Noan opened the door and saw Caleb standing outside. He frowned and asked, "What do you want?"

    Caleb no longer bothered with pretense and got straight to the point. "Did you kill Hawke and Raito?"

    Hearing that question, Noan''s frown deepened. "They''re dead? Hahahaha, I knew none of you would meet a good end."

    "And if I did kill them? What could you do to me?"

    Seeing the crazed expression on Noan''s face, Caleb immediately dismissed his suspicions.

    Initially, he doesn''t want to believe that Noan can kill Hawke and Raito.

    After all, Hawke was a Rank E+ Lord, while Raito was a Rank E Lord. Regardless of levels, the fact that Hawke possessed a Rank D Hero was enough for him to rule over this entire region.

    Of course, that assumed Caleb had no interest in taking that throne. Otherwise, Hawke would have undoubtedly offered his position to Caleb with both hands.

    "Then, where was the last place you saw him?" Caleb continued questioning.

    Noan''s expression turned impatient. He crossed his arms, looking like he was about to punch Caleb. "Why should I tell you?"

    "Haven''t you humiliated me enough already? My life is this peaceful now because of you. No one dares come near me anymore. No one wants to befriend me. Should I be thanking you for that?"

    Caleb frowned, his expression tinged with contempt. "If you tell me that secret, I''ll let you join my group."

    "You already know Hawke was this place''s so-called ''Boss''. But let me be honest with you—my position was equal to his. I simply never cared to let others know."

    "If you reveal that secret to me, I''ll guarantee your safety. And, of course, you''ll be granted free access to the resource collection zones—no one will stop you."

    "Huh!" Noan scoffed, his anger flaring as he snapped, "Do you think I''m a dog? You can just leash me and drag me around as you please?"

    "Caleb, I don''t care who you are. Based on everything you''ve done, you and I are already standing on opposite sides."

    Caleb frowned and said, "Noan, we''re both men. There''s no need to be so stubborn. There are far more important things to do in this world. Is it worth throwing away your future potential over a single secret?"

    Noan said nothing and slammed the door shut before turning back inside.

    Caleb sighed and shook his head before walking away.

    Beside him, a young man hesitated momentarily before asking in a low voice, "Boss, why didn''t we just capture him? If we took him and used his territory to threaten him, would he still refuse to reveal that secret?"

    "Why bother bringing that useless piece of trash into our group?"

    Caleb cast a contemptuous glance at the young man. "You''re just like Hawke—only capable of looking at people with a shallow perspective."

    "Even though he''s just a Rank F Lord, that doesn''t mean he''s easy prey. If we forced him into a corner, he''d rather die than let us take his secret."

    "Keeping him alive for a little longer is more beneficial to us than killing him off too soon."

    Yes, Caleb had already thought of another angle—if Noan refused to reveal the secret, then at least one person in this region could provide food and medicine.

    If necessary, Caleb could exchange energy crystals for supplies.

    After all, this region was barren, and there was no way to predict if the resource storage areas would run dry.

    Having a stable food source was always better than relying on something unreliable.

    Not to mention, food pills were a hundred times more efficient than ordinary food.

    ''But something is strange. Why is this brat still fine after sleeping with a Succubus? Shouldn''t he be showing symptoms of having his life force drained?''

    Even though Zhisse the Second found it odd, she didn''t dwell on it too much.

    After all, to her, anything related to that disgusting affair was beneath her.

    Thinking too much about it might taint her own mind.

    Meanwhile, Noan began summoning his troops.

    Today was another day where the double summon rate boost didn''t activate.

    Yesterday, he used six Rank E Skeletons to evolve Zhisse.

    That meant today, he wouldn''t be able to evolve it any further.

    However, many monsters still needed evolution—but there was one major problem.

    Heroes could evolve by consuming other materials.

    But soldiers were different. He needed to have the exact same type of materials to perform a fusion.

    The troops he had left were all mutated variants—such as Skeleton Hunters, Swordmasters, and Shielders.

    For example, if he wanted to evolve a Skeleton Hunter, he would need three additional Skeleton Hunters of the same type to perform the fusion.

    That was extremely difficult, as mutated monsters were rare and didn''t appear often.

    Noan shook his head and stopped thinking about it. Instead, he began fusing all the Skeletons he had.

    One by one, the Skeletons rapidly vanished, merging into stronger forms—causing Zhisse the Second''s six eyes to widen in sheer disbelief at what she was witnessing.

    "What the hell?!"

    She couldn''t help but curse.

    "What kind of freakish ability is this?!"

    "He... he can fuse Skeletons together to create stronger ones?"

    "Is there even a talent or skill in this world that allows such a thing?! Could it be... that I evolved because of him?"

    Although her consciousness had awakened late, she retained some fragmented memories about her evolution.

    At first, she assumed that Noan had simply used some rare magical item to evolve her.

    But now, what she witnessed completely shattered her understanding of the world.

    In her past life, Zhisse had lived for over 1,000 years.

    That wasn''t considered long, but it wasn''t short, either.

    In that time, she had clawed her way from being as weak as an insect to becoming a terrifying entity that even the Dragon Clan feared.

    And yet—throughout all those years—she had never encountered any kind of ability that allowed monsters to be fused together to create stronger ones.

    It was absurd—completely defying the fundamental principles of this world.

    Yet, that impossible phenomenon was happening right before her eyes.