Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Alex was a bit puzzled as to why QuartzStriker was being so nice to her, almost to the point of being overly ingratiating.

But Alex isn't the type to take advantage of others. She sent over 250 pieces of materials instead, the extra 50 pieces' profit enough for her to make a tidy sum.

For Sophie, it was simply swapping iron ingots for magic crystals, no loss really, since she couldn't upgrade her town anytime soon anyway, but upgrading her Barracks required a lot of magic crystals.

Sophie didn't lose out, but she did help Alex a great deal.

[QuartzStriker]: "Dear Big Shot, you sent too much, I can't use all of these!"

[Hamburger]: "No worries, consider it a gift, thanks for your help."

Actually, Alex could also collaborate with Sophie, leveraging Sophie's ability to manufacture equipment, by buying up boar tusks and animal fur from the trading post and then reselling them for a profit.

Sophie had thought of this too, but buying up large quantities of boar tusks and animal fur would require a lot of magic crystals, which Sophie didn't have in abundance. Teaming up with Hamburger, using her funds and prestige, was a good choice to maintain a good relationship.

So, before Alex could message Sophie again, Sophie had already shared her thoughts.

[QuartzStriker]: "Big Shot, we can collaborate, buy up boar tusks and animal fur in bulk at the trading post, then resell them for a profit. The dwarves can craft equipment quickly; a hundred dwarves working together can produce thousands of items in an hour."

[Hamburger]: "Sounds good, I was thinking the same. How shall we split the profits?"

[QuartzStriker]: "Big Shot, I don't have the magic crystals needed for buying, you'll need to handle that. How about we split the profits fifty-fifty?"

[Hamburger]: "Sounds fair, thanks."

Alex got a great deal again.

Even without her initial capital, Sophie could have made a profit by flipping the two thousand magic crystals, though it would be slower, but eventually, it would still be a substantial gain.

Of course, it might be three days later, or maybe two, when these Lords might realize that these miscellaneous items could be used to craft equipment, and then the prices would skyrocket, no longer as cheap as now. So, even though there was money to be made, timing was crucial.

Alex immediately listed all her magic crystals on the trading post.

[Hamburger initiates a trade!]

[One magic crystal, trading for one piece of boar tusk and any animal fur.]

[Remaining quantity: 4000.]

Alex originally had 4980 magic crystals, but listing them all, both odd and even numbers, could arouse suspicion among other Lords, so she chose a round number.

Even so, some of the top-tier Lords noticed something was up. Why would a top-tier Lord like Alex suddenly buy up these seemingly useless items?

Even if these Lords guessed that Alex was buying these items to craft equipment, they were powerless to do anything about it because they couldn't use these items themselves. Those Lords who noticed kept their miscellaneous items for the time being.

The moment the order was listed, it caused a sensation among the other Lords, who began to scramble for the deal.

These weaker Lords were very short on magic crystals, and seeing that two useless items could be traded for one magic crystal, they didn't need to think twice. At this stage, where else could they find such a profitable deal?

They didn't care what Hamburger wanted with these items, as long as they could earn magic crystals.

In less than ten minutes, the 4000 magic crystals were snapped up, and Alex collected 4000 boar tusks and 4000 pieces of various sizes of animal fur.

Alex immediately sent all 8000 pieces of materials to Sophie, who would probably be working overtime tonight.

[QuartzStriker]: "You're so efficient~ It's a pleasure working with you."

[Hamburger]: "I have 160 more boar tusks left in my Warehouse, forge those too."

[QuartzStriker]: "Alright Big Shot, you handle the sales when the equipment is ready. Your prestige is high, most Lords will think you got these from slaying monsters, they won't think of crafting."

[Hamburger]: "Okay."

Then Alex took out another 160 pieces of materials from her Warehouse and sent them to Sophie.

A total of 4160 pieces of materials, with a fifty-fifty split, Alex would get 20800 magic crystals. Suddenly, Alex's Barracks could be upgraded again.

If these Lords discovered that miscellaneous monster drops could be used to craft equipment, they would definitely raise the prices, and Alex didn't want her business to be unable to continue after just a few transactions.

Alex had a feeling that this secret might be discovered by the Lords before the beast tide arrived,and it definitely wouldn't last long. With billions of Lords on this continent alone, it was impossible that none would discover it; that would be too unrealistic.

Moreover, as the Lords grew stronger, the value of Standard equipment would inevitably depreciate. Even if the price of miscellaneous items rose, it wouldn't exceed the price of equipment, but the final profit might only be one or two magic crystals, not like the current tenfold margin.

By then, Alex wouldn't be able to collaborate with Sophie anymore, as the profit of one or two crystals would be too low and not worth Sophie's time. With that time, Alex could have her undead hunt and earn more.

Alex suddenly thought that with her current strength, she might be able to take on the Moon Silver Wolf tribe.

Their tribe was located in the snowy mountains, but Alex wasn't sure of the exact location; she'd need to send undead to scout the area first to ensure there were no dangers before making a move. Moreover, it had to be done at night to maximize resources.

Alex remembered that high-level monsters appeared at night. Since the Goblin tribe was wiped out by Alex, the Moon Silver Wolf tribe had been no further disturbances.

Thinking this, Alex immediately summoned an Ethereal Wraith and ordered it to scout the snowy mountains for information.

Firstly, the Ethereal Wraith could fly and was immune to physical attacks; secondly, being in an ethereal state, it was not easily detected at night. Most importantly, the Ethereal Wraith was intelligent and wouldn't attract the enmity of frost dragons.

Alex dared not send Arthur; if he unluckily encountered a frost dragon, trouble would ensue, as the two dragon-like creatures would definitely fight. Moreover, Arthur's large size made him too conspicuous a target.

Once the Ethereal Wraith gathered the information, Alex decided she would risk an attack on the Moon Silver Wolf tribe the following night. Ideally, waiting for a full moon night would be best, as all the Moon Silver Wolves could transform into werewolves. Although their combat power would increase, Alex would also gain a powerful group of allies.

However, the last full moon had just passed, and waiting for the next one would take a month—too long for Alex to wait.

Alex glanced at the system time.

"It's midnight!"

She walked out of her bedroom towards the Barracks outside.

[Undead crystal fully charged, ready to summon!]