"Huh... they're taking longer than I thought they would," Daz commented as he stared down at the slowly crumbling city of Waterford from the peak of the new walls' central tower. The people he was referring to were, of course, his two clones, Alpha and Beta.

He had come here for one reason and one reason only; to blacklist his father. With that done, he went to collect Lyle and Sandy. Once he had found those two men, he left Fort Skip and stood just outside of the northern adamantine portcullis.

"My Lord, I'm fully prepared to receive our new citizens now, thank you for waiting," Lyle said after he had finished setting up a small booth of some sort which he'd pulled out of his Personal Item Box.

Sandy had his arms firmly crossed over his chest while he was seated on a fold-up chair and was busy puffing away on his dutchman's pipe. "Why do I need to be here again, Kiddo?" he mumbled as his teeth gripped the pipe's shaft firmly in place.

"To directly recruit people into being builders. Plenty of the people that approached me were just everyday people, and I'll be damned if they don't do at least a little bit of work. I'm gonna summon them all, then I'll state what jobs are open right now, why they should work, then after that, you're gonna lead the wannabe-builders to your workshop," Daz said matter-of-factly.

Sandy's eyes brightened up. "Ah, so ya've seen ma workshop, have ya? Damn right masterpiece, if I do say so maself, which, by the way, I do."

"Yes. It's a very nice looking place. Sure beats my personal workshop," Daz replied with a smile as he summoned Rimmy's main body - which was still almost pitch black due to him absorbing the king gems power - to act as a gate guard.

He didn't want any of the new citizens entering Fort Skip until he was finished telling them how things worked, after all.

Sandy grunted. "Mine's professional, yers is personal, like ya said. There's more of a homey atmosphere to yer workshop then there is to mine, Kiddo."

"I suppose so." Daz didn't really care about this right now, as much as he enjoyed talking to Sandy, his mind was more focused on recalling all of the names of the people who had asked to be summoned.

"Alright, I'm gonna start in a second." Daz looked up to the top of the walls and nodded towards Rimmy's core which was peacefully floating up there. "I'm counting on you, Buddy!" he shouted.

A happy nod and a short "Rimmy!" was the golem's reply.

With that, Daz finally started to use his merit points and his privilege as a city lord to hire new citizens.

Daz could see Vanessa excitedly standing in the crowd of roughly three-hundred new faces. She seemed very pleased that Daz had actually summoned her. It seemed that she had held some slight reservations that perhaps he would have forgotten about her.

The reaper just sighed softly as he summoned the last person. "Summon Sakura Rei."

Confirmed. Sending host [Sakura Rei] a formal summons to become a citizen of [City Lord Daz]. The host [Sakura Rei], has accepted the formal summons to become a citizen of [City Lord Daz]. The total balance of the host is now: 169,113,244 [-250].

In total, Daz had spent slightly over eighty-thousand merit points on these people, but the benefits that they would bring his base, as well as the taxes they would contribute to Fort Skip's merit allowance, allowed Daz to feel no regrets in regards to spending what was once a very sizable sum of merit points.

Clearing his mind, Daz coughed faintly to get everyone's attention. "Firstly, thank you all for accepting the opportunity to become my citizens, it really means a lot to me."

Everyone was silent as they listened to Daz address them. Not even a whisper could be heard, which only went to show how compelling his words were. Naturally, his many displays of power during the auction on top of his stats and social-based skills were helping him out here.

"There aren't many rules that you need to follow while living under my protection, but there are a few that come with severe punishments if they are broken. To summarise them, don't kill, don't steal, don't emotionally or physically abuse anyone, and lastly, don't sexually assault anyone. Depending on the severity of your crime, you may face the death penalty, so keep that in mind. If you want more details on the laws, please refer to the signboard in the central residential area of the second layer," Daz explained calmly.

A few people seemed a bit worried, but most understood the reason for the death penalty. With access to the system, some criminals were simply not worth keeping around due to running the risk of them gaining a system-granted opportunity to free themselves and wreak havoc.

"In regards to Fort Skip - the base behind me, there are three layers - or three forts. The third layer - or outer fort, is newly built and is empty as of right now. The second layer - or central fort, is where the citizens live and work. Currently, we have a mine to gather rare metals and gems, a construction company run by Sandy here," Daz said as he gestured to the pipe-smoking old man who nodded slowly, "a school that is in desperate need of teachers from all walks of life, a barracks where you can learn some potentially useful combat skills, a restaurant, and a very rudimentary clinic-slash-translation centre. Our current only doctor works there to heal simple injuries as well as to research new system-based medical treatments and help our otherworlder citizens learn English," he added.

"Of course, the bank with an interest rate of 20% is there as well." Once Daz had said that a lot of the gathered people gained a certain glint in their eyes. Of course, not everyone had come solely for protection or for the promise to be valued despite their odd classes. Money was a factor that always has, and always will move the world.

"As for the first layer - or the inner fort, that is the private property of myself. For now, most of you will be living in the dungeon there. Think of it like an underground bunker. It can hold up to one-thousand people comfortably. Naturally, you'll each have a dedicated home within a few days to a week, maybe more. You'll certainly be housed faster if you help Sandy with the construction efforts," Daz said clearly to make sure no one misunderstood the term 'dungeon'.

"If you have any formal complaints or suggestions for improving Fort Skip or Waterford, please, relay your concerns or suggestions to a soldier. They will bring it to my keep advisors who will either answer you or give you a personal audience with me to consider whatever worry or idea you may have," Daz instructed.

