Chapter 98: The Underground Fortress and Armaments

The magic crystal’s energy circuit connected to the golem. Wade directed the nineteen souls without bodies to re-enter the stone golem’s interior, dispersing throughout its limbs, torso, and head. 

Everything usable in the pit had been cleared out, making it possible for this massive construct to move around inside. 

Following Wade’s commands, the souls each controlled different parts of the golem’s body—its arms, legs, and head. 

Perfect coordination and balance were required for the golem to move like a normal being. 

Movements had to be restrained; any excessive motion risked breaking the frost circuits. 

This was merely a hastily repaired defective product—one couldn’t ask for much. That it could move at all was nothing short of miraculous. 

Wade carefully guided the souls to manipulate the golem’s arms and legs. The thick stone limbs shifted as the golem’s left arm braced against its torso, slowly righting its posture. 

Its legs spread wide while its arms supported its weight against the ground, creating four points of contact that prevented collapse—somewhat resembling a wild gorilla’s stance. This quadrupedal support provided excellent stability. 

Once standing, Wade had the souls perform simple movements—raising left and right arms to wave, standing on two legs, attempting to pivot left and right using only foot movements. 

Though these actions seemed basic, achieving such coordination among nineteen humans would require at least a month or two of training. 

It was like having nineteen people row the same boat, using oar direction and force to freely control turns and drifts. 

An untrained team could never properly maneuver—they’d only create chaos, spinning the boat in circles. 

Only through the invisible connection between the souls and Wade could the golem move successfully without collapsing in such short time. 

But these simple motions were its limit for now. Running or jumping remained impossible—even the souls would need extensive training to make this massive, heavy golem slightly more agile. 

Seeing her “masterpiece” in motion, Mia clapped her small hands and flew to perch atop the golem’s rocky head, surveying the surroundings from her new vantage point. 

She took genuine pleasure in seeing the golem move—not just because Wade encouraged her involvement, but because she enjoyed the fruits of their labor. 

Wade attempted to have the golem clear the collapsed pit. Dull thuds echoed as the massive construct turned toward the earth, its stone arms pressing together with lower ends against the ground to form a stone wall. 

The wall pushed forward, compressing the yellow earth outward like soft clay, meeting no resistance as it effortlessly carved out space. 

After repeating this motion in all directions several times, the golem had mostly restored the pit. 

This thing possessed tremendous strength despite its damaged state. 

One could only imagine its power when fully intact. 

On a battlefield, it would be a killing machine—picture cavalry charging only to encounter this behemoth swinging its mountain-like arms. 

Horses would be sent flying, lances shattered as the ground trembled beneath its movements. 

Its mere presence would terrify enemies into retreat. 

Yet even such a creation had been reduced to this broken state? 

Wade’s gaze traced the cracks along the golem’s surface. From what era did this originate? What had it fought against? 

Visions of an ancient war surfaced—raging fires drying rivers, terrifying spells exploding across scorched battlefields reeking of blood and smoke. 

Three days later. 

The underground pit had been rebuilt, now more spacious than before. 

The golem repaired by Mia became a reliable construction machine. 

It could easily crush stone materials, break tough thorns, and assist with framework assembly. 

With its help, construction progress caught up within three days. 

The original ten-meter pit expanded to fifteen meters, with extra space allocated for housing the ancient stone golem. 

Cleaned of yellow mud and dust, the blue-black golem stood before Wade like a silent guardian. 

More stone materials were transported as tunnel entrances were dug and rocks stacked within wooden frames, gradually forming an underground fortress. 

This time Wade participated fully in excavation, exercising extreme caution toward anything unusual. 

During digging, they uncovered more fragments—likely parts broken off when the golem was attacked—along with scattered bones. 

None formed complete skeletons, just fragmented remains. Perhaps others had stood near the golem when it was struck, leaving only these bone shards as evidence of their existence. 

Wade found a partial skull differing from human bones—narrower, with a more gaunt facial structure, yet not matching the Silver Moon Elf remains either. 

This resembled some demi-human species. Wade knew little about demi-humans, having mostly operated within human territories. His longest exposure was during mine slavery where nearly half the slaves were demi-humans. 

Lizardfolk, beastmen, minotaurs—he’d shared caves with these varied beings. 

Demi-human nations and cultures were generally more primitive, making them targets for enslavement. 

Species like lizardfolk and orcs, with their superior physicality and endurance, often ended up in brutal labor. 

In human kingdoms, demi-humans were frequently treated as commodities. 

Many demi-human groups reciprocated this hostility toward humans. 

Unable to identify the skull, Wade had the team carefully clear the entire area beneath the yellow earth. 

Finding nothing else particularly ancient, they dug about five meters deeper. By the fifth day, the basement took preliminary shape. 

Connected to Wade’s original cave, the basement now featured stone beds built by skeletons, with glowing moss relocated to a dedicated cultivation room. 

Twelve compartments surrounded the central square hollow, linked by a square passageway. 

Near the golem stood the material storage—stone, wood, and spare bones organized across three compartments. 

To the golem’s left was the workshop where skeletons now crafted simple spears, with wooden shields, armor, and helmets in planning stages. 

The right side housed the glowing moss cultivation room, water storage, and a miscellaneous room. Water collection relied entirely on Mia’s ice magic—freezing the wasteland’s scarce water sources before melting it in the storage pool. 

A small stone basin served as their minimal water reserve. Few creatures could survive this arid environment, but as undead, they required no water—it was solely for the moss. 

The miscellaneous room stored collected oddities—bones, rusted swords taken from skeleton soldiers—items of uncertain use. 

Facing the golem stood Wade’s bedroom, dug deepest for privacy during his dream states when undisturbed. 

Mia’s small bed moved to an earthen house beside his quarters, adjacent to a study featuring a mud-and-stone table with a round stool. 

Wade recorded recent events by carving into wooden boards—mostly through drawings rather than writing, creating visual reminders for himself. 

He etched moments like discovering the golem and those skulls, even documenting the spectral army march he’d witnessed in the desert, categorized by lunar phases. 

External events were also timestamped—journeys with the Tanians, battles witnessed, and the two demon types encountered (Flame Imps and Demon Mothers), all simplified into carvings. 

These chronicles of his travels were organized by surface-world visits on stone shelves in his study, though most remained empty with only a few boards placed. 

He longed for proper paper and ink, settling temporarily for charcoal writing. They’d already mastered fire-making through friction, using scrap wood for illumination. 

After all, skeletons possessed soul vision rather than darkvision—they could sense living beings in darkness but struggled to perceive inanimate objects clearly, necessitating light for craftsmanship. 

The spent charcoal could be repurposed too. 

Seated in his study, Wade placed the latest carved board onto the stone shelf behind him. 

Gentle light filled the room from the glowing scale hanging overhead like a bulb, illuminating the narrow earthen space. 

Another room was reserved for Mia—a quiet space where she’d recently begun shaping ice figurines. 

With wasteland affairs momentarily settled, Wade left the study for a final inspection of his underground fortress. 

Skeleton guards stood at the cave entrance with spectral sentries above ground. 

Though still crude, the place now resembled a castle. 

Passing the armory where a fire burned and spears lined the walls, Wade observed skeletons testing wooden armor and helmets—his underground stronghold taking shape.