Global Lord in the Apocalypse: I Begin with a Greenhouse

Chapter 22 - Solving the Mystery

“Strange! Why have all the monsters suddenly disappeared?”

Taking a deep breath, Adrian couldn't hide his disappointment.

“It's not like they're hiding because they're afraid of us coming, right?”

More than simply feeling that his trip today had been a waste, Adrian realized that collecting Stones might not be as easy as he had imagined.

“My lord, I believe this phenomenon has something to do with the system. In the New World, this is known as the retreat before an attack.”

Seeing Adrian's troubled expression, Yemima spoke up.

“What do you mean?”

“I suspect the system is deliberately withdrawing the monsters and forcing them to hide somewhere. The purpose is to prepare them for tonight's attack. If my guess is correct, we won't find a single one of them for now, no matter where we search.”

Yemima's explanation made sense. Perhaps the monsters really were being gathered in preparation for a much larger attack.

“Does that mean the attack during Evernight will be far more terrifying than anything I've experienced over the past two days?”

Muttering to himself, Adrian suddenly realized something.

If the three days of peace in the New World had already been this brutal, what would happen during Evernight?

It would undoubtedly be far more dangerous.

“Adrian, I think we should head back now. Even if we have nothing else to bring home, don't we still have those Gold Stones?”

The previous day, besides obtaining a Gold Stone from the Abomination, Darla had also managed to obtain two similar Stones from the monster bear. In addition to the two Gold Stones, they had also collected a thousand Energy Stones from it.

And since they hadn't had the chance to investigate what these stones actually were, this was a good opportunity to do so.

“You're right.”

Adrian nodded, and the gloomy expression on his face began to fade.

At least today hadn't been a complete waste. Whatever those Gold Stones were, they certainly weren't ordinary objects.

***

“Get some rest. Don't push yourself too hard.”

Adrian approached Darla with a glass of water in his right hand and a handkerchief in his left.

More than an hour had passed since Darla began concentrating her mental power. Sitting in a chair with her eyes closed, she faced the golden, glittering stones on the table before her, trying to unravel their true purpose.

Yet she still hadn't made any progress.

“I'm fine. I'm sure I just need to put in a little more effort to break through the mysterious veil surrounding them.”

After draining the glass, Darla wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“I don't want to disturb your concentration. If you think you're fine, you can continue.”

Turning around, Adrian was about to leave and wait outside. He wanted to give her more time.

“No. There's no need. Stay here.”

Seeing Adrian return to his chair, Darla resumed concentrating her mental power on the stones as though the man weren't even there.

“Success!”

Darla opened her eyes.

Something about this felt strange to her. Her power seemed to increase several times over whenever Adrian was nearby.

However, she didn't want to discuss that for now. What mattered most was that she had finally solved the mystery.

“So, what do they do?”

Adrian rose from his chair to examine the stones more closely.

“Unlike the four main types of Stones, which can be used directly for transactions, these stones are used to store valuable objects inside them.”

“An artifact?” Adrian asked.

“You could call it that.”

“Then how do we open them? You must have figured that out too, right?”

“Yes,” Darla replied. “Unfortunately, I think they respond to the person they choose. Let me try first.”

As she spoke, Darla placed one hand on each of the three stones. Closing her eyes once more, she murmured,

“Choose whichever one of us you desire! Open!”

Nothing happened to the stones.

“Your turn.”

Adrian simply nodded without saying anything.

Placing his hands on them, he said casually, “I'll throw you away if you're useless to me!”

“Adrian, you...”

Darla was shocked by what Adrian had said.

These were sacred stones. If they took offense at his words, they might remain sealed forever.

However, Darla's worries didn't last long. She watched as the three stones seemed to be sucked into the system screen, while a smile spread across Adrian's face.

[New devices detected. The host has obtained an architectural blueprint, magical bricks, and a magical protective barrier. You may use them at any time.]

“I obtained treasures this valuable? Awesome!”

Without wasting any time, Adrian immediately pressed the button on the screen.

“Architectural blueprint activated. Shelter will be upgraded by one level.”

The system's voice echoed through the air.

“Yes! We did it!”

Adrian and Darla held their breath in excitement, their faces beaming with joy.

At the same time, golden light appeared everywhere, enveloping the entire greenhouse.

Adrian felt the ground beneath his feet begin to rumble.

Before long, the building started expanding in every direction. The shelter, which had measured twelve by twelve meters, now grew to at least twenty by twenty meters.

After that, Adrian felt the floor beneath him rising.

In reality, the shelter, which had originally consisted of just one level, now had two. The three altars remained on the first floor, while the bedroom and other rooms were moved to the second floor.

But the changes didn't stop there.

In front of Adrian, who was now on the second floor, a square desk appeared, complete with a computer and large screens surrounding it. This equipment contained everything he needed to analyze the shelter and anything else he wanted to know about the New World.

Yemima, who was standing in the yard, also witnessed the transformation.

The protective fence, which had previously stood ten meters away from the shelter, seemed to be pushed outward through the ground. Whereas it had once been ten meters from the greenhouse, it now stood twenty-five meters away.

All four sides of the shelter now had much larger yards, providing an additional layer of protection if, in the worst-case scenario, the monsters managed to destroy the fence.

That wasn't all. The fence itself had also grown considerably thicker.

It was as though invisible hands were adding concrete to both sides of it. Its thickness now reached at least one meter, enough to withstand attacks from Silver-tier monsters.

Then there was another equally impressive improvement: the number of turrets had increased.

The single turret on the roof had become four, with one positioned at each corner to protect the shelter from attacks coming from different directions.

More new turrets also appeared along the protective fence. Each side now had at least five turrets, making a total of twenty along the entire perimeter. Combined with the four turrets on the roof, that brought the total to twenty-four.

“Unbelievable! We did it! You did it!”

Adrian couldn't contain his excitement.

Gripping both of Darla's hands tightly, he knew they no longer needed to worry about the first Evernight. They would undoubtedly survive it.