Chapter 562, An Imperial Edict? And It's Rolled Up
Uh...
Wu Heng glanced at Xiaoxiao.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "It's the first day of sales, and it's a new concept. People won't accept it immediately. It'll get better over time."
In this world, just being literate already eliminates a large portion of potential readers.
The remaining people, upon hearing that words written on paper are being sold for 65 copper coins, naturally find it hard to accept for now.
But aside from regular residents, Gold-Silver Island also has various trade caravans and factions from different races.
Spending a few dozen copper to gather information isn't much of an expense for them.
"When do you plan to release the next issue? If you wait too long, people might forget about it," Glenda asked.
"Three days. City Hall also needs time to compile the latest intelligence and news. We'll release it alongside the novel," Wu Heng replied.
"I'll have the next chapter ready by then. Should we print more copies?" Glenda asked.
"Up to you. If we print more, it'll be more work."
"No problem. Unlike you, we don't need rest. We can handle it," Glenda smiled.
"Alright, I appreciate it."
...…
After lunch at the island lord's manor—
Wu Heng opened the realm gate and headed to the zombie world.
Stepping out of the dormitory building—
He saw a large group of skeletal Vampire figures gathered around.
They occupied the ground, the rooftops, and some hovered in the air.
The passing survivors were visibly wary.
"Follow me," Wu Heng ordered, leading the horde of skeletal Vampire figures toward the outskirts of the industrial complex.
They marched all the way to the wooded area in the back.
Wu Heng had the Vampire skeletons land and wait.
He then retrieved another Vampire corpse from his spatial ring.
This was the first exile he had found.
The moment the stone coffin was opened, he had the surrounding skeletons fire on it immediately, killing it on the spot.
At the time, he hadn't decided what to do with it, so he stored it in the spatial ring.
Later, when he encountered the Fifth Fleet of the Blood Knight Order, he had converted the rest of the Vampire corpses into skeletons during battle to help deal with flying enemies.
Now, only this one remained, so there were no second thoughts about it.
It was time for conversion.
He had already submitted a report to Lilith. Besides, there were no bodies left to find, and no one would see the skeletons.
[Raise Skeleton] activated, stripping the flesh from the corpse.
A skeleton slowly stood up.
[Skeleton Blood Mage (Level 18)].
Looking at it now, the Vampire really had impressive overall strength.
Was it easier for them to level up?
That shouldn't be the case—the Fifth Fleet had many casualties, yet their levels weren't particularly high.
Plus, Lilith was ruthless.
When pirates reached level 18, the guild granted them amnesty.
Lilith, on the other hand, outright sealed away four level 18 members of her own race.
That woman was not to be trifled with.
She already looked like a handful.
Wu Heng continued examining the attributes of the Vampire skeleton.
[Skeleton Blood Mage]
[Attributes: Constitution 42, Strength 35, Agility 55, Intelligence 48, Perception 40, Charisma 25.]
[Traits: Hollow Skeleton, Advanced Soul, Flight.]
[Proficiencies: Light Armor Mastery (Advanced), Cloth Armor Mastery (Master), Staff Mastery (Master), Dagger Mastery (Advanced).]
[Skills: Blood Magic, Blood Mist Form, Blood Plague.]
[Blood Magic]: Dark energy-based blood magic, commonly used for attacks such as blood spears and blood-colored missiles.
[Blood Mist Form]: Transforms into a blood mist for mobility.
[Blood Plague]: Creates a unique area where the plague infuses into blood, causing persistent damage. While within the area, blood magic effects are increased by 100%.
...…
This Vampire skeleton was clearly a mage-type.
But its attributes were more specialized.
Agility and Intelligence were the highest, while Constitution and Perception were also above 40.
Other than their blood-drinking nature and vulnerability to sunlight, the Vampire was indeed powerful.
As for traits—
Advanced Soul meant it had higher intelligence and comprehension.
In other words, it was nearly as autonomous as an independent being.
The next trait was Flight.
The Vampire's natural ability to fly was also one of Wu Heng's favorite traits.
Whether or not you could fly mattered a lot.
Moving on to skills—
The good part—
The blood mage had retained three of its original skills.
