A Sapient Race X The So-Called Overlord

This is Kevin's third time visiting the Dark Continent.

I arrived by accident the first time and stayed for about a year.

The second phase was the formal exploration, which lasted for several years.

This is the third time, and there won't be a next time, because Kevin has no intention of going back.

Over the years, it's clear that Kevin doesn't know much about the Dark Continent.

All these years combined are less than a breeze in the timeline of the Dark Continent.

Even in terms of regional understanding, it only extends from the initial landing point to the area around Half-Moon Bay.

Even the problems caused by the most basic Undying disease among the Dark Continent's races were only understood by humanity after suffering great losses.

So when they wanted to inquire about information related to the Dark Continent, they didn't know how to begin.

There are so many questions I want to ask, so many things I want to know.

In cases like this, it's best to leave it to the experts.

At Kevin's instruction, Piyon asked the question directly.

From your perspective, what kind of existence is humanity as a whole?

That's a very interesting question.

Faced with this question, the Dragon Turtle simply shook its head slightly before giving its answer.

"Very interesting, a race that made a very good choice."

"While I cannot determine when or where humanity originated, I do know that you humans found an archipelago in the center of the lake, built a barrier against disaster, and grew your people within it."

At this point, the Dragon Turtle shook its head again, sighing and saying with some confusion, "But I don't quite understand your concept of perpetuating your species. With so many people, yet so weak, what's the point?"

Based on the Dragon Turtle's concept of a group, he simply couldn't understand the composition of humans. They were clearly a collective, yet it seemed as if they had countless heads, each with its own thoughts.

Even though we all share one body, our heads still fight each other.

I really don't understand.

Moreover, the entire group has its strong and weak members; most individuals are extremely fragile, while extreme exceptions are powerful and top-tier.

Take Kevin, for example, standing right in front of me.

Humanity's strongest, only Lord.

Instead of protecting their own people, they go about their own business outside based on their own will.

The concept of humanity as a whole almost entirely contradicts the concept of Dragon Turtle's group.

And what is the point of having so many humans, even billions of them?

They were all like Chimera Ant.

The Dragon Turtle felt he could wipe out a large group in no time. Give him some time, and he could eliminate all the humans, leaving none alive.

Too weak.

Pure quantity.

In the Dark Continent, for a race to become powerful, quantity alone is not enough; it must also possess sufficient quality.

Therefore, even so, the Dragon Turtle believed that his race was weak.

Because only one Lord can be born, the strength of the others is difficult to improve.

Moreover, in terms of sheer numbers, the Sea Folk are quite numerous.

Within this interlayered space, the number of Sea Folk could likely reach the millions.

And each of them had around 200,000 thought-forces.

However, when faced with natural disasters, they are no different from humans.

Although the Dragon Turtle asked a question, he continued talking to himself.

Clearly, he also had a certain desire to communicate and a lack of understanding about humanity.

"However, I do know that such a number can produce some individuals with so-called talent, like you who became Lord, or like you who became decent fellows."

It's just too little, only this small amount.

The Dragon Turtle's ability demonstrates a very detailed understanding of humans.

Kevin thought to himself.

This is why Piyon asked this question.

"Do you think that the structures humans have built to protect against natural disasters are safe enough?"

This is actually quite an important issue for them.

The main issue is that the time elapsed since our ancestors built such a barrier is too long ago.

Everything becomes fragile under the erosion of time.

The Dragon Turtle shook its head at this question.

"I don't know, I don't know how you manage to isolate natural disasters, but those who have the power to isolate natural disasters will always find a way, just like us."

It's just that everyone has different ideas.

The sole purpose of isolating oneself from natural disasters is to prepare for the growth of one's own race.

But how to grow stronger? What is the purpose of this growth? And what kind of future awaits? It all depends on the choices made.

"So you know a lot about races similar to humans and yourselves, are there many of them on the Dark Continent?"

Finally, they got to the important part.

"Many will always be born."

The Dragon Turtle gave a strange answer.

