Landlord World - Start with SSS talent

"You bastard! I'll—ack!"

Austin hadn't even finished his sentence when the Orc King, who was gripping his neck, tightened his hold slightly, leaving him unable to breathe or speak any further.

"Huh! Trash," Garek sneered, his gaze once again fixated on Austin's arm.

That arm seemed to be formed from a kind of purple energy, encased on the outside by many tiny metal fragments fused together into a metallic gauntlet.

Garek laughed and said, "What a pity! Orc King, cut off his arm for me."

"Yes, my master!" the Orc King nodded in reply. He then grabbed Austin's arm and began to pull hard.

"AGH!!!" Austin felt as if his arm was about to be ripped off, the pain sending searing signals through his brain as he screamed in agony.

Suddenly, a flash of light shot out, piercing through space, and struck toward Garek.

Whong!

A sound like a bell 🔔 rang out, accompanied by a suffocating sense of impending death that overwhelmed Garek's entire mind, making him recoil in shock.

Both he and the Orc King froze mid-action, turning to look at the source of the flash.

Suspended in the air was a young man, surrounded by a layer of purple mist that obscured his face.

"Looks like you're taking good care of my subordinate," the young man's voice rang out.

Garek immediately recognized the voice, and the memory of the young man who had once severed his arm resurfaced in his mind.

"Damn it! It's you, isn't it?!" Garek couldn't stop himself from swearing.

"Didn't expect us to meet again so soon," Noan said with a smile. "I must say, your new strength is a bit of a surprise."

"Aren't you going to introduce it? Or should I figure it out myself?"

"You… you…" Garek stammered.

Even with the Orc King by his side, even having acquired new strength, when facing Noan, he still felt afraid.

He knew all too well that before, when he still had two Orc Kings, Noan had managed to kill one with ease.

The Orc King still alive was the weakest among his three. If he were to lose this Hero, he might very well be doomed.

Gritting his teeth, Garek commanded the Orc King, "Let him go."

The Orc King was also frightened at the sight of Noan and immediately followed Garek's order.

"Ack!" Austin collapsed into the snow, coughing uncontrollably for a long while before finally regaining his breath.

Garek took a deep breath and said, "I've let him go—this is all just a misunderstanding."

Noan glanced at Austin, then said, "You leave first. I want to speak with him."

Hearing this, Austin pressed his lips together, bowed his head, and replied, "Yes, Master."

With that, he immediately left.

Garek, upon seeing Austin's expression, instantly understood… Austin was truly loyal to Noan.

If he weren't, the look in Austin's eyes would have been completely different.

Why did he recognize that? Because he was the same as Austin—but with one crucial difference… he wasn't loyal; he wanted to betray, whereas Austin did not.

"You know the Evil God Zeka, don't you?" Noan suddenly asked.

Garek, not quite sure what Noan intended to ask, could only answer honestly.

"That's right," Garek nodded. "He used to be just a dog in the management team, only ever doing odd jobs."

"I don't know what kind of bizarre opportunity he encountered to become the Evil God, but honestly, he's not all that strong."

"If you… want to—"

Noan shook his head, interrupting, "No need. I have no interest in killing him."

Having said that, Noan vanished as if he had never been there at all.

Garek let out a long sigh of relief. He'd thought Noan wanted to compete with him for the right to kill the Evil God, and had shown up just to warn him.

Looks like… he was overthinking things.

But remembering how that young man called Noan "Master," Garek couldn't help but shudder, a trace of fear rising inside.

"How terrifying… even someone that strong calls that mysterious guy his Master."

"Damn it! One day, I'll surpass him. I'll… become stronger than him."

…

After leaving, Noan didn't rush to find Zeka. Instead, he hung back in the distance, watching as Alex went to stir up trouble with Zeka.

"Master, you don't want to kill that bastard?" At that moment, Vylyss suddenly appeared and asked.

Noan stroked his chin, then shook his head and replied, "No need. He… is Zeka's natural enemy."

"Natural enemy?" Vylyss was a little confused, tilting her head as she looked at Noan.

Noan didn't explain any further, because he knew that even if he did, Vylyss wouldn't understand.

