Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

From then on, Anri made her home on the island of death.

She lived in a room on the third floor of the cathedral by the window, where she could see a gray sky and a black sea in the distance.

Every morning she helps Gregor organize the equipment, in the afternoon she watches the patrolling skeleton soldiers on the island, and in the evening she goes back to her room to read.

Time passed slowly, but she wasn't in a hurry.

She is gradually unveiling the mystery of this world.

Meanwhile, the construction of spaceships in the goblin world has entered a critical stage.

The entire goblin world was mobilized, with factories working together to manufacture intricate parts, which were then transported to military bases outside the capital for assembly.

Engineers worked day and night to debug the equipment, and astronauts trained in the simulator every day.

The goblin emperor Haru stood on the observatory, looking at the spaceships in the distance, wondering how long it would take before they could set sail.

...

In the Sea of ​​Death, a research vessel got lost.

The boat is not large, about forty meters long and ten meters wide, and its hull is painted dark blue.

There were more than thirty goblins on board, half of whom were researchers and the other half were naval personnel.

Their mission was to locate the missing cathedral, after eight days adrift on the Sea of ​​Death.

The instruments malfunctioned, the compass spun erratically, and the communication equipment could only emit a hissing noise.

The fog here is getting thicker and thicker, the grayish-white fog clinging to the hull and constantly seeping into the interior of the ship.

The research vessel's engines were running at maximum speed, but the ship's speed was only one-third of normal.

The captain stood in the cockpit, his hands gripping the control panel, his fingernails digging into the gaps in the metal panel.

His eyes were fixed on the fog ahead, his pupils reflecting a grayish-white light.

"Is the instrument still not sending a signal?" His voice was hoarse.

The first mate stood next to him, holding a tablet with static on the screen.

"No, all navigation devices have been malfunctioning since yesterday afternoon. The compass is spinning wildly, there's no satellite signal at all, and even the compass is going crazy."

The captain remained silent for a few moments.

How much supplies are left?

The first mate flipped through the notebook.

"The desalination machine is working properly, so we don't need to worry about fresh water. We have enough dry rations for two days and enough fuel to run for two days."

The captain lowered his hand from the control panel and let it hang at his sides. His lips moved slightly, but he didn't make a sound.

Two days?

Can they cross the Sea of ​​Death in two days?

There were also a few goblins in the cockpit.

A young navigator sat in the corner, hugging his knees and burying his face in his arms.

An elderly mechanic squatted under the control panel, holding a wrench, unsure of what to fix.

The communications soldier wore headphones, but there was only static in them. He called again and again, waiting again and again, but there was no response.

"Are we going to die here?" The navigator's voice came from the crook of his arm, muffled.

No one answered him.

The mechanic crawled out from under the control panel, sat on the ground, and the wrench lay at his feet.

"Damn it, the Sea of ​​Death lives up to its name. I've worked in mechanics for most of my life, repairing spaceships, submarines, and magic tanks, and I've never encountered anything like this before."

"The simultaneous failure of all equipment is not a malfunction; there's a problem here."

He pointed to the ground. "There's something wrong with this sea."

The first mate placed the tablet on the control panel, walked to the window, and looked at the fog outside.

"The Sea of ​​Death is a forbidden zone. We shouldn't have come in."

The captain turned around and looked at the first mate.

"How can we complete the mission if we don't come in? His Majesty the Emperor wants us to find the location of the cathedral. The Temple of the Supreme God is very likely somewhere in this sea."

"If we can't find it, another group of people will come. If the next group can't find it, there will be another group after that. Someone has to find it eventually."

The first mate remained silent.

But these pioneers are about to die!

Just then, a sailor ran up from below the cabin, panting heavily.

"Captain, there's a strange noise coming from under the hull, like something is scraping against the bottom."

The captain frowned slightly. "Have the chief engineer check it."

The sailor ran off.

A few minutes later, the chief engineer's voice came through the walkie-talkie, accompanied by static.

"Captain, there's a sudden increase in the amount of debris attached to the hull. It looks like seaweed, but it's not seaweed. It's black in color, and when I scraped it with a knife, the sap that came out was gray."

The captain picked up the walkie-talkie. "Quickly remove the debris, and report any abnormalities immediately."

The ship lurched violently.

The people in the cockpit were thrown about, and the navigator slid out from the corner and crashed into the wall.

The mechanic steadied the control panel, the wrench rolled to the doorway, and the captain gripped the window frame, feeling uneasy.

"Did it run aground?" The first mate's voice was tense.

The chief engineer's voice came through the intercom, even more urgent than before. "Captain, something's hitting the hull! It's not a reef, it's alive! It's moving!"

The ship rocked again, more violently than before.

The lights in the cockpit flickered a few times and then went out. The emergency lights came on, their red glow illuminating everyone's pale faces.

The navigator was so frightened he almost cried, and he tightly closed his eyes to pray.

The mechanic picked up the wrench from the ground, held it in his hand, unsure of what to do with it.

The first mate, leaning against the wall, walked to the weapons cabinet, opened the door, took out a magic crystal rifle, and checked the energy magazine.

The captain stood by the window, looking at the fog outside, without saying a word.

Everything is uncertain now, making him unsure of what to do.

The communications soldier took off his headset and stood up. "No signal, nothing can be transmitted."

The captain drew his pistol from his waist, checked the power, and put it back. "Keep sending messages until someone responds."

The communications soldier put his headset back on and pressed the call button.

"Help! Help! This is Explorer 7. We've lost our way in the Sea of ​​Death. Requesting assistance! Help! Help..."

No one responded.

The ship stopped rocking.

After a few minutes of silence, the only sounds in the cockpit were the low calls of the communications soldier and the occasional beeping of the instruments.

On the deck, several sailors stared intently at the grayish-white fog before them, hoping to see a glimmer of life.

An elderly man and a young boy were leaning against the railing.

"Do you think we can get back alive?" the young sailor asked in a low voice.

The old sailor did not answer, but stared at the distant fog for a long time in silence.

"The Most High God will protect us."

The young sailor gave a wry smile. "Will the Most High God help us find the cathedral?"

The old sailor patted him on the shoulder. "The Supreme God has his own plan."

Just then, another sailor on deck suddenly shouted excitedly, "Land! There's land ahead!"

The people in the cockpit rushed to the windows at the same time.

The first mate pushed open the window, leaned half his body out, and looked ahead.

The fog lifted somewhat, revealing a dark coastline.

The coastline is very long, stretching to both sides and seemingly endless. There is black scorched earth on the shore, grayish-white mist, and faintly protruding hills.

"It's an island!" The first mate's voice trembled.

"A large island!"

The captain picked up his binoculars and looked toward the island.

His gaze shifted from the coastline to the interior of the island, from the scorched earth to the fog, and from the fog to the hills.

At that moment, his telescope stopped.

Something was moving on the island. After adjusting the focus and taking a closer look, I was shocked to discover that it was a group of skeletons!

One by one, the white bodies moved in neat squares across the black, scorched earth.

They moved in unison, with equal spacing, from east to west and from south to north.

What the hell is that?!