So, Shen Mu led his Holy Tree Knights and left the Shopping Mall once again, without any conflict with the Vampires or the puppets.
It was clear that Vampire Matriarch Isabelle's command had taken effect, restraining her Vampires from clashing with Shen Mu, directly indicating her willingness to maintain friendly cooperation with Shen Mu.
For Shen Mu, this was certainly excellent, and he, in turn, restrained his Holy Tree Knights, whose hands were on their sword hilts, and they departed the Shopping Mall.
They also did not have any conflicts with these Vampires.
Since both sides chose to get along amicably, then this amicable behavior must be observed. Moreover, Shen Mu had a certain fondness for Vampire Matriarch Isabelle, who was willing to converse and did not clash with him.
After all, what he had encountered before were either Undead Monsters that attacked frantically upon sight, or Abyssal Demons that seemed capable of communication but were still deranged and utterly devoid of reason.
Even the Hell Devil, who appeared to be fully capable of communication, were actually filled with hostility towards him and wanted to kill him outright.
Therefore, regarding Vampire Matriarch Isabelle, she was able to communicate, negotiate, and even showed him some goodwill.
Shen Mu was, of course, willing to express his goodwill as well.
The key was that he didn't know if the various other Undead forces in the Star Realm would continue to negotiate with him.
Especially after learning that the Star Realm was extensively invading and transforming the Blue Star World, he also speculated internally that perhaps to a certain extent, the forces within the Star Realm would descend upon the Blue Star World en masse, transforming the Blue Star World into a new Spirit Realm once more.
At that time, he would no longer be able to fight alone; he would truly need allies to ensure his sense of security here.
And as for allies, as long as they could negotiate, could communicate, and had no fundamental conflicts of interest, then they could all become allies, including Vampire Matriarch Isabelle.
Shen Mu held no deep-seated hatred for the Undead Monsters, and he was not originally from the Blue Star World; the survival of the Blue Star World had no bearing on him whatsoever.
He was originally from Earth, so what significant connection could he have with the Blue Star World?
Therefore, based on this idea, he simply didn't care what the Blue Star World would ultimately become. He only cared whether he could gain something from this transformation, or rather, whether he could expand his strength, become increasingly powerful, and ultimately ensure his absolute safety.
Shen Mu never denied being selfish.
"Lord." Just as Shen Mu mounted his warhorse and continued to lead the Holy Tree Knights towards the Diesel Company ruins, a Holy Tree Knight approached him.
"What is it?" Shen Mu glanced at him, knowing that his Holy Tree Knight had something to say.
"Perhaps we don't need to treat those Vampires so kindly. If Respected Lord Shen Mu wished, with the troops we possess, we could overwhelm those Vampires by sheer numbers!" the Holy Tree Knight said.
"Yes, I know. In fact, even with just these 50 Holy Tree Knights, plus the magical power I currently possess, we could overwhelm these Vampires," Shen Mu smiled slightly, as his skills, enhanced by divine power, were now quite formidable.
For him, a few Vampires could truly be forcefully pushed into the VIP room, where Vampire Matriarch Isabelle could be killed.
The Vampire elites at the entrance, the Vampire Servant, and Vampire Matriarch Isabelle herself, in his opinion, certainly couldn't unleash much powerful strength due to the current rules restricting the Blue Star World.
Perhaps they were stronger than the terrifying monstrous form that Xue Zhigang, the Diesel Company's general manager, transformed into.
But even if they were stronger, their strength was limited.
His Holy Tree Knights were genuine fifth-tier troops, wearing Holy Tree Suits, possessing powers that harmed evil, and also having good resistance against evil powers.
If one were to calculate, these Holy Tree Knights could no longer be measured solely by the term 'fifth-tier troop,' as in the Mount & Blade System, the highest troop tier is usually fifth.
Only specific troop types have a sixth tier.
However, the strength of fifth- or sixth-tier troops can no longer be used to measure high-tier troops, as there are also formidable existences among them that can completely disregard levels and directly kill across tiers.
For example, the Holy Tree Knight's true combat power is definitely considered the pinnacle among fifth-tier troops.
If they were to fight against evil, they could reach the level of sixth-tier troops.
"However, after building the new castle, I'll have to seriously consider how to re-plan the current troop tier system," Shen Mu mused, as he had now reached a peak and was moving towards becoming even stronger.
Ordinary fifth-tier soldiers could no longer constrain him.
It could even be said that they were a restraint on him from becoming stronger. He had to break this restraint and incorporate a higher-tier soldier system into it, making himself even more powerful.
"Perhaps I can incorporate the more scientific tier divisions from other mods, including soldier levels," Shen Mu thought instantly, gently shaking the reins while riding his horse.
"Lord, are you still listening to my report?" Just as Shen Mu was deep in thought, the Holy Tree Knight Captain beside him asked again, clearly noticing Shen Mu's distraction and reminding him.
"Oh, go on," Shen Mu replied again.
He did indeed realize his distraction and nodded to his Holy Tree Knight Captain to express his apology.
He was quite courteous to his close guards; after all, in critical moments, he still relied on these Holy Tree Knights to turn the tide and fight for him, sacrificing themselves without hesitation.
Therefore, being courteous to his close guards was absolutely fine.
Moreover, these Holy Tree Knights were also his personal guards.
"Our current military strength has reached a point where others need to fear us. We don't need to continue compromising with them. If you wish, once we develop our forces, we can completely sweep away other factions," the Holy Tree Knight said at this point.
