Evolving My Undead Legion In A Game-Like World

Chapter 1311: Arrival [2]

Then again, that wasn’t particularly strange.

Wisdom truly was young.

Despite how unusual it had been from the beginning, capable of speaking the human language while possessing the ability to use the void despite being Unranked, its actual age was remarkably young compared to other creatures with similar capabilities.

Its current appearance probably reflected that youth.

Sitting beside Michael was what appeared to be a small boy of perhaps eight or nine years old.

His skin was extremely fair, almost unnaturally pale. Combined with his slender frame, narrow shoulders, and delicate limbs, he possessed a somewhat frail appearance, as though a strong gust of wind might carry him off.

His face was delicate to an almost ridiculous degree.

Soft features, slightly rounded cheeks, a small nose, and silver-tinted lips combined to give Wisdom an immensely cute appearance.

His hair was pure white and slightly messy, falling softly around his forehead and ears. Thin streaks of green occasionally broke through the white, one of the few visible marks Michael’s repeated evolutions had managed to leave on him.

Then there were his eyes.

Silver.

Completely unlike Michael’s signature green.

The clear silver irises possessed an almost metallic sheen, becoming particularly striking against his pale complexion.

For aesthetic reasons, Michael had enlisted Arianne’s help in having a number of outfits made to suit Wisdom’s appearance.

He currently wore a loose black tunic made from soft fabric, its high collar edged with thin silver embroidery. Over it rested a short sleeveless coat of dark gray that stopped around his waist, decorated with subtle geometric patterns resembling cracks.

The sleeves beneath were slightly oversized, almost swallowing his wrists whenever he lowered his hands.

A narrow silver belt secured the tunic around his waist, while fitted black trousers disappeared into a pair of soft ankle-high boots.

Small streaks of green thread had been worked into the otherwise black and silver clothing, matching the green strands in his white hair.

Overall, he looked like an excessively adorable noble child someone had dressed for an outing.

The piece of roasted chicken currently held between both hands did little to improve that image.

[Image]

Wisdom took another bite.

Michael glanced sideways at him, wondering if he had unknowingly promoted cannibalism by sharing his meal. After all, Wisdom’s first form was an owl.

[Image]

Taking his attention away from Wisdom, Michael turned his gaze toward the scenery below.

Compared to only three days ago, the Eternal Crown had become considerably livelier.

The change was most obvious outside the camp originally established for the Rank Two mages.

Several new camps had appeared across the surrounding open land, each filled with young people who looked somewhere between sixteen and eighteen years old.

Native Awakeners.

More than a week had already passed since Michael gave orders to his subjects in the Land of Origin to locate and bring back as many newly awakened natives as they could find.

The results had exceeded his initial expectations, though not by much.

The 2,483 Awakeners he’d previously sent with Lily to Evergreen Haven had only been the beginning.

In the days that followed, another 7,600 or so had been brought back.

And more would continue to arrive after being sorted in the Land of Origin.

This was only the first wave.

His subjects were still learning.

The phenomenon of natives awakening was new to everyone, and finding them across such a massive empire wasn’t something that could be accomplished instantly.

Some lived in cities.

Others came from villages and isolated settlements.

There would inevitably be those who concealed their awakening out of fear or uncertainty, while others simply hadn’t encountered anyone capable of identifying them yet.

As word spread and the people Michael had assigned to the task became more experienced at locating them, the rate of discovery would only increase.

Michael wouldn’t be surprised if the final number reached tens of thousands.

Perhaps considerably more.

The Eternal Crown Empire’s population was enormous, after all.

That prospect was precisely why Michael had become increasingly interested in acquiring more Universal Cornerstones for the Zeroth Layer.

Evergreen Haven was useful, but it was only one territory.

Sending more than two thousand young Awakeners there was manageable.

Sending ten thousand was another matter.

Sending tens of thousands would be ridiculous.

Even if Evergreen Haven continued expanding, concentrating every native Unranked Awakener under a single Universal Cornerstone would create unnecessary problems.

Housing, resources, training grounds, dungeon access, territory management, and simple population density would eventually become issues.

There was also Lily herself.

Evergreen Haven belonged to her.

Although Michael could help through their connected Cornerstones, and Arianne was currently assisting her, Lily remained its Registered Lord and naturally possessed responsibilities toward the territory.

Michael had no intention of turning his sixteen-year-old cousin into a full-time administrator responsible for tens of thousands of people.

She needed time for herself.

Time to explore the Origin Battlefield, train, improve her Classes, enter dungeons, search for opportunities, and simply do whatever she wanted occasionally.

Dumping every newly discovered native Awakener onto her territory would gradually take that freedom away.

Multiple Zeroth Layer territories would solve much of the problem.

The population could be divided between them. Each territory could develop independently while remaining connected through Michael’s main Universal Cornerstone, and different territories could eventually specialize according to their surroundings and available resources.

It would also prevent a single failure from affecting everyone.

Michael’s eyes moved across the camps below.

Thousands of young people were visible from the enormous wall, though at this distance most looked little larger than moving dots to ordinary eyes.

Michael was just about to continue eating the piece of chicken in his hands while passing a new one to Wisdom from the plate beside him when he sensed movement from the station below, and a familiar figure alongside an unfamiliar one appeared.

It was Lily and Timi.

* * *

A/N: Happy New Month, dear readers! Thank you so much for the support and motivation! I’ll continue to try my best this new month as well.

As for those who might be confused by the timeline, there was indeed a time skip of three days, but this is a recollection of events during that time, before Lily’s heavenly tribulation descends, an event which will happen in just a few short Chapters.

Thank you for the continued support!