Chapter 604.5: Church of Eternal Life - Swarm Technology
Brown involuntarily shivered.
Just three days ago, he had passed through this place—El City.
He still remembered it clearly.
That young city lord he knew well had excitedly expressed his desire to adventure with him to Bay Territory.
A hollow and unspeakable fear made Brown instinctively open his mouth slightly.
Destruction—sometimes it just came so suddenly.
The old man's gaze remained calm.
He had seen ruins like this far too many times, both in the past and now.
A startled cry came from the carriage. Brown instinctively turned his head, and upon seeing a slightly familiar young face, his eyes widened in shock:
"Laura, why are you here?!"
Laura Carlisle—Carlisle Family's most brilliant genius!
She became an Arcanist at 10 and was invited to join the Truth Organization at 13.
She had followed the organization to excavate many ancient ruins and discovered numerous valuable artifacts and technologies.
She was only 18 this year, yet already a high-level Arcanist!
Even among the stars of Sevinton, Laura's reputation as a genius was dazzling.
But why was Laura here?
And why was Viscount Larry sending her away in advance?
With questions swirling in his mind, Brown parted his lips slightly, but before he could speak, Laura tearfully said:
"It's all my fault. They're all coming for me!"
A flash of confusion in her eyes; the intense howling in the distance quickly brought Brown back to alertness.
He turned and saw a dense horde of zombies.
The old man frowned, sensing the terrifying number of enemies, and gripped his sword hilt.
Boom!
Deafening roars echoed repeatedly.
"Artillery fire? The Thorn convoy is here?!"
Brown shouted, as if he believed Bay Territory would always gain the upper hand once it acted.
Laura looked dazedly into the distance. She was about to cast a spell but abruptly held back, remembering something.
The old man watched with interest—he sensed no overwhelming presence.
Which meant, the Thorn convoy Brown mentioned didn't have any powerhouses close to his level.
And they were merely a trade caravan. What courage did they have to confront fast, tenacious zombies without city walls?
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions of fire smashed into the charging zombies, reducing them to chunks of flesh.
Then, barrel after barrel of flaming oil rained down, drenching the ground.
A sea of flames surrounded the convoy.
Zombies charging through the fire were intercepted by six-armed golems wielding long blades.
Compared to the Guardian Golems' heavy punches, the swordstorming six-armed golems could sweep away these fragile zombies with ease.
The few zombies that broke through, drawn by fresh flesh, charged at the awaiting formation.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Sharp arrows pierced zombie skulls with deadly accuracy.
Warriors stepped forward to finish off anything still moving.
Engineer golems rolled in from behind, scooping corpses into piles, dousing them in diluted holy water, and lighting them ablaze.
In barely over ten minutes, more than 10,000 zombies were cleared.
The old man looked at the 2,000-strong force before him, eyes glinting with approval.
They followed orders, worked in unison, used varied tactics and advanced weaponry—nothing like the northern continent troops he knew.
Though individually lacking, with time, they could grow into an elite force.
And elite forces like this—only powerful vassal states in the Eastern Empire had them.
Brown, however, wasn't surprised. He exhaled deeply, pulled out his Bay Territory adventurer insignia, and activated it while Laura looked on in shock.
Laura's eyes widened in alarm. She tried to stop him, speaking hurriedly:
"We're still in danger. You can't do this!"
But Brown had already sent information—his identity, Carlisle's crisis, and details of the flesh structures.
Turning to Laura with a resolute gaze, Brown said firmly:
"Contacting Bay Territory was Viscount Larry's order…"
Brown knew Bay Territory's ways well—they welcomed all challenges but forbade deception and secrecy.
Seeing the old man didn't object, Brown ignored Laura and sent her details and "speculations" too.
Laura was baffled, almost thinking Brown was a traitor—or brainwashed by Bay Territory.
Soon, a patrol of over 100 riders from the Thorn convoy galloped over.
They were agile cavalry, clad in leather armor, equipped with bows and crossbows, moving with unity and force.
Rather than group together, they spread out around the carriage.
Suppressing her frustration, Laura watched as Druid sentries released owls, a cautious gleam in her eyes.
She hesitated.
But the Bay Territory sentries didn't approach her. They headed straight for Brown.
Under Laura's wary gaze, Brown exchanged a few words with them and then smiled back.
She glanced instinctively at the old man—his face showed a trace of surprise.
Laura didn't know his identity, but she knew his strength.
For him to show such surprise—the troops were either powerful or interesting.
