So, following Shen Mu, they charged out of the low wall and onto the open main road of Bali River Street.
The surroundings were still silent, but the deathly quiet feeling that had enveloped them in darkness before was gone.
As the horses' hooves clattered on the road, a rumbling sound, like a flood, echoed through the main road of Bali River Street; after all, with seventy to eighty warhorses and nearly 300 hooves striking the ground, the sound was impossible to conceal, no matter how hard they tried.
Moreover, Shen Mu, Bestour, the 10 Holy Tree Cavalry, the 10 Steppe Bandit Elite, and the 50 Steppe Bandits following him had no intention of hiding the sound of their galloping horses.
As they galloped quickly along the main road, in the apartment buildings and residential buildings on both sides, curtains were pulled open, revealing windows with faint flickers of firelight inside.
It was clear that even now, Blue Star Humans were still residing in their safe houses, not having entered the low wall to live within Shen Mu's territory in Deherim.
Shen Mu said nothing about this, merely glancing at the residential building's windows; some of the firelight revealed after the curtains were pulled open was extremely obvious, and he knew that Blue Star Humans must be living there.
“Our Deherim is clearly both safe and ensures daily food supply, yet these fellows still won’t come to our side and insist on living in places like this; it’s practically looking down on us.” Bestour, at this moment, spat heavily to the side, gripping the hilt of his Nomadic Scimitar, his tone somewhat resentful.
After all, he also regarded Shen Mu as a savior, so he naturally had no good feelings towards these Blue Star Humans who showed no respect to Shen Mu.
“It’s fine; they will know in the future that our Deherim is not only safe but also a good place with food for them to eat.” Shen Mu smiled, showing no particular reaction to Bestour’s words.
He understood that with a single command, Bestour would undoubtedly ride his steppe horse, leading those Steppe Bandits to search the residential buildings floor by floor.
He would root out all those Blue Star Humans who dared to still live in the residential buildings, then hold his Nomadic Scimitar to their necks, forcing them into Deherim.
Bestour was certainly capable of such actions; he himself was a rather famous general from the source of evil.
Such matters were extremely common for him.
“They also enjoy the illumination of the Holy Light Torch Tower while living here, which prevents the death spirit rules from eroding this place, all thanks to your efforts, Lord Shen Mu.”
Bestour still spoke with some reluctance, looking at the increasing number of Blue Star Humans secretly watching them from their windows, living in the residential buildings, and he snorted coldly, saying, “Lord Shen Mu, everyone knows your benevolence, but you should also let them know that it is precisely because of your efforts that they can live here so peacefully, without danger.”
“That’s right, Lord Shen Mu, your benevolence should be enjoyed by those who are willing to accept your leadership, not by those who are unwilling to accept your leadership and still have opinions about you, becoming a reason for their insolence.”
The other Steppe Bandits and Steppe Bandit Elite also nodded in agreement with Bestour’s reasoning, looking at the Blue Star Humans in those windows who clearly hadn’t fully trusted Shen Mu and chose to live in residential buildings, each feeling that Shen Mu was being undervalued.
And this further ignited the indignation of these outlaws.
“Alright, alright, calm your emotions; there’s no need to be so angry.” Shen Mu still smiled, gently shaking the reins, and led them to continue forward.
Because what he needed were precisely those Blue Star Humans who were willing to follow him, willing to go to Deherim, and willing to pray spontaneously.
Only then would these male humans generate relatively pure Faith Power from their prayers, which he could then absorb; otherwise, merely feigning prayer there would be a complete sham, producing no Faith Power whatsoever, and thus needlessly depleting his food reserves, which would also be a loss for Shen Mu.
It was better to let them come to Deherim voluntarily, and after understanding Deherim’s safety, they would be willing to pray devoutly, emitting purer Faith Power to be absorbed by him, or even, through prolonged prayer, come to recognize Shen Mu’s theories and Deherim as their ideal home, thus becoming general believers or true believers.
Even deep believers, or even devout believers to fanatical believers.
This was all a form of improvement for Shen Mu.
Forced faith would absolutely not bring true faith; Shen Mu understood this quite well, especially the character and habits of these Blue Star Humans. After all, his predecessor had also been a Blue Star Human for over ten years, and his predecessor's memories were still in his mind.
So he understood that these Blue Star Humans, who had experienced scientific civilization, could not completely become believers.
It was also very difficult to convert them.
Especially since the arrival of the death spirit rules, they had struggled and stumbled to this point, no longer trusting anyone but themselves. Therefore, opening their hearts and making them believe in him was indeed a slow and painstaking process.
However, Shen Mu also had this confidence: time reveals a person’s heart, and a long road tests a horse’s strength. As long as he ensured their safety, provided more protection, and offered more food, these Blue Star Humans would eventually offer him their journey of faith.
Especially since he could also provide these Blue Star Humans with a precious way to become Spiritual Realm Commanders, which was for him to bestow the title of Ten-Man Commander and then have his Mount & Blade Soldiers follow them.
Under circumstances where everything from their daily lives to their safety, and even their future paths of advancement, were clearly arranged for them, if they still had opinions about Shen Mu and his Deherim, then they truly harbored ill intentions.
If Shen Mu discovered them at that point, there would be no need for mercy; he would directly send people to expel them or even eliminate them, to avoid wasting food.
“Lord, we’re approaching the edge of the Holy Light Torch Tower’s illumination.” Bestour suddenly spoke, interrupting Shen Mu’s contemplation.
Shen Mu also looked forward.
Not far ahead, the area within the Torch Tower’s influence, extending 1 kilometer outwards from the Torch Tower, finally reached its limit.
