Deep within the Black Swamp.
Bubbles churned in the rotting silt, releasing a nauseating stench of swamp gas.
This was a forbidden land untouched by sunlight.
Normally, it was a paradise for poisonous insects and water monsters, but tonight, the atmosphere was so oppressive it felt frozen.
Inside a crude hall constructed from the bones of giant beasts, a secret meeting was being held regarding the power structure of the outer reaches of the Eternal Night Peninsula.
Rather than a meeting, it was more like a gathering of bandits full of hostility, ready to divide the spoils.
"Roar! (I won't do it!)"
Saak, the lizardman leader, lay prone on the ground, his scales trembling. His tail (though it had been severed) was tucked between his legs, and his voice was as shrill as a duck being strangled.
"I'm not going! You can kill me, but I'm still not going!"
"That place is hell! That doctor is a devil!"
"You haven't seen that lamp! The lamp made from a living person! He's still alive! He's still breathing!"
As Saak spoke, he gestured wildly as if that terrifying image were right before his eyes.
After moving overnight to escape back to the swamp, he had suffered from nightmares for three straight days.
His dreams were filled with that man in a white lab coat, holding a chainsaw and smiling as he asked, "Your tail looks a bit crooked. Does it need a trim?"
It was too terrifying.
He would rather take on a dragon single-handedly than look at that man again.
"Useless."
A cold snort like muffled thunder rang out.
Sitting in the primary seat was a massive creature standing five meters tall.
The Cyclops Lord, Gorm.
His body was a mass of knotted muscle, his skin as hard as rock, and the single, enormous eye in the center of his face flickered with a light of greed and tyranny.
He held a dripping femur (it was unclear from what creature) in his hand, cursing indistinctly as he gnawed on it.
"Saak, you’ve lost all face for us monsters."
"Scared to this extent by a mere human mage?"
Gorm spat out a fragment of bone and curled his lip in disdain.
"Living streetlights? A chainsaw butcher? I bet those are just ghost stories you made up to cover for your incompetence!"
"Exactly."
A sharp voice of agreement came from the side.
A harpy, twice the size of her ordinary kin with feathers of a strange purple hue, perched on a withered branch. She stared at Saak with malicious eyes.
The newly appointed Harpy Queen, Bloodfeather.
The previous leader, Windwing, had crashed into a tree and been captured during the last air raid (later becoming one of Victor’s experimental materials). Bloodfeather had only just taken power.
Although she had heard of that castle’s terrifying anti-aircraft fire, her hatred and greed clearly outweighed her reason.
"Saak, have you forgotten how rich that doctor is?"
Bloodfeather extended her sharp claws and snatched at the air, as if grabbing countless gold coins.
"That stuff called 'Happy Water' is already being sold at astronomical prices outside!"
"A single bottle goes for a hundred gold coins! And even then, it’s almost impossible to find!"
"That damn goblin Gold Tooth carries out several crates of water every day and comes back with bags of gold and magic cores!"
At the mention of "Happy Water," the breathing of every monster present grew heavy.
Even the trembling Saak had a flicker of greed in the depths of his eyes.
In this resource-starved hellhole, who didn't want to get rich?
Who didn't want to sleep on a pile of gold coins every day?
"That goblin is just an errand boy."
Gorm the Cyclops crushed the femur in his hand, a terrifying light erupting from his single eye.
"The real gold mine is inside that castle."
"As long as we break in, seize the formula, and capture that doctor..."
"All the money! All the Happy Water! It will all be ours!"
"But..."
Saak was still hesitant; the shadow in his heart was simply too large.
"The defenses there are very strong... and there's that little girl who likes to snip people..."
"Defenses?"
Gorm sneered and stood up.
His massive frame cast a large shadow over the ground, radiating an intense pressure.
"No matter how strong the defenses are, can they stop the three of us combined?"
"I have already gathered a thousand Cyclops warriors!"
"Bloodfeather, what about your people?"
"Two thousand harpies, standing by at any moment," Bloodfeather replied proudly. "This time we won't fly so high. We'll strike from a low altitude. I don't believe his tubes can hit us through the woods!"
"I... I've also gathered five hundred lizardman warriors..." Saak said weakly.
"That’s more like it!"
Gorm slammed a fist onto the stone table, smashing the thousand-pound boulder into dust.
"An army of three thousand five hundred!"
"Even if it were a fortress of the human regular army, we would level it!"
"A mere clinic? A mere human?"
"We could drown him with just our spit!"
Gorm looked around, the fire of ambition burning in his single eye.
