Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 448 Slaughter: The Choice of Evil Spirits Unleashed (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

In the early morning at Ziyun Mountain, the air is filled with a gentle, refreshing scent. A few clear birdsongs drift from afar; these birds, native to Ziyun Mountain, sing even more melodiously than before.

When Gu Liyang woke up from his sleep, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at the huge tree that had already blocked out the sky.

That was the sprout of Ziyun, and also the sprout of Dongxia.

Perhaps one day in the future, it will become the seed of [Blue Star].

But Dongxia wasn't in a hurry at all.

The commander of Cihang once jokingly gave a piece of advice: "The little guy is still growing. Taking care of Dongxia is already hard enough. He can't manage such a big world."

After washing up, Gu Liyang tidied his clothes and quickly entered the restaurant.

During breakfast time in Dongxia, quite a few people were already seated here. As is customary, in order to save time and to ensure that all commanders and decision-makers are informed of the situation as soon as possible so that they can make decisions, the intelligence department will issue a rapid briefing at 7:00 a.m. sharp.

The breakfast session consisted of several routine announcements. Then, an officer suddenly entered the room with an emergency briefing, turning breakfast into a live meeting.

"Distinguished leaders and commanders, based on the information just confirmed, it can be determined that the actions of the Sea Serpents in driving people away from the Ghost Temple area over the past few days were an organized massacre carried out by the remaining government."

"The other side drove people from several nearby refugee camps into the black fog of the Ghost Temple. Because they cunningly used the fog to conceal their actions, their purpose had not been fully confirmed until now. Just last night, several scouts from the Jiuquan Army's Afu International Brigade risked their lives to infiltrate the area and record the scene."

"This is the video footage that was just sent back."

On the big screen, what first appeared was a thick, gloomy black, which at first glance looked as if a layer of ink had been slowly flowing onto the lens with a brush.

The black mist in the Ghost Temple, or rather, the "dark veil," is a concealment mechanism highly adapted to undead creatures. It completely suppresses the creatures' perception system, which is primarily based on sight, and has little effect on undead, who have no eyes.

However, if this high-density "dark canopy" were maintained, the sea serpent soldiers would also dare not enter this area. To facilitate their killing, the concentration of the black fog on the east side of the ghost temple was significantly adjusted, at least enough for people to see vaguely within it.

In the footage, groups of people were driven into the black fog and brought to the front of a barbed wire fence.

That used to be the third line of defense; the barbed wire was used to block the zombies and bones that had escaped from inside the ghost temple. Now, it had become an insurmountable physical barrier for these refugees.

With barbed wire in front of them and bayonets and rifles behind them, the crowd was packed tighter and tighter within this restricted area, like a dough being constantly pounded, or a bus on a busy morning rush hour route.

Until one moment, the space was filled with people, and from within the black mist came the incoherent voice of the sea serpent officer, as if in prayer.

"Fellow citizens!"

"Now is your time to serve the Empire. Show your loyalty to the Empire to the fullest!"

"Long live the Empire!"

In the dim light, the man in military uniform raised his right hand.

He swung it down heavily.

"Da da da da da—!!!"

The roar of the machine gun tore through the air.

It wasn't just one or two slams, but a continuous barrage of ear-splitting explosions. The crowd fell in rows like harvested wheat fields.

The video then cuts to another close-up, showing a camera inside a skull that's being trampled on by a crowd.

Large clumps of "ink" were splashed recklessly in front of the camera, emitting plumes of white smoke. Viewers knew that it was blood, its color obscured by the black mist, still warm, gushing from a human body.

The crowd tried to flee like a frightened herd of animals, but to no avail; there were people everywhere, and gunfire echoed everywhere.

In just a few dozen seconds, the area in front of the camera was covered with layers upon layers of corpses, and a few bodies still twitching slightly. Blood flowed into a river on the ground, and the Sea Serpent soldiers in their military boots walked through the blood, their light machine guns and bayonets delivering the final blows to the area.

A severed hand flew over and landed with a thud in front of the camera, its fingers still twitching repeatedly.

The final shot shows an officer wielding a samurai sword, the long blade slashing diagonally, in a very standard kendo stance, with a flick and a sweep, sending a large chunk of his body, of unknown origin, flying high into the air.

Darkness once again engulfed the earth, obscuring all images in front of the camera, and peace returned.

The restaurant was quiet, with only rapid breathing being the only sound.

That's the situation!