"Just like those few metallic beings in your territory, I've seen them before; they used to roam around here."

"Now, under the ravages of natural disasters, only a few remain, and it is uncertain whether they can recover their population size."

"The Dark Continent has never lacked newly born Sapient Life like this. Only those that can withstand natural disasters without collapsing or being completely destroyed have the strength to gain a foothold on the Dark Continent."

Simply put, the natural disaster corresponding to the Undying disease is the Dark Continent, or rather, the first hurdle in this world.

The experience of the Dragon Turtle, or rather, this race, has led them to encounter far too many such races.

"And there are quite a few races that have established themselves and live in clusters in the surrounding area."

"I don't know about those who left the territory of the Sky Overlord, but there are already five who stayed, making six if you include them."

"That many?"

Everyone was somewhat surprised.

After all, this was the territory of the Sky Overlord, and they hadn't expected that there would be so many intelligent beings living in the Sky Overlord's territory.

"A lot? There used to be even more, but they were all driven away or annihilated by the Sky Overlord."

The Dragon Turtle said strangely, explaining that while he understood the human race through various means, he knew little about their more nuanced thoughts and ideas.

Kevin then took over the question and asked, "What exactly is this Overlord? What does it mean? And how does it view this territory?"

This is very important.

The Dragon Turtle looked at Kevin, then at the mark in his palm.

He turned slightly to the side, showing the mark etched in the center of his tortoise shell.

Are you asking about the Sky Overlord or the Overlord?

Is there any difference?

"Of course there is. The Overlord you speak of is a powerful life form, the king above us."

"Let's all speak."

Since the other party was willing to share all this information, Kevin was determined this time to get to the bottom of everything.

The Dragon Turtle remained unhurried, slowly saying, "A so-called Overlord is the ruler who controls a region. I believe you can sense that the authority granted by Overlord allows for limited regulation of the rules within that region."

Kevin nodded; he had already used that trick before.

However, it's not being used very well yet.

"This is a powerful entity that constructs the entire region based on the absolute will of an individual, which is why the regions possessed by each Overlord are different."

As he spoke, the Dragon Turtle paused, seemingly deep in thought.

"Hmm—for example, your area is near the edge of the Overlord's territory, right?"

Kevin nodded.

"Then you must have experienced it—no, you haven't."

Having caught this information, Kevin said directly, "Tell me more."

"Your location is near the Boundary, but it seems to be some distance Boundary. You occupy a very small territory."

"However, the mountain range there, the one you call the Wearer Ghost guy, is mainly responsible for defending that area."

"He must have told you that every now and then, a frosty wind would blow."

Kevin nodded; he did remember that such a thing had indeed happened.

"That's the difference between the territory of the other Overlord and ours. If you rearrange your words, you could call him the Frost Overlord, or the Ice Overlord, or something like that."

The Dragon Turtle spoke of this Frost Overlord, "It is said that in his territory, everything is covered in white snow, the air is cold, and only life forms that require such an environment can survive there."

"And this Overlord himself also controls his own territory, maintaining this frozen era."

Without waiting for Kevin to ask further questions, he said directly, "But the Sky Overlord is different. He loves the vibrant spring and the flourishing life. So our duty is to protect our territory and keep it full of life. Anyone who destroys this life is an enemy of the Sky Overlord."

"And if you maintain the vitality of your territory, or even make it better, the Sky Overlord will praise and bestow gifts upon you."

At this point, Kevin and the others immediately had their doubts resolved.

For example.

They've been here so long and have never experienced a winter.

It turns out that winter doesn't exist in this territory.

There are only vibrant spring, summer, and autumn; the so-called autumn season is actually quite short, merely the harvest season.

It must be acknowledged that such an environment is indeed very suitable for human habitation.

At this moment, Qiduo couldn't help but ask, "What kind of vibrant life?"

What if the Sky Overlord's vibrant life force is different from what they expect?

