"Didi I think we lost them for good." One of the rear guards came to report.

In the dead of night they finally seemed to have made it to the promise-land. For 2 years they struggled. They ran form the Dwarves when their village was attacked, and then it was a constant run. One good thing came from all of this, they stopped fighting amongst themselves. All the tribes united, but they were still no match for the dwarves, and all they could do was run. So they ran, together through the forest Afana. There was no time to rest; the forest was a place only the strong survived. Filled with monsters, and beasts, it was not a place they could survive in. All they could do was move forward, through the forest in hopes of a safe haven.

Didi's father, the old chief told the people of a promise-land beyond the forest. A safe haven where the monsters never attacked, where the wild berries grew plentifully, with plenty of large Boak trees to build their tree-houses.

Holding on to this single hope, the people moved forward. Everyone knew this was a lie, her father had told the people what they needed to hear, but they hoped none the less. And it seems their prayers have been answered, they have reached a land just as her father described. A sense of relief and confusion filled her to her core.

"We'll set up camp here. Don't relax, take turns keeping watch." She ordered the men waiting in front of her. After they went to work on her order, she took a deep sigh and collapsed to the ground.

The monsters that chased them for the last two days seemed to have stopped when they reached this Promised Land. This area seems to be uninhabited by beasts or intelligent beings. There is also many herbs, fruits, nuts and plants growing plentifully here.

It would be great if we can finally settle down... Any further north and they’ll hit the base of the mountain range.

The Dwarves are expanding their territory, thus many of the forest creatures of the west are either being enslaved or massacred.

These Lukluks escaped their cruel fate and had traveled many miles east to reach this land. The mountains would not suit their life style of farming berries and living in large trees. The Zegalian Mountains are also known for its Dragon tribes; they can only seek the life of a slave there. To the east are the human settlements.

After she had her little rest, she hoisted herself up.

Reaching the people setting up the camps, she clapped her hands to get their attention.

These were the type of camps they had built for the last 2 years. Knowing full well they can't stick around in one place for too long, the people have developed new ways of setting tents that could be abandoned on the fly without a second thought. Their hopes of building a new home seemed a distant dream only a day ago, and maybe… it is still too early to conclude otherwise.

To them, she spoke. It was a bit too early to say these words she thought, but she's been yearning to say these words since they abandoned their homes 2 years ago.

"My father spoke of a Promised Land 2 years ago when the Dwarves attacked, and so we fled to the forest with hearts filled with hope. Into the forest, deeper and further than we had ever traveled since our ancestors came to Iacta on the Turtle Spirit. Everyone, the time for running is over! We will be building our new homes here! Don't put up those tents Tutu, build the ones you used to build. I want to see those creative and weird things you called your home. Our new life starts now and here!"

The people looked to her dumbfounded, as if she had told them she ate the moon. Then it irrupted.

"OOEEEE!"

Cheering came from the people who heard her. So far they had survived, today they live.

They weren't the strongest creatures in this world, so a safe place was lucky to say the least.

While everyone else was setting up camp she walked around a bit, and enjoyed the scenery. The Lukluk’s had amazing eyesight even in the dark.

The great Zegalian Mountain to the north of them looked amazing. She thought of what could be beyond it; none had crossed the mountains, and come back to tell about it. Monsters they could not imagine lived beyond it.

She took a seat on the bended root of a tree, and looked up. The starry sky covered the world in its twinkle.

"How small we are to the sprits.” The gentle wind freshened her spirits. “Finally after 2 years of running we can live again Dad." In a quiet whisper she let the wind carry her thoughts away.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of her late father, and the hardships they went through in the Dwarves’ hands.

She felt a bit lonely mulling through all these memories under the twinkle of the stars.

She went back to the campsite, where everyone had started drinking in celebration. They talked about the great city that will be built. A much larger and grander city than the little tribes they left behind.

In her celebration she even pulled over Juju the architect with a broad smile.

"You know that weird plan you drew up, we're going to build it."

“Aaa~ Really!?”

“Yeah, really.”

Everyone drank grape-berry juice till they felt like puking, and some kept drinking even after that. This was the most fun they've had in years.

But this celebration and joy didn’t last long.

When morning came they found themselves surrounded by all kinds of creatures, they even saw an undead skeleton among them. They soon realized all their routes of escape was cut off. The undead wearing a general uniform told them to stay put, and await their judgment from the Master.

"All we can do is wait and see what the enemy wants of us." Didi said as her optimism drained away.

