64 Chapter 63: Ghost City
After the Poisonous Scorpion Warrior troop lair upgrade, Richard was in a lively mood.
The feeling that he witnessed the strength in his hands gradually increased has fascinated him.
He had been busy all morning as he upgraded spring water, territory, and scorpion warrior.
It was already half past noon when he rested.
Just after lunch, a few ugly long-armed laborers were brought into the hall by the bandaged mummies which guarded the Lord's mansion.
The long-armed laborers looked terrified and extremely flustered like they have been petrified.
"Lord...something bad has happened!!"
Its tone became sharp because he was too nervous.
When Richard saw the appearance of the long-armed laborers, his gaze froze.
"What happened?"
The bandaged mummy hurriedly reported. "When we were mining iron ore this morning, a group of ghosts suddenly appeared outside the mine... They were too scary..."
"Ghosts attacked the iron mine?"
Richard's eyes shone.
He didn't care about the resource points, but the sudden appearance of these ghosts piqued his interest.
Maybe it was another unexpected event.
Didn't these attacks mean missions and benefits?
"Are there any other enemies besides the ghosts?"
"I don't know..." Several long-armed laborers shook their heads. "We immediately evacuated after we found the ghosts."
"Lead the way. I'll handle it myself."
"Yes, Lord..."
The long-armed laborers' morale was immediately boosted.
After Richard gathered the troop, he didn't delay and directly gave the order to set off. The long-armed laborers panted heavily and led the way.
Half an hour later.
Richard observed the iron mine 200 meters away and frowned slightly while on a high sand dune
Even if he wasn't close enough, he could feel that this iron mine was different from its usual state. It was gloomy and cold everywhere. It gave people goosebumps.
He opened the attribute panel.
[Haunted Iron Mine]
[Level: Small]
[Reserves: 16,820 units]
[Maximum Output: 2,100 units per week]
[Capacity: Minimum of 5 people, maximum of 10 people.]
[Description: An iron mine occupied by the ghosts.]
'An iron mine haunted by ghosts?'
Richard was even more excited. The sudden appearance of these ghosts did not seem to be that simple.
He would first occupy the iron mine and then investigate the reason.
With a wave of his hand.
"Troops, prepare for battle.
"Maintain formation and advance towards the iron mine."
Two small teams of scorpion warriors stood in two rows at the front to protect the mine. One and a half teams of undead soldiers stood at a distance of 20 meters from the front, while the cursed pharaohs were at the back.
The iron mine soon pressed to the edge of the iron ore. Richard was at the back, his eyes fixed on the iron mine, ready to give an order at any time.
'Roar!'
A shrill roar like that of dozens of people on the verge of death suddenly sounded.
Five teams of ghosts suddenly appeared in the slightly gloomy iron mine.
These ghosts had the appearance of human beings. They floated 10 centimeters above the ground, their bodies emitted faint blue light.
Their bodies were translucent, and their faces were extremely blurry and twisted.
The air was gloomy.
[Mine Ghost]
[Level: 3]
[Potential: Ordinary 3-stars
[Skills: Body of a Ghost (F-rank) -- Immune to 50% physical damage, magic damage received increases by 10%.]
[Soul Claws (F-rank) -- Can directly attack the soul.]
[Race Talent: Can devour souls to strengthen oneself.]
[Fetter-Ghost: When the number of ghosts exceeds 30, soul damage increases by 15%. When the number of ghosts exceeds 50, soul damage increases by 30% (activated).]
[Description: I like your soul.]
"All troops attack! Don't leave a single one alive!"
With a cold command.
The scorpion warriors immediately charged forward. Two iron pincers appeared and threatened the ghosts.
The undead soldiers appeared at the same moment.
'Whoo-hoo-hoo!'
The tomahawk made a loud noise in the air, and the ghosts floating in the air could not avoid it.
Kacha~
It was a huge force that directly exploded like a fragile crystal that fell to the ground.
The high magic damage made the ghosts, who are 50% immune to physical damage, felt the iron fist of Twilight City.
The undead soldiers murdered two teams in one wave of attacks.
There was still an insurmountable gap between 50% physical damage immunity and 99% Sand Transformation immunity.
The scorpion warrior growled deeply.