"Life, the quantity of life, the density of life, the vibrancy of the environment—you humans should be able to understand these concepts, right? I think my translation of this word is quite accurate."

The Dragon Turtle seemed to be getting a little strange as it spoke.

He thought his translation was excellent; how could any human being not understand it?

"Sorry, I was overthinking it."

Qiduo quickly replied.

It means exactly what it says.

This also explains some of the situations we observed earlier.

For example, the Giant Beast Kingdom, and the Golden Grassland.

These two areas are vast, distinctive, and absolutely meet the criteria for being vibrant and thriving.

Even within the Interstitial Space, the community thrived, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was full of vitality.

The only place lacking vitality was the Spike Mountain Wearer Ghost.

But he also provided some protection for the life within his mountains and had the responsibility of shielding them from the cold winds of the Boundary.

Imprisoning his own kin Slash Ghost, was indeed going too far.

Indiscriminate slaughter is unacceptable.

Therefore, the Devouring Sand Worm vast deserts are the kind of creatures that the Sky Overlord hates the most.

He must personally hunt him down.

For creatures like Devouring Sand Worm that need to devour life, the territory of the Sky Overlord is practically a buffet.

Are there no other Overlord around?

"No, the only adjacent one Frost Overlord; the other directions are not connected to other Overlord."

"You're overthinking it. Not every region is occupied by Overlord. Overlord also occupy territory according to their own preferences."

"Other places might be occupied by Lord like you and me, or perhaps—let me think, how do I translate that word?"

The Dragon Turtle explained, then paused, deep in thought.

Really.

Kevin couldn't help but nod.

There is another rank between Overlord and Lord.

Otherwise, the leap from Lord to Overlord would be too exaggerated; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it's a meteoric rise.

In this world, the progress and sublimation of life still require a gradual process.

"Monarch, yes, that's a more suitable word. You should understand, right?"

The Dragon Turtle suddenly spoke.

Several people fell silent, carefully considering the meaning of the word.

In a general sense, Monarch can indeed be considered the superior of Lord.

The title of Overlord is indeed stronger than that of Monarch, after all, it refers to a regional hegemon.

"In this place lies a region ruled by three Monarch of the same Monarch."

As he spoke, he began to draw a map.

The water flow combined in mid-air to form a simplified map.

They simply marked their locations.

It's probably in the northwest of their territory, the domain of the Sky Overlord.

That's all I know; I don't know anything beyond that.

To be honest, these are more than enough. If they were to collect them slowly, it would take forever.

Are there many Lords in an Overlord territory?

Kevin asked.

"If it's someone like you or me, then there aren't many. I don't know the exact number, but it's probably no more than twenty."

Twenty is not a small number.

To be honest, it was a bit more than Kevin had thought.

"If they're not recognized by the Overlord, then there are many more; I know of over forty."

Wow, so many!

Kevin was genuinely surprised, mainly because he had already measured one side of the Overlord's territory.

He had already personally surveyed the coastal area's Boundary.

Extending from the Unmanned Stone Range all the way to the Spike Mountain Range, this distance should be the coastal border of the Overlord Region.

Based on the map the other party just drew...

If we compare Overlord's territory to a rectangle, this is only the width; the inward length is much longer than one might imagine.

Is the area near the coast here rather desolate?

Kevin could only think of it this way, so he asked.

The Dragon Turtle nodded.

"Compared to the inland areas, it is indeed more desolate, after all, even the canopy of the World Tree cannot cover this side."

World Tree?

Yes, the World Tree.

This is a place mentioned in the New World Travelogue, but Dong had never been there; he only mentioned it briefly in the book.

However, unlike others, Jin obtained some clues while traveling through the human world and exploring various ancient books.

Our ancestors must have known about this.

According to the Dragon Turtle, there is a World Tree in the territory of the Sky Overlord.

"The World Tree, I've heard of it, what's it like?"

"I don't know, I've never seen it."

Haven't you seen it before?

Hearing this, Kevin felt somewhat regretful and nodded helplessly.

He was quite interested in this.