Global Lord: Start with Divine Favor

He lowered his head in dejection and said, "I've thought it through. Leading everyone without the capability is just endangering lives. From now on, I'll just be an adventurer or a demon hunter, slaying those abominations and doing my part to protect the living."

Lin Rui nodded slightly. That's not a bad idea, at least he would have a safe place to stay. "Are you sure? Once you offer up your territory essence, there's no turning back."

"I'm sure. At worst, when I have the capability to lead everyone and build a home, I'll spend money to buy a territory essence again." He lowered his head in dejection, remained silent for a moment, then asked, "But... could I live in your territory?"

"Live in my territory? Still thinking about Audrey?" Lin Rui asked with a faint smile.

"No... no... no! I just feel your territory is safe, and you probably need people, right? I can buy a house in your territory and then usually go hunt monsters in the forest, sell the materials to the territory, and pay you taxes. Just consider me an adventurer in your territory, don't worry about me."

Lin Rui calmly responded, "If you want to come, then come."

This was something the territory would experience sooner or later — more and more explorers would abandon their territories to live in cities or the territories of other elite explorers. They would gradually become more aligned with the inhabitants of this world, accepting it, and then working where necessary and adventuring where necessary.

Lin Rui did not plan to build his territory into a feudal village. With a broad mindset and viewing his territory as akin to the main city of other forces, having explorers stay there seemed perfectly natural.

After all, when they bought weapons, potions, and set up stalls to sell goods in the territory, they paid taxes to him.

Moreover, as residents of the Golden Pansy Domain, when they killed monsters, the Lord would also earn experience. However, compared to directly commanded soldiers, this experience point ratio was relatively low, about only 1%, similar to hunters and fishermen.

But later on, if there were a hundred million explorers active daily within the force, Lin Rui could level up at lightning speed, dismantling mechas with bare hands would be a breeze.

As he joined the territory, Lin Rui finally learned that his name was Sunx Chen, a very young name.

Along with him, six residents joined the territory, including four farmers and two Tier Two soldiers.

The territory still had some resources, with various kinds totaling about five thousand. Lin Rui left all the Realm Coins to Sunx Chen and compensated him with two pieces of fine-level equipment dropped by a brute bull, finally depositing all other materials and the territory essence into the Dimensional Tomb.

Once the territory essence was stored away by Lin Rui, the entire territory immediately fell into decline, like a long-abandoned dilapidated mountain village.

These seven people were now considered the assets of the territory. Lin Rui could no longer let them fend for themselves and personally escorted them back to the territory.

Sunx Chen's territory still had some items; during the protection period, he had collected over a dozen pack horses and three carriages. They drove the carriages with sparse luggage in tow, following close behind Death's Claw, swiftly heading towards the Golden Pansy Domain.

Halfway down the road, Audrey rode Xiaoxiao and rushed over quickly.

Seeing his puffed-up face, Lin Rui curiously asked, "What happened?"

Audrey jumped down from Xiaoxiao's shoulder, puffing up his face, and said, "Among the two explorers I saved, one has gone insane. So frustrating, I said before that I would make sure they get through this crisis safe and sound."

"Is it a girl?" Lin Rui asked.

Audrey nodded and said, "A girl around twenty years old, terrified hysterically by a Grief Demon, cowering in a corner, no matter what, she won't come out."

It was understandable, after all, before this, the biggest worry in her life might have just been her crush frowning. Suddenly facing this kind of apocalyptic darkness, breaking down was quite normal.

"How's her territory?"

"Almost cleansed in blood, with only ten soldiers and civilians left. If they encounter a roaming Evil God Unclean One, they could all die silently."

He could no longer let ordinary people decide their own fate; actions had to be taken, leading ordinary people.

Lin Rui took a deep breath and said to Audrey, "I'm entrusting you with a task. Go take down her territory essence, and bring her and the remaining people back to our territory. Also, for those three explorers who attacked our territory, go to their territories too, and bring back the territory essence and populations."

"Got it, I'm on it now."

For explorers, this terrifying crisis was indeed a disaster for the weak and a feast for the strong.

After busying for nearly two hours, the Golden Pansy Domain successfully accepted two explorers, one applied voluntarily, and one was forced. Along with more than a hundred residents from five territories, instantly swelling the population by a third, it broke through three hundred, just shy of four hundred, almost upgrading to a medium-sized village.

It was destined to be a sleepless night. The civil servant Soro excitedly led the residents to allocate housing for the new residents, count occupations, and arrange jobs.

Meanwhile, Lin Rui and Terion had also assembled the troops, preparing to cleanse all evil monsters centered on the territory.

The Golden Pansy Domain had never been so lively before, as everyone carried out their tasks in an orderly manner.

In the Black Guard Army camp, seven Tier Two soldiers were in training for role transfer.

Terion had already led the army out, commencing the cleansing.

Lin Rui, accompanied by Audrey, also entered the ruins.

This site was simply the largest treasure trove of the territory. It offered troop recruitment, fine-level equipment, strategic treasures, Merit Medals, Corrupted Hero's Hearts, and various other precious assets.

Therefore, in the new cycle, Lin Rui was the first to come here for a sweep to enhance the territory's strength.

Moreover, the maze was complex, and others would get lost if they handled the cleanup, but Lin Rui's personal handling was highly efficient.

In front of the palace, the moment the Fanatic Commander Warren Otaff saw Lin Rui, his eyes widened like saucers.

With a face as if seeing a ghost, he pointed at Lin Rui, exclaiming, "You... you... drank dragon blood, huh? Your strength upgraded so fast!"

Lin Rui opened his attribute panel, still a deep red extreme danger. This fellow was a Ten-Mile Slope Sword God! Just how many waves of demons were slaughtered to elevate his strength to this unfathomable level?

Lin Rui inconspicuously handed over a money pouch first, saying, "Lord Warren, please feel free to visit our territory often."

Warren lightly weighed it, eyes full of disbelief. A thousand Spirit Crystal Coins! Did this little guy rob a dragon's nest? Became strong and rich in no time.

But his pride prevented him from directly agreeing, so he dismissively curled his lips and said, "A small village with less than a hundred people, what's there to see?"

"Don't stick to stereotypes, you might find out next time you come out that it has already become a small town."

Warren was about to mock the little guy's pipe dream but, upon seeing his nearly ascension-like strength, took a sharp breath, figuring it might not be impossible.

"If I have the time, I'll consider visiting. Why so proactive this time? You've just come at the start of this cycle."

"Isn't it to prevent casualties among the fanatics?" Lin Rui looked utterly sincere.

Warren rolled his eyes; he realized it, this little guy from the Golden Pansy Domain, spoke full of righteousness and glory while thinking purely about benefits. He directly said, "Your abacus beads are echoing, I can hear them from the other side of the teleportation gate."

Lin Rui laughed heartily and said, "After all, saving a lot of fanatic casualties, you should grant me more fanatic recruitment quotas."

Whether Lin Rui's words worked or the bag of Spirit Crystal Coins made a significant impression, Warren said, "Seeing your sincerity, each cycle I'm allowing you to recruit twenty fanatics from me. But the condition is, you must also come earlier to eradicate demons."

"No problem!" Lin Rui immediately agreed, as henceforth each cycle's recruitment quota doubled.

With twenty fanatics joining the territory, Lin Rui happily discovered that his luck was on the rise; among the recruited fanatics, four turned out to be Tier One Elite units, and three were Tier Two units.

This made Lin Rui look forward to perhaps recruiting Rare Level or even Heroic Spirit Level fanatics in the future.