Landlord World - Start with SSS talent

Zeka slowly made his way toward the distant territory, his gaze growing increasingly greedy and manic.

His pace rapidly picked up, and in just a minute, he had run more than two miles—far beyond the capacity of an ordinary human.

Snowflakes scattered everywhere with each of his steps.

In the distance, a group of people was gathering some dry wood to bring back for burning.

"Damn it! What kind of cursed weather is this?" one of them shouted angrily.

Another, clearly exhausted, shook his head. "Enough. Save your strength to withstand this cold. We don't have any proper winter clothing—having a fire is the best luck we could ask for."

"He's right," another sighed. "Let's just hope the Captain can capture the 'Resource Production Center' soon, otherwise we're all just waiting to die out here in this cold."

"Don't worry, I'm sure the Captain will win," one of the four said with a laugh. "I heard someone from the Management group say that their enemies are just a bunch of rank F and E Lords."

"Damn it! If only I still had my soldiers and Heroes, that would be perfect. A bunch of rank F and E Lords, what's there to be afraid of?"

"Exactly! That's why I think we're sure to win. It's just… I'm already thinking about how the resources will be split."

"Ah! That's right, the division of resources. Damn it! The Managers and the remaining Lords will definitely get the lion's share. Only after they have their fill will they even think of us."

"Tsk! Bastards!"

"Whatever, we're just a bunch of useless nobodies. Even if a rank F Lord showed up right now, that'd be enough to wipe us all out."

"I'm really interested in your little conversation," a strange, cold voice suddenly cut in, sending chills through everyone.

They looked up, turning toward the source of the voice. There, a young man with both arms replaced by countless vines stood before them.

"You… you're…"

"Is he a monster?"

"How would I know?"

"Damn it! Quick, run!"

"Run?" Zeka let out a cruel smile, and then—

"AAAA!!!"

"Help! Help me!"

"Stop! Please! Stop…"

Blood splattered across the snow, mixed with desperate screams.

One of the young men, out of the four, collapsed onto the snow, trembling violently with terror, unable even to run.

He saw very clearly how the vines extending from the young man's arms pierced straight into the chests of his three companions, then drained every last drop of blood from their bodies.

To the point that… their bodies slowly shriveled up, resembling dried branches left under the sun for months.

Finally, when there was nothing left inside them, the vines tossed their bodies carelessly onto the snow.

Zeka glanced at the last survivor in the group, his gaze growing sharp and brimming with malice.

"No… no… please…" the young man stammered, trembling in fear.

Zeka smiled greedily and asked, "I'm quite interested in your story—so tell me more."

"My… my story? What do you mean…" the youth was confused, barely able to speak through his terror.

"Ah, I mean news about the Center… whatever, just tell me more about it," Zeka commanded.

The young man swallowed hard, fearfully stammering, "The Captain… has started selecting the most capable people to begin the new event."

"New event?" Zeka frowned, opening his System interface, but there was no information there.

"That's strange…" Zeka thought, "Why haven't I received any notifications?"

He glared at the young man and barked, "You're lying! Why haven't I gotten any information at all?"

"Ah! You… you're a Lord too?"

"Answer my question."

"Okay! Okay! I… no, all the Lords received a notification about an upcoming event," the young man tried to organize his words and said, "It's the event to seize control of the Resource Production Center."

"The Resource Production Center has appeared, and all the Lords are gathering there to claim it. However, the event hasn't started yet—everyone's just securing good positions and building fortifications for now."

Upon hearing this, Zeka's eyes grew more puzzled. "Strange, why didn't I receive that notification? Could it be… because I'm no longer a Lord?"

He felt that was the only reasonable explanation.

Because the Evil God Vinelord had parasitized his body, he'd temporarily lost the ability to act as a Lord, which must be why the System hadn't sent him any news about the new event.

"Damn it! Is the System planning to abandon me?" Zeka gritted his teeth and looked at the young man before him.

The young man was so terrified he couldn't control his trembling, stammering, "Please… don't kill me… I… I swear I won't tell anyone about this."

"We never met. If… if you want to know anything else, I'll tell you whatever you want."

"I… AAA!!"

A vine shot through the young man's chest, and his fate ended up just like the other four—reduced to a dried twig, buried beneath the snow.

After absorbing all the blood from that body, Zeka opened his System interface.

"Tsk! Still missing way too much, but…" As Zeka thought about the upcoming scramble for the 'Resource Production Center'—which would certainly draw in countless Lords—he couldn't help but grin greedily.

"Hahaha… a whole group of Lords… a whole bunch of permanent buffs. How wonderful."

"If I can just kill a hundred Lords, then by that time, I'll be truly invincible. Hahahaha…"

…

At this moment, Noan had no idea what Zeka was thinking, and even if he did, he wouldn't care much.

Right now, he was heading to a familiar place. Upon seeing the stone door in front of a large cave, Noan took a deep breath and said, "Lady Carlotta, I've brought food again. May I come in?"

Suddenly, Noan felt an invisible hand grasping him tightly.

He tried to resist.

After all, he was very powerful now, reaching rank D – Perfect | Level 5. On top of that, his Void Level had already reached level 3.

However, even as Noan used all his strength, he couldn't resist at all.

"Looks like Carlotta is far stronger than I am," Noan thought to himself.

The next moment, he was dragged into a familiar space made entirely of ice.

"Ah! So you dare resist me this time?" A voice, full of arrogance and irritation, rang out.

Carlotta sat cross-legged atop a large chunk of ice, her arms folded across her chest, her face filled with disdain.

"You really think you can resist your master?"

Hearing this, Noan scratched his head and said, "Hahaha… I've gotten a bit stronger, so I wanted to see if maybe I could…"

BAM!

Before Noan could finish, he suddenly felt as if an enormous invisible hand had slammed into him, sending him flying backward.

BAM!

Noan's body smashed into the wall of the cave before crashing down onto the ground. He opened his mouth and coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.

Noan wasn't worried, though, because he knew Carlotta had no intention of killing him.

However, he also wanted to test how strong he really was.

Noan hurriedly got to his feet, pushing his spatial abilities and Void energy to their highest limits.

BAM!

Once again, an invisible hand struck at him, but this time it didn't hit Noan directly—it crashed against a shield that had formed in front of him.

Crack!

"What!" In less than two seconds, the barrier cracked. A surge of panic shot through Noan.

And then—

BAM!

This time, his body exploded, leaving only his head intact.

Blood, flesh, and organs splattered everywhere, creating a gruesome rain of gore.

A while later, Noan revived, sitting on the ground and gasping for breath, deeply bewildered.

He knew he was just a rank D Lord, but his strength far surpassed most rank D monsters.

Still, he couldn't understand why he was utterly powerless before Carlotta's attacks, unable to withstand even a fraction of her strength.

Carlotta, as if reading his mind, sneered coldly. "Huh! You should count yourself lucky—I've been sealed in this place, and what you're facing is only a tiny fraction of my true power."

Noan: "…"