The moment he chose to confirm the upgrade.

The system notification sounded again.

“Ding ~ please empty the residential area.”

Richard waved his hand and called the residents around him, asking them to call out those who were still in the residential area.

After a moment, more than twenty people left the residential area. They looke

The moment Richard chose to confirm the upgrade, the system notification sounded again.

[Ding~ Please, empty the residential area.]

Richard waved his hand and called the residents around him. He ordered them to call out those still in the residential area.

After a moment, more than twenty people left the residential area. They looked at Richard in confusion and didn’t understand why they were all ordered to leave.

But they did not dare to ask any more questions. The residents stood obediently at the side and waited for the order.

Richard had established his authority in the territory in just a few days.

After confirming that there were no mistakes, he chose to level up again.

This time, there were no surprises. The resources on the attribute panel were cleared in an instant.

Then, under everyone’s gaze, a yellow sand-like light rose from the ground, like a sandstorm that enveloped the residential houses.

The crowd’s vision became blurry, and they could only vaguely see the changes inside.

The two-story house rose with a rumble, and a third story appeared.

Ten houses rose at the same time. It caused the earth to tremble.

This huge commotion immediately caused the crowd to exclaim in surprise.

“Gods above…”

“This is a power that only a lord can have…”

“Legend has it that the gods gave each lord an unparalleled ability. Building houses quickly is one of them…”

“No matter how I see it, this scene is still incredible!”

The crowd was beyond belief…

The scene has also attracted the refugees amidst the waves of exclamation.

All of them had complicated expressions on their faces.

They no longer had a home…

The light from the yellow sand lasted for 10 minutes before it gradually dissipated.

[Ding~ Residential upgrade is successful.]

Along with the system upgrade, a brand new residential building appeared in front of Richard.

The ten residential buildings had expanded from two floors to three floors, and their area had already reached 70% of the 10-by-10-meter space.

The rough outer walls from the outside had become much more delicate, and there was a bit of an exquisite architectural shape. However, the desert was still eye-catching.

[Residence: 1 space]

[Level: Rare — Requires 5000 units of stone and 5000 units of wood to level up.]

[Note: The current level has been raised to the upper limit. After the territory is upgraded to a small city, it can still be raised again.]

[Capacity: Maximum of 30 people]

[Characteristics: None]

[Description: An ordinary residential house. It can be used by commoners.]

After Richard finished looking at the stats, he was pleasantly astonished.

The number of people each house could accommodate had increased from 10 to 30.

After increasing by three times, the problem of the newly arrived refugees was solved.

However, upgrading from rare to advanced required a lot of resources. The next time Richard upgraded 10 residential houses, he would need 100,000 units of resources.

The landlord’s family did not have any surplus food either.

At this moment, Richard finally understood the bitterness of the other lords.

He had hunted so much food to exchange for resources, but he still felt exhausted, not to mention the lords who could only rely on resource points to accumulate resources.

He turned around and looked at the refugees who were casting envious and complicated gazes at the residents of Twilight City. After thinking for a moment, Richard stepped forward.

While he was in the center of attention, this immediately attracted the attention of the crowd. However, those refugees who met his gaze immediately lowered their heads in fear.

Facing the ruler of this land, they felt immense pressure.

The other party’s words could determine their lives and deaths.

That was the vulnerability of having your fate controlled by others.

Richard did not speak. He just looked at them perfunctorily.

The hundreds of refugees went from feeling uncomfortable at the beginning to gradually becoming anxious and uneasy. In the end, they even felt endless fear.

Could it be that this lord wanted to directly expel them?

As for the worse ones, they did not dare to think about it.

“New residents, I am the Lord of Twilight City, Richard.”

Richard’s sudden words made the already extremely nervous crowd’s hearts jump to their throats.

They immediately raised their ears and focused on listening to his next sentence.

“I understand your anxiety and helplessness toward the future. No one can remain indifferent after losing your home, your family, and your friends. After all, that was the hope we once had, the hope of everything. We all have experienced the pain of having our hope shattered.”

The gazes of the crowd toward Richard suddenly intensified.

Richard did not stop talking.

“But are we going to weaken, give up, and lose hope because of this?”

His tone suddenly became high-pitched.

“No! Certainly not! These sufferings are the thorny paths that every one of us must walk! No matter how great the pain is, we must still look and walk forward! This must be what our family members, our family members, hope for. If you are in danger, do you want your loved ones and family members to keep drowning?”

In such a special situation, Richard’s determined voice was full of inspiring power.

