Chapter 182: City Management System

Ethan glanced to the side. Neryss had already taken Luna to the LionArk Headquarters.

When Luna arrived, she looked clearly shocked after seeing the countless corpses scattered across the city’s main road.

When Luna came, her face was pale and frightened. She never expected Ethan to dare slaughter so many people in the city, without even knowing the cause behind it.

“What… what happened, Ethan?” Luna asked.

Ethan smiled. His blood-soaked hands refused to touch Luna. He simply explained that the ones who died were people who had long been enemies of his.

Luna fell silent and nodded. That simple explanation was more than enough to make her understand the situation.

“Sera,” Ethan called.

Sera came as soon as Ethan summoned her. The man clearly ordered Sera to command everyone who was still alive to leave the city.

“Spread the news about what happened. Let the survivors spread the rumors,” Ethan said.

“I understand, Ethan.”

Sera quickly flew from the LionArk headquarters toward the north, the only path leading out of the city.

Following Ethan’s orders, Sera told all the surviving players to spread news about the Mavelard City Invasion and Ethan’s name.

The purpose was simple: to make everyone aware and prevent anyone from foolishly opposing Ethan or trying to seize Mavelard from LionArk’s hands.

Ethan took an HP Potion and drank it slowly. His condition recovered, his energy returned, and the blood on his clothes vanished.

Ethan’s appearance looked exactly the same as before he invaded the city.

He invited Luna to enter the headquarters building and rest there. Luna agreed, no longer afraid of Ethan even after witnessing him slaughter so many people.

Ethan and Luna stopped in a large room, complete with a private bathroom inside. Ethan asked Luna to stay in the room until he declared the city safe.

He also explained that for today, Luna would be guarded together with Sera. In his view, Sera would be able to protect Luna very well.

[PK Penalty Calculation Completed]

[Number of players killed: 11,750]

[Penalty: PK Status for 25 years]

I didn’t expect the punishment to be this long. Looks like until this game ends, I’ll still be stuck with this PK status of mine.

I need to find a way to get rid of it. Maybe there’s an item that can reduce the penalty duration.

After escorting Luna to rest, Ethan walked elsewhere and arrived on the first floor, where the guild hall was located.

Since the building had changed ownership, many of the guild’s attributes changed as well, from Silver Star’s insignia to LionArk’s.

There was no one in the hall when Ethan arrived. He looked around at the condition of the room; many objects had fallen over, such as floor lamps and chairs.

He used his free time to tidy up the place. The chairs were arranged neatly, the lamps switched on, the dust cleaned, and the carpet straightened.

After finishing all that, Ethan stepped toward the throne-like chair usually used by the guild leader to begin meetings with members or officers.

Ashley and the city leader from Silver Star had once sat in that chair.

Now, that chair belonged to Ethan. Just as he sat down, a blue system panel appeared before his eyes.

[City Management System Activated]

[City: Mavelard] [City Condition: 25% (Severe)]

[City Leader: Ethan Ark || Guild: LionArk]

[WARNING! Immediately begin city repairs]

[Main Infrastructure: City Gate || City Walls || City Roads]

[Cost: 3,500,000 Gold] [Pay?]

Ethan was shocked. The city condition percentage was extremely low, around 25%, while the safe threshold should be at least 80%.

He realized that the invasion earlier had heavily damaged many buildings and pieces of infrastructure across the city.

Ethan opened his personal profile panel, checking the amount of gold he had, totaling 4,723,500 gold.

That was the amount Ethan had collected from the beginning of the game until now, not including the additional gold he could earn by selling unused equipment.

One of them was a full set of Epic-rank Flame Nova equipment, which could probably sell for around 200,000 to 400,000 gold.

Even so, Ethan knew he couldn’t ignore the city’s main infrastructure needs. The destroyed gate had to be repaired immediately for easier mobility and to revive economic activity.

But after so many people had left, Ethan was forced to start everything from zero. He had to show a good image of himself and of Mavelard to other players.

He believed that within two or three months, people would start coming because of Mavelard’s reputation and the news about his strength.

Ethan’s actions opposing Scavenger and Silver Star, two of the Big Three guilds, drew the attention of many guilds hostile to them.

The enemy of Ethan’s enemy was his friend. It might sound naive, but that saying still worked.

Ethan pressed [Pay] on the City Management System panel. His gold immediately dropped significantly, leaving him with only 1,223,500 gold.

[Main Infrastructure Construction Started]

[Construction Duration: 119:59:55]

Ethan looked at the system panel showing the required repair time of at least 120 hours, or five days.

There were no workers needed; everything had already been arranged by the City Management System.

All he needed to do was wait until the construction finished. After that, he could consider repairing the other parts of the city.

Even though so much had been destroyed, Mavelard still existed. As long as Mavelard remained, LionArk still had a chance to rise again.

Ethan rose from his seat and left the guild hall alone. As soon as he reached the front courtyard, Seraphelis flew in from the north toward him.

“What is it?” Ethan asked.

“There are several people who refuse to leave,” Sera said.

“Refuse? Why?”

“They said… they want to help you,” Sera replied.

Ethan narrowed his eyes, not sure whether they had their own reasons behind staying. But the current situation made Ethan need people to begin repairing the rest of the city.

“Bring them here,” Ethan said.

Sera nodded and flew back north to call them. After fifteen minutes of waiting, Ethan finally saw twenty-seven people approaching in injured and exhausted condition, their faces covered in dust from the collapsed city, their clothes stained with blood.

“Sir Ethan,” one man greeted him, his guild abbreviation showing TWS.

Twin Sun?

“We are from—”

“Twin Sun. Am I right?” Ethan asked.

The man stiffened, then cleared his throat and nodded. They really were from Twin Sun and loyal supporters of LionArk.

But there was a reason they had remained in Mavelard after LionArk lost the City Authority Challenge.

Twin Sun wasn’t a large guild. They had no strong reputation in events or the Tower. The only things they could offer were loyalty and obedience to LionArk.

So after Mavelard fell, they had no choice but to stay in the city and serve Silver Star. They were forced to do so because gaining a foothold in a large city like Mavelard was extremely difficult.

They didn’t want to lose it. That was why they came to speak with Ethan.

“We are loyal supporters of LionArk. You can ask Miss Ashley directly about our loyalty,” the man said.

“Then what do you want?” Ethan asked.

“Allow us to stay in Mavelard and help you rebuild the city. That’s all we can offer you.”

Ethan fell silent for a moment, then looked behind the man, searching for Megan. But Megan wasn’t there.

Whether she was still in the Tower or had died earlier, Ethan didn’t know.

“Where is Megan?” Ethan asked.

The Twin Sun leader looked shocked, exchanging glances with his members. He explained that Megan and her team were still in the Tower, unaware of what had happened to Mavelard.

Ethan nodded. He explained his relationship with Megan. They had helped him once, so Ethan wouldn’t hesitate to help them in return.

“All right. I will accept you.”

“Spread the news to every guild in nearby towns. Mavelard is opening its land to them. They are welcome to come and settle here,” Ethan declared.

“I will adjust the new taxes for all of you. The Mavelard of today is different from before.”

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