The intelligence officer switched the screen, displaying several satellite photos taken at different times for comparison.

"Based on the available information, the Sea Serpent Guardian Government has concentrated all its remaining troops near the city of paste, completely abandoning the defense against the undead, and is now fully committed to driving the crowds out of the black mist of the Ghost Temple."

"They are sending the dead to the ghost temple."

"The exact number is currently unknown. Based on available data, it is estimated that at least two million people, or possibly more, were driven into the haunted temple area in the past 24 hours."

"Are these guys crazy?"

A young staff officer had just taken his first bite of breakfast when he was forcibly detained here for more than ten minutes. He only came to his senses after the intelligence department finished its report. Looking at the black buckwheat buns in front of him, he suddenly felt nauseous.

"What's wrong with them? Isn't this how they've always been?"

Gu Liyang drank the last sip of soy milk, pushed the plate into the recycling bin on the side of the table, and quickly walked over to the elders.

Just then, I overheard an army officer from next door asking, "Should we intervene?"

"Why interfere? Under what pretext? How to interfere?"

The speaker was the Army Chief of Staff. His three consecutive questions instantly silenced the burgeoning discussion. After a long while, someone whispered, "They...they are massacring..."

"Of course I know they are committing a massacre!"

"The whole planet knows they're committing massacres, but so what? Has anyone ever done anything about them before?"

"Believe it or not, if we intervene, this crime might end up being pinned on us!"

"Keep your voice down, other people are still eating!"

The commander-in-chief of [Cihang] tapped the table lightly with the end of his chopsticks, interrupting the chief of staff's aggressive words: "Let the various departments discuss and see what reasonable way to handle this matter."

"We will selectively release some information and also see how other countries react. The affairs of Blue Star are not just our own business. Before all countries fully recognize our jurisdiction over the Sea Serpent, we have neither the right nor the obligation to deal with emergencies within the Sea Serpent's territory."

"They have a government!"

"Commander, what about those civilians... are we just going to ignore them? There are... there are probably Dongxia people among them!"

"I can't control it!"

Gu Liyang, who was nearby, quickly picked up the conversation: "We can't control them at all. Since those people of Dongxia or Dongxia have chosen not to come back, we certainly can't force them to change their choices."

"The same goes for sea serpents; these people chose their government and their path. This was true decades ago, and it remains true today."

"We must respect their choices."

"If they're stupid, we can't save them; if they're bad, we don't need to."

There is no savior, and we have no obligation to pay the price for other people's choices.

There are some things that the commanders can't say, but Gu Liyang doesn't care.

If the circumstances had allowed, he would have even liked to play a song on site.

There's nothing I can do, I just don't have high moral standards!
Having forcefully suppressed the debate on the field, Gu Liyang turned to the commander of [Cihang].

"Commander, I suggest that in order to ensure the safety of the front-line troops, we should retreat slightly and increase the distance between us."

"We will keep a close watch on the ghost temple during this period, and we are ready to intervene at any time if the situation gets out of control!"

The commander-in-chief nodded: "Alright, your opinions will prevail in matters concerning the military!"

"However, if any survivors enter our controlled area, please rescue them. Don't let the lads on the front lines lose their humanity!"

"understand!"

On the big screen, the view switched back to a complete map of sea snakes.

This land, polluted by nuclear wastewater, by radioactive clouds, by necromantic energy, and of course, by the deepest militaristic ideology, may become cleaner after such a wild cleansing.

Their choices, their price.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Dongxia briefed all countries on the situation.

In reality, it doesn't matter. Most countries knew about the situation even earlier than Dongxia, who was on the scene, because the government that the Sea Serpent was in exile was their puppet.

As the current leader of Earth, White Eagle spokesperson Miller gave a very standard response.

"Regarding the recent humanitarian concerns in the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent region, the White Eagle Federation is maintaining close communication with the Sea Serpent Caretaker Government."

A reporter raised his hand: "Mr. Miller, satellite images show that the Sea Serpent armed forces are driving civilians into the contaminated area on a large scale, and there are credible reports of shooting incidents targeting civilians. What is your comment on this?" Miller's bright smile remained unchanged: "We have noticed the reports, but we have not yet received any verified or credible information. The Sea Serpent caretaker government has assured us that all their actions are to protect civilians from the threat of Eastern Xia's military expansion and to strive to maintain social order under extremely difficult conditions."

