’How ugly and bizarre...’

’Does it even know how short it is?’

’How could it possibly use an operating table over a meter high?’

Besides these shoddy imitation facilities, the cave was filled mostly with skulls and grayish-white bone fragments. Most were rat skeletons; there were very few from other animals, and not a single one was human.

This was to be expected. The Undead created by a Necromancer are humanoid because the creator is human and thus more familiar with that structure, not because the human body holds any unique properties.

They may have been extraordinary in life, possessing immense potential, but in death, a body is just a corpse and a pile of bones. There’s nothing special about it. This wasn’t some Cultivation World with its supposed Children of Heaven.

Thus, whether it was Undead, Demonic Puppets, or Golems, their forms were generally a matter of convenience, though personal aesthetics occasionally played a role.

Rat skeletons practically blanketed the entire cave floor. These weren’t living rats that would scurry out of Isaac’s way. Every step produced an exceptionally crisp CRUNCH.

Isaac bent down to inspect a few bone fragments, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly. He nodded. ’Not bad.’ Compared to the shoddy imitation facilities, the way these bones had been processed actually showed signs of genuine experimentation.

The few bones he’d picked up at random, despite having only minor differences, clearly showed variations in processing techniques. This proved Shushu was genuinely dedicated to its work.

’Knowledge is power.’ Isaac was very happy that Shushu understood this!

"HISS~"

Harmon cocked its claw. Mimicking Isaac, it scooped up a handful of bones from the ground, opened its blood-red eyes, and gave them a thorough, feigned inspection. It then nodded its... claw, before tossing the bones back onto the ground with an air of satisfaction.

’My little bro is all grown up!’

Deeper in the cave, a giant skeletal rat five meters tall lay prone on the ground. Unlike the hollow skeletal Undead Isaac was used to, this one’s frame was packed with countless other bones, making it incredibly solid, as if it were made of real flesh.

The Magic Power fluctuations radiating from it were even at Tier Two!

The only imperfection was that the ethereal blue Soul Fire in its eye sockets was rather weak, not enough to sustain such a massive body. But it seemed Shushu already had a solution.

As Isaac and the others watched, Shushu was perched on a high platform, looking down upon the giant skeletal rat. Two enormous, pale bone claws extended from Shushu’s shoulders, periodically grabbing a handful of live rats from a pile, crushing them, and pouring the remains onto different parts of the giant skeleton.

With each application of flesh, the ethereal blue Soul Fire in the skeletal rat’s eyes could be seen slowly growing stronger, bringing it ever closer to becoming a true Tier Two Undead!

This scene, which seemed to defy the law of conservation of energy, astonished Isaac. Normally, no matter how many ordinary creatures were sacrificed, it was impossible to synthesize a high-Tier Existence—let alone a Tier Two, even a Tier One would be impossible.

Mere synthesis was not enough; the process required the involvement of a High-Position Existence.

Take Isaac’s Flesh Conversion, for instance. As a Tier One being, he should only be able to create Tier One Demons. The reason he could create creatures of a higher Tier was because his Talent Spell originated from a Demon and was, in essence, no ordinary Magic.

Yet even with this advantage, he still had to expend a massive amount of energy to create a Tier Two Demon.

But Shushu’s situation was different. Although it was a Divine Species, which only indicated high potential, it was still fundamentally a Tier One creature. Normally, it should only be capable of creating Tier One Undead.

But now...

Isaac watched Shushu’s pale bone claws crush another live rat and stroked his chin thoughtfully. ’That doesn’t look like simple crushing,’ he mused.

At the very least, if the bone claws were just using physical force, the rat wouldn’t be pulverized so evenly, so... smoothly.

You couldn’t get such a uniform, thick paste even if you used a blender...

"Is this its new Authority, Necromancer Tyrant?" Isaac asked, turning to Liu Li with curiosity. He didn’t possess any Authority himself, so he couldn’t tell if that’s what Shushu was using. He could only deduce from his own knowledge that this was no ordinary technique.

