Chapter 548, Four Fighter Jets Escort
The three wyverns, once dead, were now in a severely wounded state.
After all that effort to kill them, now they were being saved again.
"Tie them up securely," Wu Heng ordered, then explained to the nearby spirits, "We'll take them back first. Whether we raise them ourselves or use them for experiments, we'll decide later."
"Alright, as long as you've thought it through," Glenda said.
Xiaoxiao no longer paid attention to this and flew straight toward the cargo ships at the shore.
The skeletons wrapped extra layers of restraints around the injured wyverns.
Wu Heng activated Mansion Technique, instructing the skeletons to drag the wounded wyverns inside and throw them into a corner.
Mansion Technique closed.
Wu Heng turned his gaze toward the other human corpses.
According to Sheila Grey's speculation, these people were from the Dragon Traders, but their purpose for being here and their reason for raiding ships were still unclear.
He randomly selected a corpse and cast [Speak with Dead].
The corpse suddenly sat up, its murky eyes staring ahead.
Wu Heng directly asked, "What was your purpose for coming here?"
The corpse replied, "We came to the Emerald Sea to sell trained wyverns to the pirates."
As expected, it was just as Sheila Grey had suspected.
The Dragon Traders had come to sell wyverns.
Wu Heng continued, "Why did you raid merchant ships?"
The corpse answered, "The pirates disappeared, so our order couldn't be completed. We decided to seize some goods to make up for our losses."
With that answer, the situation became clear.
These guys couldn't find their pirate clients and didn't want to return empty-handed, so they started attacking merchant convoys along the trade route.
With over 40 wyverns and a level 15 leader, the merchants on the route stood no chance against them.
They were simply unlucky.
They chose to stop at an island that Ghost Train had recorded before.
Three questions remained.
Wu Heng thought for a moment and asked, "Did you breed these wyverns yourselves?"
"Yes. Wyverns trained from their juvenile stage will obey their master's commands."
Wu Heng stroked his chin and nodded.
The ones he just revived—he hadn't even checked if they were male or female. Could they be bred continuously on his side?
Wu Heng continued, "Where do you live?"
The corpse answered, "Kasaar City, beyond the Emerald Sea."
The final question.
"Now that you're dead, does your group have any way to track you?"
The corpse hesitated. "Probably not. There are multiple divisions of the Dragon Traders. Some members have gone missing before. People might try to gather information, but if there's no news, they usually let it go."
With five questions answered, the corpse collapsed back.
"Wrap the wyvern corpses properly and gather all the scattered debris," Wu Heng commanded.
The skeletons moved swiftly, covering the wyverns in straw mats and collecting the broken remnants of tents and miscellaneous items into a pile.
Wu Heng first stored the wyvern corpses in his spatial ring.
Then, he cast [Battlefield of the Dead].
A grayish-white light spread outward. Flesh peeled away, and skeletons slowly rose from the ground.
The corpse conversion was complete.
Wu Heng then cast [Grease Spell] on the pile of debris and followed up with [Fireball].
The flames ignited.
A raging fire engulfed the surroundings, turning the entire area into a blazing inferno.
Once the fire burned out, only ashes remained.
Wu Heng led the skeletons to inspect the docked ships.
These ships were quite different from pirate vessels—dirty and filled with a sour stench.
"There's nothing here. They're so poor," Xiaoxiao flew back, visibly disgusted.
"The wyvern corpses and the ships themselves are already a significant gain," Wu Heng said.
"But they're not even worth selling! These guys are worse than pirates!" Xiaoxiao grumbled.
"Next time, we'll catch real pirates."
Wu Heng then reassigned tasks to the skeletons, sending them to the remaining ships.
Once everything was set, he gave the order to return.
...
The Next Day, Noon.
Five ships docked at the Guild's private harbor. Wu Heng gave a brief explanation to the harbor officials and took a carriage to the Guild.
The Guild Hall was bustling with people at this hour.
Some were gathered around the bulletin board, discussing forming their own mercenary teams.
Wu Heng walked directly to the Steward's office, knocked lightly, and pushed the door open.
Inside, Assistant Shiyali was organizing documents.
Seeing Wu Heng enter, she immediately smiled.
"Lord Island Master, thank you for saving me last time."
"Are you recovering well? You should rest at home a bit longer," Wu Heng said.
Coming back from the dead wasn't the same as an ordinary injury.
Even with the world's potent potions, full recovery wasn't so simple.
"I'm not doing any heavy work. Plus, I can keep Sheila Grey company here," Shiyali said softly.
Wu Heng nodded and asked, "Where's Sheila Grey?"
"She went out. She should be back soon. Please wait a moment." Shiyali brought him tea and sat down nearby.
They chatted.
