CHAPTER 763: SECTOR LORD’S RESPONSIBILITIES

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Time passed by as Cedric’s work as a Sector Lord continued, and before he knew it, it had already been a decade since the tournament was concluded.

Things have flowed along smoothly in terms of the sector domain’s development. Cedric has already finished pruning his domain of all its unwanted and potentially cancerous locations. He also just finished all of his preliminary preparations for the domain.

Cedric didn’t lessen the number of suns existing in the domain. He figured that this is what makes the Rising Sun Domain unique, and maybe he could capitalize on it in the future, so he didn’t see the point. Besides, despite increasing the overall temperature of the domain, the amount of suns made it look prettier.

And don’t forget that Cedric wields the Great Law of Fire as his fingertips. Having these many sons will be useful in the future; he just knows it.

During this time, Cedric also made a point to know his current citizens so far.

Before he came here and sat in the position of the Sector Lord, there had been nomadic tribes living in this domain already. They had their own reasons for moving and settling in this realm. Cedric didn’t really see the point in chasing them away since he would need people for this domain in the future.

Only those who didn’t feel like submitting to his rule as the Sector Lord were expelled, and due to these people not really having too much to begin with, only a handful from these tribes packed up their things to leave. The rest stayed behind. Others were even grateful to be under his protection despite not knowing who he was.

Moving on...

General Skylark and his men, including Enzo and his men as well, had been working hard ever since. The state of Rising Sun Domain’s security was incomparable to what it was a decade ago.

It’s not yet up to the standard of what it should be, especially for a place this large. But it’s getting there.

Actually, this much progress was already considered incredibly fast. One must know that other newly appointed Sector Lords could only dream of it, especially ones who took the position in underdeveloped places, like the Rising Sun Domain.

The resources needed to build a decent defense system for an entire sector domain were astronomical. Many Sector Lords had to be bled for all they’re worth just to provide enough supplies for this. They even had to resort to squeezing their own citizens too to make this happen.

But Cedric was so filthy rich that this never became a problem. In fact, his men have so many resources that they’re practically swimming in them. Even Enzo and his men were overwhelmed by his generosity; they have more tools and resources than they know what to do with.

And this is with the excess being provided to the tribes who integrated themselves into the Sector Domain. These tribes are already feeding off the planet they’re in. And there’s usually only a single tribe in a given world, so there’s no competing.

So long as they abide by the laws and pay their annual tribute to him, the Sector Lord, they are free to develop as much as they can.

Yes, Cedric was already collecting tribute from them this early on. Why? It’s to get them used to it. He didn’t want them to think that they could freeload off of his territory forever. If they want to stay, they have to pay rent; everybody knows this, even small tribes like them.

This is also to exercise a habit for them, one that would be passed down to their descendants.

Even though he still had 99,990 years before he had to submit the domain’s tribute to the Human Council, it’s a good idea to have his people get used to this arrangement so that there won’t be complications later.

Of course, this was tribute, so naturally, it comes with expected services, like peacekeeping and protection. If they pay the appropriate amount of tributes, they can stay and be protected under Cedric’s wings.

If they failed to do so, then they have at least half a year’s worth of time to submit the appropriate amount of tribute. If they still can’t, then they will take their first offense.

Every tribe gets three mercies from Cedric, which could only be applied in tributes. This meant that each tribe could be spared from submitting the annual tribute by using one of the three mercies they’re given.

A tribe can redeem another mercy if they can stabilize and submit the correct amount of tribute on time annually for a decade.

Should they exhaust all three mercies they’re given, Cedric will have to send his men to interfere. Depending on the situation, they will either be strictly managed for the foreseeable future, expelled from the domain, or be wiped out should the situation call for it.

Cedric doesn’t want the situation to develop to the extreme, but he also won’t hesitate from doing so if they push his hand.

This type of governance is already considered rather tame and gentle. If tribes or people from other sector domains knew that this is how he ruled, they wouldn’t hesitate to pack their bags and move here.

Other sector lords aren’t as merciful as Cedric. Some didn’t ask tribute; they just exhorted their people directly. And because Sector Lords are generally strong, their people could only gnash their teeth and surrender to their might.

You might ask, what’s the Human Council’s stance on this? And the answer to that depends on how dire the situation was.

The Human Council can’t micro-manage Sector Lords; they have more important things to pay attention to most of the time, and they don’t have people to spare for this.

However, citizens of Sector Domains could potentially impeach their own Sector Lord if they’re really incompetent. Their unified voices can reach the Human Council, and if enough proof is collected, the decision will pass and the Sector Lord will be punished according to his sins.

No sector domain can be free from corruption. A few shady things here and there are normal; it’s just the way how things are, and the Human Council understands this too. But so long as the corruption doesn’t engulf the entire sector and remains under control, the council can and will probably tolerate it.

Overall, the development of the Rising Sun Domain was going in the right direction; with time, everything else will take place according to his vision.

The five cosmic realms included in this sector domain—Scarlet Heaven, Crimson Heaven, Yellow Heaven, Autumn Heaven, and finally, the Golden Heaven, as he named them—have been connected already.

And among these five cosmic realms, the Golden Heaven Cosmic Realm was at the core; it’s also where Cedric built his home here. And most importantly, it’s the cosmic realm that saw the most personal care from him during the past decade since this is where Cedric planned on transferring his people once they’re ready.

Cedric laid down the groundwork for his people even before they came here. He paved the way for them, quite literally.

He knows that the transition isn’t going to be easy. They’d be going from an incomplete world to the raw and extremely chaotic one. Cedric himself took a long time before adjusting to the Primitive Universe, and if he struggled that much, it could only be imagined what it’d be like for his people.

Cedric, of course, didn’t want them to spontaneously combust as soon as they came out of there, so he’s been preparing the new world to prevent this from happening.

The amount of work he’s doing shows just how much he loved his people despite their differences. Others won’t go to such lengths just to accommodate everybody. At most, they’d exert some effort for their own family or clan; the rest could figure out their own way of survival.

But Cedric was different. He didn’t discriminate. Whether it’s humans, Wise Dragons, Ancient Titans, Mystic Faes, Holy Spirits, Divine Celestials, or the Primal Beast Race, he made sure that all of them got a space in this world.

In Cedric’s eyes, all of them are the same; they just had different bloodlines. After all, the one who created them, Odin, grafted their existence based on human genes. He just failed on replicating the real essence of humans; that’s why the humans from his world fell behind and nearly went extinct.

He also doesn’t have to worry about what the natives of the Primitive Universe will say about him sheltering these creatures; these people won’t even see them as other creatures since they have a human aura that cannot be mistaken, as Cedric came to learn in his time here in the Primitive Universe.

At most, they’d raise an eyebrow and wonder what kind of bloodlines they have. Other than that, nothing. They’d just see them as everybody else.

In his office, Cedric relaxed in his seat. He looked out to the vast domain he now rules and thought to himself:

"This is the best it could get for now. As for the rest, I need more people."

He closed his eyes and whispered, "Alright, main body. It’s your turn now."

And just like that, Cedric’s main body opened his eyes for the first time in a long while.