Liu Li nodded. "Yes, but it doesn’t seem to realize it’s an Authority. It thinks it’s something it developed through its own research."

Isaac smiled faintly. ’That’s not entirely wrong, though.’ The Authorities a Divine Species obtained were linked to its personal experiences. They weren’t acquired without reason, nor could one just wish for whatever they wanted.

Shushu’s experiment had clearly reached a critical juncture. It was so engrossed that it hadn’t even noticed Isaac’s arrival.

Isaac glanced up, estimating the time. He looked back at the giant skeletal rat, figured there was probably enough time, and led Liu Li and Harmon out of the cave so as not to disturb Shushu.

All that was left was to prepare for battle and wait.

Although the battle on the third island was supposed to be the most intense, for Isaac, it was paradoxically the simplest.

He no longer had any reason to hold back. He could go full Firepower, turn all the Flesh Essence he’d stockpiled over the past two days into Great Sword Ghosts, unleash them, and claim victory.

If he was lucky, he might not even need to activate his Infinite Magic Power.

But Isaac felt that was unrealistic. Though he had accumulated enough Flesh Essence from the last two days of Hunting to create over three hundred Great Sword Ghosts, his own Magic Power was a bottleneck. He could create three at most in one go before he had to pause and recover. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

His Second Magic Power Source had been successfully refined into a Relic, but energy storage was merely a secondary function. Its primary ability was accelerating Magic Power recovery. When the Relic was active, it could restore his entire Magic Power reserve in about a minute!

A poor man’s Infinite Magic Power!

So his current combat effectiveness... was still rather awkward...

He had too many weaknesses. He’d patch one up, only to find a dozen more.

For a true burst of power, he still had to rely on Infinite Magic Power. Over a thousand Great Sword Ghosts would let him simply steamroll the island!

’I should be able to steamroll it... right?’

Isaac wasn’t so sure anymore. The Sea Race’s performance over the past two days had shaken his confidence. While the gains had been substantial, he had also witnessed the Sea Race’s immense potential for War.

And so, a peaceful night passed. As the morning sun washed over his face, Isaac cracked his neck and pulled the bronze-encased Flesh Gemstone from his Wizard Robe, preparing to activate Infinite Magic Power at a moment’s notice.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK~"

The instant the sunlight broke through, a dripping wet Shushu shook itself dry, scrambled up to Isaac’s shoulder, and began squeaking triumphantly while brandishing its claws.

The Necromancer Tyrant had been completed half an hour earlier. But just as Shushu was about to climb back onto Isaac’s shoulder, Liu Li had snatched it, found a small stream, and tossed it in for a thorough washing.

The effect was rather mediocre, however. Shushu was no Ordinary rat; being domesticated, it already had a habit of cleaning itself with Magic Power and wasn’t dirty to begin with.

It was just that after spending two days steeped in an environment with a high concentration of Necromancy Magic Power, its fur had inevitably become saturated with it. The result, for Isaac and the others, was an unparalleled stench of decay.

This stench originated from Magic Power and couldn’t be washed away. Thus, even after Liu Li had tossed it into the water and scrubbed it fiercely for over ten minutes, Shushu still reeked of decay.

Isaac had no solution for this; at least, he didn’t know how to handle it. Although he possessed the Black Orc God’s Forbidden Knowledge regarding Skeleton Magic, he had no intention of delving deeply into the domain of the Undead, and thus had no knowledge of any corresponding deodorizing techniques.

Fortunately, after a whole night, Isaac had more or less grown accustomed to the smell. It was no longer unbearable.

Besides, Shushu had worked so hard. It would be heartless of him to push it away now.

"BOOM!"

Time slowly ticked by. Soon, the golden barrier over the third island began to dissipate, and Isaac and his companions started to be teleported away...

The War for the Islands: The Final Battle, Begins!