The Necromancer is amassing troops like crazy in the apocalypse - Chapter 397

Chapter 397: Chapter 333, Printer

Flesh fell away, and the stark white skeletons rose from the ground.

Twelve humanoid skeletons, along with twelve skeleton steeds.

Wu Heng looked at the skeletons, inspecting the levels of a few.

[Skeleton Cavalryman (Level 7)]

[Skeleton Cavalryman (Level 6)]

[Skeleton Warhorse (Level 4)]

This time it was a new profession, called cavalry.

The highest level was 7, which was of the squad leader who had ordered the attack upon encounter.

“The levels are a bit low!” Wu Heng was somewhat disappointed.

But on second thought, these levels were normal.

One shouldn’t expect ordinary soldiers to be at the level of leaders or key figures.

These were part of a cavalry troop, not a leader’s squad.

Moreover, the pirates recently transformed also had levels around five.

Different professions, but all belonged to soldiers.

If there had been a high-level professional among them, Wu Heng wouldn’t have killed them so easily within minutes.

He continued to examine the attributes of the cavalry.

They were closer to warriors, with additions in their specialties: [Riding Mastery (Basic)][Swordsmanship Specialization (Basic)][Lance Mastery (Intermediate)].

This indicated that the combat strength of this type of soldier was largely demonstrated in mounted combat.

But in Wu Heng’s view, against zombies, the advantages of cavalry might not be so clear.

Most of the time, zombies would quickly form hordes.

At that point, it would be difficult to exploit that kind of mobility with the inevitable surrounding and intercepting.

It wasn’t a big issue, as being useful in some way was better than not at all, and besides, skeletons didn’t need to eat, practically causing no consumption.

“Put on the equipment on the ground, and equip your own skeleton steeds too,” Wu Heng ordered.

The 12 skeleton cavalrymen bent down to pick up the equipment on the ground, donning it back on themselves.

Then, they continued to equip the horses with leather armor and stirrup saddles.

Once fully equipped,

they picked up the weapons from the ground and mounted their steeds.

The weapons of the cavalry were divided into two types: longswords and lances. Sitting astride their horses, they looked quite imposing.

“From now on, you’re Rider One, you’re Rider Two, you’re Rider Three…,” Wu Heng named the cavalrymen in turn.

After the naming was over, Wu Heng led all the skeleton cavalrymen back to the large courtyard.

…

Stepping into the courtyard,

the imposing skeleton cavalry immediately caught the attention of all the survivors.

They stopped what they were working on and stared wide-eyed in their direction.

They had already seen skeleton warriors, skeleton archers, and even the flying dragons in the sky.

Now a troop of skeleton cavalrymen had been brought back.

It was almost like completing an ancient army with different types of soldiers equipped with cold weapons.

All the people stood at a distance, whispering among themselves.

Qi Hancai also received the news and came out of the dormitory building.

She looked up at the tall skeleton cavalrymen and subconsciously stepped back two paces.

A vague pressure rose in her heart.

She shifted her gaze and looked back at Wu Heng, “Do we have any plans for today?”

Wu Heng glanced at the sky.

Having returned from ‘Netalee City’, it was already late in the day.

He said, “No particular plans for today, tomorrow morning follow me to the military market, we need to prepare two carts of food.”

“Okay!” Qi Hancai agreed and went off to make preparations in advance.

Wu Heng led the skeleton cavalry to where the skeleton army was stationed.

Then he returned to the dormitory, opened the boundary door, and went back to Gold and Silver Island.

…

The next day, morning.

Zombie World.

Wu Heng stepped out of the dormitory, and Qi Hancai had already prepared the vehicles.

He got into the passenger seat.

Three military trucks started up and headed towards the direction of the military market.

“The wall around the market is almost built. Are we going to operate it like the bus station or as a free market like the military side?” Qi Hancai asked while driving.

The operations in both places had some differences.

The bus station under Li Yahong’s control functioned more like a recycling center, where food was exchanged for supplies brought by all the shelters.

As for the military market, not only did it allow for the exchange of firearms and ammunition for supplies, but it also provided a market where other people could set up stalls to sell their goods, essentially serving as a platform.

