The "Annexation Plan" and the Beheading Operation
"Annex… the Skeletal Monarch?"
The little demon clutching the demon-hide report trembled, nearly dropping the "work report" into the nearby sulfur spring. It tilted its wrinkled face upward, its large eyes filled with confusion and a hint of terror. The Skeletal Monarch was a veteran Demon Lord who ruled over a vast sea of bones with an army of tens of thousands of skeletons! Hadn't they only just learned to grow mushrooms?
Lin Mo paid no mind to the little demon's shock. He turned, jumped down from the rock, and walked toward the flat black stone that served as his command center. On its surface, the map of the Abandoned Land and surrounding areas had been roughly sketched with glowing moss sap—with the massive bone sea territory of the Skeletal Monarch marked prominently.
"Notify the 'Strategic Planning Department' (made up of the three demons best at picking pebbles) and the 'Logistics Support Department' (in charge of the moss fields and mushroom sheds) to meet here in the time it takes to burn an incense stick," Lin Mo said, tapping his finger on several key nodes in the Skeletal Monarch's territory on the map. "Also, sort through the damaged bone weapons we seized last time—send the ones that can be smelted again to the 'Technology R&D Center' (that drier stone cave)."
The little demon stumbled away in a daze, the word "annexation" still echoing in its mind.
When an incense stick had burned down, the so-called "meeting" began beside the black stone. Besides Lin Mo, the attendees were a group of still-confused little demons. They huddled nervously, listening as their Lord outlined tasks that sounded like fantasies in his calm tone.
"Our advantages," Lin Mo cut straight to the point, "lie in technology, management, and… information asymmetry."
He pointed to the Abandoned Land's position on the map: "The Skeletal Monarch and its allies still see us as nothing more than 'tricky upstarts' with 'possible resources'. They don't understand our organizational structure, our production model, or our ultimate goals. That's our greatest opportunity."
"The core strategy isn't a head-on attack—it's 'targeted elimination' and 'systemic collapse'."
"First step: intelligence infiltration." Lin Mo looked at the two fast-running members of the "Market Expansion Department." "Your goal isn't to spy on military movements. It's to spread news in the skeleton villages on the edge of the Skeletal Monarch's territory."
"What kind of news?" a little demon asked timidly.
"Tell them that the Lord of the Abandoned Land, seeing how hard it is for low-level beings in the Demon Realm to survive, has launched a 'Demon Talent Recruitment Program'," Lin Mo said, his tone unchanged. "Any low-level skeleton or corpse demon with a skill, or who wants to work in stable production, can apply to migrate. Benefits are generous: basic skill training, guaranteed basic survival supplies (unlimited black moss paste)."
The little demons' mouths dropped open.
"L-Lord… is this… poaching their underlings?"
"Yes," Lin Mo nodded. "This is psychological warfare. The Skeletal Monarch rules through cruelty—low-level skeletons are treated as nothing but expendable materials, living in misery. What we need to do is plant instability in its ranks and shake the foundation of its rule."
"Second step: technical sabotage." Lin Mo moved his finger to several energy nodes deep in the bone sea on the map. "From our observations, the Skeletal Monarch relies on several large 'Death Energy Concentration Arrays' to maintain its army and territory barrier. These arrays are crudely built, have low energy efficiency, and have obvious design flaws."
He turned to the members of the "Technology R&D Center" and handed them several demon-hide sketches of extremely complex array structures (simplified, modified versions). "Your next task is to figure out how to remotely disrupt or even disable these key nodes with the least amount of energy. No need to destroy them completely—just cause large-scale energy chaos."
The tech-savvy demons stared at the天书-like diagrams, their eyes crossing, but they nodded vigorously.
"Third step: economic attack." Lin Mo finished, "The Skeletal Monarch's 'economy' (if you can even call it that) relies entirely on plunder and shoddy undead weapon forging. Logistics Support Department, ramp up production of glowing mushrooms and shadow cloth. The quality isn't great, but the cost is extremely low. Market Expansion Department, find a way to flood the low-level weapon markets in its border areas with our products. Even if we take a loss, we need to squeeze its living space."
The meeting ended, and the little demons dispersed, their heads full of new terms and heavy tasks. They might not fully understand the deeper meaning of "psychological warfare," "technical sabotage," or "economic attack," but they knew one thing: listening to the Lord was never wrong.
The tiny but precise machine that was the Abandoned Land began to operate quietly according to Lin Mo's new plan.
