According to Tidamia's memory, it had been no match for that Mutated Zombie. It escaped the White Bone Stone Crystal Cluster grievously injured, fleeing north out of sheer fear of the creature's power. After slaying numerous Skeletons and finally recovering its full strength, it encountered Fang Zhou's number one Skeleton Team. It had initially believed it had stumbled upon a rare feast, but little did it expect to be met with Fang Zhou's eternal servitude instead.

Fang Zhou raised his head to look at the Blood Moon in the sky, pondering silently for a moment. I've been hunting in the Corpse Hills for several hours straight tonight. My soul feels completely exhausted. I should leave the next area for tomorrow. After all, a Mutated Zombie that could defeat Tidamia and occupy the White Bone Stone Crystal Cluster all by itself can't be an easy opponent. Tomorrow, once I've replenished the skeleton minions to full strength, I'll take Olaf and Tidamia to meet this Mutated Zombie.

After making up his mind, Fang Zhou activated his Corpse Armor skill, completely draining the remnants of bones from the number one Skeleton Team that Tidamia had half-devoured. He then gathered the dozens of skeleton minions around him. He had been about to send Tidamia a soul command to stand by, but a new thought suddenly occurred to him.

Tidamia possessed a certain degree of intelligence and could understand his simple orders. This made it completely different from his other skeleton minions. Shortly after his Skeleton Monarch skill was enhanced with the ability to enslave Skeletons, Fang Zhou had experimented with his level of control over them. Although the skeleton minions could cooperate smoothly and form a Skeleton Team to execute simple commands under his direction, they were limited. If Fang Zhou focused his Spirit on his main body and put the skeleton clone in a dormant state, these skeleton servants could only execute the simplest guard commands; they were unable to form hunting parties on their own. This had shattered Fang Zhou's dream of AFK leveling.

But now, with Tidamia, this mutated Skeleton Warrior with a degree of intelligence... Perhaps it doesn't need my real-time commands to successfully execute simple orders.

Given this hypothesis, Fang Zhou decided to put it to the test. He sent a clear command to Tidamia, instructing it to autonomously hunt all Undead Creatures it encountered nearby. Furthermore, he required Tidamia to transport the remains of all the Undead it defeated to his side without devouring them. With Tidamia's overwhelming combat strength against opponents of the same rank, it could effortlessly kill even an ordinary lower Black Iron Zombie. Therefore, Fang Zhou wasn't worried about it running into any danger.

After repeatedly confirming his instructions with Tidamia, Fang Zhou watched with anticipation as the newly subjugated Beheading Giant Sword Skeleton Warrior walked steadfastly into the distance. He planned to log into his clone tomorrow morning to see if Tidamia could accurately execute his orders and help him level up while AFK. If it was successful, it would naturally be the best possible news for him. If he could one day replace all his skeleton servants with intelligent mutated Skeletons like Tidamia, the leveling speed of his skeleton clone would increase dramatically.

「Navy Military Academy, Concentration Meditation Room.」

Fang Zhou opened his eyes and stood up, glancing around the room. It was late at night. Besides him, the other Seed Students had long since left to rest in their dormitories. After all, as first-year freshmen, their Soul Strength was limited, and the time they could spend in Meditation each day was very short. In this respect, they were far inferior to Fang Zhou, who had numerous aids at his disposal.

Fang Zhou took a bottle of Soul Calming Potion from his Space Storage Capsule and drank it down. He immediately felt his utterly exhausted soul being nourished, like a parched land receiving a long-awaited rain. He stood up, stretched his tired body, and walked toward the dormitory.

The next morning, the first thing Fang Zhou did upon waking was to log into his skeleton clone, his Spirit feeling completely refreshed. To his immense surprise, a pile of dozens of scattered skeletal remains was stacked beside his skeleton clone. Among them were Skeleton Warriors and some Zombies. These heavily wounded, near-death Undead Creatures were the spoils of Tidamia's hard night of hunting. Fang Zhou roughly estimated that killing and devouring these spoils would grant him nearly one hundred points of Soul Power. Although it couldn't compare to the gains from his active leveling sessions during Concentration Meditation, it was still a considerable income.

Fang Zhou gently waved the Bone Long Spear in his hand, absorbing the Soul Power and Corpse Essence from the Undead Creatures while summoning Tidamia to his side through the Skeleton Monarch's Soul Link. Having fought tirelessly all night, Tidamia's bones were covered in injuries, and its once-vigorous Soul Fire had grown somewhat dim. Fang Zhou understood this was because Tidamia had been strictly obeying his command. It had fought continuously throughout the night but had left all the spoils for him, receiving no replenishment for itself.

Even in the Era of Myth, where the concentration of Heaven and Earth Energy was off the charts, the Law of Energy Conservation still applied. Although Undead Creatures didn't need to eat or drink to move and fight, they still required replenishment of Undead Attribute energy. For Skeletons, the most common way to replenish energy was to bask in the scarlet moonlight and absorb the undead energy that permeated the Undead Realm. The second way was to use their Corpse Armor skill to hunt, kill, devour, and evolve.

