Chapter 72: Ruins Anomaly

“Why has it shrunk so much?!”

As the synthesis furnace opened, the figure that emerged made Owen’s face pale with fright.

It wasn’t that the buxom lady had transformed into a cute little Lolita, but rather that the Demonized Armor had shrunk drastically. The original Demon Lord-style, cold, hard, full-body heavy armor had transformed into the kind of “the less coverage, the higher the defense” style seen in third-rate online games. The limbs were covered in full armor, but the body was practically bare, with a design that could be resolved with two lines, one horizontal and one vertical. Owen, with his eyes wide open, didn’t know whether he should ask about the situation first or take a closer look.

In any case, Owen’s method had worked. Although her pupils had turned yellow, two sheep horns had grown on her head, a pair of bat wings not much larger than chicken wings had sprouted, and a slender tail with a heart-shaped tip had appeared, Dier had indeed retained her original sanity. However, compared to her previous gentle and docile nature, she now possessed a certain greed and desire for him – simply put, she was craving his body.

This wasn’t surprising. Dier’s succubus bloodline hadn’t disappeared, but had been suppressed and eroded by the power contained within the Demonized Armor, forcing her to pledge allegiance to Owen. But demons weren’t so easily subdued. Although she couldn’t actively harm him, there were many passive methods, and succubi happened to be very skilled in this area.

“Can you change back?!” Owen asked with some concern.

Although Dier’s current appearance was quite stimulating, he thought about his own thin and frail body. He couldn’t even handle the original version, let alone the Abyss-enhanced version.

Owen decided to play it safe for now and not rush into seeking thrills. If he tried it and died, he would definitely be the most embarrassing transmigrator to ever die.

“Master, I can~” Dier reached out and grabbed her mischievous little tail, slowly wrapping it around her middle finger. Then she pinched the tip of the heart-shaped tail, which was still struggling, and hummed softly, speaking with a slightly sweet and drawn-out tone that almost made Owen’s heart skip a beat.

After Dier returned to her original form, the armor magically disappeared. How amazing was that? Owen no longer had to search through the depths of the canyon abyss for any trace of his beloved Demonized Armor.

However, in the end, Owen couldn’t escape the fate of trying it out, but at least he managed to come out alive, making him so happy he almost cried. Demons were truly demons, even if it was just a bloodline, it was not something humans could handle.

As Owen slumped in a chair in the hall, waiting for Dier to finish brewing the restorative soup, Maya arrived. Her gravity-defying, floating wine-red hair and her pair of magical eyes told Owen that she had also been affected and had become stronger.

But why had both of them become stronger, while he was so weak? Was this some kind of conspiracy against him?!

Although he was indignant, Owen knew that the most important thing now was to find the root cause of the anomaly and see if the territory had been affected.

If the root cause of the anomaly wasn’t resolved, the trouble would never end. Although Owen was weak, at least his mind wasn’t affected, and he still knew what was important.

In fact, there was no need to guess – it was definitely the ruins that had caused the problem.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the Goblin General sent a message via owl.

“The ruins have indeed caused a problem. When the goblins dug down to the second level, they touched something, and a special wave erupted, causing the goblins in the tribe to mutate. It even affected the entire Magic Horn Forest.” Owen frowned.

Hearing this news, Dier, who never cared about the affairs of the territory, was completely clueless, while Maya’s expression remained unchanged. Since learning about the ruins, she had made many contingency plans, including plans to deal with monsters and undead emerging from the ruins, to dispel curses and toxins, and even plans for migration and escape.

Fortunately, the situation wasn’t that bad. At least, apart from a few mutated livestock, the territory was almost unaffected.

Moreover, the mutations were beneficial. The livestock became larger and stronger, making them ideal for breeding to improve the genetics of the territory’s livestock.

But everything had its limits. For example, the Magic Horn Forest had become a disaster area. Because it was closest to the source of the anomaly, a large number of plants and animals had mutated. Some mutations were beneficial, while others were harmful, but regardless of the type, mutation consumed energy. Without being fed, both herbivores and carnivores, as well as the Magic Horn Goblins, had fallen into a frenzy of foraging to replenish their energy.

Herbivores weren’t much of a problem, they would just gnaw on tree bark, but carnivores and Magic Horn Goblins were troublesome.

The Goblin General had been caught off guard at first, but now he had recalled all his troops and heavy puppets back to the tribe, relying on the wooden walls for defense. They could hold out for a short time, but it was hard to say what would happen in the long run.

Because the Goblin Tribe was too close to the ruins, the source of the anomaly, the surrounding Magic Horn Trees had been affected and were starting to become active. Fortunately, the Super Farmland was even more unreasonable. Unless the Magic Horn Trees could detach themselves from the earth, no matter how they mutated, they would only be drained of their life force and turned into fuel.

However, although the Goblin Tribe could still hold out, Owen couldn’t sit still.

The Magic Horn Forest was irreplaceable for the current development of the territory. Whether it was lumber, fuel, or food, the territory relied on the forest to provide it, not to mention the mysterious ruins within.

Owen couldn’t risk losing control while continuing to wait, so he immediately mobilized his troops, preparing to head to the Magic Horn Forest.

While Owen was busy mobilizing his troops, he underestimated the extent of the anomaly. In addition, neither Dier nor Maya were true magic users, so they overlooked the issue of the anomaly wave’s propagation range.

For humans, a journey of a month or two was already considered very far, but for certain waves, it was just a blink of an eye.

Moreover, the Northland was vast and empty, allowing the waves to propagate faster and wider. At least, the anomaly wave could still be clearly felt at the Empire’s border.

Although the source of the wave couldn’t be determined, it had already attracted the attention of some people to the far north, leaving Owen with less time.

Owen, still unaware of this, was preparing to send troops to eliminate the hidden dangers of the ruins, not knowing that more troubles were waiting for him.

Considering that the battle would take place in a forest, Owen only mobilized the territory’s Longswordsmen and Crossbowmen, as they were more suited to fighting in complex environments, while the Pikemen and Javelin Throwers were left to defend the territory.

Fifty Longswordsmen and fifty Crossbowmen were already half of the territory’s forces. Worried that the chaos caused by the anomaly would continue to spread, even though he still had hidden means, Owen chose to send two hundred farmers to the barracks to replenish his troops. He couldn’t care about the ratio of soldiers to civilians now, he had to overcome the current difficulties first.

Dispatching so many farmers would undoubtedly greatly reduce the speed of the territory’s production and development, but compared to the chaos caused by the anomaly, it was still worth it. Besides, his Progress Value had already reached thirty, and he could exchange it at any time. Then he could use the recovered Progress Value to convert serfs, filling the gap in labor, so he wasn’t worried.