He paused for a moment before he smiled. "Lastly, before you go anywhere, please register yourselves with Lyle here and collect your I.D medallions. If you don't speak English amazingly well and haven't bought a skill to understand it yet, please do so now or take the effort to join Doctor Werthers in her translation lessons," he said as he motioned towards the booth Lyle was sat behind. "Once you've done that, please, feel free to follow Sandy to get to work immediately. If you have no intentions to work just yet, follow the soldiers just inside of the gate behind me, they will be leading anyone who has no interest in building to the school, the barracks, the mines, the restaurant, the clinic, the bank, then lastly, the dungeon."

Everyone muttered words of agreement or nodded slowly. Relieved to see that he had been understood, Daz glanced towards Vanessa. "Vanessa Jakoby, since I personally know you and have spent a lot of time with you, here," he said as he pulled a medallion out of his pocket and tossed it to her through the crowd. "Rose is in her room in the keep in the first layer. I've already told the guards stationed there to let you in."

"T-Thanks," Vanessa fumbled over her words. She hadn't expected to get some preferential treatment, though she would certainly accept it.

"Well then, I'm quite busy. Again, contact the soldiers if you have any major concerns," saying that, Daz left and returned to the first layer of Fort Skip.

He felt confident that Lyle and Sandy could handle everything else on their own. They had Rimmy with them, so, in fact, Daz would be more shocked if something somehow went wrong with the new residents simply because he was no longer present.

As he entered his audience hall, Crosius happily greeted him and lavished him with praise, as per usual. Daz only replied out of courtesy before he ignored the elderly advisor and pulled up Fort Skip's information.

[Fort Skip] B-Rank Average Base [Up from C-rank Small Base!] Base Name: Fort Skip Base Owner: Daz Base Type: Castle Base Size: Average Base Stats Health: 500,000/500,000 [+380,000] Offence: 20,000(32,000) [+5,000] Security: 15,000(25,500) [+10,000] Defense: 15,000(30,000) [+10,000] Citizens: 743 [+640] Base Facilities Facility Number Owned Description Bonus Tiny Base Walls and Portcullis 1 A circular wall made from stone that surrounds the base and an iron portcullis. 20% increase in Defense for the base. Small Base Walls and Portcullis 1 A circular wall made from limestone that surrounds the base and a steel portcullis. 30% increase in Defense for the base. [New!] Average Walls of Retylon 1 A circular wall made from magically-infused and heavily-enchanted stone that surrounds the base and 3 adamantine portcullises. 50% increase in Defense for the base. Training Ground 1 A simple training ground. 10% boost to skill growth for citizens (only applied when the citizens are standing in the training ground). [New!] Below-Average Keep 1 A large keep designed to act as the home and operation centre of a very prestigious high lord. 15% boost to the base owner's perceived regality (only applied when the base owner is inside of the keep). Small Living Space 23 [+18] A comfortable living space designed to house a dozen citizens. 15% boost to stress relief for citizens (only applied when the citizens are the owners of the living space and are inside of it). [New!] Below-Average Living Space 37 A very comfortable living space designed to house a family of citizens. 30% boost to stress relief for citizens (only applied when the citizens are the owners of the living space and are inside of it). [Upgraded!] Below-Average Base Automated Magic-Clad Adamantium Ballista Tower 2 A complex and extremely powerful weapon designed to defend a set location. 30% [+15%] increase in Offense for the base. Small Base Shop 1 A shop designed by the system to allow a cheaper way to get entertainment and basic living supplies. N/A Small Base Mine 1 A mine that allows citizens to work and gather precious metals and gems for the base. 15% increase in productivity for citizens. [New!] Below-Average Restaurant 1 An establishment that provides top-quality food to the citizens of the base. 30% increase in fatigue removal for citizens (only applied after eating a meal from the restaurant). [New!] Below-Average Workshop 1 A professional builder's workshop. 30% increase in building speed (only applied when building inside the workshop). [New!] Below-Average Clinic 1 A professional clinic built to provide anything from first aid treatment to serious surgery. 30% increase in natural healing for citizens (only applied when inside of the clinic). [Upgraded!] Below-Average Lightning Defensive Tower and Base Shield Generator 1 A magical tower that serves as a manual or automated defensive system. 30% [+15] increase in Offense for the base. [Upgraded!] Average Barracks 1 A training and resting ground for Fort Skip's soldiers as well as a place for Fort Skip's citizens to learn some basic combat and survival skills. 50% [+30] increase in Security for the base. [New!] Little Castle Dungeon 1 A dungeon designed to weather the test of time and protect the citizens of the base's lord in trying times. 20% increase in Security for the base. Little Smithy 1 A workplace for forging and modifying tools and weapons. 15% increase in productivity for citizens. [New!] Below-Average Castle Private School 1 A sophisticated place of learning for citizens of all ages. 30% increase in learning speed for citizens (only applies when inside of the school).

"This base sheet is a hell of an eyesore..." Daz rubbed his brow thoughtfully. "So, first of all, adamantium and adamantine are two different types of metals? Second of all, Sandy's building got registered on Fort Skip's status all of a sudden? True, I haven't checked this thing in over a week, but why the abrupt change?"

"Ah, Your Grace, I can easily answer those two questions for you," Crosius happily said as he jumped at the chance to be useful to his lord.