Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 14: Send me more raw meat

**[Undead Skeleton]** (Same stats as before)

A level 10 Undead Skeleton! Alex had summoned it from the corpse of a level 10 Pink Pig. She continued summoning, draining her MP completely. Thirty level 10 skeletons!

"Undead army building is so easy!" she exclaimed. With enough MP, she could summon an army of level 10 minions in minutes. A level 100 corpse would give her a level 100 skeleton instantly!

"I should become a corpse thief," she mused. "One level 100 corpse, and I'm flying!"

But there was a catch. Summoned skeletons couldn't level up. No experience, no progress. A significant drawback.

Alex recalled the 12 level 3 and 57 level 2 skeletons she'd assigned to Arthur. Along with the thirty new level 10 skeletons, that was 99 skeletons.

"You're off hunting duty. Back to barbeque duty!" The low-level skeletons weren't much help against stronger monsters, and they couldn't level up anyway. Better to use them for cooking.

With 99 extra skeletons, her cooked meat output doubled! She could now produce over 4000 units every few minutes. Double the output, double the profit!

"Sophie, send me more raw meat!"

**[MP: 1/60 (59 minutes to full recovery)]**

"Arthur, John, keep grinding. I'll summon more skeletons in an hour."

"Yes, master!"

That MP regen was killing her.

...

Sophie delivered the first batch of cooked meat: 17,900 units, in under half an hour! The buyers immediately listed it on the Free Market, at 20 wood or stone per unit. They were still making a 5-unit profit.

The entire batch sold out instantly.

**[World Channel 998 (10,000 players)]**

"Almost 20,000 units gone, just like that?!"

"400,000 wood or stone! New record!"

"Are these people idiots? Alex only charges 10 wood for processing!"

"Yeah, just hunt some monsters and get free raw meat!"

"Even buying raw meat is cheaper!"

"You're all idiots!"

"You think you're so smart?"

"Let me tell you why I bought 100 units. 1 unit is a meal. My troops are human. Raw meat lowers their loyalty! They get lazy, inefficient, and run from fights. Did you know *that*?"

"Exactly! Alex is busy! She has an agent! Good luck getting an order in. By the time your meat is cooked, your human troops will be useless!"

"My troops are human too. I'll pay extra for loyalty. Low loyalty kills your growth."

The mystery was solved. Human troops needed cooked meat.

And some saw the bigger picture. The demand for cooked meat was huge! And Alex was the only supplier who could meet that demand. Her fame grew. Lords resorted to increasingly desperate measures to curry favor with her.

**(Friend requests, now over 1.7 billion)**

"Alex, I have twin sisters! Give me an agent spot, and, well, you know..."

"Alex, my sister is a famous actress! Give me the agency, and she's yours!"

"Alex, my troops are elves! Beautiful, long-legged... I tested them out last night... Want a few?"

...

Alex rejected them all. Not out of snobbery, but because there were just too many. Almost 1.8 billion requests! More than the population of most countries! Even if she wanted friends, finding them in this sea of requests was impossible.

**[Alex]:** (In various World Chat channels) For cooked meat processing, contact Sophie. She's my exclusive agent. I only fulfill her orders.

Sophie's fame grew. Lords, realizing Alex's unwavering stance, started showering Sophie with compliments along with their orders.

But not everyone was impressed.

**(In a team channel)**

**[Edward Scissorhands]:** Alex is so full of herself! Just got lucky with fire on day one. Big deal! Once I find her castle, my Iron Rhinos will crush it!

**[Steffan Ludson]:** I'll bring my Big Kongs!

**[Kazuma Nokima]:** My Flashwings will join the fray!

**[Hero (Team Leader)]:** Did you miss the key point?

**[Edward Scissorhands]:** What key point? That she's a stuck-up b*tch?

**[Kazuma Nokima]:** What do you mean, Leader?

**[Hero (Team Leader)]:** She processed almost 20,000 units of meat in half an hour.

**[Edward Scissorhands]:** So?

**[Hero (Team Leader)]:** Getting fire on day one is lucky. Processing that much meat on day two... that means she either has hundreds of troops, which is impossible on day two... or she has a meat processing factory. There's no other explanation.

Silence fell over the channel.

**[Edward Scissorhands]:** Just lucky, that's all! Doesn't mean she's strong!

**[Hero (Team Leader)]:** Luck is a form of strength. Maria, contact her. Recruit her.

**[Maria]:** I tried yesterday. She rejected me.

**[Kazuma Nokima]:** Someone rejected *Maria*? Impossible!

**[Hero (Team Leader)]:** Try again. Everyone add her. Having her on our team would be a huge advantage. Keep scouting for strong lords. Recruit them. After the beginner's period, Eldoria will be chaos. The war for dominance has already begun. We need to unite.

**[Maria]:** I'll try again.

In Eldoria, billions of lords, countless native factions... the forward-thinking ones were already planning for the future.