Volume One: Hell-Level Lord World Chapter 109: The Diverse Growth of Different Heroes

After arranging everything, Chen Gu didn’t send anyone to follow him; he walked alone to the edge of the lake.

He was struggling to calm himself.

This time’s operation had been somewhat reckless. He hadn’t considered his own forces’ strength or the possibility of failure. He had directly placed an untested idea at the most critical juncture.

He had begun making preparations earlier, so naturally, he hadn’t dwelled on these concerns.

Now, as he calmed down, Chen Gu seriously contemplated the consequences of his move. If he failed this time, he could retreat with his troops quickly, but all the advantages he had accumulated along the way would be shattered. In the end, they might even be hunted down by the undead armies.

The heroes who followed him would lose confidence in him.

Though they wouldn’t betray him, morale would certainly be affected.

However, looking back, Chen Gu realized he had few alternatives in this battle.

A level-nine undead city, home to twenty million undead, stood before him. If he didn’t employ these cunning tactics, he would have to launch a frontal assault with his army.

If Chen Gu had spent decades building his forces here, with sufficient strength, it might have been different.

But he had been in this world for less than twenty days.

Though his forces numbered several hundred thousand on paper, only a few hundred soldiers were actually available for combat.

Trying to storm a city with twenty million undead with fewer than a thousand troops seemed impossible even to Chen Gu.

Yet, standing by the lake and calming himself for so long, Chen Gu felt increasingly determined. He believed he could win.

Now, all he needed was a moment of opportunity.

“Clear all the nodes along the way and switch to another carriage. Pan, you handle the carriage and the nodes. I need to reach the designated location within half an hour.”

Without looking back, Chen Gu fixed his gaze intently on a spot in the lake.

Following Chen Gu’s line of sight, Pan spotted a fish, not very large.

He couldn’t understand Chen Gu’s stare.

Everyone understood that Chen Gu needed food, but they had been supplied all along the journey—it wasn’t necessary to fixate on a single fish.

Chen Gu offered no explanation for his behavior.

He simply watched one fish after another, his gaze jumping back and forth across their bodies.

He stared for over an hour until Pan returned, at which point Chen Gu finally lifted his head.

“Have you eaten?”

“Huh?”

Pan looked puzzled, unsure of what Chen Gu meant.

“You made a round trip?”

Chen Gu asked again.

“Yes, I’ve already made one trip. But I found that the speed I achieved was only possible when I was alone in the carriage. If you were with me, we probably couldn’t reach that speed. We need to make some adjustments.”

“I’ll give you three more hours. That should be enough to get everything done.”

Chen Gu calculated the time.

“No problem. But sir, why must we reach the undead city within half an hour?”

“It’s like this: when I used illusion magic on that monster worm earlier, I noticed that after the battle ended, the illusionary worm disappeared only after half an hour.”

“In other words, in a non-combat state, things created by illusion magic can last for half an hour.”

“If I use the illusion here, then within half an hour, I can record the image of this illusion and later recreate it at the undead city.”

Listening to Chen Gu’s idea, Pan couldn’t help but be impressed.

He had never seen such a wild thought before.

However, Pan had been wondering: wasn’t Chen Gu’s illusion magic only capable of creating illusions of living creatures?

When had it become possible to create illusions of floods?

“That’s none of your concern.”

Chen Gu dismissed Pan’s question outright. “I’ll handle that myself. What you need to do now is get me to the designated location within half an hour.”

Seeing Chen Gu’s resolute expression, Pan could only nod in agreement.

For the rest of the time, Chen Gu stayed by the lake, but no longer staring at the fish. Instead, he had the Fire Spirit Ravens and Corpse-Eating Vines enter the water to catch live fish.

Chen Gu insisted on live catches.

Each time they caught a fish, Chen Gu carefully compared it before tossing it aside.

The fish were gathered by the Bloodshadow Wolves and quickly dragged away.

During the waiting period for Pan’s return, Chen Gu caught nearly a hundred fish of various sizes.

It could be said that he now had a direct understanding of the fish species in the lake.

At the same time, he had confirmed some of his own hypotheses.

Now, all that remained was to wait for Pan.

While Pan was on his way back, Kebas sent Chen Gu the latest news through his mosquito swarm.

He had already ambushed the troops at the battlefield location they had initially chosen.

Now, all that was needed was Chen Gu’s command to launch the attack on the undead city.

“Did you see through my plan?” Chen Gu asked curiously.

“Yes. Sir, you’re waiting for the time to enter combat status, right?”

“Looks like you’re smarter than Pan.”

Chen Gu smiled. “Guard the position. I still need some time here.”

“Rest assured, sir. I’m ready to fight at any moment.”

After Kebas ended the communication, Chen Gu turned his thoughts elsewhere.

From his observations, Kebas was more intelligent than Pan.

Pan knew his own situation better but lacked strategic insight.

He was the type who needed explicit orders to act.

However, he was competent in basic combat.

Once the mission was clearly explained, he would ensure its completion.

Kebas, on the other hand, was a proactive thinker.

He didn’t need detailed directives—just a general direction, and he could accomplish the task with ease.

Of course, sometimes Kebas’s judgments led him to act differently from Chen Gu.

This was a potential problem.

Though they had no conflicts now, it was uncertain if issues might arise in the future.

For example, if Chen Gu needed Kebas but Kebas discovered enemy movements elsewhere and took the troops away—that would be awkward.

Thus, both heroes had their strengths and weaknesses.

Chen Gu had to carefully consider the situation to decide how to use them.

While Chen Gu pondered how to utilize these two heroes, his subordinates were not idle.

Although the Corpse-Eating Vines seemed to be fishing underwater, Chen Gu had given them specific instructions.

He needed them to find the weakest point in the dam.

He intended to create a man-made flood.