Chapter 8

"Your defense mission is complete. You have eliminated three boss-level creatures. Your rating has increased by 50%. Your original rating was A+, and it is now S+. Your mission rewards are being calculated."

"Calculation complete. Your mission completion rating is S+. You are the first player to successfully complete an A-level defense mission. You will receive an additional reward. Please choose from the following rewards."

The system quickly tallied Lin Han's defense performance for this mission: five waves of attacks, three boss-level creatures, nearly 2,700 offensive units in total, and even a hidden unit type. Such a terrifying offensive lineup deserved an S+ rating, which made Lin Han quite excited. The higher the defense mission rating, the better the rewards after completing the mission.

"Please choose from the following three rewards. After making your choice, you will receive an additional special item—the Contract of the Netherworld."

In Lin Han's great anticipation, the system finally presented the three rewards. Lin Han took one look and almost fainted. These rewards were too disappointing!

"Reward One: 100 units each of ore, stone, and wood; 20 units each of mercury, sulfur, and gems; one Level 2 Town Heart; a random Level 3 green treasure; and three Level 1 unit cards [50 units each] and two Level 2 unit cards [30 units each]."

"Reward Two: 120 units each of ore, stone, and wood; 25 units each of mercury, sulfur, and gems; four Level 1 unit cards [50 units each] of Skeleton Archers; a hidden unit building blueprint—House of Dead Souls; and a Level 4 green town treasure—Horn of Harvest."

"Reward Three: Four Level 1 unit cards [50 units each] of Skeleton Archers; two Level 2 unit cards [30 units each] of Bone Heavy Crossbowmen; two Level 1 unit cards [15 units each] of Zombies; and a random Level 4 green treasure."

To be honest, for anyone else, these rewards would be incredibly generous. However, for Lin Han, they were too meager, not matching the S+ rating at all. His only hope now was the special item—the Contract of the Netherworld. If the rewards were significantly reduced, it must be because this special reward took up a large portion of the reward value.

"You have chosen Reward Two. You have received 120 units each of ore, wood, and stone; 25 units each of rare resources—mercury, sulfur, and gems; four unit cards [50 units each] of Skeleton Archers; a hidden unit building blueprint—House of Dead Souls; a Level 4 green town treasure—Horn of Harvest; and an additional reward—the Contract of the Netherworld."

After some consideration, Lin Han ultimately chose Reward Two. Although Reward One included the Level 2 Town Heart, which he currently lacked, it was not a rare item. Lin Han's Dragon Domain portal was already built, and once he resolved the issues here, he could directly teleport to Dragon City. In Dragon City, he remembered several places where NPCs randomly sold Town Hearts. These items were initially discovered by a few players, who recorded the NPCs. In the early stages, Town Hearts were highly priced, but the prices dropped after the secret was revealed.

Reward Three looked good, but the Zombie unit cards were a letdown, and the hidden unit building blueprint was very expensive. In terms of cost-effectiveness, Reward Two was the best.

"Contract of the Netherworld: Special item. Using it will initiate the mission—Netherworld Pact. Completing it will unlock a new unit and building tree—Netherworld Undead."

"This is actually a hidden race unlock item?!"

Seeing this, Lin Han's breathing became heavy. Hidden races were a special existence in the Eternal Kingdom, just like hidden units, which rarely appeared in players' fields of view. However, no one could deny their power. In the later stages, players with a large number of hidden units could instantly turn the tide of battle. It seemed the system had not let him down by giving him such a big gift.

Resisting the urge to use the contract immediately, Lin Han entered the Great Cemetery to check the town's status. This battle was truly a mix of danger and opportunity. Lin Han lost four Level 2 Wraith Towers, and the four newly built Wraith Towers were also destroyed. The city wall was breached, and most importantly, the Great Cemetery's durability was reduced by nearly half.

Unlike other buildings, the Great Cemetery could not be repaired by small skeletons; it could only recover on its own. A Level 1 Great Cemetery could recover 20 durability points per minute, which somewhat prevented players from using its powerful attack and defense to quickly clear wild monsters in the early stages. If players could lure wild monsters to the Great Cemetery, the Great Cemetery would join the battle once the monsters dragged the player into combat.

