"Main Quest…!"
Justin wasn’t the only one surprised.
The officers also lifted their heads in astonishment.
They had expected another quest to come eventually, but for it to begin this quickly was unexpected.
As everyone was left speechless, the messages continued to unfold.
"Ding! The transfer of second-wave immigrants will begin in three days."
"Ding! Unlike the first wave, the second-wave immigrants will be summoned directly to existing territories."
"Ding! If a leader exists in the territory, the immigrants will automatically become their subjects."
"Ding! The number of immigrants summoned will depend on the current population of the territory."
"Ding! Further details can be checked through the status window."
The message, as always, emotionlessly concluded and disappeared from their ears.
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Justin and the officers exchanged glances before simultaneously opening their status windows.
〈Second Great Migration〉
-Category: Main Quest
-Details: Even if you have a castle and land, without people to fill it, it’s just a sandcastle. Fill your land with the newly arrived immigrants. They will be your people from the start, so it won’t be difficult. However, even immigrants have the freedom to rebel.
-Reward: 1,000 subjects per territory and additional land.
"One thousand!?"
Derek exclaimed in shock upon seeing the number of new subjects.
The others didn’t shout, but their faces showed similar astonishment.
It was understandable since this was on a completely different scale than before.
’If I add up all the small territories, there are about 30… That’s a minimum of 30,000 new subjects.’
While it didn’t seem like much at first, considering that the total population across all territories didn’t even reach 4,000, it was an enormous number.
Now that the locations of the other large territories had been revealed, the significance was even greater.
Conquering just three major territories would mean the total population would approach 100,000.
And this wasn’t even the last migration—this was only the second, with 30,000 new people coming in.
’...At this rate, becoming an actual country might happen sooner than expected.’
As a smile began to form on Justin’s face, the other officers, who had finally collected themselves, started shouting.
"What do you mean 1,000? Were the small territories always that big? I don’t think they could even hold 500 people."
"Look at the quest carefully. It says the number will increase. It probably means the territories will expand to accommodate them."
"Plus, it doesn’t seem like we’ll need to go out and find them this time. As long as we own the territory, the subjects will come automatically."
"But what’s this about the freedom to rebel? Could subjects even rebel against a leader? Isn’t that something only pioneers can do?"
Despite the grand scale of the quest, the lack of detailed information led to much speculation.
Justin listened to their conversation for a while before speaking calmly.
"Let’s relax. There’s nothing we can do right now, anyway."
"Huh? Shouldn’t we be preparing for this?"
"Preparing for what?"
"We need to send pioneers to the empty territories, bring them to Washington, and explain everything so they don’t get confused..."
Justin chuckled at Zachary’s explanation.
It seemed they were working under a wrong assumption.
"Do you really think they’ll come quietly just because we tell them to? I don’t think so."
"And what if they don’t? They’re not pioneers, they’re subjects."
"Do you remember the first migration? Have you already forgotten what happened back then?"
"..."
At the mention of the first Great Migration, all the officers fell silent.
How could they forget?
The ones who became slaves back then were now happily plowing the fields.
"It doesn’t matter if they have power or not. What matters is whether they know that we hold the power. If they don’t know that, the same thing will just keep happening."
"Then we just need to show them, right?"
"Right. But the quest’s wording bothers me a bit."
Even immigrants have the freedom to rebel.
It was a phrase that seemed to anticipate rebellion.
If rebellion were impossible, there would be no need for such a phrase.
At the very least, it implied that immigrants could rebel against the system.
"Rebel if they want? Well, then, let them."
"That’s not the point. Rachel mentioned earlier that subjects can’t rebel. But if they can rebel, what does that mean to you?"
"Could it be…?"
The officers’ eyes widened as they finally understood Justin’s point.
In the system, rebellion that removes a territory’s leader is carried out through an NPC like Nox.
The system must clearly recognize that the territory is being conquered by an outsider, not someone from within.
Naturally, since subjects can’t become leaders, rebellion is inherently impossible for them.
But if the quest specifically mentions the freedom to rebel, there could only be one answer.
"This time, pioneers will be coming with the immigrants. We don’t know what level they’ll be, though."
"...!"
The conclusion of the day’s meeting was to ’wait and see.’
If pioneers were mixed among the new immigrants, the situation could change drastically.
When nothing was certain, sometimes the best course of action was to wait until something became clear.
There was no reason to rush and potentially lose out on opportunities.
"Well, even if they are pioneers, none will be as strong as us."
"That’s for sure. The system obviously favors us." Discover more stories at Freewebnovel
Derek nodded in agreement to Justin’s words.
By "us," they didn’t mean the Black Dragon, but the pioneers of this world as a whole.
"Both the first and second migrations seem to have been set up to support us. There’s no way the system would grow the remaining ones on Earth just to give them the chance to overthrow us, right?"
"Exactly."
The system, although emotionless, had shown favoritism in subtle ways.
