novelraw Chapter 1014 231: The Meaning of Military Score (2)
Chapter 1014 231: The Meaning of Military Score (2)
When they're not moving, they're like big trees, or you could simply call them War Ancient Tree Defense Towers, constantly accumulating energy. In theory, if no one invades, their first attack after the battle energy fully charges has no limit.
Of course, because most of them are transformed from Skeleton Fear Demons, even with the support of the territory, their talent is only at Rare Level Tier Four.
This is entirely thanks to the territory's super traits and Sacred Treasures, allowing them to possess the characteristics of a new life during the fusion assessment, so talent +1, rank +1, all in effect.
No one knows how that Mad Lich did it, but it's eccentric and seems to be at odds with the trees.
This kind of interest also happens to enhance the rate of green plant cultivation over there, planting trees to drive out the corruption.
Of course, Audrey agreed to this expansion because this time's territorial expansion didn't remove her from the territory's sequence.
She and her troops still belong to the people of the Golden Pansy Domain, only extending the territory outwards with their forces.
This was something Lin Rui had always wanted to do, as the development of Golden Pansy Domain was too much like a city before!
But the word "domain" in Golden Pansy Domain implies it should be a territory centered around a city, surrounded by large lakes, forests, valleys, and plains.
This time, in expanding outward, Lin Rui intends to completely clear and incorporate the Ruins River Valley, Blood Maple Forest, Bloodbath Mountain, and Titan Sky Mountain into the security range of the territory.
With Lin Rui supporting Wutong's decision, Caroline didn't say much more and directly arranged other civil servants to issue the administrative orders.
The territory has developed to the point where there are now more than just two civil servants, reaching a total of seven.
Caroline, with her outstanding talent, unquestionably serves as the Chief Civil Servant.
Soro is second, and if Caroline hadn't introduced Soro to Lin Rui, he wouldn't have recognized this robust middle-aged man as the territory's first civil servant, once gray-haired and aching with every step.
He was once only a talent at the Excellence Level, but under the territory's numerous traits, not only did his talent rise to Rare Level, but his power also advanced to Tier Three!
The increase in extraordinary power and the consumption of many Life Fruits made him look more than twenty years younger.
Moreover, it's said that this old man, once almost "pressed down by a pear tree," had his wife give birth to a pair of dragon and phoenix twins today!
He was a talent who fled to the territory and had no family.
But with the subsequent population growth, he successfully married a plump young woman.
With a stable property comes stable dedication; having an estate, a wife, and children, he has become more loyal to the territory.
Matters of administration are managed by these civil servants, so Lin Rui need not worry about them.
He then took out two Origin Treasure Chests as gifts, handed them to Wutong, and said with a smile, "Today's gift, to make up for not spending time with you during the day."
Wutong accepted the gift, looked at Lin Rui, and said softly, "Do you plan on giving gifts every day?"
Lin Rui replied with a smile, "If there's something suitable, I'll buy it and give it to you."
Wutong calmly said, "I don't have much to give you. What do you want?"
"You are the best gift Heaven has given me."
"Me?" Wutong glanced at Lin Rui, thought silently for a moment, and gently kissed his lips, asking, "Is this what you mean?"
A faint fragrance lingered at his nose, and Lin Rui felt utterly delighted; indeed, love after marriage is very sweet!
Wutong considered her body a gift, so how could Lin Rui, with his character, not be excited?
But unfortunately, the Empress was clearly not as skilled as Audrey; she only knew that intimate relationships involve kissing, but how to kiss?
It was probably just a matter of lips touching lips.
Nonetheless, Lin Rui was still very happy. With this beginning, there could be romantic French kisses in the future. With romantic French kisses, it would naturally lead to close embraces and gentle touches during the process.
From Lin Rui's many kissing experiences, he could confirm that when a girl has some affection for you, during the kiss, her mind is truly blank.
In this intense kissing process, whatever her brain is startled at a touch.
That's also why girls are less aggressive when resisting being forcibly kissed—they're just dazed inside their heads.
Thus, in male-female relationships, starting with a kiss when there's even a slight affection can quickly heighten a girl's feelings towards you, far more than before the kiss.
Many things, before and after the kiss, hold entirely different meanings for a girl.
But Wutong's thoughts weren't as many as Lin Rui. After lightly kissing Lin Rui, she shifted her attention to the Origin Treasure Chests and asked, "Should we open them now?"
Actually, giving this gift to Wutong was Lin Rui's most profitable move.
Nominally, it was a gift, but most of the items obtained after opening them would still be used by Lin Rui.
This made Lin Rui feel a bit embarrassed, so he said, "Let's hold off on opening them for now. The appearance rate for Glory Crystals isn't high—the two Origin Treasure Chests are more likely to just yield two Mythical Material: Divine Core Fragments. Let's save them up and open them together. You gaining a Holy Spirit Level Trait is significant for our territory."
Wutong nodded gently and, following Lin Rui's suggestion, directly put away the two Origin Treasure Chests.
Then Lin Rui asked, "Have you been keeping track of the territory's population growth?"
Wutong calmly replied, "Caroline just reported to me briefly, the new population mainly falls into two categories."
"One is those attracted by the [Thriving Population] trait. With the Aerial Cavalry, most have been smoothly brought back, and the Territorial Essence (small) once gave a thriving population effect of 50 residents, triggered 43 times, totaling 2,150 residents."
This number isn't large; over two thousand people make a relatively limited increase for the current territory, only about two to three percent growth rate.
Is it worth Wutong, as the Empress, personally mentioning this to him? So Lin Rui curiously asked, "Is there something noteworthy among these people?"
"Correct. Among these exiles, not just wilderness refugees, many moved from other towns, so there are many talents."
Lin Rui had previously become aware of this situation.
Due to the Empire's many demons and monsters, no one knows when a group of bandits or even a Chaos Army might break into an Imperial town and loot a village.
So many free citizens from Imperial towns would move to safer cities for security reasons.
If it were on Blue Star, population movement is primarily driven by the economy, with people from less developed cities moving to more prosperous metropolises.
In the Azure Realm, the main driver for population movement is safety; populations from towns and settlements with weak military force move towards cities. Higher city walls and more powerful armed forces provide civilians with great security.
Lin Rui never had to deal with population loss issues.
But this is almost the most challenging problem facing Explorer Territory's development.
Simply put, insufficient popular support leads to migration or fleeing.
For territory development and growth, certain prerequisites must be met, such as ample grain reserves and reliable military forces.
The more people in the territory, the higher the required military score. If this score isn't met, population growth stagnates, and if it exceeds while popular sentiment isn't stable, it continually decreases.
This is why a Military Strength list is crucial in territory rankings.