Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 28: 10x strength boost

[World Announcement!]

[Night falls, the Blood Moon rises!]

[Monsters will be empowered by the night!]

[Random 1-10x strength boost!]

[Calculating boost...]

[Beep!]

[10x!]

[Tonight, all monsters will receive a 10x strength boost!]

Nightfall on Day Two of Eldoria. And tonight, the world outside the castle walls was getting a 10x power boost. A Level 10 Elite Giant Crab Spider, normally boasting 20 in each stat, would now have a whopping 200!

"Holy crap!" Alex thought. "No way I'm going out there!"

Luckily, she was paying attention. The moment the announcement appeared, she retreated inside her castle, still safely cocooned in its newbie invincibility. She sent the 200,000 units of cooked meat to Sophie, who promptly sent back four million units of wood and stone. No one was wasting precious Magic or Red Crystals on processing fees.

Alex was ecstatic. Four million resources! Her skeleton workforce was paying off. Cain and the Maid Factory, with their limited manpower, could only dream of such production. Alex, on the other hand, had an army of... well, skeletons. Close enough.

With the new influx of resources, plus what she already had, Alex now possessed 1.96 million units of wood and 2.207 million units of stone. Seven figures! Time to upgrade!

[Castle Level: Lv6]

...

"Upgrade!" she yelled, clicking the button with glee. 7... 8... 9... 10... 11... 12... 13... 14... 15... 16... 17... 18... 19... 20! She'd spent over 3.5 million resources, but her castle was now Level 20!

[Castle Level: Lv20]

[HP: 300k (Invincible)]

[Territory: 15,000 meter radius]

[Functions: Analyze, Collect Spoils, Process Corpses, Teleport, Invincibility]

[Upgrade Requirements: 500k Wood, 500k Stone, 10k Refined Iron]

Her territory had expanded dramatically! Even the dragon's lair was now within her domain! She could spy on it anytime. And if the dragon wasn't home... "Dibs on the treasure!"

The HP boost was irrelevant for now, thanks to newbie invincibility. But the new skills were amazing!

[Teleport]: Once per day, teleport yourself or units anywhere within your territory.

[Invincibility]: Once every seven days, make your castle invincible for three hours.

"A new skill every 10 levels," she noted, adding it to her ever-growing list of Eldoria observations. Teleport and Invincibility were incredibly powerful, potentially turning the tide of battle. Imagine teleporting your troops behind enemy lines during a siege!

At Level 10, she'd also unlocked a kitchen. Level 15: a training room. Level 20: a meditation room. Her castle was becoming a proper fortress.

"Time to sell some gear and buy some iron!"

She opened the Free Market and listed her Perfect Dragon Sparrow Saber.

[Dragon Sparrow Saber]

[Auction type: Limited Time]

[Starting bid: 100k Red Crystals]

[Quantity: 1]

100,000 Red Crystals. An absurd price. No one could afford it. It was a marketing ploy. Get everyone's attention. Make them notice Alex. Make them notice her equipment. And then... list the rest of her sabers at more reasonable, though still exorbitant, prices. The bidding would be fierce.

..

With the 10x monster boost in effect, Eldoria's lords were huddled inside their castles. The lucky few with Level 5 castles could enjoy a hot bath. The rest were stuck in their bare-bones halls, chatting on the world channel to pass the time.

[World Channel 87374 (10,000 users)]

"Man, I'm so jealous of those Level 5 lords. Bedrooms, beds, hot baths..."

"Right? Tears of envy!"

"I wonder what level Alex's castle is. She made at least four million resources today."

"100! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Sure you did."

"More importantly, what's her initial unit? Someone calculated she must have over 12,000 units to process that much meat. 12,000 units on Day Two? Insane!"

"No idea. She's never said."

"Probably some special King-rank unit."

"Speaking of special King-rank units, remember that guy who got Elves?"

"Elves? Yeah, that's pretty special."

"I know that guy! He's my old roommate! He just messaged me asking for... uh... dating advice. The nerve!"

"Ew!"

"Jealousy is a disease."

"While other lords are cuddling with Elf princesses, I'm stuck with... *looks at Beastgirl in lap* ...well, I guess I can't complain."

"Whoa! Why do you guys get all the good units? I got freaking Minotaurs!"

"Minotaurs? Lucky! I got Grey Dwarves! Useless for anything but mining! They're shorter than the monsters!"

"Guys, check the Free Market! Something crazy is happening!"

"What is it?"

"Just look!"

"...."

"Holy crap! 1 million Red Crystals?!"

"What's going on? What's with the Red Crystals?"

"Alex listed something for auction. Starting bid: 1 million Red Crystals!"

"Is she insane? What's worth that much?"

"You only get Red Crystals from Level 10+ Elites. No one has that many on Day Two! And you need them for the Necromantic Altar! They're super rare! Is she selling an artifact or something?"

