The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - Chapter 203

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 203. Reverse Scale (1)
Imperial Central Intelligence Agency.
Deputy Director Elowin’s lips showed no sign of closing.
Every single Werebeast had vanished.
Not only were there no related records whatsoever.
Now the agents too?
“Missing?”
“After losing contact, no signs of survival have been detected, but….”
The Aide continued, gauging Elowin’s expression.
“We cannot rule out the possibility that the agents were captured.”
In other words, I had chased two rabbits and lost them all.
On top of that.
“We also cannot overlook the possibility that our intelligence was leaked by the captured agents.”
…Not only had I lost both rabbits, but I’d also lost my hunting tools in the process.
The worst conceivable scenario.
After prolonged deliberation, Elowin reached a decision.
“Terminate all ongoing operations and experiments. Issue a recall order to all agents.”
“Yes…?”
“Completely overhaul the intelligence network. Tear it all down without leaving a single thread.”
“B-but-!”
“Eliminate all contact points, bases, and personnel with potential exposure.”
“That—that organization took ten years to build. The losses would be-!”
“The losses have already occurred.”
Elowin cut off the Aide’s protest and continued.
“What we need now isn’t recovery—it’s containment.”
“….”
“Before the damage grows worse, we control what we can control.”
“….”
“I’ll take responsibility. Move quickly.”
Elowin’s words were unwavering.
“Y-yes, understood…!”
The Aide hurriedly left his seat.
Elowin remained alone.
I pressed my fingers against my temples.
The price of poking the hornet’s nest that was Whitewolf Territory had proven far too fatal.
The hornets within had proven far more vicious than I had anticipated.
The Predestined One.
The existence watched over by the distant Presence.
…But it wasn’t.
The hornet that had burst from the nest and stung me and the Agency was not the Predestined One.
I had been overlooking it.
Perhaps.
I had been dismissing it in my heart.
Hidden beneath the moonlight of being Count Whitewolf’s House’s reckless fool.
Walking under the starlight of being Caravana’s saint.
“…Adrian Whitewolf.”
That he was a wasp in a hive, a predator bearing venom.
* * *
A facility that appeared to be an old warehouse on the surface.
But the moment I tore through the steel wall with a monomolecular blade—
A desolate landscape unfolded beyond the wall.
Shattered equipment and facilities.
Walls stained yellow with chemical residue.
“This does seem to be a Werebeast laboratory.”
But judging by the accumulation of dust, it appeared to have been abandoned for quite some time.
“They got ahead of me.”
Upon learning that an Information Bureau agent had been captured by me, they must have deleted all related records and then abandoned the laboratory itself.
Yet there was a sense of hasty abandonment about it.
In other words, they likely hadn’t managed to erase all records and information.
As I ventured deeper, a putrid stench—like rotting excrement—assaulted my nostrils.
Following the smell, I found iron cages lined along the walls, as if for livestock.
They were cramped enough for only one person to barely crouch inside.
The floors were covered with dried feces and vomit mixed together.
The severe stench emanated from there.
And.
In each cage, people lay dead, naked.
Forced breeding.
People who had been raised as breeding stock for Werebeast reproduction.
Crunch!!
My teeth clenched involuntarily.
My teeth broke and shattered.
I suppressed my emotions and carefully collected each body one by one. Then, as I had done in Beneron Barony, I cremated them.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The roaring flames consumed the bodies.
Thus all evidence and records burned away and vanished.
Information the Empire bastards couldn’t bring themselves to cover up existed within their corpses… but I didn’t excavate it.
I didn’t want to reduce those who had suffered and died to tools even in death.
Even now.
This was my final rite to prove they had been human.
Whoooosh!!
The flames burned fiercer still.
My emotions, too, had been provoked beyond measure.
Fury at the fact that humans could accomplish such atrocities.
Hatred for those who had orchestrated and driven this entire scheme.
In this life, I swear it—
“The Emperor…!!”
I will tear his heart from his chest with my own hands.
* * *
The cremation continued until the sky was painted in the hues of dusk.
As time passed, my rage and hatred gradually subsided.
Yet something that churned within me refused to settle.
“Haah…!”
I drew a deep breath, forcing myself to calm my mind.
In my past life, those people had suffered endlessly.
Now, at least, I could find some solace in knowing their pain had ended in death.
In any case, the laboratory itself had been destroyed.
