Chapter 410 - 20: Slimes Can Be Powerful
[A new territory has been conquered...]
...
[A new territory has been conquered...]
As the system’s voice rang out, Lin Yu was in the library of the Jade Sanctuary, absorbing knowledge.
With the blessing of a vast consciousness, speed-reading was no longer a dream.
However, his brain’s processing speed was still a limiting factor. It still took him a full day to read and comprehend a massive tome.
Lin Yu didn’t always rely on the World Tree to accelerate his learning. He feared becoming addicted to the thrill of high-speed comprehension and eventually losing the will to separate from his fusion with the tree.
At that point, who could say whether he would be Lin Yu or the World Tree?
Lin Yu set down his book and looked at the system interface.
On the map provided by the system, he saw the five new territories he had conquered.
This time, he chose not to destroy all of them. He kept two territories that bordered his own and destroyed the other three.
He then ordered his people to bring back the captured lords, along with the land plots, resource packs, building blueprints, and most importantly, the Territory Cores from the destroyed lands.
Then, he picked up his book and resumed reading.
...
A day later, Lin Yu arrived at the territory’s newly built, luxurious prison.
Through a one-way resin wall, he saw the four newly captured lords.
"Have they all talked?"
"My Lord, they have all confessed everything they know. Our men are currently conducting repeated cross-interrogations to verify their statements."
"Anything new?"
"No, it’s all information we’ve heard from previous lords. There are some recent details about the conflicts between the Titan Race’s Civilian and Noble Lords, but we already got that from Lord Alfen."
"Is there anyone left who hasn’t been interrogated?"
"My Lord, they have all been questioned."
"These Titan Race nobles are spineless. The moment we told them they could join us if they confessed everything, they spilled their guts!"
Lin Yu frowned. ’This won’t do.’
’The information they’ve provided is worthless, yet they think they can defect to me just with that? There’s no such thing as a free lunch.’
’Besides, if they all defect to me, how am I supposed to get Lord experience points?’
’My current Lord Level is 3, with 100/200 experience. I’m just 100 experience short. I only need to kill one more Level 3 Lord to level up. Then I’ll get more uses of "Enlightenment."’
"How were they transported here? On the Heaven-Reaching Vines?"
"Yes, My Lord."
"Tsk."
Lin Yu thought for a moment and understood. During their transport into the territory, these lords had seen his domain from inside the Heaven-Reaching Vine Pods.
Even though they only saw superficial aspects of the territory, it was enough to be an eye-opener for these Titan Race lords, giving them some idea of his power.
They were overjoyed when they learned they could get a chance to join the World Tree Territory just by sharing information that every Titan Race lord already knew.
’Not only do you get to live after being defeated, but you also get a chance to join a superpower. That’s something to celebrate, isn’t it?’
Lin Yu thought for a moment, then asked, "They don’t still think we’re part of the Titan Race, do they?"
"My Lord, we made it clear to them during the interrogation that we are not of the Titan Race."
"So, even knowing they’re defecting to a foreign race, they’re this eager? This excited?"
’It seems I overestimated the moral baseline of these Titan Race nobles!’
’Do they really feel no guilt at all for betraying their own people?’
Lost in thought, Lin Yu sent a new order to Al.
"Build a new, large prison in the Als Territory. Use it to hold any lords captured in the future."
"Don’t make it too luxurious. Of course, it doesn’t have to be too harsh, either. They’re lords, after all. Just build it to the living standards of your Titan Race commoners!"
Far away in the Als Territory, Al knelt and respectfully declared, "My Lord, I will see to it at once!"
[My Lord is truly ruthless. Imprisoning lords by commoner standards... that’s more agonizing than simply killing them...]
As for the seven captives in the territory’s prison, Lin Yu decided not to accept their allegiance for now. He would let them have an "internship" first.
He looked at the prison warden and commanded, "Send all seven of them to the Als Territory. Tell them I will accept their oath of fealty only after they have performed meritorious service for the territory."
"As for the soldiers and heroes who deserted due to low morale, tell them not to worry about it. They were all low-tier trash. Good riddance!"
"My Lord, should we assign men to watch them?"
"No. If they have guards, how will I know if they genuinely want to submit to me? Let them move freely within the Als Territory!"
"Just have the plant sentinels on the territory’s perimeter keep a close watch. As long as they don’t escape, it’s fine."
"Yes!"
The head of the Intelligence Department (a new department jointly run by the Military and Administrative Centers) understood Lin Yu’s intent. The Lord wanted one of these men to make a mistake, so he could make an example of them.
’From the look of things, it seems the Lord is closing the path of joining the territory simply by providing intelligence. Al sure was lucky!’
...
「Three days later.」
Lin Yu was handling affairs in the Lord’s Mansion when the system’s voice rang out.
[Your subject has killed a Level 3 Lord. Your Lord Experience +100]
[Congratulations! Your Lord Level has increased by 1.]
[Your current Lord Level is 4]
"Hahaha! I knew it. Let them run free, and someone was bound to try and escape."