System Activation... Failed?

System Activation... Failed?

The girl looked about twenty-five or twenty-six. Her long black hair draped down her back, giving her a carefree yet distinctive charm.

Her delicate face had skin as fair and tender as a baby's, and her features were nearly flawless.

But what drew even more attention was her icy, frosty aura. Her deep blue eyes held a distant indifference, and everything about her warned strangers to stay away.

Fiana saw Loren sitting on the floor, his eyes rimmed red.

Anger surged in her heart.

She hated that he had failed to live up to expectations.

"Loren, so what if the Fairy Bank refused to give you a loan? So what if several Nobles refused to keep supporting your pioneering efforts?

I haven't given up!! What are you crying for??"

Loren turned and glanced at the girl before him, beautiful enough to topple kingdoms, then slowly shook his head.

"You should leave first."

Fiana furrowed her brows. The anger in her heart intensified, and a terrifying pressure began to spread.

"You?!"

Feeling that pressure, Loren's face grew even paler, but his dark eyes were like unsheathed steel blades.

"Fiana, you should know your place. Now, rein in your aura!"

Having a guardian to protect one's safety was a privilege only direct descendants of great families could enjoy.

The Orchid Family was one of the foremost great families in the Silver Moon Kingdom, and Loren had originally been a direct descendant.

Furthermore, after he voluntarily gave up his inheritance rights and chose to become a Pioneer Lord in the northern borderlands, he had earned Grand Duke Orchid's favor. Thus, a particularly powerful guardian had been assigned to protect him.

Fiana was Loren's guardian, and she was a top-tier powerhouse who had reached Platinum Level.

Otherwise, when the Bloody Polluters breached the territory on Bloody Day a few days ago, the previous Loren could never have escaped those monsters alive.

But no matter how powerful she was, she had no right to glare at him like that.

The former Loren was already dead. He was not a descendant of the Orchid Family, but the eldest son of the Luo Family, a descendant of Huaxia.

She could look down coldly on the former Loren, but he would not be like his predecessor and remain silent after being scolded.

Looking into those blade-sharp eyes, Fiana felt as though Loren had become an entirely different person. Even she felt a measure of pressure from his aura.

Her emotions churned for a moment before she finally suppressed her anger, her expression still icy cold.

"Loren, I am your guardian, not your slave. I am only responsible for protecting your safety."

As she spoke, she pulled out a heavy cloth bag. Bang! The bag struck the table beside him with a dull thud.

"There are 500,000 Puke here. These are my savings from all these years. Consider this the last of what I owe you.

Since you don't want to hear me speak, then from today onward, I'll only be responsible for your safety. I won't concern myself with anything else!"

With that, she turned and left.

Bang!

Loren looked at the closed door, and the sharpness in his eyes softened.

The currency system of the Noer World was not all that different from Earth's.

The Fairy Bank, which was spread throughout the world, controlled the issuance of currency. One Puke could buy a piece of dark bread on the street, while two or three Puke were enough to fill someone's stomach.

Its purchasing power was roughly comparable to RMB. One RMB could also buy a small steamed bun.

500,000 Puke. That was equivalent to 500,000 RMB. In this turbulent world, countless people would not save that much money in an entire lifetime.

Although Fiana had reached Platinum Level, the Orchid Family only gave her a monthly allowance of 30,000 Puke. Her real benefits came in the form of armor, weapons, cultivation techniques, and the like.

With her various expenses, and considering that she was only in her twenties, it was clear that 500,000 Puke was most of her savings.

She could have simply stood by and watched. It was hardly surprising for an ordinary noble descendant with wild dreams of pioneering the Endless Wasteland to die there.

Yet when he was at his lowest, the girl had not abandoned him. She had even taken out all her savings for him.

A sharp tongue, but a soft heart.

Loren's feelings were complicated.

In his previous life, he had a net worth of over a hundred million, with more than twenty million in liquid funds available in his bank account. He had even sent money home to support his younger sister while he was still in college. Having a girl throw money at him to spend was truly an unfamiliar experience.

"So this is what it feels like to be kept??"

After Fiana's interruption, the pain of never seeing his mother and sister again eased somewhat. The wealth he had left behind was enough for his two closest relatives to live securely for the rest of their lives.

After taking several deep breaths, he barely suppressed the emotions in his heart.

He slowly stood up and shook his head with a bitter smile.

500,000 was not a small amount, but he needed to develop a territory.

If he threw a few hundred thousand into it, it probably would not even make a ripple.

Without even looking at the cloth bag, he pushed it toward the round table. Night was approaching, and the room was quite dark.

He casually picked up a fire-starting tool resembling a lighter and lit the candle on the table.

In an instant, the entire room brightened.

"A candle mixed with Magic Beast fat is no dimmer than a 200,000-watt light bulb. This is absurdly bright."

Looking at the room, bright as day, Loren sat on a stool and began thinking carefully.

Whether he sulked with Fiana or not, she was still his guardian. He could mend their relationship later.

The problem now was how he should proceed.

What he faced was an utterly rotten mess.

Several hundred thousand years ago, the Noer World had experienced a Twilight of the Gods. All the gods had fallen and perished, while the entire Noer World had been shattered in the divine war.

That war had brought enormous changes to the world. The most notable was the emergence of terrifying beings in the dimensional planes—the Bloody Polluters.

Usually, everyone remained at peace. But on the thirty-first day of every month, the ordinary moon would disappear from the sky, and the Blood Moon would rise.

Every Bloody Day, evil creatures living in the dimensional planes would crawl out through spatial rifts and launch attacks on the human cities of the Nol Main Plane.

Moreover, the larger the city, the more Bloody Polluters it would attract.

Decker City was the largest city in the northern borderlands of the Silver Moon Kingdom, and beyond it lay the vast, boundless Endless Wasteland.

The laws of the Silver Moon Kingdom stated that Pioneer Lords could freely build their own cities in the Endless Wasteland, and any city they built would belong entirely to them. Even commoners could become Nobles.

Decker City itself had been built by a Pioneer Lord three hundred years ago.

Thus, becoming a Pioneer Lord in the Endless Wasteland had become the dream of countless people, despite the enormous risks.

But before a Pioneer Lord could become a true lord, the first thing they had to face was the monthly Bloody Day.

Five days ago, the Blood Moon had risen, and those savage, bloodthirsty Bloody Polluters had breached his territory, destroying all the supplies he had purchased with his entire fortune.

Even more fatal was the fact that the Archdemon Bloodline within him had begun to awaken. He could not live in a city for long; if it were exposed, hanging would be his only fate.

The previous Loren had traveled thousands of miles from the royal capital of the Silver Moon Kingdom to the northern borderlands precisely to build a city of his own and protect himself.

Unless he was willing to hide in dark sewers and live as a fugitive who would never again see daylight.

Otherwise, becoming a powerful lord was his only option. The world was vast, but no one could tolerate an Archdemon living beside them.

"Although the territory was breached, not all the supplies I bought were destroyed. That still counts as some foundation. If I leave it alone, the tens of millions I invested before will have gone completely down the drain.

"Besides, that territory is in a truly excellent location. It may be dangerous, but it would be such a waste to give it up just like that."

Loren frowned deeply.

Rebuilding the territory would not be difficult. As long as he had enough money, he could buy a powerful slave army in minutes to defend it.

But the biggest problem right now was that he had no money.

Just as he was considering how to break the deadlock, a mechanical voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

"Ding~ Territory acquired. System activation in progress."

Loren's eyes lit up. A system?!! His mood soared instantly.

But in the next second, his expression froze.

"Insufficient energy. System activation failed."

Damn it, that could happen too??