She asked about his home, then moved on to whether he should be married by now, given his age.
Then she asked how he ended up on the path of a necromancer and what his future plans were.
Wu Heng wiped the sweat from his forehead.
It felt like being interrogated by a nosy village auntie collecting gossip.
Just as he was about to make an excuse to leave…
The door swung open, and Sheila Grey strode in, full of urgency.
As soon as she stepped inside, she locked eyes on Wu Heng. "Why are you still here?"
Wu Heng said, "I came to talk to you about this."
Sheila Grey placed her helmet aside and furrowed her brow. "We can talk later. Pirates never stay in one place for long. If they leave, it'll be hard to find them again at sea."
"No, I've already taken care of it—they're dead," Wu Heng quickly explained, seeing her urgency.
"What? You mean you already killed them?" Sheila Grey frowned.
"Yes. Just as you said, they came to sell wyverns to the pirates. When they couldn't find any, they started raiding merchant ships instead."
Wu Heng recounted the full situation.
Sheila Grey sat down, staring at him. "Are you sure you went there?"
"Why would I lie? I even brought back five ships—they're docked in the harbor right now," Wu Heng leaned back and sipped his tea.
"How did you get there so fast?" Sheila Grey pressed.
"That's my secret. What matters is that the job's done."
Sheila Grey glared at him before saying, "You said they were from where?"
"Kasaar City, apparently beyond the Emerald Sea."
Sheila Grey sipped her tea, pondering. "I'll report this to headquarters and have the local Guild in Kasaar City handle it."
Wu Heng thought for a moment. "Sounds good. You take care of it. When I eliminated them, I cleaned up the site, so even if they investigate, they won't trace it back to us."
"Fine. You're the expert." Sheila Grey acknowledged, then added, "With more ships coming in, we should increase patrols along the trade routes to prevent new pirate threats."
"Agreed. We gained five ships from this. I also ordered a few more through the merchant convoys. Once they arrive, I'll organize a patrol fleet."
"The sooner, the better."
"I know."
After discussing this, Sheila Grey also asked about the metal poles being set up in the central district.
Wu Heng remained mysterious, only saying they were part of the island's development.
She would understand soon enough.
After chatting a bit more, Wu Heng left the Guild, and Sheila Grey began writing her report to submit.
...
Back at his residence.
Several maids came out to greet him.
Aside from Minnie, Annette, and Robe, Philipa, with a parrot on her shoulder, also stepped out of the house.
After the three maids finished fawning over him…
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Philipa put her hands on her hips and said, "You went out to sea without taking me, your captain? What's the meaning of this?"
Uh…
"It happened suddenly, and I didn't need a ship, so I didn't call for you," Wu Heng replied.
Philipa looked skeptical. "You and Sheila Grey went out alone, didn't you? You just didn't want to bring me along, right?"
Wu Heng placed his hand on her shoulder, and the parrot flew onto a nearby tree branch.
He wrapped his arm around her and walked toward the room, saying, "What are you talking about? She didn't go either. The mission was special; I didn't travel by ship."
"That's fine, then. I am a captain, after all. Next time you go out to sea, take me with you. Staying on the island is boring," Philipa said, finally smiling again upon hearing his explanation.
They returned to the living room and waited a bit.
Lunch was served.
The group ate while casually chatting.
Wu Heng continued, "Philipa, we've got five new large cargo ships docked at the port. When you're done eating, modify them for patrol duty along our trade routes."
"Got it. I'll head over right after lunch," Philipa said before asking, "What were they used for before?"
"You could think of them as livestock transporters."
"Ugh, I know those. Those ships stink. Back when we raided ships, we hated dealing with them—no matter how much you scrub, the smell never goes away."
"We'll have the skeletons clean them thoroughly."
"Understood." Philipa nodded.
After lunch, the maids discussed and decided to accompany Philipa to the port to inspect the ships.
Meanwhile, Wu Heng returned to his study and used the Realm Gate to travel to the zombie world.
...
Stepping out of the dormitory building…
He waited at the entrance for a moment before Qi Hancai approached from behind.
"Any plans for today?"
Wu Heng shook his head. "Let's head to the withered forest out back."
"Need a vehicle?"
"Not for now."
The two made their way to the withered forest, where a vast army of skeletons was stationed.
Wu Heng pulled out numerous wyvern corpses and arranged them on the open ground before him.
Qi Hancai's eyes widened as she took in the sight of the wyvern corpses.
So many!
Skeletal wyverns played an irreplaceable role in combat.
A few rounds of aerial bombardment could wipe out 80% of a zombie horde.
Currently, the skeletal wyverns were stationed at both the munitions factory and the airport.
They weren't enough.
The sight of so many wyvern corpses meant a major boost for the base.
