The days after the Regional War ended flashed by quickly.
Michael and his subordinates dealt with the 106 Lords of the Savannah Region. They overwhelmed them, killed the Awakened, and decimated the remaining defenders spread through the territories of the 106 Lords.
There were no more surprises if one excluded that Michael was still having issues with Extraction.
His main Soultrait was no longer weakened, but the Cursed Seals caused problems. Something about them was off, but Michael couldn't tell what it was. He guessed that they were drained after they had been used too often and too long in a short period. However, that was merely a guess.
But it was a fact that the Untamed Jungle's outer ring and the Savannah's eastern area were no more. The abandoned settlements in Savannah's eastern area had been torn apart by the True Extraction Domain, just like everything it engulfed.
Michael ripped the towering trees, the densely grown bushes, and the wide variety of plant life that grew in the Untamed Jungle's outer ring for decades into shreds.
The damage caused to the Savannah didn't matter to Michael, but the Untamed Jungle was not the same. Something profound in his chest tremored violently whenever he thought about his debt to the Untamed Jungle for damaging it.
Michael was indebted to the Untamed Jungle.
He collected saplings of the towering trees and a wide variety of seeds from the bushes, flowers, and herbs found all over the Untamed Jungle and planted them in the outer ring with Insert. After that, he requested aid from the Botanic Sorcerers and the Greater Nature Spirit to accelerate the plant life's growth.
The outer ring reconnected to the Untamed Jungle and received enough nutrition and origin energy to grow. However, Michael could tell that it was not enough. His debt had not been repaid yet.
"Calm down a little, and I will give you more than enough fertilizer," Michael spoke into the depths of the Untamed Jungle, even though he had no clue whether the Untamed Jungle could hear him or if it bothered him in the first place.
He had more than enough corpses to give the Untamed Jungle as fertilizer, but Michael had yet to loot them. The Will's goods were still waiting for him to take.
Michael would have extracted the goods of the Will if the flood of energy influxes that ravaged his body wasn't blocking his energy veins.
Even using Insert on some plants had been a heavy burden. That was something Michael had never expected to happen. However, he could understand why his body was in such a bad state. He obliterated the army of nine Lords, Higher Lifeforms, and their subordinates – hundreds of thousands of them – before rushing back to the Untamed Jungle, where he dealt with more than 1.5 million Summons and Awakened.
He killed more than 50 Higher Lifeforms and 200,000 Tier-3 powerhouses. The remaining deaths were mostly Tier-2 Summons. That was what Michael guessed from the potency of the energy influxes that ravaged his body.
If not for the energy influxes, Michael wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Tier-2 Summons and Summons at a lower rank. After all, they died just as quickly in the True Extraction Domain.
Too many energy influxes flooded Michael's body for the last few days. His body was not on the verge of tearing apart just yet, but his War Rune occupied most of his energy veins and Pillar of Light to digest the energy influxes rapidly. His War Rune's refinement degree increased quickly, and he was about to reach the Mid rank of Tier-3 shortly.
"What are we going to do with the Savannah Region?" Lilica asked at some point.
The Untamed Awakened gathered alongside the Valyr Lordess, her daughter, and the most influential Summons of Arx.
"We lost 34,000 soldiers in the battle. There is no way that we can claim the Savannah Region with an army of 6,000 members," Siegfried announced, "The strongest soldiers of Arx might have survived the Regional War, but they're exhausted and injured as well."
The Untamed Awakened talked a lot about the Regional War. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were excited about their gains and the fierce battles they fought near the end of the large-scale battle. Their opinion of Michael improved even more as well. They witnessed the true extent of Michael's power and learned his limits.
Their Oath of Loyalty grew even firmer as their trust, respect, and loyalty toward Michael improved. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs subordinate to Michael would never go against his words at this point. They might wonder about his reasoning, but they would obey nonetheless.
"We are not going to conquer and claim the Savannah Region," Michael announced, stirring the Untamed Awakened.
