MC's career as foreign lord

"You can't be exposed to sunlight yet. Forcing it will cause irreversible damage!" The two younger races happily ran into the sunlight, only to have their skin blistered and burned, forcing them to rush back into the mine.

Zhou Ren had to tell them this.

"The time will come soon. When night falls, you can take advantage of the darkness to find a place to live in the wasteland outside. Whether you build houses, dig caves, or simply live in the forest, it doesn't matter. All the wasteland you can see is my territory!"

Zhou Ren said, then he thought of the hatred between these people and the Drow elves, and quickly added,

"If you encounter those elves, don't attack them carelessly. They are surface elves, purely lawful creatures, and they won't attack you on sight!"

After all, they both have long ears. If a conflict breaks out between them, he would truly be caught in the middle.

"We will abide by your rules and will not do anything unnecessary. Please rest assured, Lord!" Moradin took the lead in making a guarantee, and Yalman didn't delay for long either.

They temporarily gathered their clansmen in the mine, waiting for nightfall.

Apart from needing to be wary of the few monsters lurking in the darkness that Zhou Ren had told them about, they wouldn't encounter those particularly evil dark races, who were always ready to devour their territory and plunder their people.

This was almost unimaginable for the races of the Underdark. After all, they had grown up in that terrifying dark atmosphere, and had never tasted the sweetness of peace.

As for the monk Genoh, Zhou Ren directly sent him to his territory. His contract with this legendary powerhouse was different from the others. He would find a separate area in his territory, build his own house, and then cultivate there.

He needed to carry out his monk training independently, and also choose his future disciples to teach. He wanted to pass on the essence of 'Qi' and also enjoy a peaceful life.

But Zhou Ren wouldn't think that way. Since he had come into his hands, he would naturally be molded as he saw fit. This monk's personality seemed to be the type who didn't like troublesome things, which was perfect for making him a local guard.

This wasteland was large enough, large enough that he had time to do anything. Besides these few newly arrived races, there were other things he needed to continue considering.

The lich Xander had already brought his undead to inhabit the mine. This area was inherently suitable for the undead to live in. At least until they regained their intelligence, these undead creatures had better not wander outside.

"Lord, can we go to the mushroom forest?" Shroom Ten asked, his tall body even more conspicuous now. Behind him were piles of somewhat comical mushroom people, each looking at their large heads, and surrounding Zhou Ren.

"I'll take you to the mushroom forest. If you don't want to, you can also plant them yourselves!" Zhou Ren said. These large mushrooms followed behind him like this, guided by their magic. The mushrooms that had just been moved seemed to be a little withered.

But unlike the underground races, as plant-based lifeforms, the setting sun shining on the Shroom people did not produce any adverse effects.

Their body surfaces seemed to have an invisible, special spore membrane, protecting them from direct sunlight.

This was also their advantage over other underground races, allowing them to be active on the surface. These seemingly cute creatures swayed their heads.

These fungal creatures seemed to enjoy this feeling very much. They were intelligent beings, they ate mushrooms, but they themselves were also a special kind of living mushroom.

These mushrooms, large and small, curiously surrounded Zhou Ren, seemingly wanting to see something different from him. They emitted their spores, sensing everything around them with their mental abilities, and also conveyed various chattering languages into Zhou Ren's mind.

"Is this the world on the surface? How beautiful!"

"I want to take root here and build a small house!"

"We need to quickly find a place to live and put down our mushrooms, otherwise they will wither!"

These little guys chattered as they spoke, but there were also some lazy ones who just wanted to reach their residence quickly and then perform the 'Mind-Meld'.

"I really want to continue the Mind-Meld!" This kind of voice gradually expanded, combined with the spores of many Shroom people, and then swayed around them.

"Mind-Meld?" Zhou Ren said. Why did these mushroom people say this word so many times? Could it really be a particularly happy form of entertainment? It couldn't be what he was imagining, could it?

Shroom Ten nodded, "These guys, besides eating, drinking, and sleeping every day, just want me to start the Mind-Meld, alas! When will they think about the future of our race?"

Zhou Ren was very curious, "What kind of lifestyle is this? That makes all of you so unforgettable?"

He could see that these mushroom people were very happy and content, which was almost impossible for a race living in the Underdark.

Moreover, they were constantly lawful good, and could not do anything evil to make themselves feel happy, but their kind of happiness that almost could not feel the future, seemed a little strange.

Hearing the lord's doubts, the leader of the Shroom people seemed very willing to answer him, and slowly opened his mouth, "This is a natural talent of our race. At my level, I can release hallucinogenic spores!"

And the Shroom people's innate talent can link the spores to create illusions, when everyone's thoughts are connected together.

They spend half of their day living in this illusion, and interact and entertain themselves through some means of the illusion. This allows them to gain some enjoyment and transcendence from their monotonous underground life.

"Isn't this the magic network?" Zhou Ren complained, "It's still a 3D version of the network, and you can even experience various scents..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly shuddered. This special ability could not only be used for playing!

He secretly noted this ability. Maybe he would have the opportunity to use it in the future. This kind of local network setting was of course irrelevant, but what if it could be built into a public world network?

