After all, they had previously witnessed the formidable combat power displayed by these Lingjie Human Race soldiers when confronting the Undead Monster and the Pig-Headed People from the Orc Tribe of the powerful Diesel Company.
Therefore, they greatly coveted the Lingjie Human Race soldiers that Shen Mu possessed.
Especially when they arrived in Deherim, they saw soldiers uniformly clad in neat iron armor, wielding various excellent weapons, looking as if they were all cast from the same mold.
This made them realize even more that Shen Mu's Lingjie Human Race soldiers were definitely standard soldiers under a major force.
They were part of a systematic army.
If they could establish a good relationship with Shen Mu, and with the super-powerful fantasy-side crystal wall system behind Shen Mu, then perhaps one day they too could gain some status for themselves when that major force descended upon the Blue Star World.
Perhaps their status might even be comparable to Shen Mu's.
Everyone present thought this way, including Zhang Caidong, the other 15 senior managers, and Sun Zhiru.
After all, they all harbored a desire for power.
Moreover, from the information they had gathered, they understood that in the future, the major forces from the Spiritual Realm's fantasy-side crystal wall system were destined to compete in the Blue Star World.
They would form their own kingdoms.
Then, of course, they could find their own positions, status, and corresponding identities within those new kingdoms.
There was no talk of betraying Shen Mu or not betraying Shen Mu.
After all, Shen Mu was merely a guide, leading that great force to descend upon the Blue Star World; once the path was clear and the great force had arrived in the Blue Star World, it would naturally be a matter of individual capability.
Their relationships were relatively harmonious with each other, so by then, they would also be natural allies and collaborators.
Of course, this did not mean that competition was impossible.
When truly faced with something that involved their core interests, competition was still necessary.
This was normal human thinking.
Just as now, when they were in Shen Mu's territory of Deherim, they all chose to submit to Shen Mu and outwardly showed respect, reverence, and loyalty.
These were all very normal behaviors.
"Lord Shen Mu, then how can we serve you?" At this moment, a Blue Star Human asked the most crucial question.
That was, how to become a Spiritual Realm Commander of the Lingjie Human Race force behind Shen Mu, and how to have those Lingjie Human Race soldiers as their own Spiritual Realm Follower.
This was the most crucial question.
At this moment, everyone else, including Zhang Caidong and Sun Zhiru, also turned their heads and looked at Shen Mu with furrowed brows.
"It's very simple," Shen Mu gently stroked his chin and said, "I need a group of people who can truly submit to me, who are very loyal to me, and who will open their hearts to me. Then I will use special power to confer upon them the title of Spiritual Realm Commander."
Of course, Shen Mu at this time only spoke of Spiritual Realm Commander, Spiritual Realm Follower, and other Spiritual Realm-related terms.
He did not involve any keywords like Mount & Blade Rules, Mount & Blade World, or Mount & Blade Soldiers.
This was to prevent them from knowing that Shen Mu possessed the Mount & Blade Rules.
This was also an act of secrecy.
"A group of people who can truly submit to you, are absolutely loyal to you, and can open their hearts to you?"
The 16 senior managers and Sun Zhiru present looked at each other, but soon their expressions became quite firm. They all stood up and respectfully bowed to Shen Mu with a hand over their chest.
And their tone was also quite firm: "Lord Shen Mu, we are the group of people who are willing to submit to you, are absolutely loyal to you, and are willing to open our hearts to you, absolutely loyal to you."
They said this in unison.
After all, Shen Mu had called them over out of trust, and they themselves now held a certain awe towards Shen Mu, and their submission to Shen Mu was from the heart.
After all, it was easy to understand that Shen Mu had arranged for them to infiltrate the Diesel Company as inside agents, and after its conclusion, he had given them absolute power and generous treatment until now.
By now, they could truly be considered a community of interests.
Moreover, they had been tested by war, shared an absolute enemy, and had demonstrated their loyalty through their actions.
