This Lich Requests More Remuneration

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Powerful New Troops Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Powerful New Troops Within the castle, Amberser looked at a pile of bones soaking in nutrient solution and nodded in satisfaction.

The Bone Proliferation Virus had been perfectly injected into the bones. After soaking in the nutrient solution, these bones would be able to self-repair and grow continuously for an extended period.

“Well done, you are nearly qualified to independently control a laboratory.”

Amberser’s praise didn’t bring joy to Isabel. The poor girl, with dark circles under her eyes, was swaying as if she might collapse at any moment.

Although the process was complex, the experiment wasn’t difficult; the only problem was the danger.

Isabel dared not make any mistakes during the experiment, fearing that if she contracted the virus, Amberser would turn her into an undead.

The more tense she was, the greater the mental strain. Having stayed up for a day and a night, Isabel felt thoroughly exhausted and could barely stand.

“I… I’m going to rest now…”
Isabel staggered toward her own room. Amberser stroked his chin, pondering whether to just turn her into an undead. Humans needed to eat, drink, and relieve themselves—really not cost-effective at all.

But then he thought better of it. Undead had their advantages, and so did humans.

After all, Isabel was bound to die within a few decades; no rush for now.

Turning his gaze to the bones soaking in the jars, Amberser’s body began to gather a significant amount of magical power. A pale blue light formed into the shape of palms, floating beside Amberser.

Over a dozen Mage Hands began to work swiftly and in order.

Bone by bone was taken out and started to be assembled according to Amberser’s design.

These were not human bones but came from a creature known as the Netherroth Beast.

These beasts originated from Gloomyland, were large in size, resembling yaks but even bigger and stronger. Some cruel Drow Elves liked to use the heads of Netherroth Beasts to carve through rock, which indicates the sheer strength and toughness of the creatures’ heads.

These bones were a gift from Withered Rose, and a significant portion of the initial payment consisted of various materials, not just Gold Coins.

Due to their massive size, the bones of the Netherroth Beasts were also larger and sturdier. They weren’t suitable for crafting small praying-mantis-like Skeletons; Amberser was creating another kind of special Skeleton this time.

The massive bones began to combine under Amberser’s control. A solid base, still of an insect-like multi-legged structure, but the thick joints only allowed for basic forward movement and turning. The structure was reinforced and the load-bearing capacity increased, decreasing agility.

The upper body was made up just of armor, constituted by the thick skulls of the Netherroth Beasts, resembling a spiky helmet with just a large opening exposed.

Then, Amberser had the Mage Hands bring forth a Portable Magic Cannon.

This device was manufactured according to the original blueprints of Alchemy City. Since the materials weren’t of high quality, there was a risk of the barrel exploding.

However, that wasn’t a big issue. Amberser was best at creating cheap, useful Skeleton automatons with these low-end materials.

After the assembly, a very oddly-shaped Skeleton appeared in the center of the laboratory. In fact, it could no longer be called a Skeleton—it was entirely a circular tank.

Two meters tall, nearly four meters in diameter, with a cannon barrel three meters long.

The solid skull encompassed the entire body, even the multi-legged structure at the bottom was protected inside. The substantial body revealed just the cannon barrel.

Amberser stuffed a calibrated Pseudo-Soul inside, and the Skeleton Tank began to operate.

Thud, thud, thud—the dull sound came from the smoothly running multi-legged joints below, causing the floor to tremble slightly.

Then came the movements: forward, backward, and slow turning… The actions were a bit sluggish, but overall, there were no problems.

Then, it was time to test the firepower.

Amberser controlled the Skeleton Tank, entering a Teleportation Circle.

With a flash of light, the massive skeletal and mechanical construct was transported to the sewers of Alchemy City.

This behemoth had barely appeared when it caught the attention of the sewer monsters, red lights igniting in the darkness as disgusting, twisted Slimes began crawling towards the tank.

After a while, it seemed that the sewer Slimes had undergone another mutation.

These Slimes had various metal parts attached to their bodies, things like nails, blades, steel bars, and saw blades; it was unclear who would dump such industrial waste into the sewers. If an ordinary person were enveloped by such Slimes, they would be covered in wounds in an instant.

The Skeleton Tank was an unfeeling Undead machine, the Soul Fire burning fiercely as the barrel started to show slight ripples.

Then came a not-too-loud but very dull blast of air, and a grayish-white substance surged out of the barrel, scattering in all directions as soon as it left the muzzle.

Bony Shrapnel covered a large area in front of it, hitting more than a dozen mutated Slimes.

The squelching sound was the shrapnel sinking into the soft, muddy bodies, while the tinkling sound was the shrapnel striking the metal fragments.

The powerful impact blew the mushy Slimes apart, tearing them to shreds under the assault of countless bone fragments, even causing the metal parts to noticeably deform and scatter everywhere.

Slimes could be immune to many physical damages, but they couldn’t withstand the power of a Portable Magic Cannon. A single shot was enough to tear them to shreds, leaving debris spread all over the ground.

But the power of this shot was not the end of it. A few lucky Slimes that were only grazed by the bone shrapnel and not completely killed found that the bone fragments began to grow rapidly after entering their bodies and would even fuse with nearby bone fragments.

Strange-looking Bone Coral grew out of these Slimes, tearing their bodies apart.

Some Slimes died on the spot, while others barely managed to consume the ever-growing bones with their digestive capabilities. The contest between growth and consumption left them completely immobilized.

Then came two more shots, and all the Slimes in the area were dead.

Amberser checked the Skeleton Tank; its bony structure was relatively stable. The growth of the Bone Proliferation Virus was cleverly restricted to the ammunition chamber, where it could continually generate bone projectiles that would then be launched by the wind pressure of the Magic Conduction Cannon.

The material of the Magic Conduction Cannon was too inferior, its firing life estimated to be less than ten shots. However, that was not a problem since the Magic Array inside the cannon could only support six shots at most due to limited magical energy before it would run out.

The sales of such Portable Magic Cannons in Alchemy City had always been tepid. The reason was that mobile cannons were difficult to charge, and if connected to a charging Magic Array on the city walls, the caliber was too small, making it feel like a high-end toy.

Despite these inconveniences, this was the simplest method of enhancement in a short period. Amberser still wasn’t sure what had taken his head off, but it was always best to be prepared.

After taking the Skeleton Tank on a tour around the sewers and firing all six shells, the power was indeed impressive; within twenty meters, if grazed, you were injured, and if hit, you were dead. At close range, even Amberser with his Magic Shield couldn’t withstand six shots from the bone-firing cannon.

However, it wasn’t very effective against Legendary fighters. The Skeleton Tank was cumbersome, and there was an obvious delay and charge-up before firing, which made it easy to either dodge or preemptively attack during that time—unless one had a screw loose and decided to face it head-on or was forced into it due to the terrain.

Right after teleporting the Skeleton Tank back into the castle, Amberser felt something was amiss.

The castle had been invaded, and Magic Traps had been triggered. However, the invaders seemed competent, as they had dismantled the traps directly.

Amberser had thought that the Paladins were acting this swiftly and immediately opened the crystal monitoring system to check the situation, only to see two familiar figures.

Big Black and Husky, the pair who had been stripped of their wealth by Amberser as “clients”, were now sneakily climbing up from the back of the castle; they were the ones who had destroyed the Magic Traps.

Amberser was ready to take down these two when a huge shadow, over four meters tall, suddenly appeared on the crystal monitor.

Amberser sighed.

These two were done for.