The Uproar

The experience needed to level up units could only be gained by defeating monsters of the same level or higher. To advance from the fourth tier to the fifth, a full 100 experience points were required—meaning one hundred fourth-tier monsters had to be slain.

Thanks to the recent beast tide, Alex's plants had accumulated a significant amount of experience. Coupled with the skill effects of the Ancient Tree of Knowledge, the two Explosive Mushrooms that had been throwing bombs with the most ferocity finally reached their maximum experience. In a flash of light, they successfully advanced to the fifth tier!

[Name: Explosive Mushroom]

[Race: Plant]

[Level: Fifth Tier (0/250)]

[Strength: 50]

[Constitution: 162]

[Agility: 162]

[Spirit: 185]

[Skills: Devour, Explosive Mushroom, Mutation]

[Description: The evolved form of the Mutated Mushroom. The number of mushroom clusters has increased, and the rate of mushroom proliferation has greatly improved. Its explosive capabilities are unparalleled.]

It could be said that the little mushrooms were one of Alex's favorite units. For one, they were incredibly difficult to mutate, and secondly, they were extremely effective, especially when facing hordes of monsters—one explosion could wipe out an entire area. Now, having advanced to the fifth tier, the Explosive Mushrooms had not only grown significantly in size but also sprouted more mushroom clusters, further enhancing their ability to produce explosive spores. Most importantly, their attributes had doubled! While they still couldn't compare to River, who possessed royal lineage, they were far stronger than they had been at the fourth tier.

This advancement also saved Alex the Mana he would have needed to recruit fifth-tier units later—a win-win situation. The only regret was that the other units, which had been replenished after the beast tide, hadn't accumulated much experience and were still a long way from reaching the fifth tier.

"Looks like I'll have to wait until my territory reaches the fifth tier before recruiting new ones," Alex murmured to himself. Without giving it much more thought, he went back to tending to other matters.

Unbeknownst to him, the regional chat channel was in an uproar.

"Hey, look! That Alex guy just jumped to fifth place!"

"What? He was only ninth before, wasn't he?"

"Holy crap, you're right! His ranking actually changed!"

"He jumped four spots! How did he do that?"

"Fifth place… I'm still stuck in the three millions…"

Because of his plant-based territory, Alex had garnered a lot of attention. The moment his ranking changed, people immediately started discussing it. After all, breaking into the top ten among millions of players was no small feat. Moving up even a single spot was incredibly difficult, yet Alex had managed to climb four places—and he was using a plant-based strategy, which was widely considered the weakest. It was like dropping a depth charge into the already turbulent waters of the regional chat.

Plant-based lords, in particular, began to idolize Alex, seeing him as the leader of their faction.

"He's really amazing. I'm also plant-based, and I only just managed to reach the fourth tier today."

"I'm curious about what units he's using. I'm at the fourth tier with twenty-five Treant Guardians, and I'm still ranked over 500,000."

"You're lucky. I got Pea Shooters at the fourth tier, and they're so fragile I'm ranked over a million. I have no idea how he made it into the top ten."

"A bunch of fourth-tier flexers… This third-tier plant weakling has nothing to say."

Generally speaking, most lords could only recruit one type of unit at their current level. Even if they used the Tower of Units to research new units, they'd only have two or three usable options at most, and it would cost a significant amount of Mana and time—resources many couldn't afford in the short term. Additionally, monster gathering spots below the fourth tier had already been cleared out, leaving few avenues to obtain new units. As a result, many could only hope to randomly get a powerful unit when they leveled up or painstakingly train their lower-tier units to higher levels.

No wonder they were all venting their frustrations. After all, not everyone could be like Alex, who had managed to withstand a massive beast tide and use the resources gained to max out all his buildings and units.

While everyone was busy discussing this, another, even more shocking piece of news swept across the borders of the Endless Wasteland.

Sebastian, the lord with angelic units, was dead!

Earlier that afternoon, people passing by Sebastian's territory discovered that it had been reduced to ruins. A destroyed territory meant the lord had perished. In other words, Sebastian had been killed at some point, though no one knew by whom.

The moment this news spread, it caused an uproar among all the nearby lords. Everyone was speculating about who could possibly be powerful enough to kill Sebastian, a fourth-tier angelic lord. It was terrifying! Even other fourth-tier units struggled to gain any advantage against angelic units, let alone kill their lord without a sound.

"Could it be him?"

When Luke received the news, Alex's image suddenly flashed in his mind, and his expression turned to one of shock and suspicion.

Just last night, he had sent Alex a message, informing him that killing other lords could yield upgrade materials. And now, the very next day, Sebastian was dead. The timing was too coincidental! Moreover, Luke knew that in this area, the only person with both the strength to kill Sebastian and a grudge against him was Alex.

He couldn't help but suspect that Alex was behind it.

No—he was almost certain it was Alex's doing!

"Thank goodness… Thank goodness I didn't make an enemy of him. If even Sebastian couldn't escape, is this his true power?"

Luke felt immensely relieved that he had chosen to build a good relationship with Alex. At the same time, he was deeply shaken. He hadn't expected Alex's strength to be so terrifying. It was no wonder he had made it into the top ten.

As he was pondering this, a private message notification chimed. When he looked, he was startled to see that it was from Alex.

Luke's body tensed, and he hurriedly opened the message.

It turned out to be a message of gratitude from Alex, thanking him for sharing such important information. At the end, there was an additional line:

"If you're short on fourth-tier Territory Essence, let me know. I still have a few, and you can trade me some resources for them."

"Territory Essence!"

Luke's pupils constricted sharply.

Having a few Territory Essence meant that, aside from Sebastian, Alex had killed other fourth-tier lords as well. How was that possible? Could it be that Alex had taken out several fourth-tier lords in one go?

Luke couldn't believe it. In just half a day, Alex had accomplished such a feat—it was far beyond anything he could have imagined.

But before long, he suddenly remembered something.

Didn't Sebastian have four subordinates?

Could it be that…

At this thought, Luke shuddered and didn't dare to continue. He stared at the message for a long time before finally mustering the courage to reply:

"Alright, I'll contact you once I meet the conditions to advance to the fifth tier."

After sending the message, he slumped into a chair, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

On the other side, Alex chuckled as he read the reply, then casually closed the interface. Around him, his plants were bustling about, diligently transporting stone materials. It wouldn't be long before he reached the 1,000 units of stone needed to upgrade to the fifth tier.