If there was really this opportunity, he might be able to replace certain gods and the Holy See and gain control of the world's public opinion. If this plan was implemented together with money...

That would be the world's economy and mouthpiece, and the thing that maintains the gods' power in this world has always been faith, but faith is very easily swayed by public opinion!

His pupils seemed to contract abruptly at that moment. This plan was even more terrifying and shocking than his financial plans. It could be carried out in secret, without anyone noticing.

He quickly controlled his thoughts and continued to chat happily with the Myconid King. At least this kind of local area network could be used to play some interesting tricks!

As an undead creature, Mosa couldn't hear these sounds. The spores could only affect living things, but had no effect on the undead. He walked freely beside the seemingly young Lich.

Of course, he only looked young. As a legendary Lich, his age was definitely different from his appearance.

Sandru greatly enjoyed this feeling. He looked at the surrounding environment, then looked at his teacher walking freely in this environment, and chirped out many questions.

He touched the terrifying magic power that seemed within reach. The moment he stepped into this territory, his raven body suddenly shook, then, like a siphon, absorbed all the magic energy into his body.

The Underdark was simply too barren. Even a Lich like him needed a large amount of magical energy to sustain himself, but there was only chaotic death energy and terrifying negative aura there.

A small amount of death energy was nothing, but the dense, demonic death energy would make even a Lich like him feel unbearable pain.

Some Liches in the Underdark became insane because they absorbed too much death energy, and then led their undead legions to attack one living town after another.

The Underdark was a veritable hell, where good creatures simply couldn't survive for long.

"It's only because I met you, teacher, that I didn't become such a desperate creature!" Sandru said. "Are we going to deal with those long-ears?"

"We have to deal with all races, but these elves are our allies for now!" Mosa said. "In the future, don't extend your claws towards the elves. Although you won't do anything bad, don't expect special treatment from living people just because you're an undead creature!"

This was also a warning to his disciple, this undead creature. Undead living with the living would inherently encounter great trouble.

However, interestingly, they also met many elves and some humans who had come in a hurry along the way. After the war, some people from the town still chose to return to live here.

"I heard that you've become the sole lord here?" As they walked, a large group of people came over, including humans, gnomes, dwarves, and some other common races from the continent.

"I wonder if you will accept the original townspeople?"

They were all original residents or merchants of the town. Some came to retrieve their goods left here, while others wanted to live here during the great upheaval, waiting for the excitement to come.

Everyone knew that after a destined legendary figure fell here, there would be a grand occasion. Those islands and grasslands of the past had seen such scenes.

Moreover, some destined figures would rejoin the fray. If a battle of destined figures or demigod war was triggered, perhaps new destined objects would appear, becoming unowned.

These merchants who risked their lives, of course, wanted to get a share of the pie. As long as the profit was high enough, they wouldn't mind selling the noose that would hang them.

The person speaking was one of them. There were two figures in the crowd that he was relatively familiar with. The person who just spoke was the blacksmith named Odinson.

As an ordinary intermediate professional, he found that there was nowhere for him to go. He thought about returning to the town to live as a blacksmith. He had lived here for ten years and had nowhere else to go.

"Of course, you are welcome!" Zhou Ren said. "As long as you abide by the law, your houses will be permanently preserved!"

A town without humans was definitely incomplete. After all, humans were the most widely believed race in this world and the most intelligent among all living beings.

After hearing him say this, the faces of the group of people behind the blacksmith showed joy.

They were all poor people in Val City who didn't have much assets and could only barely make a living. Of course, they hoped to continue living in the town.

This town had mercenaries coming and going, so they lived a relatively comfortable life. Even if there were no mercenaries, now that a new lord had arrived, they shouldn't live particularly badly, right?

The joy on the faces of this group of people was naturally seen by Zhou Ren. He had also heard how miserable the lives of ordinary people in those human empires were. The elves' humans were probably the best off.

"Lord..." A familiar figure slowly came forward and saluted him respectfully.

Zhou Ren smiled, "Henry, are you also preparing to bring your family back?"

"I heard that you are going to become the lord here, sir. Of course, I have to come back!" Henry said.

He often ran errands for Zhou Ren. With generous benefits, his current life was also very good, which further strengthened his idea of following Zhou Ren.

Zhou Ren nodded, "Come back quickly. You can help me understand the situation in the town a little bit! If you do well, I can appoint you as the town scribe!"

Henry didn't have much martial power, so he couldn't become a ruling official or anything else, but becoming a scribe who did practical things and ran errands was still no problem.

"Your will!" Henry nodded, appearing very excited. Was the knowledge he had buried finally going to be of some use?

These original residents of the town hurriedly walked back to their houses. Before, because of the orc invasion, most of them had moved to the city. Those who hadn't moved to Zhou Ren's territory for a period of time also chose to move away.

Now, the ones who had returned, plus the original people in the town, should be all the residents. Later, Henry could simply register the population so that taxes could be collected or benefits could be distributed.

And when they crossed the road of this group of people and truly arrived in Zhou Ren's territory, all the mushrooms found that they had changed a bit.

The mushrooms, which originally looked a bit round, actually began to gradually become square. Those huge mushrooms were now square, only they themselves were still round and moist.

"What's wrong with us?" Mushroom Ten was a little panicked!