As time went on and as Michael evolved more of his undead, two things became increasingly apparent.
First, the goblins could no longer remain in his storage space in large quantities after evolving into orcs.
The sheer size of the orcs made it impractical.
Eventually, Michael decided to let most of them stay outside, roaming freely.
Only the orcs he could summon and dismiss into the Netherworld stayed within the storage space.
Second, Michael found himself surrounded by hulking ‘men’ and ‘women.’
Their ‘body’ made it hard for him to meet their gazes.
It reached the point where he had them stay far away from him, confined to one of the abandoned dormitory rooms nearby.
This arrangement highlighted a glaring issue—clothing.
Michael added “get the orcs decent clothing” to his growing list of priorities.
Unfortunately, he was flat-out broke and would have to wait until he could clear another crack to gather enough resources.
Even if he had the money, sourcing liquids from the Supers Association wasn’t feasible in the short term due to his recent large purchase.
Brian might not be willing to make the same arrangement again, and approaching him with such an intention could strain their relationship.
Let’s not even talk about how suspicious it would seem for Michael to still need source liquids after buying a hundred of them.
These weren’t drugs that could be consumed so quickly for just any reason.
He could lie or tell the truth, but Michael preferred to do neither.
Unless he found another source to acquire the liquids, he’d have to rely on his daily evolution points until he could make another large purchase.
So, Michael shifted his focus to another investment—equipping the orcs with proper weapons.
While not as impactful as evolving them further, arming the orcs would still provide a significant boost to their combat strength.
The thought brought a smile to Michael’s face.
This was the type of Necromancer he aspired to be.
One who’s undead were all usable.
Finally, it would be time to give Lucky and Prince, his most senior undead, the respect they deserved.
They were meant for serious situations—not the mundane tasks he often assigned them.
However, the orcs’ clothing issue needed to be resolved first. For now he’d settle with normal ones which he could still afford dozens of.
After evolving so many goblins, Michael arrived at the two last undead he had saved intentionally for last—the black ape.
[Undead Black Ape Lv.11]
[Rank: Common★★]
[Undead Black Ape Lv.12]
[Rank: Common★★]
This was a new type of monster for Michael, and curiosity flickered in his eyes.
He wondered what their evolution form would be at the three-star Common rank and one-star Rare rank.
If the result was particularly interesting, he’d reserve some contract slots specifically for these apes.
While Michael wasn’t overly concerned about the specific types of monsters in his undead army—since all of them would become strong through his Evolution Points—he couldn’t deny the appeal of diversity. Stay updated with empire
This idea grew stronger in his mind after seeing his orc shamans.
He started envisioning an undead for every role: flying, riding, offense, defense, and more.
This was the true path of a horde Necromancer!
Jack of all trades—and, with his talent, master of all.
As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Michael made his choice.
It was time to evolve the black apes.
Michael discovered he could evolve multiple undead at once at his last evolution before these two–a slow realisation on his part.
[Undead Black Ape Lv.11]
[Rank: Common★★]
[Evolve to Common★★★ for 1 Evolution Point?]
*****
[Undead Black Ape Lv.12]
[Rank: Common★★]
[Evolve to Common★★★ for 1 Evolution Point?]
“Yes.”
The usual chorus of painful roars echoed in the space once more.
Though Michael wasn’t cruel to his undead and didn’t see them as mere tools—especially since they were growing smarter and developing individual personalities that made them feel more “alive”—he couldn’t help but feel numb to their screams during the evolution process.
He had heard it too many times.
But he couldn’t stop.
Nor did he think his undead would want him to stop after experiencing the benefits of a single evolution.
Not all the orcs were sent to rooms distant from him.
Some guarded the door to his room, while others roamed the corridors.
This served two purposes.
Based on his experience, Michael had learned that having his undead “live” or follow orders helped their intelligence awaken or grow gradually.
Lucky, for instance, didn’t feel smarter after emerging from the Netherworld, but its behavior changed as though it were alive, and its intelligence grew when it spent time outside.
Michael often wondered what the Netherworld truly was.
Was it merely a subspace, like his storage space, stale?
The same applied to Prince.
After nearly an entire day hunting in the Level 2 Dimensional Crack in the ape region, Prince’s intelligence had visibly grown.
The undead no longer needed Michael’s direct commands to act; it simply knew what to do.
This could be seen as either a pro or a con by others, but for Michael, it was currently a positive development.
Of course, a few hours outside weren’t enough to cause significant growth.
For now, his undead’s intelligence remained stagnant at most when they spent too much time in the Netherworld without activity.
Anyway, with the growing intelligence of his undead, Michael had recently caught one sneaking a peek into the room while he was evolving another undead.
With his connection with that undead, Michael had sensed something he never thought he’d feel from a “dead” being.
Envy.
As Michael pondered these things, the transformation of the Black Apes finally ended.
They still stood at about three meters tall, just slightly bulkier than before.
Most of their body remained black, its changes subtle.
It was clear. Only their star rating had increased.
Without hesitation, Michael chose to evolve it again.
[Undead Black Ape Lv.11]
[Rank: Common ★★★]
[Evolve to Rare ★ for 5 Evolution Points?]
*****
[Undead Black Ape Lv.12]
[Rank: Common ★★★]
[Evolve to Rare ★ for 5 Evolution Points?]
“Yes.”
And with that, Michael began waiting again, his heartbeat quickening with excitement and anticipation.
This time, he wasn’t eager to see if the Black Ape’s race would change.
He was waiting for what would come when they advanced to a Rank 1 creature because, when that happened, they wouldn’t be the only one to evolve.
Michael would advance, too.
It was close.
Very close.
[Your Common★★★ Undead Black Ape has evolved to Rare★ Blue Ape x2]
[Your undead Blue Ape has advanced to Rank 1, Level 1 (Level 11) x2]
[Your undead Undead Blue Ape has gained the skill {Berserk} x2]
[You have received feedback from your undead Blue Ape Rank Advancement.l x2]
[Your Strength stat has increased! x2]
[Your Agility stat has increased! x2]
[Your Constitution stat has increased! x2]
[Your Intelligence stat has increased! x2]
And that wasn’t all.
The notification Michael had been eagerly anticipating finally appeared.
[Rank Advancement Quest has been completed.]
[Rating…]