Chapter 78: Mass Mobilization, Ruthless Capitalist Charles!
Chapter 78: Mass Mobilization, Ruthless Capitalist Charles!
Charles was very satisfied with this Relic.
The Altar of Elements, a type of Relic, could be used to amplify or enhance the overall strength of the territory's inhabitants.
Such an enhancement might not be noticeable on an individual scale, but when applied to tens of thousands of residents, it became incredibly powerful.
Moreover, Charles could feel that the Altar of Elements was significantly beneficial to his own strength as well.
He had been stagnant for a long time, but now he sensed faint signs of a breakthrough. This discovery filled Charles with joy.
After being stuck at Tier 4 for so long, he finally saw the hope of advancing to Tier 5!
After calming his excitement, Charles instructed Catherine and the other two, "From today onwards, the entire army will enter high-speed production mode. Allocate all resources to the production and training of troops. Don't worry about resource consumption. In five months... no, three months. Within three months, I want to completely conquer the Serene Forest!"
The Serene Forest spans over a thousand kilometers in diameter, roughly the size of a continent, and is teeming with countless monsters and dark creatures.
For Charles to swiftly conquer the Serene Forest, he not only needed a vast army but also overwhelming power.
Thus, his immediate task was to convert his available resources into strength.
This was an enormous undertaking, and attempting it alone would be exhausting.
Therefore, Charles needed Catherine and the others to help share the workload, while he focused on overarching strategy and key decisions.
After all, an Overlord couldn't handle everything personally.
Upon hearing Charles's words, the three women's postures straightened instinctively, their eyes filled with fervor and determination.
They knew their master was finally making a move on the Serene Forest!
They had anticipated this, but didn't expect it to come so quickly.
Charles then assigned and distributed tasks among them.
He put Catherine in charge of the production line for troops and the manufacturing of specialized equipment. Medusa was tasked with overseeing and training the Serpent Legion and Special Forces. Little Green was responsible for constructing the Toxic Baneling Legion and other Zerg forces. Charles himself would handle overall coordination and enhancing his own strength.
Orders flowed from Charles, first distributed by Catherine and the others, then supervised by Zerg squads, and finally executed by the worker units in batches. The entire Zerg domain began to operate like a finely-tuned machine, running at high speed.
Even Eve, who was far on the other side of the Serene Forest, wasn't left idle.
Once she finished dealing with internal matters, Charles assigned her the responsibility of managing logistics, resource allocation, and various trades.
As the eldest daughter of the Augustine family, Eve excelled in these areas, making it easy for her to handle without requiring Charles's further attention.
Understanding Charles's plan, Eve immediately brought Amy and her Elven Guard to join the effort without a word, diving right into the work.
Catherine and the others quickly noticed Charles's different attitude towards Eve, realizing she must be their mistress. They instantly knew how they should treat this Elven Queen.
For the next period, everyone in the Zerg domain was incredibly busy, and Charles, the Zerg Overlord, was no exception, working tirelessly.
He was busy on multiple fronts: negotiating resource trades with Succubus Rose, investing heavily in his own cultivation to boost his strength, and constantly fine-tuning the production of troop types and the construction of legions. In other words, Charles was everywhere.
His relentless pace inspired everyone else in the territory.
After all, if the Overlord himself was working so hard, no one else had any excuse to slack off. Under Charles's leadership, the residents of the Zerg domain began to push themselves even harder.
Charles was like the central cog in a well-oiled machine, his own motion driving everyone else.
In this high-energy atmosphere, the overall strength of the Zerg domain began to rocket upwards.
Watching his dwindling funds and the rapidly growing strength of his territory, Charles felt a mix of pain and joy every day.
…
Meanwhile, Hel, who had been keeping an eye on Charles, noticed the increased activity in the Zerg domain.
He immediately understood what Charles was planning.
"Damn it! If that treacherous woman hadn't disappeared, I should have been the one ruling the Serene Forest!" Hel's face twisted with jealousy and rage. He punched a nearby tree, causing its leaves and branches to wither and decay at a visible speed, turning into a pile of mush within seconds.
By constantly devouring undead, Hel and his Serpent minions had risen to Tier 2 High.
However, ever since his wife was devoured, she hadn't reappeared.
Leaving Hel increasingly agitated.
Just a bit more, and his minions could break through to Tier 3.
With the undead nature of his Serpent minions, no one in the Serene Forest could stand against him.
