Global Lord in the Apocalypse: I Begin with a Greenhouse

Chapter 7 - Waiting for His Downfall

“I haven't heard a single one of you give me any information about Adrian! What exactly have you been doing all day?”

Kaelen slammed the glass in his hand onto the table, his face twisted with irritation.

Although everyone had only arrived in the New World that morning, Kaelen wasn't about to let the Lords under his command sit around doing nothing.

“Investigate the backgrounds of every Lord in this Region Nine and report everything to me!”

That was the order he had given them earlier.

Kaelen knew how cruel this New World could be. Every Lord who stood against him was surely calculating the best way to attack him.

He couldn't afford to give them the opportunity. He had to strike before they did.

“No matter how powerful you are, you can be destroyed at any moment! The only way to survive is through absolute control!”

Now, with not a single one of the Lords mentioning Adrian, he could no longer contain his anger.

“My Lord, please forgive me. But what's the point of investigating someone whose Shelter can't even guarantee his survival?”

A man with a deeply lined face and graying hair spoke up. His name was Arthur Raymond.

Even so, the word MAYOR on the pin attached to the chest of his official uniform was enough to remind everyone that this elderly man was not someone to be underestimated.

“My Lord, I agree with Lord Raymond's opinion. Why should we concern ourselves with someone as insignificant as him? He doesn't possess even the slightest ability to threaten us.”

Another elderly man, dressed in a black suit, offered his opinion.

“Even if we opened our gates wide and let him attack us, he wouldn't have anything to show for it.”

The Lords gathered there nodded silently. The two men's arguments made sense.

There were still plenty of other Lords in the New World who were far more powerful and had yet to join their alliance. Figuring out how to crush those Lords was much more important than worrying about someone who might not even survive the first Evernight.

Bang!

Kaelen slammed his fist against the table.

“Are you people even listening to me? I don't care whether those Lords attack me tonight or at any other time! I'm not afraid of them! I simply refuse to let someone who dared insult me to my face continue living!”

Kaelen glared at all the Lords seated before him.

“Adrian! He must pay for what he did! I want to see that lowlife crushed! I don't care what it takes! So tell me, what plans do you have?”

All the Lords lowered their heads. Kaelen's reaction made them realize that the conflict between him and Adrian was no longer an ordinary dispute.

It was a complicated personal matter.

“My Lord, I believe we should wait until the first Evernight arrives. That will give Adrian a taste of just how harsh this New World can be. Let him suffer under the monsters' attacks. Killing him now would only make things too easy for him.”

A man in a military uniform spoke respectfully.

“But if he doesn't survive, won't he end up dying at the hands of the monsters anyway? Where's the fun in that? How am I supposed to get my revenge?”

Kaelen gave him a contemptuous look.

“There's no need to worry about that, my Lord,” the general replied. “I'll send men to keep an eye on him.”

His plan was simple.

When Evernight arrived, zombies would attack from every direction.

And since Adrian's Shelter was nothing more than a dilapidated Greenhouse that would collapse after a single strike, the general would send troops to Adrian's location.

Their sole purpose would be to prevent Adrian from dying. They wouldn't interfere with the zombies as they tortured him.

“Let Adrian experience suffering far worse than death. After that, we'll watch him beg for death himself.”

“Your idea is brilliant!”

Kaelen couldn't suppress the broad grin spreading across his face.

Yes. The man was right. Why kill Adrian quickly? It would be far more entertaining to watch him suffer until he no longer had the strength even to beg for death!

A perfect plan!

Back at the Greenhouse.

“This is absolutely incredible! I've never enjoyed such a delicious dinner before!”

Adrian cleared the table after finishing every last bit of food in the hotpot.

Afterward, he went inside the Greenhouse and spread a blanket on the floor in one corner. Since there was nothing else inside yet, he and the young woman would have to sleep on the floor for the night.

“I've prepared a place for you. You can use it.”

After saying that, Adrian moved to the opposite corner, where the three altars stood. He didn't want the woman to think he was planning to take advantage of her.

Although Adrian didn't feel obligated to accept the woman as his guest, he had no reason to turn her away either.

She had nothing. She might not survive out there on her own.

And as a host, Adrian was accustomed to treating his guests with as much respect as he could.

“Well, are you sure you want to accept me as your guest? Aren't you afraid I'll stab you in the back and take your Shelter?”

The woman spoke from outside the Greenhouse. Although she seemed comfortable here, her body language still betrayed a certain wariness.

“If that had been your intention, you would've done it already.”

Adrian smirked and shrugged casually.

He wasn't foolish enough to let just anyone into his life without a second thought. Although the woman seemed rough around the edges, she didn't appear to have any ill intentions toward him.

Adrian then lowered himself onto the floor. He was exhausted after everything he'd been through that day. All he wanted was some rest.

Watching his behavior, the woman couldn't help wondering to herself.

Why doesn't he seem suspicious of me?

She had deliberately said those things to provoke a reaction from Adrian. However, his response had made her feel much more at ease.

But why does his attitude make me feel so strange?

At the same time, as her trust in him began to grow, she started feeling that there was something strangely familiar about this man.

Tap!

The moment the woman stepped onto the Greenhouse's steps, a notification screen appeared before Adrian.

[A new guest detected. Darla Augburn, a Lord who exchanged her Shelter for ten thousand Energy Stones, has entered your Shelter. As a reward, you will receive ten thousand Energy Stones, equal to the amount she originally possessed.]

“What?”

Adrian sprang up from the floor.

“I didn't mishear that, did I? Ten thousand Energy Stones? That's a huge amount!”

He immediately tapped through the screen to check his balance.

Sure enough, his Energy Stone balance had now increased to ten thousand one hundred.