Chapter 804: Pentagon Fort & Paradise Valley

The five fortresses in the Untamed Jungle formed a pentagon. They were called Pentagon Fort and established a large safe zone where various resource areas were formed.

Hundreds of ranches and small farms spread through the safe zone, which connected to each fortress, but that was only the beginning. The ranches with livestock and farms with highly nutritious crops were merely the tip of the iceberg. The entire safe zone had dozens of rows filled with various fruit trees and crops that evolved under the influence of the Untamed Jungle, the Greater Nature Tree, the Forest Pixies, and the special treatment the farmers, Botanic Magician, and others provided.

After months of research and various experiments, the Botanic Magicians and other researchers found a particular mutated plant resembling weeds. However, it was too valuable to be called weeds. It was named Nourberry even though it didn't look like a berry. But that was of no importance. The most important was the Nourberry's effect.

The Nourberry absorbed a tremendous amount of the surrounding energy and nutrition to grow from a fingertip-sized leaf into small shrubs of weeds. A single leaf from Nourberry was enough to fill the stomach of a Titan Pig for 48 hours, yet there was more to it. The nutrition in Nourberry leaves was more potent than ordinary nutrients. They accelerated the maturity of Titan Pigs by one-quarter.

Rebecca had ordered the construction of several Nourberry farms. At the same time, she told the researchers to focus on improving the Nourberry farms. The Nourberry production ought to be accelerated, and the final product should be enhanced. That would probably take a while, but it was possible.

Besides the Nourberry farms, Michael learned that more plant life in his territory evolved under the influence of the Greater Nature Spirit. Of course, the energy density in the Untamed Jungle and its highly nutritious soil aided plant life's evolution and mutation as well, but the Greater Nature Spirit actively influenced the changes.

It navigated the plant life in Michael's territory precisely.

The Greater Nature Spirit communicated with Rebecca through their mediator - the Forest Pixies, and Hiraku - to improve the infrastructure of various buildings.

At the same time, Tatjana joined their mission to evolve certain plants, creating plants with stronger effects. Most plants couldn't be found in the outskirts of the Untamed Jungle due to how exotic they were, but with Tatjana and the Greater Nature Spirit's guidance, it was possible.

Numerous plans were adjusted to improve the livelihood of the plant life in the surroundings, which resulted in various advantageous mutations, and the creation of new plants like the Nourberry.

Michael had always been interested in the powers of the Greater Nature Spirit and the effects of the Untamed Jungle. It was well known that the Untamed Jungle's presence was enough to accelerate the growth of flora and fauna. Everything reached maturity several times faster in the Untamed Jungle than anywhere else. That was also part of why the Untamed Jungle was perfect for creating numerous small farms and ranches. Even the smallest ranches were better than most mid-sized farms in wide-open plain regions.

Michael could tell that a single ranch produced enough livestock for more than ten thousand subjects if they only ate meat for an entire month. The meat produced in his ranches was highly nutritious and filled with energy. It was too potent for most Tierless subjects. Fortunately, Lokai managed to make some great deals by exchanging some Titan Boar corpses with various lower-ranked pig, cow, and bull corpses once a week.

The tierless pigs, cows, and bulls had the perfect nutritious values and more than enough energy for Tierless Summons and children. The Tierless subjects in Michael's territory wouldn't be harmed by the floods of highly potent nutrients and energy that way. By trading with the corpses of livestock, Michael managed to feed more subjects without any additional effort. The only 'problem' was they relied on the trading cycle. There weren't any extra costs, but their territory wasn't completely independent in that way.

Michael wasn't too worried about that, but he would have to make some adjustments about that in the future.

The trading cycle expanded once Michael began trading meat, Titan Pig hide, bones, and so forth. The bones, hide, and intestines were very valuable for the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, who could transform the bones and hide into weapons. The intestines were a delicacy. The part of the Titan Pigs contained the monster's accessible origin energy.

The origin energy within a monster core couldn't be absorbed and digested, but the Titan Pigs' intestines differed. The energy compressed within their intestines was not only purified but also easily digestible as long as their body could withstand heat and pressure.

The Pentagon Fort's farms and ranches were the sole reason Rebecca and others could expand aggressively into Paradise Valley. The Untamed Jungle provided enough resources to stockpile food and further develop their farms, ranches, and research into more dependable food sources. But that was not all. The Untamed Jungle had more up to its sleeves, including the Elemental Empire, the Underground Forging Hall, the deeper parts of the Untamed Jungle where millions of monsters slaughtered each other because there were too many monsters and too little space for everyone, and the connection to the Valyr.

