Chapter 103

Chapter 103

*Alpha Lord* boasts a highly sophisticated social system.

Marital alliances played a pivotal role in Western history and politics, particularly in forging family ties. They often served as political instruments to consolidate or expand power.

Players can choose to form alliances or rivalries with other lords through marriage, uniting against common adversaries.

Upon having heirs, players can independently select successors to carry on their lordly legacy.

Consequently, players tend to seek out stronger allies for marriage.

Landon was no exception. He had casually noticed Navira, initially thinking this player possessed high prestige and combat power, indicating skilled retainers, but a comparatively low prosperity rank.

Prosperity is linked to a town’s population and infrastructure, suggesting this player might lack sufficient resources for development. This is normal—prosperity demands vast materials and manpower, built gradually over time. A thriving city-state might require a player’s long-term investment...

Yet, within two days, he found Navira’s prosperity rank had skyrocketed past his own, climbing rapidly as if on a rocket.

Prosperity is the most challenging stat to raise, and such a swift ascent likely indicated a big spender.

Realizing this, Landon swiftly sent a marriage proposal.

While anxiously awaiting a reply, Landon carefully assessed his own standing.

Though his spending paled in comparison to top whales, he had still invested tens of thousands. Moreover, he was diligent—playing consistently since launch without slacking. He had over thirty allied territories.

Not on par with the top-ranked lords like Lord Caesar, but still a hot commodity.

"Hmm..." Landon nodded in satisfaction as he evaluated himself.

From any angle, he was a prime candidate for marriage.

Yet, minutes later, he received a reply: "Lord Navira 'brutally' rejected your marriage proposal and added you to their hostile list."

Landon: ?!

Rejection was one thing, but why label him an enemy?

His confidence shattered instantly. He couldn’t help but screenshot and vent to a friend: "I got rejected. I got rejected, right...?"

Samuel’s gaze was like daggers, veins faintly visible on his tensed wrist resting on the desk.

He found it absurd—how could someone already have designs on his tiny, few-year-old cub?

Even if it was just a marriage proposal, it infuriated him.

This inexplicable anger matched even the rage he’d felt when rival factions once united to provoke him.

An unhappy Samuel initially planned to blacklist Lord Landon and dispatch troops to attack his territory, but a prompt notified him the target had entered "single-player mode."

This mode benefits solo players.

Once activated, players cannot interact with others, view rankings, or be attacked or occupied.

Samuel let out a low *tsk*. Quick on the draw, that one.

Shifting his gaze back to the manor, the cub lay motionless, buried in soft blankets, his adorable face peaceful and docile, lips slightly pale from illness—like a delicate doll.

His cub was both beautiful and sweet, making him an easy target for creeps.

Of course, the treasure wasn’t to blame, but those who coveted it.

Samuel noticed the marigolds on the windowsill had withered—unsurprising, as winter was never their season.

He purchased a pot of hyacinths from the shop and had the butler place them on the sill.

The pot was heavy, brimming with tiny buds.

When the cub awoke and opened his eyes, he’d see the hyacinths swaying in full bloom.

A cherished wish from Samuel.

---

After a good sleep, Luo Ci bounced back with his usual energy.

With the young lord’s recovery, the manor livened up again.

Seated obediently at the dining table, Luo Ci gripped a spoon, scooping up bites of banana pudding.

His other chubby hand cradled his cheek, feeling like he’d forgotten something.

Only after stuffing himself did he recall the man with a limp.

He asked a servant clearing the table.

The servant thought for a sec. "The strange man, young lord? I saw him heading toward the southern forge this morning."

Curious, the cub decided to seek him out.

Delilah entered, carrying a jar of herbal potion.

The young lord’s cold wasn’t fully gone—his voice still carried a slight stuffy tone. Delilah had prepared another dose.

Pouting, the cub pinched his nose and reluctantly drank.

His small hands tore open a candy, its sweetness chasing away the bitterness.

[*Butler Notification*: Young lord’s happiness +1.]

Samuel checked the stats—current happiness: 2%.

Truly, kids are hard to read.

A fancy letter arrived in the mailbox: [*Butler Notification*: Your spending has reached a milestone. A gift is on its way.]

"I’m heading out!" With that, the cub darted off.

The largest southern building was the forge. After Navira formed its own army, weapons and armor—spears, bows, arrows—needed forging. The place ran nonstop day and night, the clanging audible from afar.

Under a tree, Luo Ci spotted the man, beside whom crouched Robin, a boy hugging a cricket jar.

Robin’s father worked in the forge, and the boy often went bug-hunting in the woods with his jar.

"Little Chrysanthemum was rare... See the flower-patterned shell? His right antenna was bigger than the left," Robin sniffed. "It’s my fault—I forgot to leave the jar open a crack last night. He ran out of air."

The man seemed baffled by Robin’s tears.

He reached into the jar, gently poking at the dead beetle lying on its back.

The beetle seemed to be infused with some kind of vitality, suddenly flipping over and crawling around in the can again.

Robin stood frozen—he was certain Little Chrysanthemum had died... so how had it suddenly come back to life?

Startled, Robin threw the can away in terror.

He looked at the man in horror, crying as he ran toward the blacksmith's workshop.

The man blinked in confusion.

He didn’t understand—Little Chrysanthemum had been revived, so why was Robin so scared? Why was he crying even harder?

Luo Ci arrived just in time to see this scene: "So you're here after all."

The man spoke, bewildered: "I thought he would be happy."

