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Gru froze for a moment.

He hadn’t expected his Lord to ask about something like this.

The old man scratched his tangled beard and thought for a long while before finally answering.

”My Lord... this wasteland is enormous. There are indeed more groups of refugees struggling to survive out here besides us.”

”Years ago, several of the larger settlements formed a Refugee Council in Blackstone Gorge. They created it so they could work together against the monsters and raiders from other races.”

”I was fortunate enough to represent our small settlement at one of those meetings.”

As Gru spoke, a trace of nostalgia flashed through his cloudy eyes.

”I met the leaders of several other settlements there.”

”Unfortunately, the monsters across the wasteland became more and more numerous afterward. The council eventually fell apart, and everyone scattered to save themselves.”

”But I did speak with several of those settlements before we separated, so I know where some of them used to live.”

”I just don’t know whether they’re still there.”

John’s eyes sharpened.

He immediately opened the map in the void.

The projection rapidly condensed into a parchment map and dropped onto the rough wooden table in front of them.

”Show me.”

Gru hurried forward.

His rough, cracked finger carefully moved across the parchment.

”Here.”

”About fifty kilometers northwest of the territory is Riftwind Valley. The Blackrock Settlement used to live there. They were good at quarrying stone and forging iron tools. I remember they had around two or three hundred people.”

”Then there’s the Deadmarsh Woodland to the northeast. The Greenleaf Settlement hid there. They knew how to cultivate herbs and build traps for the wasteland. They had quite a few people as well.”

”As for directly south...”

Gru’s finger moved again.

”There’s an ancient dried-up riverbed.”

”I heard a settlement called Heavyforge fled in that direction. They had quite a few stonemasons and carpenters.”

”But I don’t know whether they survived.”

As Gru spoke, he carefully explained the markings each settlement had once used when relocating, along with the kinds of terrain where they were most likely to hide.

John listened carefully and marked each location on the map.

Population was productivity.

Fifty-eight people was far too few for his territory.

He needed more refugees.

”Good.”

”This information is very useful.”

John closed the map.

With a thought, the territory resource panel silently appeared before him.

[Gold Coin: 383,572]

[Food: 83,572]

[Wood: 91,860]

[Stone: 73,400]

[Iron Ore: 85,900]

Gru and the others had apparently gathered quite a lot today.

The moment John returned, all of the collected resources had automatically been added to the warehouse.

John no longer hesitated.

He took out a glowing golden blueprint.

[Building Blueprint: Rampart Tier Castle (Growth-Type)]

[Building HP: 1,000,000/1,000,000]

[Core Trait: Domain Blessing — All allied units within the territory gain +50% to all attributes, +50% HP regeneration speed, +50% movement speed, and -50% skill cooldowns.]

[Construction Requirements: Basic Wood x10,000, Basic Stone x10,000, Basic Iron Ore x10,000, Basic Gold Coin x10,000.]

[Evaluation: A magnificent fortress on the edge of an empire. The foundation of civilized urban development.]

”Hiss...”

Gru sucked in a sharp breath after only a single glance.

”M-My Lord...”

”Is that... a castle?!”

His voice began trembling.

They had spent their entire lives wandering the wasteland.

The greatest structures they had ever seen were wooden houses.

When had people like them ever seen a real castle?

”That’s right.”

John pressed a finger against the center of the blueprint.

”Tonight’s barrier is already almost destroyed.”

”There will be more monster tides in the future, and their tiers will continue increasing.”

”So we’re starting construction tonight.”

”Once the castle is completed, our defenses will be restored to full strength.”

John did not want a repeat of what had almost happened tonight.

If he had returned even slightly later—

his territory might have been wiped out.

Gru swallowed hard, his expression turning troubled.

”But, my Lord...”

”To build such a magnificent castle... can people like us really...”

”Just do what I tell you.”

John interrupted him directly.

He knew what Gru meant.

A castle was a relatively flexible structure.

The system blueprint only provided the load-bearing framework and external wall molds.

The internal layout could be designed according to the Lord’s preferences.

John had already built one in his previous life.

He was extremely familiar with the process.

”Like this...”

The tip of his pen scratched rapidly across the parchment.

...

”My Lord, Gru understands.”

Old Gru carefully held the blueprint with both hands, terrified that he might smudge the areas John had drawn.

”Then get to it.”

John nodded in satisfaction.

Gru responded and hurried out through the damaged wooden door.

The house became quiet again.

John withdrew his gaze.

His eyes settled on the silver-haired figure standing beside the wall.

”If I heard correctly...”

”That Bloodbone Tree Mother said something back there.”

John looked thoughtful.

”You once fought against the gods.”

”And now you’ve still ended up serving someone else.”

”What do you think about that?”

The moment he finished speaking—

Ophelia dropped heavily onto one knee without the slightest hesitation.

”I have no thoughts on the matter.”

She raised her head.

There was nothing but pure calmness in those dark golden vertical pupils.

”My Lord gave me the chance to be reborn.”

”And the chance to take revenge.”

”Everything you have given me is already a blessing.”

”I would never complain about it.”

”Much less entertain even the slightest thought of defying you.”

John raised an eyebrow.

He casually opened the territory’s Hero Management interface.

[Hero: Ophelia — Progenitor of the Ancient Dragons]

[Affinity/Loyalty: 100% — Fanatically Loyal · Unshakable]

A one-hundred-percent loyalty rating displayed by the system couldn’t be faked.

John had only asked out of curiosity.

Besides—

even if he didn’t trust Ophelia, there was an even easier solution.

With a single thought, he could use his exclusive class authority and completely convert Ophelia into an undead.

At that point, she would never harbor any other thoughts.

She wouldn’t even need food anymore.

But John had no intention of doing that.

Low-tier undead units had extremely limited intelligence.

They only knew how to mechanically obey rigid commands.

Just look at the goblin siege earlier.

Without direct orders, more than a thousand Undead Spearmen and Undead Sentinels had simply stood guard at the edge of the territory.

If John turned a Hero into an undead just to satisfy some pointless desire for control—

that would be the real loss.

Besides, how much could a single Hero possibly eat in a day?

John glanced at the resources in his inventory.

He had more than enough.

However—

one word in Ophelia’s response caught his attention.

”Revenge?”

John leaned forward and looked at the dragon woman kneeling before him.

”So that Blood God who sent the Bloodbone Tree Mother...”

”is your enemy?”

Of course—

Blood God was simply the name John had given the unknown deity.

Judging from the Tree Mother’s description, some god had placed it inside Odin Town.

”Correct.”

Ophelia answered without hesitation.

”How did you become enemies?”

John narrowed his eyes.

”As far as I know, those Void Gods high above the world have no interest whatsoever in the creatures or territories of this continent.”

At those words—

a mocking expression appeared on Ophelia’s face.

”No interest?”

”That is merely the illusion those sanctimonious thieves deliberately created.”

She straightened her back.

Her voice became low and heavy.

”My Lord...”

”In an age so distant that even history has forgotten it, we Ancient Dragons were the sole rulers of this vast continent.”

”Back then, the myriad races submitted to us.”

”The settlements of every race flourished.”

”Under the rule of the Ancient Dragon Royal Court, every race had only one mission.”

”To advance civilization with everything they had.”

”To open new pathways.”

”And to wage war across the sea of stars.”

”In that era...”

”Even the weakest human race, protected by the Royal Court, possessed more than ten million square kilometers of fertile territory.”