It wasn't just for the money.
It was for territory.
That doctor had been expanding too quickly lately, turning the surrounding forest into his "herb fields" and "pastures."
If this continued, old-guard lords like them would eventually have nothing left.
They had to eradicate this threat while his foothold was still unstable!
"Hear my command!"
Gorm raised his massive fist and let out a war roar.
"Prepare tonight!"
"At dawn tomorrow, when the mist is thickest, launch the general offensive!"
"Kill all his subordinates! Plunder all his money! Capture that doctor and make him my private chef!"
"ROAR!!!"
"KILL!!!"
Roars echoed through the swamp one after another.
Greed, jealousy, and tyranny.
These negative emotions intertwined, transforming into a black torrent called "war" that surged quietly in the night.
They swore a blood oath.
They sharpened their blades.
They firmly believed that in the face of absolute numerical superiority, any clever tricks were mere paper tigers.
That so-called "Pale Demon" would become nothing but mud under their feet tomorrow.
Meanwhile.
Benevolent Heart Clinic, the Director's office on the top floor of the castle.
Victor was not asleep.
He sat at his large desk, holding a cup of steaming coffee, leisurely flipping through a copy of "Illustrated Guide to Abyss Creatures."
Soothing classical music flowed through the room, and the firelight in the fireplace flickered, casting a long shadow of him.
The world was at peace.
"Director."
A cold, synthesized electronic voice suddenly rang out in the room, breaking the silence.
"What is it, Helena?"
Victor didn't even look up, gently turning a page of the book.
"The radar has detected abnormal signals."
Helena's voice remained devoid of any fluctuation, as if she were reporting tomorrow's weather.
"Bearing: Southwest, in the direction of the Black Swamp."
"A large number of high-energy biological signatures are gathering. Mana fluctuations are intense."
"Preliminary estimate of numbers... over three thousand."
"Oh?"
Victor closed the book and finally looked up.
He adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, a playful curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Three thousand?"
"That is quite... a grand gesture."
He reached out and tapped the air a few times.
Hum—
A large holographic map materialized above the desk.
It was the system's built-in 【Full-Area Monitoring Radar】.
In the southwest corner of the map, an area that had been pitch black was now lit up with a dense cluster of red dots.
Those light points seemed to be drawn by some magnetic force, rapidly converging into a massive torrent.
Even through the screen, one could feel the oncoming murderous intent and greed.
"Are they... forming a raid group to farm me as a boss?"
Victor took a sip of coffee, his tone as relaxed as if he were watching a farce.
He had expected this day would come.
Through the massive profits of Happy Water, the popularity of monster offal, and the clinic's ever-growing influence.
All of this was constantly grating on the nerves of the local lords.
To cut off someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents.
Furthermore, he was snatching meat right out of these bandits' bowls.
It would be strange if they didn't come to risk their lives.
"Commander, do we need to activate the Level 1 defense protocol?"
Helena asked.
"Or should I conduct a 'firepower reconnaissance'?"
"No rush."
Victor waved his hand.
He looked at the cluster of dots on the map—so red they were turning purple—and there wasn't a trace of fear in his eyes.
Instead...
They held the joy one feels when seeing a bountiful harvest.
"Three thousand units..."
He silently calculated the account in his mind.
"Cyclopes are thick-skinned and sturdy; they are top-tier materials for creating 'stitched abominations.'"
"Harpies have high mobility; they can be used to expand the 'air force' or for extracting flight genes."
"Lizardmen... well, although they're a bit weak, they have numbers on their side. The clinic just happens to be short on a batch of coolies for mining lately."
"How is this an army?"
"This is clearly a... gift pack delivered right to our door!"
Victor stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
Outside, the night was deep, and the darkness before dawn was at its thickest.
But through his 【True Sight Eye】, this darkness contained infinite business opportunities.
"Helena."
"Send out the word. All staff vacations are canceled."
"Alice, sharpen your scissors."
"Elizabeth, prepare more anesthetic. We'll need a large dose this time."
"Mia... tell her to eat her fill first. I don't want her gnawing on the 'materials' and ruining them later."
Victor looked out the window, where the large red cross emblem emitted a faint, cold light in the night.
He set down his empty coffee cup and straightened his spotless white lab coat.
On his face, he wore a professional, angelic, and holy (nuclear-kind) smile.
"So many guests have traveled from so far away."
"If we let them leave empty-handed, wouldn't it make our Benevolent Heart Clinic seem quite rude?"
"Let's get ready."
"This is the legendary..."
"Collective registration."
Rate on N.U.