If Zeka was the protagonist of this world, then perhaps Garek was the villain.

Otherwise, Noan had no other way to explain the fortuitous opportunities Garek had obtained, or how he was able to push back a 'Fate Holder' like Zeka.

If Garek truly was the villain, then there was no need for Noan to kill him.

What Noan needed most right now wasn't to kill Zeka to claim the reward that the System had announced.

Noan needed Zeka to grow stronger as quickly as possible.

For Zeka to become stronger, he needed to accumulate a great number of 'buffs.' Once Zeka matured, Noan could harvest him.

The 'Plundering Mushroom' was what Noan relied on. As long as Zeka had enough buffs, Noan would make his move.

Of course, Noan also needed to keep Zeka's strength in check—otherwise, the whole game could easily be overturned.

Because of this, he had to be extremely careful.

Noan gazed into the distance. Alex could keep up with Zeka's speed, but after fighting for a while, Zeka could still escape with ease.

Noan wasn't too surprised; after all, Zeka was a 'Fate Holder'—the goddess of luck was still by his side.

Two 'Fate Holders' might eventually destroy each other, but only if the luck of one ran lower than the other's—then that one would die.

At this point, even though Zeka was in a miserable state, his luck probably still remained high, and he could not be defeated so easily.

"Looks like… I need to experiment a bit more."

Noan shook his head, then opened the System's information panel and asked, "System, how many energy crystals do I need to teleport to Lylia's 'Anchor Point'?"

🔔 [To travel to Lylia's 'Anchor Point', you must pay 1,000 rank A energy crystals.]

Seeing the System's notification, Noan sighed inwardly.

"Looks like right now I can't go to Lylia to assist her. What about Noralia's 'Anchor Point'?"

🔔 [To travel to Noralia's 'Anchor Point', you must pay 1,700 rank B energy crystals.]

Noan checked his 'Storage Space' and sighed once more.

After constructing the 'Void Tower' and taking care of many other matters, he had spent a huge number of energy crystals.

Now, it seemed he could only wait for the 'Resource Production Center' to create more energy crystals.

Fortunately, he had already upgraded the 'Center' to level 7, so the amount of resources he received each day was enormous.

Noan sighed, then returned to his Territory, leaving this area to Caleb's group.

After Noan left, Alex shouted, "Damn it! Is he a damn eel or something?"

"Not good! If I let that damn Evil God get away, Caleb and Austin will definitely mock me."

"AGH!! Damn it! I have to find that bastard!"

Immediately, Alex rushed off in the direction where Zeka had fled, his figure vanishing into the snowy haze.

…

At this moment, Noan had returned to the Territory and made his way to the research lab.

He entered, only to see Khorvath immersed in some kind of research, not even noticing his presence.

Cough

Noan deliberately cleared his throat. Hearing this, Khorvath quickly looked up, then dropped to one knee, respectfully saying, "Master!"

"Uhm! What are you working on?"

"Yes." Upon being asked, Khorvath answered honestly, "I'm trying to formulate a restorative potion, but at the moment, I haven't been able to create it."

"A restorative potion?" Noan asked, confused. "You're an Alchemist rank D, can't you make such a basic potion?"

Khorvath nodded, then shook her head. Because she was wearing a raven-shaped mask, Noan couldn't see her current expression.

She sighed and said, "Master, creating a regular restorative potion is a simple matter for me."

"However, what I'm pursuing is a perfect potion."

"Ah!" Noan was a bit surprised; he hadn't expected Khorvath to have such high standards.

After all, in any kind of medicine—even supplements—there are always trace amounts of toxins.

There is no such thing as a perfect potion, which is why all Alchemists chase after the so-called perfect potion.

It's a potion with no toxins at all, whose effects are many times stronger than regular potions.

Of course, this was only a legend; no one had ever actually managed to create a perfect potion.

Suddenly, Noan recalled something and immediately commanded the System, "System, can I fuse restorative potion formulas to create a perfect potion?"

🔔 [Yes. You must fuse 18 existing restorative potion formulas, along with 1,000 rank C energy crystals.]

"Really?"