There was no more information to be gleaned.
All the clues that should have led one to another had vanished entirely.
There was no further ground to investigate—
“But it wasn’t entirely without results.”
The mere revelation of the laboratory’s existence held meaning—
“It appears they were early-stage test subjects.”
Still unstable, prototypes requiring vast amounts of data to refine.
And the laboratory had been destroyed while in that state.
Whether they were restoring the facilities
Or procuring new test subjects,
Either way would require time and resources.
“They likely didn’t just destroy the laboratory.”
Fearing discovery by me, they had probably dismantled their entire operation wholesale.
In other words, the Information Bureau’s hands and feet were bound.
It was clear they wouldn’t be able to move for some time—perhaps far longer.
And that time would become a golden opportunity to complete Whitewolf Territory.
“Let me see…”
I summoned the 「Management Mode」 before my eyes.
“Most of the military-related territory buffs are already activated.”
So now it was time to address the non-military aspects.
“Let me start with resources.”
Resources were the backbone and lifeblood of a territory.
No matter how formidable the military might be—
Cut off supplies, and they starve to death.
I couldn’t overcome the hunger gnawing at my body either.
“The real problem is that the Whitewolf Territory lacks sufficient food resources.”
Self-sufficiency was nothing but a distant dream.
Without the grain imports from Frecce, we’d be rationing to a single meal per day.
“At least farming is possible in Whitewolf Territory 2, though….”
Even that was barely adequate.
Whitewolf Territory 2 was also part of the frozen Frozen Lands.
It couldn’t possibly produce enough to sustain the territory’s rapidly swelling population.
But what if I activated the territory buffs?
“Let’s see….”
I reviewed the territory buff list under the【Resources】category.
==【Blessing of the Verdant Forest】==
[Activation Condition] – Forestry management personnel at 100% capacity and operational
[Activation Effect 1] – Logging yield +45%
[Activation Effect 2] – Timber quality enhancement
==【Breath That Fills the Fields】==
[Activation Condition] – Livestock facility personnel fully staffed with rotating shift system implemented
[Activation Effect 1] – Milk/meat/leather production +45%
[Activation Effect 2] – Breeding success rate +85%
==【Aura of Abundant Harvest】==
[Activation Condition] – Agricultural management personnel deployed and seasonal crop rotation plan executed
[Activation Effect 1] – Grain harvest yield +60% increase
[Activation Effect 2] – Pest and disease occurrence -99% reduction
…As expected.
The resource buffs were all absurdly broken.
Not mere convenience features, but power that could transform the entire territory itself.
Yet the activation conditions were equally demanding.
100% personnel capacity, shift rotation systems, and more.
“It’s not as simple as just filling positions with bodies.”
I needed specialized personnel.
But the Whitewolf Territory currently had no agricultural specialists.
These buffs couldn’t be activated immediately, but—
“The additional migrants were supposed to arrive soon, weren’t they?”
The second wave of migrants, primarily composed of peasant classes.
And the third wave, dominated by craftsmen and artisans.
A substantial influx of personnel capable of contributing significantly to activating the territory buffs was scheduled to arrive.
◆You’re trying to catch both rabbits?!
◆Your greed knows no bounds!
◆You’ll end up dropping everything and come to your senses!!
Leaving behind the thoroughly twisted commentary, I turned my steps back toward the Whitewolf Territory.
* * *
Brucker was a serf.
A state serf belonging to the Bartenberg Royal Court.
A lifetime spent laboring on government-owned land.
Through this, he had come to understand when the earth thirsted for water.
When to sow seeds.
When to apply fertilizer.
When to do nothing at all.
Brucker had learned through the experience of living.
But that was all.
Unlike slaves, serfs possessed property rights.
Yet he could neither read nor count.
Ignorant of the world’s principles, he knew not how to accumulate wealth.
Simply drifting through life as circumstances pushed him, all that remained in his hands was dust from the earth.
And then.
“This will be your residence from now on.”
“Pardon?!”
Brucker’s mind suddenly blazed with clarity.
A framework constructed of thick stone and sturdy timber.
Smoke curled gently from the chimney.
Each window frame was insulated, not a whisper of wind penetrating.
Even the floor radiated warmth!
“You’re giving me this house?”
A house so fine that Brucker could never afford it even if he labored his entire life?
“No, it’s a rental. You’ll need to pay monthly rent.”
