Caleb knew Noan had deceived him, but more precisely, he had deceived himself.

    However, Caleb could not swallow his anger.

    Clenching his fists tightly, his eyes burned with fury as he glared at Noan. "You should know that no matter how strong you are, you will not have a favorable outcome when facing me."

    "Moreover, I can rally other lords to attack you. If you think carefully, tell me your secret; otherwise..."

    Hearing this, Noan burst into laughter. "Hahaha... Caleb, it seems you still don''t understand your current position."

    "Do you really think you and those useless lords can defeat me? And even if you manage to kill me, then what? How will you deal with that massive horde of zombies afterward?"

    Caleb, upon hearing this, naturally understood what Noan meant. After all, Nolan possessed quite a number of high-ranking monsters or perhaps an overwhelming power.

    If a battle truly broke out, even a single shield-bearing Skeleton, which had once defeated his Stone Golem, would be enough to annihilate many lords.

    Even if they could defeat Noan, they would have little strength to fight against the zombie horde.

    Taking a deep breath, Caleb spoke. "Noan, since you know that zombie horde, I won''t hide it from you."

    "If we cooperate, we might still have a chance to survive. Otherwise, we will not gain any advantage if that zombie horde invades this region."

    "What if I say ''no''?" Noan showed Caleb no respect, his face expressing disdain and indifference.

    "You..." Caleb shouted in anger.

    But Noan continued, cutting him off. "If, back then, you had remained an ordinary person and stayed by my side as a friend, perhaps you wouldn''t have to worry so much now."

    "You were the one who pushed this relationship into the fire. Do you think what you''ve done is something I can easily forgive?"

    Caleb clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, his face flushed with rage. "Noan, I admit I was wrong, but now is not the time for you to bring that up just to humiliate me."

    "We are facing danger. Do you know how many rank E and D zombies are in that horde?"

    "I don''t care!" Noan immediately retorted. "Caleb, let''s get one thing straight... You and the others are the ones in danger, not me."

    Noan''s confidence came from a thorough investigation.

    In this region, no one had the power to defeat him. If Caleb wanted to accomplish that, he would need to gather more than fifty Lords.

    However, would those Lords truly follow his command?

    It was well known that under Caleb''s rule, many Lords had already formed secret alliances to overthrow him.

    Of course, Caleb was aware of this, but he refused to reveal his weakness and instability for Noan to see.

    Besides, even if Caleb could rally fifty Lords to attack Noan, the chances of victory were nearly zero because Noan still had Vylyss—his most powerful asset.

    With Zhisse and Vylyss at his disposal, Noan possessed extensive region knowledge. He even knew the precise strength of each Lord.

    That was the source of his confidence.

    However, he didn''t rush to indulge in the sweetness before him. "Alright, give the order to Urlgug to stop hunting zombies."

    "Heh?!" Vylyss tilted her head in confusion. "Master, if we stop hunting zombies, how are we supposed to gather enough energy crystals to level up?"

    Noan shook his head. "We don''t need to level up for now. Instead, we should let the zombies remain a looming threat to the other Lords."

    Vylyss instantly grasped Noan''s plan and chuckled in amusement. "Master, you mean... you want to push the Lords in this region to the brink, and then..."

    "That''s right," Noan said with a smile. "If I help them now, they won''t be grateful. Instead, they''ll see it as something natural."

    "But if I wait until they are on the brink of death until they are completely cornered, then my help will truly hold meaning."

    "For now, there''s no need to continue hunting zombies. I''ll find another way to gather energy crystals."

    "Besides, have you found a place to establish our base yet?"

    "Ah!" Vylyss immediately recalled the matter and replied, "Yes, but the place is a bit eerie. Master, do you want to take a look?"

    Noan gave a slight nod. However, before leaving, he wanted to check Caleb''s blueprint and bag.

    [Ding! You have obtained the architectural blueprint ''Combat Simulation Room.''

    Description: A facility that simulates combat, allowing Lords and Heroes to train.

    The ''Combat Simulation Room'' can mimic any type of monster or Lord.

    Construction requirements: 1,000 units of wood, 1,000 units of stone, 100 units of iron, 1,000 rank F energy crystals.]

    [Ding! You have obtained an unidentified crystal of unknown origin. It cannot be appraised at the moment.]

    After placing both items into ''Storage,'' two notifications from the system appeared.

    The'' Combat Simulation Room'' caught Noan''s attention the most.

    However, he didn''t have enough resources to construct it.

    "Looks like... I need to gather more resources."

    Even though Noan owned the ''Resource Storage Center,'' its production speed couldn''t keep up with his consumption rate.

    In a day, it could only produce 200 units of wood, 200 units of stone, 200 food capsules, and 50 rank F energy crystals.

    Suddenly, a thought struck Noan—he could plunder resources from other Lords.

    "Seems like I can''t keep hiding forever," Noan furrowed his brows, deep in thought.

    Vylyss did not interrupt him, patiently waiting.

    After a while, Noan spoke. "Vylyss, take Urlgug and Urlgan into the food forest."

    Vylyss immediately understood what Noan intended and smirked. "Master, do you want us to wipe them all out, or should we leave some survivors?"