The process went smoothly, there was no disruption. As a noble of relatively low rank, Du You never sought after the upper classes of White Stone City and neither did they seek him. After all, there were no major battles taking place.
With a few things in hand, he returned and once again settled into his former lifestyle.
Each day, besides eating and sleeping, involved training, occasionally creating a bit of mischief with Lin Yucha and Lin Yushi. His days were relaxed and comfortable. Among all his travels to the Other World, this was the most leisurely and stress-free.
Under everyone’s construction efforts, the City Lord’s Mansion slowly took shape, though it was not overly extravagant.
Of course, this wasn’t some special functional building, it was a genuinely ordinary building. Du You had no plans for the mansion, so he simply built a house at random.
Half a month into the construction of his territory, the Giant Rock Fortress was finally completed. The fortress was massive, so speeding up the construction process was not easy, nonetheless, it was finished.
Giant Rock Fortress (Tier 1):
Giant Rock Heavy Armored Warrior Level 9: 100 people/month, the full price is 100 Crystal Coins/person
Du You was taken aback - such a massive Giant Rock Fortress, practically a castle, larger even than his Lord’s Mansion, yet it could only accommodate one branch of the armed forces. Granted, they were level 9, but it still seemed incredibly limited.
"Well, I’ll have a chance to add more types of soldiers later. For now, the Heavy Armored Warriors will suffice to defend the city," he resigned himself to the situation and called over a hundred civilians, resettling them in the Giant Rock Fortress.
Training time one day, please wait.
Oh alright, it appears training also requires time. It’s not instantaneous, which seems to align with normal expectations. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩
Each full-priced recruit costs one hundred Crystal Coins, but training civilians reduces the price to twenty Crystal Coins. However, training one hundred at once cost two thousand Crystal Coins. He needed to accumulate more soldiers, and their numbers would certainly increase.
Add metal supply? If not, the equipment cost per person will increase by 20 Crystal Coins.
Suddenly, new information appeared on the panel. Du You’s face darkened. Where was he supposed to find metal? Buying a small quantity of iron ore in White Stone City was plausible, but anything more was beyond his means.
With no other options, Du You continued to input Crystal Coins. The price jumped from two thousand to four thousand - doubled in an instant. Creating soldiers was more costly than creating animals.
"Lord, what do you plan to do with those slaves?" Suddenly, Shaliya walked over to ask.
"What do you mean? Aren’t they going to stay here?" Du You asked in confusion.
Shaliya shook her head and said, "Our territory is unique, all these slaves were bought, hardly trustworthy. If they leak any secrets, it would be disastrous. Right now they might not have discovered anything, but they will eventually. It’s best if our subjects are those summoned from the residential buildings, that would guarantee absolute loyalty."
Shaliya didn’t mention another advantage to having utterly loyal subjects: once trained into soldiers, they always maintain high morale, are willing to fight to the death, and will not retreat when facing adversities. They would make the best troops.
If the soldiers were trained from slaves, the quality would be much poorer and their absolute loyalty cannot be guaranteed.
"So, what do you suggest we do?" Du You shrugged.
"The best course of action is to kill them all, to eliminate potential future problems."
Du You stared at Shaliya, this woman was much more ruthless than he had imagined. "No, no, I’m not the type to kill indiscriminately, we’re talking about ten thousand people here. Plus, I promised them that if they behave well, they would be granted the status of free civilians."
Shaliya didn’t seem surprised and responded with a smile, "My Lord is truly merciful." Du You felt this was normal, who in their right mind would slaughter so many people for fun?
He could decisively exterminate demons by the hundreds of thousands, even the enemy, but to kill ten thousand people just to keep his secrets didn’t sit well with him. Different worldviews, different approaches.
Du You was ignorant of the fact that some people in this world would not hesitate to massacre or commit genocide for their own benefit.
"Then we have another option, we could let them leave the territory range while they’re still clueless. There’s a road from our territory to the foot of the mountain, we could let those people establish a small town there. This will serve as a transit point that can facilitate external exchanges, and also expand our territory."
This was all wasteland. If he claimed the area and no one else did, then it would naturally be his.
Du You thought about it, it seemed like a feasible plan. "Alright, we’ll do as you suggested."
Shaliya spoke up again, "For the rest of them, it would be best to sign contracts, that includes me. It’s the safest way." Shaliya was referring to herself and the women from Millet Flower Duchy.
"No wonder you asked me to prepare so many Contract Scrolls." Du You took out the blank Contract Scrolls.
Shaliya didn’t hesitate to write harsh terms on it, at least in Du You’s view. She then signed her name without hesitation. Since the slave contract hadn’t undergone his authentication, so Shaliya was only affected by magic power and was not his absolute follower.
After signing the contract, Du You found that he could take Shaliya with him and leave this world for Earth. Of course, Du You wouldn’t just bring her along randomly, what would happen to his territory then?
Plus, if he really wanted to take her with him, he would need a sum of Crystal Coins as a toll. Presumably, that’s how others manage to bring special slaves back to Earth.
Soon, everyone had signed contracts regardless of their will. Some then led the slaves out of the territory to the outermost road, preparing to establish a new town there.
That area was not currently under Du You’s control, but as long as it was occupied, it would be recognized by the Divine Flame Empire.
Since the slaves had previous experience building city walls and houses, doing it again was not a problem. Although it wasn’t a functional construction, it will serve its purpose. It seemed that the previous residential buildings were somewhat a waste.
For the slaves, being able to keep a safe distance from the dangerous mountains was a blessing, and they were very happy with the arrangement.
Now, except for those who signed contracts, Mountain Town only had absolutely loyal subjects left.
After a full day, the gates of the Giant Rock Fortress opened, and a group of powerful-looking soldiers marched out. Their steps in unison, like a group of robots. Seeing this, Shaliya couldn’t help nodding, they were an elite troop indeed.