Once back at the harbor, Chris saw off in the distance that the Blues had already begun the frame for the seawall and were making quick progress. As he walked further in, he found the trio from earlier sitting with Gnarl, chatting quietly.
Chris approached, lifting a hand. "Hey, Gnarl, how's it going?" he asked, voice casual but eyes scanning the developing structures.
Gnarl bowed his head respectfully. "So far, the Browns have demolished roughly sixty percent of our captured territory, and Grubby has been training a few teams to process materials. But before we can begin major construction, we need furnaces and smelters. So the sooner we capture the industrial district, the better."
Chris crossed his arms, nodding. "That's the plan, but I have some other things that need done depending on what those three have decided."
"Ah yes," Gnarl rasped, hands behind his back. "I explained to them the benefits of staying and the harsh reality of leaving. They've been quiet for a while now. You should probably talk to them."
Chris sighed lightly. "Alright, better now than later."
He walked over to the trio. They looked up at him—Nobuyuki with his gentle, thoughtful expression; Shinobu sitting politely with a slightly nervous smile; Karen leaning forward with curiosity.
"Alright," Chris said, placing his hands on his hips, "how we feeling?"
Nobuyuki looked up at him, speaking calmly. "Honestly, we're not sure. On one hand, for the first time in weeks we're safe. On the other hand, we've been told join or flee."
Chris gave a small shrug. "That's just how it is, I'm afraid. I can't have independent parties in my realm."
The trio nodded in understanding. Nobuyuki drew in a steadying breath. "I understand. With that said, I'll be your subordinate."
Shinobu's eyes widened a little. "Taisho, are you sure?" she asked, rubbing her hands together anxiously.
"I am," Nobuyuki answered firmly.
Chris raised a brow. "That's a lot different from being a subject. It means you'll be expected to fight in defense of the kingdom or in the invasion of another. And I assume Gnarl told you you'll eventually become evil?"
Nobuyuki nodded again. "He explained we'd still retain our core values, but we'll also start being a lot more selfish and follow our desires more."
"Yeah, that's about it," Chris said with a tired exhale. "So, any fighting experience?"
Nobuyuki shook his head sheepishly. "I'm afraid not."
Shinobu gave a small bow. "Same. I'm a waitress."
Karen raised a hand with a smirk. "Does a VR MMO count?"
Chris pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, lucky for you, skills will fix that."
He held out his hand toward them. "Alright, let's do this."
A pulse of magic flashed as he made the three subordinates. Nobuyuki's watch turned a dull black, Shinobu's shimmered blue, and Karen's glowed a loud, vibrant hot pink.
Shinobu scratched her cheek nervously, her voice tiny. "Um, boss… Karen and I didn't say we wanted to be subordinates."
Chris blinked. "You didn't? Oops. Sorry—no taking it back now."
Shinobu slumped her shoulders in defeat. "Oh well… at least having some cool powers will be nice."
"Yeah, well," Chris said, nodding toward them, "choose your jobs then get ready to move out."
He turned to Momo, who had been inspecting the trio with mild amusement.
"Momo, take them to the dungeon and run through it. Let them do most of the heavy lifting."
He dropped lots of beginner weapons and armor in front of them.
Momo puffed her cheeks slightly and gave him an irritated pout. "Aww, do I have to?" she complained, voice sweet but clearly annoyed.
"I have stuff to do that requires my attention," Chris replied bluntly, "and they need a babysitter. Besides, Nana needs to evolve twice at minimum."
Momo sighed dramatically, tossing her pink hair. "Fine… follow me, people, and try to keep up." She waved them over with a lazy flick of her hand.
"Use the communication function to contact me if you get in trouble!" Chris shouted after them.
Momo gave a thumbs-up without turning around as she and the others headed toward the dungeon.
Chris turned and called out, "Grubby! Front and center!"
Grubby hurried over, practically tripping over his own feet. "Yes, Master! Grubby is here!"
"Grubby, I want you to start drawing plans for a forge and ironworks. And when that's finished, start taking teams of Browns, Reds, and Blues and teach them construction."
"Yes, Master!" Grubby said eagerly, already pulling out charcoal and parchment.
Chris then addressed the old minion advisor. "Gnarl, I'm going to capture the industrial area. Don't wait up."
Gnarl bowed deeply. "Of course, sire."
Chris entered the industrial area, a part of the city that was nothing but factories, power plants, and machine shops. Everything was silent as the grave; none of the factories or plants were running, and as Gnarl suspected, none of the undead were out in the open. Chris held out his hand and summoned forty Green Minions. They emerged from green sigils—scaly, with long lizard-like tails, and wearing leather bracers on their wrists with two long blades extending outward.
Chris pointed forward and said, "Move in teams of two, boys. Search the buildings, the perimeter, the vehicles, everything. If it's undead, put it down. If it's alive, bring it to me. If it's the boss of the area, don't engage—come to me and lead me to them. But most importantly… have fun."
They straightened eagerly and said, "Yes, Master!" before scattering across the district to begin their assignments.
Chris's watch beeped and said:
New Quest Received
Conquer the Industrial District
Reward: 1 Overlord Level
Chris scratched his head and muttered, "I wonder why it stopped giving multiple quests like before. Maybe the area's too small… or maybe 'cause I don't need as much help as before. Who knows."
