?"Are you really considering yourself as the Lord of the Untamed Jungle already?" Frederik scowled.
He looked at Michael not sure whether to scold him for getting ahead of himself or if it was time to praise Michael for his grand goal. The map of the Pillar of Territorial Awareness showed all explored areas, including the size of the Savannah Region and the Zentika Empire.
The small bulge of the Untamed Jungle, where Michael's territory was located, was smaller than the Savannah Region and the Zentika Empire, yet it was only a tiny portion of the entire Untamed Jungle.
It was a great final goal to rule the Untamed Jungle, but wasn't he a little bit too fast?
"Master is going to be the Lord of the Untamed Jungle sooner or later. He's taking the title a little bit ahead of time, but he can do whatever he wants!" Tiara appeared at the entrance to the wooden manor, her eyes locked onto Frederik.
She glared at the poor youth, who could only swallow hard and nod.
"Yeah…Michael can do whatever he wants…"
Michael chuckled lightly and the others grinned as well. Even the corners of Hiraku's lip twitched.
There was no tension in the air, despite the potential dangers from the Zentika Empire and the Council of Xylon.
Recalling the Zentika Empire, Michael's expression changed slightly. He got a bit more serious and retrieved the daily reports.
"There is no news about the Zentika Empire," He murmured.
The others heard him and stopped laughing.
"We are not sure what is going on either," Lilica sighed, "We expected that the Zentika Empire would request an armistice, but there is nothing like that.
"To think that they don't ask for a truce despite their perilous situation," Hiraku added.
Since he was one of the newest members of Michael's troupe and the only one who was likely to leave, Hiraku had to research a lot about the surrounding regions. He didn't want to make Michael his enemy since that was one of the stupidest things he could do after escaping the High Beast Island.
To avoid annoying Michael and his plans to expand his forces deeper into the jungle meant that Hiraku would have to leave the Untamed Jungle once he requested the termination of his Link of Loyalty.
After Hiraku studied the Savannah Region's history and the as much about the Zentika Empire as possible, he realized that the Zentika Empire was on the brink of collapsing. They should have requested a ceasefire with Michael, or a non-aggression pact after realizing that Michael had issues to deal with in the Savannah Region.
"But then again, the Zentika Empire is too proud of their achievements and power. Requesting a truce, or the like, is like acknowledging that they cannot defeat you. It's like a silent agreement that you are too strong for them to deal with. They cannot acknowledge that. You're merely a Low-rank Tier-3 Lord, after all. You are not even close to ascending to a Higher Lifeform," Siegfried Dracoon pointed out.
He hadn't said anything until now, but he had also been waiting in the wooden manor for Michael to emerge from isolation.
"That makes sense. It would hurt their pride and turn them into a laughingstock if they were to acknowledge that I'm too strong for them to deal with right now," Michael nodded, only for Frederik to smile from one ear to the other, "I bet that they wish they could just charge into the Untamed Jungle with their strongest people and raze this place to the ground."
The others stared at Frederik with a deep frown.
"Don't jinx it, you bastard!" Tiara hissed in anger.
Frederik's bright smile crumbled, and he nodded meekly, not daring to say anything.
If Michael was already a frightening enemy for someone like Frederik, Tiara felt like a wild beast that desired to tear him apart whenever he said something.
'How the hell did Michael tame this little beast?!?' Frederik screamed in his heart.
It was not difficult to see that Tiara was obedient to Michael. She did everything he uttered without asking a question. But the same couldn't be said about others. Tiara didn't listen to most of them. The only ones she cared about were the Forest Elven Adventurers, the Elemental Empress, and her kin.
"It's not that easy to cross the chaos-infested land either. I've examined the land between the Untamed Jungle and the chaos-infested land and it seems like the chaos is seeping deeper into the land," Rebecca Zauber pointed out an issue, "We will have to solve the issue with the chaos-infested land soon, otherwise, it will affect the regrowth of the Untamed Jungle's outer rings"
"Ah right. I almost forgot about the chaos. That should have done some considerable damage to the Zentika Empire," Michael nodded.
Thinking about the chaos-infested land, Michael was glad that he managed to protect the Untamed Jungle. Frederik did a good job at changing the trajectory of the chaos fog.
'I wonder…would the winged serpent attack me if the chaos would have reached the Untamed Jungle? Or would it tell me to remove it as soon as possible like last time?'
Michael was not too sure about this. He could tell that the Untamed Jungle had accepted his existence, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to combine his forces with the High Beast Horde to deal with the Heart of the Blazing Lion army. However, the bigger question was whether this was a temporary solution, or if the Untamed Jungle had something up to its sleeves.
In the first place, was the Untamed Jungle sentient, or was it up to its sleeves.
In the first place, was the Untamed Jungle sentient, or was it just a natural protective mechanism to block the invasion of powerful enemies that led to the rebellion of the Untamed Jungle?