"But those civilians were clearly forced into the danger zone—"

“In the complex environment of war and disaster,” Miller interrupted the reporter’s shouts forcefully, “the Sea Serpent authorities have had to take difficult measures to ensure stability on a larger scale. We fully understand this, and at the same time call on all parties to exercise restraint and resolve issues through consultation and dialogue.”

Another reporter stood up: "So, will the White Eagle consider imposing sanctions, or at least condemning, the Sea Serpent?"

Miller's smile became somewhat subtle: "We believe that the most important thing right now is to prevent the situation from deteriorating further. Unilateral blame will not help solve the problem. In fact, the humanitarian situation in the Sea Serpent region could have been greatly improved if certain countries had been able to stop their unilateral military operations."

Miller kept repeating the same points over and over: the situation with the Sea Serpent was complex; the information needed verification; the root of the problem lay with Dongxia; the White Eagle was keeping a close watch; everything was under control…

The President has won again!

Just as Dongxia had predicted, for this group of people, morality? Justice? Those were the most useless and despicable things!
They acted this way when dumping nuclear-contaminated water, and they acted this way when genocide occurred in certain regions. Turning black into white is their specialty.

Moreover, the more dangerous and chaotic this region, which borders Dongxia, the better.

Many people in that land survived on negative information about Dongxia, or on the information that Dongxia would decline, decay, or die in the future.

Order is the mortal enemy of evil!
With the various countries stepping aside and Dongxia retreating, the situation on Sea Serpent Island began to spread rapidly.

Over the past year, it is estimated that more than 15 percent of the population has been lost on Sea Snake Island, but this figure is not accurate because there may be a large number of people who are missing or in hiding.

The rate at which the population was disappearing was already alarming enough, but compared to now, it's nothing at all.

In less than a month, the sea serpent population has truly lost more than 70% of its population.

This is due to a combination of factors. For example, the core urban area of ​​the Sea Serpent is already one of the most densely populated areas, and the rampage of the undead on the outskirts has further accelerated the trend of population concentration.

For example, both the white eagle and the sea snake used methods such as airdropping food and aircraft guidance to further gather crowds, allowing Kenichiro Kishi's military government to easily herd flocks of "sheep" to the slaughterhouse, much like shepherding sheep.

Of course, the accuracy of statistical data is also an important factor.

Kenichiro Kishi inherited the madness of the Sea Serpent soldiers, possessing a morbid obsession with "battle results" and "data." In order to complete the task of delivering "resources" to the Ghost Temple more quickly and effectively, his experts discovered a faster and more efficient method for counting the population.

Estimate using weight.

On several sites leading to the Black Fog area, the Sea Serpent engineers set up large weighbridges, where the unit of measurement for the number of people was no longer individuals, but tons.

According to the estimates of statistical experts, a conversion formula has been given by taking into account factors such as the proportion of each age group, average weight, average clothing, socks, shoes and hats under the current weather conditions, and personal belongings.

This formula is very scientific. Sea snakes are an aging society with a median age of over fifty. There are already few children, and many die young in such a turbulent environment. Therefore, this median age needs to be raised, and the proportion of underweight children will decrease accordingly.

Women are the same; they are more severely affected, and their weight needs to be reduced.

Due to insufficient logistical supplies and significant malnutrition, the average weight will be reduced accordingly.

Thanks to the diligent and meticulous "craftsman spirit" of the sea snake experts, the final calculation results show that for every thousand tons of "people", there are approximately 15,888 individuals.

The numbers are quite auspicious.

The rest was simple. There was no need to count heads anymore. On Kenichiro Kishi's desktop, the daily reports showed that the units for "resources" were now thousands of tons, tens of thousands of tons, hundreds of thousands of tons, millions of tons, and so on.

The suffix is ​​"person"!
Millions of tons of people were thus annihilated in the depths of the black mist of the Ghost Temple.

Sure enough, how could the undead's slaughter efficiency keep up with that of humans?
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Due to the massive replenishment of "resources," the strength of the Ghost Temple is rapidly expanding. To avoid losses, Dongxia has even withdrawn the [Afu International Brigade].

The few ambushes and kills were merely scratching the surface and could not cause any substantial damage to the Ghost Temple.

The black mist over the ghost temple grew larger and denser, spreading along the land of the sea serpent and gradually covering the main island, the southern island, and the northern island. With each tumble, it was accompanied by the faint sounds of wind and thunder.

In contrast, the pitifully small occupied territory of Dongxia was like a slender lotus stem in the mud, teetering on the brink of collapse, as if it were about to be swallowed up at any moment.