"Wait wait wait?" Mika exclaimed, jumping up from the chair, "We fought with our lives on the line to defeat those motherlicking Lords, but we are not going to claim their territories?"
"We will raid their settlements, but we are not going to claim the Savannah Region," Michael changed his phrasing with a smile.
"So, you're saying that we should profit as much as possible before pulling back into the Untamed Jungle?" Lilica inquired to reaffirm Michael's decision.
Tiara tilted her head, "We don't have the workforce to claim the entire Savannah Region in the first place. Our workforce will increase soon, but it won't be enough to establish tens of border settlements. Maybe we can build a second settlement, but that's about it. The Untamed Jungle is too big to be controlled by two settlements. We shouldn't stretch our forces too much, otherwise, we will end like the Lords of the Savannah Region."
"Are we really going to leave the Savannah Region behind like this? Lords living near the Savannah's border will probably invade the Savannah soon. We will have to deal with other opponents by then… It's such a hassle…" Frederik grunted, but Michael shook his head.
"We won't have to deal with threats from the Savannah Region for a while. After all, we have a cushion," Michael gestured to the Valyr Lordess and Zira, "I traded the Savannah Region to the Valyr a few weeks ago."
Michael considered selling the Savannah Region to the Forest Elves, but they didn't like the region. They needed extensive, densely-grown forests. The Silverfangs were not allowed to terminate their Link of Loyalty with Michael either. Therefore, no Silverfang could become a Lord, let alone claim the Savannah Region.
The Silverfangs would die when they tried cutting their Link of Loyalty with Michael. It was a little weird, but it was probably a restriction cast upon the Silverfang Tigerfolk by the Will.
Michael could have sold the Savannah Region to the Berserkers, Warlock Centaurs, or Hiraku and Frederik, but he didn't want to do that. He had to ensure that no one from the outside world would get hold of the Savannah Region.
Nobody he knew from the outside world should be allowed to establish a foothold near the Untamed Jungle. The Origin Expanse was his hideout, and he didn't want the problems from the outside world to affect him in the Origin Expanse as well.
Hiraku was an exception, but Michael could discern Hiraku would stay in Arx. The Descendant's Link of Loyalty was even firmer than Frederik's Link of Loyalty at this point. It would be a big surprise if Hiraku decided to leave now.
Michael came up with multiple reasons for selling the Savannah Region to the Valyr.
First, he didn't have the resources and manpower to claim the entire Savannah Region. Even if he had the resources and manpower to claim the Savannah Region in its entirety, Michael wouldn't do that – not before he was stronger than the strongest powerhouses of the Trilance.
Michael was not yet ready to claim an entire region because it would morph it into a secure territory for more Human Awakened to emerge. The Savannah Region – if asserted by him – would transform into a Human Domain. That would make everything a lot more complicated than it had to be.
He might even have to deal with High Society and others inside the Origin Expanse. Michael wanted to prevent that if possible.
By claiming the Savannah Region and focusing on his territory's expansion into the Savannah, Michael would have to deal with more than 30 enemies bordering the Savannah Region.
He didn't like the pondered of jumping from one danger into the next since it felt like fate was going to throw more issues at him either way.
Michael did not need to expose himself to more danger than necessary, whether it was other Lords or High Society.
Of course, selling the Savannah Region to the Valyr didn't mean Michael gave up the resource deposits within the Savannah. That would be foolish.
Selling the Savannah Region created countless opportunities for the young Lord of the Untamed Jungle.
That was also why he sealed various deals with the Valyr before they learned about his combat prowess and the Untamed Awakened's true power. He ensured the Valyrs pondered they were at a disadvantage until it was too late.
Some might think that Michael was a fraud, especially the Valyrs, who were foolish enough to underestimate him, but it was not like it was Michael's fault that the Valyrs didn't believe he could deal with the Savannah Region's Lords.
In their eyes, he had been a mere Low Tier-3 Lords with above-
average combat strength.
To their misfortune, it looked like they were as blind as moles.
Lucky for Michael.
