“Understood,” the Swadian Sergeant who had come to relay the message replied, then turned and returned downstairs.
Shen Mu, on the other hand, first changed into soft and delicate velvet clothing, then washed his hands, wiped his face with a towel, and after confirming he was refreshed, he pushed open the door and entered the first-floor meeting room.
Zhang Caidong, led by the Swadian Sergeant, had already arrived in the meeting room and was waiting quietly.
Of course, even if he wasn't quiet, there was nothing he could do.
Because right at the entrance of the meeting room, two Swadian Sergeants, clad in heavy chainmail and armed to the teeth, stood there.
Their posture was one hand on their hip, the other resting on the hilt of their hand-and-a-half sword, with their thumb occasionally brushing over a spiked mace, their eyes scrutinizing like tigers eyeing prey.
It was clear that should any situation arise, if the hand-and-a-half sword couldn't be drawn directly for immediate action, they would instantly hook out the spiked mace with their thumb, grip it, and smash it down on any enemy daring to cause trouble.
After all, they were now the guards of this Noble Residence and the personal guards responsible for Shen Mu's safety.
Although there were Holy Tree Knights acting as close bodyguards nearby.
However, these Swadian Sergeants did not want to simply hand over this important duty entirely to the Holy Tree Knights for no reason.
After all, being able to serve Shen Mu was also an honor for them.
Of course.
There was also another possibility: these Swadian Sergeants were actually very distrustful of any outsiders who came into the Noble Residence.
After all, in the eyes of these Swadian Sergeants, all outsiders were potential enemies, and in fact, even those Mount & Blade Soldiers from outside the Swadia Kingdom were not truly trustworthy.
Let alone these Blue Star Humans from the Blue Star World, who, in the eyes of the Swadian Sergeants, were a group of outsiders who could betray at any time and whose loyalty to Shen Mu could not be truly ascertained.
Therefore, after Zhang Caidong arrived at the Noble Residence, he was firmly kept under watch in this meeting hall.
And Zhang Caidong actually knew he was being monitored and watched.
After all, this Noble Residence was Shen Mu's private property as a Lord, and the streets around this Noble Residence were already full of stationed Swadian Sergeants, who would forcefully scold Blue Star Humans attempting to approach, telling them to leave.
Moreover, earlier, Swadian Sergeants had even taken action against Blue Star Humans who dared to approach this street with various intentions.
If Zhang Caidong and his senior management subordinates hadn't come to bail them out, they probably would have been thrown into prison.
After all, for those male humans, if they could connect with Shen Mu, it would mean having an opportunity to quickly climb the ranks in this new Human Race territory.
In this desperate apocalypse now filled with death spirit rules, if one could wield more power, it meant one could obtain more enjoyment.
Therefore, these Blue Star Humans would try every possible method to display their intelligence or high IQ, to give themselves a chance.
Zhang Caidong had nothing to say about this, he just told the relatives of those foolish fellows who were bailed out to educate them properly.
After all, thinking back, Zhang Caidong had done the same thing before; otherwise, how could he have joined the Diesel Company's temporary outsourced transport team and become a temporary worker for the Diesel Company?
Now he had absolute power, and these Blue Star Humans who wanted to prove themselves certainly couldn't shake his position in Shen Mu's heart, so he just let the matter go, making a big deal into a small one, and a small one into nothing.
He simply covered up the matter.
Of course, this also showed that the defense work near the Noble Residence was extremely tight, comparable to the Castle District.
At this moment, Zhang Caidong subconsciously looked out the window at the 6-meter-high foundation protruding from the horizon.
There were solid blocks of rock.
And it was one giant, monolithic rock, lifting the entire Castle District above it, looking as if a giant was holding up the castle, and further increasing the already 6-meter-high castle walls to a daunting height.
After all, a 12-meter-high wall, with the bottom 6 meters being a solid rock foundation made entirely of stone.
Without specialized siege weapons or special methods, attempting to attack the Castle District through the Town Area would be an extremely risky and difficult endeavor.
