Volume 1: Hell-Tier Lord World Chapter 108: On-Site Inspection

"Never mind, let's set that aside for a moment. How are things on your end? Is the lake still there?"

"It is, and it has grown significantly larger, but I have discovered something." Pan answered Chen Gu's question immediately.

"What is it?"

"There are undead in the lake. My crows have spotted at least a dozen ghost ships in the water."

"Undead in the water? That is troublesome," Chen Gu muttered with a frown.

Previously, when Chen Gu was near the Holy Lake, the water there had been the bane of all undead. Among the more than fifty million undead in the Holy City, not a single one dared to enter the water, and they wouldn't even dare to fly over the surface of the lake. It was nothing like the current situation, where undead actually resided within the lake.

Pan added, "My lord, you aren't thinking of diverting that lake water, are you? It is a lake, but it cannot create a flood. Besides, if we start digging, the undead will discover us immediately."

"No, I have had a synthesis idea for a long time that I haven't been able to implement yet. This is the perfect opportunity to utilize it." Chen Gu shook his head. He wasn't the type to act without a plan.

When he first looked at the map, he knew there was a lake here, but he also understood that the water couldn't be easily diverted. With his current forces, although the Corpse Vines and Burrowing Worms could breach the embankments, it would require a massive amount of labor to actually channel the water toward the undead city. More importantly, once the floodwaters rushed out, they would be obstructed by the nearby forests, losing all their force long before reaching the city. To crush an undead city, nothing less than a massive tidal wave, at least ten meters high, would suffice.

The reason Chen Gu asked Pan to investigate was precisely because he had a specific idea in mind. The water of the Holy Lake was effective at restraining the undead because the Holy City had used the lake for purification for thousands of years, gradually turning it into holy water. This lake was different; Chen Gu had no way to turn it into a pool of holy water in such a short time.

However, during the last major battle, he realized that magic didn't always have to be used in the conventional way. Sometimes, magic could be applied from a different perspective. If Chen Gu had tried to use "Illusion" to mimic his own troops during that battle, he would have run out of mana and still lost. This time was different; he was prepared to use his Illusion spell for something grand.

He intended to use Illusion on a non-living object.

In Chen Gu's mind, he might not be able to create an illusion of the lake itself, but he could certainly create an illusion of a flood. As long as he captured the exact moment the floodwater burst forth and projected that image to a designated location, the illusory flood would be capable of striking the undead city. However, this would require the cooperation of his heroes.

"Let’s head to the lake," Chen Gu said decisively.

Seeing that Chen Gu had made up his mind, Pan didn't ask further questions and hopped onto the vine-drawn carriage with him. Chen Gu then turned to Kebas and said, "Stay here. Once the Magic Tower is built, we will construct a blacksmith shop."

"Will you be gone for long?" Kebas asked, sounding uncertain.

"I need to verify the situation there; there are some matters to attend to." Chen Gu didn't reveal his plan. After all, the spell might not work, and there was no point in talking about it yet.

Kebas agreed immediately. Pan and Chen Gu then set off toward the lake. Although the map made the lake look far from the undead city, it was actually about seventy miles away. Just as Pan had said, even if they breached the lake, the flood would lose all its momentum long before reaching the city.

Throughout the journey, Chen Gu had Pan send his crows into the sky to monitor the situation while asking questions about speed. "If we clear the trees along this path, could our carriage travel faster?"

Although Pan didn't understand why Chen Gu was so concerned about speed, he answered every question diligently. Chen Gu carefully recorded his plans for each location along the way. Pan didn't grasp Chen Gu's vision, but he didn't try to stop him; in his eyes, if Chen Gu wanted to do something, he should be allowed to. They were safe enough here, and as long as they didn't charge headlong into the undead city, Chen Gu's current forces were capable of many things.

Upon reaching the lakeside, Chen Gu took one look at the water and chuckled. The lake was quite large, and the shore near the undead city was actually higher, meaning it wasn't the best place for a flood release. Instead, there was a steep drop on the other side; breaching the embankment there would cause half the lake to pour out. However, the direction of that flood would be toward the path they had just traveled, not the undead city.

This realization made Chen Gu smile. He walked to the thickest part of the levee and began to calculate everything carefully.

"Pan, if we were to open a breach here, how large would the flood be?"

"My lord, the direction we are currently blocked in is not on this side."

"It's fine. Just give me your calculated result."

"It would be three to five times greater than if we dug from the other side. Furthermore, the pressure here is much higher. Once we breach the embankment, the water will erode the rest itself, carrying massive amounts of silt, which will double the impact force. But this water won't travel very far; it will mostly stop at that position. On one hand, there are enough trees there to block most of the water. On the other hand, it isn't the flood season, and the water levels aren't at their peak."

"That is enough. Clear the path we just traveled. Can we reach the front of the undead city within half an hour?"

"Half an hour is tight, unless we switch carriages." Pan thought it over seriously.

"Then switch. Use a lighter carriage and maximize our speed. We will take a straight line; we must be near the undead city within thirty minutes. Notify Kebas, have him scout the undead city, find the lowest point of their walls, and establish coordinates for us." Chen Gu paused. "After you set the coordinates, come to me. I have a plan to discuss with you both."

"Should I bring him here?" Pan asked, surprised.

"Yes. We need to move our troops further out. If we don't destroy the undead city this time, we will retreat immediately. Staying too close will only lead to trouble."

Chen Gu had made up his mind: if this battle failed to destroy the enemy city, he would leave and wait for another opportunity. Although Pan didn't fully understand Chen Gu's intentions, it was clear that he had a comprehensive plan, so he nodded in agreement.