Previously, converted mages lost all their skills and had to relearn necromantic magic.
Based on the descriptions—
Blood Magic was a form of dark energy magic, somewhat similar to necromantic magic.
Perhaps it simply took a different developmental path.
Three skills in total: Blood Magic, which included blood spears and blood-colored missiles.
He had seen this used in battle before.
Blood Mist Form, which allowed it to transform into mist for movement—useful for both offense and escape.
The last one was Blood Plague, which infused the plague into the blood of living beings within the area, causing damage and enhancing spellcasting effectiveness.
This was probably equivalent to a level 18 Professional's domain ability.
And "plague infusing into blood" clearly referred to living creatures.
The undead wouldn't be affected by the plague.
Overall, it wasn't bad.
...…
"Come here," Wu Heng turned to another skeletal Vampire figure.
This was the one capable of rapid blinking—[Skeleton Blood Assassin].
He checked its attributes.
The basic stats were similar, but he focused on the skills.
[Skills: Blood Mist Form, Shadow Stab, Blood Domain.]
[Shadow Stab]: Transforms into blood mist and reappears around the target for assassination.
[Blood Domain]: Mastery of assassination has reached an exalted level. For a certain period, an area of personal domain is formed, granting immunity to attacks.
The Blood Assassin's specialty was clear.
It was built for assassination.
And its ability to blink around while Wu Heng was shooting at it—
That must have been [Blood Domain], a temporary immunity to attacks.
Even if he hadn't used the church insignia to kill it back then, once its skill duration expired,
He still could have killed it.
But he had to admit—that skill was pretty intimidating.
After reviewing the attributes—
Wu Heng spoke to the Blood Assassin, "From now on, you're Blood One."
Then he turned to the two Blood Mages. "You're Blood Two, and you're Blood Three."
"You three, come with me. The rest, stay here and wait."
With that, Wu Heng led the three skeletons back.
...…
Back at the industrial complex—
Qi Hancai was already waiting at the entrance.
As Wu Heng approached, her gaze fell on the three skeletal figures with wings. "New skeletons?"
"Yeah. Blood One, Blood Two, Blood Three," Wu Heng introduced. Then he addressed the skeletons, "When I'm not here, you take orders from her too."
Qi Hancai raised an eyebrow. "Vampire?"
"Don't they look like vampires from TV? The name is easy to remember," Wu Heng explained.
"Oh, for a second, I thought you actually killed some vampires and brought them back!"
"No way! Come on, let's head to the conference room."
Inside the conference room—
Qi Hancai gave Wu Heng a rundown of what had happened in his absence.
The central hub had come for another trade.
They brought howitzers, machine guns, and gold in exchange for food supplies.
As for the Tiancheng Group incident, no one mentioned it—both sides acted like it never happened.
The trade went smoothly, and they exchanged some intelligence as well.
Second, a few cities had restored their electricity supply, allowing for unrestricted power usage.
Third, Tiancheng Group continued its firearms and ammunition research, with Zhang Chi transferring from the old factory district in Xinfu City to assist in model simulations.
Wu Heng was quite satisfied with these developments.
Once the briefing ended—
Wu Heng said, "I plan to select a team to accompany the skeletons to other cities, clearing zombies and rescuing survivors."
"Having others lead the team? That might be difficult," Qi Hancai frowned.
People in the apocalypse had courage when facing zombies—
They were no longer as terrified as they once were.
But expecting them to face an overwhelming horde? That was another story.
"I'm not asking them to lead," Wu Heng clarified. "The skeletons with command capabilities will lead the battles. The team members will handle survivors and report back to us."
Qi Hancai understood. "That should work. I'd recommend the people I brought from Dong'an Village, as well as Yanhong's old auto shop crew. They fully trust us and should be able to handle this."
"Discuss it with Li Yanhong, select a few, and send them here. I'll brief them," Wu Heng said.
Qi Hancai nodded. "Got it. I'll bring it up right away."
...…
With the important matters settled—
Wu Heng turned to her again.
After some thought, he took out a rolled-up scroll and placed it on the table.
Qi Hancai raised an eyebrow.
She looked at it with curiosity.
"An imperial edict? And it's rolled up?"