He sat down on one of the abandoned cars and waited. After a while, two Greens sprinted back, stopping with excited chirps.
"Master! Found weird undead we did!"
Chris stood up, brushing dust from his coat. "Good work, boys, but what do you mean by weird?"
One of them wrung his clawed hands anxiously. "Looked like crying lady."
Chris frowned. "Crying lady? What do you—oh fuuuuck… it's a Witch, isn't it? Alright, lead me to her."
The Greens nodded rapidly and guided him toward a dark, ruined factory. At the center of a shadowy conference room, Chris saw a crying woman hunched on the ground with her hands over her face, hair solid white and skin deathly pale.
He lifted his watch, and it displayed:
Witch
Origin: Left 4 Dead
Classification: Area Boss
Description: A unique undead that deceives its victims by pretending to be a woman in distress, only to kill and eat them the moment they draw near.
Worth: 4 Levels
Chris groaned. "Yeah… boys, get out of here. I'm gonna burn the place down."
The two Greens immediately bolted. "Okay, Master!" they shouted as they ran as fast as they could.
Chris cracked his neck, gathered mana, and used Spell Weaving to combine Fireball and Vortex, sending a spiraling twister of flame roaring toward the Witch. She let out a piercing scream as she was sucked in and incinerated.
He stepped out of the building as his watch chimed:
Reward Received: 1 Overlord Level
New Ability Acquired
Life force Collection
Description: Allows user to steal and store a fallen enemy's soul.
Dark Reincarnation
Description: Allows user to bring back fallen enemies in a new form as the user's dark servant.
Soul Keeper Summoning
Description: Allows user to summon Mortis.
New Spell Acquired
Frenzy
Description: Temporarily strengthens the minions.
Cost: 20 Mana per minute active.
Chris nodded thoughtfully. "Alright, the first ability is extremely useful for when I face enemies that can resurrect or be resurrected… but I'm not sure when I would use the second one. The new spell will work great when we hit downtown, and I'll wait until we have the tower under construction to summon Mortis."
He checked the map and watched as the Shopping District and Industrial District changed from red to blue. "Alright," he said with a satisfied grin, "after I capture downtown, I'll own the entire bottom half of the city."
Chris held out his hand again and summoned Giblet. From the brown sigil came a minion wearing what looked like a medieval welding helmet, rough iron armor, and holding a forging hammer. He straightened proudly. "Master, me been waiting!"
"Giblet, good to see you," Chris said, smiling. "Until we get the tower built and running, you'll have to work here. Explore and tell me what you need to get up and running."
"Yes, Master!" Giblet said, and took off at a sprint.
Chris waved over a few Greens and said firmly, "Protect Giblet from the shadows. He is not to be harmed."
"Yes, Master!" they replied before racing after him.
Chris returned to the harbor district and found Gnarl. "Alright, Gnarl, we own all but one piece of the bottom half of the city."
Gnarl gave a pleased bow. "Good work, sire. While you've been away, Grubby has completed the assignments you gave him, and the seawall will be completed in a couple of days."
Chris blinked in surprise. "Wait—days? Doesn't stuff like that usually take weeks, months, or years?"
"Yes, ordinarily, when construction is done by humans," Gnarl replied with a raspy chuckle. "But minions don't need food or rest, can see in the dark, and coordinate with each other perfectly. So it doesn't take nearly as much time."
"Nice," Chris said, impressed. "I can start transforming this city into a decent base faster than I thought."
"Indeed, sire," Gnarl said. "And I'm glad you chose to do it as you were conquering it rather than wait until you were done. If we keep at it, the only thing left to build when we've conquered the city will be the tower."
"Good," Chris replied. "I won't be moving forward with conquest until Momo and the others get back, so for now, I'll focus on getting some construction projects underway."
He summoned thirty Reds and fifty Browns, then called over Grubby. The tiny minion hurried over. "Yes, Master! What you need?"
"Grubby," Chris said, pointing toward the district, "take these minions along with your trainees and get started building the forge and ironworks in the Industrial District. Giblet's waiting on you."
"Right away, Master!" Grubby shouted. "Come on, you lot! Let's move!" He and the gathered minions ran toward the Industrial District.
Chris looked around the harbor and saw that it was nearly completely torn down— even the concrete was being ripped up, revealing barren ground beneath.
"Other than a fish farm, what should we do with this area?" he wondered aloud. "It shouldn't serve a singular purpose."
Gnarl stroked his chin. "It isn't ideal for farmland… maybe we should just decide later."
"I suppose," Chris said. "Oh—and when the minions begin deconstructing the Shopping District, tell them to leave Nobuyuki's bar alone. He's chosen to serve, so he gets to keep his property."
"Of course, Lord," Gnarl replied. "I had already thought of that."
"Alright," Chris continued, "I think we'll keep the Shopping District as just that— a market area with stores and restaurants. We'll have to come up with a currency, but that will have to wait until I capture a place with an adequate supply of gold or silver."
Gnarl gave him a knowing look. "You should rest for a bit, Lord. You've been on your feet for days."
"Yeah… maybe a quick nap would help," Chris admitted. "Wake me in a few hours."
He slid down against a barrel, closed his eyes, and drifted into sleep.