Sensing their strength, Laura relaxed slightly. About a third had reached mid-tier.
Then it must be the latter.
As Laura pondered, Brown respectfully returned to the old man:
"The Thorn convoy agreed to take us and is preparing reinforcements..."
"I've also requested support from Bay Territory—to send troops to defend Carlisle."
"Do you have any other orders? Bay Territory is easy to deal with—just offer proper rewards, and they'll gladly cooperate."
The old man heard the implication but merely shook his head. His black eyes flickered seriously. After hesitating, he said:
"Too dangerous. Even Bay Territory can't hold."
Hearing this, Brown nodded knowingly—but deep inside, he hoped otherwise.
As the carriage neared the Thorn convoy, Laura saw hazmat-suited workers cleaning scorched zombie remains. Curiosity sparked in her eyes.
These twisted zombies resembled the aberrants she'd studied—and also flesh-bone creatures unearthed in ruins.
But now wasn't the time to research. Her mind was fixed on escaping.
She clutched her wrist, hesitation flashing in her eyes.
Just then, two massive machines passed by. She stared at the metal giants, muttering:
"Large engineer golems? How did the Thorn convoy afford those?"
Her mentor had tried every method to obtain just one excavation golem.
In the end, through connections in the organization, he found Mayor Annie of Bloodmoon City.
They paid a great price to ship one over.
That golem proved invaluable during ruin excavations.
But its success brought Laura danger and trouble.
"Wait—the direction's wrong!"
Laura suddenly noticed the Thorn convoy was heading south—not away from Carlisle.
It was heading straight toward the flesh structures—or at least into zombie range.
Were they insane?
As Laura grew anxious, howls erupted from all sides.
A flood of bloody shadows filled the horizon.
These monsters had already surrounded them.
Now, they were just tightening the noose.
They had been in danger the whole time!
The mastermind never planned to let them go!
Laura's heart sank. Looking at the endless horde, she instinctively turned to Brown.
"Did he already know? Is that why he came to the Thorn convoy?"
"But he underestimated the enemy… and the danger..."
"Maybe only the old man can carve a path out. The rest of us..."
Laura silently despaired. Days of fleeing had drained her.
Now that death loomed, she felt ready to face her fate.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Sharp whistles reached Laura's ears, followed by intense magical surges.
The genius girl instinctively looked up and saw walls of earth rising outside the carriage.
"Walls won't help—these zombies can climb!"
Just as the thought surfaced, she saw engineer golems placing dark magic cannons atop the walls.
One row.
Two rows.
Three rows.
Earth walls now bristled with over 60 cannons per side.
In this cramped temporary fortress, every Thorn convoy member moved efficiently.
Each had a task and took their combat position.
The most striking were the 30+ six-armed golems still standing on the outer wall.
Their battle scars were gone—they'd been rearmed, ready for more slaughter.
Steel golems on the wall gleamed under the sun, radiating intimidation.
Laura had to admit—the Thorn convoy was very well prepared. Even she felt a sliver of safety.
But that safety was quickly shattered.
As massive terrifying monsters appeared in view\...
Laura felt sharp stings from her bracelet.
And the whispers in her ear—silent moments ago—resumed.
Bloodmoon City.
Underground ruins.
Noises and eerie howls echoed from the dark tunnels.
Everyone was battle-ready.
Matthew, not particularly nervous, skimmed the data he received.
He examined the familiar yet unfamiliar flesh structures and suddenly grinned:
"Zombie factories, meat carpets, stitch plants, mutation labs, swarm cores..."
"No wonder it spread so fast—so many units..."
"So it's you—Church of Eternal Life!"
"Swarm modification technology... So they had made some progress already."
"Looks like the players still don't know enough..."
In Matthew's memory, the Church of Eternal Life had made many bold, foolish attempts to conquer death.
Swarm modification was the most destructive of them all!
It utilized mutated flesh and horrifying insectoid physiology to develop terrifying body-modification tech.
Abandon the fragile human body for one that devours flesh and blood.
Gain not only longevity but power!
The Church had even darker ambitions—
Using these twisted insect mutants to mimic humans.
To replace mankind and conquer the material plane!
To build a true eternal world!
From a player's perspective, the Church's ideas were bold, radical, and thrilling.
But to the current Matthew, they were just idiotic lunatics deserving death!
To dare use unknown abominable flesh—at least of "Abomination (Demigod)" level, potentially even "Hate (Lesser God)"—for body modification...
That's basically running around with a dung bucket—begging to die!