Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton
Chapter 1540 - 1101: Minor Source Physique

Chapter 1540: Chapter 1101: Minor Source Physique

For the Undead and Alchemists, the phrase "a body is empty" is easy to understand—for example, a soulless corpse, a heartless zombie, or a coreless construct.

But what Negris referred to as "empty" wasn’t any of these concepts; it was truly empty. Places like abdominal and thoracic cavities, which should normally house something, were instead completely hollow, devoid of anything.

"Magic patterns, divine seals, arrays, energy circuits... the internal structure is so complex." Durken fiddled for a while and actually opened up the abdominal cavity, revealing the interior.

Knocking on the shell surface again, it produced a very peculiar sound. After a few taps, Ange tilted his head and pulled out a fragment of a Minor Origin.

Placing the Minor Origin Fragment next to this body, everyone instantly noticed—they were clearly made of the same material. The only difference was that the Minor Origin Fragment had a Power of Devour, while this body did not.

"Hiss—" Anthony turned to Hemel and asked, "Where did you find this?"

Hemel pointed toward a certain cave in the Underground City.

Everyone hurriedly flew off toward that cave.

A very small cave, filled with various goods. In the Underground City, independent caves were extremely valuable. Most people either pitched a tent or simply slept on the ground since the Underground City was already an enclosed space, free from concerns about rain, snow, or strong winds.

Independent caves, however, were often only rented by merchant caravans or mercenary groups with substantial storage needs, using them as their headquarters.

Typically, subordinates would spread out in a fan-shaped pattern centered around the cave, forming small territory zones to defend it.

The Violet Mercenary Group, though the de facto ruler of the Underground City, did not exercise strict control before Silver Coin’s arrival. Such expectations were simply too high for a mercenary group.

They behaved more like an aggressive gang controlling key nodes and collecting tolls, renting out spaces while leaving operational details to small groups. As long as they maintained control over the Teleportation Array, entry and exit routes, and a few strategic high points, they were unafraid of disturbances.

The recent invasion by the Heisuo Mercenary Group proved this point. The internal collaborators were scattered across different areas, the external coalition forces were blocked at entry routes, locked in a stalemate, and in the end, Ange single-handedly crushed them in one move.

Indeed, several forces within this Void could forcibly overwhelm the Underground City, such as the Crystal Dragon Corps of North Corona or even the Mourning Undead Soldiers of Klalata.

But such high-tier combat strength was not something a mercenary group like Violet needed to concern itself with. All they could do was avoid offending these powers.

"Whose territory is this?" Anthony turned to Roland with a question.

Roland looked at Silver Coin, who pulled out a notebook, flipped through it, and responded, "A merchant caravan called the Megalithic Array."

"The Megalithic Array? Do you know them?"

"Never heard of them." Roland and a few mercenaries muttered among themselves, all expressing their unfamiliarity. Either it was an obscure group or a hastily made-up name.

An obscure merchant caravan hiding a body infused with a Minor Origin?

Before long, a few members of the Megalithic Array caravan were brought over. They were coarse-handed elderly men with rough, darkened skin, looking more like farmers than merchants.

Because of Ange’s origins, there was a natural sense of warmth toward people with a farmer’s appearance. Upon careful questioning, they indeed turned out not to be professional merchants.

"We’re farmers. We grew some grain and wanted to sell it for a bit of money, but the landlord wouldn’t let us sell our grain privately. So we asked the Witch, and she said we could come here—that’s why we came." The Megalithic Array farmers answered truthfully.

Anthony skillfully split them up for individual questioning. Unless they had coordinated their stories beforehand, it was nearly impossible for them to escape Anthony’s scrutiny.

In reality, unless someone like Anthony outright altered their memories, these individuals had no way of lying under his sharp observation.

After some inquiries, Anthony concluded, "They come from a prairie settlement. They grew some grain and wanted to sell it, but due to the Light Disaster, the Divine Light Alliance had banned grain exports, restricting transactions to internal markets. However, the local landlord was extremely exploitative, heavily undervaluing their grain. So they asked the Witch for advice."

"From their descriptions, it appears to be a settlement with primitive worship. It combines semi-nomadic and semi-agricultural lifestyles. The Witch functions as the community’s healer, Wizard, and Priest all in one. Through some rituals, the Witch communicated with an Ancient Deity and obtained a solution. Following guidance, they came here."

Negris couldn’t help but interject, "Why does this feel strange to me? Communicating with an Ancient Deity, and the solution is to come to the Underground City to sell grain? That’s like me being sick and praying to the Master God for a cure, only for Him to tell me to believe in science and go take my medicine."

Anthony shrugged before continuing, "So they carried this body via teleportation to the Underground City. On the surface, as long as this body remained motionless, it looked like a statue, and Roland’s people didn’t investigate further."

"They then rented a cave and began selling grain and various pelts. When Silver Coin’s people started registering everyone, that’s when they came up with a name. Since their settlement had a megalithic array, they named themselves the Megalithic Array Merchants."

Negris couldn’t hold back a question, "How did they get the grain here?"

"They didn’t have to transport it. They set prearranged teleportation coordinates and times, sending it directly from home. This place was merely a liaison point," Anthony explained.

"Just a liaison point—why rent a cave and bring a body here?" Negris asked in bafflement.

"Because the body can serve as a transmission beacon. Part of the grain and pelts they send are directly teleported over."

"That’s impossible! Roland, didn’t your team inspect this? Someone transmitting items using a beacon—how could you not detect it?" Negris exclaimed.

In the Underground City, monitoring transmissions was a priority. In addition to routine inspections, Wizards would detect teleportation fluctuations. It was virtually impossible for transmissions to occur unnoticed.

Roland frowned and replied, "Of course we did, but we found nothing. Teleportation fluctuations are so prominent—even if I were buried, I’d sense them."

At that moment, Negris caught sight of Ange pressing a finger just below the throat of the body.

Everyone else noticed too. Instantly, all attention turned to Ange. Though quiet most of the time, Ange was the core of the group. When he was idle, no one cared, but the moment he acted, everyone’s focus shifted.

Then, Ange’s body suddenly went limp, collapsing to the ground.

Everyone’s eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets—Ange, fainting? How was that possible? This was a duplicate. If it fainted, the most likely scenario was that it was forcibly recalled to the main body.

Just as everyone’s hearts were about to leap out of their chests, the Minor Origin body on the ground moved. It raised its upper body and tilted its head blankly.