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The Apocalypse Grinder - Chapter 221
🕑 Added 2025-09-12 00:04:28 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 220 | Index | Chapter 222 >>
Due to the death of [Gurkrar 2 - Agrathen Captain Lv.101], all territory under their control will be transferred to you, with the exception of pillars under the control of a greater authority in the deceased’s faction!
Due to the death of [Gorbak 7 - Agrathen Captain Lv.103], all territory under their control will be transferred to you, with the exception of pillars under the control of a greater authority in the deceased’s faction!
Due to the death of [Gurkrar 6 - Agrathen Captain Lv.104], all territory under their control will be transferred to you, with the exception of pillars under the control of a greater authority in the deceased’s faction!
For claiming your tenth pillar and your first regional pillar, your rank has been raised from [Knight] to [Baron]!
As a [Baron], you have the ability to manage the region(s) under your control from the pillar, bringing benefits or claiming tax from those who live within its boundaries. Your faction, synonymous with your region(s), exerts greater influence on neighbouring factions. Nobles with a rank below [Baron] can’t usurp your territory except by killing you in battle.
Ronan read through the notifications, at first with shock, but then relief and excitement as the realisation of what they meant settled in. He had conquered a great deal of the planet in one fell swoop. At least one region, based on the upgrade of his nobility title, but the real quantity was obscured, at least from just reading the four messages.
Unfortunately, while the trio had been the toughest enemies he’d ever fought, they were clearly not the strongest on the planet. Or the most influential, at any rate. There was another alien who held the reins of the entirety of Border World 13, or perhaps a group of them.
There was one silver lining to this, which was that he had confirmed his suspicions that there would be a quicker way to conquer the planet than just going one pillar at a time. One enemy at a time was a conundrum that Ronan was much better suited to solve.
He wondered what the implications would be of having a higher nobility title than was technically possible to earn when he eventually returned to Earth in phase 1 of the integration. I guess I’ll find out when it happens. No use worrying about it now. He looked around the street at the damage of the battle.
Two houses, including the one that had previously occupied the empty space he was standing beside, had been completely obliterated. The rest had suffered some superficial damage at best, while others had suffered far worse, losing large chunks of masonry and suffering structural damage.
Not that it was his problem. Ronan assumed the system would pull him off the planet the moment he conquered it and completed the first step of the Path of the Gladiator. Although it would technically still be his territory. Would there be a penalty for abandoning it?
Who cares? Nothing is fucking permanent anymore, except how much I can kill stuff. Ronan was a little tired of the system’s nonsense. He enjoyed fighting and getting stronger, but he was sure that even battle-addicts needed rest days.
He took the strange round device out of his inventory. The planetary link, according to the kill notification. Something that only these evolved Grathen had, based on the name. It sounded important. It sounded like he might be able to cause some chaos if he figured out how to use it.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to work anything out by holding it in his hands. He rolled it about and prodded it, but nothing happened. When nothing else worked he even tried sending some mana into the device, but that also produced no result. Frustrated, he almost smashed it into the ground but held himself back. He didn’t want to accidentally damage something that could be valuable to his mission.
While he had made accidental progress towards conquering the planet, he had ended up mostly failing in his original goal of sealing off Kayir from the rest of Border World 13. Then again, he did destroy the supply ships so it couldn’t be considered a complete failure.
For the time being, he decided to use the shards he had obtained from defeating the various soldiers. Not a single one of the civilians, workers, or technicians had dropped one. Only the soldiers.
That told him an interesting story about Grathen society, but not one that he cared to unpack at that particular moment. His progress was more appealing.
Cultivation had become slightly harder after breaking through the first threshold, but the difference was only noticeable due to the effect of his increasing stats and mental awareness. With his excessive, and stacking, cultivation advantages, Ronan still soared through the realms.
Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the tenth realm of Mystic Energy Cultivation!
Mystic Energy Cultivation has advanced from [Pulsing ★★★★] to [Pulsing ★★★★★]!
All forms of energy regenerate 140% faster
Energy costs are reduced by 45%
Efficacy of endurance and regeneration +105%
Potency of endurance and regeneration +25%
Ronan noticed about halfway through getting from the ninth to the tenth realm of mystic energy cultivation that his speed suddenly increased. He was confused about the increase, but wasn’t about to complain. When he finished and finally reached the tenth realm, he checked his status and understood why.
He had reached full proficiency in the Nine Mouths Delta Mystic Energy Art. The proficiency in and of itself enabled him to cultivate more efficiently, but it also finally activated one of his newer skills—artful accumulation. His cultivation talent had increased through the completion of the art, and he was looking forward to the next.
Body cultivation followed once he ran out of mind-aspected shards, and he managed to make a similar amount of progress once he’d consumed all of the body-aspected shards.
Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the tenth realm of Tempered Body Cultivation!
Tempered Body Cultivation has advanced from [Copper ★★★★] to [Copper ★★★★★]!
Reduces chance of tendon, joint, and muscle damage during movement and combat. Efficiency of bodily functions is increased. Durability, muscle memory, and bodily independence are minutely increased.
Physical damage reduction +75%
Efficacy of vitality, strength, agility, and resistance +105%
Potency of vitality, strength, agility, and resistance +25%
The difficulty of completing the increasing number of repetitions required for the Diamondback Gorilla Tempered Body Art surprised him. It seemed that no matter how high his stats grew, the art would not provide the bonus to cultivation unless he actually challenged himself. The workout left him feeling energised, however, which Ronan was grateful for.
The lack of soul- and mind-aspected shards was annoying, but he had still gained a total of four realms of cultivation. It was nothing to sneer at.
Not to mention that he was at the highest level he’d ever reached. His multipliers would all be increasing when he eventually died. His credits and fortune too, as he was accumulating a huge amount of them through the number of Grathen he’d killed.
With his failure to figure out the planetary link device, Ronan was at a loss for how he might plot his path forwards. Then he realised he was overcomplicating things. Technology had replaced the need for people, but sometimes going back to basics was the best solution.
Stretching as he walked back out into the street, he noticed there were crowds of Grathen huddled at the two closest intersections in both directions. They started whispering when they spotted him, pointing in his direction. They seemed confused, scared, angry, and oddly, some had smiles on their faces. The same divide that he’d spotted outside the gates of Kayir was rearing its head here.
However, the fact that there were Grathen this close helped him. He looked through the crowds to see if he could spot any with either an orange or white uniform—they were the highest ranking, as far as he could work out, and would give him the best information.
In the crowd on the left there was a worker with an orange uniform, so Ronan started running that way. The aliens immediately panicked and started to run away when they saw his charge, but they were far too slow. He ran right past the majority of the terrified aliens and grabbed the orange-uniformed worker by the collar.
The Grathen started shouting and punching the air in an attempt to break free. Ronan scoffed. “I’m not going to hurt you. Provided you tell me what I want to know, that is.”
He had to repeat himself a few more times before the worker finally calmed down and stopped attempting to attack him or struggle out of his grip. Ronan put him down, glaring sternly to make sure the alien knew that running was futile.
“What do you want to know?”
Ronan thought for a moment. “Tell me who is in charge of Border World 13 and where I can find them.”
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