Of course, for providing the venue and a certain level of security, the military also charged a fee.

What Qi Hancai wanted to ask was whether they should open up the market to outsiders.

After thinking for a moment, Wu Heng replied, “I think the way the bus station operates is quite good. What do you think?”

His own side had different objectives from the military market.

The military needed operations to maximize the collection of food or other resources.

Whereas, on Wu Heng’s side, there was an abundance of food. You came with goods, he gave you food, and then you could leave.

There was absolutely no need to make the process so complicated.

Moreover, the presence of many other shelters in the market increased the burden on security and maintenance within the market.

“I think the same, but as for pricing, should we go with the same rates as the military?” Qi Hancai continued to ask.

When it came to pricing,

careful consideration was still needed.

The military market’s pricing was based on the resources they needed.

It wasn’t necessary for his side to follow their lead, but they also couldn’t deliberately mark up the prices, as that might convey a provocative and targeted sentiment.

Even if he wasn’t afraid of the opposition, it was still better to avoid conflict.

Modern weapons still posed a certain threat.

“For firearms and ammunition, we’ll set the price at one-third lower than the military’s. For Corpse Cores and special equipment, the prices will be the same. As for gold and silver, like the bus station, the prices will be reduced by one-third.”

“Good,” Qi Hancai continued, “And there’s a special profession. In our meeting, we discussed that if other shelters send us a special profession or professional, we can offer them 50 kilograms of food, which will go to the individual if they come on their own.”

“Agreed!”

“So, do we need to go there today to exchange resources? The market is about to open,” Qi Hancai glanced at him.

“We still need to make a trip. Let’s first exchange for some ammunition we need, in case the market opens and they refuse to sell to us,” Wu Heng explained.

“Right,” Qi Hancai continued, “and when we come back, I’ll have ‘Zhao Yanqiu’ announce it over the radio.”

“Mhm!”

The two finalized their market plans.

Qi Hancai also discussed her arrangements for the sentry posts.

With all the zombies around the old factory area cleared out, Qi Hancai planned to block some minor paths and arrange sentry posts on two main roads.

Whether it was survivors approaching or a horde of zombies migrating, they could detect them early and have time to prepare.

Wu Heng had no objections to this plan.

He wasn’t at the site every day, so some of the security matters needed to be arranged by them.

The next several matters all received Wu Heng’s approval.

Qi Hancai felt somewhat pleased; with the serious matters out of the way, she was all smiles along the way, talking about the interesting events that had occurred within the base.

Or, about some of the old members, who was getting together with whom.

They had already started living together.

Whether it was the bus station or the old factory area, having two women in the leadership role also avoided some severe issues related to men and women.

There were no incidents of occupying women or creating comfort rooms and such.

…

They finally arrived at the military market.

Wang Chenggang and the others stayed on the truck to guard the supplies.

Wu Heng, with Qi Hancai and two skeleton attendants, went directly into the market area.

Inside the market, it was still bustling.

One after another, stalls were filled with various supplies.

Walking through, many stalls could be seen selling homemade detonators and explosives.

Looking at the craftsmanship, it seemed quite crude.

“Folks, need some explosives? Each one’s guaranteed to work, perfect for blowing up zombies – one blast, and you’ll take out a whole bunch,” the stall owner shouted as they glanced his way, then patted his chest, “You know the open-pit mine, right? The explosives used for mining there are all made by me; I’m an old hand at this.”

Wu Heng took a look and decided to move on.

In the Otherworld, thunderclaps that produced explosive and smoke effects were common. Although they were still ignited to detonate, they were much better than these homemade ones.

Wu Heng continued to walk forward, looking around until he abruptly stopped in front of a stall.

The stall owner was a scruffy middle-aged man, sucking on a self-rolled dry cigarette ‘puff puff’ as he smoked.

The stall was cluttered with a variety of items: machetes, battle axes, homemade armor, and even a cabinet-sized glass device, about the size of a beverage dispenser.

Wu Heng scanned the stall and directly asked, “What’s this?”

“It’s a 3D printer; you young folks should know about it. It can print all kinds of things. If you’re interested, I’ll sell it to you cheap,” the man casually said, still puffing on his cigarette.