And a circle of interests formed by the demise of that enemy.
If they were not loyal, then there would truly be no one among the Blue Star Humans entering and exiting Deherim who could be trusted.
"Hmm, very good. This is also why I called you all here. In my eyes, you are also a group of people who are absolutely trustworthy," Shen Mu confirmed, nodding.
"Thank you for your trust, Lord Shen Mu," these people also showed expressions of gratitude, bowing again with hands over their chests.
"Alright, everyone, please sit down," Shen Mu said, signaling for everyone to sit back down.
Zhang Caidong, Sun Zhiru, and the other 15 senior managers obediently sat back in their seats.
At this moment, Shen Mu communicated with the system through his thoughts.
A dialogue box appeared before his eyes.
【Your remaining Faith Power: 78,445 points.】
【Your dinar balance: 12,577 dinar.】
These were his current remaining Faith Power and dinar balance.
The Faith Power was the total amount, including a new batch of Faith Power acquired this morning, combined with the previous Faith Power.
The dinar balance was the remaining dinar after Torres's caravan returned from trading in the White Tower region.
Torres's caravan had gone to the White Tower region in Middle-earth to trade with Saruman, selling a considerable number of Abyssal Demons' corpses for dinar, yielding a very generous profit.
Based on the corpses of Abyssal Demons, even the lowest Little Devil could sell for 50 dinar.
Corpses of demons like the Chain Demon, Long-horned Demon, and Babu Demon could sell for 100 dinar.
At that time, the 20 carriages carried well over 200 Abyssal Demons' corpses.
Converted, this definitely exceeded 20,000 dinar in value.
Adding the expenses for purchasing magic scrolls and various supplies, there were still over 16,000 dinar remaining.
Of course, the reason why so much was left was also because many magic scrolls and various supplies were gifts from Saruman the White in the White Tower region to Shen Mu.
There were also many food items donated by merchants and common people in the White Tower region, which were also considered gifts to Shen Mu.
This meant that a large portion of the supplies was not purchased but essentially obtained for free.
That's why so many dinar remained.
Now, it just so happened to become the foundation for Shen Mu to use a special module for upgrading.
After all, the system had already stated that to confer the title of Ten-Man Commander, it would cost 10,000 Faith Power and 1,000 dinar.
For Shen Mu, who had just acquired these two sources of income, this was not a problem.
So, Shen Mu's thoughts stirred slightly, and he directly selected Zhang Caidong first.
"Proceed with the conferment."
Shen Mu communicated with the Mount & Blade System.
As he clicked, a special fluctuation instantly began to emerge from his glabella, and a white light, derived from data streams, also began to converge within his glabella.
This was the Mount & Blade System awaiting Shen Mu's final decision.
【You have selected "Zhang Caidong (Blue Star Human)" for conferment. After detection, this Blue Star Human has met the standard of 'Pan-Believer' and has established a connection with your Holy Relic "Dragon Flag (Fragmented State)", therefore you can confer upon him.】
【Currently, you can consume '10,000 Faith Power' and '1,000 dinar' to confer upon him the title of "Ten-Man Commander".】
【Do you choose to confer?】
On Shen Mu's retina, the Mount & Blade System's dialogue box had already refreshed with content.
Shen Mu did not hesitate at all and immediately made a decision.
"Confer!"
Shen Mu gave an affirmative answer.
Because he himself wanted Zhang Caidong to be the first Ten-Man Commander to be conferred, this was also to motivate all the Blue Star Human senior managers.
To let everyone know that as long as they followed Shen Mu, they would have the right to be the first to enjoy the best benefits.
‘Buzz!’
As this sentence appeared in Shen Mu's glabella, the Mount & Blade Rules, which had been circling and condensing, instantly transformed into countless white data streams, surging towards Zhang Caidong, who was still standing somewhat bewildered in front of him, and directly enveloped him.
