Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Laini moved the crystal up and said in a human-like way, “Energy Crystal? Good! That’s what the City of Light needed for building the barrier. Tyrese, you got to know that those old codgers were anxious. LOL.” Its voice vibrated through the Holy Light, which was why people could only hear it but could not find its source.

Tyrese responded respectfully, “Lord Laini, you are the almighty in the Holy Church. Your power is beyond the Parliament. I would like you to consider this young man here to be the City of Light Leader.”

“City Leader? That’s the lad you mentioned before? Not bad…”

“Human from alternate realms, if you did not manage to get the Dark Spring from the Dark Shrine, I might not be able to have this physical body. I owe you this one.”

After a pause, Laini spoke again. “Fu Sheng from the alternate realms! You have contributed greatly to the City of Light and the Holy Church. From now onwards, you are the City Leader of the City of Light! The Holy Church will support you in whatever way you need!”

Lin Jie was stunned after hearing this.

‘That’s… all!?’

It was not easy to become the City Leader. Baili Xuanyuan had taken great efforts to get people’s favoritism and spent tons of money trying to get it.

Even if he managed to snatch the city, he would need to settle many administrative matters too. Such as completing quests from various nobles to increase their favorability. He also needed to give the locals money and recruit strong NPCs to make the city strong.

The first month of the City Leader was just a probation period. If more than 50% of the NPCs were not satisfied with the performance, the leader would be voted out and start all over again…

Lin Jie had gone through a lot to be the City Leader in his previous life.

Now, with Laini’s approval, he had become the City Leader in an instant!

For alternate realms humans to be the City Leader, NPCs would be the greatest challenge. The position was sought by both the Holy Church and the Empire. When a human got this position, it would be a miracle that none of those powers tried to pull them down!

The original plan for Lin Jie was just to make the two parties fight among themselves and stick with either side to overthrow the other one. After all, NPCs were not very intellectual.

As he was appointed to be the City Leader by Laini, the Holy Church would follow Lin Jie’s instructions and help him to maintain the city. As for the Empire side, they currently did not dare to go against the Holy Church, so they did not pose any threat.

Lin Jie could not believe it was happening so fast!

Ding~

—’System announcement: Congratulations to the City of Light’s Viscount “Codename Lone Wolf” to becoming the City Leader of the City of Light! As the first player to becoming the City Leader, all buildings in the City of Light are increased by 1 level. All guards in the City of Light are increased by 10. Elite soldiers are now available. All City of Light players will be blessed with a 15% increase in EXP gain for the next 2 days!’

—’System announcement: City Leader “Codename Lone Wolf” contributed the Energy Crystal. The City of Light gained an Energy Barrier: 500,000 points. The Holy Church’s support level to the City Leader went up to 70%! The guards and Paladins are on patrol. The city is stable.’

—’System announcement: The City of Light is at guarding state. Mission Enemy Annihilation from Tyrese of the Holy Church is now ongoing. All participants will be rewarded generously!’

System announcements spammed the screen, and the City Leader was Lin Jie now! Lin Jie had killed the Dark Shrine’s leader and used all kinds of tricks to finally get the position he wanted!

The first thing Lin Jie did was to promote the members of Savage Blade! They would be drawing official salaries now!

Zheng Ziliang was the official for real estate, he controlled the sales of the land and could thus earn a fair sum from it. Bu Yi was the official for diplomatic issues. She would be in charge of meeting the members from the Holy Church. The others in Savage Blade held important roles too.

Lin Jie had fought so hard for this position, of course, he needed to gain something from it.

He learned a few new skills too. Power of City Leader, City’s Son, Light’s Vow.

Power of City Leader: All spendings in the city is reduced by 30%. Stats doubled in the city. When under physical or verbal assault, you have the right to jail the offender. Highest authority in the city.

City’s Son: Teleport to any place in the city within sight. Cooldown 30 minutes.

Light’s Vow: Summon 100 City of Light guards. It only works in the City of Light.

