The deaths of these three individuals directly contributed over two thousand units of Mana and more than a thousand units of mineral resources to Alex, far more than he had anticipated.
In a time when resources were scarce for everyone, the fact that they had amassed such a wealth clearly indicated that they had already claimed the lives of many other lords.
Unfortunately for them, their luck ran out when they crossed paths with Alex.
Alex's plant units were either rare or of royal lineage, each possessing an additional skill compared to ordinary units. Moreover, River carried an aura that boosted the attributes of all plant units by ten percent, making them far superior to the average.
However, what puzzled Alex was that, just like before, aside from blueprints and basic resources, nothing else dropped. These guys had killed so many people; it was impossible that they only had one Territory Essence on them. This meant that the system had swallowed the rest of the resources, which was quite unfair.
"Forget it..." Alex shook his head.
Eliminating these individuals was a service to the community, a good deed, and he had also gained three fifth-tier Territory Essences in the process. Combined with the two he had received as ranking rewards earlier, he now had just enough to upgrade to the sixth tier. Even the iron ore requirements had been met, making this a rather fruitful harvest.
"Now, all I need is copper ore," Alex murmured to himself.
The copper ore he had previously gathered amounted to just over fifty units, far short of the seven hundred and fifty needed for the upgrade. Even if he continued mining in the mountain area, it would take a considerable amount of time to gather enough, given the low yield.
According to what Ryan Mitchell had mentioned earlier, the person who had reached the sixth tier had done so just a few days ago, clearly indicating a method to quickly obtain copper ore.
"Could there be a copper ore vein?" Alex couldn't help but frown.
If such a thing existed, it would explain how that person had upgraded so quickly. Alternatively, they might have been lucky enough to have their territory randomly placed next to a copper deposit. With so many people around, it was inevitable that a few would have such extraordinary luck.
Fortunately, Alex now had the Wood Drake, which made scouting the terrain much easier. If he searched diligently, he might just find a copper ore vein.
With this in mind, Alex led his plant units past the corpses of the three individuals and continued deeper into the Scorched Wasteland.
This time, Alex deliberately avoided the mountain area, having no intention of returning there. As he passed near the mountain region, he used the Wood Drake to scout the area, confirming that it was in a state of chaos. Various factions had gathered there, constantly clashing, with conflicts escalating into full-blown battles.
Corpses littered the ground, and the Regional Chat was a mess. Alex glanced at it briefly, only to find it filled with vitriolic arguments, the language so foul it was almost unbearable.
However, amidst the chaos, he spotted a few useful messages.
"Brothers, I found a strange underground cave to the west of the wasteland. It's filled with rock monsters, and it looks like there might be some incredible treasure inside."
"Are you talking about the cave near the western desert? I've been there before. It's full of fifth-tier monsters, even at the entrance. There's no way to get in."
"So many fifth-tier monsters? Could it be a monster nest?"
"A monster nest? Where? I want to check it out!"
"Don't bother. A fifth-tier monster nest could easily have sixth-tier monsters inside. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Someone had discovered a cave that might be a fifth-tier monster nest! This was unexpected and immediately piqued Alex's interest.
After spending a bit more time in the Regional Chat to pinpoint the cave's location, Alex changed direction and headed straight for it.
Finally, guided by the Wood Drake, he arrived at the edge of a vast black desert. In the distance, he could see a small group of people gathered at the base of a massive sand dune, surrounding a rocky underground cave.
The cave entrance was large, mostly buried under black sand, making it difficult to spot unless you were looking carefully.
As soon as Alex appeared, he drew the attention of everyone present. They all looked at him and his plant units with a mix of surprise and curiosity.
But then, a deafening roar erupted from within the cave, shaking the entire edge of the desert.
"Holy crap, that sound... Could that be a sixth-tier monster?" one person exclaimed, visibly shaken.
"It's very possible, especially since even the guards at the entrance are fifth-tier."
"I heard someone went in with over a dozen fifth-tier units and never came back. Probably dead."
"Really? That terrifying?"
As they spoke, they couldn't help but take a few steps back, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
They had come here hoping to find some spoils, but now it seemed there was little chance of that.
Meanwhile, Alex stood at the edge, his expression growing increasingly puzzled.
He noticed that among the rocks shaken loose by the roar, many bore a striking resemblance to copper ore—almost identical, in fact.
Could it be... that this cave was actually a mine?
Alex glanced at the others nearby and realized they hadn't noticed this detail, their attention focused solely on the depths of the cave.
He guessed that since the mountain area was dominated by major factions, they hadn't had the opportunity to see copper ore and thus overlooked it.
This was a stroke of luck for him.
Without hesitation, once the roar subsided, Alex had the Wood Drake land quietly. Then, with his twenty-five fifth-tier plant units in tow, he marched boldly toward the cave entrance.
This move immediately drew gasps from the onlookers.
"What's he doing? Is he planning to go inside?"
"There's a sixth-tier monster in there! Is he out of his mind?"
"Bro, don't go in! It's dangerous!"
"Come back! You'll die!"
But no matter how they shouted, Alex didn't stop. He turned back and gave them a friendly smile before plunging into the cave with his plant units, disappearing from view.
"Well, there goes another one."
"Kids these days just don't listen."
"Probably thinks he's invincible with all those fifth-tier units."
"Whatever. If he wants to throw his life away, let him. He'll learn the cost of arrogance."
"Our region's about to lose another lord."
None of them held any hope that Alex would return alive from the cave. In fact, they were certain he was walking to his death. Some lamented the loss of another lord, while others simply reveled in schadenfreude, mocking Alex's overconfidence.
Meanwhile, inside the cave, Alex quickly passed through the dark entrance and found himself in a rocky cavern.
Just as he had suspected, there was indeed copper ore here—and in significant quantities. After walking just a few dozen meters, he spotted several chunks of copper ore embedded in the walls. He promptly collected them and stored them in his Personal Storage Space.
To his surprise, the cave was much larger than he had anticipated. The walls were studded with crystal-like rocks that illuminated the entire cavern, eliminating any concerns about visibility.
As he continued to gather ore and move forward, several massive figures suddenly appeared at the far end of the passage.