Patches of white light flickered at that limit, but beyond the light, a pitch-black darkness was still coalescing.
And at the boundary between light and darkness, faint wisps of black mist could be seen swirling, but as those black mists entered the illuminated area, they seemed to be directly annihilated by the light and heat filling the light, making it impossible for them to penetrate.
However, at this moment, Shen Mu’s brows furrowed slightly, and the Holy Tree Knights and Steppe Bandits beside him instinctively placed their hands on their weapons.
Because at the boundary between darkness and light, figures of Undead Monsters, wreathed in black mist, suddenly appeared.
It was as if they were wandering aimlessly and suddenly stepped into this light, and their skeletal frames and zombie bodies, wreathed in black mist, were very conspicuous in this light.
“The Holy Light Torch Tower cannot directly impede those Undead Monsters? It can only block the darkness and gray mist filled with death spirit rules.” Bestour, at this moment, also nodded thoughtfully, looking at the Undead Monsters that charged in, yet his face showed little fear, only surprise because they had appeared within the Holy Light Torch Tower’s range of influence.
The Holy Tree Knights and Steppe Bandits behind him were all the same; after all, they were just low-level Undead Monsters. Even if any one of them were to ride over, they could easily eliminate all those Skeleton Soldiers and zombies.
“Wait, those Undead Monsters seem unable to move within the Holy Light Torch Tower’s area of effect.” Shen Mu suddenly seemed to discover something at this moment, exclaiming.
“That’s right, that’s right! Those Undead Monsters all seem to be corrupted! No! They should be purified by fire and light!” The other Steppe Bandit Elite also exclaimed at this moment.
Because in their eyes, the Skeleton Soldiers and zombies that wandered into the light, although still wreathed in wisps of gray mist, as they walked in this light, with almost every step, the power of light, the light and heat present within the light, were purifying these Skeleton Soldiers and zombies.
It was easy to see that the gray mist originally swirling around the Skeleton Soldiers and zombies was rapidly evaporating, and very soon, it completely evaporated.
Then, their very bodies also showed some special, almost evaporating, conditions in that light and heat.
The zombies’ bodies, originally decayed like leather, were now developing large black spots, as if they were normally decaying and then falling off.
These zombies, as they walked, all stumbled and fell to the ground, then turned into normal corpses, no longer moving.
And the Skeleton Soldiers were even more obvious: the faint blue soul fires in their eyes were now targeted by the light and heat, shaking violently a few times before slowly shrinking, eventually disappearing completely as if burned out.
This caused these Skeleton Soldiers to directly collapse into skeletal frames on the spot, becoming piles of useless bone fragments that could no longer stand, as if they had been completely defeated.
All these actions were observed by Shen Mu.
“Good, it seems the Holy Light Torch Tower’s purification of Undead Monsters has taken effect.” Shen Mu naturally knew this was one of the Holy Light Torch Tower’s effects: it could purify evil-type creatures, inflicting special damage effects on them.
This way, he wouldn’t need to send soldiers to attack them; as long as these Undead Monsters came into contact with the Holy Light Torch Tower’s light, they would completely die and no longer pose a threat.
“Truly worthy of the Holy White Council’s Holy Light Torch Tower.” At this moment, Shen Mu felt even more emotional.
After all, in Middle-earth of The Lord of the Rings, the Holy White Council could be said to be one of the top-tier forces, if not the top.
This was, after all, a force created by Saruman, a divine envoy-level being, specifically to seal evil demon lords or dark lords.
It was inherently a form of control by the good and righteous factions over the evil faction.
And such Holy Light Torch Towers were often built in crucial locations, or even at the core positions used to imprison the most heinous evil lords.
If its own energy was not strong, it would be corrupted or even destroyed by these evil demon lords and dark lords. To prevent this, the Holy White Council would naturally invest a great deal of effort and precious materials in such constructions.
At the same time, it imbued the structure with extremely powerful strength.
At least compared to the demon lords in Middle-earth from The Lord of the Rings, the Undead Monsters appearing now were truly child’s play.
Therefore, the power used by the Holy White Council’s Holy Light Torch Tower to resist, suppress, and eliminate these death spirit rules and Undead Monsters was quite easy.
“In that case, I’m relieved.” Shen Mu also nodded. This way, he wouldn’t even need to send troops to patrol and defend key locations.
Because those low-level Undead Monsters, as long as they approached the location of this light, would dissipate, dissolve, and be purified on their own.
This meant losing the greatest threat, which was the endless attacks on the Blue Star World once darkness descended.
It was precisely because of those endless attacks by Undead Monsters that everyone, whether Blue Star Humans or Spiritual Realm Lords, had to be constantly on guard and prioritize military development, thus delaying normal territory management.
Now, Shen Mu clearly had no such worries; as long as he maintained the Holy Light Torch Tower’s light, he could accelerate the construction of his territory.
“Just now, I was discussing with Manid whether to expand the entire urban area of Deherim and open up a new area as Deherim’s new city.” Shen Mu stroked his chin at this moment, deep in thought: “It seems it can indeed be put on the agenda, and for the new city, we will let all those Blue Star Humans reside there. This way, it will be easier to manage and can accommodate more Blue Star Humans.”
Thinking of this, Shen Mu’s mood became much happier and quite comfortable.
He had to admit, he had finally pushed his territory to a relatively safe position, allowing him to vigorously develop civilian buildings further.
“Attract Blue Star Humans to gain more Faith Power, then earn more dinar, and then accelerate town construction.” Shen Mu’s lips curved upwards: “Perfect.” (End of chapter)