Is it our destiny to be slaves, or to reach extinction? Is there nothing else for us in this world? To be enslaved, that's the only option the strong ever gives.

Some of the Lukluk people had already been enslaved by the dwarves, she hoped to one day rescue them, but it seems like that day will never come.

♦♦♦

There was still a week to go before the 3rd, so I was taking it easy. I was sleeping when a knock came from the door.

"Wait a minute."

I turned on the mana lights, and struggled to get off the bed.

"Master Verra we need your guidance." Sweet Rosey, can't you see I'm tired and sleepy.

I spent the last week just between the lab at Data-House and just chilling in this Cave. Amazing things are happening at the lab. There are NPCs I assigned to building a car, and to creating the internet. There should be plenty of books about everything in the library, so hopefully they can get it done, though we don't have fossil fuels. Then again maybe that’s for the best.

I got dressed and opened the door, and there was Rosey in her guard uniform. She was originally one of the guards of Otnorot city, but I switched her to my assistant after coming here.

A lot of NPCs were guards, because strong or weak the NPCs cost the same, and I ended up making a lot of level 100 NPCs when I built the base.

The strongest NPCs I have are level 350, or 351 now. I always made a new batch of NPCs when my levels increased by 50, though there were some exceptions. I was planning of making more when I reached level 400 but it’s too late now. I don't know how to without the CAD tools available in the game. There’s one good news, the NPCs can gain levels, before in the game they couldn't but now they can. When I passed around the Unholy Grail; they all gained 1 level in Deathless, so now all my NPCs are immortal - at least in terms of age. That's the problem with the Deathless class, you're immortal from level 1 but not youthful; I'll need to figure out how to get them the 2nd level somehow.

In the game all the immortal classes ever did was increase your HP, and MP. All that backstory crap was just that, crap.

"Rosey what is it? So early in the morning."

"There seems to invaders within our forest Afana."

"Invaders!?"

"We captured all of them Master Verra. It seems they were trying to steal the Shigley herb."

That herb’s really useful for recovery potions.

"Is that so? Where are they form?"

"We're not sure Master Verra, they might be form the south or west."

"You don't know then."

"We're terribly sorry Master Verra. Should I send word to interrogate them?"

"It's fine, there's no need for that. Let's go meet these prisoners."

I told them to detain anyone that came into our forests without permission, and only attack in self-defense. Who would be stupid enough to invade our forests? It must be that they don't know about our rule; then it's my fault for keeping it a secret. It couldn't be helped, no good puppet master lets people know he rules the world, or that he even exists. This would all be so much easier if I had mind control powers.

"Rosey let's have some coffee first."

I'm nothing without my morning coffee.

▼▼▼

I poured myself some coffee while I tried to remember where the Afana forest was.

We took control of almost everything around the mountain range. There is the forest to the north of the mountain range, and to the south. I went out into the balcony with my cup of coffee. The view is great from the 4th floor of the Cave, it directly overlooks the northern forest.

"Clarify again where they are?"

They shouldn't be too tough if the level 100s could capture them. The highest level I’ve seen in this world was 60, and that was a dragon. The highest level on a human was 53.

Most races maxed out their race class, and was at least level 10 by the time they were adults, but any other classes they had were barely level 5; making the average level around 15.

Matter of fact I noticed the woman usually have higher levels, racking up points in cooking, knitting, and all those everyday tasks. But they don’t increase their stats by much, and they’re practically useless in a fight.

"The other side of the mountain Sir."

"I see… Yeah this side has too many monsters for them I suppose."

The monsters on this side reach around level 40, but like the difference between beastman and humans, the stats were just too different.

My cave was built on the side of the mountain with a lot of monsters and away from human eyes.

There is a human owned estate close to the mountain, it's really a village of works that work for the company Violet Wood.

There is a small Dwarf Kingdom far to the west, there are elves in this continent, but apparently from the Intel we gathered, they’re from another continent called Arbol. They have no nation of their own in this continent.

I still haven't launched a full on investigation into other continents yet, but almost everything in this continent is well recorded. Including the islands to the north.

The northern forest area is only occupied by monsters, and now us. No one but us can deal with the monsters here. So it's pretty much under our command. Since the monsters around this side of the mountain keep people away, no one seems to have noticed. And the other side, on paper it's owned by Violet Wood, but the owner is just a figure head for our trading deals. Well they didn't own the whole forest before, only had control of a small area before we came in and took over, so they should be thankful. But it's understandable if he's not; I killed his father and we're pretty much holding his wife and kid hostage. I do need to think of a way to replace him with someone that isn't just obedient because of fear.