"It's a weapon! A Perfect Dragon Sparrow Saber! +23 Strength!"

"+23?! Seriously?!"

"Yeah, I saw it. +23 Strength."

"That's practically an artifact!"

"My Elite Gale Wolves only have 18 Strength at Level 9... a weapon that's stronger than my Level 9 Elites?!"

"It's definitely powerful, but not a million Red Crystals powerful."

"That greedy scammer! I knew she was a scammer when she was selling cooked meat!"

"I don't care if she's a scammer. Alex, 1 million is too much! Discount, please?"

"How much of a discount?"

"Even a 99% discount is too much for you!"

"True."

"If I had that saber, my Level 7 Ironclad Rhino would have 46 Strength! I could take on Level 30 monsters easily!"

"Noob! I could take on Level 40s!"

"Wait, can Rhinos even use weapons?"

"Why not? It's a game! Why can't we give our units equipment?!"

"I don't know. I haven't tried."

"Then buy the saber for a million Red Crystals, give it to me, and I'll try it on my Gale Wolf. Problem solved."

"You're a genius..."

Alex was famous again. And so was the Dragon Sparrow Saber. The first piece of equipment ever listed on the Free Market. Its incredible stats had everyone drooling. But no one could afford it.

Half an hour later, the auction ended with no bids. The saber returned to Alex. But the desire remained. Everyone wanted that power.

Alex knew the time was right. She listed the rest of her sabers.

[Dragon Sparrow Saber (Normal)]

[Auction type: Limited Time]

[Starting bid: 200 Magic Crystals]

[Quantity: 43]

[Dragon Sparrow Saber (Fine)]

[Auction type: Limited Time]

[Starting bid: 500 Magic Crystals]

[Quantity: 7]

The prices were high. 200 Magic Crystals for a saber that cost 2 Magic Crystals to make? Highway robbery! But Alex had a monopoly. Monopoly rules applied.

Thanks to the Perfect saber's publicity, everyone was watching. The new listings were instantly noticed.

[World Channel 63523 (10,000 users)]

"Alex listed more sabers! Normal and Fine quality this time."

"Normal is +5 Strength, Fine is +11."

"Not as good as the Perfect one, but still pretty good!"

"My Level 9 Elite Gale Wolves would get a 60% Strength boost! From 18 to 29! That's Commander-rank level Strength! I'm buying one!"

"Wake up! You don't have 500 Magic Crystals!"

"I don't even have 200..."

"I'm so poor. Only 37 Magic Crystals..."

"Pathetic! I have 117! Hahaha!"

"Alex, can you lower the price? We don't have a million Red Crystals, and we don't have 200 Magic Crystals either!"

"Another failed auction, I guess. Too expensive!"

"It's only Day Two! No one can afford this!"

In a certain team chat...

[Edward Scissorhands]: "Captain, lend me some Magic Crystals! I need to bid on a saber!"

[Stefan Luxon]: "I thought you hated Alex?"

[Edward Scissorhands]: "I hate her arrogance, not her merchandise! That saber is awesome! +11 Strength on my Ironclad Rhino? He'll have 46 Strength at Level 7! I could take on Level 20 Elites!"

[Kazuma Nokima]: "I'd like a Fine saber as well."

[Edward Scissorhands]: "Hey, I called dibs! Don't steal my saber!"

[Kazuma Nokima]: "There are seven. We can bid on different ones."

[Edward Scissorhands]: "Fine. I'm bidding on number six. My lucky number."

[Kazuma Nokima]: "I'll take number five."

[Stefan Luxon]: "Number three for me!"

[Hero (Captain)]: "I'll go for number four."

[Maria]: "Number two, then."

[Stefan Luxon]: "Captain, loan me some crystals!"

[Kazuma Nokima]: "Captain, loan, please!"

[Edward Scissorhands]: "Captain, money, please!"

[Maria]: "Captain, I need crystals!"

[Hero (Captain)]: "I'm broke! All of you!"

...Half an hour later...

"Holy moly! They all sold?!"

"Am I dreaming? Are there that many rich lords?"

"The Normal sabers went for 287 to 479 Magic Crystals! The Fine ones went for 834 to 1198!"

"1198 Magic Crystals! I've never seen so many!"

"Just wait. You'll get there."

"By the time I have 1000 Magic Crystals, Alex will have a million!"

"Why is life so unfair?!"

"Wait, how much did Alex make?"

"Too tired to calculate. She's not sharing it with me anyway."

"Good point."

Just then, Alex appeared on the world channel.

Alex: "Looking for a lord who can process Refined Iron. I have iron ore. Will pay handsomely for services rendered."

"It's Alex!"

"Hi Alex! Notice me!"

"Alex, how handsome is this handsome payment?"

"Refined Iron? Iron ore? She has iron ore already? Does she own a mine?!"

"Has she started conquering territory already? Terrifying!"

The world channel exploded again. Alex had done it again.