If this were the case, the Necropolis would be the fastest-developing race in the early stages, which would be extremely unfair to the game. Therefore, the system imposed restrictions on the Great Cemetery, making it unrepairable. If a player really intended to do this, once the monsters breached the city, a damaged Great Cemetery would mean the player would be directly exiled.

"Repair the city wall and rebuild the Wraith Towers. The blacksmith shop should forge black armor-piercing crossbows. Hmm, let's forge 200 first."

After issuing the construction orders, Lin Han immediately led the 200 new Skeleton Archers out of the city to clear the area. Many groups of 20-30 skeletons, bones, zombies, and ghouls appeared outside the city, left over from the monster siege. Players could clear these monsters after defending the city, and they usually dropped resources. With good luck, they might even drop some treasures.

Lin Han's purpose in clearing these monsters was not for resources but because he was just 100 points away from reaching Level 3 Lord. The new Skeleton Archers needed to level up to Bone Heavy Crossbowmen, which required a lot of grinding. Once they became Bone Heavy Crossbowmen and equipped with black armor-piercing crossbows, Lin Han would have a strong ranged attack force.

"Please note, your city wall has been repaired."

"Please note, the Wraith Tower has been built."

"Please note, the Wraith Tower has been built."

When Lin Han returned to the town, three notifications appeared simultaneously. He immediately chose to upgrade the Wraith Towers to Level 2 and brought the Skeleton Archers to the Bone Training Ground, upgrading all 200 units to Bone Heavy Crossbowmen.

As for Lin Han, he successfully reached Level 3 Lord. At Level 3, he drew a very good racial skill—Dark Wind. This skill increased the movement speed of all his undead units by 0.3 meters per second. Unfortunately, the skill could not be upgraded, but it greatly compensated for the lack of mobility in his early units. As for the enhanced skill, he was very lucky and randomly drew Basic Ranged Resistance. After learning it, all his units would take 15% less ranged damage. If upgraded to Advanced, 45% less ranged damage, which would be extremely powerful.

"This is a unique portal. The other side leads to the Dragon Domain. Do you want to teleport to the Dragon Domain? Please note, when you are in the Dragon Domain, your town can still be attacked by enemies or wild monsters. Be prepared to defend it at any time."

After arranging everything, Lin Han led the Bone Heavy Crossbowmen to the Dragon Domain portal. A prompt immediately appeared. The Dragon Domain was the easiest place for players of the same race to interact in the Eternal Kingdom, but once a lord entered the Dragon Domain, the city could easily be raided if there was no hero. Therefore, such a prompt appeared before entering the Dragon Domain portal.

"Enter!"

Lin Han was not very worried. At this stage, players had limited troops, and a flood of monsters like during the siege was impossible. The initial granite city wall could hold out until Lin Han returned if danger arose. The Wraith Towers, soon to be upgraded to Level 2, would be a powerful weapon in the early stages. Any players trying to harass him would regret their actions.

"1000 gold coins deducted. Teleporting. Destination—Dragon Domain!"

After deducting 1000 gold coins, the portal glowed brightly. Lin Han's vision turned white, and when the white light disappeared, he found himself on a vast, empty street. "Phew, I'm back, Dragon City." Looking at the familiar buildings on both sides of the street, Lin Han smiled. He had seen this scene many times in his previous life, but the streets were always crowded with players. This was the first time the street was completely empty.

"Clank!" "Clank!"

Lin Han walked slowly, the sound of metal hitting the ground echoing sharply in the quiet street. The Black Warrior, the hero image he chose when he first entered the game, was a warrior fully covered in black armor, fighting to maintain his former glory. This was the Black Warrior, Lin Han's favorite unit in his previous life, with a vast branch of upgrades, reaching up to the legendary unit—The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the four strongest knights in the Netherworld!

"Is this it?"

Under the watchful eyes of many NPCs, Lin Han entered a small alley. Following his vague memory, he navigated through the twists and turns and finally arrived at a very inconspicuous shop. Looking at the messy items outside the shop, Lin Han's lips curved into a smile. Judging by its appearance, few would know that this was the shop that caused a frenzy among players in his previous life.

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