Volume One: The Infernal Lord’s Realm Chapter 83: The Plan to Synthesize a Mobile Base

Regarding the situation of the undead leader, neither Chen Gu nor Blufid knew much about it. The only one who had previously interacted with the undead leader, Kebas, had already left the Crow Nest Marsh to deliver the Heart of the City. Now, Chen Gu had no way to find anyone to ask about the situation.

"Forget it, I'll leave that aside for now. Let me deal with my means of transportation first," Chen Gu said as he brought the level-three Heart of the City to the side of his vine carriage.

Ever since entering this lordly world, Chen Gu had been crafting various types of vehicles—carriages, sailboats, even submarines. The latter two were mostly for temporary journeys, but what truly concerned Chen Gu was the vine carriage.

On his way to Crow Nest Marsh, Chen Gu had already considered strengthening his vine carriage. After all, the space inside was becoming ever more cramped, and he wanted to bring more of his followers along. If it weren’t for the lucky acquisition of a level-three Heart of the City, and if it weren’t for the unique case of the bone behemoth, Chen Gu’s method of enhancement would have simply been to enlarge the carriage.

But now, things were different. A new idea had taken root in Chen Gu’s mind: he wanted to transform the vine carriage into a mobile base.

"My lord, are you planning to synthesize the carriage into a mobile base?" Blufid noticed Chen Gu’s intention as he approached the vine carriage.

"Yes. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Not really, but I think you’ll need some materials. Over the years, a number of hydras have perished; we’ve collected their bones and skins, and you can use them."

"Indeed," Peter chimed in, "when we sealed the city, there were some items we couldn’t lock away, so they were thrown into the marsh. After soaking there for so long, they’ve mutated and can’t be used as they were, but if you don’t mind, you can use them to reinforce the carriage."

As they spoke, the two brought out various materials and laid them before Chen Gu. By the look on their faces, they were clearly waiting for him to combine the vine carriage with the Heart of the City.

Chen Gu wasn’t sure if he was being placed in a spot, but he cared little for such things.

He simply pointed, "Go drag the corpse of the behemoth in for me. I need to examine its structure. If this mobile base becomes too large, it’ll be hard to move; I also need to check some arrangements for the base. Without clarifying these points, I won’t know the scale or direction of the synthesis."

Blufid did not wait for Chen Gu to issue a more explicit order. He immediately had the hydras drag over the shattered remains of the bone behemoth.

Chen Gu had said he wanted to study it, and he truly did so in earnest. At last, he looked up, a plan forming in his mind.

"Looks like it’s time to build a train. Blufid, how many hydra bones do you have, and how many heads? Kebas took the burrowing worm with him, otherwise we could process even more materials."

Blufid responded promptly, "I have about three hundred hydra bones, and if needed, I also have some bull bones and hides from creatures that have lain dead in the marsh for a long time."

"No need for bull bones," Chen Gu said, "This world is shrouded in undead aura. Anything related to the undead is beyond our control. I want the bones mainly for decoration."

He refused Blufid and chose only some hydra bones.

"So, my lord, do you need hydras themselves?"

"No, not now. We shouldn’t be reckless; I need to make careful adjustments."

Chen Gu swiftly sorted through the materials, his mind already clear. A single carriage couldn’t form a city, nor could it be enlarged to the scale of the bone behemoth. Such a massive carriage would be slow and struggle to forge a path through the forest.

So Chen Gu decided to transform the carriage into a train. This didn’t mean laying tracks and adding a locomotive, but rather turning his vine carriage from a single compartment into a series of many connected carriages.

This way, there would be enough space. As the city’s level increased, more carriages could be added. Whenever the train stopped, the compartments could be arranged in a circle, forming a small city. This was precisely where the Heart of the City could be put to proper use.

Since the Heart of the City had not yet been activated, Chen Gu’s plan was to first consider all necessary arrangements.

Furthermore, he intended to use corpse-eating vines for all propulsion, though their appearance needed some changes. The connections between carriages, and the steering mechanisms, had to be designed so none would fall behind, which also required some corpse-eating vines. Finally, there was the matter of defense—a train so long could not escape notice, so a defensive force was essential.

These were the issues Chen Gu needed to address. With the materials in hand, he tackled them one by one.

Peter and Blufid watched from the side, thinking that with Chen Gu’s meticulous approach to his talents, it would be stranger if he didn’t succeed.

Chen Gu was unaware of their thoughts. At this moment, he had already crafted twelve new carriage compartments. Including his original compartment, there were now thirteen in total.

Each was slightly larger than the original. Chen Gu built them with the prospect of constructing a mobile city in mind.

He no longer cared about luxury or comfort, so all the new carriages were four meters long, two meters wide, two and a half meters high, and mounted on four wheels.

The compartments were made of wood, but all the wheels were crafted from bone and wrapped in beast hide.

The roofs and doors of the carriages differed as well.

As he built, Chen Gu considered the various uses for each compartment. Although the Heart of the City had yet to be purified, and the vine carriage not yet synthesized, he had already made appropriate arrangements for each carriage.

Some had hardwood roofs; others were topped with beast hide. Some had doors on both sides; some lacked windows and doors altogether, with entry only from the rear.

Yet regardless of exterior differences, every carriage had a driver’s seat for three at the front, and space for two guards to stand at the rear.