Of course, the Untamed Jungle also hidden the Temple of the Forgotten next to the Underground Forging Hall, but Michael intentionally ignored these ruins for the time being. He had enough to worry about and was not blessed with the luxury of spending years researching ancient ruins.

The Temple of the Forgotten would be an essential topic in the future. Michael could tell that the ancient ruin would eventually become a crucial point in his territory expansion. But he had yet to reach that point. There was still some time left for that.

Instead of focusing on the Temple of the Forgotten, which was still a few levels above him, Michael turned to the reports and comments about Paradise Valley.

While Pentagon Fort had only five settlements, each was nearly 80% filled. Pentagon Fort housed a total of 1.2 million Summons.

In the meantime, Paradise Valley had ten city-like settlements, yet none was nearly overflowing with Summons. It wouldn't be a problem to house one million Summons in each settlement, but only 2.1 million Summons were spreading out to find a lovely home to settle down.

Not even 25% of the settlements in Paradise Valley were filled. Not even 20% were occupied because most Summons were workers who traveled around building more settlements.

That would change in the near future. It was only a matter of time before the ten settlements built near the center of Paradise Valley would overflow with Summons. Rebecca and others chose to prevent an overflow of the population by continuing the construction of more settlements. They had more than enough space, and it was not like they lacked anything.

They had yet to reach the outskirts of Paradise Valley and could construct enough city-sized settlements, but also smaller settlements for other purposes than housing.

Soon enough, Paradise Valley's workers would start building fortresses near the passages Michael had planned to create before his ascension. He had yet to create them, but that was only a matter of time.

Rebecca and the Starheaven Pharaoh knew about his plan and proposed eight paths to enter and leave Paradise Valley since the valley was close to the center of the Sacred Desert. Once they desired to expand outside Paradise Valley, they would have a much easier time with paths in all directions.

Of course, the Blazing Sand Mountain Range would protect them from invaders, diminishing the efficiency and utility of fortresses near the paths leading inside and outside Paradise Valley. Still, it was better not to rely too much on the Primal Phoenix.

It was never good to be forced to rely on someone's goodwill, not entirely, at least.

Michael didn't expect the Starheaven Pharaoh to be so adamant about constructing fortresses at the entrance and exit of the passages in the Blazing Sand Mountain Range. He thought that the Starheaven Pharaoh trusted Nyx, the Primal Phoenix, with his life. However, trusting someone and relying on someone with the lives of millions wasn't the same.

Michael wondered about the exact relationship between the Starheaven Pharaoh and the Primal Phoenix. He knew that the Primal Phoenix was small when the Starheaven Pharaoh ruled a part of the Sacred Desert, which was more than a mere Beginner Region, and that they had some past, but that was it.

Taking his trusted subjects' opinions into consideration, Michael decided it was a good idea to establish massive fortresses at the entrance of each passage. But there was more to it. Each entrance to the BLazing Sand Mountain Range and the exit - the entrances to Paradise Valley - would have massive fortresses. That way, Michael could ensure that Paradise Valley would be nearly impossible to invade.

Obviously, a powerhouse capable of bulldozing the fortresses and the powerful Summons and Awakened guarding them could quickly enter Paradise Valley. But if someone strong enough to steamroll his fortresses appeared, even the Primal Phoenix would have issues removing such a threat.

Fortunately, such a scenario was for the future. The Sacred Desert was, quite literally, a Beginner Zone. Only a handful of Higher Lifeforms in the Sacred Desert existed before the Undead Pharaoh appeared. It was unlikely that a Divine Lifeform, stronger than the Primal Phoenix, would appear out of nowhere.

Therefore, 16 fortresses protecting eight paths, more cities, and smaller settlements in Paradise Valley were the next course of action if Michael intended to continue expanding aggressively in Paradise Valley.

Expanding aggressively required resources, a workforce, enough food and water, and various other things that were harder to procure. Even then, it would take a while to get everything ready to ensure that Paradise Valley would become the near unclaimable core of his territory in the Sacred Desert.

However, Paradise Valley was worth it.

The resources they could procure in Paradise Valley were incredible. They were far more valuable than most Lords realized.

Even Daniel Fang didn't know how valuable Paradise Valley was before Starheaven Pharaoh unraveled its deepest secret.

"...." Michael stared blankly at the 8-Star Summons.

"You are telling me that only now?"

He swallowed hard, the corner of his lips twitching, while Starheaven Pharaoh smiled vibrantly.

"That's great. You will get your very own-...."