Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton Chapter 980

Chapter 980: Chapter 550: The Key to Rescuing Your Majesty Chapter 980: Chapter 550: The Key to Rescuing Your Majesty “Compensate us with the Starburst Array? Pfft–haha, you really have a sense of humor.” Anthony had just heard this and couldn't help but burst out laughing, not just him, but Negris, Feiti, and others gathered around also couldn't help but laugh.

What is the Starburst Array? An annihilator of gods, calling it a Divine Artifact would be an understatement–it's a god-slayer.

A single Faith Storm obliterated the gods of the Master Plane, leaving the Church of Light leaderless for over a thousand years, allowing a bunch of villains to rise to power, even seeing outsiders sneak into positions like Pope and Archbishop.

The same Faith Storm also annihilated the gods of this world, including the exceedingly powerful God of Light, forcing the Undead Empire to retreat to the other side of the Plane, forming a clear Death Line.

To offer such a thing in compensation, Cabrela must be joking, it's laughable. Do they think we are fools?

Everyone burst into joyful laughter, the air filled with mirth.

However, while they laughed, the Sorcerer Alliance on the other side was eerily quiet, and it wasn't until everyone noticed something was amiss that they slowly quieted down.

After a moment of silence, Anthony finally said in astonishment, “You aren't serious, are you?”

“Indeed, as long as you meet our demands, the Starburst Array can be yours. To show our sincerity, you can send someone right now to manage the handover process. We will grant access to corresponding areas depending on the progress of the project,” Cabrela said earnestly.

Everyone was stunned, with faces full of disbelief, except for Ange and a few others, who had already reached into their space to begin planting.

The so-called management that Cabrela mentioned refers to operational tasks such as managing the day-to-day of something as immense as the Starburst Array, whose daily operation is a highly precise and complex engineering task, requiring a large number of personnel to coordinate.

If any part of the project isn't running smoothly, at best various accidents happen, at worst the Array could get destroyed, or even crash down from the sky.

For instance, if the Energy Core is not outputting enough power, the air inside the Starburst Array won't circulate, suffocating people, or if the temperature control system fails to activate, everyone could freeze to death. Or if the doors fail to close, the air could escape and kill everyone.

Then there are the various Arrays for air circulation, which need regular maintenance and spare parts to prevent a single point of failure from stopping the whole system.

It is not like being on the ground; every node on the Starburst Array is crucial and requires personnel to familiarize themselves in advance. At the very least, you need to know where this energy circuit goes, what this spare part does, how the sewage system circulates, and so on.

This requires dispatching a large number of personnel to the Starburst Array, to work with the staff who were managing it before, hands-on training until they reach the level needed for independent operation. Otherwise, the Starburst Array might as well be a display piece you can't operate.

But if personnel are being sent to manage it, that means all the critical parts of the Starburst Array will be open to them, all the secrets laid bare, a gesture of immense sincerity indeed.

Anthony's expression grew solemn, “What do you want in return?”

“The lair of the Undead beneath the Breath of Death Abyss, there is a Purple Gold Skeleton. Take it and bring it to us, and the Starburst Array will be yours,” Cabrela said.

Anthony pondered for a moment, then asked, “How can I be sure that if I hand over the skeleton, you will honestly hand over the Starburst Array?”

Cabrela responded, “We are willing to swear an oath in the name of the gods.”

Negris seemed unable to bear listening and wanted to speak urgently, but was stopped by a gesture from Anthony.

Anthony then said, “Stop joking, you wiped out gods with a single Faith Storm. You swear by the gods' names, only to wipe them out again later, right?”

Cabrela fell silent again, appearing to be thinking, but Anthony thought he was consulting with someone else. This Cabrela surely wasn't the decision-maker; he was merely a messenger. Who could possibly decide to compensate with the Starburst Array?

After a while, Cabrela's voice came again: “I swear in the name of the Lord of Annihilation, and you swear in the name of the God of Light. We both will be bound by this divine oath. After you get the skeleton, we will withdraw from the Starburst Array, then you hand over the skeleton to me, and I will hand over the highest authority of the Starburst Array to you.”

