Landlord World - Start with SSS talent

Noan stroked his chin upon hearing that. Though he knew that Malrik had the potential to evolve, it didn't mean he had the necessary resources to facilitate that evolution.

One had to understand that Malrik also needed a vast amount of energy crystals besides the required materials. Evolving him from rank E to E+ alone would consume up to 1,000 rank F crystals.

If this were an "Anomaly Point," evolving Malrik would be a simple matter. However, this was a barren region. The food supply here was barely sufficient for all the lords, let alone having an abundance of energy crystals.

Even though Noan now possessed the "Resource Storage Center," he could only collect about 50 rank F energy crystals daily.

If Vylyss hadn't gone hunting for more, he might not have even been able to evolve his Lord rank yet.

Though Noan wasn't worried about resources or food, the waiting process exhausted him.

More importantly, he needed many resources to construct additional buildings and upgrade his monsters.

Of course, he could always eliminate all the lords in this area and seize their resources.

However, doing so would turn this entire region into a dead zone. Besides, he had no idea what future events the System had in store, so he didn't want to engage in excessive killing.

But… killing a few disobedient ones occasionally wouldn't hurt.

In a flock of chickens, slaughtering a few each day was just routine.

Noan sat down in his chair, tapping his fingers on the table, his expression deep in thought.

Vylyss remained silent, obediently standing by his side, waiting.

"If we use everything at our disposal, what's our winning probability?"

Vylyss said, "Master, as long as I, Urlgan, Malrik, and Zhisse fight, the probability of victory is 100%."

Noan slightly nodded at that response but didn't completely believe it.

It wasn't that he doubted Vylyss—it was that he feared unforeseen variables during battle, such as the appearance of zombies like the Mutant Hunter, whose strength was abnormally superior.

Such occurrences could significantly disrupt his plans and even endanger his heroes.

"What is the current number of zombies?"

Vylyss immediately responded, "Even though I have killed many, the zombies are appearing at an alarming rate. Their numbers have already surpassed 6,000, including five rank D zombies, and there is even one rank D+ zombie."

Noan furrowed his brows upon hearing this. Although he knew that the overall level of these zombies wouldn't exceed level 1, he still had to be cautious.

Indeed, most zombies were level 1—this was how the world was designed.

Zombies could not level up, except for mutated ones like the Mutant Hunter.

However, there was always the possibility that an unforeseen, bizarre zombie might emerge.

For this reason, he was unwilling to take unnecessary risks. He wanted to let the other Lords fend off the horde first. If, in the final moments, they failed to hold their ground, he would step in.

Noan believed the System wouldn't simply wipe out all the Lords here.

After all, there were quite a lot of them. If the System had intended to exterminate them, it would have done so.

That meant this was merely an event, and the Lords would surely have some means of surviving it.

"Vylyss, Malrik!" Noan commanded. "Monitor the movements of the zombie horde carefully. If anything unusual happens, report it to me immediately. Understood?"

"Yes, Master!" Vylyss and Malrik responded in unison.

"Zhisse." Noan turned to Zhisse and continued, "Increase the webbing within the safe zone. In addition, I want you to set up some webs inside the Dark Forest."

Krit! Krit!

'Stop giving me orders,' the second Zhisse grumbled internally. 'I just want to weave fabric. Who the hell do you think you are making me work? Gru! Gru!'

Although the second Zhisse was disgruntled, she had no control over her body and could only sigh in frustration.

Once everyone had dispersed, Noan took a deep breath and muttered, "I'm still too weak. If I were stronger, I wouldn't have to worry about any of the System's events."

He leaned back in his chair, basking in the sunlight, his mind occupied with countless thoughts.

…

Four days later.

During these past four days, Caleb and Austin had completely stabilized the region.

Both Austin and Caleb agreed to use the monster in the food forest as the official explanation for the deaths of the Lords that Austin had taken away.

They also realise that the black-skinned Orc in the food forest is undoubtedly Noan's monster.

Of course, they had no intention of revealing this fact. After all, they were already Noan's slaves—the stronger Noan became, the more benefits they would reap.

Though some Lords found the situation puzzling, none of them intended to investigate the deaths of those who had followed Austin.

No one here was close to one another, and they certainly weren't willing to risk confronting Austin over the deaths of strangers.

Moreover, an event quickly made everyone forget about the missing Lords—access to the food forest and the river was now unrestricted.

On the surface, Caleb and Austin continued to act as if they were enemies. However, for the sake of the region's collective benefit, they decided to establish agreements that would provide other Lords with a way to survive.

The Lords were free to enter and exit the food forest and the river, but upon returning, they had to pay a tax of 20% of whatever they had gathered.

Compared to the previous 50% tax and entry fees, a 20% tax was a minimal price.

Naturally, none of the Lords voiced any objections. Their strength was nowhere near that of Caleb and Austin, so they had no choice but to remain silent and acknowledge the two as the rulers of this region.

For the past two days, Caleb and Austin continued to appear as bitter enemies by day. But when night fell, they secretly met to discuss plans to stabilize further and develop the region.

Over the past four days, Caleb had been visiting Noan's territory daily to report on the region's state.

Although Noan had never demanded this, Caleb felt it was his duty. Moreover, he wanted Noan to see his unwavering loyalty and recognise him as a competent strategist.

Noan did not stop him, allowing him to report on the situation and provide insights into how to develop the region further.

Managing this area would have been like asking a blind man to read a book. But Caleb was different—he was highly intelligent and possessed strong administrative abilities. Because of this, Noan let him handle matters freely.

Another five days passed.

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By this time, Noan had gathered considerable resources to construct a new facility—the Combat Simulation Room.

However, there was a major issue: he lacked iron resources and did not have enough energy stones.

Noan rubbed his chin, feeling a bit of a headache, as upgrading the Resource Storage Center required 1,000 rank E energy crystals.

That number was enormous. In such a barren region, gathering 1,000 rank E crystals was nearly impossible.

"System, how many rank E crystals can I exchange for a rank D+ crystal?"

[Ding! 1 rank D+ energy crystal can be exchanged for 200 rank E energy crystals.

1 rank D-peak energy crystal can be exchanged for 1,000 rank E energy crystals.]

Noan: "..."

"You only added that second part because you know exactly what I have, didn't you?"

His guess wasn't wrong. He possessed a rank D-peak energy crystal, which he had obtained from the Mutant Hunter he had slain while seizing the Resource Center.

He had originally planned to keep this crystal as an emergency resource, but it seemed time had come to use it.

"Alright! You're quite sly, System." Noan sighed, shaking his head. "Exchange the rank D-peak crystal for 1,000 rank E crystals."

[Ding! Exchange successful. 1,000 rank E crystals have been placed in your Storage.]

"Upgrade the Resource Storage Center."