...

The next moment, Lynch’s Spiritual Power spread outward, instantly enveloping the entire garrison.

Within his spiritual perception, every detail was crystal clear.

He could "see" Aus in the study downstairs, bent over his desk with a slight frown as he reviewed a supply manifest.

He could "hear" the SIZZLE of fresh fish hitting the pan in the kitchen.

The range and clarity of his Spiritual Power were now on a completely different level compared to when he was at Tier One.

With a flicker of thought, Lynch tried to dilute his Spiritual Power, spreading it out in one direction like a thin mist.

His perceptive range expanded rapidly, and the sights of more than half of Lakefront Town’s main street flooded into his mind.

The pedestrians on the street, the proprietress wiping the counter in the general store, the apprentice strenuously working the bellows in the blacksmith’s forge... he could "see" it all, and it was even more vivid and distinct than with his naked eye.

Of course, this "seeing" and "hearing" was merely a representation of his perception; it was still vastly different from actually seeing with his eyes and hearing with his ears.

At the same time, he perceived that the spiritual link between himself and the Demon Rat Skeletons—his "eyes" posted at various strategic points outside the town—had grown much stronger.

The vision they shared had also become clearer.

As Lynch retracted his spiritual perception like a receding tide, it happened to sweep over a Skeleton patrol squad.

A thought struck him, and his perception lingered for a moment.

He vaguely recalled the squad leader’s name was "Broken Finger." He had been the leader of a group of bandits who tried to plunder Lakefront Town. As mere Tier One fighters, he and his men were naturally no match for the Undead Army; more than half of them ended up joining its ranks.

The others, who hadn’t committed many evil deeds and were mostly just displaced people forced into banditry, were sentenced to hard labor to atone for their crimes. Once their punishment was complete, they would be accepted into Lakefront Town to start new lives as citizens.

As for Broken Finger, he was fortunate enough to become a Soul Fire Skeleton Soldier, assigned to the command of Bone Jade.

Because of this, Lynch had no direct spiritual link with Broken Finger and couldn’t issue commands to him. Of course, if Lynch wanted to, he could "reclaim" command authority from Bone Jade and micromanage Broken Finger directly.

The dozen or so Skeleton Soldiers without Soul Fire, in turn, were spiritually linked to and commanded by Broken Finger.

This was the typical structure of the Undead Army: Soul Fire units acted as commanders, captains, and squad leaders, forming a chain of command. If Lynch wanted to bypass this chain, it would require extra effort and was generally unnecessary.

Most of the daily patrols and guard duties in and around Lakefront Town had now been handed over to the Bone Jade Department, which commanded five Soul Fire units.

Of course, thanks to the continuous buffs from Lynch’s Skeleton Enhancement Skill, Bone Jade’s power had already reached the Tier Two Peak.

While its intelligence still couldn’t match a normal human’s and its actions could be rigid at times, it had no problem understanding and leading its subordinates to carry out simple tasks like "patrol," "stand guard," "drive away stray beasts," and "report any anomalies immediately."

After a period of training, its autonomy had improved significantly. Now, it no longer required Lynch’s direct intervention.

Bone Jade had even learned some simple tactical coordination, able to command its Soul Fire squad leaders to execute maneuvers like pincer attacks and encirclements.

This was a far cry from before, when Lynch had to personally control each Soul Fire unit to execute any kind of tactic.

This was a necessary part of any Necromancer’s growth.

As a Necromancer’s power grew and their number of Undead increased, their Undead Army would inevitably develop a hierarchical command structure, much like a human army.

After all, no Necromancer could personally command every single Skeleton.

In fact, it was impossible even if a Necromancer was willing to put in the effort. Spiritual Power determined one’s command limit. A hierarchical structure conserved a great deal of Spiritual Power and eased the burden of command. By making full use of each Soul Fire unit’s own Commanding Power, a Necromancer could field a much larger Undead Army.

Eventually, some sufficiently High Tier and intelligent Undead Units could even become Commanders of their own forces, leading armies into battle independently.

For example, some High Tier Corpse Witches, Vampires, Death Knights, or Skeleton War Generals all had the potential to become "hero units" capable of leading armies.

Otherwise, the Undead Calamities of history, numbering in the hundreds of thousands or even millions, could never have come into being.

Putting such thoughts aside, Lynch’s spiritual perception lingered on Broken Finger’s patrol squad for only a moment before continuing its tidal retreat, soon returning to his body.

He opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath.

His gaze swept over the two Purple Zombies, Bloodfang and Corpse Demon, who stood like iron towers in the Meditation room. He then glanced at the Vampire, Esther, curled up and sleeping soundly under a blanket. A profound sense of security washed over him.

With them as his primary protection, along with the Guard Skeletons led by Bone Shield, it would be difficult for even a Tier Five expert to break through his defenses in a short amount of time, even in an assassination attempt.

Bloodfang was now a Tier Three Middle Stage Purple Zombie, while both Corpse Demon and Esther had reached the Tier Three Peak.