Michael couldn't be certain about this either.
One way or another, the Zentika Empire didn't seem like a big problem for the time being. In fact, Michael had the weird feeling that the Zentika Empire might never create any trouble to the Untamed Jungle again.
'That's good right?' Michael was not sure how to feel about his gut feeling. At the end of the day, he merely shrugged 'I want to beat the shit out of Senator Keltos though.'
They had to solve the issues with the chaos-infested land and probably more issues given that the Scouts mentioned some enemies of the Zentika Empire sending Rogues and Mercenaries into their lands to weaken the Zentika Empire's prowess even more.
The latter was something Michael reaffirmed after he overcame the desire to destroy the Memory Orbs that he had extracted from the Lionheart Commander and the Awakened in the Heart of the Blazing Lion army.
He consumed their Memory Orbs and learned a lot about the 18:10
Zentika Empire's situation. That was also why he was so certain that the Zentika Empire might not be a problem for him and his people anymore.
It would be helpful if the Zentika Empire ceased to exist, but it didn't matter that much. The Zentika Empire would be replaced with other enemies who would fight each other to claim the Native Empire's land and resources.
But the fighting in the Zentika Empire wouldn't affect him much for a long time. The Untamed Jungle and the Zentika Empire were separated by the chaos-infested land, after all.
It was no issue to heal the chaos-infested land using Extraction, but Michael did not plan to do so right now. The chaos-infested land ensured that the Zentika Empire would stay away from him.
That was exactly what Michael needed. After all, he had to take revenge on the Council of Xylon, whose forces were much higher in terms of numbers. Michael and his people desired to obliterate the Council of Xylon. The only issue was that they wouldn't endure a battle of attrition.
Every Lord from the Council of Xylon should have pleaded support from their Clans, and people, at this point.
But while that sounded bad, Michael wasn't too shocked. The good thing about the Council of Xylon was that the strongest Lords in the Savannah Region were barely at the Lowest-rank of Tier-4. Michael was confident that he could deal with them.
Therefore, the enemies in the Savannah Region couldn't be considered as deadly as the Heart of the Blazing Lion Army.
That was especially true since Michael was intending to attack them rather than waiting until they would attack.
Taking advantage of the surprise effect, Michael would be able to turn the Savannah Region into a treasure trove of resources.
At least, that was what he was hoping for.
?"Are you really considering yourself as the Lord of the Untamed Jungle already?" Frederik scowled.
He looked at Michael not sure whether to scold him for getting ahead of himself or if it was time to praise Michael for his grand goal. The map of the Pillar of Territorial Awareness showed all explored areas, including the size of the Savannah Region and the Zentika Empire.
The small bulge of the Untamed Jungle, where Michael's territory was located, was smaller than the Savannah Region and the Zentika Empire, yet it was only a tiny portion of the entire Untamed Jungle.
It was a great final goal to rule the Untamed Jungle, but wasn't he a little bit too fast?
"Master is going to be the Lord of the Untamed Jungle sooner or later. He's taking the title a little bit ahead of time, but he can do whatever he wants!" Tiara appeared at the entrance to the wooden manor, her eyes locked onto Frederik.
She glared at the poor youth, who could only swallow hard and nod.
"Yeah…Michael can do whatever he wants…"
Michael chuckled lightly and the others grinned as well. Even the corners of Hiraku's lip twitched.
There was no tension in the air, despite the potential dangers from the Zentika Empire and the Council of Xylon.
Recalling the Zentika Empire, Michael's expression changed slightly. He got a bit more serious and retrieved the daily reports.
"There is no news about the Zentika Empire," He murmured.
The others heard him and stopped laughing.
"We are not sure what is going on either," Lilica sighed, "We expected that the Zentika Empire would request an armistice, but there is nothing like that.
"To think that they don't ask for a truce despite their perilous situation," Hiraku added.
Since he was one of the newest members of Michael's troupe and the only one who was likely to leave, Hiraku had to research a lot about the surrounding regions. He didn't want to make Michael his enemy since that was one of the stupidest things he could do after escaping the High Beast Island.
To avoid annoying Michael and his plans to expand his forces deeper into the jungle meant that Hiraku would have to leave the Untamed Jungle once he requested the termination of his Link of Loyalty.
After Hiraku studied the Savannah Region's history and the as much about the Zentika Empire as possible, he realized that the Zentika Empire was on the brink of collapsing. They should have requested a ceasefire with Michael, or a non-aggression pact after realizing that Michael had issues to deal with in the Savannah Region.
"But then again, the Zentika Empire is too proud of their achievements and power. Requesting a truce, or the like, is like acknowledging that they cannot defeat you. It's like a silent agreement that you are too strong for them to deal with. They cannot acknowledge that. You're merely a Low-rank Tier-3 Lord, after all. You are not even close to ascending to a Higher Lifeform," Siegfried Dracoon pointed out.