For anyone else, seeing something dead suddenly come back to life would be hard to accept. But Luo Ci was different—he had once practiced Dark Magic and didn’t find it strange at all. He shook his little head and explained like a little grown-up: "Dead things should stay dead. If they come back to life, people will be scared. It’s like leaves sprouting in the harvest season and withering in winter—that’s just the way of nature."

The man’s eyes flickered with confusion. He still didn’t understand the boundary between life and death, but from Robin’s reaction, he realized his actions weren’t normal.

Robin had been so terrified he ran away.

So why wasn’t the little one afraid at all?

His nose was pink from the cold, his round, pale amber eyes blinking, his cheeks rosy—there wasn’t a trace of fear toward him.

Luo Ci stretched out his little hand and tugged at the man’s sleeve: "I was looking for you to play, but you weren’t in your room. I still don’t know your name."

"...My name is Kui," the man replied, introducing himself.

Luo Ci perked up his little ears—the man’s voice was as gravelly and rough as stone. Seeing the man casually pick up a dead branch to use as a cane, he muttered and led the man to the warehouse to pick out a real cane.

The warm little body of the child pressed close to him, babbling nonstop. The man frowned slightly. Such a small, warm presence—the last time he’d felt something like this was decades ago. But he didn’t feel repelled, just... unfamiliar.

Unlike his own cold, stiff body, the child’s was warm, like a little sun giving off endless warmth.

Perhaps it was because he had so little contact with warmth that he felt curious.

Ever since waking, his mind had been filled with confusion and uncertainty. But when the little one leaned against him so trustingly, those troubles drifted away like dandelion fluff.

The man watched the child’s reflection beside his own hobbling shadow and suddenly wished the path could be just a little longer.

Just a little longer.

After leaving the warehouse, they ran into Ximeng, in full armor. Normally, Ximeng would be training soldiers at the training field, so it was unexpected to see him here.

"Uncle Ximeng?"

"The steward is looking for the young lord," Ximeng lied casually.

He’d heard from the blacksmith's workshop that the young lord was with that strange man, and after learning about the beetle incident, he’d come to take the young lord away, worried he might be harmed.

Luo Ci was none the wiser. "What does Steward want me for?"

Ximeng took the child’s soft little hand and led him away.

The man stood where he was, leaning on his cane, watching their retreating figures with narrowed eyes.

Back at the manor villa, as they passed through the garden, Luo Ci noticed a midnight-black carriage parked nearby.

Curious, he immediately went over. The steward was carrying an ornate phonograph out of the carriage.

"A phonograph?"

Luo Ci tilted his head—he’d never seen such a thing before.

After carrying it back to his room and fiddling with it for a while, he finally figured it out. He collapsed onto the soft sofa, cupping his plump cheeks in his hands, closing his eyes, and quietly listening to the song playing from the phonograph.

Meanwhile, in Everfrost City, night had fallen. Samuel stood atop a skyscraper, overlooking the familiar streets below.

Every year during Everfrost’s Festival of Peace, the same folk song played in every corner of the city.

The singer’s husky voice accompanied the slow, classical rhythm:

"I wandered through the darkness, searching for you alone..."

"My dear..."

"When you’ve counted a hundred nights, I’ll appear before you."

Samuel had never been moved by this song before—he’d heard it too many times.

But when he realized the milestone gift was a phonograph that could record and send his voice to the little one, and the familiar melody filled the streets, he suddenly wanted to share it with the child.

If he couldn’t share the scenery with the little one, then listening to the same song... would be like standing together under the same night sky.

The hearth fire crackled, occasionally spitting out sparks. Luo Ci lay on the sofa, eyes growing heavy in the warmth.

Listening to the raspy, moving tune, he wiggled his little bottom and buried his face in a pillow without realizing it.

...If he counted a hundred nights, maybe his brother would appear before him.

......

The leaderboard updated every three days.

It was closely watched by players.

At exactly eight o’clock, everyone gathered in front of their screens to watch the changes in rankings.

"Caesar is first again."

"Once you reach a certain level of prestige and prosperity, it’s hard to climb higher. The rankings barely change."

"Can’t someone dethrone this guy? How can someone like him be first?"

The anonymous forums were alive with discussion again. Though Caesar had always been near the top of the leaderboard—recently even securing the top spot—his behavior made him widely disliked, especially among new players.

Caesar was notorious for warmongering, particularly fond of bullying new or weaker players.

Once, a new player had just created an account when Caesar invaded their territory. The player restarted, but Caesar hunted them down by name and attacked again.

Unless the player switched to isolation mode, Caesar kept at it. After seven or eight rounds of targeting, the player deleted their account and quit for good.

This incident was the most infamous on the forums and had even been reported in the news.

It also solidified Caesar’s bad name.

But after laying low for a while, he soon returned to his old ways.

Some people focused on Caesar, but there were also those who noticed Navira, whose ranking was rising rapidly.

For those who frequently followed the leaderboard, this name hardly rang a bell, yet its recent momentum was astonishingly strong. Whether in combat power, prestige, or the notoriously difficult-to-increase prosperity, the growth rate was unnaturally fast.

Caesar had noticed as well.

Not only did he pay attention to shifts in the rankings, but he also kept a particularly close eye on those whose rise was lightning-fast.

Most of the top players on the leaderboard now were either married to or allied with him.

When faced with players whose rise was this meteoric, his usual approach was to take them out before they could fully develop.

"But wait... this name feels kinda familiar..."