Generally, a continuous night of battle like the one Tidamia had just endured would result in energy consumption far exceeding normal levels. The energy from the scarlet moonlight alone was not nearly enough to cover the deficit. In such a situation, it needed to supplement its energy from its spoils. Otherwise, after a prolonged period of being "famished," Tidamia's combat effectiveness would greatly decline.

It was rare to encounter a sustainable servant like Tidamia, far superior to his usual disposable cannon fodder, so Fang Zhou naturally wouldn't work his valuable asset to the point of collapse. Sensing the degree of Tidamia's weakness, Fang Zhou generously set aside two Skeleton Warriors for it to devour. As he received the waves of excitement from Tidamia, Fang Zhou thought for a moment and refined his command. He updated his command, now allowing Tidamia to devour a small portion of its spoils to replenish its energy whenever it was injured or felt its power waning.

After absorbing all the spoils from Tidamia's night-long hunt, Fang Zhou looked around, confirmed that he was safely surrounded by his skeleton minions, then ordered Tidamia to continue hunting nearby before logging off contentedly.

After washing up, Fang Zhou packed his bag and quickly left the dormitory. He grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to the Hall of Glory, deep within the school's history museum. This was the designated classroom for the first-year Seed Students of Sea City Military Academy. Instructor Lu Hu and the other Seed Students were already waiting there.

After saluting Instructor Lu, Fang Zhou casually glanced around and spotted Bai Xiaochan, Ye Fan, and Meng Hongzhuang. He walked over and asked with some curiosity, "Do you know what class we have this morning?"

Bai Xiaochan flipped through the course schedule previously handed out by Instructor Lu Hu and replied, "It should be a military theory class this morning. I'm just not sure how it'll be different from the military theory we learned back in the first company."

Ye Fan crossed his arms, an arrogant look on his face, and snorted. "How ignorant! Today won't just be theory on paper like before. We'll probably get some hands-on practice."

Meng Hongzhuang asked, puzzled, "Hands-on practice? With what?"

Before Ye Fan could answer, Instructor Lu Hu spoke from the front of the formation.

"Silence! Next, we will begin the sand table war chess competition. We'll start with random grouping. The 100 of you will be randomly divided into 10 groups of 10. Come forward and draw your lots."

Lu Hu pulled a meticulously carved dark wooden box from his space marvel. As his strong fingers lifted the lid, the students stepped forward one by one. With hands full of anticipation, they each drew a wooden plaque from the box, which would decide their opponents and sand table assignments.

When it was Fang Zhou's turn, he reached out his right hand, and his fingertips touched the plaque labeled "Group 1, Number 1."

A moment later, a slightly nervous Bai Xiaochan walked up to the box to draw her lot. When she pulled out the plaque for "Group 1, Number 10," her eyes met Fang Zhou's. An unspoken understanding seemed to flow between them; no words were necessary.

Bai Xiaochan gave him a pitiful, pleading look. "Boss, please go easy on me!"

Fang Zhou's expression was calm and noncommittal. "Dignity is found only on the edge of a blade."

Subsequently, they led the other eight, still unfamiliar members of their group toward their holographic sand table. These sand tables, which had just been activated by Instructor Lu Hu during the lot drawing, floated quietly in mid-air, emitting a faint blue light.

Instructor Lu Hu's voice rang out again. "This sand table war chess competition is likely your first time on a holographic sand table. Therefore, I won't set overly complex rules for you. It's a free-for-all with no rules! Your group's ranking will be determined by survival time! Based on your rankings from this morning's competition, you will receive different amounts of contribution points. Consider this a form of resource support and a special reward from Sea City Military Academy for you Seed Students."

With that command, the holographic sand tables activated one by one. Fang Zhou and Bai Xiaochan exchanged a glance before turning their attention to the sand table. It was a vivid and intricate model, perfectly replicating all kinds of natural terrain. From rolling mountain ranges to winding rivers, from boundless plains to dense, sky-blotting forests, every inch of land was rendered with lifelike detail, appearing like a miniaturized version of the real world.

"Sand table war chess is a project anyone who has systematically studied military science will encounter," Instructor Lu Hu's voice continued. "And you, as the elite Seed Students of Sea City Military Academy, should be even more familiar with it. Today's competition rules are quite straightforward. You will select and assemble an army based on your own strategic concepts. Then, your starting positions will be determined by a random draw, and you'll engage in a free-for-all melee on the sand table. The victor claims the top spot. Meanwhile, we—myself, Instructor Chen Qingshan, and Instructor Shen Hongyu—will determine the final rankings based on factors like your tactical application and on-the-spot reactions."

With a gentle wave of Instructor Lu Hu's hand, the air seemed to shimmer. Dozens of War Chess pieces, each glowing with a different color, materialized before everyone's eyes. Each of these pieces represented a different type of unit. From common Black Iron-level infantry to high-level Golden-level Magicians, every unit was meticulously crafted in the image of human soldiers. Whether it was the intricate patterns on their armor or the gleam of their weapons, everything was so vivid it felt as if one could almost feel the atmosphere of a real battlefield.

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