While these Blue Star Humans executives went to upgrade the Swadian Commoners, Shen Mu in Deherim had already received news of Torres's caravan returning from New Rivadin.
After all, Vikia Castle in New Rivadin was short on food, so Torres's caravan went to deliver a batch of supplies to them.
They returned after delivering the supplies.
"Well done, Torres. Now I need you to work hard again and travel to the White Tower region in the Middle-earth Demonic Realm for trade," Shen Mu nodded in satisfaction at Torres, especially seeing that Torres had no signs of refusal on his face, understanding that his choice for this caravan leader was correct.
"Everything is for your service, Respected Lord Shen Mu," Torres humbly extended his hand to his chest and bowed in salute.
"By the way, you can go to the warehouse now. Load all those Abyssal Demons' corpses onto the carts, then go to the White Tower region and trade with them," Shen Mu arranged.
However, Torres did not leave on time. Instead, he reported to Shen Mu: "Actually, this time we don't need those Abyssal Demons. Because I also found many Hell Devil' corpses in New Rivadin. Perhaps these items are also essential basic supplies for Mr. Saruman in the White Tower region."
"Hell Devil' corpses, that works too. Then let's transport these Hell Devil' corpses as the goods for this exchange," Shen Mu nodded.
After all, whether it was Abyssal Demons' corpses or Hell Devil' corpses, to him they were just corpses, with no value whatsoever.
It was better to exchange them all for dinar or goods he urgently needed; that was the way to maximize their value.
After all, Saruman in the White Tower region should still be researching how to create the Uruk-hai race. Although transporting Abyssal Demons or Hell Devil' corpses would definitely allow Saruman to create a stronger Uruk-hai race, and would certainly cause greater harm to the elves, humans, and even dwarves in the Lord of the Rings world.
But for Shen Mu, none of this mattered, as the pressure he was currently facing was equivalent to confronting an entire Undead World's attack.
Although it seemed he had already occupied Bali River Street and the suburban area.
But these were just drops in the bucket, mere trifles. He had not yet truly engaged in battle with the real Undead army; his current situation was just a good start.
Therefore, he needed to accumulate his forces more actively.
"Then I'll set off," Torres nodded, then respectfully saluted Shen Mu again before turning and leaving the Noble Residence.
Just outside the Noble Residence, Torres's caravan departed again. However, this time his caravan did not load the Abyssal Demons' corpses from the warehouse, because his vehicles were already fully loaded with the corpses of Lowly Devils and Medium Devils.
These were all collected by Shen Mu after he killed those Hell Devil in New Rivadin at that time.
Now they finally came in handy.
"However, now is indeed the time to build my second castle," Shen Mu couldn't help but rub his chin after resolving most of the matters.
There was a hint of thought on his face.
Since he already had a town and a castle, in order to ensure his strength continued to grow, the third castle, which was the reward he received earlier, should also be built.
But before proceeding, Shen Mu pondered for a moment, then turned to the Swadian Light Infantry serving as his attendant and said, "Now, call Generals Bandak and Fatis over."
"Understood, please wait," the Swadian Light Infantry acting as an attendant said nothing, merely nodded, and then turned to leave.
After about 10 minutes.
Bandak and Fatis returned to the Noble Residence.
"Lord, did you call us for something?" Both respectfully saluted Shen Mu.
"Yes, that's right. I want to build another castle to ensure the security of our forces," Shen Mu didn't explain why he had a castle, but he stated his question: "So, where do you think it would be most suitable to build this castle?"
At this moment, Shen Mu also directly pushed open a map, which detailed the general layout of Long City where they were located.
Bali River Street occupied a major part of it.
At the same time, Shen Mu pointed to the town Deherim and the castle New Rivadin and said, "This is our town Deherim, and the Vikia Castle New Rivadin that I built before. They are here. Take a look, where can the new castle be built to help our Deherim and New Rivadin?"
Then Bandak and Fatis did not ask why they suddenly needed to build a castle. At this moment, they both came to Shen Mu's side, looking at the map, especially at the marked towns and castles, and also rubbed their chins, deep in thought.
They were indeed pondering, because the distribution of forces in this world was different from their Mount & Blade Warband World, which was similar to the Middle Ages.
In the Mount & Blade Warband World, a town was equivalent to a small village in this world.
A castle was even more like a small residential area.
In terms of scale, a city was simply equivalent to a noble's vast territory in their impression.
Just the terrifying, mountain-like residential buildings already astonished them.
And it was precisely this environment that made them feel that their previous experience of building towns or castles in mountains, plains, and by rivers was completely useless.
So they looked at each other, staring at the map, and finally focused their gaze on the area where the Diesel Company was located, which had already turned into a desolate land.
"You don't mean to build the new castle on the Orc Tribe's territory of the Diesel Company, do you?" Shen Mu also noticed their gaze at this moment.
"That's right, Lord, that's what we mean. After all, the location of that Orc Tribe was right by the Xiao Long River, and its position just happened to control Bali River Street. Moreover, that location is also the only way to the city center. If we guard that road well, we can basically block the main thoroughfare from the city center to the suburbs."
Fatis then said, "This way, we can also drive a nail into the core of Bali River Street, and we can continue to provide support if anything happens."
