[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-global-lords-building-the-strongest-civilization":3,"chapter-global-lords-building-the-strongest-civilization-global-lords-building-the-strongest-civilization-chapter-40":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Global Lords: Building the Strongest Civilization with SSS Rank Talent",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},831919,1094,"Chapter 40: Biological Weapon","global-lords-building-the-strongest-civilization-chapter-40",40,"\u003Cp>[ INCOMING CALL: GORR (RANK 4) ] [ PRIORITY: HIGH ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Red frowned. Gorr usually sent a text or a trade request. A high-priority video call meant trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Red accepted the call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The screen flickered. The familiar stone avatar of Gorr appeared. But the background wasn't her usual Trade Hall. It was dark, illuminated only by glowing crystals. She looked... agitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Rubedo,\" Gorr's voice grated, lacking its usual sarcastic humor. \"We need to talk.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Gorr,\" Red sat up straighter. \"Is it the Molekins? Did they cause trouble?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The moles are fine. They dig well,\" Gorr dismissed. \"This is about the neighborhood. You've been making a lot of noise, Rubedo. Killing Hydra. Conquering mountains. Lighting big violet fires.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm just expanding,\" Red defended. \"Civilization building.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You're loud,\" Gorr said bluntly. \"And the noise travels.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She leaned closer to the screen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I just got a ping from the Southern Border. My trade scouts picked up movement. Big movement.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Red pulled up his map. The South was the domain of The Rotting Druid (Rank 4).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Druid?\" Red asked. \"I brushed with his scouts a few weeks ago. Is he attacking?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's not an attack,\" Gorr said ominously. \"It's a migration.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Spores,\" Gorr clarified. \"A massive cloud of Necrotic Spores is drifting North. It's moving slowly, but it's killing everything it touches. Trees, animals... trade routes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gorr paused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's heading for your swamp, Red. If that cloud hits your Bastion... your fish die. Your crops die. Your wooden walls rot.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Red looked at his beautifully optimized city. He looked at the aqueducts, the school, the training grounds. All of it was biological. All of it was vulnerable to rot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is this a declaration of war?\" Red asked, his voice cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's worse,\" Gorr said. \"The Rotting Druid isn't sending an army. He's sending the Weather. He's terraforming your land into his land.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gorr's stone eyes narrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You have maybe three days before the front hits. You can't stab a cloud, Red. And you can't intimidate a fungus.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What are you going to do?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Me?\" Gorr scoffed. \"I'm closing my borders. Stone doesn't rot, but I don't want that smell in my canyon. I'm calling to warn you because I owned you a favor for killing the Hydra, and you gave me good moles. Consider the debt paid.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ CALL ENDED ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Red sat in the silence of the Void.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked down at Bastion. The Mud-Skippers were laughing in the school. The Grey-Fins were swimming in the clear water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Three days,\" Red whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at his [ 1,000% CAUSALITY CHARGE ].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You want a weather war, Druid?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Red stood up, his spectral form glowing with violet intensity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I have ten nukes and a degree in thermodynamics. Let's dance.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The decision hung in the air of the Void like a guillotine blade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ OPTION A: MIGRATION ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>→ Pros: Saves the population. Zero casualties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>→ Cons: Bastion is lost. The aqueducts clog. The kelp dies. The buildings rot. The \"City\" becomes a \"Ruins\" map.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is the safest option…\" Red muttered to himself in the void. \"No one dies, but I lose everything else I have built.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Red looked at Bastion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I have invested too much, and starting all over again would waste so much time and DP. Even with my 100x. It won't just be reconstruction. I will have to take out the virus and the fungus. And depending on how concentrated it is… I might even lose this land permanently. And what if The Rotting Druid sends another cloud?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[ OPTION B: DEFENSE ]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>→ Pros: Maintains infrastructure. Keeps the territory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>→ Cons: High risk. If the defense fails, the population dies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Red looked at his city. He looked at the school where the children were learning to write. He looked at the smoker where the fish were curing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I didn't build a refugee camp,\" Red growled, swiping Option A away. \"I built a Civilization. And Civilizations don't run from the rain.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at the approaching Green Fog on the map, which was now visible since he had acquired the information. It was a biological weapon. A localized ecosystem overwrite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Gorr said I can't stab a cloud,\" Red muttered. \"She's right. Physical damage is useless.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tapped his chin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But fungus has a weakness. It loves moisture. It hates heat. And it absolutely cannot survive Thermal Sterilization.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled up a new window. He didn't need a miracle. He needed physics. Specifically, Thermodynamics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If I can't build a dome of glass,\" Red whispered, his eyes lighting up with a dangerous idea, \"I'll build a dome of Fire.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Red projected his avatar into the Temple. The Violet Fire roared, signaling a summons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Krug (High Priest) was already there. Iron-Scale (Inquisitor) ran in from the training grounds. Old-Shell (Tank Commander) lumbered to the door. The Root-Father (Treant Elder) stood outside, his branches trembling as he sensed the approaching death in the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[THE SOUTH IS DYING,] Red announced, his voice echoing from the flames. [A PLAGUE COMES ON THE WIND.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Root-Father groaned. \"The Rot... we feel it. The trees scream. We must leave. We must go to the stone. To Onyx Hall\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[NO,] Red commanded. [WE DO NOT RUN.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He projected a holographic map of Bastion onto the temple floor. He drew a circle around the city perimeter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[FUNGUS BREATHES WATER. WE WILL GIVE IT FIRE. WE ARE GOING TO BUILD A CHIMNEY.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Red turned to the projection of the North.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[KRUG. SEND A RUNNER TO THE ONYX HALL. TELL ZEK I WANT COAL. NOT SOME OF IT. ALL OF IT. EMPTY THE BINS. STRIP THE VEINS. I WANT EVERY OUNCE OF FUEL THE MOUNTAIN HAS.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[GORAK. YOU ARE THE MULE. LOAD THE SHELL-KIN. LOAD THE CARTS. IF IT BURNS, BRING IT SOUTH.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Red turned to Old-Shell and the Root-Father.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[OLD ONE. DIG A TRENCH. A CIRCLE AROUND THE CITY. TEN FEET DEEP. TWENTY FEET WIDE. ROOT-FATHER. BUILD CHIMNEYS OF MUD AND STONE EVERY FIFTY METERS ALONG THAT TRENCH.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Chimneys?\" The Root-Father was confused. \"To cook?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[TO BREATHE,] Red corrected. [WE WILL CREATE AN UPDRAFT. A WALL OF HEAT SO INTENSE THAT THE SPORES WILL BURN BEFORE THEY TOUCH THE GROUND.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at Krug.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[AND YOU, FLAME-KEEPER. WHEN THE FUEL IS LIT... YOU WILL MAKE IT HOLY.]\u003C\u002Fp>",1047,"2026-06-03T04:18:47.295Z","2026-06-03T04:18:56.938Z",1,"novelbin.me","90ba9fc63d2d7c790acc80c1da91f10583acfdf1b5794d60dcf1a8848af3a2d3","global-lords-building-the-strongest-civilization-chapter-41","global-lords-building-the-strongest-civilization-chapter-39",256,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fglobal-lords-building-the-strongest-civilization-cover.jpg"]