Under the Moonlight, a trail of dust stretched across the Wasteland. Trailing a blue, starlit glow, the Mobile Fortress forged from white bone sped through the billowing haze.

MOOO—

The Big-Horned Bulls mooed as they charged headlong, unable to completely shake off the Monsters pursuing them. Fear robbed them of thought, leaving only the instinct to sprint toward what they perceived as safety.

Li Ziyu gripped the windowsill, gritting his teeth. Of course he wanted to catch up with the Big-Horned Bulls and deal with them quickly. After all, the Skeleton Engine consumed Soul Energy every minute. A minute or two was nothing, but if this dragged on, the cost would be painful. His resources were not yet abundant enough to squander Soul Energy so recklessly.

An Undead moved behind Li Ziyu and relayed the latest intelligence. "Obstacle detected ahead. The herd has entered the obstacle. Do we continue the pursuit?"

Li Ziyu froze, turning to look at the Undead with a strange expression. "What obstacle?"

"It is a forest," the Undead replied.

A forest?!

Li Ziyu was stunned for a moment, then his expression turned to one of pleasant surprise.

’Well, what do you know? An unexpected bonus?’

Out in the Wasteland, finding wild grass was easy—it was everywhere. Finding wood and Stone, however, was much more difficult. If it weren’t, he wouldn’t have had to trade with A Large Iron Hammer for Stone. He never expected that chasing a herd of Big-Horned Bulls would lead him to a forest. How could he possibly pass this up?

’Wood and Stone... these are excellent resources! I need exactly these things to build the Warrior Training Camp. Perfect! I’ll take the Big-Horned Bulls, I’ll take the wood—this forest is mine!’

"Continue the pursuit! We’ll eliminate them in the forest!"

With a wave of his hand, Li Ziyu decisively gave the order. The Undead acknowledged it and departed.

The area ahead was just a small, sparse grove of trees with a small pond in the center. It was a decent habitat in the middle of the Wasteland. Though the trees were few, the Mobile Fortress couldn’t enter and had to stop at the edge.

Once the Mobile Fortress came to a halt, swarms of Skeleton Undead disembarked and entered the woods. Before long, the cries of the Big-Horned Bulls echoed out, filled with fear, anxiety, and anger. These were followed by the roars of the Undead and the sounds of fighting.

The branches and leaves of the trees obscured his view, so Li Ziyu, standing at the window, couldn’t see the situation inside. He was anxious but didn’t dare go any closer. ’Are you kidding? If an Undead gets gored by a bull, it’s no big deal. But I’m different. I’m still a Human. One jab from those big horns and my life is over. For my own sake, I’d better just stay obediently in the fortress.’

’Safe.’

As the trees shook, a fat and sturdy Big-Horned Bull burst out of the woods, mooing loudly. Two Skeleton Undead were clinging to its body. In its panicked flight, the bull charged right toward the Mobile Fortress.

More than a dozen Skeleton Undead chased out after it, hurling the Spears in their hands. The weapons pierced the Big-Horned Bull’s body. It stumbled forward for a few more steps, Spears sticking out of it, before its front legs buckled and it collapsed.

The two Skeleton Undead that had been clinging to it climbed off, drew their Bone Sabers, and viciously stabbed it in the neck several times. Blood sprayed everywhere, and the Big-Horned Bull went still. At the same time, the sounds from within the woods gradually died down.

Soon, Skeleton Undead emerged from the woods in groups of three to five, or even ten at a time. They dragged and pulled the carcasses of the Big-Horned Bulls they had hunted, hauling them onto the Mobile Fortress.

"Three Big-Horned Bulls escaped. Do we give chase?" an Undead came to report.

’Chase them?’

’Forget it. I’m not wasting Soul Energy on just three of them.’ Li Ziyu waved his hand, signaling a stop to the pursuit. The bulls could be spared, but the timber could not.

"No need to chase them," Li Ziyu ordered the Undead, pointing towards the woods. "Go and chop wood. We need lumber."

