Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

Of course, the transfer orders couldn’t be disobeyed, especially since they were signed by Big Brother himself.

’What Lloyd was more concerned about, however, was the rather personal nature of the advice—to be prepared and to seize the opportunity.’

As he was pondering this, he noticed the lingering look of concern on Weiya’s face and quickly reassured her.

"Don’t worry. It’s only for a week. With my abilities, I’ll be perfectly safe."

"Okay. Just remember to take care of yourself. If you need anything, you can go to the quartermaster to request equipment and supplies ahead of time."

Weiya nodded and forced a smile, looking just like a newlywed wife reluctant to see her husband go on a long journey.

Seeing Weiya like this, Lloyd’s heart suddenly began to race, and he almost blurted out something rash.

But Weiya stood up first, ready to leave.

"I... should get back to work now."

She walked to the door, then paused. Turning back, she added in a near-whisper:

"I’ll be waiting here for you to come back."

Then, without waiting for Lloyd’s reply, she quickly fled.

Uh...

Lloyd scratched his head, a helpless, wry smile on his face.

That evening, when he got home to have dinner with his sister, he brought up the topic of his upcoming official trip.

"Huh? I have to be separated from Yi again? But you just got back..."

Evelor put on a pitiful, pouty expression, and the Dazed Hair on top of her head drooped sadly.

But she quickly adjusted her mindset and started to look on the bright side.

"Then again, this is good too. It means you’re appreciated and highly regarded, Yi. As your sister, I should be happy... And when you become a big shot, I’ll get to share in the glory. Then lots of girls will like you, and you’ll..."

Seeing that she was about to start imagining him getting married and starting a family, Lloyd quickly interrupted.

"In that case, why don’t you go stay with Desda for a few days? I’ll worry if you’re home alone..."

Evelor thought about it seriously and nodded.

"Well... that could work. When I came back from Desda’s a couple of days ago, she hugged me so tightly and wouldn’t let go. She said she really isn’t used to me not being there and can’t get motivated for anything. It would be nice to go back and keep her company for a week."

Perhaps because of their separation from two days ago, the siblings had developed some ’immunity’. Although they were still reluctant to be apart for the next week, it wasn’t as hard to accept.

After dinner, Evelor took a shower, changed into a cartoon nightgown, and with her hair still damp and carrying the faint scent of shower gel, squeezed in next to Lloyd, tirelessly reminding him of all the things to watch out for on a long trip.

Her delicate, fair feet rested casually on the sofa, tinged with an alluring pink from her bath.

After running through a long list of reminders, she started helping Lloyd pack.

But as it turned out, her "help" was more of a hindrance...

"What if you get hungry, Yi? Take these desserts."

"What if you get cold, Yi? Take a scarf and sweater, too."

"What if you get hurt, Yi? Take this first-aid kit."

"What if there’s no toothpaste, toothbrush, slippers, or pajamas? Take them all."

Evelor kept shuttling back and forth between her room and Lloyd’s, stuffing all sorts of things into his backpack. She was just short of stuffing herself in there, too.

Lloyd was helpless. He could only secretly take things out as she stuffed them in. In the end, he barely managed to keep his backpack from swelling to a size taller than Evelor.

When it was time for bed, Lloyd had just started chatting with Weiya for a bit when he heard his sister knocking on the door.

Lloyd quickly said goodnight to Weiya and ran to open it.

He saw Evelor bundled up in a blanket like a cute little caterpillar, hugging a pillow and a Hammerhead Shark Puppet. Then, putting on the airs of an older sister, she said in a tone that brooked no refusal:

"I’m sleeping with Yi tonight!"

Lloyd didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he moved his own pillow and blanket aside to make some space for his sister.

Evelor climbed up without any hesitation, then patted the remaining space on the bed, gesturing for Lloyd to hurry up and lie down.

Lloyd lay down too, on his side, face to face with Evelor. He watched her large, emerald-green eyes blinking in the darkness like brilliant jade.

"Hee hee, I’d almost forgotten the last time I slept with you, Yi," Evelor asked with a laugh.

"It hasn’t actually been that many years. Before we moved into this apartment, didn’t we always have to squeeze into one bed?" Lloyd replied with a smile.

"Mm, those were really tough times..."

Evelor said, then suddenly shook her head, as if she didn’t want to recall that past. She changed the subject.

"But I really loved the stories you told me back then, Yi. I looked forward to them every day... So, will you tell me another one? Please?"

"Sure. Which one do you want to hear?"

"Hmm... I don’t know. What do you think, Yi?"

