Chapter 1 Showing in the Square

Hao Ren stared at the sculpture of himself for a long time, unsure what to say. Although he figured this was normal, the whole thing was still too much for a guy who'd never been anyone important. Wim, on the other hand, saw nothing wrong with it. He cheerfully asked, "How is it? Are you satisfied with the likeness? My mother believes it's quite necessary to place this statue in the city's central square…"

Lili finally snapped out of it and lunged forward with a whoop, "Wow! Landlord, you finally get to be displayed in the square!"

Hao Ren was about to smack the husky when he heard Wim tell Lili with a laugh, "Your sculpture is on the West District gate. Both human and beast forms. Guardian of the Erem Elves, a fierce beast blazing a trail—everyone has a sculpture."

Hao Ren patted Lili on the shoulder, "See? They even hung you on the gate."

Lili considered it, actually feeling pretty good, "Oh, maybe I can ward off evil…"

"So, is this appropriate?" Hao Ren asked Wim, the imposing sculpture beside him making him feel very strange. As a small-time citizen for over twenty years, he was, of course, secretly thrilled, but he mostly felt an indescribable awkwardness—like you'd helped an old lady cross the street and the next day your face was on the currency. So unreal, so unsteady, so unbelievable, and incidentally, so guilty.

"What's inappropriate about it?" Wim nodded matter-of-factly. "An entire race reborn, such a major event needs to be commemorated. Are we supposed to let our descendants forget who this place belongs to in a few years?"

Hao Ren crossed his arms, finding it made sense. When he turned his head to look at his sculpture again, a brilliant smile spread across his face—at this moment, he was even more of a country bumpkin than the two elven followers when they first boarded the ship. But after all, he was the guy even Crow 12345 acknowledged as "naturally suited to be an inspector, so lacking in sense that there's nothing left to round up," and he quickly regained his composure and accepted the honor: After grinning like this, any more excuses would seem pretentious.

However, after looking at the sculpture a few more times, he always felt that something was a little strange about the image. Finally, Lili, chin in hand, circled the sculpture and tugged on Hao Ren's sleeve, reminding him, "Landlord, don't blame me for watching too many dramas… but in dramas, the protagonist always has such a heroic expression right before perishing together with the villain…"

Hao Ren: "…" Why was this husky always so quick-witted at crucial moments! Was she pretending to be so stupid usually?

The two elven followers didn't know what these people were talking about, and their vigilance after arriving in an unfamiliar environment made Yosef and Ailu silently meditate in the back, eyes fixed on their noses, noses on their mouths, mouths on their hearts. At this time, Wim finally became curious about them: "Landlord, who are these two?"

"Assistants I brought from another world, also considered special envoys," Hao Ren introduced simply. "This is the white elf Yosef, and this is the dark elf Ailu. They are elves from another world. According to the Creator God's work manual, you are distant relatives. I have some things to discuss with your mother later, and they both must be present."

Wim was an approachable person. After learning their names, he enthusiastically extended his hand (he had learned the handshake etiquette from Hao Ren): "Oh, welcome, special envoy ladies. I am the Regent of the Erem Elves, the current governor of this planet."

Yosef awkwardly shook Wim's hand, with an embarrassed expression: "I'm a man…"

Wim was stunned: "Uh… sorry, it seems the elves from different worlds have some differences in appearance. Gentlemen?"

Ailu's face immediately turned green: "…"

Hao Ren didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "This one's a girl… never mind, it's not important. Let's go."

Ailu looked down at her chest, found nothing, and continued: "…"

The group passed Hao Ren's imposing sculpture of him about to perish together with the evil forces. The newly built royal district was just across the square. But calling it a royal district was just a residential and office area separated from the surroundings. Although the few towers showed some magnificent royal style, their scale was not even as large as the few factories next to them, and the materials used were obviously the gray-white synthetic materials recycled from those marine cities.

The Erem Elves, from top to bottom, were used to a frugal life. Now, in the early stages of the city's construction, the most valuable things were various construction teams, and the most useful were various factories, so these two units received the highest priority in material supply. The royal members and their families, who were relatively "less useful," could only live in prefabricated houses.

In addition to Hilda and Wim, the Erem Elven royal family also had a large group of princesses, princes, and princesses of the royal side branches. These members currently lived in the royal district. Those who could manage helped with management, those with technical skills helped with research, and those who could not do anything or whose abilities were temporarily useless ran to the construction team to work. The only difference between them and the commoners was that the place they lived was called the royal district—this was the style of the Erem Elven royal family.

That was why Hao Ren saw a young elf in a high-ranking official's uniform chatting cordially with a bearded uncle in worker's clothes, covered in gray soil, at the entrance of the royal district: They were father and son. The son was an urban management executive, and the father was originally the general manager of the Corona Station, but he had not been assigned to a new position for the time being, so he went to drive an excavator. The Erem Elves did not think there was anything wrong with this: let the useful people stay where they can be used, they were proud of it.

Yosef and Ailu, on the other hand, clicked their tongues in wonder. After hearing Wim and Hao Ren's introductions to the Erem Elves, the two elves from another world felt incredible: Although the elven societies they had each stayed in differed in customs, they were all ancient dynasties with strict hierarchies. Even the most egalitarian spirit race and halflings had never heard of such a thing happening. Their understanding of the Erem Elves was gradually established.

The group arrived at the simple reception room of the royal district's council hall, and Hilda finally rushed over after a while.

"Long time no see, Landlord." Hilda was still shimmering with faint light, and her mental state looked particularly good. After seeing Hao Ren, she warmly and familiarly gave him a hug. "Sorry, our place is still under construction. Even if we entertain guests, it can only be in such a simple place."

Hao Ren was a little embarrassed by such a wifely hug, so he hurriedly sat down: "It's okay, it's all family, don't be polite."

Hilda pushed a plate of snacks on the table in front of Hao Ren, with a happy smile on her face: "Eat something—we've discovered a nutritious wild tuber plant and have successfully reproduced it under artificial conditions. Its growth cycle is very fast, and this is the first batch of results."

Lili was already stuffing snacks into her mouth, nodding vigorously while swallowing hard: "Finally, we're not eating chalk blocks anymore?"

"This is the best era the Erem Elves have ever experienced," Hilda said with a smile. "The first crops are sprouting and growing on the farm, the first ship sailing in the ocean, the first mine and the first set of smelting equipment, a large amount of technology is being restored from museums and archives, every day is a day worth commemorating—including today, the first time the landlord comes back to see his house."

Hao Ren was pleasantly surprised to find that Hilda, the queen who used to give the impression of being serious, rigid, and efficient, was finally able to joke. He laughed, then his face turned serious: "Hilda, I'm not just here to visit you today. In fact, I have something to ask for your help…"

Seeing Hao Ren's serious face, Hilda immediately followed suit: "What's the situation? You are the benefactor of the Erem Elves. As long as we can be of use, we will definitely do our best to help you."

"This matter may be no small matter," Hao Ren paused. "Simply put, I want to transport something out of a certain world, and also a batch of immigrants similar to you—just like your great migration back then, but this time I encountered someone blocking me."

"Because this is a private matter, I can't apply for superior support, so I need a batch of armed escorts," Hao Ren spread his hands. "A large batch."

Hilda didn't even think: "How many people?"

"Anyway, the number of enemies is conservatively estimated at eight million."

The light on Hilda's body suddenly flashed like a bad connection: "Ah?!! What did you stir up?!"