All the nations of Earth are eagerly anticipating this creature, nurtured by everyone's collective efforts, to launch a fatal blow against Dongxia.

The evil spirits of the Ghost Temple have maintained close ties with the Sea Serpent government; they say it, and they do it.

After all, no matter how you look at it, the people of Dongxia are being forced to retreat step by step by the Ghost Temple.

Once they overcome that final hurdle, the warriors of the Ghost Temple will cross the sea and launch their most powerful attack on Dongxia.

"We need more resources, we're just a little short!"

Amidst the mad roars of the evil spirits, the completely insane Kishimoto Kenichiro, unable to gather enough survivors, had no choice but to turn his attention to the military and police forces.

In repeated drills where "no guns are required," these men who had just slaughtered the people were immediately sent to the hellish arena to be slaughtered again.

At this point, even the most fervent soldiers sensed something was wrong, and subsequently, several fierce clashes broke out between the various units.

Thanks to the bald eagles, their warships patrolling the open sea provided "steadfast" support to Kenichiro Kishi's caretaker government at this time.

Kenichiro Kishi stood alone atop the Imperial Sky Tower, overlooking the land billowing with black smoke. Apart from a guard behind him, there was no one, no animal, and no sign of any activity in sight.

The commander has exceeded his mission.

Most of the life on the Sea Serpent Island was actively or passively swept into this black fog, while the few remaining lives either escaped to the Eastern Xia camp or struggled in this endless black fog.

Without international support, Dongxia could only accept a very limited number of people, prioritizing the elderly, women, children, engineers, and researchers.

There seem to be some teachers...

Thus, under the watchful eyes of various countries, the Ghost Temple, after sufficient preparation, finally completed its final transformation.

At that moment, the entire land rejoiced.

The evil spirits stepped out of the temple's cage, and all the places shrouded in black mist became their free hunting grounds. Under the command of a group of battle-hardened, experienced old Sea Serpent officers, the temple's undead army launched its largest gathering operation in history.

A massive swarm of flying undead took off from the black mist and flew towards the sea.

Among them are rudimentary bone birds, made up of blackened or pale bones pieced together, which make a "click-clack" sound like grinding wheels when they flap their wings.

Of course, this is just a habitual action; these guys certainly don't fly using these empty wings.

There are also advanced undead known as "Rotten Wings," deformed products born from the combination of ghost temple ruins and modern biological remains, catalyzed by negative energy. Their bodies are haphazardly stitched together from dozens of human and animal corpses, with their surfaces covered in half-rotten skin and exposed muscle tissue.

The wings hanging on its back are six to eight "membrane wings" forcibly pieced together from metal scraps, plastic sheets, and leather.

The most oppressive of all are the giant undead entities that rely on various types of flying machines.

The underlying frame is still vaguely discernible from its shape, suggesting it could be a military transport aircraft, fighter jet, or even a large passenger plane. The aircraft's metal frame is heavily corroded, and the damaged skin reveals entangled, pulsating dark red nodular tissue. Instead of flames, the engines spew out grayish-black smoke mixed with negative energy.

On the surface of these aircraft, all sorts of undead creatures are densely attached and growing, as if welded to metal. Relying on this giant "flying coffin," they have broken free from the constraints of the land and become undead flying fortresses for outward exploration.

After they took off, they circled in the air and gathered into a dark cloud of death.

In that instant, Kenichiro Kishi felt every bone and muscle in his body was emitting a blissful cry.

He succeeded!

The spirits of the dead swirled in the air, heading north, east, and south...

No westward!

As was the case before, the Ghost Temple army once again bypassed the Eastern Xia's controlled area and launched attacks in all directions.

Unfortunately, these self-righteous guys never learn their lesson.

"what happened?"

Unbelievable, Kenichiro Kishi roared wildly as he charged headlong into the thick black fog.

Unfortunately, all the evil spirits of the Ghost Temple were out "busy" today, and only a former priest, now a lich of the Ghost Temple, delivered a cold message to him.

"Resources...are still not enough..."

"What you've supplied... is far from enough..."

"We need...more...life..."

Kenichiro Kishi was struck dumb, and roared, "The whole island! You can have the whole island's people!"

"not enough……"

"We need to go elsewhere and devour more lives..."

"Only by accumulating...accumulating more strength...can we defeat the enemy opposite us."

(End of this chapter)