After the excited Adele left, Richard looked at Karu.

“Where did the search and rescue team get this information?”

After organizing his words, Karu said softly.

“Lord, this information was given by them and a team of Phoenix-Tail Flower Chamber of Commerce merchants who stayed behind to search the area.”

“Apart from the information about Adele’s father, did you find anything else?”

“I also found some residents who were trapped in the oasis. However, the search and rescue team just returned and are still eating. I didn’t have the time to ask for too much information.”

Richard nodded. He is home, so he wasn’t in a hurry.

“How are the casualties of the other teams?”

“Seven injured, four dead…”

“Those who died will be buried in the Land of Glory. Those who are injured will be rewarded with some Desert Crown Honey.”

“Yes, Lord.”

After making the simple arrangements, Richard took out all the prey about to fill up the system space and let the residents deal with them.

He then returned to the Lord’s mansion and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner.

After eating and drinking to his heart’s content, he got someone to summon the search and rescue team over.

When they left on a mission, there were 60 people. Six of them died the day before yesterday. Now, four more were sacrificed. And of the ten mummies that were sent out, only five were able to return.

The vast desert was indeed filled with danger.

However, they had obtained an A-rank hero in exchange. It was not a loss.

Mercy did not control the troop. As a lord, he could not be indecisive.

He would not hesitate to sacrifice those who need to be sacrificed.

This was the background of the world where ten thousand races were fighting for hegemony. Now that it was peaceful, it was not time for a war to break out.

“Good evening, Lord.”

After entering the house, all the residents immediately bowed. No one dared to cross it.

The person in front of them was the only ruler of this land. A single word could decide their fate.

After Richard stood up, he looked around with admiration.

He smiled lightly and said, “There’s no need to be so polite. Every resident who has contributed to Twilight City is worthy of respect.”

“You’ve worked hard these past few days.”

These two simple sentences immediately warmed the hearts of the crowd.

The Lord did not forget them.

“Who among you can tell us what you’ve encountered these past few days?”

Under his encouragement, a young man stepped forward and asked tentatively.

“Lord, can…can I?”

His tone was slightly trembling as his hands clenched into fists.

When the crowd turned their gazes over, he felt his legs had gone soft.

Richard looked at him with admiration.

“Of course, there’s no need to be nervous. You’ve completed the mission and are the heroes of Twilight City. You’ll also receive my commendation.”

Hu~

The young man immediately felt relieved, and his tone increased.

“Lord Richard, we’ve been…”

Then, he explained the encounters of the search and rescue team in the past few days.

Although he felt it was perilous, and they had encountered many powerful soldiers in the wild, Richard felt it was just an ordinary encounter and did not have the information he wanted.

After repeated inquiries, he encouraged the other team and changed to the next search and rescue team.

Next, each team sent a representative to recount the experiences of their team over the past few days.

Richard could not help but feel slightly disappointed when he heard the end. Because the exploring team was not strong enough, even if they found something unusual, they did not dare to approach it.

Not to mention buildings like temples or one-way teleportation portals, they did not even find many resource points.

“Are you sure that you have not encountered any buildings like temples in the past few days?”

“No, Lord.” Everyone shook their heads in unison.

“Have you discovered any territories similar to Twilight City?”

“No, Lord.” Everyone shook their heads again.

This was strange.

Richard thought for a long time. He still could not figure out what was wrong.

Were there so few lord-ranked players in the desert camp? Why were there no player territories around Twilight City?

Or was it because the death desert was too large and spread so widely that these guys feared death? Even if they saw it from afar, they would not dare to approach it.

After thinking for a long time, they still couldn’t come up with an answer, so they simply didn’t hesitate and changed the question.

“Did you find anyone else who was blown away by the sandstorm?”

“Yes, Lord!”

Finally, there was a response that piqued Richard’s interest.

“Where are they? Why didn’t you bring them back?”

“This…”

The middle-aged man who spoke was a little embarrassed.

“They’re in an oasis. The people are not willing to return to Twilight City with us… They’re more willing to wait for the people from the Phoenix-Tail Flower Chamber of Commerce to take them away.”

Richard narrowed his eyes slightly.

“How many people are there?”

“More than 300 people…”

“Do you have a map?”

“Please, take a look.”

The middle-aged man stepped forward and carefully spread a rough map on the table, pointing at one of the dots drawn in a circle.

“This is the place. They have enough water and food and are unwilling to leave…”

After saying this, they felt a little awkward. Richard deliberately sent the teams on a mission to search and rescue these casualties. But they did not expect that even if they found those people, they would not be willing to return with them.

However, the casualties’ strategy of waiting for the Phoenix-Tail Flower Chamber of Commerce to rescue them was not bad.

After all, they had initially planned to follow the Phoenix-Tail Flower Chamber of Commerce across the death desert.

It went without saying who was more reliable than a territory they had never heard of.

“Aren’t those your companions? Why didn’t they follow you?”

“Lord, most people who followed the Phoenix-Tail Flower Chamber of Commerce back then, were strangers…”

Richard understood, and then he began to ponder.

“It’s not strange that there’s water in an oasis, but what kind of oasis can have enough food to feed hundreds of people?

“Moreover, you’ve been attacked by the sandstorm for almost two weeks, right? Can you survive for so long just by relying on the remaining food?”

This question stunned the middle-aged man, and he shook his head awkwardly.

“I don’t know either. They didn’t let us in.”

The middle-aged man wanted to say something. But he hesitated but finally said it with reluctance.

“Lord, they also asked us to bring the others back there. They said there’s no lack of food, so there’s no need to stay in Twilight City. It’s safer there…”

“Oh?”

These words greatly piqued Richard’s interest.

‘There must be something fishy going on.’

These hundreds of people were in a small desert oasis. It was okay if they just stayed there and refused to leave.

They even said they had enough food and wanted to poach there.

‘Wasn’t this a little too bizarre?’

“Alright, I understand. I’ll go there myself in a few days. You guys will lead the way for me then.”

“Yes, Lord!”

After saying that, Richard encouraged the residents and let them leave to rest.

He initially wanted to give them rewards but inconveniently discovered that other than food, there was only some wild beasts’ fur in the storeroom.

There seem to be nothing to offer them.

After the rescue teams left, Richard looked at Karu, who had followed the crowd and remained silent.

“Karu, what do you usually reward your subordinates with?”

Karu noticed Richard’s embarrassment and immediately understood.

He opened his mouth.

“Lord, you can usually reward them with gold coins, wild beasts’ fur, or some common herbs and materials.”

“Desert Crown Honey is a precious reward item…”

“You can reward great contributions with recognitions, such as the title of nobility in Twilight City, or a certain title of glory, or even a piece of land…”

When Richard heard this, he had a sudden realization.

That’s right. Not only could Richard reward these people with physical objects, but he could also give them spiritual and glorious rewards.

When they are at a low level, they might need to be rewarded with materials. When their future subordinates were at a higher level, Richard would reward them with materials that were undoubtedly inferior.

Baron or Count of Glory could be rewarded to those who had performed meritoriously in the future.

They don’t need to spend money or give real power, and they will have a lot of gratification if they tell others…

It’s like killing two birds with one stone.