With Grace Miller, the super-powerful bodyguard, Henry Parker began the second phase of his plan. They went to the lower levels of the Shadow Maze, and through grueling guerrilla warfare, war of attrition, and some despicable terrain tricks, they were about to slay the lich Barlow. But then, something unexpected happened—the lich actually surrendered! He obtained a textbook, "The Self-Cultivation of a Necromancer," and successfully changed to the hidden class: Necromancer.

Necromancer: More proficient in dark magic and summoning magic than ordinary people. Special skill—Desecration Aura: affects the whole party, increases all party damage by 10%, increases damage to light-attribute creatures by 200%, but also increases damage received from light-attribute sources by 200%.

The unexpected surrender of the powerful lich Barlow made Henry Parker ecstatic. He had thought the next step of his plan would require a long period of leveling up, but now he could execute it immediately.

The next target: the Undead Fortress. Legend has it that the Undead Overlord so-and-so was besieged and killed here by the Holy See of Light. What Henry Parker was after were the four sealed Death Knights under the Overlord—none other than the famous Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In a previous life, during a player guild event, an accident revealed that Death Knights in a dormant state could be recruited as subordinates. This caused a huge stir—some said it was a bug, others claimed it was the first S-rank mercenary, and more speculated whether this was a mercenary’s mercenary. The official response was silence, tacitly acknowledging this as a hidden S-rank mercenary.

Familiarity with the scene, meticulous planning, powerful allies, and patient progress—the results far exceeded Henry Parker's expectations! His original goal was just the Blood and Plague Death Knights, but unexpectedly, even Frost and Dread—two Death Knights who were almost impossible to recruit in his previous life—also surrendered! His luck was simply off the charts!

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a lich, a vampire countess, plus himself with two hidden identities—Henry Parker's team could only be described as a dream team. With such a fantastic lineup, his next goal was an artifact—not just any artifact, but a true artifact once used by a god, and not just any true artifact, but a set: the Hades Throne Set! Henry Parker's ambitions were sky-high.

The Hades Throne Set consists of five parts: helm, shoulders, armor, gloves, and boots. It was a reward from Hades to his top general, the Undead Overlord so-and-so, who was eventually defeated by the Holy See of Light. The Holy See was helpless against the true artifact and could only pray for five angels to descend and guard the five components. This is a world event—the strength of the guardian angels increases as the game operates over time. The earlier you defeat them, the better.

Henry Parker's target was the weakest angel guarding the glove component, Gabriel. Of course, this Gabriel is not the "Left Hand of the Throne," the archangel Gabriel, but just an ordinary angel from her family. Even the weakest angel was beyond what Henry Parker's current team could handle. So he began to focus on training the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He only needed one month.

Since his transmigration, everything had gone smoothly for Henry Parker, but now he hit a snag—money. Each of the Four Horsemen needed to consume one Death Essence per day, the extravagant Countess needed one Blood Essence per day, and Barlow, as a surrendered general, dared not ask for much and was content with some soul scraps. In his previous life, Henry Parker never cared about the items sold in the main city's NPC general stores—he never worried about money, and if he needed it, he just ordered from a gold-farming studio.

But now, with the server open for less than a month, where would you find a gold-farming studio? The whole server was poor, currency was limited, and even the best equipment couldn't fetch a high price. With no other choice, Henry Parker started learning mining and gathering. Mining and gathering are the only life skills that can generate continuous income without upfront investment—skills he had looked down on as "laborer" work in his previous life. Though he looked down on them, it didn't mean he wasn't skilled; he was very diligent about mining routes and respawn times. So, his subordinates focused on killing monsters while he focused on mining and gathering. Watching bundles of copper ore, iron ore, herbs, and pelts being bought by NPCs at trash prices made his heart bleed. He knew these materials would rise in value later, but his subordinates' mouths needed feeding—they were banging their bowls every day! Especially Grace Miller, who would act spoiled and make a fuss at the drop of a hat—how could he stand it! What was this? This was called overreaching and getting himself in trouble.

These days were painful yet joyful, but good times didn't last. As the Four Horsemen leveled up, their appetites grew—one Death Essence per day was no longer enough. And Grace Miller was especially unreasonable; seeing others get more food, she started making a fuss too. Barlow, seeing the instability in the team, had a flicker of uncertainty in his skeletal eye sockets, clearly harboring second thoughts.

Heavens! Could it be that the great situation of a genius transmigrator would be ruined by something as ridiculous as food!?

With no other choice, Henry Parker put the good equipment he had collected up for auction at rock-bottom prices. Suddenly, he noticed a long-term buy order in the auction house for gems at 1,000 gold coins each. One thousand gold coins! In his previous life, he would have scoffed at it, but now, with the server just over a month old, it was a fortune! He didn't care who or what organization had posted this 1,000-gold buy order—the point was, it was a lifesaver! Did he have gems? Of course—mining often yielded various gems. The difference was, now he didn't have to sell them to NPCs as trash. Bro, you are my savior!