Yes. This is more like it.
Blaze nodded, staring at the piles of bone, bony jars of blood, sheets of rotten skin, and chunks of flesh laid out before him.
Sounds of fighting echoed outside, while on the inside, the separator churned loudly.
I can’t believe it requires an energy source on top of everything.
Blaze’s problems didn’t disappear by putting corpses inside the separator. Because, unlike the corpse pit, the separator required energy to work.
Thankfully, the corpse pit provided everything. The gases it released alongside flesh acted as a power source for undead structures.
Blaze had to kill a few extra undead to create a pipeline of sorts between the two, but it worked.
The previously open corpse pit was now covered by a thin layer of flesh sheets. The sheets trapped the gases, directing them towards pipelines connecting the separator. While a separate pipe kept delivering flesh chunks for the undead.
Blaze tried to decipher how these undead structures worked, but had to give up. His feeble mind wasn’t developed enough to break down the workings.
Perhaps the Collective wanted him to stay dependent on the system for a while. After all, if he managed to create such structures himself, then the Collective would lose their hold over him.
It will happen eventually. Whether they like it or not.
The Collective’s tools were entertaining to Blaze. That’s why he was willing to play along for now. However, the moment he figures out their secrets, or better yet, corrupt the system, he’d become an entity they’d dread.
Saturn, put more corpses inside!
The frog croaked and lifted a chunk of undead with its sticky hands, before dumping them into the separator.
Saturn was the best for the job. Its nimble, slime-coated arms allowed it to lift almost thrice its weight. It saved the cost of unnecessary construction, like a conveyor belt.
Yes. The system even had those, though they cost more resources than Blaze could afford.
Meanwhile, Raven and Breaker were busy killing any undead they came across. Crawler was acting as a porter, transporting the said undead to the lair.
Fester wasn’t forgotten either. Blaze had sent it to scout the surrounding area.
He realized that while there were many zombies, the quality of stuff they produced wasn’t up to the mark. Other than their bones and flesh, they weren’t useful for much.
Blaze didn’t have any use of their blood, and the skin sheets were too fragile and rotten to make lasting structures.
It would require a lot of experimenting around to produce quality stuff via the separator. For that, Blaze needed test subjects, a lot of them. And Fester became his eyes for that.
Alright, let’s get back to work.
With his undead working in sync, Blaze didn’t need to oversee the operation. So, he got to the fun part of the lair building.
The system suggested Blaze to uproot everything and start from scratch. However, he disagreed.
While the system’s solution was suitable for the long term, Blaze had to focus on the present.
Despite killing zombies for material, he lacked the resources to build a new lair. Instead, he was in favor of repurposing existing structures.
First on the list was a small pond for fish and the frogs.
So far, he didn’t spot any mutated fish inside there. Given how hungry these frogs were all the time, it was likely that the king had hunted all the fish for them.
As much as Blaze disliked the loss of a resource, a clean pond meant the frogs could breed without worries.
A single frog could lay anywhere from a hundred to thousands of eggs in one go. Yes, not all of them hatch, but even if a third of them did, it would be enough to keep the separator working nonstop for days.
Food, materials, everything would be provided to the undead. This would leave the corpse pit to act as the primary power source for the separator and future installations.
Let’s leave the pond untouched.
Blaze turned back. The reptile house had more or less collapsed. The rubble from it could be used to set makeshift barriers around the open area.
However, that wouldn’t be enough. They were in a wide, open space. While buildings and other wildlife sections surrounded them, they weren’t protected at all.
Mutants, undead, or worse, the chosen would have a field day attacking them as things stood. The place was in need of a serious makeover.
Thankfully, Blaze had everything he’d need for that.
After opening the Lair management function, Blaze quickly constructed a corpse wall. It was just like the name suggested. A wall made of materials from a corpse.
The 80-square-foot wall comprised a frame made of bones, and a fleshy material filled the rest, which was held together with two layers of rotting skin. It looked just as bit disgusting as it smelled.
Blaze set the wall next to the reptile house’s exit. He then popped his blade out and carved a path through the wall.
Since it was made of rotten flesh and skin, he expected it to be fragile in a way. However, he was surprised when he had to put considerable strength into cutting through.
He threw the cutout away, admiring his work for a moment before constructing another wall. It was then system revealed the use of rotten blood.
After being mixed with flesh chunks, the blood turned into a decent adhesive. It was strong enough to hold the walls together, which came as a surprise.
Within a few hours, Blaze had constructed a basic perimeter around his lair. With the main issue out of the way, he focused on the task he’s been given.
Building three defenses.
The system guided him to a different section of installations. It showed some heavy-duty stuff like a turret, a watchtower and whatnot. But Blaze had no interest in such fancy creations.
The lair was in the starting phases, and he only had five undead in his horde. Such installations would catch unnecessary attention. Blaze knew he couldn’t face possibly hundreds of chosen humans who’d come investigating.
I have to stay low-key.
He kept scrolling until he found what he was looking for.
A smile appeared on his lips as his lair came together, unaware of the unwanted guests standing outside the zoo.