Su Li and a few ministers galloped briskly and quickly returned to the castle located on the hilly highlands in the northern part of the territory.

At this moment, outside the castle gate, there were more than a dozen tall ogres lounging lazily against the gate and walls. They were greedily devouring the smoked meat and grilled fish given to them by the territory, the sounds of their gulping forming a continuous symphony. The ground was littered with fish heads and animal bones thrown by them.

Beside the castle gate, there were also two empty bamboo baskets, indicating they were really famished. A squad of knights, with their armor gleaming and horses tall and mighty, galloped over—yet the ogres remained unaffected, still gobbling food, casting only a foolish glance at Su Li and the others before losing interest.

This made Su Li much less wary of them. It was apparent these ogres had long been accustomed to living in human society, familiar with knights to the point of indifference, having lost the vigilance and inherent ferocity of the marauders from the Edge Mountain Range.

Su Li then handed the warhorse to his knight's squire, Harry, and hurriedly walked into the castle.

But just as he left the stables, a huge mass suddenly leaped onto him, making his breath heavy and almost bending him at the waist.

"Oh my, my dear, you're a big boy now; you can't jump on me like you did when you were little." With a muffled groan from Su Li, a massive griffin reluctantly leapt off him.

Indeed, the creature that pounced on Su Li was none other than the formidable raptor he raised himself, the tiger-striped griffin, Death's Claw.

Anyone who saw this massive creature would find it hard to believe it was merely a two-month-old griffin.

It was truly colossal; even the mightiest male lion in the pride couldn't match its size. Only Su Li's ever-improving strength allowed him to lift it. Otherwise, an ordinary person would be sent flying by a single leap from it.

Trailing behind was a little lion mastiff beast, waddling after it. This fierce beast was an offering from a slave to Su Li.

Taming a lion mastiff beast is a challenge many nobles of the empire cannot resist; it's the epitome of the ideal hunting hound. To successfully train a lion mastiff beast, one must capture and tame it while it's young or subdue it by force.

However, considering the fierce territorial instinct of many lion mastiff beasts, obtaining a young one is indeed a perilous task. Occasionally, a Knight of Chivalry is tasked with capturing such a beast to prove their mettle.

More commonly, nobles would find suitable "volunteers" from the peasantry, promising a handsome reward to any survivor who returns with a healthy, young lion mastiff beast, though few achieve this prize.

In the Hesse Territory, knights and slaves, guided by Su Li's intelligence, found the lion mastiff beast cub on the outskirts of the territory. Its mother had died defending the territory, becoming the blood meal of a horned beast group, and without intervention, the cub would have starved or fallen prey to kobolds or goblins within days.

Yet, the knights from Hesse and the slaves found it, and thus it became Su Li's battle pet.

Su Li also realized his dream of having a yellow horse on the left and a blue-green dragon on the right. Next, it would be time for silk hats of mink fur and a thousand riders sweeping across the plains.

However, the relationship between these battle pets was not harmonious, mainly because Death's Claw didn't quite fancy the little bitch named Jin Ya.

Though Jin Ya constantly waddled after it, Death's Claw would impatiently paw her aside and sometimes growl and roar at her in annoyance.

Jin Ya would shrink back, curling up pitifully, refusing to leave. As soon as Death's Claw turned away, she would waddle after it again, trailing behind Death's Claw.

This showed the griffin was very young and completely uninterested in the opposite gender.

Sometimes Su Li would mediate their disputes, but most of the time, he let them sort it out themselves, given he had casually named Jin Ya.

This little bitch was previously called Gold Tooth, in line with names like Laifu and Wangcai.

But Hilude staunchly opposed, insisting that the lion mastiff beast would be a crucial companion in Su Li's future conquests, and the name should not be frivolous, thus changing it to Jin Ya.

Hilude's foresight was indeed commendable; the simultaneous presence of the Golden Lion Mastiff Beast and the tiger-striped griffin instantly added an air of nobility to Su Li.

When the two battle pets bounded around Su Li into the castle hall, the half-elves and ogres inside gasped in astonishment, rising from their seats in surprise.

Such rare ferocious magical beasts were symbols of status among the great nobility. Even a duke might not possess a noble griffin, yet here was the lord of this territory, owning both a hunting hound and a war eagle.

Words were unnecessary; they instantly grasped the might of this territory and the lord's majestic splendor.

Some half-elves were so shocked they couldn't help but rub their eyes vigorously: "Oh my, Hyacinth god above, what am I seeing? A noble tiger-striped griffin!"

