest of the group was resting within Alien's body.

Little did Zhao Hai know that these people monitoring him were in for a deadly surprise. While many Dark Magicians on the continent could summon Undead Creatures to accompany them, there were very few like Zhao Hai.

The Undead Creatures summoned by Dark Magicians varied in type, including skeletons, zombies, and succubi, among other dark beings. Skeletons were considered the lowest-level Undead Creatures that all Dark Summoners could summon. However, the skeletons that Zhao Hai summoned were clearly not of the same level as the typical skeletons.

The dark green color, the menacing bone spikes, and the horse-like speed at which they moved shocked those who witnessed them. They couldn't help but wonder what kind of Magic Beast Zhao Hai had killed to turn it into such an Undead Creature.

Dark Summoners typically had two types of summoning spells. The first type involved directly summoning creatures from different planes, which was highly unpredictable. When using this type of summoning spell, one couldn't control the level or type of creature that would appear. For example, if you wanted to summon a skeleton for combat, you might end up summoning a weak, gray, half-length skeleton that was practically useless. These lower-level skeletons served as nourishment for other Undead Creatures to advance in grade.

However, this type of summoning spell was commonly used by Dark Summoners because it had low requirements for magic and could be used repeatedly. Naturally, the higher the magician's level and magic power, the higher-level and more varied the Dark beings they could summon. Even the weakest Nightmare, for instance, had the strength equivalent to that of a 5th level warrior, far surpassing the inferior skeletons.