The Heavy Armored Battle Rhino let out a painful wail as its four hooves gave way and it collapsed, throwing the Knight off its back. The relentless Shadow Puppet immediately swung its sharp Shadow Stone Spear. Enhanced by Negative Energy, the spear was incredibly sharp, its tip glinting with a cold light. The sharp spearhead pierced through the Knight’s Armor, pinning him to the ground.

Pinned to the ground but not yet dead, the Knight grudgingly grasped the Shadow Puppet’s spear with both hands. Blood gushed from his mouth, mixed with fragments of his internal organs. With a slight movement from the Shadow Puppet, the shadow energy that erupted from the spear finished him off.

With the Knight dead, none of the remaining Forest Wanderers and Assassins could escape. Without needing Shen Zhongyun to intervene, Fang Zhou cast spells and shot down the Combat Professionals one by one.

Once the dust settled, Fang Zhou rode his Skeleton Warhorse through the ruined camp of the Fox Tail Bandit Group. All eighteen members of the Fox Tail Bandit Group were now dead.

Looking at the corpses of the Knight Commander and the bald Mage, Fang Zhou couldn’t help but shake his head. "You were given a path to heaven but refused to take it, choosing instead to charge into a hell with no door. Now that you’re silent, your passing was rather peaceful."

This encounter with the Fox Tail Bandit Group marked the first time Fang Zhou had stained his hands with the blood of his own kind, yet his heart remained perfectly calm.

He commanded the Corpse Warriors to gather the bodies. They stripped the Enchanted Equipment from the other corpses, but Fang Zhou refrained from letting the Corpse Warriors "feed" openly due to Shen Zhongyun’s presence.

Shen Zhongyun also inspected the Defense Array left in the camp. Although its Shield had been shattered by his Shadow Tide, the array itself was still largely intact. The array was indeed a smaller, portable version, roughly the size of a one-man tent. Without further inspection, Shen Zhongyun handed it to Fang Zhou.

"Lieutenant Fang Zhou, I’ve recorded this battle on my personal terminal and tallied the results," Shen Zhongyun said, patting Fang Zhou on the shoulder with an amazed expression. "The last remnants of the Fox Tail Bandit Group have all died here, which finally takes care of a minor problem for Beast Fighting City. I get the feeling that even without my help, you could have taken down this bandit group all on your own. It’s no wonder Hongyu and Ziwei have been praising you as a monstrous genius for so long. I’ve truly never seen anything like it."

Fang Zhou was slightly stunned. "Lieutenant Colonel Shen," he said in surprise, "you also have the surname Shen. Are you related to Instructor Shen Hongyu and my classmate, Ziwei...?"

A slight smile appeared on Shen Zhongyun’s otherwise stern face as he nodded. "Correct. I’m Hongyu’s older cousin. After Ziwei was injured, Hongyu even asked me to search for some Life Crystals for her. That’s when she mentioned you."

Fang Zhou nodded in realization and saluted. "I see," he said. "Thank you so much for providing those Life Crystals. They were a huge help to us. Ziwei’s condition is much better now."

Shen Zhongyun sighed and waved his hand. "It was nothing. I just transferred to the Outpost Fortress, so I had no idea you were training in my jurisdiction. Fortunately, you’re strong and sharp-witted, so you didn’t run into any serious trouble during this bandit attack. I rushed over as soon as I received your distress signal. Now, the mission is finally complete."

He looked at the bodies scattered on the ground and said to Fang Zhou, "Since you’re an Undead Mage, I’ll leave these bandits’ corpses for you to handle.

"I’ll report the successful elimination of the Fox Tail Bandit Group to the military command. This is another great merit, and you’ll probably be promoted to Lieutenant very soon.

"The total bounty for all eighteen of them is nearly ten thousand Magic Stones. That’s a considerable income, and it will be credited to your personal terminal account as contribution points.

"Also, that portable Defense Array I gave you can be used when you’re out in the field. It costs a few more Magic Stones to run, but the extra layer of protection is well worth it."

After that, Shen Zhongyun spent some time teaching Fang Zhou numerous hunting techniques for the Fierce Beast Mountain Range. His expression only changed when his personal terminal buzzed. He saluted Fang Zhou and said, "Alright, Fang Zhou, I have to head back now. Please take care of yourself."

Fang Zhou returned a solemn salute. "Rest assured, Lieutenant Colonel Shen. Thank you for your help. Have a safe journey!"

After seeing Lieutenant Colonel Shen off, Fang Zhou began to process his spoils of war in his own way. He temporarily preserved the bodies of the Bronze Knight Commander and the bald Mage to see if he could develop them into other types of Artificial Undead later. As for the remaining corpses of the ordinary Combat Professionals, Fang Zhou used a Secret Technique to transform them one by one into Black Iron Upper-Tier Corpse Warriors.

He set the camp ablaze before leaving with his new Corpse Warriors.

***

The light of the Blood Moon in the Wasteland of Strife was far denser than in the Corpse Hills. While his main body was annihilating the Fox Tail Bandit Group and reaping rich rewards, his Corpse Clone was also making good use of its time, beginning to digest the rich legacy left behind by the Zombie Lord.

In Fang Zhou’s eyes, although these so-called Undead Territories were his, there was always the risk of a surprise attack. In terms of security, the Corpse Tomb he could summon was far safer.

After defeating the Zombie Lord and absorbing its Blood Moon Blessing and Lord status, he was officially acknowledged by the will of the Blood Moon in this fragment of the Undead Realm. This meant he could summon his Undead Army from his Corpse Tomb to this fragment without any cost. Furthermore, by consuming a certain amount of Corpse Essence and Soul Power, he could project the buildings from his Corpse Tomb into this territory.

Although his Corpse Tomb currently lacked Arrow Towers or a moat, it at least had high walls and a solid Lord’s Hall to rely on. With the high walls providing a barrier and the general lack of siege equipment in the Undead Realm, the only way into his castle, if the gates were locked, was with flying Undead.

However, aside from Bronze-tier Undead like Ghosts, most flying Undead were high-level creatures. The area he was currently in was primarily inhabited by low-level Undead Creatures like Plague Zombies, so the likelihood of high-tier Undead like Vampires, Corpse Witches, or Ghost Dragons appearing was slim.

Soon, after setting up an Undead Teleportation Gate, Fang Zhou summoned a massive army of nearly fifty thousand Corpse Warriors to the Wasteland of Strife in waves. Fang Zhou delegated the training of his troops to his Corpse Elite Guards, such as Tidamia and Verus, with the Berserker Heroic Spirit, Olaf, as the commander-in-chief. The other Corpse Commanders also trained alongside Olaf. After all, they are my generals. How can they not know how to lead troops into battle?

Although the intelligence of most of the Corpse Elite Guards is practically nonexistent—not much better than a human infant—they should at least be able to imitate him. Hopefully, by following Olaf around, they can absorb a thing or two through osmosis.

Then, Fang Zhou went to the Lord’s Hall within the Corpse Tomb, as this was the only place where new buildings could be constructed. He had once again accumulated a large amount of Soul Power and basic resources like bone and flesh.

After arriving in this Wasteland of Strife, which was so active with zombie-type Undead, and especially after killing and devouring the Plague Zombie Lord, Fang Zhou had gained a much more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of such creatures. In other words, with his current knowledge base, he could now attempt to create new Unit Buildings for zombie-type units.

Based on his recent combat experience, the Black Iron-Tier Corpse Warriors and Bronze-Tier Corpse Knights were his pride and joy. However, producing Corpse Knights was extremely difficult due to numerous restrictions, making it impossible to mass-produce them on a large scale in a short period.