73: Return and surprise

The light gate swirled, and space shifted.

When the feeling of solid ground came, Su Jin took a deep breath.

Mm, familiar recipe, familiar taste.

Blue Star Alliance, Mingde City.

As the hub for Lord resources in Guangnan Province, a magnificent, futuristic building—the Lord's Hall—stands in the heart of this city.

Su Jin stood before the teleportation gate, looking up. The main body of the hall before him was made of silver-white alloy, with sleek lines full of a sense of power. Countless intricate runes were engraved on its surface, glowing faintly under the sunlight.

Entering the hall, the interior was astonishingly vast. The dome soared a hundred meters high, and countless light screens floated in the air, continuously displaying various information, from battle reports from the World Sea front to the latest resource transaction prices, and even some public Lord bounty missions, a dazzling array.

The ground was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the figures of people coming and going.

Most of them walked briskly, carrying more or less the unique aura of professionals, and many also wore badges representing various territories.

Su Jin's appearance was like a small stone dropped into the ocean, not causing a single ripple.

After all, Lords arrived here daily through various means.

He walked to a self-service terminal on one side of the hall and, following the procedure he remembered, projected his consciousness into the identity recognition area.

"Beep! Identity confirming..."

"Name: Su Jin."

"Profession: Lord."

"Territory: Infinite City."

"Territory Level: Level 4."

"Permission authentication passed. Welcome back, Lord Su Jin."

A soft electronic voice sounded.

Almost simultaneously, on a light screen in front of a staff member responsible for information registration in a corner of the hall, a piece of information was highlighted in red.

"Hmm? Level 4 territory returning? So fast?" The staff member was momentarily stunned, then quickly began to operate, reporting the information.

A Level 4 territory meant that the Lord had successfully passed the most dangerous initial trial period and possessed the basic qualification to travel freely to and from the Blue Star Alliance.

This was an important milestone for any Lord.

But the key was... time.

How long had it been since Su Jin and his batch of new Lords entered the initial world?

Less than five minutes later, a young woman in a light grey uniform with a capable demeanor quickly approached Su Jin, bowing slightly: "Lord Su Jin, hello. Specialist Wan Yun is waiting for you, please follow me."

Su Jin was slightly surprised.

Wan Yun? The Education Department specialist who was responsible for guiding him and Wang Jie at the school back then?

He nodded and followed the guide through the crowd, heading towards a special passage on the side of the hall.

Upon entering the passage, the outside noise was instantly cut off.

Underfoot was a soft carpet, and on the walls hung paintings depicting the development history of the Blue Star Alliance.

Soon, they arrived at the door of a reception room.

The guide gently knocked on the door, and after receiving permission, pushed it open: "Specialist Wan, Lord Su Jin has arrived."

The room was simply and elegantly furnished.

Wan Yun was sitting on the sofa, holding a cup of steaming clear tea.

Seeing Su Jin enter, she immediately stood up, a familiar gentle smile on her face, but in the depths of her eyes, there was an undisguised astonishment.

"Student Su Jin, we meet again." Wan Yun extended her hand proactively, "Please sit."

Su Jin shook her hand, feeling a warm and firm touch.

He sat on the sofa opposite Wan Yun, while the guide quietly retreated and closed the door.

"It seems Specialist Wan is a bit surprised by my return," Su Jin picked up the tea in front of him and took a small sip.

"Surprised, of course, surprised." Wan Yun put down her teacup, leaning slightly forward, her tone carrying a hint of emotion, "To be honest, Student Su Jin, your speed... can no longer be described as 'fast'; it's simply... incredible."

She looked at Su Jin, as if trying to discern something from his face: "We have a specialized system to track the territory development progress of every new Lord. Although information in the initial world is isolated, the moment a territory promotes to Level 4 and returns to the Blue Star Alliance, the information is synchronized to the Alliance database."

"Infinite City, Level 4 territory." Wan Yun's finger tapped the air, as if confirming this information, "Do you know what this means?"

Su Jin looked at her, signaling her to continue.

"For every batch of awakened Lords, we pay close attention. According to the Blue Star Alliance's data statistics over hundreds of years, the average time it takes for a new Lord to raise their territory to Level 4 is... five years!"

"The biggest dilemma most Lords face in the initial world is the bottleneck in troop strength."

"The rules of the initial world prevent Lords from directly bringing in troops exceeding [Bronze - Upper Tier] (Level 6)."

"Therefore, they must rely on limited Bronze-tier forces, carefully explore, accumulate resources, and seek opportunities, such as subduing powerful figures in indigenous factions, or completing certain demanding missions to obtain rewards that break the limits, only then is it possible to obtain a few [Silver] tier units."

Wan Yun's tone became serious:

"Those with better luck might acquire a few Silver units within a few years, and then, relying on these high-end combat forces, gradually open up the situation and ultimately meet the conditions for Level 4 promotion."

"Those with worse luck, or those who choose to develop cautiously, spending ten or even more years without returning, are many. Not to mention those who... are forever lost in the initial world..."

Wan Yun sighed, then changed the subject, her gaze fixed on Su Jin: "And you, Student Su Jin, how long has it been from your awakening until now? Less than half a year, right?"

"What's even more shocking to us," Wan Yun's voice lowered a few notches, carrying an incredulous tone, "according to the information on this batch's Lord leaderboard... your Infinite City seems to possess... two Hero units?"

She paused, as if digesting this fact:

"Recruiting Heroes in the initial world? This in itself is an extremely low-probability event, requiring immense fortune. And you... actually have two? Although we cannot know their specific ranks and abilities, with two Heroes guarding, plus such an astonishing promotion speed..."

Wan Yun shook her head with a bitter smile: "Student Su Jin, you have broken all records for growth speed among new Lords in the Blue Star Alliance's recorded history, and by... leaving them far behind."

She picked up her teacup and took a sip, as if calming her emotions: "You, like this, make the work pressure on us specialists responsible for tracking new Lords' progress very high. When we first saw Infinite City's data, we all thought the system had made a mistake."

Su Jin smiled, not responding.

His experience was indeed difficult to explain by common sense. The existence of the Sublimation talent was his biggest trump card and the fundamental reason why Infinite City could develop so rapidly.

"Alright, let's not dwell on sentiments." Wan Yun became serious again, "As the first Lord in this batch of awakened Lords to successfully promote to a Level 4 territory and return to the Blue Star Alliance, according to the Blue Star Alliance's 'New Lord Support Regulations', you will receive a special reward."

The personal terminal on her wrist glowed faintly, and then, a virtual light screen was projected onto the coffee table between them. The light screen displayed images and information of several items.

[Blue Star Alliance Rising Star Lord Outstanding Achievement Award (Exclusive to Batch First)]

Reward Content:

1. [Soul Coins] * 5,000,000

2. [Hall of Valor (Silver Tier)] * 1

3. [Designated Troop Recruitment Scroll (Silver Tier)] * 100

4. [World Origin Shard (Small)] * 5

5. [Alliance Contribution Points] * 10000

6. [Blue Star Alliance Level 3 Authority (Temporary)]: Valid for one year. With this authority, you can access Level 3 and below non-top-secret information in the Alliance database, enter some Alliance exclusive areas not open to the public, and enjoy priority purchase rights for specific resources.