"Don''t kill too many," Noan said, his face remaining indifferent. "Leave a few alive to spread the message to the others."

    Vylyss smiled. However, at this moment, that smile was filled with killing intent and an icy coldness that would terrify anyone who saw it.

    Even Zhisse and the second soul shuddered at the sight of that smile.

    Vylyss lightly kissed Noan''s lips before laughing and saying, "As you command, my Master."

    Immediately after, she completely vanished into a stream of black smoke.

    Noan took a deep breath. He knew that if he wanted to grow, he couldn''t keep hiding like this forever.

    The resource production speed of the ''Resource Archive Center'' was too slow.

    He had no other way to gather more resources except by plundering them from other Lords.

    Although he was cowardly, he was by no means a good person.

    He was neither a God nor a Hero; he had no obligation to serve anyone.

    He would live for himself.

    Yes, he was selfish and greedy and was fine with that.

    If others wanted to be heroes, he didn''t care.

    The second Zhisse looked at Noan, feeling somewhat puzzled.

    She had thought Noan was nothing more than a fool who only knew how to indulge in the filthy body of that Succubus.

    But she hadn''t expected that, when necessary, Noan could be even more cruel than anyone else.

    Zhisse sighed internally. ''It seems that if I ever regain control of this body, the first thing I must do is kill this brat.''

    At first, she had intended to sever Noan''s limbs and imprison him in the basement, forcing him to use his innate talent to help her evolve.

    But after witnessing his ruthless nature, she decided to kill him first.

    If, during the imprisonment, Zhisse were to let Noan escape with his terrifying talent, he would surely return for revenge.

    At this moment, Zhisse attempted to move and slightly wiggled her two front legs.

    However, it was just a faint twitch before stopping again.

    The remaining Zhisse was puzzled, not understanding why her front legs had moved, as she was unaware of the second Zhisse inside her body.

    ''Tsk!'' The second Zhisse cursed internally. ''I can only take control of the front legs briefly. It seems I''ll need to wait a little longer.''

    However, she wasn''t in a hurry.

    After all, Noan was completely unaware of her existence. If he continued evolving Zhisse, there would come a time when the second Zhisse could seize full control of the body.

    At that moment, Noan suddenly shivered, feeling as though someone wanted to kill him.

    But he shook his head, dismissing the thought, and mused, ''It''s probably Caleb. He wants to kill me.''

    ''After all, I humiliated him to that extent and tricked him so badly.''

    However, Noan wasn''t afraid. He already had all the necessary information on Caleb. Even if Caleb risked everything, there was no chance of him winning.

    Noan stopped thinking about it and ordered: "System, summon a hero."

    [Ding! Please wait a moment.]

    He let out a sigh—Malrik truly talked too much.

    "I''ll assign you a different task. You will follow Vylyss''s orders."

    Noan decided to hand Malrik over to Vylyss. He didn''t have enough energy crystals or materials to evolve or level up Malrik.

    Letting it follow Vylyss was the best choice for now. At the very least, he wouldn''t deal with the headache.

    ...

    In the afternoon, at the Food Forest.

    This forest had no official name, but because it was abundant with fruits and small animals, people simply called it the Food Forest.

    This place was quite large and always teeming with food. Even those who failed to hunt small animals could still find edible fruits or mushrooms.

    "Hahaha... Look at this!" A thin young man shouted excitedly. "I just found a huge mushroom!"

    As he spoke, he lifted a mushroom as big as his head, proudly showing off his achievement.

    "Tsk!" A woman accompanying him scoffed in annoyance. "No matter how big a mushroom is, it''s still just a mushroom. It only fills your stomach but has no real nutritional value."

    "This..." The young man scratched his head awkwardly upon hearing that.

    Another girl spoke up, "Alright! Even if it just fills our bellies, that''s enough. After all, this is a barren region—having food is already a blessing."

    "She''s right," a slightly chubby man added. "As long as we have enough to eat, that matters. Alright, let''s try to gather some more fruit and head back. We shouldn''t stay here for too long."

    "Tsk!" The woman from before clicked her tongue again. "No matter how much we gather, we''ll still have to give half of it to those damn bastards. What''s the point of trying so hard?"

    "Don''t say that. Even if we have to give them half, we still have the other half. We''re not as strong as them, so we have no choice but to endure."

    That was right. This group was the third team of the day sent into the forest to gather food.

    "AAAA!!!"

    Suddenly, a scream rang out, startling them. In fear, the thin young man exclaimed, "What the hell was that? Did you guys hear that scream?"

    The woman who always complained was also frightened. "I... I heard it, too. It sounded like it came from over there."

    "Could it be that zombies attacked the other groups?"

    "Impossible! This place is very safe. How could zombies attack here?"

    "That''s right. The other groups all said that as long as we don''t leave the boundaries of this forest, we won''t be attacked by zombies."

    "Then what the hell was that scream just now?"

    Everyone fell silent, a sense of unease creeping into their hearts.

    "AA!!"

    Suddenly, another scream echoed, making them jump.

    This time, the scream was closer—much closer.

    They turned their heads and looked into the distance. There, a young man was running towards them, his body covered in fresh blood, his face filled with sheer terror.

    "AA!! No! No!" He saw the group standing before him, but he didn''t care—he kept running with every ounce of strength.

    The group wanted to call out, to ask what had happened, but—

    BAM!

    At that moment, a dark shadow appeared behind the young man, and then... a deafening explosion rang out.