Humans are not adept at fighting at night.
The bright moonlight tonight somewhat offsets this disadvantage.
The people in the stronghold aren't aware that these wandering black-haired Corpse Ghosts are no longer a threat to their lives, but rather... resources up for grabs!
So, Chu Xiu needs to seize this piece of fat meat while everyone's strength hasn't yet increased to a threshold that would drive them to take risks.
Retracting his gaze, Chu Xiu stood up, walked to the "safe house" where everyone was, and knocked on the door.
"Guan Ke," he looked at the girl with a scar on her face, "do you have time to talk?"
Under the curious gazes of others, Guan Ke stood up, frowned, and said, "What's the matter?"
Chu Xiu gestured for her to talk outside.
"Tsk," Guan Ke came out, "what's the deal with the mystery?"
By this time, the sky had completely darkened, and roars could occasionally be heard downstairs.
Chu Xiu took Guan Ke to the end of the corridor and lowered his voice: "Isn't your puppet always placed downstairs for surveillance? I want to ask you about the status of the Corpse Ghosts tonight."
"Why are you asking this? Are you planning to hunt them at night?" Guan Ke exclaimed.
Chu Xiu handed over 5 Cause and Effect Points: "That's none of your concern."
"Tsk," Guan Ke glanced at Chu Xiu, seemingly displeased with his way of doing things.
But she still accepted the Cause and Effect Points, saying: "At night, their numbers increase significantly, about three times more than during the day, and both their perception and physical abilities are enhanced. I advise you not to have such fanciful ideas."
"Can you be more specific? Did you monitor any scenes of them hunting?" Chu Xiu further inquired.
Seeing his persistence, Guan Ke clicked her tongue: "Of course I've seen it. At night, this city becomes a huge hunting ground... Do you remember the deer Shen Zhuo and the others hunted today?"
"What about it?"
"If you look into the distance in the middle of the night, with some luck, you can see large herds of deer rushing madly towards the city center as if attracted by something."
"I have a strange feeling that this city is like a living creature, constantly devouring the lives nearby to sustain itself."
Guan Ke's words made Chu Xiu show a surprised expression. So that's how it is. No wonder the food is so scarce here, yet it can sustain so many Corpse Ghosts.
He recalled the description in the Bone Necklace. Perhaps, hidden in the center of this city were some astonishing secrets.
However, these were not matters he needed to consider now.
"Since you've seen the deer being hunted, at night, by how much do those Corpse Ghosts' abilities actually increase? Can you give a quantitative figure? Have any higher-tier creatures appeared?" Chu Xiu asked consecutively.
"Tsk, what do you take me for, a human camera?" Guan Ke glanced at him displeasedly, "All I can tell you is that at night, those creatures go crazy as if on steroids, with a power increase of at least thirty percent!"
"As for higher-tier creatures, although I haven't seen any, that doesn't mean there aren't any. After all, my surveillance puppets are limited to four and can only monitor a limited area."
"But even ordinary Corpse Ghosts aren't something one person can handle. Imagine five, or even ten of those strong creatures charging at you simultaneously, can the armor on you still protect you?"
Faced with Guan Ke's persuasion, Chu Xiu did not answer but quickly thought it over.
"If it's just an enhancement in movement ability, I can handle it! Thirty percent is not outrageous!"
"During the day, this apartment building should have roughly fifteen black-haired Corpse Ghosts, at most twenty! Three times that number, makes sixty, averaging two per floor!"
"Considering we've killed quite a few over the past few days, this number will be further reduced, and the Corpse Ghosts should be more concentrated on the lower floors."
"At this level... as long as I prepare thoroughly, it's doable!"
"But the premise is that Guan Ke's words are all true!"
Thinking of this, Chu Xiu looked thoughtfully at Guan Ke's face, next to that ferocious scar, was a pair of beautiful amber eyes like a cat's.
"Tsk, is there anything else? If not, I'm leaving."
Perhaps a bit annoyed by Chu Xiu's staring, Guan Ke said, and seeing Chu Xiu unresponsive, clicked her tongue again and turned to leave.
Chu Xiu didn't speak, he just looked at her departing figure with a somewhat peculiar expression, and the panel that appeared beside him.
[Name] Guan Ke
[Tier] Mortal Tier Level 3 (466/600)
[Constitution] 4.37
[Spirit] 3.98
[Energy Level] 21.99
[Equipment] Clothing (Ordinary), Self-made Folding Short Blade (Ordinary)
[Skills] ???
[Profession] Mechanician (A)
[Talent] ??? (S)
To ensure Guan Ke provided accurate information, during their conversation, he activated the Nether Demon Eyes to capture her micro-expressions.
Who knew, there would be additional discoveries.
"This girl unexpectedly reached Mortal Tier Level 3 without a word? Her Experience Points even exceed Shen Zhuo's!"
"Moreover, at Mortal Tier Level 3, she has an impressively high Energy Level of 21.99!"
This implies her initial Energy Level was incredibly high!
"Even her Constitution and Spirit are not low!"
Looking further down, all her skills are ???! As for her profession...
Mechanician (A)
Not to mention, wasn't she supposed to be a Puppet Master (D)?
Even more terrifying, her Talent reached S-Class, and not even the Nether Demon Eyes could detect what it is specifically!
Chu Xiu recalled the extra hunting traces he found in the apartment building.
"So it was you."
Chu Xiu's mouth twitched slightly.
He didn't expect that aside from himself, there was actually another old sly character hidden in this small stronghold.
He decided that when he had the time, he would use the Nether Demon Eyes to scan everyone in the stronghold one by one.
"But for now, upgrading is the priority."
While contemplating all his plans, Chu Xiu walked to the room where the corpses were stored.
The room was still filled with the stench of decomposing bodies.
He reached out and pulled, and a large black-haired Corpse Ghost corpse fell out of the cabinet.
He opened two more cabinets in succession, revealing two more ordinary Corpse Ghost corpses.
Shen Zhuo severely underestimated Chu Xiu's terrifying Talent.
This resulted in Chu Xiu, after perfectly completing the refining requirements, still hoarding two corpses.
Then, he handed over the Bone-cutting Saber he acquired from previous monster hunts as his own refined item, keeping another black-haired Corpse Ghost.
This black-haired Corpse Ghost was carefully selected by Chu Xiu, the best-preserved and freshest among the twelve corpses.
With a sweep of his hand, all three corpses began to melt and were finally integrated into the Bone Bloodthirst Array.
As the three corpses were completely refined, the eight Array Flags simultaneously emitted an unsettling Yin Qi.
"Successfully upgraded this array to +1."
"The range has increased from a radius of five meters to seven meters, and the bloodsucking and slow effects have both enhanced by ten percent to thirty percent!"
Checking the attributes of the Array Flags, Chu Xiu revealed a satisfied smile.
He stored the Array Flags into the storage space and then climbed out of the broken window, catching the edge. His whole body hung on the outer wall.
There were quite a few protruding edges on the exterior of the apartment building. When Chu Xiu first entered this world, he had considered moving outside through the windows.
However, he gave up back then due to his poor constitution. Now, with significant improvements in strength, flexibility, and reaction speed, this was naturally effortless for him to accomplish.
Like a nimble black cat, he descended along the outer wall, quickly sliding down to approximately the twenty-first floor.
During his descent, he did make some noise, but since he moved swiftly, he quickly left the source of the sound and fortunately wasn't discovered.
After entering the twenty-first floor, he quickly opened a door, walked straight to another room a few meters away, and upon entering, waved his hand to set up the Bone Bloodthirst Array!
This was the hunting location Chu Xiu had selected as optimal.