"Let me think. How about that one, *Ascension to Godhood: Starting by Infiltrating a Noble Girls’ School*?" Lloyd suggested.

Evelor didn’t answer, just narrowed her eyes slightly, looking hesitant.

So Lloyd suggested a different story.

"Then how about... *How Do I Find My Lost Sister After We Traveled to an Otherworld Together but Were Separated by a God?*"

Evelor thought for another moment, then shook her head and said, "I still prefer *The Grand Fantastic Adventure of Miss Pink Elf*, because she has pointy ears, just like me."

"Alright, this one it is...

One day, she fell from the sky. People looked up, and thus they saw the starry heavens.

The stars and moon delivered the daughter of a god, and she wished to become a companion to mortals.

The long winds became her chariot; the four seas, her garden. Birds carried seeds of kindness, and a hundred flowers wove a song of love.

Thus she was born into the world, to walk the earth, to grow alongside humanity, and to blossom with the world."

As Lloyd told the story, Evelor unknowingly drifted off into a deep sleep.

He was feeling a bit sleepy himself, so he closed his eyes and drifted off to dreamland.

Just like in the old days for the two siblings.

* * *

Time quickly passed to noon the next day. Lloyd had a quick lunch, then shouldered the huge pack filled with his sister’s care and concern and headed for the airship port.

He went directly to a church on the outskirts of the port, where he met his teammates for the trip, as well as his superior for the next seven days: a Knight Commander named Korall.

The man looked to be in his thirties, with rugged features and a serious air. One look and you could tell he was the stoic, hard-to-get-along-with type.

He and the few Knights beside him were all wearing the common black uniform of the Holy Judgment Court, but with an extra silver trim on the collars and cuffs to distinguish them as ’Knights’.

In truth, the so-called ’Knights’ and ’Knight Commanders’ were the same rank as Judges like Weiya or a Chief Judge like Tirtus. Their functions and responsibilities were simply different, so they used different titles for clarity.

Generally speaking, Knights lead Crusaders to face the enemy on the front lines, while Judges lead Executors to handle the aftermath. Each has their own duty.

But the dangers and challenges they faced were completely different. So, it was generally acknowledged that Knights had an edge over Judges. The Knights also tended to look down on the pampered Judges from the rear, leading to some overt and covert friction between the two sides.

Executioners like Lloyd, on the other hand, were surprisingly popular. As soon as he appeared, a Knight enthusiastically came over and took the bag from his shoulder.

The Knight Commander also nodded at him in greeting.

"..."

Lloyd: ???

"Commander Korall is just like that, doesn’t talk much. Don’t mind him... If you have any questions, just ask me. I’m his adjutant, name’s Ke. We were all transferred from the Fifth District."

The enthusiastic adjutant then opened the floodgates, pulled out a map, and began to give Lloyd a detailed briefing on the week-long mission.

To put it simply, Outpost 22, where they were heading, was originally just a temporary station on the Great Expansion route. But for some classified reasons, the higher-ups decided to expand it into a large, impregnable fortress.

An action like this would undoubtedly alarm the Demons entrenched nearby, so they needed to dispatch troops and supplement their manpower.

And Lloyd, along with the twenty-odd other Executioners present, were there to handle the cleanup and deliver the finishing blows.

Because of the long distance and the large number of Demons, it was impossible to send them back to the rear for processing. So, they had to gather personnel to deal with them on-site.

In addition to their group, the Saint’s Favor Court would also be dispatching a large number of technicians to the site to promptly harvest the organs from the Demons and prevent any waste.

That was the gist of the situation.

"By the way, how much do you know about the Great Expansion?" the enthusiastic adjutant asked.

"Only what’s in the newspapers."

"Then let me give you a quick rundown."

The enthusiastic adjutant began gesturing over the map again, giving Lloyd a primer on the basic process of the Great Expansion.

The Great Expansion wasn’t about a huge crowd of people driving a ton of cars and airships, swarming a place, and immediately starting to claim land and build walls and cities.

’That’s a real-time strategy game...’

The real Great Expansion involved countless teams of varying sizes from different cities, advancing steadily in multiple directions toward designated objectives. Along the way, they would establish outposts, fortresses, and supply lines, then clear out Demons and secure resource points.

It was a slow, step-by-step advance, reclaiming the Demon-infested Wilderness bit by bit. Eventually, the various outposts, fortresses, and resource points would link up to form safe zones, which would then merge to form towns, and finally be pieced together into a new city.

The whole strategy could be summed up as: ’Build strong forts and fight a war of attrition.’

A real-life turtling strategy, you could say.