The Volcanic Sea could not be conquered in a day or two; dozens of resource-rich areas had to be taken piece by piece while guarding against enemy counterattacks.
Therefore, Anbaixiu had originally planned to secure a single area first, testing out a method of consolidating every gain and advancing step by step.
Yet the undead legion's performance had far exceeded his expectations. The sahuagin had broken into a full rout without him even deploying Aige's Silent Night Pirates throughout the entire battle.
This left Anbaixiu feeling somewhat emboldened, and he prepared to take down the ixitxachitl as well.
The ixitxachitl required higher water temperatures for incubation, so they remained relatively close to the cooling undersea mountain ridges. One of their habitats lay right near Anbaixiu's current sector, no more than one or two hundred kilometers away. When foraging under normal circumstances, the sahuagin and the ixitxachitl frequently crossed paths, yet both sides had appeared remarkably restrained, never breaking into obvious conflict.
This was only natural. The Volcanic Sea was vast; why risk their lives right away? It was far better to claim the unoccupied waters first, digest the spoils for a time, and then wage war on their neighbors at their leisure.
Only an ambitious lich like Anbaixiu, bent on conquering the entire sea, would choose to take the offensive and thoroughly muddy these waters.
And the ixitxachitl were an excellent choice of target.
Not only because of their proximity, but more importantly, attacking the ixitxachitl allowed him to trade with the merfolk for the most crucial resource of all: population.
Previously, the merfolk of Eadro were the most widespread and populous race, thanks to Eadro's benevolence and the merfolk's innate talent for spellcasting.
The combination of the two had allowed the merfolk to proliferate in massive numbers. Factoring in their vassal race, the locathah, they could be considered the most populous force among the sea peoples.
And wherever populations swelled, criminals inevitably emerged.
The merfolk were gentle and benevolent by nature. Their harshest punishment was merely slitting the offender's fins and banishing them into exile. Slitting the fins signaled that the merfolk no longer enjoyed the protection of their kind; banished merfolk would soon be captured by other races, either to be eaten or subjected to far crueler fates.
Yet even for a penalty so lenient, there were still those within the merfolk tribe who deemed it too harsh.
This was understandable, as the merfolk's criminals were hardly heinous villains. A significant portion of their so-called "crimes" stemmed simply from an inability to maintain "abstinence."
Eadro was a goddess of the True Neutral alignment, and as Her worshipers, the merfolk adhered to numerous codes of conduct. The most prominent among these rules was "temperance."
Not wasting food was fundamental, but pursuing flavor to excess was equally forbidden.
Conduct like that of humans—slaughtering an entire ox just to eat its tongue—was strictly out of the question. To spend lavish amounts of spices and side dishes to make that tongue taste even better was viewed by the merfolk as nothing short of sacrilege against the divine.
The merfolk lived somewhat like ascetics. While they did not go so far as self-flagellation, their personal desires were generally suppressed to an extremely low baseline.
Their standard was simple: so long as one was healthy, indulgence was entirely unnecessary.
This rule governed every aspect of daily life—food, clothing, shelter, and travel. No excessive luxury, no excessive pleasure, no indulging in desires or extreme emotions; they were to remain, as much as possible, in a state of tranquil peace and contentment. Such was the merfolk's philosophy, or rather, their code of existence.
Yet there were always exceptions.
Even among the people of Ryan, there was a minority that did not revere the Lord of the Dawn, and the merfolk were no different.
There would always be merfolk who grew tired of their bland, flavorless lives, who yearned to taste richer and more vibrant flavors, who wanted to venture abroad on adventures, who wished to freely express rage or burst into wild laughter, who coveted iridescent scales and lavish adornments, or who simply refused to suppress their base desire to procreate.
Merfolk naturally unable to endure an "abstinent" lifestyle were often branded as criminals. Consequently, the tribe's punishment was merely exile, meaning: "Since you cannot accept the life here, then leave and seek the life you desire."
However, merfolk cast out from the shoals rarely survived for long.
The strength of the merfolk lay in their numbers and their solidarity. Deprived of these, an individual merfolk's combat prowess was feeble; even a random kuo-toa could likely bully them.
