031 Upgrading the Tower of Bones

Klein did not actually stay in Kaelen's territory for long. He had come to see Kaelen for two main reasons: the first was to secure the profits from the undead market. As this market matured and the flow of capital grew, the Kingdom of Bourbon could no longer just stand by and watch. Beyond the financial interests, Klein also came for Kaelen himself. He wanted to know what kind of entity had founded this market, what his strength was, and what his temperament was like. He was genuinely afraid that a beast uncontrollable by the kingdom might be growing right on its borders.

Upon meeting him, Klein felt slightly relieved. He could not be sure of everything, but in terms of strength, Kaelen was quite mediocre—certainly much weaker than he had anticipated. Although Kaelen’s personal strength was shielded by the territory’s power, Klein could tell he was roughly at the fourth rank, which meant little to him.

However, there was one thing that made Klein wary: the undead under Kaelen’s command. While Kaelen himself was not powerful, his undead legions were not to be underestimated. The force within Kaelen’s territory alone was comparable to an elite legion of the Kingdom of Bourbon. With such an army, Kaelen was just barely capable of holding onto the undead market. Ultimately, Klein decided against taking action. After all, he had only recently harbored thoughts of seizing the territory, and the entire Land of the Dead had reacted violently; if he were to strike Kaelen directly and trigger an undead riot, this hard-won market would be ruined.

Therefore, after Kaelen promised to hand over twenty percent of the market’s monthly revenue and make concessions regarding the market’s supervision, Klein departed. His swift exit was not only because he had achieved his goals; more importantly, he had just received word that the Silver Hand had arrived at Sand-Silver City. Klein did not wish to have any contact with the Silver Hand, so he left prematurely.

The moment Klein departed, the smile vanished from Kaelen’s face. Kaelen had always believed that the strength he possessed was enough to stand his ground, but after meeting Klein today, he realized he was not nearly as powerful as he had imagined. He had assumed that Klein entering his territory alone with only Ryan was a sign of respect and a lowering of his guard, but seeing Klein in person, Kaelen realized it was simply arrogance born of confidence. He could not imagine how he would have defended himself if Klein had attacked. In such a scenario, even the Bone Tower would have been of little use.

Kaelen detested this sense of helplessness. As soon as Klein was gone, he opened his territory's status panel without hesitation.

...
Kaelen (Lord)
Territory Owned: Land of Death
Territory Level: 4
Territory Energy: 7.95 million
Territory Buildings: Giant Graveyard Lv4 (1), Small Crypt Lv1 (800), Bone Tower Lv3 (1), Undead Mine Lv1 (1)
...
Corpses Available for Conversion: 31,912 (Rank 0), 16,763 (Rank 1), 5,441 (Rank 2), 1,022 (Rank 3), 122 (Rank 4), 5 (Rank 5)
Undead Owned:
Rank 0 Undead (1,856)
Rank 1 Undead (8,000)
Rank 2 Undead (3,500)
Rank 3 Undead (350)
Rank 4 Undead (27)
...

Three months later, Kaelen had seen an increase in territory energy, the size of his undead legion, and the number of corpses. His territory energy had skyrocketed to a staggering 7.95 million, thanks to the maturation of the second batch of 150,000 "Whispers of the Dead" and his continuous acquisition of the resource. As for his Rank 2 undead, the jump to 3,500 was entirely due to the Bone Tower. Utilizing its feature of generating 50 energy per hour, Kaelen had cultivated over two thousand Rank 2 undead over the past three months, significantly boosting his military strength. Without this, his presence would have been much weaker when facing Klein.

However, because the Bone Tower could mass-upgrade Rank 1 undead, Kaelen had been hesitant to upgrade the building itself, fearing that the "system" might introduce maintenance costs or change the current free-of-charge progression system. But the pressure from Klein’s visit changed his mind.

"System, upgrade the Bone Tower!"
[Ding! Will you consume 500,000 territory energy and 10 Rank 4 energy cores to upgrade the Bone Tower?]
"Yes!"
[Ding! Bone Tower upgrade successful. Current level: 4!]

As the notification sounded, the Bone Tower grew a story taller, its outer walls turned a purer white, and fine patterns began to appear on its surface. Kaelen immediately checked its new attributes.

...
Bone Tower
Building Level: 4
Description: A defensive and residential structure with exceptional defensive capabilities and special functions.
Building Effects: Intermediate Defense Lv1, Intermediate Cultivation Boost Lv1
Intermediate Defense Lv1: The Bone Tower can immunize against attacks below Rank 4 and has partial immunity to Rank 5 attacks. It can automatically repair damage and can fire 5 selectable magical attacks per day (power around Rank 4 Exceptional).
Defense/Attack Range: 1,500 meters
Intermediate Cultivation Boost Lv1: Staying in the Bone Tower automatically grants 100 personal energy per hour!
Capacity: 80 people/undead
Upgrade Requirement: Triggered after reaching Territory Level 5.
Building Maintenance: 5,000/day
...

"Maintenance costs really did appear." Kaelen frowned. 5,000 energy per day meant 150,000 per month just for this one building. Combined with his 800 Small Crypts and the Undead Mine, his monthly maintenance costs had reached 205,000.

But Kaelen could no longer worry about costs; his sense of security was paramount. He immediately began converting his Rank 4 corpses to see if he could raise his territory level.

[Ding! You have consumed 4,000,000 territory energy and successfully converted 80 Rank 4 (Ordinary) undead!]
[Ding! You have reached 100 Rank 4 undead. Giant Graveyard upgrade requirements met!]
[Ding! Giant Graveyard upgrade requirements met. Territory upgrade conditions triggered!]
[Level 5 Territory Upgrade Requirements:
1. Possess 30,000 undead
2. Reach 10 items in the territory product catalog
3. Lord must reach Rank 4 (Legendary) strength]