Just looking at it made one's heart tremble.
However, for Zhang Caidong, who had already pledged allegiance to Shen Mu, he knew that the Castle District was an absolutely safe sanctuary.
Even if enemies came to attack, even if they completely sealed off the outer Town Area, if they couldn't continue to attack the Castle District, it wouldn't solve any problem.
After all, within the Castle District, both the granary and the warehouse were fully stocked with plenty of food to meet daily food needs.
And even if enemies attacked and the Town Area was on the verge of collapse and about to be breached, they could directly transfer at that time.
Whether it was personnel or various material and food reserves, everything could be transferred to the Castle District for protection.
So, even if the enemy captured the Town Area, it would only be like capturing an empty city.
It would not cause any effective loss to Deherim at all.
On the contrary, by leveraging the advantageous high ground of the Castle District, once they entered the town of Deherim, they might suffer even more brutal and fierce attacks.
This is also why Zhang Caidong, after understanding the difference between the Castle District and the Town Area, now held Shen Mu in such awe and trust.
After all, such a complete division between a Castle District and a Town Area could absolutely not be easily accomplished by a small force; in Zhang Caidong's eyes, he was now very certain that behind Shen Mu, that is, in the Star Realm, there must be an absolutely powerful major force serving as his backing.
Therefore, Zhang Caidong dared not offend Shen Mu at all.
And just as Zhang Caidong was pondering, footsteps came from the staircase, and he, who had been sitting in his seat, immediately reacted, quickly standing up and respectfully waiting by the chair for the footsteps to approach.
He was also waiting for the owner of those footsteps.
Shen Mu.
“Zhang Caidong, do you have anything to report this time?” It was indeed Shen Mu who arrived.
He walked over, protected by two Swadian Sergeants behind him, entered the meeting hall, and sat down in his elevated seat.
He also gestured for Zhang Caidong to sit down.
“Yes, Lord Shen Mu, I do have something I wish to report, and it is a small plan of my own.”
Zhang Caidong, however, did not sit down; instead, he stood respectfully in place, lowered his head, and bowed slightly, reporting to Shen Mu very seriously.
This attitude already indicated the importance of the matter he wanted to discuss.
“Hmm, tell me first, what plan do you wish to report?” Shen Mu's curiosity grew a little at this point, and he gestured for Zhang Caidong to continue.
“It’s about spiritual energy and Spiritual Realm Followers, as well as some small suggestions for the Blue Star Humans.”
Zhang Caidong directly stated his plan at this moment.
And it was the name of a complete plan.
And just by hearing the name, one could understand what Zhang Caidong was about to report.
After all, the name already provided quite a lot of information and prefixes.
“Oh?” Shen Mu frowned slightly at this moment; his previously casual posture, while sitting in the chair, immediately straightened, and his sitting posture became serious.
He also tapped the table lightly with his hand, looking at the grim-faced Zhang Caidong, and slowly said, “Continue now.”
Shen Mu already understood the general meaning, but the details still needed Zhang Caidong to report proactively.
And Zhang Caidong did not hesitate; he immediately began to report his plan and suggestions.
And it was quite detailed.
After all, for Zhang Caidong, he had already seriously conceived this matter for two or three days when he was thinking about it.
In fact, this matter had already taken shape at the Diesel Company due to their practical operations, and he had also seriously considered the Diesel Company's method.
After all, the official employees of the Diesel Company each had seven, eight, or even ten Pig-Headed People as their Spiritual Realm Followers.
Only temporary workers would use those miscellaneous desert races.
Therefore, one could immediately distinguish who was an official employee and who was a temporary employee.
One could also clearly differentiate whose status among these employees was higher.
It must be said.
Zhang Caidong was quite envious of those official employees who could obtain Pig-Headed People, a Spiritual Realm Follower with extremely strong close combat abilities, as their subordinates.
After all, with this group of subordinates, their combat power was also quite strong; when facing some conflicts outside, as long as these Pig-Headed People appeared, the battle was basically one-sided.
