The fact that half of Japan was already invaded by the Land of Despair meant that Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and even the southern parts of China had already turned into the Land of Despair. This meant that hundreds of millions of people had already been killed. Of course, the absolute majority of those who were killed were ordinary people.

No matter how much time they had, it was unreasonable for ordinary people to flee and break through the monster herds in their way without those who raised their reality actualization rate who had abandoned them. No matter how large a herd of rabbits were, they were still rabbits in the end.

Starting off with the African continent and South America, the Land of Despair would soon reach the North American continent. In other words, the day will soon come when tens of millions, not hundreds of thousands, will die every day. Or maybe even hundreds of millions of people.

Anyway, I didn’t feel like joking around with Brandon, so I demanded that he get straight to the point right away.

Finally Brandon smiled and opened his mouth.

“As of yesterday, I killed 370,000 people affiliated with the Antalagos Information Guild.”

“They didn’t have to be killed. I think you killed them when you really didn’t have to…”

Of course, many people were dying these days, so 370,000 might look small in comparison, but it was still a huge number.

But I just listened to him calmly on the surface.

When I showed such a reaction, he said, “Well, I knew I might have gone too far by killing them, but I had to because I didn’t want to cause trouble for the Myongjin Guild.”

“Trouble for Myongjin…”

“Yes, I’m serious. There are a lot of people outside the Myongjin Shelter right now who are still begging for their lives, hurling abuses and curses. I don’t want to add our members to those people.”

“…”

I looked straight into his eyes without saying anything to him.

He met my stare, and said, “I came here with exactly 5,000 people. It is just 50% of the 10,000 person quota you proposed to the Mirae Guild and the Tugal Guild. Since the Mirae Guild rejected your offer, wouldn’t you be able to accommodate just 5,000 people here? Moreover, they’re the elites of elites, so they won’t cause any trouble to you and the Myongjin Guild. I can assure you that there will be no more Antalagos Information Guild members coming here begging for their lives.”

“Alright. If that’s your resolve, let me accept them.”

Of course, it was awkward for me to use the expression ‘resolve’ in this case because it didn’t fit into this situation nicely.

Considering that he made that decision ahead of the confrontation with the Land of Despair, however, I judged that it would not be bad for me to accept his group members.

Anyway, I accepted 5,000 Antalagos Intelligence Guild members and 10,000 Tugal Guild members very carefully and secretly into the Myongjin Shelter.

In the meantime, I also confirmed the Mirae Guild people, leading hundreds of thousands of people, were passing by the Myongjin Shelter to move to the ships located off the coast of Goseong, Gangwon Province in the east coast of South Korea.

***

Two days later.

Pong. Pong. Pong. Pong. Pong.

Wiggle, wiggle.

I watched the south closely while floating over the first main base of Myongjin Shelter using Fly, then I soon noticed the red and black Land of Despair moving from afar.

The Land of Despair has already killed more than 100 million people around the world. As such, it displayed an overwhelming threat even though it was still far away.

At first I just stared at the Land of Despair blankly, but thenI opened my mouth slowly when it came within my view clearly.

“Please.”

As soon as I said that, numerous roots erupted from underground, starting off with the White Roots, which encircled the Myongjin Shelter. Of course, it was impossible for the roots to encircle the entire Myongjin Shelter.

But I had already tested their capabilities, and confirmed that they could encircle a quite a wide area, including the three main bases of the Myongjin Shelter.

Soon the Land of Despair got right close to the roots that encircled the Myongjin Shelter.

But the Land of Despair could not break through the roots, so it began to move around it to continue spreading. This was the type of ark that I made.

Of course, the floods haven’t even started yet, for my real enemy has not appeared yet.

“Come on! Show up quickly. I am curious about the final stage of this.”

After checking out the ark made of the roots, I moved inside the Myongjin Shelter.

All I had to do for now was wait for my real enemy.

***

Off the coast of Goseong, Gangwon Province.

“Should we have gone there? Was it a mistake for us to have declined their offer?”

Standing on the destroyer, Bora Yon, the heir to the Mirae Group, spoke softly, looking at the place where the Myungjin Shelter was located. Since she was not far from the shelter, she could clearly see it even in the distance.

When she asked, Director Sungyop Yu of the Mirae Group, standing behind her, opened his mouth.

“Well, it all depends on the result of our decision.”

“Result? I agree…”

She nodded at his answer, then watched closely the place that housed the Myongjin Shelter.

Then he continued, “How close is the Land of Despair now?”

“It looks like the Land of Despair will reach the Myongjin Shelter in exactly 10 minutes.”

“What about Myongjin’s preparation?’

“I don’t see anything unusual as of now. That’s why quite a few guilds and groups are using drones to observe the movement of the Myongjin Shelter. Obviously, it is Juyoung Hong, not the Myongjin Shelter or the Myongjin Guild, who is the only one not affected by the Land of Despair.”

“Surely he must have a hidden card. As you know, Juyoung is not the type of guy who simply talks nonsense when his family members’ survival is at stake.”

“I think so. Our guys at the Strategic Department have the same opinion. There is a reason why Juyoung is the world’s strongest. But the problem is there is so little time left…”

“Let’s wait. Ten minutes will pass by quickly.”

“Sure.”

Having said that, she continued to keep her eyes on the place that housed the Myongjin Shelter.

Shortly afterward, the leaders of the Mirae Guild, including Chairman Junghwan Yon, moved to the destroyer with a clear view of the Myongjin Shelter and watched closely.

Right now their paramount concern was about how Juyoung Hong and the Myongjin Shelter would respond to the Land of Despair that was fast approaching them.

A little later.

Wiggle, wiggle.

“…”

“…”

“…”

The leaders of the Mirae Guild, including Bora Yon and Chairman Yon, noticed the countless brown roots sprouting from the very place where the Myongjin Shelter was located. And amidst the countless brown roots, there were huge and broad white roots too.

By now, all of them immediately knew what they were because the roots were like Juyoung Hong’s trademark.

It was none other than the roots that had defended the shelter while Juyoung was away from the shelter..