Early the next morning, Charles, who was catching up on sleep on his worm bed, suddenly sensed something.
He looked down at the parchment beneath him, bewildered. What had been relatively clean now bore traces of blood.
Charles slowly sat up and spread the parchment open...
Because he had killed Megan Takeshi, he was now marked in red.
Sure enough, when he opened the parchment, he found an extremely conspicuous red warning box in the regional channel.
[Attention!!! Overlord No. 4388 has been killed by Overlord No. 1. From now on, Overlord No. 1 will be marked in red and exposed for one week. Any Overlord who kills this marked Overlord will inherit everything from Overlord No. 1!]
This was posted about three hours ago, and wasn't Overlord No. 4388 that goblin Overlord from Sakura Nation?
Charles rubbed his chin, forming a hypothesis in his mind.
Most likely, Megan Takeshi's spirit had completely collapsed during the endless cycle of healing and devouring last night. In the end, after the two foolish female slaves had their fill of fun, the worms had devoured him bit by bit.
Yes, a satisfying and fitting conclusion.
He then checked the information network and found that the two women had indeed shared every detail of the event with him in their memories.
Well done!
Looking at the parchment filled with public condemnation and the pinned red notice in the regional channel, a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, his eyes full of disdain.
Charles had never worried about being marked in red. After all, it was just a kind of newbie protection mechanism.
In the early stages of reincarnating into the Continent of Overlord, the will of the Continent of Overlord was quite averse to acts of mutual slaughter, so it imposed red marks as a form of punishment to serve as a warning.
However, in the later stages, human nature proved too complex, and red marks became more prevalent. Eventually, the will of the continent stopped interfering altogether.
So, in a way, he had merely initiated the stage where Overlords could freely attack each other, accelerating the process.
If it were his past self facing such a situation, he might have been at a loss, but now... with his current setup, which Overlord wouldn't meet their end here?
He had two units of fourth-tier combat strength alone, and what about those other Overlords?
Excluding the top Overlords he had funded, none of the other Overlords had even broken through to high second-tier themselves, let alone their followers!
So...
[No. 1: Yes, I killed him. If anyone wants revenge, come at me. I will take you all on.]
That's right, that was his domineering attitude.
In fact, Charles was quite eager for some Overlords to come so he could kill them... According to the red name rules of the Continent of Overlord, not only would the killed drop equipment, but the killer could also drop items!
As soon as he finished saying this, the entire regional channel exploded.
[No. 16843: Damn! How is this guy so arrogant? I have a mid-second-tier unit and three lower-second-tier units here. Anyone want to team up to take down No. 1?]
[No. 4346: Exactly! I've been annoyed with No. 1 for a while. Now that we have his coordinates, let's go get him!]
[Eve: I'd like to see who dares. I have two lower-third-tier elf units here, ready to turn any attackers into Swiss cheese!]
[Flandre: You bunch of trash are like stinking bugs. Do you dare to touch my boss? Eve, I, Flandre, only have one high second-tier unit, but I'll rally our brothers and sisters to help!]
Seeing his sponsored allies about to clash with the others in the comments section, Charles nodded with satisfaction.
These were the people he had carefully chosen in the comments section, and it seemed he hadn't chosen wrong.
After all, even with the existence of contracts, they only dictated mutual resource support and tribute obligations. They had no duty to go this far.
Ultimately, the combined forces of Overlords heading to hunt down Charles amounted to around 2,000 lower second-tier units and several hundred mid-second-tier units... These were the follower armies of Overlords relatively close to Charles.
However, led by Eve, the team choosing to support Charles consisted of only four high second-tier units. This highly uneven balance of power made those two Overlords unhesitatingly choose Charles.
For no other reason than the fact that Charles had supported them, and they couldn't bring themselves to betray that loyalty!
[Eve: Damn, damn, damn! I've marked all those bastards. Once my elves get there, they'll be annihilated!]
[Eve: My fiancé, I have a bi-directional teleportation stone that can bridge distances. Come hide with me, and I'll help you rise again!]
[Eve: Ahhh! Stop being so stubborn, will you? Even if your Zerg are plentiful, the other side has thousands of mid-second-tier units. You can't handle that. Do you want me to become a widow, you jerk?]
[Overlord No. 438 has gifted you one low third-tier follower and five high second-tier followers. Accept?]
Seeing the messages and the resources sent by his fiancée, Charles felt a warmth in his heart, deeply touched by this silly girl's devotion.
And that wasn't all.
Before he could refuse, other high-tier Overlords, unable to arrive in time due to distance, also began sending all their high-tier resources and units as gifts, hoping their leader could turn the tide with these reinforcements.
Charles rolled his eyes in exasperation.
When was the last time he showed his strength?
It must have been when he had just ascended to Silver-tier Overlord, with only one mid-third-tier Medusa Serpent Queen under his command...
Back then, his entire army consisted of just a few hundred first-tier worker bees and mid-second-tier Zerglings, totaling less than a thousand.
[Charles: Alright, sweetheart~ Maybe I forgot to tell you just how strong your backing is, which caused your worry.]
[Eve: Huh? Are you saying that in just a few months, you've managed to produce a Zerg army comparable to theirs in number?]
Since Charles had already reached Gold-tier Overlord, Eve was a bit skeptical. Could one fourth-tier powerhouse really fend off thousands?
Otherwise, how could the total number of units multiply severalfold, or even tenfold, in such a short span of time?
It didn't make sense!
Clearly, the other high-tier Overlords shared the same concern.
But after Charles shared a few data points on the Medusa army's formations, they promptly withdrew their units.
What the heck? Even an ordinary worker bee is almost stronger than their followers?
What, that Serpent formation can already wipe out a mid-third-tier small army?
What, the boss's territory has two low-fourth-tier units and countless third-tier Zerg forces?
Those high-tier Overlords who had just felt pity for their boss now looked down on the so-called army of thousands of second-tier units with utter contempt.
Seriously, who do they think they're underestimating?
Our boss's worker bees alone could drown them!
Next, these allies created a small group chat, discussing whether they should send even more units to the enemy. Otherwise, there wouldn't be enough for their boss to handle!
Thus, the faction led by Eve began to play weak, including negotiating with the enemy leaders and offering resources—everything was laid out in the channel.
In no time, the army aiming to take down Overlord No. 1 swelled by another thousand, all hoping for the random drops from Charles's defeat.
Who wouldn't want Zerg units, such dominant forces?
Whoever gets them would likely become the next No. 1!
And after orchestrating all this, Eve smirked slyly, hiding her achievements and name. She was already envisioning the epic scene of their opponents being wiped out by Toxic Banelings before even realizing what hit them!
As Charles's designated woman, she had the right to know more. Naturally, she was well aware of how utterly devastating the Toxic Banelings, developed by Catherine, could be against such clustered trash units.
...
Knock, knock, knock!
"Master, did you call me back for something important?"
"Master, is something wrong?"
Outside, there was a knock on the door accompanied by the worried voices of two silly female slaves. Charles pressed a button on the high-grade metal of his insect bed, and the door opened.
Looking at the two exquisitely beautiful female slaves, each with her own unique charm, Charles smiled slightly and said, "It's nothing serious, I just thought that instead of clearing out those dark creatures, perhaps we should let those ill-intentioned Overlords understand one thing..."
"We are not to be trifled with!"
"In about three days, Medusa, I want you to gather all available forces. We shall use blood to cement our rule..."
"We call the shots in the entire Serene Forest!"