“Those who can’t kill us will make us stronger in the end. As long as we step over the thorns, the light ahead will pierce through the darkness. As long as we have hope, we will always look up at the starry sky!”

Looking at that tall and straight figure, the crowd was completely silent at this moment.

The emotions in their hearts began to churn. They churned and surged into the sky…

The heartfelt words drove powerful energy into them, and at this moment, the low and dazed emotions were rapidly fading away.

The natives who had not been baptized by the information explosion had almost zero resistance to these motivational words.

Even if modern people had experienced countless information baptisms, some words could still make people’s blood boil.

Because they were not old yet.

Their blood was still briskly boiling.

With a long copper hammer on her back, Adele had unknowingly stepped out of the Lord’s mansion.

She stared blankly at the young man’s back with a complicated expression.

She muttered softly.

“As long as we have hope, we will always look up at the starry sky. Those who can’t kill us will eventually make us stronger.”

At this moment, light gradually appeared in her dim eyes…

Richard’s words, which had paused for a moment, rang out once again.

“My friends, this is Twilight City, a city built in the desert. Although the construction of the territory has just begun, this place is full of vitality, hope, and the future. No matter what your previous identity is, no matter what work you have done before, no matter what your age is, Twilight City will accept you.”

Richard continued, “If you are not willing to spend another few months crossing the desert that is filled with dead silence and dried-up dust storms, you are welcome to join Twilight City. We need each one of you here, and we can provide you with a haven. At the same time, I promise you that I will do my best to help you find your lost companions in the dust storms.”

He then added, “Of course, if you are unwilling, I will not force you. I will provide you with food and water so that you can continue to cross the Deadly Desert.”

At this point, Richard paused and swept his gaze across the crowd.

“My people, welcome.”

After saying that, he bowed slightly to everyone.

Then, without saying another word, he turned around and entered the Lord’s mansion.

He didn’t even look at Adele when he walked past her.

After Richard’s figure disappeared, the surrounding residents felt as if the flames in their chests were ignited at this moment.

“Lord Richard seriously bowed to us? By the gods, am I…am I seeing things?”

“I feel like I’m committing a crime if I don’t do anything for this territory…”

“Yeah, why don’t we stay in Twilight City? Why do we have to cross the desert that contains so many threats? I don’t want to encounter the Grim Reaper again!”

“But, isn’t this a desert? We’ll surely encounter sandstorms in the future…”

“What do you know? Did you see the strength Lord Richard showed just now? Those sturdy houses are enough to resist the threat of the storm! And the territory will surely expand in the future. With Lord Richard’s strength, he will definitely be able to protect us!”

“Mom, Lord Richard is truly too handsome. When I grow up, I will surely marry such a handsome hero.”

“Hahaha, alright.”

“Mom, I want to do that too.”

“Scram, you’re a man. Wake up!”

“What should we do? Stay here or go to the Holy Cathedral Empire?”

“Let’s discuss it with Miss Adele…”

Hearing the discussions of the crowd, the old residents were a little displeased and started to interfere.

A young man spoke to a few people beside him.

“You people don’t know how lucky you are. It’s your honor to become a member of Twilight City!”

A middle-aged man was unconvinced. “What do you mean by that?!”

The young man sneered. “Hehe, what do you think is the most important thing in a territory?”

The middle-aged man hesitated. “This… Prosperity and power?”

The young man ignored him. “What does a prosperous and powerful territory have to do with us?”

“The lords and nobles are the ones who are prosperous. We are just slaves they oppress. Haven’t you been oppressed by other lords before?”

Another person interrupted, “Then, what do you think it is?!”

The young man showed some pride on his face. “The most important thing in a territory is…a lord!”

The middle-aged man was deep in thought, but he still asked, “Why do you say that?”

The young man’s tone was high, “Master Karu said that a lord is the soul of a territory. How a territory is, whether it is savage, crazy, or warlike, depends entirely on the lord. Isn’t a benevolent lord with outstanding abilities, broad mind, and full of potential ten thousand times better than those lords who control prosperous territories but treat civilians like pigs and dogs? It shouldn’t matter if he is weak now.”

The others immediately fell into deep thought.

“What you said makes sense…but how can there be such a lord…”

The middle-aged man suddenly shut up halfway through his words. The few of them subconsciously turned their heads to look at the place where Richard had disappeared.

“Those who couldn’t kill us would eventually make us stronger.”

These words rang in their ears once again.

The flames in their chests became more and more vigorous.

Their blood wasn’t cold either.