100\% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full?-Chapter 419 - New Land

Eirene walked with Lucien a little farther before continuing her explanation of the territory.

"The Desert Folk who once lived scattered around the Karesh Desert have gathered here as well. Over time, they joined as one."

Lucien listened carefully.

"There are more than a million of them," Eirene added.

That made Lucien’s eyes sharpen slightly.

A million.

That was no longer a wandering people.

That was a force.

Eirene continued, "I did not erase the desert entirely. A portion of the land remains as it was before. Hot, dry, and harsh enough for them to feel at home. For Desert Folk, comfort and strength both come from the right environment."

Lucien nodded.

That was the correct choice.

A race shaped by heat and sand should not be uprooted into plains simply because plains looked prettier.

"Sahrin and Khasari are the ones leading them now," Eirene said. "They have spent these past years helping their people shed their mortal shell. Some have already reached Transcendence."

Lucien’s lips curved faintly.

"And the two of them?"

Eirene smiled.

"They are both at the fifth stage of Transcendence now."

That made Lucien genuinely pleased.

"They integrated with the Law of Dune," Eirene said. "A Law of shifting dominion, survival, and command over the desert’s living patterns."

Lucien liked that immediately.

It fit them. And with the Scale of Dominion merged into their living tattoos, the law became even more appropriate.

Their bodies had already been made to endure heat and magic. Now their very authority resonated with terrain that wore enemies down and raised them up.

"Good," Lucien said softly. "Very good."

•••

Eirene then spoke of the others.

"Sister Marie is at the peak of Ascendant Realm now," she said.

Lucien blinked.

That was faster than he expected.

But then again, perhaps it was not.

Marie had always been the kind of person who threw herself at a wall until either she broke through or the wall did.

"She told me," Eirene continued, "that she wants your opinion before trying to break into the Celestial Realm."

Lucien tilted his head.

"My opinion?"

Eirene nodded. "The method matters. That realm is not just about accumulation. The way one enters determines what kind of body one forges. The stronger the foundation of that transformation, the stronger the body will become afterward."

Lucien understood.

Marie was trusting him to help her choose a path she would not regret.

Then Lucien’s gaze shifted slightly as he looked at Eirene herself.

There was something strange about her.

He had noticed it earlier, but now that they were talking more closely, the feeling became sharper.

Eirene was already in the Celestial Realm.

And yet her aura did not behave like anyone else’s.

There were barely any visible fluctuations at all.

And beneath that quiet... Lucien could feel something else.

Two forces.

Two presences coexisting inside her body in a way that should have been unstable, yet somehow remained perfectly balanced.

Lucien frowned inwardly but said nothing.

If Eirene wanted to explain, she would.

Eirene went on.

"Sister Marie changed after you disappeared," she said quietly.

Lucien fell silent.

"She lost her smile," Eirene continued. "She became quiet. Far too quiet for someone like her. Then she turned all of that inward. She trained during the day, at night, in rain, under sun, wounded, tired, angry. It did not matter."

Lucien could picture it too clearly.

Eirene’s voice softened.

"When I met her again after I finished my business in the ruins, I was sad to see her like that. So I told her the truth as far as I knew." She looked at Lucien. "I told her you were alive."

Lucien exhaled slowly.

"That brought her hope," Eirene said. "But not peace. Not yet."

Marie had kept moving.

Kept training.

Kept hardening herself.

"She became someone the Verdant Veil deeply respects," Eirene said. "She even became the commanders handling their training. And she was... harsh."

Lucien snorted quietly.

"I can imagine."

Eirene smiled. "Yes. I thought so too."

Then she continued.

"We met senior Song (Astraea) when Marie was leading a group toward senior Dawnbinder’s territory to complete a trade. When she learned that you were close to her, that was the first time in a long while I saw something in her ease. Not fully. But enough."

Lucien sighed.

Marie could indeed be called his best friend in the Big World.

If their positions had been reversed, he would not have taken that disappearance well either.

But now... all was well again.

Lucien smiled, glad that Marie was back again, even if she was still as noisy as ever.

•••

Lucien did not hide things from Eirene either.

He told her that he had brought people with him. Not just a few companions, but entire groups that would need a place within this territory.

He explained some of it simply.

Enough for her to understand the scale without forcing her to digest every impossible detail at once.

But when he mentioned Lilith—

Eirene’s brows lifted.

It was brief.

So brief that anyone less observant might have missed it.

Then her expression returned to normal, smooth as if nothing had happened.

Lucien almost thought he imagined it.

Eirene smiled lightly.

"It is your land," she said. "You may bring whoever you wish."

Lucien studied her for a moment but let it go.

Then Eirene added, quieter this time, "Brother Luc, I want to start again here. Not as Verdant Veil. Not as what I used to be."

Her gaze moved over the plains.

"But as someone who carries your banner."

Eirene smiled. Still, something in her eyes hinted that her words carried a deeper meaning.

Lucien looked at her for a few seconds.

Then he nodded.

"You won’t regret it."

That answer was simple.

But it was enough.

•••

Soon after, Eirene excused herself.

Thanks to Seraphine’s book, they finally had a real chance to heal the Celestial-realm senior, and time mattered too much to waste.

Lucien did not stop her.

After she left, he turned his attention to the jade slab she had given him earlier.

The moment he sent a thread of power into it, the slab awakened.

Light spread across its smooth surface.

Then a map appeared.

The Karesh territory unfolded in miniature across the jade like a living diagram.

Lucien’s eyes sharpened with interest.

It was not a simple map.

It responded.

When he touched one section, the image expanded.

When he pinched lightly, it zoomed outward and inward like a touch screen from his previous life, only smoother and more intuitive.

He quickly located their current position.

They were in the southern part of the territory.

He studied the lines of water, unfinished districts, remaining desert regions, fertile plains, and pressure fields embedded into the land’s management system.

Then he saw it.

At the center of his territory—

A palace. Huge and grand.

Floating in the sky.

Lucien’s expression changed immediately.

He did not need Eirene to explain it.

He could feel the aura leaking from it even through the jade slab.

Stillness.

"The Ruins of Stillness..." Lucien murmured.

Then he corrected himself.

"No. This was not a ruin at all."

He felt the link instantly.

The jade slab was not merely a controller for the land.

It was connected directly to the palace itself.

Lucien pressed the palace marker.

The world shifted.

In the next instant, he stood at the outer edge of the floating palace.

Wind moved past him in quiet currents.

Below him stretched his territory.

Even from this height, Lucien could not see its full edge on the horizon.

The scale was ridiculous.

A few small worlds could fit inside this territory.

Lucien stood there for a long while, simply looking.

This was not just land.

It was possibility.

His lips curved into a smile.

Creating something from a territory this large...

That was exciting.

•••

As for the Palace of Stillness itself, Lucien chose not to ask questions.

He did not know how Eirene had managed to raise it here.

He did not know how deeply she had understood its technology.

And he did not push.

If she wished to tell him one day, she would.

For now, what mattered was simpler.

He trusted her.

That was enough.

Lucien sat on the edge of the floating palace, one leg bent, the other hanging over the vast open air below.

He looked out over the empty stretches still waiting for shape.

His thoughts began moving rapidly.

He was already planning.

What districts would be needed.

Where Starforge should settle.

What zones the monsters would require.

Where roads should run.

Where the first fortress should stand.

Where training grounds, farms, and law halls would rise.

His people were diverse.

That meant the land could not be uniform.

It would need many environments.

Many climates.

Many systems.

Lucien looked out across the endless territory and let the idea settle into his bones.

This was no longer only about surviving.

Now, at last, it was about building.