Wu Heng carefully counted—38 in total.
He cast [Battlefield of the Dead], and the wyvern corpses shed their flesh, as skeletal wyverns emerged from the rotting remains.
Their bodies trembled, flinging rotten flesh in all directions.
[Skeletal Wyvern (Level 12)]
[Skeletal Wyvern (Level 13)]
[Skeletal…]
Most of the wyverns were level 12 or 13—not bad.
"Hold position and await orders," Wu Heng commanded.
The restless skeletal wyverns gradually settled down.
They curled up and lay still in the open spaces between the trees.
Wu Heng turned to Qi Hancai. "Transfer a few to the airport later."
"Alright!" Qi Hancai nodded.
"Also, I recall Zhang Chi once designed a blueprint for mounting machine guns on wyverns. Have him send someone over with it—we'll see if it works."
"Got it. I'll contact him when we get back."
The two returned to base.
...
Dusk—Back on Gold-Silver Island.
Three severely injured, dying wyverns were dragged out of the Mansion.
Wu Heng and his group squatted nearby, observing the three tightly bound wyverns.
"Two males, one female," Wu Heng noted.
Judging by their undersides, he could still distinguish the sexes of these wyverns.
"Master, are you planning to raise them?" asked the floppy-eared rabbit girl, Annette.
"When we wiped out the Dragon Traders, we learned that they raised these wyverns from a young age. We might as well give it a try," Wu Heng said, standing up and instructing the skeletons to toss the three wyverns into an iron cage nearby.
He had originally planned to keep them in the zombie world.
But with so many rescue team members coming and going, he decided against letting them learn too much.
"Should we prepare food for them?" Minnie asked.
"Not yet. Let them go hungry for a bit first, just to keep them from dying."
"Understood."
"Alright, let's head back."
"Yes, Master."
...
The Next Day—Zombie World Airport.
Inside the conference room…
Commander Liu furrowed his brows and asked in a deep voice, "Deputy Leader Qi, what do you mean by keeping the Tiancheng Group personnel here? Are you trying to steal our people?"
Qi Hancai looked up at him and replied bluntly, "We're inviting the Tiancheng Group to stay and join our Xinfushi Base. Of course, if they refuse, you could also see it as taking them by force."
Bang!
Commander Liu slammed his fist on the table.
He bellowed angrily, "Isn't this a bit too unreasonable?"
"That's not how you should put it," Qi Hancai replied calmly, unaffected by his shouting. "You led a horde of zombies right to our doorstep. If we hadn't handled it properly, we would have been wiped out alongside you."
"Deputy Leader Qi, I already explained—we were forced onto that road in a rush!" Liu insisted.
Qi Hancai said, "We understand your reasoning, but every mistake comes with consequences. Do you think nearly getting us killed is a small matter?"
"We can renegotiate this, but you can't just detain people! Especially right before departure!" Commander Liu argued.
Qi Hancai shrugged. "Some decisions have to be made on the spot."
Commander Liu took a deep breath, stood up, and said, "I need to go back and discuss this with my people. I'll give you a definite answer before we leave."
"You have thirty minutes. If you can't convince your people, we have our own methods."
"Hmph! Just wait for my response," Liu said coldly before turning and leaving.
Once Liu had left…
Qi Hancai stood up and walked into an adjacent room.
...
Liu returned to the room assigned to him.
He pushed open the door, and the others inside immediately stood up. "Commander! What did they say?"
Liu's face was grim. "Connect the radio—I need to contact headquarters."
"We just packed it up," someone said quietly.
"Set it up again," Liu commanded in a stern voice.
"Yes, sir!" The team hurriedly reassembled the radio, adjusted the settings, and soon had it operational.
"It's ready," one of the operators reported.
Liu immediately took the mic and said, "This is the provincial shelter of Yangtong City, calling headquarters."
"This is headquarters. Go ahead!"
Liu took a deep breath and said, "Our original plan was to board the passenger plane arriving at Yangtong City Airport and head to headquarters."
"Understood. The aircraft is en route and should be arriving soon," the other side replied.
"Xinfushi Base agreed to provide the airport but is refusing to let some of our technical personnel leave. They're trying to detain them." Liu inhaled sharply before continuing, "We appreciate their rescue and assistance, but these technicians must go to headquarters. Please negotiate with them."
Zzzzz…!
The radio crackled.
Then, another male voice came through.
"This is YS202 transport aircraft. I am Level-3 Commander Lü Chang'an. We are approaching Yangtong City's airspace, escorted by four fighter jets. We will ensure the safe transport of the Yangtong rescue team and technical personnel to headquarters."
Commander Liu and everyone in the room lit up with joy.
"Thank you, Commander Lü Chang'an. That puts my mind at ease."