"W-what is this?!" Zhang Caidong's eyes could only see a expanse of white light extending from Shen Mu's glabella to his body, then directly enveloping him.
And in this conference room, the other 16 Blue Star Humans were also quite surprised, watching the white light envelop Zhang Caidong.
They all looked at each other.
Their expressions were somewhat flustered and bewildered; they truly didn't know what this represented.
After all, given the level they had previously been exposed to, they had no way of accessing the power of rules.
Of course, their previous level also didn't allow them to access the Orc Tribe camps or the senior management of the Diesel Company, which represented their true power.
Therefore, they had never seen how the official employees of the Diesel Company managed to obtain the contract and inheritance mark of the Orc Tribe camp, and then gain leadership authority over the Pig-Headed People.
Now they were seeing it for the first time.
Although the method was very different from how they would enter a Spiritual Realm scene to find Spiritual Realm creatures within it and form contracts, they now believed this was a privilege of a Spiritual Realm Lord.
After all, a Spiritual Realm Lord was a truly powerful existence.
It was only natural for him to possess special abilities.
Just like now.
In reality, the time the white light enveloped Zhang Caidong did not last too long.
In their eyes, only about 10 seconds had passed before the white light slowly began to dissipate, and the remaining white light began to merge into Zhang Caidong's body.
Then they discovered that Zhang Caidong, who had originally been wearing ordinary clothes, was now clad in a rather rough linen robe.
His waist was crudely tied with a thick linen belt.
In his hand was a long-handled scythe.
And on his back was a clearly worn, but still recognizable, old kite shield.
Moreover, a spiked club with iron nails was tucked into his waist.
He looked quite simply dressed, as if he were a low-level Farmer, merely armed out of necessity.
But at this moment, all the Blue Star Humans in the conference room fell silent, each staring at Zhang Caidong, who was still somewhat dazed and hadn't quite come to his senses, all dumbfounded.
Because their minds were completely shaken.
"This feeling is truly special, and my mind has gained some training memories on how to use this long-handled scythe and the spiked club with iron nails."
Zhang Caidong muttered subconsciously at this moment, and he instinctively lowered his head to look at the long-handled scythe in his hand, at its gleaming blade, his whole body trembling with excitement: "And I also know how to use this long-handled scythe to inflict maximum damage on enemies, and how to form a pike square with Swadian Recruits like me to resist enemies."
Zhang Caidong was truly trembling with excitement at this moment, and his mind was also extremely agitated: "And I now know that what I possess is the body of a Lingjie Human Race, and the Spiritual Realm inheritance I received earlier, that of a Warrior class, has not diminished at all, and I can still use it!"
He said these words subconsciously.
And right beside him, to his side, and behind him, the senior managers all widened their eyes, looking at Zhang Caidong, who had completed his transformation and was completely free of white light. They continued to look at Shen Mu with extremely fervent gazes.
However, Shen Mu did not speak at this moment, because new dialogue boxes were still appearing in his mind.
【Blue Star Human 'Zhang Caidong' has been successfully conferred. The template of a Tier 1 Swadian Recruit has been applied to him. You can now assign 10 soldiers of Tier 2 or lower for him to lead. (Currently able to lead: Swadian Recruit × 10)】
【Tip: Based on the combat experience Zhang Caidong gains, he can exchange for higher-level character templates. The specific amount will be defined by the experience points and Faith Power he obtains. (The specific experience points and Faith Power required for character templates can be priced by you.)】
【Tip: 'Zhang Caidong' has now become a Ten-Man Commander in your town of Deherim. He can now lead 10 Mount & Blade Soldiers to defend the town of Deherim.】
【Tip: Mount & Blade Soldiers led by a Ten-Man Commander will generate Faith Power output similar to Blue Star Humans when they pray.】
And looking at the appearing dialogue boxes, a smile also appeared on Shen Mu's face.
This was great.