MC's career as foreign lord

"All races have their share of intelligent individuals!" Zhou Ren thought, observing the elves who were pretending to be ignorant despite knowing the truth. He found their behavior quite amusing.

They had clearly recognized the more significant potential uses of this virtual world, yet none of them voiced it openly. Instead, they subtly expressed their agreement and continued to discuss matters related to the Tree of Life with him.

For instance, regarding the Trees of Life planted by him and the Church of the Goddess of Wealth, the elves wanted to get involved, claiming that only they could attest to the Trees of Life's special properties.

In truth, this wasn't an unreasonable request. The elves were the race most closely aligned with the Trees of Life, and their endorsement would essentially signify their backing and participation, which was the most crucial aspect. Of course, the elves' involvement also meant they intended to claim a share of the profits.

However, from another perspective, their participation ensured the security and feasibility of the deal. After all, compared to the Church of the Goddess of Wealth, a formidable race spanning the continent possessed a greater capacity to mobilize and deter enemies.

This was the issue Zhou Ren had been contemplating. The main reason he hadn't dared to fully expand the transaction with the Church of the Goddess of Wealth was the concern that, when faced with such immense profits, even the major races might abandon all pretense and attempt to seize the entire bounty.

Let's not talk about the foresight of races or the predictive abilities of territory lords. If ordinary intelligent races truly possessed such great foresight, there wouldn't be so many wars, both large and small.

It was precisely because of these shortsighted, ignorant, and overly confident individuals that wars persisted endlessly across the continent.

He didn't want to constantly receive news from other regions about Trees of Life being completely seized and areas being entirely uprooted. This would not only be a challenge to his and the Church of the Goddess of Wealth's new department's credibility but also a significant waste of resources.

However, with the elves' involvement, everything would be different. They could rely on the strength of their entire race to safeguard most of the areas. All locations could be rapidly disseminated and protected through the elves' communication channels.

At the very least, within this communication network, anyone wishing to interfere with his established trading points would have to consider the elves' opinion.

"The price is quite simple. For every Tree of Life planted, we require a position that can be bound to it," the Queen stated. This was the elves' core demand. Each Tree of Life would continuously provide an elf with ten thousand years of lifespan and near immortality.

This meant that each member bound to a Tree of Life would become a guardian of the race, capable of reaching the pinnacle of legendary status and maintaining that position for at least a thousand years.

This was one of the essential characteristics that allowed the elves to rise in the world. Even during the most difficult times, those with Trees of Life could guarantee the existence of thousands of legendary figures.

This characteristic, similar to nuclear deterrence, was the most valuable asset they left to their descendants!

And once bound to the special nature of Zhou Ren's Church of the Goddess of Wealth, their life force would spread throughout the continent, making it impossible for anyone to discern which Tree of Life was truly important to the elves.

Hence, there was opposition. Once they cooperated with local lords or races, another situation would inevitably arise, namely the so-called proliferation of the Trees of Life.

As long as they genuinely intended to cooperate with those races, this issue would be unavoidable. They would directly covet the Trees and completely unleash their desires.

If they couldn't resolve this issue, their subsequent plans would likely face significant obstacles.

"It's simple!" After this discussion arose, Zhou Ren directly made a decision. "If they want them, then give them to them!"

Since there was no way to solve the problem, it was better to solve the people who raised the problem.

Give each region's Tree of Life a slot, and let the locals compete for the right candidate, either the one who best weighs the benefits or the one with the strongest local power. To ensure their own existence and continuity, they would inevitably become the most valued representatives of the entire organization in that region.

"Even if it costs a position, it can still make them our most important partners. As long as the person who obtains this benefit automatically becomes the guardian of that territory, we don't have to worry about any problems arising in the territory before something happens to this guardian!"

Zhou Ren said. This was the perfect cooperation he envisioned. What did it matter if they gave up a portion of the profits? As long as they could obtain sufficiently large gains, he wouldn't hesitate to give up even another Tree of Life.

In reality, this wasn't a matter of trade-offs as the managers thought, but rather, for Zhou Ren, this matter was almost without cost.

After all, the elves would provide the strength of powerful guardians and the deterrence of various forces, while the Church of the Goddess of Wealth would provide the attention of a deity, the full support of the entire church, and the main personnel.

And all Zhou Ren needed to provide was a Tree of Life that had no cost to him. What was bone meal? If this thing could be quantified, it would probably be a few hundredths of a percent per day, right?

So he didn't feel any pain giving it away. In his territory, Trees of Life had even been made into walls, becoming actual defensive items in certain areas, rather than core defense forces. Under such circumstances, one's mindset was completely different.

And after the elven race proposed this condition to him, they exchanged strange glances with each other, and actually agreed with his statement. This was not really a price they were offering, so everyone was naturally happy to see it happen.

More importantly, after this price was paid, all those who joined would automatically become their allies, and would not cause them any extra trouble. On the contrary, it would enhance the influence of the entire elven race on the continent. Why not do it?

Thus, under this tacit understanding, the entire proposal passed very smoothly, and at this moment, the elders who had been arguing endlessly finally obtained a more satisfactory distribution method.

"A race gets 30 trees, and 10 trees are all planted next to the World Tree, as the race's common Tree of Life!"

O'Halykhorn, as the spokesperson for the meeting, said, "Not only this year, but also in the years to come! Ensure fairness and also ensure that there is enough final guarantee at the World Tree!"