The iron pincers opened up and pierced through the incoming ghosts.
It was like the blade had pierced through the gel and jelly, which felt like apparent obstacles.
'Kacha!'
The iron pincers closed, and directly tore apart a large part of the ghosts.
'Puchi!'
At this moment, the poisonous tail of the scorpion warrior pierced through like lightning.
The moment it pierced the ghost, the poison from the scorpion's tail instantly spread out.
The translucent body of the ghost immediately glowed blue light. And its body fell into a state of paralysis, unable to move.
'Puchi!'
The iron pincers waved again, which completely tore apart the opponent's body.
The battle ended quickly under the crushing counterattacks of a few levels higher than the opponents.
The cursed pharaoh did not make a move in the end, but the elite-level ghosts of these five teams were annihilated.
[Ding~ The troop you led annihilated a group of ghosts and obtained victory in a miniature battle. You have obtained 100 experience points.]
[Ding~ You have recovered the iron ore that the ghosts had snatched. Do you wish to occupy it again?]
"Confirm."
After Richard made the choice, the haunted iron mine immediately turned into an ordinary iron mine, and the eerie aura disappeared without a trace.
When he saw that the quest had not been triggered, Richard could not help but feel a little puzzled.
'Where did these ghosts come from?'
He immediately called over the long-armed laborer who stood at the back and asked once.
The laborer shook his head. "Lord, we don't know either. We only know that the first ghost we saw appeared in that direction..."
As the long-armed laborer said that, he pointed to the north of the iron mine as it trembled.
"Lord, could it be that there's a city of ghosts over there…?"
The long-armed laborer didn't mean anything, but Richard sensed something.
Richard's eyes sparkled with a bright idea.
It wasn't impossible.
If there truly was a city of ghosts, this wave would count.
After Richard ordered them to resume their production work, he immediately led the troop to the north.
At the same time spread the troops in a fan shape formation.
Richard encountered an unexpected situation not long after.
In front of him was a gathering place for soldiers in the wild, but this gathering place had already been massacred.
What made him even more surprised was that pieces of flesh and traces of blood were scattered on the sand, but there were no bones.
It was as if the bones had been pulled out by someone.
"This is... a summoning skeleton?"
Richard was in focused thoughts.
"Summoning skeletons is the signature skill of the ghosts. They know how to murder wild monsters to gather troops. It seems that the ghost forces nearby are not weak.
"Could there truly be a ghost city?"
The interest in his heart grew even stronger.
He continued to explore. Within half an hour, he found seven or eight gathering places where all the soldiers had been slaughtered.
Without exception, their bones were missing.
There were even a few troop units that did not have corpses, leaving only traces of battle.
"No wonder they say that ghosts are scoundrels. If a ghost lord were to secretly develop for a time, wouldn't it be able to amass a few large troops?"
Although the skeleton soldiers were not strong, if a few thousand skeleton soldiers were to come at him, not many lords would be able to withstand it at this stage.
The aggressive nature of this unknown ghost force also made Richard feel threatened.
If they could attack his iron mine today, they would dare to attack Twilight City tomorrow.
The ghosts were not a kind-hearted faction. There was no room for negotiation when they fought.
"Raise your vigilance to the highest level and continue to explore."
Not long after, the troop found traces of the ghosts in the desert. It seemed that they had just passed by.
Richard perked up and quickened his pace.
After another half an hour, the scorpion warriors who scouted ahead suddenly reported back... They had discovered the enemy.
"We've finally found them..."
Richard was very pleased. He gathered the troop that had spread out in the surroundings and arrived at the location of the scorpion warriors.
Under the cover of the sand dunes, they followed their directions and saw the target they were searching for.
It was completely different from the territory of the ghost city that he had imagined. In front of him was an iron mine that was more than half mine.
Ores were scattered all over the place.
A large number of skeleton warriors patrolled the iron mine. There were probably more than three squadrons.
At this moment, two squadrons of skeleton warriors slowly walked over from the desert. They carried some corpses into the iron mine.
Not long after, they disappeared from Richard's sight.
Richard followed the direction where the skeleton warriors disappeared and carefully observed. He discovered that in the central area of the iron mine, there was a hole that led underground.
"Was it the ghost city in the underground?"