"Did you tell the invaders my name?"

"No, Master Verra. We know how much you like your privacy."

"I see. That’s good."

Who should I appear as, for these people, I can't be the old man because I am using him for that plan. Maybe the 'Big bold guy with scars all over his head', 'cool young guy with cool hair' is pretty good too...

You only have 7 forms you need to be careful how you use them.

I'll go with the werewolf form, it's not every day I get to use that one. I should use that form more with strange fantasy creatures. Plus the forest is owned by Violet Wood, and when I met Evals I was in the werewolf form. So I'll be the werewolf again, in case these creatures end up meeting the people working for the company.

"Alright, I'll be going as Yug Ynapmoc please prepare my clothing."

We were able to prepare everything, and get there before the sun reached the center of the sky. I brought a few escorts along because of Rosey's nagging.

"So you've chosen to go as the ugly dog instead of the messy haired, dead eyed human today, Master Verra."

What!? I-i-is the werewolf form that ugly, and why does everyone say that about my character design. I thought the messy hair was kind of charming-ish, in an ‘I don't care kind of way’, and I'm too lazy to actually fix it.

Is it Skullgen's settings that make him say awful things to me, why would I make settings like that?

"Hm~ cough* yeah... Where are they, the invaders?"

Skullgen's the commander of these troops assigned to defend this forest.

"They set up camp over there." He pointed west, deeper into the forest. "We have them surrounded Master Verra. Under my watch they won't be going anywhere. Completely locked in. A cage made of my army. Nowhere to run. All they can do is stay put. There will be no escape for them. Their army is flimsical and flaccid. It would be absolute suicide to try and escape. Fools completely trapped in a web I set up. No conceivable wa-"

"Alright I get it. Good job Skullgen. I'll take it from here, just lead me to their camp."

He can go on forever if you let him.

"Yes! Please allow me. Allow me to lead. This way. This way is the shortest. The camp is only a few feet away. Here we are, this is the camp. They’re all trapped in there. Right over there-"

“Alright! Where’s their leader.”

I saw many little huts that were too small for humans to fit in, in front of me.

"We have their leader over here Master Verra. Waiting for her judgment. Sitting in silence. We separated her from the rest. She's in their alone, waiting. With nothing to-"

"Alright I get it Skullgen. I'll go talk to her."

There was a large wooden house clearly setup by the NPCs. Which could've only been done this quickly with intermediate magic, or higher. When I entered the wooden house, I saw a cute plush toy.

This creature, a Lukluk, had round cheeks, roundish hands like a baby Bear cub and round bodies. Its eyes were like a baby’s, the proportion to its head was incorrect, but cute. Its serious expression turned grimmer at the sight of a large werewolf, which made it look even fluffier; I couldn't help but smile. I took the seat across it.

I noticed that its seat had a cushion. Normal chairs were just too large for the thing, it couldn’t reach the table sitting on them, thus the cushion. The NPCs must have given it the cushion.

"Master Yug Ynapmoc the owner of these forests, has kindly taken the time to meet you fools, the Lukluk's, who had unlawfully invaded his forest."

The Lukluk seemed afraid, and wanted to interrupt the introduction. I showed my hand before Skullgen could repeat his introduction again.

"So you are the leader of the people I saw at the campsite.” I only caught a few glimpses of them. Seeing one up close is… “My subordinate here told me your people tried to steal the Shigley herb. Now you must understand that is a crime against me, so how do you plan to compensate?"

"Master Yug Ynapmoc I would like to first say it's a great honor to meet you. I am Didi and as you already mentioned, I am the leader of the Lukluks. But let me please explain! We are not thieves. And we would surely not try to invade your land master Yug Ynapmoc." She looked around at the guards around me, their gears alone would intimidate anyone in this world. "We are refuges escaping from our home. And we mistook this land to be free territory, but we will leave immediately. We humbly ask for your pardons."

She's sounds honest.

I didn't think you were invaders or thieves either, but now that I’ve already asked for compensations… you have to pay up something. I can't just let you leave after I said all that.

Subjugation will cause the same problem we have with the Dragons.

"Where will you go?"

If you're refuges who are on the run, in this world you must have no place to go.

This might be the first time I can get some workers. The goblins were stupid and kept opposing until I killed enough of them that they ran away. The monsters had no intelligence. The dragons that lived previously on the mountain had to be subjugated, since I can't let people who know the Cave’s location just fly around.