Unexpectedly, after arguing for so long, they still only came up with the most standard average distribution method. After all, none of the three elven races were convinced by the others, and they didn't have any means to deter each other, so this was the best way to balance things.

Zhou Ren silently shook his head. As expected, it was similar to what he had guessed. Even if this group of people argued, what could they possibly come up with?

"Then let's do this for now. I'll grow 100 saplings, and you can just take them and transplant them. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

If that was a problem, and he had to run to the territories of the other elves to plant them one by one, then what might happen in his territory would be beyond his prediction.

"It really might not work!" Shia said, standing on Zhou Ren's side and offering a unique perspective.

"The Trees of Life you've grown have mostly succeeded under your own care and execution. They haven't been able to grow one in tens of thousands of years. Could it not be the elves' problem, but the people's problem?"

This sentence really slapped the faces of all the Druid Masters present. Every single one of these elven elders had developed from the Druid stage. Those mages went to the Mage Association, and most mages rarely meddled in such trivial matters. Basically, the Druid elders acted as both father and mother, taking care of all the affairs of the entire elven race. So, this sentence really hit a wide range.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Ren actually nodded in agreement. He also felt that this matter of the elves was indeed a bit strange. Tens of thousands of years had passed, and if they wanted to plant them, they should have tried all sorts of methods.

But after so many years, there wasn't a single success, yet he succeeded immediately upon arriving. If there wasn't something fishy about it, he wouldn't believe it himself!

"Well... I don't know if it's a problem of power, or a problem of myself, but you can do a simple experiment!" Zhou Ren said, taking the sapling at his feet and slowly removing it. The vitality of life was still leaping on it, and then becoming more and more exuberant, as if it wanted to bloom with all its power at this moment.

Then, he replanted the sapling in the soil at his feet. This short removal didn't cause any special reaction from the Tree of Life; on the contrary, it was even more lively than before.

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"If you add a little bone meal to this sapling," Zhou Ren said, quickly taking out his items and pouring the white powder onto the little sapling's head, then continuing to pour until half a group of bone meal was completely emptied.

This was also the first time he had done this, first accelerating the maturity of the entire Tree of Life, and then doing other things. No matter how you looked at it, this was a bit like forcing growth, but he couldn't stay here for more than a few days, at most three days. He had to return to his territory to preside over the upcoming opening of the territory and the war affairs that might be coming in the future. There was no other way.

"You guys take this tree to transplant first. If this works, you can directly transplant trees from my territory in the future. If that doesn't work either, then I can only send some people to plant them in your territories. I won't go myself, but finding two elves to help you plant them shouldn't be a problem!" Zhou Ren said.

The surrounding elves also agreed with his statement. After all, at this time, it was obviously not realistic to have him plant trees for the elves of the three races, one by one.

He wasn't their slave, but a lord of a territory. He hadn't done many things yet, so how could he waste his time on such things?

But Zhou Ren wasn't a devil either. Even though he said that he would have the saplings planted for them in the future, he still planted all 100 saplings into the soil, little by little.

"Even if they can't be transplanted in the future, 100 Trees of Life here will make them look a little better, won't they?"

He spoke very easily, but in reality, this was also a favor. The elves couldn't possibly not remember his kindness. This was also the second thing he wanted to discuss with everyone, which was... the development of the territory.

After all, according to their previous rules, after today, the elves would have people bring a pile of supplies to set off. Whether it was food, various commodities, magical items for management, or various military-use commodities, they would all be sent to the territory to become part of the trade.

Of course, he wasn't preparing for himself. His army didn't need these things, but the territory didn't only consist of the army. The entire territory was actually only a small part aimed at the wilderness. In addition to this narrow passage connecting the elves and the orcs, more of the area was the huge wilderness on both sides, like mountains.

To the east was a boundless wilderness, or rather, a desert, with sparse weeds growing, and endless wind and sand blowing. It was a silent dead land, but also a precious area burying treasures.

There were often many miners or mining races there, but at the same time, it also buried endless risks, and people could lose their lives at any time.

The dwarves didn't like the desert very much. According to their prospecting knowledge, there wasn't anything worth forging there. What was there was more gemstones, gold, or various magic veins.

In the same way, this area containing guarantees also had a huge number of monsters. Even the elves and the orcs had no intention of occupying it.

Ordinary passersby wouldn't be targeted because they were alone and wouldn't cause too much damage to the area, nor would they have a greater impact.

They would only excavate a little treasure here, look for a little ore, and carry out their adventures, while also maintaining the ecology of the entire area.

And if the elves' or orcs' army came here, it would affect the environment of this area. They would gather hundreds or thousands of legendary creatures in the entire area and launch a devastating blow to the races that came here.

The power of so many legendary figures charging together was something that no army in the world could stop. They ran rampant here, and even the messengers of the gods wouldn't be afraid.

On the other side, which was the west, was a dense and complex jungle. The area was humid and dark, and all the races couldn't stay in it for a few minutes before being entangled by heat and disease.

Most of the exploring armies died on the road of adventure, and this was also the paradise that adventurers longed for. There were original magical creatures and even more original magical plants. As long as you weren't afraid of death and rushed into it, you might have the opportunity to be promoted.

The reason why no one had come during this period was because the border towns had been destroyed, and there was no place for supplies. If you went out to explore, you might not even have time to die.