Chapter 642: Chapter 642

"How is the Lord of White Stone City doing now? Has he been replaced?" Du You had a good working relationship with the Lord of White Stone City, and if he was replaced, other problems might arise.

"The Lord of White Stone City has not been replaced. After all, he has been serving here for so many years. The Empire can’t easily replace him, as it would cause dissatisfaction among other nobles and lords. However, the presence of a fourth-tier expert and a large number of third-tier troops has supposedly made the Lord’s life very difficult recently."

Indeed, the Lord of White Stone City himself was only a third-tier individual who hadn’t even reached the peak, or perhaps he had, Du You wasn’t sure. But this level of power, combined with just a few subordinates, would not be enough even with a long tenure.

The people sent from above were too strong, and it would be very easy to sideline the Lord.

In this world, the strong are respected after all. Without strength, other methods are of little use.

"By the way, we are no longer under the jurisdiction of White Stone City. Since we are in the south, we are now under the administration of South Mountain City. South Mountain City has been established, but since you were absent, it was put on hold. When you have time, you should report there to fulfil the procedures."

Du You was surprised but then recovered. The situation had changed, and the establishment of South Mountain City required assistance from local lords. Du You was arguably the most powerful lord in the south.

If you follow the mountains from his territory to the east, you will find the Goblin Forest, then, by going around the south, you will reach the Kingdom of Hanhai’s territory.

"At first, White Stone City didn’t want to give up our territory, given our strength, but the Empire issued a direct order, and they had to let go. There has been some criticism regarding your long absence."

Du You nodded. Shaliya had sent him some information about the southern territories. But in order to save energy, she had been brief, and Du You hadn’t taken it seriously. It seemed now to be somewhat troublesome.

"Alright, it’s late today. I’ll go there tomorrow. The distance isn’t too far, and it won’t take a day to get there and return. Even if anything delays me, I’ll be back within three days."

After thinking for a moment, Du You said: "Tell me about the development of the territory first, just looking at the panel doesn’t give me the details."

With that said, Du You opened his panel to take a closer look.

Territory: Mountain Town (second-tier, Yalan Continent)

Area: 10 square kilometers

Lord: Du You / Deputy Lord: Shaliya / Commander: Luo Jia

Revenue: 500 Red Crystal Coins per day. Expenditure: 200 Red Crystal Coins per day.

Population: 100,000/100,000 (Non-combat lifeforms cannot exceed one-tenth of the population)

Military strength: 8,943/10,000 (Combat lifeforms cannot exceed one-tenth of military strength)

Incoming population: 370,646 ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁

The changes on the territory’s main panel weren’t significant. The population had increased the most. The territory’s own population had been replenished and these were people who were absolutely loyal to Du You. The military strength has reached over 8,000, which was a quite formidable force.

However, not all of these troops were at the second-tier; most of them were still at the first-tier. Even though they had been trained hard, they had not been able to completely fill up the military strength due to a lack of time.

That it developed to this extent was evidence of Shaliya’s capabilities. The number of Red Crystal Coins Du You had left behind wasn’t that high, and the daily production alone might not have been enough.

Being able to develop the territory to this extent while also managing all manner of affairs demonstrated Shaliya’s competence.

It seemed that Du You had to fight the Kingdom of Hanhai. On the one hand, Shaliya’s abilities were too powerful and Du You had to completely control her. On the other hand, in order to develop in this world, Du You had no choice but to fight.

If the Kingdom of Hanhai were to develop, it would certainly pose a threat to Du You. And for his next phase of development, without offending the Divine Flame Empire, he could only expand towards the south and west, with the south being the ideal direction for expansion.

The incoming population finally reached 370,646. Such a population, not to mention in the south, even in the entire Divine Flame Empire, could be considered a top-tier city population.

However, just by looking at the panel, Du You couldn’t really comprehend the situation. It was only after Shaliya told him that he realized the border town was no longer a small town but a unified megacity.

Additionally, numerous cities have been built in the north in the unclaimed lands to counter the threat of the Sandpeople. Basically, all the people who had been threatened by the Sandpeople had fled here.

Shaliya also used some local forces to form a guard to protect these cities. If it wasn’t for the fact those lords didn’t want to give up their status, they might have joined. Some lords even lived in cities built by Du You, leaving their territories to others to manage.

Doing this was very dangerous, as it could easily attract the attention of the Sandpeople.

But after problems arose in the south, the appearance of a fourth-tier existence and additional troops in White Stone City fully agitated the Sandpeople.

The Sandpeople didn’t have large cities here, only small cities in the oases.

But to deal with the Divine Flame Empire, they also strengthened their troops. However, due to the barren land, it was hard to support so many people, making their forces severely insufficient.

The Sandpeople already found it hard to defend against White Stone City, let alone take care of these cities in the south.

While these cities had a large population, there were no strong individuals to pose a threat to them. Winning would be hard and would come at a great cost, yet the benefits would be limited.

For safety, Shaliya and Luo Jia jointly designed a full set of defensive systems, turning those cities into fortresses. Moreover, they left ample space for the construction of defensive buildings. Once the territory was upgraded, the area would definitely be brought under control.

At that time, even constructing a large number of arrow towers would be enough to give the Sandpeople a hard time.

Currently, the south was seemingly weak, yet not easily provoked and with limited benefits. The Sandpeople would not focus on it for the time being. All these were the contributions of Shaliya and Luo Jia.

However, these displaced people and soldiers from the south couldn’t provide much help for the battles there - they were struggling to defend against the Sandpeople. Du You had to send part of his forces to protect them.