To think they’re already having secret meetings; they’ll have to be killed some time soon.

These things in front of me could be hired as workers, if they are intelligent enough. But I understand why they would want to leave after finding out I own this place.

Didi was mulling over the question with a saddened expression.

"We don't have a home right now, but we hope to find a place to settle down further east."

"I own the entire forest you know. That's why the goblins moved to the plains." Didi got surprised and her wide eyes bulged even more, but she couldn’t say anything. "Will you go to the other side of the mountain?" I own that too but no reason to tell you that.

Didi shuddered with that one.

"Is it that fun to tease us?"

Yeah it would be too hard for a race with your level to enter that place.

"Then how about you work for me?" That look is adorable. She seems so confused. "Since you don't have a home, how about you live here and work for me. In a sense you'll be paying tax to live within my property, all you'll have to do is gather surrounding herbs and the like when the season is right. Most of this forest isn't worked on anyway, and just goes unpicked. You can use the basic resources here and live here, but you'll have to pay a certain amount to me each year."

She thought over my proposal. I thought it was a no-brainer, you get a home, and I get a few workers.

"What you say makes sense, is it fine if I talk to my people before we decide."

"Sure, no problem. How much time do you need?"

"Just a few hours. 1 hour, that'll be all we need."

"Humm... Okay. I'll wait here then."

After Didi left, I let Rosey know that if they agree I'll be putting her in charge of the new village.

“You should help them build the village. You did a great job with the Cave, so I think you’ll be perfect for this. Make sure you keep track of how much raw goods they need, and try to find an appropriate tax for them based on the amount of workers and how much they can harvest."

"Understood, Master Verra. I'll make you proud."

You always make me proud Rosey. If they agree my job will be done, I'll leave them here to do whatever they want and later if useful and talented individuals are among them I'll appoint them to better suited work.

Didi came back within 30 minutes and accepted my deal. I told her to discuss everything with Rosey.

I assigned a few guards to protect them, and help around with anything they needed. Also told Rosey to secretly observe each one of them, and send me a report.

"The report doesn’t need to be long, just their general personalities and so forth, also keep track of their breeding habits."

"Understood, Master Verra." She whispered back to me.

With that I went back to my Cave. For any of this to show results it’s going to take a few years, it’s good I'm immortal.

Then I went to Data-House to check up on how the progress for the car was going. I didn't want to use the mana crystals in the treasury, so we were currently trying to find a new fuel source. Mana crystals existed in this world, but they were rare, and I only saw them in items. I haven’t found any mana crystal mines.

There’s one in the kingdom of Nolybab. I can't overthrow a whole country without raising a few eye brows, so new fuel sources are being tested. Animal fats, vegetation oils and so forth. The fuel is the main setback for the engine, because the other parts can be somewhat mimicked using magic craftsmanship. The steering is coming along pretty well, though it's powered by human mana through the steering wheel. It's fine for now, but it's no good long term. The type of engine on earth isn't even needed if we use mana. That’s why I rather not use mana all together; if I was going to use mana a simple flight spell would be a lot cheaper in terms of mana cost.

Well internet is facing similar problems, without electricity and a way to build semiconductors it's impossible. For now I'm thinking of building a power plant near the northern waterfall. Use hydraulic energy, and then use that as power source for the rest of my R&D. You have to create light bulbs before you can get to computers.

Before in the game, running through mana crystals were fine, but now using the labs had to be limited. Thankfully the city on the first floor isn't run that way, instead everything was built using special real world cash items. Though they aren't replaceable, they don't run out of energy, there is literally a sky, sun and weather generated due to the game-program that still seems to work even after the game became reality. I had to pay a stupid amount when it was a game but now that it's real, I'm getting my money's worth.

I was using the magic labs for building magic robot suits and other crazy stuff. Turning what was mostly a magic lab into an actual scientific laboratory has been a challenge. There are areas called chemistry department, physics department and etc. But they were just there for artistic reasons till a year ago.

I spent the next day in an expedition to find a good spot to build the future power plant. Using the iron mines and ferromagnetism books we have, we can hopefully make enough magnets; it’s already succeeded with small scale tests. I pretty much wasted the rest of my time coming up with measurements and locations for the future power plant with the NPCs who have architectural and engineering classes. Coming up with plans on how to build it and so forth wasted a lot of time but we couldn’t reach any conclusions, but they seemed to be working really hard on it.

They'll have more reports for me to read in no time.