A few days later, strange rumors started spreading in the shabby skeleton villages on the edge of the Skeletal Monarch's territory.
"Have you heard? That new Lord in the Abandoned Land to the east is a weirdo—he doesn't fight, doesn't grab land, just makes demons farm and do crafts…"
"Farm? Crafts? What's the point of that?"
"But they say if you go there, you'll never go hungry! There's this black paste—tastes weird, but it keeps your bones from falling apart!"
"Really? And you can learn skills? I was a blacksmith when I was alive, but now these bone hands can barely hold a hammer…"
"They say they'll take anyone with a skill—no questions asked!"
At first, the skeletons were skeptical. But when one or two desperate skeletons, brave enough to sneak over, returned with full "bellies" (if skeletons had bellies) of paste and a few shiny low-grade energy ores—excitedly describing how "you don't have to worry about being torn apart for firewood by higher-ranked skeletons" there—the tide turned.
Small groups of skeletons began migrating to the Abandoned Land under the cover of night. The numbers were small, but steady.
The skeleton commanders under the Skeletal Monarch noticed the anomaly. They captured a few skeletons "attempting to defect" and tore them apart publicly to intimidate others. But the desire to survive was sometimes stronger than the fear of death. The secret flow of migrants never stopped entirely.
At the same time, deep in the Skeletal Monarch's territory, the "Death Energy Concentration Arrays" that powered its massive barrier and army began to malfunction for no apparent reason. Sometimes energy output fluctuated wildly; sometimes rune nodes overheated. Repairs were quick, but the frequent disruptions frayed the nerves of high-ranking undead who relied on the arrays' energy—and left the lich mages in charge of maintaining them frantic. After endless inspections, they could only blame it on "natural wear and tear from the arrays' old age."
In the small black markets where the Skeletal Monarch's territory bordered other lands, a flood of unusually cheap "goods" suddenly appeared: glowing mushrooms, and black cloth that supposedly blocked some mental detection. These items were useless to high-ranking demons, but a godsend for low-level demons and undead. The glowing mushrooms, in particular, cost only a tenth of the cheapest "bone daggers" made in the Skeletal Monarch's territory—yet provided the same light.
Low-level demons who once bought bone daggers began switching to glowing mushrooms. For the first time, the skeleton blacksmiths making low-level weapons felt the pressure of "market competition"—even if they had no idea what that term meant.
In the palace of stacked skulls, the air was thick with tension.
"Your Majesty! Seventeen more skeletons have gone missing from the border—suspected to have fled to the Abandoned Land!" a skeletal general reported.
"Your Majesty! The core rune of the No. 3 Death Energy Array overheated—we had to shut it down for repairs! The eastern barrier's strength has dropped by 30%!" a lich mage said, panic in their voice.
"Your Majesty! Those cheap glowing mushrooms are everywhere in the black markets! The bone daggers we make… they're not selling! The warehouses are overflowing!" the corpse demon in charge of logistics wailed.
The soul-fire in the Skeletal Monarch's eye sockets flared violently, cold rage seeping out.
It had thought the Abandoned Land's ruler was just a troublesome bug—one it could crush easily once it had the time. But now, this bug wasn't biting it; it was drilling holes in its foundations! Poaching its underlings! disrupting its arrays! stealing its business!
These tactics were sneaky! Underhanded! Nothing like the Demon Realm's traditions!
It awesome stood up from its throne, its bones grinding with a shrill "crack."
"We can't wait any longer!" the Skeletal Monarch's soul roared through the palace. "Gather all the army! I will lead the attack myself—level that damn Abandoned Land! Tear that green-robed charlatan's soul from his body! Grind his bones into my new footstool!"
It decided to abandon all tricks and tests. It would use the most direct, violent method to destroy everything.
Yet, just as it issued the full mobilization order—just as the entire bone sea stirred, and countless skeletons and corpse demons were roused from their slumber to form a vast tide of death—
On the tallest black rock in the Abandoned Land.
Lin Mo looked far into the distance, at the thick death energy surging above the bone sea, and at the slow-moving, white tide of the skeleton army.
There was no surprise on his face—only the calm of someone who had waited a long time.
He turned and nodded to a little demon behind him, who held a crude communication array (made of resonant crystals and glowing moss).
"Spread the word," Lin Mo said. "Initiate the 'Beheading Operation'."
His gaze settled on the heavily marked spot on the map—where the Skeletal Monarch's throne stood.
"Target: the Skeletal Monarch's true form."