Thus, most banished merfolk met a miserable end, an outcome their kin took no pleasure in witnessing.
They were kin, after all; the tribe could not bear to watch them die horribly, yet they could not permit them to remain and corrupt their faith and customs.
Faced with such a dilemma, Anbaixiu had simply gone with the flow, expressing his willingness to let these "merfolk sinners" live on his own territory.
Working for a lich could also be considered a form of punishment, provided Anbaixiu promised not to slaughter them.
The two parties had hit it off immediately, but on the condition that Anbaixiu demonstrate adequate sincerity.
The ixitxachitl were Anbaixiu's perfect pledge of allegiance. He needed to slaughter a great number of ixitxachitl to prove his might and demonstrate that he was worthy of offering shelter to these exiled merfolk.
And right now, why not catch the ixitxachitl off guard?
Anbaixiu was no military expert, so he merely put forward his proposal. As for whether it would ultimately be approved, he left that to Ange Watson and the other generals to deliberate among themselves.
After a brief discussion lasting just a few minutes, everyone agreed with the proposal.
The primary reason was that this undead army was simply too powerful. Directing a war from thousands of kilometers away was a game they had not yet had their fill of; getting to fight another battle was naturally the best outcome.
Ange Watson could hardly contain his excitement either. A battle where one never had to care about casualties was exhilarating. When losses truly became mere numbers, his command became all the more effortless and fluid.
With unanimous agreement, Anbaixiu did not hesitate. He immediately notified Aige, ordering her to lead the Silent Night Pirates and seize the nearby ixitxachitl territory as swiftly as possible.
To counter the deadly venom of the ixitxachitl, Anbaixiu dispatched the pearl dew acquired from the merfolk to the Silent Night Pirates. Gulping down a conch's worth of pearl dew protected the soul, with the effect lasting roughly ten minutes.
Of course, this also depended on the concentration of toxic blood in the seawater; if the ixitxachitl's poison proved too potent, the protective ward would rapidly deteriorate, requiring an immediate replenishment.
Furthermore, pearl dew was limited in supply and could not cover the entire undead army. Only the senior members of the Silent Night Pirates received a share.
Yet with the fearless legions of Small Fry swarming in front, the Silent Night Pirates only needed to tackle high-tier adversaries, making the pearl dew more than sufficient. As for the fighting itself, Anbaixiu did not care in the slightest; that was not something a layman like him should meddle in. His mission was to clean up the battlefield.
The sahuagin had left behind tens of thousands of corpses in this sea, all of which were valuable materials for the undead. In addition, there were the damaged units of the Small Fry legions that Anbaixiu needed to salvage.
Naturally, doing it all by himself would be overwhelming.
Anbaixiu jumped down from the open hatch of the *Black Tide*, plunging straight into the ocean.
Before long, he sank into the ocean depths. He raised his right hand toward several sahuagin corpses lying before him.
Darkness like ink seeped from the joints of his skeletal fingers—dark magic condensed to the utmost extreme. Under Anbaixiu's control, it took on a life of its own, transforming into dozens of fine threads.
The threads coiled precisely around the dead sahuagin, and the lifeless bodies clambered up from the seabed.
In mere seconds, these sahuagin had been transformed into undead. Though they were only the most ordinary zombies, the black threads reached out like tentacles, continually ensnaring more sahuagin corpses and turning them all into zombies.
"This ring truly is worthy of an artifact!"
Anbaixiu possessed no inherent means of converting undead so swiftly. At most, he could expend magic to turn several dozen corpses into temporary puppets under his control—mere tools driven by dark magic rather than undead possessing independent "life."
Yet this ring acquired from the Dragon Tomb could accomplish it. The artifact gathered the purest dark magic, functioning much like the Rose of Decay's Death Gaze, transforming corpses into genuine undead in an extraordinarily short span of time.
The only difference was that the Rose of Decay's technique worked on living creatures as well, whereas Anbaixiu had not yet unlocked such an outrageous capability in this ring.