After all, even Goblins or stronger Hobgoblins, as well as desert races like Gnoll and Lizardmen, could not contend with those well-fed and robust Pig-Headed People in close combat.
They would all fall into a disadvantage.
So Zhang Caidong also meticulously researched how to become an official employee at the Diesel Company, and how, after becoming an official employee, one could abandon their existing Spiritual Realm creatures, abandon their anchor points, abandon their already established soul-level resonance to join the Diesel Company.
Then, using the Diesel Company's Orc Tribe and Pig-Headed People tribe's anchor points and soul-level resonance, they could make themselves stronger and acquire Pig-Headed People as Spiritual Realm creatures and followers to become their subordinates.
He also knew that they needed to pray with all their might, using the pure spiritual energy emanating from their sincere hearts, to the Lord's Core during their prayers.
Slowly peeling away the already established soul-level resonance.
Making their spiritual energy and the frequency generated by the Lord's Core become the same.
Slowly, they would be able to generate the same frequency as the Lord's Core, and then completely peel away the anchor points they had previously established with Spiritual Realm creatures.
Then, they would transfer their anchor points to the Lord's Core.
Once the Lord and the new master, which is Shen Mu, decide to allow their anchor points, that is, their spiritual beacons, to enter the Lord's Core, and enter the Spiritual Realm scene connected to the Lord's Core.
That would mean they could re-establish anchor points.
And through the established anchor points, they could absorb those Spiritual Realm creatures as their followers in this Spiritual Realm scene, making them their subordinates, and then continue to deepen the soul-level resonance.
In this way, they could completely transform their Spiritual Realm creature followers and their own souls into Lingjie Human Race, just like Shen Mu.
Of course, that is the Lingjie Human Race they thought they were.
“That’s it, Lord Shen Mu, this is my plan and idea.” Zhang Caidong completely reported everything he knew to Shen Mu.
Shen Mu, at this moment, pondered for a moment and did not answer directly.
His mind was also intensely thinking and churning.
Absorbing the intelligence from Zhang Caidong's report.
“You mean, if I agree to let those Blue Star Humans transmit their spiritual power into my Lord's Core, then they would also be qualified to recruit my Spiritual Realm Soldiers?”
Shen Mu asked subconsciously.
“That’s right, that’s basically it.” Zhang Caidong nodded, but he frowned slightly at the word “recruit” that he had used to Shen Mu.
Based on his previous understanding, there was no such thing as recruiting.
After all, it was just summoning those Spiritual Realm creatures from the Spiritual Realm scene to the Blue Star World, which wasn't really recruiting; of course, if you put it that way, it sounds more official.
Of course, this was also thought of out of respect for Shen Mu.
After all, he was the leader.
He could say anything.
It was just that Shen Mu was still pondering.
“This is really interesting.” He slowly opened his mouth.
His mind was in a turmoil.
After all, through Zhang Caidong's explanation, he had already realized why Zhang Caidong suggested this.
It was to imitate the distinction between official and temporary employees of the Diesel Company, to recreate a system similar to the one the Diesel Company had established in its earliest days.
After all, Shen Mu's predecessor had also lived in this world for three years and was quite familiar with the Diesel Company's system.
He was not averse to this system either.
Although it was the Diesel Company's system, as long as it worked, it was a good system.
However, what troubled Shen Mu the most now was that he was not a true Spiritual Realm Lord, but a mount & blade Lord.
He didn't have any Star Realm scenes under his command; he only had the Mount & Blade World.
So, how could those Blue Star Humans successfully use their spiritual energy to establish scene anchor points?
And then recruit those Mount & Blade Soldiers to descend into this world?
One could say that his Mount & Blade Rules and the Mount & Blade World were completely different systems from the spirit world rules and the Spiritual Realm scenes and planes.
They were incompatible.
“But it should be compatible, but I don't know the specific way to make them compatible yet; I need to figure it out myself.”
Shen Mu stroked his chin at this moment, his brows furrowing even more deeply.