My Units Mutate

A melodious voice echoed in Alex's mind.

[Congratulations, your territory has been successfully upgraded to the fifth tier.]

[Territory Warehouse unlocked. Personal Storage Space unlocked.]

After a day of gathering resources, Alex had finally collected enough materials to upgrade his territory to the fifth tier. But upon hearing the notification, he was stunned.

"That's it? What about the unit rewards??" Alex's face was filled with disbelief.

He quickly checked the newly unlocked [Territory Warehouse], a structure designed to store territorial resources, and the [Personal Storage Space], which functioned like a personal inventory in a game. Neither had anything to do with new units.

After waiting for a while, there was still no notification about unlocking new units. Could something have gone wrong with the upgrade? Or was it that after the fifth tier, there were no more unit rewards?

Alex was shocked. He hadn't anticipated this at all.

If upgrading the territory didn't grant new units corresponding to the tier, wouldn't their progress become even more difficult? It seemed that not many people were aware of this yet.

"Could it be because the beginner period is over?" Alex wondered, his mind racing.

He began to understand why the Tower of Units appeared after the safety period ended. It was precisely because of this. Before the fifth tier, you were still a beginner, and each upgrade would reward you with units to solidify your foundation. After the fifth tier, if you wanted units, you'd have to pile up resources to get them!

Now, Alex fully grasped the nature of this world. It was clearly designed to make them compete for resources, plunging them into endless conflict.

Recalling the incident where he obtained Territory Essence by killing another lord, he felt the world's deep-seated malice even more acutely.

With this in mind, Alex quickly opened the updated territory information.

[Territory Name: Tree of Life]

[Territory Level: Fifth Tier]

[Territory Durability: 1500/1500 (+250)]

[Recruitable Units: Plant Type]

[Recruitment Capacity: 40/50]

[Territory Description: The foundation of a lord's survival, possessing various functions. If the territory core is destroyed, the lord perishes.]

[Upgrade Requirements: Wood (1500/1500), Stone (11/1500), Iron Ore (0/750), Copper Ore (0/750), Mana (873/2000), Fifth-Tier Territory Essence (0/5)]

[Note: Plant-type territory characteristic, self-supplying wood.]

Looking at the long list of upgrade materials, Alex felt a chill run down his spine. Not only were the quantities much larger than before, but iron and copper ores had also been added. Even the Territory Essence requirement had increased fivefold! This meant he would have to destroy at least five fifth-tier territories or clear out five fifth-tier monster dens.

Both options were extremely risky. A single misstep could lead to utter ruin.

After all, those who had reached the fifth tier were no ordinary individuals. If they sensed a threat to their lives, they would fight to the death.

As for fifth-tier monster dens, they were even more dangerous. Not only were they filled with a large number of fifth-tier monsters, but there was also the possibility of a sixth-tier boss monster appearing.

The level of danger was no less significant.

"It seems I'll have to focus on upgrading my units to the fifth tier first," Alex muttered to himself, his expression grave.

The Tower of Units could only research one unit per day, and researching fifth-tier units required upgrading the building, which would consume a significant amount of materials. Additionally, researching units also cost Mana, adding another layer of expense.

With so many gaps to fill, Alex didn't dare think too far ahead for now. He decided to start by upgrading his units.

He opened the information for the Tower of Units.

[Building Name: Tower of Units]

[Building Level: Fourth Tier]

[Building Description: Can research advanced forms of existing units, making them recruitable. Consumes Mana. Unit level cannot exceed building level.]

[Research Speed: 1 unit/day]

[Upgrade Requirements: 500 Wood, 500 Stone, 1000 Mana]

Fortunately, the materials required to upgrade to the fifth tier weren't as outrageous as those for the territory. He had been steadily collecting stone, but now the most pressing shortage was Mana.

Killing third-tier monsters only yielded ten to twenty points of Mana, which was no longer sufficient for his needs. Even the Blazing Lotus, which had been upgraded to the fifth tier, only provided 25 points per hour—far from enough.

He would have to venture out to hunt fourth-tier or higher monsters.

After preparing in his territory, Alex set out with twenty units, including River and an Explosive Mushroom. The other Explosive Mushroom was left behind to guard the territory along with Ivy and the other plants.

After the battle the previous day, Ivy had already recovered its wounds through its Devour ability and had established a vine forest outside the territory. With a fifth-tier Explosive Mushroom and over a dozen fourth-tier plants, Alex was confident that few could breach his defenses. This allowed him to explore further afield with peace of mind.

As he walked with his plants, Alex casually opened the [Regional Rankings].

Ethan Carter [Fifth Tier: Demon-Type]

Lily Bennett [Fifth Tier: Angel-Type]

Ryan Mitchell [Fifth Tier: Elemental-Type]

Derek Thompson [Fifth Tier: Beast-Type]

Alex [Fifth Tier: Plant-Type]

As he had expected, after one night, the top ranks had all reached the fifth tier, and he remained in fifth place. The only change was that the second and third places had swapped positions.

This surprised Alex. From the name, Lily Bennett was clearly a woman, yet she was so formidable as to hold the second spot. Truly, a woman who could rival any man.

Her angel-type units were also something to keep an eye on.

As for the other three, their higher rankings likely meant they had more fifth-tier units than he did, which he could understand. After all, he wasn't the only one who knew how to use the beast waves to strengthen himself.

Closing the rankings, Alex continued on his way.

This time, his destination wasn't the nearby mountains that had been explored countless times, but the other side of the forest—an area he had never ventured into before. Previously, the wall and the beast waves had blocked his path, but now that the wall was gone, it was time to see what lay beyond. Perhaps he would find something valuable.

After more than half an hour, Alex successfully traversed the forest and arrived at the wasteland covered in scorched earth that he remembered.

The moment he stepped into the wasteland, a notification sounded in his ear.

[Region change detected. Switching to the regional channel.]

[Switch successful. Current region: Scorched Wasteland.]

[Warning: This area contains many high-tier monsters. Proceed with caution.]

"A new region?" Alex was momentarily stunned. He opened the regional channel and saw that the suffix had indeed changed to "Scorched Wasteland." The chat was eerily empty, with no one speaking.

It seemed that few, if any, had explored this region yet. The warning about the presence of numerous high-tier monsters made him even more cautious. He quickly gathered his plants around him and ventured deeper into the wasteland.

The Scorched Wasteland lived up to its name. The land was covered in blackened, charred earth, and even the distant mountains were scorched black. Only a few strange, dark-brown trees grew here and there.

It wasn't long before Alex encountered a massive rock monster.

[Name: Rock Fiend]

[Race: Elemental]

[Level: Fifth Tier]

[Strength: 195]

[Constitution: 192]

[Agility: 50]

[Spirit: 100]

[Skills: Rock Hammer, Earth Shatter]

[Description: An elemental creature unique to the Scorched Wasteland. Its body is composed of rock, granting it immense strength and defense, but it is slow-moving.]

"A fifth-tier monster?" Alex was startled. He hadn't expected to encounter a monster so soon, and a fifth-tier one at that!

At that moment, the three-to-four-meter-tall Rock Fiend noticed him and let out a roar, charging toward him with earth-shaking steps, the ground trembling beneath its weight.