Having just hauled the Big-Horned Bull carcasses onto the Mobile Fortress, the Undead set out once again. This time, they weren’t hunters, but had become Lumberjacks. However, they were rather unprofessional Lumberjacks. Without a single axe among them, they had to resort to using their Bone Sabers and Curved Sabers to chop trees, and their efficiency was pitifully low.

Fortunately, the Undead required no rest and could chop continuously. They might be slow, but their persistence was their greatest strength.

With all the Undead dispatched to chop trees, Li Ziyu had nothing else to do and began to take stock of the hunt’s spoils: the Big-Horned Bulls.

In total, they had hunted 30 Big-Horned Bulls: 14 adults, 7 elderly, and 9 calves. The harvest was good, and Li Ziyu was very satisfied. It was at least worth the Soul Energy he had expended. Now, it was time to let the system break them down for materials.

[Decomposed +1 Adult Big-Horned Bull. Acquired: 100 units of Fresh Beef, 5 units of Skeleton, 1 Damaged Cowhide, 8 units of Soul Energy.]

[Decomposed +1 Elderly Big-Horned Bull. Acquired: 80 units of Fresh Beef, 5 units of Skeleton, 1 Cowhide, 5 units of Soul Energy.]

[Decomposed +1 Young Big-Horned Bull. Acquired: 20 units of Fresh Beef, 3 units of Skeleton, 1 Cowhide, 5 units of Soul Energy.]

[Decomposing...]

’Hot damn, that’s quite a haul!’

Li Ziyu’s eyes lit up as he read the system notifications. ’Holy smokes, what a haul! 2,140 units of beef, 142 units of Skeleton, 30 cowhides, and 192 units of Soul Energy. With a harvest like this, what more could I ask for?’

’The meat is the most important part. I can trade this stuff for more resources—Skeletons, Stone, wood, all of it. If I go to the Conscience Merchant, I can trade 2 units of meat for 1 Skeleton. With over 2,000 units of meat... just thinking about how many Skeletons I can get is enough to make my mouth water.’

’Hehehe, then I’ll install Big Bone Wheels, Little Bone Wheels, all of them! The more I install, the faster we’ll accelerate!’

’The Soul Energy yield isn’t that high, only a bit better than the Desert Wolves. Still, it’s better than nothing. At least it replenished what I spent, so it’s a small net profit. They are, after all, just ordinary Wild Beasts, not intelligent creatures. A Lizardman, for example, gives 50 units of Soul Energy right off the bat. Now that’s what I call a good yield.’

Li Ziyu was beginning to understand. Soul Energy seemed to represent the strength of a creature’s soul. Beings capable of developing intelligence had far more Soul Energy than Wild Beasts—the difference was like a chasm. The more powerful a creature, the stronger its soul, and thus, the more Soul Energy it provided.

’Hunt stronger beings?’

’But that’s just a thought for now. If I actually tried to do it, I’d be better off just calling it a day. My forces are just a bunch of Low Level Skeletons; they can’t even take on a single Fierce Beast.’

Through the chat channel, Li Ziyu had already pieced together a rough hierarchy of the Monsters in this world. The most common were Wild Beasts like the ones he’d just hunted, which weren’t that different from the animals of his past life. Above Wild Beasts were the Fierce Beasts—strong, intelligent beings, often with strange appearances and combat strength that far exceeded their lesser counterparts.

Above Fierce Beasts were two parallel tiers: Desolate Beasts and Magical Beasts. According to the chat channel, of these two Monster types, Desolate Beasts were akin to Warriors. They were sentient but had relatively simple thought processes. They had thick hides, tough flesh, and were generally enormous, but they lacked special attacks.

Magical Beasts, on the other hand, were the equivalent of Mages. They were fully intelligent beings with widely varying physiques. Their personal combat strength was formidable, but their special attacks were even more so. The City Lords in the chat hadn’t specified what those attacks were, only warning everyone that if you encountered a Magical Beast or a Desolate Beast, your only option was to run. If you didn’t run, you might as well wait for death.

Desolate Beasts and Magical Beasts were completely beyond what they could handle at their current stage.

Just as Li Ziyu was lost in his reverie, the Undead had already felled several trees and began hauling them toward the Mobile Fortress.