"Indeed, it's truly a noble tiger-striped griffin! The last time I saw one was in Miland, visiting the castle of the mighty White Wolf Duke, where I glimpsed one from afar."

"Stop bragging about your so-called past glories which we've all grown tired of hearing. We all know you only got a chance to deliver goods to the castle once, and even then, you just took a lap around the servants' area."

"The White Wolf Duke is so brutal, I've heard he aggressively kills every commoner who dares to secretly peek at his noble griffin. You've merely heard this legend; you probably haven't even seen a single feather of a griffin."

Su Li raised an eyebrow, leaned back into his seat, propped his chin with his right hand, and calmly asked, "Should I wait until you finish arguing before I speak?"

The not-so-loud voice sent a chill down everyone's spine in the room, and they instantly fell silent, looking up at Su Li with a sense of awe.

This young man, though sitting there lazily, was obviously gazing down upon them all in a condescending manner.

This is the noble aura born of power, a demeanor of a strong person who holds the power of life and death in their hands.

All the Half-Elves in the room clearly felt what it meant to command authority without anger from this young man.

The leader of the Balantangborne Clan, Hartskline, hurriedly put down his smoking pipe, bowed respectfully towards Su Li, and said, "Noble Lord, please forgive my countryside kin. They have lived outside the city for years and lack any sense of etiquette. But their respect and admiration for you are genuine, otherwise, they would not have traveled miles to come to the territory with me."

"Yes, we heard about your generosity and strength, my lord, and wish to join your territory," a stout Half-Elf with a round belly rudely chimed in.

Hartskline's face changed, and he scolded, "Krupp, I specifically stressed to you not to bring your countrified rudeness into the noble's castle. When the nobles haven't given you permission to speak, don't blurt out! You promised me."

The middle-aged Half-Elf named Krupp grumbled discontentedly, "Half-Elves are used to intimate communication, speak your mind. I hate these red tape rituals!"

Su Li propped his chin while looking down at him, saying nonchalantly, "This is a castle, not your Half-Elf territory. Your rude behavior is your own business, but as the master here, there's no need for me to condescend to tolerate your bad habits."

"Remember, this is your last chance for everyone. If you're rude and impudent again, my knights will cut off the offender's head without hesitation."

"Understood?"

"Understood, understood."

"Oh, really a powerful lord, very imposing."

"Right, right, just as strong as the legends say, this territory is indeed worth joining."

Listening to the habitual chatter of the Half-Elves, Hartskline hurriedly redirected the conversation back to the main topic, saying to Su Li, "Respected Lord, as you can see, we brought back four Half-Elf families this time. They heard of your deeds and all requested to join the mighty Hesse Territory."

Su Li immediately understood and asked, "So you returned so quickly, and brought so many ogres because you encountered relatives from other families?"

Hartskline nodded, then suddenly shook his head?

This puzzled Su Li; what did that response mean?

Hartskline quickly explained, "We did contact our relatives immediately, the courageous Brandsnap Clan. They heard that you're willing to offer us a Half-Elf Autonomous Region, and within one night, a family consensus was reached to relocate to your territory."

"They are very strong warriors, in addition to possessing unique archer units exclusive to Half-Elves, they also have excellent field guardians. These outstanding infantry can patrol the borders of the Half-Elf Autonomous Region, fend off various threats, and unwelcomed outsiders. They will quickly familiarize themselves with the terrain here and use its advantages to seriously injure the enemy."

This is a good thing, but Su Li still not quite understood what the shake of the head meant.

Hartskline hurriedly continued to explain, "But my cousin, the clan leader of the Brandsnap Clan, Hemis Black Beer Heart, is also a member of the Comrade Friendship Club."

"He shared the news with the Marle Castle branch of the club, which immediately attracted the interest of several club families, who clamored to come to the territory too."

Su Li looked at the stout Half-Elf with a round belly earlier and asked, "Is it this Sir Krupp?"

"Exactly." Seeing Su Li look at him, Krupp immediately puffed out his chest with pride and said, "Our Comrade Friendship Club is an elite club; to join, you must be unbelievably brave, unbelievably wealthy, unbelievably foolish. It's best to have all three. Current club members are wanderers looking for a place to settle."

"Our club not only has ogre guards, but also many powerful units, such as Swan Riders, Goat Riders, Combat Ram War Chariots, Tree-man companions, and Harvester war machines. And most importantly, the most popular unit - the feeding cart!"

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