Chapter 108 Subduer
Rejecting Dilan’s offer didn’t mean that he would consider them as his opponents.
But he was giving the head shepherd a second chance right now. After all, his subordinate, shepherd Xias, had given more than enough reason for Dilan to kill everyone who belonged to his group.
Dilan was not sure who to trust, and if he were to be honest, a gang was certainly not something he should trust, neither before the Primordial Ascension nor after.
The shepherd and his people could become a threat to him and his own group as well!
As such, Dilan’s decision to leave the police station if he were to be rejected was not without dangers!
That was why Dilan gave them a fair warning of what would happen if they would try to act smart with him.
An awkward moment of silence passed before he suddenly received a notification from the system just when the head shepherd nodded his head.
[Host suppressed a ruler with over 500+ subjects without shedding blood. Title ‘Subduer has been granted!]
Dilan was glad that he had received a title. It was much harder to procure one than initially expected.
As such, he was momentarily distracted when he read through the description of the ability
[[Subduer ]
While the title is equipped, enhancement in Charisma will be provided.]
The title’s effect sounded quite strong.
Dilan didn’t know what exactly the enhancement in Charisma truly strengthened, but he was sure that time would tell him sooner or later.
“What’s your name?” He asked the head shepherd, without waiting for him to answer.-.
Contrary to before, the head shepherd was not calm anymore. Rather, it looked like he was in a tricky situation because he had been considering accepting Dilan’s proposal seriously!
Thus he had subconsciously nodded his head a few seconds ago.
However, right now, the head shepherd was actually thinking about the offer he received.
“My name is Williams Sher!”
The moment the head shepherd said this, he knew that he had lost. To him, it felt like Dilan’s demeanor had changed once again.
It had become more difficult to withstand Dilan, his questions and presence.
This was something the others felt as well. In fact, they had already lowered their rifles because they understood that Williams would die the moment they did something stupid.
With that in mind, Dilan let go of Williams’ shoulder while his left hand was retracted.
“What do I get in return if I accept your offer?” Williams asked after taking in a few breaths.
He had turned to Dilan, just to see that he was calmly studying the map.
“What can I offer? We will soon claim a smithy, where a retired blacksmith will start forging weapons. Furthermore, we have quite a bit of food, and it’s not really difficult for us to get our hands on more food…well at least meat…
I think the only problems will be the scarcity of water and other resources when more than 600 Survivors start living together in one place!”
If Dilan were to be honest with Williams, even the scarcity of water was not a problem.
First of all, there was a large river two kilometers away from Rian. There was a small spring on the mountainside as well.
And even if one didn’t want to leave the city, it was possible for them to procure a few more Rings of Yarad.
As long as his theory was not wrong, and there was only a small variety of items one could procure from a specific Gate, getting their hands on more Rings of Yarad shouldn’t be a problem.
That meant controlling a total of 600 Survivors would be the most difficult. Dilan and his small group of rather powerful Ascenders wouldn’t be enough to achieve this, not if some of Williams’ gang members would try to **** someone.
“Water is not a problem…so the only worry you have is whether my Gang will retaliate or not?” Williams was quite fast at adapting to the current situation.
His Inner ring, which was the official name given to the group of five direct subordinates of his, looked at William in doubt.
However, that was not something he could be bothered about right now. Too many thoughts were running through his mind, including his rough assessment of Dilan’s potential.
‘What are his ambitions? If he won’t try to become King of his own kingdom or an Emperor, following him won’t cut it…’
Williams had been confident that his strength, connections, and experience were enough for him to become the Lord of Rian.
Unfortunately, that was the case when he had not considered the unknown variables such as Dilan.
Dilan was merely 21-years-old, but his eyes clearly showed that he would do everything necessary to stay alive and protect his people.
That was something that only great leaders had, which was the reason for Williams to waver.
“What are your future goals?”
Williams wanted to ask this. However, it was the same woman who had defended him just a moment ago who asked this question.
They were not yet fully convinced to follow Dilan. There were still too many uncertain factors and his own ambition stood in his way as well. But it was a fact that Williams couldn’t keep feeding more than 500 Survivors.
Even his closest people were slowly growing weaker due to the lack of food and other resources. The situation was grave.
