Lord: Sequence Master

Rosen first eliminated the idea of using clones or modified humans for his domain. He was neither a wizard nor a doctor, and obtaining such individuals from external sources came with risks. It was difficult to determine whether they carried hidden dangers, and on top of that, these artificial beings couldn't transition into supernatural sequences, which limited their usefulness to performing menial tasks within his divine domain.

Creating humanoid spirit beasts was an option he considered. With his abilities, Rosen could easily create tireless, obedient workers. However, these creatures were only good for developing ordinary lands and wouldn't be of much use in expanding a divine domain.

What Rosen truly wanted were human subjects who could transition into supernatural sequences. While the World Government promoted the nine major sequences, there were actually far more than just nine available for humans. These nine were only the most balanced in terms of their low entry barriers and high potential, and were recognized by the government.

In reality, there were at least thousands of other supernatural sequences, most of which had lower ceilings. Among these, the sequences most favored by divine domain rulers were ones like farmer, craftsman, fisherman, and miner, which specialized in territorial development.

These sequences could only reach Sequence 4 at their peak, with the lowest remaining at Sequence 7, and it could take decades to ascend by just one sequence level. People who opted into these support sequences were exactly the kind of subjects that divine domain rulers welcomed.

However, most people would never choose such sequences. Why bother when they could aim for the much stronger nine major sequences? Typically, only those who were meticulously bred and nurtured by noble families over long periods would transition into these support sequences.

For Rosen to acquire such subjects, he would have to cultivate them from scratch. First, he would need to find hardworking, loyal individuals who were close to awakening their spiritual potential. Then, through means like virtual spirit realms, he could help stimulate their latent abilities and, after some refinement, select the few who successfully awakened.

While this process sounded simple on paper, it was incredibly challenging in practice.

Seeing no better alternative, Rosen decided to temporarily rely on humanoid spirit beasts to serve as stopgap workers for his domain.

While Rosen holed up in his hotel room, hard at work painting his creations, the Void Whales of the Blue Whale Kingdom prepared to set sail. The entire trade island was dismantled, leaving only a few people to keep watch over the abandoned land. Most of the merchant ships from nearby kingdoms had already departed, knowing the island would remain desolate for several more years until the Void Whales returned.

Rosen boarded a submarine bound for the Blue Whale Kingdom, entering through a hatch located on the whale's belly.

Though the Void Whales were only a few kilometers in length, the space inside their bellies stretched for tens of kilometers in every direction. It was an immense area, but with millions of inhabitants, it was still tight.

These millions of residents lived entirely off the resources produced within the limited internal space. So, when Rosen disembarked at Sea Dragon City, what greeted him were towering skyscrapers, packed shoulder to shoulder. Though this was just an ordinary city within the Blue Whale Kingdom, its skyscrapers would have ranked second in height within the Shadowfire Kingdom.

Back in Shadowfire, the threat of Ash Beasts raining from the skies meant that cities rarely constructed tall buildings, except for the capital, Shadowfire City, which was strong enough to withstand such attacks.

In contrast, Sea Dragon City's location within the Void Whale's belly made it impervious to Ash Beast assaults. With land at a premium, it was no wonder the city expanded vertically. Even farmland was cultivated in these towering buildings, maximizing land use.

Despite its apparent overcrowding and reliance on a wizard tower's artificial sun for light, Rosen found himself drawn to Sea Dragon City. It reminded him of the modern metropolises from his past life on Earth.

In the city's central district, most of the properties were owned by supernatural families.

Near the wizard tower, the residents were exclusively nobles, the only ones who could afford such prime real estate. Though property prices were steep, Rosen managed to purchase three entire floors of a high-rise, totaling over 2,000 square meters for a modest sum of 1,000 spirit crystals. However, the ownership wasn't permanent; the purchase only granted him a 50-year lease.

After securing his residence, Rosen went on to buy ten agricultural skyscrapers on the city's outskirts. These buildings would allow him to recruit ordinary people to work in agriculture—a legal way for nobles to gain subjects in the Blue Whale Kingdom.

He also hired a noble butler to manage his agricultural estates.

After spending nearly ten days getting everything in order, Rosen had finally settled into life in Sea Dragon City.

However, he soon came to regret his decision—not for moving to the Blue Whale Kingdom, but for thinking he could easily recruit subjects here.

The World Government's ban on slavery had significantly reduced the power of the nobility. Nobles could no longer acquire subjects through forced labor; they had to recruit freemen instead. The problem was, that freemen who were less skilled or less talented weren't of much use to Rosen, while those who were capable weren't interested in serving a minor hereditary noble like him. Talented freemen had the potential to serve higher-ranking nobles.

Had Rosen known this earlier, he might have tried recruiting from a less-developed city back in the Blazing Shadow uhy.

As things stood, it was too late to turn back. While recruiting people from spirit realms was an option, the process was expensive and complicated, requiring exorbitant amounts of spirit energy to bring even a single person into the real world. Recovering that kind of investment would be extremely difficult.

It was only now that Rosen fully understood why most nobles below the rank of count had abandoned their domains. Instead, they focused on building capital wealth.

Only divine domain lords at Sequence 6 or higher could successfully develop and manage a domain. These individuals had the wealth and power to attract capable subjects. If Rosen revealed the existence of his divine domain, he too could probably draw high-quality subjects.

However, after all this effort, Rosen had realized one thing: now wasn't the right time to expand his domain.

He needed to wait until he had more resources before launching a full-scale development project. For now, his goal was to lay the groundwork for future expansion.

With his priorities realigned, Rosen shifted his focus back to his supernatural sequences.

His progress as a painter had reached its peak, so the next step was to advance in the hunter sequence.

Rosen pulled out a guild card, which he had registered under his Lynn Wells identity as a hunter. The city's guild had fewer than 2,000 registered supernatural members, and the Sea Dragon City Guild was relatively small and underdeveloped.

Due to its size and the fact that Blue Whale Kingdom cities were spread across different Void Whales, travel between cities was inconvenient.

In response to this, the kingdom had invested heavily in modifying a spirit realm, creating a guild city within a specially constructed spirit realm.

This guild city was somewhat like a dream world. All registered supernatural members could project their spiritual essence into the city using their guild cards. Whether to train or trade, everything they gained in the guild city could be brought back to the real world.

Rosen infused his card with spiritual energy, and his consciousness was instantly pulled into the guild city within the spirit realm.

(End of Chapter)