Chapter 24: Slaughter, Expanding Through Slaughter!

"This is the place!"

Su Mu tapped his finger sharply on the electronic map, instantly selecting his first target for conquest: the Socrates Depression.

...

The night was dark and the wind was high—the perfect time for dark creatures to emerge.

Su Mu, accompanied by the Little Divine Dragon and Blade Slash, set off on his expedition once again.

As for his City Lord’s Mansion, he had no concerns; it was guarded by two War God Trees. Unless an exceptionally powerful dark creature appeared, it would be impossible to breach the defense line of the War God Trees. Moreover, one must not forget the presence of a terrifying entity like the Sword Saint Cong Tian within the mansion. When necessary, he would certainly handle any formidable enemies for Su Mu.

[Successfully killed 600 Bronze Zombie Bears, EXP +1500!]
[Successfully killed 400 Level 5 Silver Zombie Leopards, EXP +2000!]
[Successfully killed 300 Level 7 Zombie Tigers, EXP +4500!]
[Successfully killed 600 Level 7 Silver Flame Lizards, EXP +5500!]
[Successfully killed 400 Level 8 Silver Rock Leopards, EXP +7000!]
[Successfully killed 300 Level 7 Silver Sapling Demons, EXP +7500!]

The slaughter began anew!

The familiar system notification echoed in Su Mu’s ears. He had become completely accustomed to this sound; he felt no aversion to it, and in fact, he quite enjoyed it.

In the dark world, the winner takes all. This was a game for the strong. Su Mu had become somewhat addicted to it. Recalling his previous life in the city, he felt he was far better suited to life in this dark world.

[Blade Slash killed 100 Level 3 Silver Flame Lizards, EXP +1000!]
[Little Divine Dragon killed 60 Level 3 Silver Zombie Monsters, EXP +800!]

Little Divine Dragon and Blade Slash cleared the path ahead.

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

The blade light from Blade Slash illuminated the night sky, while the flames from the Little Divine Dragon were as brilliant as fireworks.

[Host killed 200 Level 3 Silver Flame Lizards, EXP +1600!]

Su Mu joined the sequence of battle himself, wielding a woodcutter’s blade and killing every monster in his sight. Now equipped with the Sacred Guardian Shield and possessing the strength of a Platinum 4, these low-level Silver monsters were no match for him; cutting them down was as easy as slicing vegetables.

At this moment, the trio was like gods of slaughter incarnate, shattering every demon and monster that stood in their way. Their team grew stronger and stronger with every kill!

Soon, Su Mu and his companions arrived at the destination of their expedition—the Socrates Depression.

"Holographic Eye."

Su Mu summoned the Holographic Eye to observe the balance of forces.

[Location: Gathering place of Dark Rock Monsters.]
[Quantity: 3600]
[Level: Silver 7]
[Skills: Full-body petrification, immense strength. For Dark Rock Monsters above Silver 6, their gaze can cause opponents to suffer a petrification effect.]

"Not too hard to deal with. Blade Slash, wipe them all out!"

Su Mu let out a roar and was the first to leap from the high slope, landing on the ground of the depression with a heavy thud.

A campfire was burning there. Several Rock Monsters were sitting around it, chatting while standing guard. They had gray-green skin, human-like bodies, but the heads of beasts. These Rock Monsters had various stone or bronze tools by their sides, clearly showing signs of rudimentary intelligence.

Seeing an intruder suddenly break into their territory, the Rock Monsters immediately grabbed their weapons and charged toward Su Mu with guttural cries.

"Kill!"

Su Mu had come with the intention of taking over this territory, so he showed no mercy. With a single swing, he hacked the six Rock Monsters into stone rubble.

[Host killed 6 Level 3 Silver Rock Monsters, EXP +1800!]

The system sound rang in Su Mu’s ears, but he remained unmoved, staring intently at the ground. To his surprise, the stone rubble slowly coalesced, reforming into Rock Monsters that continued their charge toward him.

"This is the dark world, indeed; you can encounter any kind of monster. It seems that even among monsters of the same Silver level, their innate skills vary."

Su Mu muttered to himself, then charged in again with his woodcutter’s blade, pounding the Rock Monsters until they shattered. To his surprise, the monsters resurrected yet again.

"What the hell? Do they resurrect infinitely like the War God Trees? Is this going to be a tough fight today?"

Su Mu was taken aback, but he fought fiercely, hacking the damned creatures into rubble once more. Fortunately, after being killed three consecutive times, the group of Rock Monsters lost their ability to resurrect.

"Nothing special!"

Su Mu gave a disdainful smile and turned to join the new battle.

By now, the battle involving the Little Divine Dragon and Blade Slash had also ignited. Countless Rock Monsters rushed out from their nests, surrounding Su Mu and his companions in the depression like an ocean. Yet, for them, these monsters were nothing more than fodder for grinding experience points.

[Blade Slash killed 300 Level 3 Silver Rock Monsters, EXP +4000!]
[Little Divine Dragon killed 300 Level 3 Silver Rock Monsters, EXP +4000!]
[Host killed 200 Level 3 Silver Rock Monsters, EXP +6000!]

The system sounds rang incessantly. Su Mu grew more energized with every kill; his blade light had turned into a blur. After gaining Platinum-level combat power, his stamina seemed dozens of times greater than that of an average person.

[Blade Slash killed 500 Level 3 Silver Rock Monsters, EXP +8000!]
[Little Divine Dragon killed 600 Level 3 Silver Rock Monsters, EXP +9000!]
[Host killed 500 Level 3 Silver Rock Monsters, EXP +8000!]

The kill notifications continued, and Su Mu remained in a state of high excitement. Killing monsters and earning EXP—that was his only job now.

The monsters in front of him grew fewer and fewer. It was unclear how much time had passed, but soon, there were no standing monsters left. There was only a landscape littered with stone fragments and the crackling, unextinguished black dragon fire.

[Congratulations to the Host for successfully conquering the Socrates Depression. A total of 3600 Silver-level dark creatures were killed. System reward: 3000 EXP.]

The hollow voice of the system echoed in Su Mu’s ears.

*Hoo!*

Su Mu let out a long breath. The battle had finally come to an end.

"Panel!"

Su Mu immediately checked the personal panels of himself, Blade Slash, and the Little Divine Dragon. After such a battle, he wanted to see how much his EXP had increased.

[Host: Su Mu]
[Level: LV1]
[Combat Power: 56,000]
...
[Warrior: Skeleton Warrior]
[Level: LV1]
[Combat Power: 78,000]
...
[Warrior: Little Divine Dragon]
[Level: LV1]
[Combat Power: 62,000]

Blue light screens appeared before Su Mu’s eyes.

"Not bad!"

Su Mu nodded in satisfaction. Although each of them only increased their attack power by a little over ten thousand, every bit counted. Over time, this would become a terrifying figure. Moreover, this was the dark world—a place where dark creatures were in no short supply. His team would only grow stronger with each slaughter.

"Start searching. There is an iron ore vein here with a massive reserve; that is the main goal of our trip."

Having wiped out the monsters, Su Mu naturally turned his attention to his primary objective: the rock iron ore. The Rock Monsters had built their nests like ant hills, filled with tangled, messy tunnels, making the search quite cumbersome.

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them met on a wide underground plain. The plain was deep beneath the earth, spanning about forty to fifty miles, and appeared dark red. Based on Su Mu’s experience, the iron ore must be located here; the soil had turned dark red precisely because it had been ironized.