Chapter 22: Surveillance!
Laura drew a deep breath, one eye open, bowstring drawn to its limit. She had a perfect shot. Just as she was about to release the arrow, a hand suddenly entered her field of vision and gripped her bow.
Laura looked at the owner of the hand that had ruined her moment with her prey. It was Golan. She fixed him with a look that carried bewilderment mixed with a touch of irritation.
"Lower your bow," Golan whispered in an expressionless voice.
Though Laura was mildly annoyed, she lowered her bow without the slightest hesitation. Golan was the team commander personally chosen by the Lord. Her trust in his decisions was absolute, and she had no issue with that. But she continued watching him with a questioning look.
When Golan caught the questioning look in her eyes, he whispered an explanation: "Let's wait. He's only bait."
He nodded toward the Twin-Headed villager who was cutting the tree with visible tension, then continued: "The Lord told me to try, if at all possible, to kill at least two soldiers. If we kill this simple villager, we won't weaken that Lord's forces much. We'll only frighten him — and he won't dare send anyone out after that."
Upon hearing this, Laura felt a wave of embarrassment wash through her. Her problem was that whenever she saw prey in her sights, she felt an itch in her hand she couldn't resist. She had gotten a little carried away this time.
She whispered an apology, her voice carrying a hint of sheepishness: "Sorry… I got a little carried away."
Golan didn't respond — he simply gave a single nod of understanding, then returned to his surveillance position, his eyes fixed on the protective barrier of Ashbel's territory. Around him, the other team members continued their watch in silence.
The poor Twin-Headed villager had no idea he had barely escaped certain death. At this moment, he was continuing to chop wood, and had even begun to feel a little happy and relieved, seeing that the situation appeared to be safe.
---
In the Lord's Hall, Second Floor:
Kaiden finally closed the last book. He exhaled with deep relief, rubbing his tired eyes. Three full hours of grinding — but he had at last finished all three books.
It had to be said that he had benefited greatly from them, particularly the first book, where he found a little about the end of the seven-day Beginner Protection period and what would happen afterward. It had dispelled some of his concerns — for fear comes from the unknown, and knowledge is a weapon in and of itself.
The moment he set the book aside, the quest completion interface appeared:
[Quest "Strategic Lord!" Completed! Reward dispatched to the Lord's inventory: Special Book — Memoirs of Sir Agonso the Alchemist.]
"Memoirs of an alchemist?" Kaiden murmured with curiosity. He took the book from his inventory and began flipping through some pages. The book was about a person named Agonso who, by all appearances, had been a great alchemist in his time. It spoke of how he had begun his journey learning alchemy, the difficulties he had faced, and the experiments he had conducted.
Kaiden didn't understand much of it. It was all complex topics relating to correct ratios, chemical reactions, and theoretical research. For a moment it felt like reading a calculus textbook — which made his eyes glaze over — so he closed the book and returned it to his inventory.
"I'll hand it to Luther later. It'll be far more useful to him than to me," Kaiden decided with a shrug.
Having finished his reading, he found himself suddenly with nothing to do. There was nothing pressing to occupy him immediately.
Casper would handle following up on the territory's affairs. So Kaiden decided to open the World Chat, which he hadn't checked for quite a while:
---
Remaining: 990,555,623 Lords
Lord of Storm Territory: "Everyone! I got seeds from a Bronze Treasure Chest! Not much — only 200 tomato seeds. But finally I'll be eating something other than meat!"
Lord of Solomon's Territory: "The friend above is bored of eating meat! Meanwhile my residents and I are still starving! People's problems really are worlds apart…"
Lord of Summit City: "I don't understand how people are still going hungry?? It's already Day Three, everyone!"
Lord of Vaso Territory: "That's true. Even if you only have a militia lineup, you can kill monsters by relying on the protective barrier and a little luck."
Lord of Madrid City: "Anything is possible at this point, friends — haven't you noticed? Up until now, roughly 10 million Lords have been killed. How are we going to survive four days from now?"
Lord of Southern Territory: "Now that you mention it… I'm genuinely depressed. It's going to be a massacre. I'm scared!"
Lord of Silver Territory: "Unfortunately I didn't manage to buy the Stamina Potions in time. They would have been extremely useful for my soldiers at critical moments. Sigh~"
Lord of Heroes City: "Who exactly is the Lord of the Fertile Lands, I wonder? He bought tons of water all by himself and disrupted the entire water market — and from what I recall, he was among the first to sell meat, and now he's started selling potions! I wouldn't be surprised if he started selling mithril tomorrow!"
Lord of Stone City: "That's absolutely true! I wonder why there's such a massive gap between people? We all arrived three days ago! The Lord of the Fertile Lands looks as though he arrived months before us — as if he's been playing since the beta!"
Lord of Knowledge Territory: "The reason for this gap isn't that he arrived early, and isn't that he's cheating — not in the literal sense, at least. The answer is territory talents. Just because the majority received weak territory talents doesn't mean everyone has a weak talent. There are also many who possess powerful talents — to say nothing of A+ tier talents. I even know someone with an S-tier talent. And it's very likely that the Lord of the Fertile Lands is S-tier as well."
---
When Kaiden saw that the conversation had turned to him, he smiled in amusement — but he had no plans to participate in the chat. He wasn't fond of boasting, especially since he didn't feel there was anything truly worth boasting about. He was just an ordinary, lucky person who had acquired a powerful territory talent. Nothing more, nothing less.
But he paused at the Lord of Knowledge Territory's words, and his smile widened. He's hit the nail on the head, Kaiden thought. The difference between people was largely due to differences in territory talents. But… it had to be said that the Lord of Knowledge had gotten one thing wrong.
His talent wasn't S-tier.
It was SSS-tier — which was far more powerful.
Kaiden closed the World Chat and rose from his bed. He walked at an unhurried pace until he reached the arched balcony on the second floor. He stood there, hands clasped behind his back, and looked down.
Before him, his territory had undergone radical transformations. It was no longer the barren, desolate wasteland that had greeted him three days ago — it had become more like a lively small village. Small houses and buildings scattered here and there, villagers moving about with energy. On the horizon, he could see the massive water tank, and beside it the plot of fertile earth that had just been planted.
He raised his eyes to the sky and noticed the afternoon had already arrived.
No news from the campaign team yet… Kaiden thought, his gaze drifting toward the horizon — in the direction his expedition team had gone.
---
At this very moment, the campaign team was still in position. The hours had passed slowly through the surveillance, the team members holding their places while the sun beat down on their heads as they waited for something to change.
And at last, in this very moment — a new change occurred.
---
— End of Chapter Twenty-Two —