While Zane and the girls began searching for another Tier I Horde King to eliminate, Gravestone continued to slowly but surely expand. The ruins of Carson city slowly but surely became reclaimed. With the settlement's walls being pushed further and further outward, encompassing new portions of the small city that had once been the Capital of Nevada.
The residents of Gravestone began to level up quite rapidly, not only through their own gains in battle against the hundreds of thousands of undead monsters which plagued the ruins of Old Reno, but also through the spoils which Zane and his party gained, and distributed to them.
Though Zane himself was the highest level among humanity's awakened warriors, or as far as he was aware. What with his level being twenty-five, the women by his side were not far from behind. With their levels being all the same at 21.
As for the residents of Gravestone, their levels were much lower, and on average, it now seemed to be around level 10. Making them capable of defeating up to Tier III undead if they were careful, and plotted accordingly.
With Zane and his girls, as well as their rather exceptional abilities, Gravestone now ranked among one of the most well defended human settlements. But should the dead wish to reclaim the ruins of Carson City as their own, there would be little they could do to resist.
After all, the overwhelming number of undead in Reno alone, if forced to march on Gravestone, was simply unbeatable as far as humanity in its current state was concerned. Yet Bartholomew did not move recklessly to crush New Reno, nor the other surrounding settlements like Gravestone and Gator Swamp.
The same could be said for most Horde Kings. It was almost as if annihilating humanity was not their primary objective, but rather to raise a stable and manageable population of humans to feast on at their leisure.
This was, at the very least, what Zane had suspected to be the Horde King's primary reason for not outright finishing off what little remained of the human population. And while Gravestone continued to develop in its own ways, Zane's enemies among humanity began to make their own moves.
By now, the spies sent from both the Remnant and Elysium had successfully identified Zane as being the one who had murdered their missionaries and scouts. At the same time, they also uncovered the identities of the various women in his party.
Currently, the Goddess of Elysium was reading a report while sitting alone in her personal quarters. Well, she was not entirely alone, as the same attendee of hers, the one with the pale skin, and the white shawl which covered her facial features, was as usual by her side.
The look on the Goddess's face was one of dissatisfaction when she saw the image of Angelica, which had been taken from her spies in New Reno after they visited the gravestone for some "healing."
While the goddess depicted herself as a kind and altruistic invidual, one who was humanity's only hope for survival and stability within this chaotic wasteland. In reality, she was far from as charitable and selfless as she presented herself to be. In fact, her true nature was quite the opposite. That being selfish, vain, petty, and vindictive.
The attendee tapped the photo thrice, and looked at the Goddess straight in the eyes, something that caused the allegedly all-powerful goddess of Elysium to shiver in fright and look away as she spoke once more to her servant as if the silent woman had said something to her.
"I... I understand, and I apologize. I have gotten too fixated on that little bitch. You're right, this man is a far more important target. Though young, he appears to be quite capable, capable enough to slay my missionaries with ease. And that is not an easy feat.
Not to mention his equipment seems high level. If I had to guess, this man is at least level 20. And his gear should be of Rare quality, if not Epic. If he is really level twenty, and has such high quality equipment, then I dare say none of my crusaders could stand against him.
He is a real threat to us, isn't he?"
The woman standing next to the goddess nodded her head in silence, but once more the Goddess acted as if she was speaking to her, and thus was startled when she repeated back what she thought she had heard said.
"What? You want me to withdraw my agents from New Reno? Why? This doesn't make any sense! If he is really such a threat to us, then we cannot let him live! Let alone allow him to freely develop without our interference!"
Despite the logic in the Goddess' words, there appeared to be an almost murderous gaze in the attendee's eyes, causing the Goddess to bow her head in a servile manner while acknowledging her orders.
"I understand.... I'm sorry, I misspoke, please forgive me.... I will have my agents withdrawn from the area at once. But you should know that if my agents have taken notice of this young man's actions, then those bastards from up north will have done the same. And if that is the case, how long do you think it will be before they send their own agents to deal with him?
I mean, if they haven't done so already?
The mysterious attendee did not say a word, and simply departed from the room in silence. Causing the Goddess to sigh heavily in relief. It was only after she confirmed that the woman was gone did she reach into her desk and pull out a flagon of wine which she drank from, gulping down large quantities of the alcoholic beverage in between breaths, as if she was dying of dehydration.
Once she had finished drinking the bottle, she wiped the red liquid from her lips before looking back at the photo of Angelica. Which she had torn into pieces, where she expressed her thoughts aloud in an intoxicated tone.
"Fucking bitch!"