"Hmm, I understand. But what we need to do is not completely destroy other factions, but thoroughly conquer them," Shen Mu understood what the Holy Tree Knight Captain meant and also understood that the Holy Tree Knight felt a slight unease with the current peaceful life.
However, he still explained earnestly: "What we need to do now is conquer other forces, so that the Blue Star Humans within those forces can pledge allegiance to me, and only then can I obtain a continuous stream of Faith Power. If I were to sweep away other forces, it might cause losses to these Blue Star Humans. At that time, it would mean a loss of my Faith Power, which is absolutely unacceptable."
"So that's how it is. Please forgive my rashness, Respected Lord Shen Mu," the Holy Tree Knight Captain finally understood and nodded slowly.
Then, respectfully, he reined his horse back into the ranks of the Holy Tree Knights, continuing to serve as a personal guard and protect Shen Mu's safety.
Shen Mu did not pursue his perceived offensive questions and suggestions.
After all, they were his personal guards, and they were also Mount & Blade Soldiers who were extremely loyal to him.
The suggestions and proposals he made just now were entirely for his sake. Once their loyalty was maxed out, these Mount & Blade Soldiers became extremely loyal to him. No matter what happened, they always put him first; his life was the most important, while they themselves, these Mount & Blade Soldiers, did not care about their own lives at all.
If Shen Mu could become stronger, these Mount & Blade Soldiers would be the happiest. Moreover, as Shen Mu's territory in this world grew larger and larger, and the towns and castles he built became grander, these Mount & Blade Soldiers were delighted to see it.
It could be said that Shen Mu's life was their life; everything they had was tied to Shen Mu.
Shen Mu, of course, understood this very well.
Naturally, he would not punish these Mount & Blade Soldiers for suggestions that seemed offensive but were, in fact, truthful.
"We're almost there. Thinking about it, I really feel a bit nostalgic for the Diesel Company ruins," Shen Mu looked up at this moment, seeing the open space appearing amidst apartments, office buildings, and residential buildings in the distance, a slight smile on his lips.
Because that was the Diesel Company ruins, the destroyed wasteland of the Orc Tribe.
After riding past.
In one glance, there was no mistake!
Shen Mu's brow furrowed, especially as he looked at the vast, changed open ground before him, feeling a bit dazed.
"How did this place all turn into a desert terrain?" Shen Mu subconsciously spoke, and at the same time, subconsciously looked up at the sky. He thought of the countless light points that fell like meteors.
It was precisely because those light points were fragments of planes from the Star Realm that, as long as they struck the Blue Star World, they could transform the land of the Blue Star World into Spirit Realm land.
Perhaps it was precisely for these reasons that the Diesel Company ruins, the remnants of the Orc Tribe, had become the even more vast desert area it was now.
Moreover, compared to before, this desert had expanded to a much larger area, even encompassing nearly 40% of the entire Bali River Street, which had now become this desert.
For Shen Mu, 40% of a street's area turning into a desert was already quite vast. Even the tall buildings that originally stood around it had now disappeared, and only some ruins could be seen in the desert, faintly revealing that they were piles of ruins that had been corroded and collapsed, then forcibly transformed into desert ruins by the rules of the Spirit Realm.
It was like the ruins of a civilization, yet when looked at again, it seemed like countless burial mounds, causing a slight tremor in one's heart.
Shen Mu truly felt his heart rate slightly accelerate.
"The changes here are truly immense," behind Shen Mu, the Holy Tree Knights' eyes widened slightly, as they had also visited this place when they were Holy Tree Cavalry.
Of course, they also knew how much this place had changed now.
However, they felt little apprehension about this change, as for cavalry, vast desert areas also provided ample space for them. For these Knights and Cavalry, there was no need to worry too much.
On the contrary, they also liked such flat desert areas, which had a good enhancing effect for cavalry operations.
"Let's go, let's continue forward and see what the situation is," Shen Mu said, looking at the area where only ruins remained of the Orc Tribe.
He could still see the mounds of earth.
They were once places where the Orc Tribe lived and stored supplies.
So they rode forward and quickly reached the spot. Shen Mu looked at the various locations that had clearly been rummaged through by Blue Star Humans and completely emptied, his face showing little expression.
This was all human nature; Shen Mu understood. At that time, there were indeed some broken and worthless scraps left, but for those Blue Star Humans, they still held some value.
If it were him, or rather, his former self, he would also have come to see if there was anything valuable.
After all, just living was already very difficult.
Just then, a slight warmth emanated from Shen Mu's Holy Tree Suit, as if sensing evil, and it began to warn him.
It wasn't just him; the Holy Tree Knights beside him also experienced the same.
This made Shen Mu frown slightly.
"Lord! Those mounds that haven't collapsed yet seem to contain some Undead Monsters!" At this moment, the Holy Tree Knights had already detected something and quickly drew their knight's swords, forming a protective circle around Shen Mu.
"Deal with those Undead Monsters," Shen Mu frowned, looking at the Holy Tree Knights beside him. He raised his hand and directly cast a powerful area-of-effect spell.
Their weapons were enchanted, receiving a powerful damage amplification from the rule level.
"Understood." These Holy Tree Knights did not hesitate at all. They immediately charged forward with their weapons flashing with white light, quickly rushing into the remaining pits.
They swung their knight's swords and quickly killed all the remaining Undead Monsters, which had appeared due to the darkness, within the pits.
After all, with these Undead Monsters present, Shen Mu would not be able to expand his castle.
And now that these Undead Monsters were dealt with.
Shen Mu surveyed the collapsed mounds, a solemn expression slowly appearing on his face: "Then let's begin."
He was preparing to expand his castle. (End of this chapter)