Chapter 44: Someone’s going to feed kills?

Now he could focus on crafting automatons with peace of mind. His goal was clear: use his alchemy to transform his territory into an automated stronghold.

To achieve this, automatons and robots were the most crucial elements. Once completed, the territory would develop at a rapid pace without needing refugees, who were an unstable population source.

In his previous life, refugees had scammed many a Lord; theft was a minor issue, but some were spies for other factions—a true Infernal Affairs situation.

Returning to automation, major guilds in his past life mostly used Goblin robots to gather resources, while they rarely touched automatons.

The reasons lay in the Alchemists’ Union’s export restrictions and the exorbitant prices.

A maid-type automaton core cost 10,000 gold coins, and that “core” only provided basic functions. Unlocking a maid’s duties and combat capabilities required paying extra—much like buying a game base and then paying for DLCs.

Unlocking a complete set often cost even more than a Goblin robot…

Buying one just to mess around was fine, but buying many was simply not worth it.

“Servant, what are you doing here?”

Unable to find Qin Yu outside, Yin Feixue made her way down to the underground warehouse, which Qin Yu had converted into an automaton workshop. Luna was there, helping out as an assistant.

“Idlers keep out!”

Luna blocked Yin Feixue from entering, pointing to a sign hanging nearby. This time, she was definitely going to use her position for personal revenge.

Yin Feixue tried to enter, but Luna blocked her path at every turn.

“Servant’s servant, you should think carefully about your method of death before blocking your master’s master.”

The two of them locked horns immediately. If a fight broke out here, Qin Yu’s newly finished workshop would likely be blown to smithereens.

“Luna, let Xiao Xue in.”

“Hmph, you just spoil her.”

Luna snorted and let Yin Feixue pass. Her mindset had undergone subtle changes; initially, she had deeply hated Qin Yu and Yin Feixue for tricking her.

Now, she had practically become Qin Yu’s automaton partner. The reason she and Yin Feixue didn’t see eye to eye was simply because Qin Yu treated Yin Feixue better than anyone else.

However, Luna hadn’t yet realized this shift in her own mentality.

“Servant, are you trying to make something like your servant?”

Seeing several automaton prototypes in the workshop, Yin Feixue asked.

“If only it were that simple. Luna’s body is a divine automaton core crafted by a Grandmaster Alchemist using his life’s work; the materials used for it are currently unobtainable. What I’m making are just very ordinary automatons…”

Qin Yu was holding an automaton’s arm, attaching it to a torso.

There were five lower-tier automaton cores nearly ready here. Qin Yu planned to configure them as maids to handle daily cleaning and maintenance, naming the models [Maid-Type 01] and so on.

As for higher-tier automatons that possessed independent consciousness, they required biological souls for catalysis.

Just like Luna, the stronger the soul, the more powerful the automaton became, though the automaton’s grade had to match.

Automaton core grades were divided into: Lower-Tier (Tiers 1-2), Mid-Tier (Tiers 3-5), Upper-Tier (Tiers 6-7), Special-Tier (Tiers 8-9), and Divine-Tier (Tier 10).

Upper-tier automaton cores required souls to catalyze consciousness, otherwise they were just durable, empty shells.

Collecting souls required the soul’s consent; forcing it would lead to massive complications.

There were other methods, but only Tier 10 gods knew them—for example, Luna.

“Xiao Xue…”

Just as he was about to say something to Yin Feixue, Qin Yu received a message from Don Quixote.

Sugar: “Yu, we have a situation [Image].”

The image sent by Don Quixote was a letter, with a challenge written right at the top.

Qin Yu: “…”

Seeing the challenge letter, Qin Yu was dumbfounded. What was this? He didn’t remember provoking anyone. Why was a guild trying to attack his territory?

Sugar: “Sorry, Yu. This guy has a bit of history with us…”

Don Quixote explained the situation.

Qin Yu: “I understand. Small matter. If he wants to come, we’ll just beat them back.”

Don Quixote, who had been worried Qin Yu would scold her, let out a sigh of relief. They were living under his roof after all, and now they had brought trouble—that wouldn’t do.

Qin Yu glanced at the guild’s name: Ten Directions Extinguished. “Sound familiar…”

In his previous life, this guild had some strength in the early-to-mid game, once surging into the top 200. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, these guilds relied on Divine Realm aid and only possessed the right to use the armies, not own them. When the Divine Realms came to harvest them, the guild collapsed instantly.

“Let me check their current status…”

Qin Yu checked the ranking of Ten Directions Extinguished: 288th place, Level 3, 493 combat power…

Based on the conditions for reaching Level 3, this guild possessed basic army coordination capabilities.

“Pity. If a guild in the top 150 came, I’d be slightly nervous, but this is hardly worth looking at…”

Putting aside the fact that Yin Feixue could wipe them out single-handedly, the Amazon tribe alone could crush their army.

“Their unit quality will make for good combat training. With the territory’s defenses, the children won’t be in mortal danger. It’s killing two birds with one stone.”

Qin Yu was already formulating a strategy; this guild was basically delivering warmth to his doorstep.

“Since they’re coming, we can’t let any of them run away. The Amazon tribe will ambush their retreat path—annihilate them completely.”

Teleportation scrolls might exist, but they were likely limited to a few players. Large-scale teleportation scrolls were expensive and rare, with only a handful of players having access to them, and no one would use them unless absolutely necessary.

***

Inside the Pope’s Hall of the Holy See.

News regarding the undead and the intel Monet brought back were laid out before the Pope and his inner circle.

Now they had to weigh the pros and cons.

“Your Holiness, the Greenskins’ actions are a direct provocation to our Church! We must dispatch a large army to eradicate them completely!”

Upon hearing about the destruction of the cathedral, the Commander of the Temple Legion was furious. This was an affront to the Holy See and the Holy Light; how could such inferior, barbarian creatures commit such an act?

“Commander, now is not the time to act on impulse. The threat of the undead is what we must focus on right now. If we fail to curb the undead invasion in time, it will only result in an irreversible tragedy.”

Though filled with grief and anger over the eastern cathedral, a group of bishops agreed that the war against the undead took precedence.

If the undead weren’t curbed in time, they would eventually become an overwhelming sea of death, turning everywhere they passed into a wasteland.

“I agree with the bishops. Our focus is on the undead right now. The Greenskins are nothing to fear; it won’t be too late to wipe out the Greenskin tribes after we deal with the undead.”

The Commander of the Imperial Guard voiced his opinion.

“Mhm, I also agree to deal with the undead first.”

The Commander of the Judgment Legion echoed.

The majority present supported prioritizing the undead. At that moment, the Pope stood up.

“The minority obeys the majority. Draft the operational strategy against the undead first, and recall the Saintess. The Holy See will now devote its full strength to resisting the undead invasion.”

“Yes!”

The policy was set, and Monet, stationed at the abandoned church in the east, received the recall order.

“I understand…”

It was frustrating, but the undead were indeed a massive threat. Monet had to consider the bigger picture.

“I will avenge you. Any creature that blasphemes the Holy Light shall find no forgiveness…”

Leaving those words behind, Monet and her subordinates returned to the Holy See…