The City Leader’s skills were merely to increase the defense power of the city. Not so much use for fighting outside of the city. Lin Jie also received the City Leader Token! Lin Jie had used this before, and it could control and boost the NPCs’ stats. Lin Jie was not sure what to do with this hot potato.

The City Leader Token would definitely drop upon death. It would even be possible to be stolen away by Bandits. It would be good to carry around, but very dangerous.

Lin Jie thought about it and looked at Tyrese. “Commander, I have to travel around, and the City Leader Token isn’t convenient for me to carry around. Why don’t you keep it safe for me? If needed, you are authorized to use it as well. It’s my form of respect and trust to the Holy Church.”

“Good, our Holy Church is right about you.” Tyrese was secretly glad. With the token, she could control most of the NPCs and soldiers. It was as though she was half of a City Leader herself.

The only way to get the City Leader Token now was to kill Tyrese. Without the token, no one could start a rebellion. It would be very difficult to kill Tyrese, especially with Carsey around! The token was in good hands!

“Let’s go to the City Leader’s Mansion. We have other things to deal with.” Lin Jie felt very stressed with his job scope now. He needed to build rapport with the NPCs, consider city development, tax adjustment, policymaking… It was not the first time Lin Jie was doing this.

“Erm… the raid is still ongoing.” Baili Changcheng reminded him.

“Leave that to the NPCs and the other players. If you guys want to loot some money, y’all can go ahead too. With the energy barrier, they can no longer pose any threat to us. They are only here to give us their drops.” Lin Jie laughed.

In the end, Bu Yi, Qiu Yuan, Netherblue, and Dejected Night followed Lin Jie to the City Leader’s Mansion.

…

In the sky above the City of Light, a thick energy barrier appeared. The barrier could block attacks lower than 100,000, which was literally invincible for the monsters right now! Not only that, but it also provided the players with buffs and debuffs for the monsters.

The monsters surrounding the City of Light were cursed by the barrier, and their stats were dropped by more than 30%. Even average players could kill them easily.

With the energy barrier’s suppression, the monsters were very weak. Players from the City of Light seized the opportunity and farmed the monsters to their heart’s content. Most of these players quit the Xuanyuan Alliance.

Baili Xuanyuan used to be very rich and powerful. If he got the City Leader, their members would have a good life. But now, the City Leader was Lone Wolf, it was not the best idea to mess around with him.

Lin Jie’s name was very well-known now…

Baili Xuanyuan was at his peak when he had learned the Red Lotus Knight skill. But now, he was in trouble again. He had invested a huge sum and gotten little in return. The only achievement was that the Three Alliances were getting stronger.

However, they were not strong enough and contributed to high expenditure.

“Boss… the higher-ups want a financial report on the VR game now and the future plans.” His assistant whispered to him.

“I’m on my way now. In the meantime, help me contact this guy…” Baili Xuanyuan went offline and headed for the meeting.

The City of Light was filled with casual adventurers and players from Ironwall Empire, Steel Allies, Supreme Tribe, and Brotherhood. With the barrier in place, the monsters’ attack power was weakened. Tyrese led the NPC army and fought bravely. With the newly appointed City Leader, the monsters dared not advance further and started to retreat too.

Finally, the City of Light stabilized after the old City Leader was dead.

After the attack, there was another system announcement.

—’System announcement: Congratulations to the City of Light on defending against the attack wave. All players are rewarded with 1,000 Reputation and the title Guardian (HP 50). The City of Light will be closed for upgrading temporarily. It will open again in 24 hours. All players, please move to the other maps.’

—’System announcement: The City of Light will start upgrading in 10 minutes. All players, please move to the other maps.’

Lin Jie saw the message and smiled. “After the upgrade, all building levels will increase by 1, and weapon shops will start to sell Silver items. In Potions Shops, the chance of selling high-grade potions will increase too. This place will be more crowded.”

Bu Yi smiled and asked, “Then what are we doing for the next 24 hours?”

“Let’s rest up. Baili sent me a message just now, we will have a party in the meantime.” Lin Jie smiled back.