Chapter 164: Outpost 8, Fork in the Road

With preparation and experience, the shadow behemoths were no match for them at all, completely suppressed in a direct confrontation.

The battles in other positions were much the same. More than twenty professionals joined the fray, coordinating with numerous soldiers to quickly suppress the charge of the shadow Orcs.

With numerous soldiers shielding the front lines, the professionals could safely output damage and fully unleash their formidable combat power.

This was a rare occasion where Chu Cheng did not need to make a move, as the shadow Orcs launched fierce assaults for quite some time without ever breaking their defense line.

After roughly two minutes, the shadow behemoth was slain, condensing into a red loot chest.

The five professionals who freed up their hands joined the battlefield, specializing in hunting down shadow Orc leaders and accelerating the Orcs' collapse.

Five minutes later, a muffled horn sounded from the depths of the pitch-black, twisted shadow domain, and the numerous shadow creatures began to retreat.

The light could not reach any further, and it was impossible to know what kind of entity was hiding deep within the shadow domain to command these shadow creatures.

The battle ended quickly. After clearing the battlefield, the procession resumed its journey.

When the beast of burden reached the head of the caravan, it saw the corpses of two similar shadow behemoths by the roadside, along with a much larger number of shadow Orc corpses, interspersed with quite a few strangely shaped shadow monsters, all of them twisted and grotesque.

The professionals who had fought earlier did not return to their carriages; instead, they sat on the backs of the beasts of burden. After a short while, a caravan steward came over to purchase their loot.

The Autumn Leaf Chamber of Commerce did more than just trade; they also bought loot, and were particularly fond of acquiring spoils from various shadow creatures.

Earlier, Fang Xi had used spells to kill a large number of shadow creatures, which also yielded a few loot chests. Their grades were not high, and the most common item inside was a material called shadow stone, which condensed within the bodies of shadow creatures—comparable to gallstones—and could be used to brew potions that protected against the environmental hazards of shadow-blighted lands.

Chu Cheng spent 15 gold coins to buy 15 bottles of potent shadow potions from a caravan steward.

Upon ingestion, they granted a buff lasting two hours, providing a degree of immunity to environmental shadow damage.

However, it was not needed for now. The moonlight lantern hung by the caravan granted immunity to environmental hazards, so he kept these in reserve for Fang Xi to use once they set out on their own starting from Outpost 8.

He himself had no need for them, as his talent-based damage reduction could absorb this minor amount of damage.

The procession moved on, and the caravan returned to peace.

Two days later, the caravan crossed the shadow region once more, arriving at the fourth stronghold.

Stopping for half a day, they pushed forward again, plunging directly into the darkness just like diving into an ocean.

The vast and shattered astral realm was submerged by shadows, resembling a boundless sea, with individual realm fragments scattered across the deep like isolated islands. They were like a fleet of ships navigating the ocean, seeking out one isolated island after another.

The islands were the domain of normal creatures, while the shadows outside were the domain of twisted shadow creatures.

There were all kinds of twisted shadow monsters, shadow behemoths, goblins corrupted and transformed into shadow creatures by the shadows, shadow Orcs, and even shadow humans.

These shadow creatures, twisted by anomalous laws, also had their own tribes and formed clans. They harbored an extreme hatred for normal life, attacking any living person who entered the shadow territory, and would periodically gather to assault the realm fragments, exterminating the normal creatures within.

However, Chu Cheng had only heard of this. The accompanying professionals, often bored, would emerge from their carriages and gather on the backs of the beasts of burden to chat and share tales.

Many of these accompanying professionals had long-term experience and adventure in this plane, and some teams had even established their own bases and outposts within certain realm fragments.

For instance, if a valuable mineral deposit was discovered in a certain realm, a base would be established there for mining.

A batch of soldiers would be recruited from other realms to guard the mine, while alien races like captured Orcs were forced to mine.

Every once in a while, they would visit to collect the ore and take it back to sell, generating a continuous stream of income.

Yet, the vast majority only built mining bases, and very few dared to establish permanent outposts.

Within this world, there were actually quite a few realm fragments with sufficient area, expansive plains, and water sources. Many large realm fragments were enough to sustain populations of tens or even hundreds of thousands.

The greatest issue, however, was safety. The more living people there were, the more they attracted shadow creatures.

If a population exceeded several tens of thousands, shadow creatures would periodically band together to charge into the realm fragment for slaughter and destruction.

Shadow creatures were indeed capable of leaving the twisted shadow domain to enter the realms, though they could not remain for long periods. Raiding the realm for a quick rampage of destruction, however, posed no problem.

Relying solely on soldiers made it difficult to withstand wave after wave of shadow creature assaults; professionals had to be stationed there long-term.

Yet, very few professionals were willing to stay in one place for extended periods, unless they were of advanced age and certain that they had no future prospects for further advancement.

Consequently, among the more than twenty permanent outposts and strongholds maintained by the Star Tower here, mining and resource outposts were the most numerous, while permanent population-breeding city-state strongholds numbered only six, half of which were located near the forward base.

Chu Cheng listened to these tales as mere entertainment, finding them quite fascinating.

Time flowed on. On the fourteenth day since they entered this realm, Outpost 8 was finally reached.

This was a small realm fragment with a total area of only a dozen square kilometers, devoid of any significant mineral resources. The outpost was established here primarily because it served as a crucial intersection.

Aside from leading to Outpost 9 and Outpost 16 respectively, Chu Cheng and his companion also needed to depart independently from here on their journey toward the Nest of Destiny.

Paying the remaining fee, the two entered the outpost fortress.

The fortress was built between two mountain peaks, requiring defense only at the front and rear.

The rock faces on the left and right had been artificially sheared flat, leaving sheer cliffs that prevented monsters from climbing over the mountains into the castle.

The walls at both ends were over twenty meters wide and more than thirty meters thick, cast entirely from specialized reinforced concrete, making them exceptionally sturdy.

Their surfaces were covered in various scratches and claw marks, with some spots gouged deep enough to expose the steel reinforcing bars inside.

"From here on, we must rely on ourselves."

Chu Cheng opened the map, expanding the light screen. On the map, resembling a night sky, only a few clusters of light shone at the edges. A straight line extended from the Star Tower forward base, branching into three paths at Outpost 8.

Two of the routes led to Outpost 9 and Outpost 16 respectively, while the last, dim path stretched in another direction, reaching deep into the night sky to a realm fragment marked as the Nest of Destiny.

"We need to prepare more protective shadow potions, but the potion expenses are too high. It would be best to procure a lamp capable of dispelling shadows."

He glanced up at the main building in the center of the fortress and said to her,

"Besides those, I think it would be best to hire a squad of soldiers as well."

Two people were simply too few; he feared he might find it difficult to protect her during intense combat.

As an important transit base, Outpost 8's fortress was fully equipped with functional facilities, offering potions, equipment repairs, and various general goods trading—which naturally included mercenary recruitment.

After casually inquiring with a guard, Chu Cheng found an officer in charge of soldier recruitment within the fortress five minutes later.