It was quite obvious that they had to re-assess the situation that unfolded right in front of them.
Since Dilan asked them what they did to those who raped women, everything began to change rapidly.
“My future goals…”
Dilan was actually not sure what to answer. First of all, he didn’t even want to become a leader.
However, right now it was quite enjoyable to build up a large society where everyone contributed to improving the society’s living conditions.
Problems were bound to occur, but that was something one could solve rather easily as long as one had substantial authority.
“The most important short-term goal is probably to save as many Survivors as possible, and to let them adapt to the new era we’re facing…
Right now, everything that is happening in Milarn is still uncertain, so I cannot speak much about future goals. After all, I don’t know whether other humans, monsters, or other races are the biggest foes I would ever face!”
Dilan didn’t want to lie, even if it would provide him advantages.
He could tell that Williams, or more precisely, his entire Gang was overly ambitious and a bit hasty to achieve something great.
It was likely for them to feel like conquering Rian, to claim it for themselves, before expanding their territory further.
However, Dilan felt that this was too much of a hassle for the time being.
“But what I know is that I will never allow anyone to do something to the people under me. At least, as long as everyone obeys my rules and orders.
If even that cannot be ensured, we’re no better than chickens in a coop!”
Before giving an answer, Dilan made sure that he wanted his people to listen to his orders and rules. This was quite obvious but he repeated it to let Williams and his inner ring understand what he demanded from them.
Dilan’s honesty was quite admirable. Unfortunately, it made things more difficult for Williams and his people.
After all, the moment they agreed to join him, there would be no turning back. The same applied to them rejecting Dilan’s offer as well.
But even before they could start discussing their next steps, the scout from the rooftop shouted from the top of his lungs.
“WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!!”
Everyone froze upon hearing that warning, but Dilan instinctively approached the window of the office. He ignored the others and had his back facing them just to take a look down at the steel fence that surrounded the police station.
There, he could see several rather fast humans luring a large group of zombies toward the steel fence.
Seeing this, Dilan could only frown deeply, and he cursed under his breath when he heard the loud noise of the office’s door being thrown open.
The face of an anxious teenager entered his view as he shouted in between several breaths after charging up the police station’s stairs.
“The Death Beatles are here…and they are leading hundreds of zombies here including the Bronze zombies!!! Maybe there are even Tier-1 zombies amongst them!”
The sudden and unexpected attack, that too by powerful beasts, caused everyone to frown.
However, while Williams and the others squeezed themselves next to him to look out of the window, Dilan was just glancing at the young man.
‘He knows about Bronze monsters and Tier-1 existences? Did Williams tell everyone, or did this young one figure out everything by himself?’
Dilan was quite interested in the answer to these questions.
However, instead of asking his doubts aloud, Dilan only kept peering outside and mentally applauded the teenager for a near-perfect evaluation.
There may be several hundred ordinary, low-leveled zombies, but there were also monsters that could either be Tierless Silver zombies, or ordinary Tier-1 zombies!
“What is your choice? Will you accept my proposal or not?” Dilan asked all of a sudden, attracting everyone’s attention.
The teenager looked at him in confusion for a few moments. Dilan was someone the teenager had never seen.
As such, he was instinctively vigilant against him, even more so because his passive ability told Miles, the teenager, that Dilan was the most fearsome existence in his immediate surroundings.
“Will you help us if I agree?” Williams asked, frowning deeply as he looked out of the window worriedly.
He could tell what Dilan was trying to do, and it was something extremely displeasing.
To some extent, it angered Williams, but on the other hand, he was pretty sure that he would exact in the same way if he were to be in Dilan’s shoes.
However, Dilan just shook his head before he tore open the window.
“I’m not that petty. I will just show you what happens to those who attack me, and how lucky you guys are for meeting me when I’m feeling quite generous!”
Not bothering to look at the surprised faces of everyone, he jumped out of the window.
He didn’t hesitate for a single second as he fell down 20 meters, just to land on the ground with a loud bang.
The pain of falling 20 meters was drastically reduced owing to his enhanced physique.
Feeling the adrenaline coursing through his body all of a sudden, a bright smile emerged on his face as he lifted his gaze to encounter the gaze of hundreds of bloodthirsty beasts.
“Entertain me a little bit!!”