This was an operational exchange program, sounding very sincere indeed.

Anthony immediately said, “Deal, I'll send someone to learn how to receive it right away.” Then he decisively cut off the communication.

As soon as the communication was cut off, Negris couldn't wait to start shouting, “Are you mad? The bones they want might be His Majesty's clone. Do you want to kill His Majesty?”

Ange also looked up at Anthony.

Normally unconcerned with anything but gardening, Ange's gaze was actually very oppressive. Anthony immediately broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly said, “It is for His Majesty that I agreed.”

“Hmph, if you don't explain the reason, I'll have Lightning come over and scold you,” Negris threatened.

This threat was too terrifying. Just the thought of the dignified Pope arguing with a horse, if this were to happen, Anthony would be the one disgraced. He would rather castrate Lightning beforehand than argue with it.

“Now, we can know that the Lord of Annihilation temporarily can't do anything to His Majesty,” Anthony said.

Everyone still trusted Anthony, knowing he must have some plan; otherwise, Negris would have stopped him long ago.

“How so?” Negris asked.

“From the time we arrived until now, His Majesty has been trapped in the Annihilation Boundary for over half a year, but so far, there has been no change. Even the plan mentioned last time to bombard the Annihilation Boundary with the Starburst Array fell through. Now, they are still using the Starburst Array to lure us into attacking the Breath of Death Abyss. All these prove that the Lord of Annihilation can't do anything to His Majesty,” Anthony analyzed.

“Why didn't they let us attack the Breath of Death Abyss before, but now suddenly use the Starburst Array to tempt us? What has prompted them to be willing to make such a sacrifice?” Anthony asked.

Negris said, “It's obviously strength. Before, they didn't think we had the strength to attack the Breath of Death Abyss. Now, you've boasted about having thirty million in the Expeditionary Army; if they could all be mobilized, naturally we'd have the capability.”

“Right, so I had to agree. If I didn't, it would mean we don't have the strength,” Anthony said.

Still puzzled, Negris asked, “Couldn't it just be that we are afraid of sustaining heavy casualties and don't want to attack the Undead?”

“That's not an option, because we are the Church of Light,” Anthony said.

“Hiss–” Negris grimaced. They had grown accustomed to the Undead not being distinguishable from the Light, but outsiders didn't know this. They only thought of them as the Church of Light, which would never compromise with the Undead.

“So, they are testing us?” Negris asked.

“Testing is just incidental. The ultimate goal is still for us to attack the Breath of Death Abyss because it might hold the key for the Lord of Annihilation to defeat His Majesty,” Anthony said.

“Is the key that skeleton? But a Purple Gold Skeleton, how critical could it be? It's just possibly a clone of His Majesty. If you're talking about soul contact, there's no need for a clone; all Undead can directly connect with His Majesty. What do they need that skeleton for?” Negris asked, puzzled.

As long as there's soul contact, Undead can continuously provide energy for the Monarch, which is likely why the Lord of Annihilation has not been able to defeat the Monarch for over half a year; His Majesty never runs out of strength.

It's impossible to cut off so many Undead from contacting the Monarch, so why would they specifically need a skeleton?

“Two possibilities,” Anthony analyzed. “First, what they want is not the skeleton, but for us to 'raid' it. Just by entering there, their goal might be achieved. Second, they really want the skeleton because they need it or don't want anyone else to get it.”

Negris counted on his fingers, “That's clearly three possibilities. Ah, why am I fussing over this? What do we do now? Just ignore them?”

“No, no, no, of course, we must respond, and respond with a grand gesture. We need to find a way to deploy a large number of people here, but before that, we send someone to learn how to operate the Starburst Array. This is a perfect opportunity to openly discover the secrets of the Starburst Array,” Anthony said, smiling.

“We need to figure out what that skeleton is. Perhaps it is the key to rescuing His Majesty. Maybe if we seize that skeleton and replace it with Locke's bones, we might unlock the key,” Anthony said.

Chapter end

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