At this point, Fatis added, "With this nail, whether we want to attack the city or retreat from the city, we will have a very good guarantee."
"Exactly, that's my opinion too," Bandak also nodded at this moment, agreeing with Fatis's opinion.
He even slowly reminded Shen Mu, who was deep in thought, "Besides, the Green Leaf Group in the city center, although we are verbally allies now, our relationship with them is quite distant. We don't even know what their attitude towards us is. After all, when we fought the Diesel Company before, they didn't come to help us, even though we did ambush them and didn't notify the Green Leaf Group in advance. But they haven't contacted us even now, which is enough to show that they are indeed somewhat wary of us."
"You mean the Green Leaf Group is no longer an ally, and is subtly posing a certain threat to us, right?" Shen Mu also spoke thoughtfully at this moment. In fact, it wasn't just Bandak who felt this way; he felt the same.
"Exactly, building the new castle in the destroyed old lair of the Diesel Company also has the meaning of increasing defense against the Green Leaf Group," Fatis also nodded from the side.
In this way, Shen Mu also understood what the two meant. In fact, he had felt the same way before. After all, the Green Leaf Group was the only other force he had come into contact with. The Diesel Company had been annihilated, and next would be the Green Leaf Group.
But he knew absolutely nothing about the Green Leaf Group; even their interactions were very few.
Even when the Diesel Company ruled Bali River Street before, the only interaction he had with the Green Leaf Group was seeing Wood Elves in their territory warning wanderers not to approach them.
The Green Leaf Group was quite exclusive and only trusted their own people. Only a small number of Spiritual Realm Commanders could be absorbed by them.
Of course, Shen Mu was indeed one of those who were excluded at that time, and he was also excluded by the Diesel Company. In fact, it was because he offended some people from the Diesel Company that he was forced to come and live in this suburb near the outskirts.
Thinking about it, although the Green Leaf Group seemed much friendlier than the Diesel Company, this friendliness was only for their own people. In the area where the Green Leaf Group was located, all found spiritual realm marks were monopolized by the Green Leaf Group.
If an ordinary Spiritual Realm Commander or wanderer discovered a spiritual realm mark and was then discovered by Wood Elves, they would be forcibly required to hand it over. And it would be said that this was the territory of the Green Leaf Group, and their actions constituted an infringement of the Green Leaf Group's rights.
Such so-called behavioral regulations certainly seemed much more reasonable; at least it was better than the Diesel Company's direct plunder.
But in reality, they were the same.
Upon careful thought, Shen Mu could also understand that the Green Leaf Group's alliance with him at that time was perhaps because they suddenly discovered a New Lord of Human Race here. Unable to contend with the Diesel Company on their own, they wanted to ally with him to resist the powerful Diesel Company.
It's common for the weak to ally against the strongest, but the Green Leaf Group didn't realize, or perhaps it was beyond their expectation, that he grew too fast. So fast that the Diesel Company didn't even notice his growth rate before being wiped out by his surprise attack.
Then the remaining Green Leaf Group found that they were still so weak, but facing him, the New Lord of Human Race, they had become lambs to the slaughter.
And then they became wary and dared not make too much contact.
"Alright then, put the new castle there," Shen Mu nodded at this moment, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth, but a faint consideration also entered his eyes: "It depends on the Green Leaf Group's attitude. If their attitude is not good, I don't mind them ending up like the Diesel Company."
"Of course, they have already infringed upon your rights, Respected Lord. If you wish, we are always willing to follow your mediation," Bandak and Fatis also nodded at this moment.
They didn't care about taking the initiative to expand. After all, as long as there were competitors, they could become enemies. Moreover, the Green Leaf Group's actions now indeed had the potential to turn them into enemies.
They had certainly discussed the Green Leaf Group during their conversations, so they had already reached a consensus: the Green Leaf Group could become an enemy, and if eliminated, he could also occupy Bali River Street simultaneously.
In that case, Lord Shen Mu, as the Lord, would gain more rights. At least for Lord Shen Mu, he would be able to obtain more of the Faith Power he had always longed for.
After all, the Green Leaf Group still harbored 10,000 to 20,000 Blue Star Humans. If those Blue Star Humans also became Shen Mu's believers, he would gain more and more Faith Power.
And this was also why Shen Mu had some ideas about the Green Leaf Group.
After all, the Green Leaf Group had too many Blue Star Humans, to the point of 'possessing a treasure makes one a target'. Especially as Shen Mu's development became faster and faster, and he needed more and more Faith Power, it was only natural for him to set his sights on the Green Leaf Group.
Sometimes, it is indeed the case that 'possessing a treasure makes one a target'; this principle is very correct.
Even Shen Mu, because of Faith Power, developed ideas about the Green Leaf Group, and also became increasingly fond of war after gaining huge profits from dealing with the Diesel Company.
Moreover, for Shen Mu, the Mount & Blade System itself required war. It was precisely because of war that he could snowball, growing larger and larger, and his power becoming stronger and stronger.
"Green Leaf Group." Shen Mu tapped the table a few times at this moment, his eyes filled with a hint of thoughtfulness.
And he also had some thoughts stirring in his heart.
After all, he had now entered a relatively peaceful period. If he could take advantage of this peaceful time to resolve the Green Leaf Group and swallow their forces whole.
Perhaps he could enter a period of rapid development again.