Subsystems: One.

Soldier Farming System:

[All Units established by the Host will generate System Credits and Exp, and will be rewarded to the Host.

The Credits and Exp will only be half the amount of what the host usually generates for any kill. ]

" Not bad, not bad, system, you are more valuable than I thought "

[ And you are not as worthless as a host ]

Derek ignored the indirect diss.

Yvalna tilted her head at Derek's sudden outburst. "What happened? Did the monsters evolve again? Or did your hair finally become sentient?"

Derek cleared his throat, forcing composure. "No. Better. Way better."He couldn't tell her. Not yet. No one could know about the System—not even the smug silver-haired wind mage slash battlefield guardian. But inside, his brain was sprinting a victory lap with flaming batons.

It was a military pyramid scheme, and he was the guy at the top.

[New System Function: Soldier Ledger Unlocked.][Track performance, rewards, and squad efficiency in real-time. Warning: Excessive losses will reduce overall EXP gain.]

His comm rang again; " Sir, the first wave of beasts has been spotted, requesting engagement"

"Engage," Derek muttered under his breath, pulling up the transparent interface visible only to him.

After some minutes, rows of names started populating with tags—[Status: Deployed], [Location: Sector 3-B], [Kills: 1], [You gained: +102 Credits, 300mExp]—it was quite small, but you know what they say about little drops of water.

"God, I love automation," he whispered, eyes twinkling.

"Are you talking to yourself?" Yvalna asked.

"Strategising," he corrected smoothly.

She cracked her knuckles with a casual air of menace. "I'll keep the rookie corpses to zero."

"That would be appreciated," Derek replied dryly. "Corpses are terrible for morale—and even worse for recruitment."

High above the battlefield, they watched from the edge of a shattered rooftop, overlooking the ghost of what had once been downtown Paleview. The squads had begun their engagement, and the first notes of chaos sang out—monster roars echoing through broken skyscrapers, steel clashing with claw, and wild arcs of mana flashing like fireworks across the crumbling skyline.

In the midst of it all, a young girl attempting to cast a fire spell panicked, lost control of her magic, and accidentally incinerated an entire dumpster. Her squadmate, who'd been using said dumpster as cover, let out a string of exasperated curses loud enough to be heard over the mayhem.

"Amateurs," Yvalna muttered, though her voice lacked venom. If anything, she sounded vaguely amused. She raised one hand, fingers twitching ever so slightly, as if conducting the battle from afar. Threads of wind began weaving subtly through the air, diverting claws, throwing off enemy trajectories, and shielding the most vulnerable recruits from mortal wounds. She wasn't directly fighting—she was tipping the scales, ever so slightly, in their favour.

And in a particularly volatile sector to the east, where the fog of war was thickest, a squad of five found themselves backed into a dead-end alley by a pack of Bonehounds. The skeletal monstrosities approached in eerie synchronisation, eyes burning crimson, their bony limbs clicking against the pavement like the ticking of a death clock.

Derek glanced at his scene.

He didn't move.

"They'll adapt," he said quietly, his tone cold and clinical. "Or they'll die before they ever make it to the real battlefield."

One of the squad's spear-wielders—nervous, undertrained, but fueled by a mix of desperation and courage—let out a half-formed war cry and charged. His spear gleamed with unstable energy as he lunged forward.

The Bonehounds pounced, easily slipping past his clumsy thrust. He was going to die.

Just then, without warning, a golden bolt of lightning crashed down into the street, followed by a deafening shockwave. Three of the beasts were annihilated mid-air, reduced to scattered fragments of bone and ash. The remaining two were flung against the alley walls like ragdolls, broken and silent.

The young recruit staggered backwards, staring in disbelief at his still-intact body.

Derek sighed. They were all his mobile Exp farmers, he could not afford to lose a single one of them...and also because he could not just stand by and watch it happen.

Derek didn't bother checking the squad's performance metrics immediately. He could already tell the survival rate was improving. Rough around the edges, but growing. He folded his arms, analysing the broader picture. Dozens of squads were in combat across the ruined city, each encounter pushing them to the brink. Most were holding. Some were thriving.

And for those who weren't?

That's where Andrew and the Genesis Squad came in.

Moving like shadows across rooftops and alleyways, the elite team handled the real threats—the mutated drakes, the siege-class horrors, the evolved beasts that could flatten entire buildings. While the recruits were learning to stand on two feet, the Genesis Squad made sure none of them were flattened before lunchtime.

Derek watched them dispatch a hulking hydra-beast with clinical precision. Andrew gave no speeches, no declarations. He simply raised a finger, and Evelyn tore the monster apart with invisible hands. Felix, ever the showman, turned the creature's skull into a bonfire with a single shot.

" Hmm..now that's what I am talking about "

And that was exactly the reality Derek wanted the recruits to believe in: that they were being protected just enough to feel secure, but not so much that they stopped growing.

He let his gaze return to the System interface, tracking the trickle of credits and experience flowing in.

Not a flood yet. But with over three hundred recruits generating data? It was starting to look like a lucrative investment.

His lips curled into a slow, satisfied grin.

This was cheating—no doubt about it. But it was the strategic, scalable kind of cheating. The kind that made you a god while everyone else was still learning how to hold a sword properly.

He opened the System interface again, curiosity tugging at the back of his mind. "Can this Soldier Point Farming System be upgraded?"

The reply came, quiet and matter-of-fact:

[Upgrade available upon reaching Milestone: Command 1000 soldiers OR promote elite units.]

His eyes lingered on that last phrase.

"Elite units…" he whispered. His mind was already working—calculating, plotting.

Yvalna noticed the shift in his expression and gave him a sidelong glance. "You're scheming again, aren't you?"

Derek gave her his most innocent smile. "Just thinking how nice it'd be to have a few monster-killing MVPs with better benefits."

She rolled her eyes, she did not understand. "You're planning something."

"Always."

Meanwhile, in one of the outer sectors far removed from the Genesis Squad's patrols, a low-talent awakener with a hammer nearly the size of his torso was locked in a frantic struggle with a mantis-like beast. The creature was taller, faster, and clearly more intelligent—but the young man refused to back down. His breathing was ragged, his footwork a mess, but there was grit in his eyes.

"Come on…" he growled, sweat pouring down his face. "Just one clean hit!"

He lunged, swinging the hammer in a desperate arc. By sheer luck—or perhaps sheer determination-it it connected directly with the beast's thorax. There was a crunch. The creature let out a strangled shriek, then collapsed in a flurry of twitching limbs.

The young man fell to his knees, gasping for air. A moment passed before his armband quietly blinked, confirming the kill.

Above, Derek saw the scene and allowed himself another smile.

"One down," he murmured. "Only nine hundred ninety-nine more and a whole lot to go."

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