Chapter Thirteen: The Bone King
Page 1
Wang Xiao took a moment to understand the whole situation—it turned out that Xia Mengsi had been reselling goods through a goblin merchant. Xia Mengsi was lucky enough to encounter the goblin merchant before anyone else did, and now those she had swindled were starting to denounce her. She was a tough character; if it were me, I’d have gone straight to their doorstep—why waste words when you can settle things with your fists? I don’t have the patience for shouting matches. If you refuse, then I’ll make you submit.
Wang Xiao gazed at the bone house before him, marveling at his uncanny connection with bones. “Come, let’s let our little skeleton out to play.”
[Name: Unnamed (Unbound)
Race: Undead
Quality: Black Iron (Upgradeable)
Skill: Devour
Combat Power: 5
Comment: Exceptional growth potential, an extremely rare existence, possesses extraordinary skills, but all have been stifled in the cradle.]
“I’ll name you Bone King!” he announced. “At least you’ll have ‘King’ in your name.”
Wang Xiao released the little skeleton—it was truly tiny, only twenty centimeters tall. It looked just like a toy, frail and flimsy, as if the bones had been stitched together in jest. Was this really a combat power of five? He wasn’t convinced.
“Little Bone, from today onward, you’ll live the good life with me!” Wang Xiao had given him this nickname.
Little Bone stared blankly at Wang Xiao, the soul fire in his eye sockets flickering. Wang Xiao felt a nervous chill—“Hey, don’t get too excited, I don’t want you to just fizzle out.”
Wang Xiao carefully picked Little Bone up. “What do you want to eat, Little Bone?”
The skeleton tilted his head slightly, still dazed. Wang Xiao simply watched him, man and pet frozen in place.
Alright, I admit defeat.
He placed Little Bone upright on the table. “Little Bone, I have other things to take care of now. Wait here for me, okay?”
The skeleton continued to stare at him blankly.
“…”
Alright, I trust you’ll grow smarter. Keep it up! You’re the fattest—no, you’re the greatest!
Wang Xiao turned to leave the bone house, and just as he approached the door, he heard a sharp, heartbreaking sound.
Crack.
Clear and distressing.
Good heavens, what on earth—how could you be so foolish?
Page 2
Wang Xiao looked at the pile of bones on the ground. “Hey, don’t tell me you’re gone for good?”
He started to suspect that this race was doomed to self-destruction.
Wait—he’s moving?
Building model kits? That’s my favorite!
Ten minutes later…
“Perfect! Nice!”
Little Bone stared blankly at the extra bone on the table, eyes fixed.
“Cough, Little Bone, that’s not yours,” Wang Xiao said, turning the skeleton’s head away.
But as soon as he let go, Little Bone turned his head back, staring at the bone.
“Fine, fine. If you don’t like staying indoors, come with me.”
Wang Xiao picked him up again. Little Bone grabbed the bone, stared intently at Wang Xiao, and then attached it to himself.
“Well now, you can assemble yourself, huh?”
Outside the bone house, Wang Xiao chose to use a Farm Card.
[Ding! You have obtained a farm! In the farm, you can plant crops and raise livestock.]
A two-hundred-square-meter farm appeared before him, half a greenhouse, half a field. The soil was as ordinary as it could be, only marginally better than the soil in the mist. Are you sure anything can actually grow here?
As for the greenhouse—ha, what a joke! Just a few scraps of cloth stretched over some wooden poles, the kind you can stargaze through at night—except there are no stars here.
[Soil: Level 0 soil.
Can grow most common crops, but yields only 60% of harvest. Can be upgraded with special materials.
Greenhouse: Level 0 greenhouse.
A rudimentary greenhouse, so shabby even dogs wouldn’t stay inside. Beware, your animals might sneak out. Can be upgraded with special materials.]
Is this the Syrian version of a farm? What’s the point of planting anything here?
And those so-called special materials—this stumped Wang Xiao. Special materials, but what exactly?
[Detected special materials in your backpack: Dragon Blood (misc), Dragon Bones (misc), can be used to upgrade the farm.]
“So these are the materials needed for upgrading? Heh, let’s give it a try.”
[Would you like to use Dragon Bones to upgrade the greenhouse? Requires 50,000 souls.]
“What the—are you kidding me? That much?”
[Do you wish to upgrade?]
“Can it be less?”
[Do you wish to upgrade?]
“…”
“Upgrade.”
Page 3
[Upgrading… Countdown: 5 hours!]
“Well, since it has to be upgraded, let’s upgrade the soil too.”
[Consumes 2,000 liters of Dragon Blood, 50,000 souls.]
[Upgrading… Countdown: 5 hours!]
“Oh right, I remember Little Bone has the Devour skill. Heh heh.”
Wang Xiao looked slyly at Little Bone, who still appeared blank and clueless.
“Come, Little Bone, try this.”
Wang Xiao placed a piece of Dragon Bone in front of Little Bone—it was larger than the skeleton himself, making the scene appear absurd.
Little Bone trembled as he stood, reaching out a tiny hand. A ball of black light emerged from his palm, slowly enveloping the entire Dragon Bone.
After a short while, all of Little Bone’s bones became crystal clear. The Dragon Bone shrank by a third. The soul fire in Little Bone’s eyes grew steadier.
Little Bone stopped devouring and looked up at Wang Xiao.
“Haha, if you can’t eat anymore, don’t force it.”
Wang Xiao picked him up; Little Bone stared intently at the Dragon Bone on the ground.
With a wave, Wang Xiao stored away the Dragon Bone.
Little Bone looked up at him, as if asking where his food had gone.
“Don’t worry, you’ll never lack food.”
Wang Xiao returned to the bone house to study the Knight Workshop.
“Activate Knight Workshop!”
[Ding! Successfully activated!]
Rumble.
Sounds echoed from outside the bone house. Wang Xiao dashed out in a flash.
Little Bone saw Wang Xiao leave, jumped off the table—this time, he didn’t fall apart. He followed Wang Xiao with tiny steps, creaking along.
Outside, Wang Xiao saw a small building connected to his bone house, only half its size. It looked less like a house and more like a barracks.
[Knight Workshop (Epic): Can produce powerful knights! The type of knight depends on materials used, and their strength depends on the grade of materials.]
Looking at the Knight Workshop before him, Wang Xiao’s mind began to turn with new ideas.