“Ah.”
Somehow, it still made no sense.
Such a house was fit only for nobility.
It was inconceivable to simply give away something so magnificent.
“Still… I’m truly grateful.”
But where was this place?
To sleep in a house so fine was something Brucker had never dared dream of in his entire life.
“The rent will be automatically deducted from your salary.”
“If I may ask… how much is the rent?”
“It will be less than your food expenses. Don’t worry.”
At the Administrator’s words, Brucker found himself speechless.
Rent for a house of this caliber costing less than food?
“And if you work here for ten years or more, we’ll transfer ownership of the house to you.”
“Is that… truly the case?!”
Brucker covered his mouth in disbelief.
The Administrator whispered carefully, as if sharing a secret.
“In truth, this is a special directive from Countess Seraphia.”
Brucker’s eyes grew hot.
Born into the lower classes, having lived his entire life as a commoner—Brucker.
The fact that someone was offering him such an opportunity, showing him such consideration when he had known only contempt, made his eyes burn with emotion.
Brucker bowed his head deeply.
The Administrator smiled faintly and opened his mouth.
“Whitewolf Territory 2—that is, the Frozen Lands. You can use an ether carriage for your commute, and for the farming tools you’ll need for cultivation…”
The Administrator extended his fingers, pointing in one direction.
“You can speak to the Blacksmith Workshop over there.”
“The Blacksmith Workshop…?”
Brucker’s gaze followed the Administrator’s pointing finger.
In that direction.
A furious Dwarf was bellowing at the top of his lungs.
“You incompetent fools can’t even do a proper quench, and you dare call yourselves craftsmen?!!”
* * *
Ollen was a master craftsman.
His skills had been recognized at the Royal Palace’s own Blacksmith Workshop, and he had supplied equipment to the Royal Guard and even the Royal Knights—an officially sanctioned master weaponsmith of the Royal Court.
No noble in the palace dared treat Ollen carelessly.
“Did you really make this garbage and call it work?!”
This kind of treatment was unthinkable.
Wasn’t Ollen the master craftsman whom all manner of nobles competed to hire?
Just the nobles?
Even royalty from several kingdoms had to wait in line to place commissions with Ollen.
And yet, look at this.
“And you call yourselves craftsmen?! Huh?!?!”
No matter what, it was unbearable.
To have his pride as a royal weaponsmith shattered.
To endure this trash treatment.
The reason to start anew in this frozen frontier—
“When you remove heat, cool it gradually, not with rapid quenching!!”
…was more than sufficient.
A reason to discard a craftsman’s pride like garbage.
A reason to throw past glory into the furnace—
“Especially with high-carbon steel like this, if it cools unevenly, cracks spread without showing on the surface!!”
This alone was enough.
“It might look fine to the naked eye, but swing it a few times on the battlefield and it shatters!”
The exasperated Dwarf snatched the hammer away.
Clang! Clang!
Ssssshhhhh—!
“Look, see! This color, this sound, this smell! This is what a properly cooled blade truly is!”
“Ooooh!!”
The master craftsmen watching from the sidelines burst into admiration.
All of them were like Ollen.
Master artisans who would be welcomed with open arms wherever they went.
But compared to the greatest craftsmen on The Continent—the Dwarves?
They were barely apprentice-level at best.
“The fact that garbage like you lot are managing and maintaining the territory of a monster lord makes my blood boil!”
The Dwarf spat, hawking saliva into his palm.
“From now on, watch my hammer work with your eyes wide open. I’m not about to spoon-feed you everything.”
Clang! Clang!
“Move your hands faster! You worthless bastards!”
Ollen and the other craftsmen never dreamed that being called garbage could sound so gratifying.
* * *
The selection process for new settlers, spanning several weeks, concluded without incident.
And far more people arrived than I had anticipated.
Still, most settled in quickly.
The adaptation rate exceeded my expectations as well.
◆Territory Quest, [One Well-Developed Territory Rivals Ten Cities], has arrived.
A new Territory Quest materialized before my eyes, if only for a moment.
==[One Well-Developed Territory Rivals Ten Cities]==
[Objective] – Achieve Prosperity Rank: ‘Castle Town’
[Reward] – Unlock 【Optimized Monitoring Tool】 function
[Refusal] – It’ll clear anyway, so what’s the point?
…Somehow, the wording seemed decidedly warped.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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