He hadn't said anything until now, but he had also been waiting in the wooden manor for Michael to emerge from isolation.
"That makes sense. It would hurt their pride and turn them into a laughingstock if they were to acknowledge that I'm too strong for them to deal with right now," Michael nodded, only for Frederik to smile from one ear to the other, "I bet that they wish they could just charge into the Untamed Jungle with their strongest people and raze this place to the ground."
The others stared at Frederik with a deep frown.
"Don't jinx it, you bastard!" Tiara hissed in anger.
Frederik's bright smile crumbled, and he nodded meekly, not daring to say anything.
If Michael was already a frightening enemy for someone like Frederik, Tiara felt like a wild beast that desired to tear him apart whenever he said something.
'How the hell did Michael tame this little beast?!?' Frederik screamed in his heart.
It was not difficult to see that Tiara was obedient to Michael. She did everything he uttered without asking a question. But the same couldn't be said about others. Tiara didn't listen to most of them. The only ones she cared about were the Forest Elven Adventurers, the Elemental Empress, and her kin.
"It's not that easy to cross the chaos-infested land either. I've examined the land between the Untamed Jungle and the chaos-infested land and it seems like the chaos is seeping deeper into the land," Rebecca Zauber pointed out an issue, "We will have to solve the issue with the chaos-infested land soon, otherwise, it will affect the regrowth of the Untamed Jungle's outer rings"
"Ah right. I almost forgot about the chaos. That should have done some considerable damage to the Zentika Empire," Michael nodded.
Thinking about the chaos-infested land, Michael was glad that he managed to protect the Untamed Jungle. Frederik did a good job at changing the trajectory of the chaos fog.
'I wonder…would the winged serpent attack me if the chaos would have reached the Untamed Jungle? Or would it tell me to remove it as soon as possible like last time?'
Michael was not too sure about this. He could tell that the Untamed Jungle had accepted his existence, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to combine his forces with the High Beast Horde to deal with the Heart of the Blazing Lion army. However, the bigger question was whether this was a temporary solution, or if the Untamed Jungle had something up to its sleeves.
In the first place, was the Untamed Jungle sentient, or was it up to its sleeves.
In the first place, was the Untamed Jungle sentient, or was it just a natural protective mechanism to block the invasion of powerful enemies that led to the rebellion of the Untamed Jungle?
Michael couldn't be certain about this either.
One way or another, the Zentika Empire didn't seem like a big problem for the time being. In fact, Michael had the weird feeling that the Zentika Empire might never create any trouble to the Untamed Jungle again.
'That's good right?' Michael was not sure how to feel about his gut feeling. At the end of the day, he merely shrugged 'I want to beat the shit out of Senator Keltos though.'
They had to solve the issues with the chaos-infested land and probably more issues given that the Scouts mentioned some enemies of the Zentika Empire sending Rogues and Mercenaries into their lands to weaken the Zentika Empire's prowess even more.
The latter was something Michael reaffirmed after he overcame the desire to destroy the Memory Orbs that he had extracted from the Lionheart Commander and the Awakened in the Heart of the Blazing Lion army.
He consumed their Memory Orbs and learned a lot about the 18:10
Zentika Empire's situation. That was also why he was so certain that the Zentika Empire might not be a problem for him and his people anymore.
It would be helpful if the Zentika Empire ceased to exist, but it didn't matter that much. The Zentika Empire would be replaced with other enemies who would fight each other to claim the Native Empire's land and resources.
But the fighting in the Zentika Empire wouldn't affect him much for a long time. The Untamed Jungle and the Zentika Empire were separated by the chaos-infested land, after all.
It was no issue to heal the chaos-infested land using Extraction, but Michael did not plan to do so right now. The chaos-infested land ensured that the Zentika Empire would stay away from him.
That was exactly what Michael needed. After all, he had to take revenge on the Council of Xylon, whose forces were much higher in terms of numbers. Michael and his people desired to obliterate the Council of Xylon. The only issue was that they wouldn't endure a battle of attrition.
Every Lord from the Council of Xylon should have pleaded support from their Clans, and people, at this point.
But while that sounded bad, Michael wasn't too shocked. The good thing about the Council of Xylon was that the strongest Lords in the Savannah Region were barely at the Lowest-rank of Tier-4. Michael was confident that he could deal with them.
Therefore, the enemies in the Savannah Region couldn't be considered as deadly as the Heart of the Blazing Lion Army.
That was especially true since Michael was intending to attack them rather than waiting until they would attack.
Taking advantage of the surprise effect, Michael would be able to turn the Savannah Region into a treasure trove of resources.
At least, that was what he was hoping for.