Even so, it was already formidable. The ring raised undead so quickly that after Anbaixiu took a single lap around the battlefield, all the sahuagin had been turned into zombies. Under Anbaixiu's command, they set to work gathering the damaged Small Fry Mark I units strewn across the field.
The method was straightforward: those without pockets simply shoved the parts straight into their own abdomens; if their abdomens were torn open, they rammed them into their chests; and if both were ruined, they impaled them through their arms and thighs.
With these zombies helping, Anbaixiu had the battlefield cleared in no time.
The damaged Small Fry Mark I units were bundled up and sent to his alchemical workshop for simple repairs, to be refitted with new Simulated Souls later. Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of sahuagin zombies were not left idle; Anbaixiu commanded them to reshape the area.
The sahuagin were an active, restless race, whereas merfolk preferred tranquil habitats and required complex coral groves to nest in.
Having no time to cultivate natural coral groves right now, Anbaixiu substituted them with bone coral.
Several octopus Guardians were directed to spit bone-colonizing virus bullets, causing thick patches of bone coral to sprout across the seabed.
Only the undead could make use of such a thing, as the dense dark aura was just right for killing off the endlessly multiplying virus. Once the bone coral had grown sufficiently, the mere proximity of undead halted the bone's unchecked expansion.
Directing the zombies step by step to reshape the territory, Anbaixiu soon erected an eerie, terrifying underwater forest of bone.
It was far from aesthetic, but the terrain was undeniably intricate—ideal as a stronghold during chaotic times, safe from easy enemy assaults. In addition, Anbaixiu prepared to employ world-shaping spells to alter the landscape further.
For example, creating a massive ring island to encircle the area with rock, leaving only a few channels for ocean currents to pass through. That would drastically restrict the avenues of attack for other races, making defense effortless... But there was no rush. Anbaixiu knew he did not understand the sea; carelessly altering the terrain might turn a resource-rich haven into a barren wasteland.
For now, making do with this bone coral would suffice. It would be far more appropriate to let the merfolk exiles handle the remodeling once they migrated here.
In the middle of this meticulous renovation work, Anbaixiu suddenly raised his head and peered into the distant waters.
A massive host of potent life signatures was approaching—numbering in the tens of thousands.
The one in the lead moved with astonishing speed!
Just as Anbaixiu registered the incoming enemies, the figure charging at the very front came clearly into view.
Anbaixiu stared in astonishment. "Aeolus? What are you doing here?"
Aeolus recognized Anbaixiu as well. Yet instead of greeting his friend with an embrace and a smile, he raised the harpoon in his hand and roared with fury, "So it's you, you swindler! Die!"
The seawater around Aeolus whipped into a vortex, surging toward Anbaixiu!
Anbaixiu was taken aback, his expression promptly darkening.
He might not take much pleasure in tricking fools, but that didn't mean he wouldn't thrash one.
Anbaixiu summoned the Golden Throne. Immense magical power surged forth, coalescing into a ferocious Ice Storm that slammed into the vortex summoned by Aeolus. The freezing water locked in place, escaping Aeolus's control entirely.
Aeolus didn't care. Treading against the water, he propelled himself toward Anbaixiu, thrusting his harpoon straight at the lich's skull.
Anbaixiu let out a dry chuckle. With a flash, his skeletal form transformed into a silver-white suit of mecha.
Mithral mecha, codename—Deep Diver! Its outer armor was a proud product of the Kingdom of the Unholy Hymn, while its interior had been personally retrofitted by Anbaixiu for deep-sea operations.
Did you really think a lich couldn't swim?!
The thrusters behind Anbaixiu provided tremendous propulsion, matching Aeolus's speed. The two collided with a deafening crash. The harpoon in Aeolus's hands snapped in two, while the mithral blades on Anbaixiu's forearms pierced his throat and chest.
With a sweep of both arms, Anbaixiu's sheer force carved the mithral blades through Aeolus's chest and neck.
Grabbing Aeolus by the head, Anbaixiu said to him, "I know you can't die. Now, have you calmed down? My friend, you just called me a swindler—when have I ever lied to you?"
Chapter 438