The most obvious example was the way NPCs viewed subjects or how the leader system worked.
Would the system really favor the immigrants who had defied its instructions over the pioneers who had followed them?
’Of course not. From the system’s perspective, those immigrants are probably more despicable than the subjects.’
While the subjects had at least obeyed orders, the immigrants had outright ignored them.
There was no way the system would prioritize them over pioneers who had diligently progressed according to its goals.
In other words, even if there were pioneers mixed into the second migration, it was likely a move made with the current pioneers in mind.
"The most likely theory is that the system is doing this to provide us with more pioneers. If the population grows too much with just subjects, there won’t be anyone useful to lead."
"Then why don’t we skip the observation and just show our power and conquer them right away?"
"It’s just a theory for now. Things could be different once we take a closer look. Even if the theory is correct, we should observe for a while."
"Why?"
"We need to weed out the ones who will cause trouble."
Even if they displayed their power to the new immigrants, some might still harbor rebellious thoughts.
The decision to wait and observe was partly to identify and weed out those problematic elements.
It would be a headache if anyone with even a little bit of power started plotting something.
Better to handle it early, rather than allow a bloodbath after letting them into their territory.
"Anyway, it’s about time now...."
"Ding! Three days have passed since the Main Quest began."
"Ding! The migration of Earthlings will now commence."
"Ding! Territories will expand to accommodate the additional population."
"Ding! All transfers of immigrants have been completed."
"Ding! The immigrants have been integrated as subjects of their respective territories."
"Ding! Special quests have been triggered for the immigrants."
Whoosh.
As soon as the message finished, a series of system messages sounded.
At the same time, a pillar of light shot into the sky from the tower of the Black Dragon Castle.
The sudden appearance of the light made the officers flinch in surprise.
"Lord, that light...!"
"I see it. No new quest updates, right?"
"None!"
"Then that must be the marker for the special quest."
Justin examined the pillar of light carefully.
It was much thinner than the ones they had seen during previous expeditions, but otherwise, it was similar.
At the very least, it was large enough to be seen from the surrounding small territories.
Up until now, these pillars of light had always served as markers pointing to a destination.
This one was likely a guide for the new immigrants.
’It’s telling them to come and report to the leader of their territory.’
A smile crept onto Justin’s face as he recognized the system’s bias in their favor.
Of course, whether the immigrants would follow the system’s guidance was up to them.
Ethan, looking a bit anxious, approached Justin.
"Lord, what are your plans? If you want to take a look around..."
"I’m not going. I said we’d observe."
"But..."
"Don’t be too impatient. We’ve already conquered everything around here. There’s no one to compete with for these immigrants."
The coalition that had been incinerated by Fafnir had been long finished.
All the pioneers and subjects who surrendered were brought to Washington and absorbed.
Naturally, the other territories besides Washington were completely empty at the moment.
There were no enemies left to interact with the immigrants and scheme.
"They’ve been thrown into a situation without options. They’ll figure things out on their own. Let’s just relax and observe the situation. Some of them will surely come to pay their respects."
"Yes, my apologies."
Ethan finally calmed down and stepped back.
Justin understood his eagerness.
Truthfully, even he felt a bit of excitement.
There was a vast difference between ruling over 3,000 subjects and ruling over 30,000.
This quest presented an opportunity for Justin to make that leap.
As someone who dreamed of becoming a king, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t excited.
’Come, let’s see who will come to submit themselves to me.’
With 30 different factions, surely some of them had honed their skills in navigating political struggles back on Earth.
At least one or two of them would surely kneel to him, recognizing his strength.
Time passed. The sun set, dusk turned to night, and the stars filled the sky.
But until then, no one came to knock on the castle gates.
Only the silent pillar of light continued to rise as a beacon in the dark.
"..."
"..."
The officers glanced awkwardly at Justin.
They had been quietly hopeful, only to now be visibly disappointed.
Justin let out a deep sigh and pressed his fingers to his forehead.
"Damn it, I was wrong to expect anything."
"My lord."
"Forget it. Let’s go inside and hear what Nox has to say."
"You mean the news..."
"I’m talking about news of rebellion. Let’s see which territories have raised the flag of revolt."
The system didn’t automatically report which territories had rebelled.
The leader wouldn’t know about any rebellion unless they asked Nox directly.
On the flip side, the rebels also wouldn’t know whether their leader was dead or if the territory had been overtaken.
"Most of them have likely rebelled, but there’s always a chance. Maybe there’s at least one who had a reason they couldn’t come despite intending to pledge loyalty...."
"That... that could be the case."
"They’re probably just confused after the migration."
"Of course. No way they all decided to revolt."
The officers eagerly echoed Justin’s words, trying to stay on his good side.
When they reached the inner part of the castle and asked Nox, he gave them his usual gentle smile as he answered.
"Well, after checking, I can confirm that all 30 territories have indeed rebelled. Not a single one remains loyal."
"..."