But he was stuck in this frustrating limbo.
Moreover, as he devoured more undead, Hel noticed strange changes in himself and his minions. That morning, he woke to find several Serpent guards standing by his bed, eyes gleaming with a predatory hunger as they stared at him.
It nearly scared Hel to death, and he killed them on the spot.
Hel knew this was no simple matter. He noticed his skin growing increasingly pale, with some areas developing purple spots, like corpse marks.
He had no idea what was happening, but he knew there was no turning back. He could only continue down this path.
"Serene Forest will be mine, it will only be mine!" Hel growled, his expression growing more ferocious.
He needed more power, stronger power! Only with greater strength could he hope to solve his own problems, dominate the Serene Forest, and establish his own dynasty.
Hel turned to his Serpent subjects, his bloodshot eyes brimming with madness.
To sacrifice for my grand ambitions, I believe you would be more than willing...
…
Time passed unnoticed, and in the blink of an eye, a month had flown by in busy activity.
The once familiar Zerg domain had undergone a dramatic transformation within this period.
First, the number of combat units in Charles's territory had surged.
The pure combat units now exceeded 30,000, while the production units had reached a staggering 80,000.
Next, in terms of high-end combat power.
The territory now boasted 32 special units with Tier 3 strength or higher. Nearly half of these were element-based units. Among the new Battle Armor Bugs, one had even emerged as a Tier 3 High special unit, making it the strongest under Charles's command apart from Catherine, Medusa, and the others.
Charles named this unit "Noxus" and appointed it to lead the Battle Armor Zerg Legion.
Eve, Amy, Catherine, and Medusa had all broken through to Tier 4, significantly boosting their strength.
Eve's domain even reached the gold level, with her population surpassing 10,000.
However, the greatest improvement was in Charles himself.
Inside his palace, Charles ended his final day of training and checked his status panel.
[Charles]
[Race: The Zerg Overlord]
[Level: Gold-level Overlord]
[Combat Power: Tier 5 Low]
[Population: 113,000]
[Territory Size: Diameter of 121 kilometers]
[Units: Battle Armor Bugs (Gold), Bloodthirsty Zerg (Gold), Queen's Guard (Silver), Abyss Serpents (Bronze), Blade Bugs (Bronze)...]
[Skills: Heart of the Swarm, Overlord's Might, Overlord's Wings, Imperial Majesty, Bloodline Enhancement, Thousand Insects Devouring Heart Formation, Overlord's Armor, Dark Spear, Iron Blade, Gunfighting Technique, Fire Control, Ice Arrow Technique, Wind Spirit Technique...]
[Description: Capable of destroying a house with a single blow. Barely able to establish a foothold on The Continent of Overlord, but still vulnerable to significant challenges.]
…
Just a few days ago, Charles's combat power had officially broken through to Tier 5, much faster than he had anticipated.
Additionally, he had acquired several low-tier elemental skills and a high-tier Overlord skill.
[Overlord's Armor]
[Level: Gold]
[Description: Upon activation, you gain an Overlord Armor, enhancing defense, strength, and speed by 35% for 15 minutes, with a cooldown of 6 hours.]
The rapid increase in his strength was attributed not only to his relentless investment in absorbing various crystal materials.
But also to the king-level "Relic" he had obtained from Ethan.
It was now clear to Charles why this Relic had been so coveted by powerful figures in his past life.
The Altar of Elements not only endowed units with elemental powers but also absorbed external elemental energy into Charles's domain. As a result, the elemental concentration in the Zerg domain was several times higher than the outside world, accelerating the strength growth of those within.
Charles's case was unique. His Overlord body could devour various types of energy without significant side effects, further accelerating his power.
Others could only absorb one or two types of elemental power, but Charles could absorb any and all attributes without discrimination.
In the beginning, he could feel his strength increasing every day.
It made him almost want to sleep on the Altar of Elements.
However, in recent days, as his combat power reached new heights and resources became scarce, the speed of his strength growth had significantly slowed down.
The exhilaration he felt from his rapid power increase was now replaced with frustration.
Having tasted the benefits, Charles was even more determined to obtain the demigod-level Relic.
If he remembered correctly, that Relic was specifically designed to accelerate the cultivation speed of an Overlord.
Charles was convinced its effects would be even more potent than the Altar of Elements.
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But before he could pursue that goal, he needed to complete his current tasks.
Charles's eyes gleamed with determination.
With everything now in place, his plan could finally begin.