Chapter 149: I Object to This Engagement

Chapter 149 -119: I Object to This Engagement

As Blue Moon Territory liberalized its population policies, many wanderers from the Wilderness and adventuring parties flocked to join.

Although these adventuring parties and wanderers were a motley crew—escaped slaves, convicted criminals, fortune-seeking opportunists, brave adventurers, and homeless orphans left behind by disaster—they did indeed remedy Blue Moon Territory’s population shortage.

Blue Moon Territory’s population grew from 600,000 to 700,000, but compared to its former prosperity, it still felt sparsely populated.

Furthermore, Blue Moon Territory hired the Red Scorpion Mercenary Corps, an army of 20,000, to garrison the territory for a hefty sum.

This mercenary corps was not part of the Southern Mercenaries. The Southern Mercenaries lacked the courage to accept the offer, as they dared not offend Mary Frank.

They were the Desert Mercenary Corps, specializing in participating in wars and helping weaker nations defend their High Walls. Their fees were exorbitant, and only a wealthy territory like Blue Moon Territory could afford to hire them.

Most members of the Red Scorpion Mercenary Corps followed the Knight’s Path, with a small number of Assassins among them. They were all basically One-star or higher. The corps’ commander had even reached the Five-star level, a rarity even among mercenary groups.

While Green Shade Territory was still busy constructing the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Empire State Building, Blue Moon Territory had already completed its Golden Goddess Church.

Relying on advanced Magic and diligent laborers, the Magic Architectural Engineers constructed a magnificent Golden Goddess Church in a mere seven days.

The Church Court maintained its signature spired, Gothic architectural style. Inside, however, stood a giant statue of the Golden Goddess, its entire body crafted from gold. The church’s interior was also adorned with an abundance of gold and jewels, leading people to subconsciously associate the Golden Goddess with wealth. This, in turn, made the people of Blue Moon Territory spontaneously want to become her believers.

This also solidified Solaya’s newfound authority.

Through the Forest Spirit Mark on his hand, Lian sensed the change in Solaya.

This wisp of her Spirit seemed to have grown more solid, which meant Solaya’s true form had grown stronger.

At his sister Catherine’s request, Lorne Jackson became the Golden Goddess’s first Believer in Blue Moon Territory, gaining a new red entry.

[False Immortality] You have received an invitation from the Golden Goddess to become one of her Believers. She has bestowed upon you a state of false immortality. Regardless of how severely your body is poisoned or injured, you will not die in the short term. The price is a shift in your aesthetic preferences, causing you to develop a fondness for plants, such as Druids. Furthermore, you cannot travel more than 5 kilometers from a Golden Goddess Church; otherwise, you will suffer the Goddess’s curse and die a miserable death.

Lian found this entry quite practical. ‘Don’t be fooled by the “short-term” description,’ he thought. ‘In reality, “short-term” depends on Solaya’s power. Right now, that means twenty years.’

In other words, as long as Lorne Jackson maintained his faith, Solaya could keep his body from dying for twenty years. The only price was that he couldn’t stray too far from her church and would develop a fondness for Treants.

A price like that would be incredibly attractive to any kings or nobles seeking immortality.

Of course, neither Lian nor Catherine would tell them that.

This was because the entry had another hidden restriction: the more people Solaya granted [False Immortality], the shorter the duration became for each individual. With only Lorne Jackson, it could last for twenty years. If a hundred people had it, those twenty years would be divided among them, dropping the duration to about two months each. With ten thousand or a hundred thousand people, it would eventually be reduced to mere minutes per person.

Meanwhile, the preparations for Lian and Catherine’s engagement ceremony were nearly complete.

The engagement process for two great Lords was incredibly cumbersome, consuming a vast amount of manpower and resources.

In fact, the location of the ceremony alone was debated for two days, much like a diplomatic negotiation. The Blue Moon People wanted to host both the engagement and the wedding in Blue Moon Territory, while the Green Shade People wanted them held in Green Shade Territory.

Ultimately, the two sides reached a compromise: the engagement would be held in Blue Moon Territory, and the wedding in Green Shade Territory.

This made Lian breathe a sigh of relief. ‘At least they didn’t make me go through two weddings,’ he thought. Judging by the cost of the engagement ceremony alone, he knew it would be an incredible drain on the people and treasury.

Lian’s Green Shade Territory was still in its development phase. Although its people lived well, the treasury was far from abundant. It was still heavily in debt to the Empire Bank, and its economy had yet to take off. He had no desire to be extravagant for something like this.

If Lian had his way, they would just sign a marriage certificate at a registrar’s office and be done with it.

However, that would clearly be unfair to Catherine, the Empire’s youngest and wealthiest heiress, who had just come into a massive inheritance.

During his time in Blue Moon Territory, aside from spending his nights discussing ‘life’ with his fiancée, Lian had actually been quite busy.

For instance, he opened a branch of the Green Shade Territory Bank in Blue Moon Territory. The territory had attracted many adventuring parties and wanderers who now owned land and property but lacked seeds to plant or any money. They would likely need some initial capital to start their ventures.

As for his real estate plans, they were unlikely to work in a place as vast and sparsely populated as Blue Moon Territory.

Even the most high-end residences held no appeal for people who had just been given land for free.

Another example was his inheritance of all of his “second father” Khrish’s estate. Technically, based on familial relations, the money should have gone to Catherine, not him.

But to thank Lian—and to solidify the narrative that Lian’s relationship with Khrish was indeed unusually close—Catherine had the lawyers of Blue Moon Territory handle the arrangements, transferring the entire fortune to him.