After that, Sterl lost interest in recruiting any more subordinates from the Earthlings and focused solely on bringing Linna, Rayna, and Teresa back.
In a flash, Sterl vanished from sight. His memory was exceptionally sharp; during his last data wipe, he had memorized the locations of Linna and Rayna's game pods.
Activating Shadow Stealth, he leaped through the shadow world multiple times and quickly arrived at his destination.
Knock, knock, knock—
With a series of knocks, the game pod in front of Sterl slowly opened. Before him appeared the delicate and alluring face of Teresa. It seemed she hadn't left the game pod for quite some time and stood up a bit weakly.
"Master, you're here."
The girl's voice trembled with excitement, as this was the first time she had seen Sterl in reality.
Standing outside the game pod, Sterl was full of vigor, dark energy swirling around him, perfectly embodying the grand image Teresa had of her master.
"Let's go. I'll take you to my place."
Sterl's eyes flickered slightly as he raised a hand to release a Purification Ripple. The water-like patterns flashed, instantly making Teresa feel a wave of relief, as if some sort of impurities had been expelled from her body.
The surrounding warehouse, filled with countless operational game pods, also appeared clearer and more ethereal.
Sterl didn't need to look to sense that many players lying in game pods had relaxed their brows a little.
Afterward, he waited for Teresa to catch her breath.
Teresa recovered quickly, and with Sterl's resources supporting her, she was now approaching third-class strength, easily adapting to her real-world environment.
As they were leaving, Teresa glanced at a distant game pod. She hesitated but chose not to speak.
That was her good friend Daphne's game pod.
Sterl had provided Teresa with an abundance of resources, far more than she could use, and she had been doing her best to help Daphne improve her strength.
But...
"I can't share the opportunity to be close to my master with you in reality."
For once, Teresa was unusually selfish and left with Sterl without any regrets.
She placed her hand on Sterl's palm, and the two jumped through the shadow world several more times, arriving at another, more secluded warehouse.
"Master, is this where the two mistresses are located?"
Teresa asked respectfully.
"Yeah." Sterl nodded casually, releasing another Purification Ripple to cleanse the surrounding "radiation."
This warehouse looked quite simple. Various high-tech game pods emitted dazzling lights, but there were also numerous spider webs, and rats and cockroaches scurried by.
The walls were cracked in many places, suggesting it had been a long time since anyone had maintained the area.
Sterl had kept his relationship with Linna and Rayna well hidden, so they wouldn't get any preferential treatment in reality. Correspondingly, they had reached second-class strength in the game due to the relentless output of resources.
Linna and Rayna's daily routine involved waiting for a group of people to weaken monsters before being fed, along with specialized players training them to gain practical combat experience.
In reality, they appeared to be leveling up by fighting monsters and facing life-and-death crises, but behind the scenes, a group of second and third-class players protected them throughout.
Sterl's requirements for Linna and Rayna were simple: grow strong enough to protect themselves.
Their professional ranks were relatively low, so they required less experience and leveled up quickly, with the ritual to advance to second class being quite easy.
After all, Sterl could later allocate points to their professional and talent ranks.
Sterl approached and quickly woke the two girls.
At that moment, a strange box appeared in his hand.
However...
The text displayed on it made him pause slightly.
He also took the opportunity to explore a bit himself.
As a complete hands-off manager, he truly had no idea how much the base had developed.
During the tour...
"Wow! What a beautiful flower garden!"
"Wow! Are the buildings really this complete? There's even a retro gaming room!"
"I've only seen things like this in textbooks!"
"Is this really the kitchen mentioned in textbooks? It's completely different from what we have in the game!"
...
Linna and Rayna were continuously amazed, and even Teresa's expressions changed frequently.
Outwardly, Sterl maintained a calm demeanor, as if to say, "This is the kingdom I've built," but inwardly, he was overwhelmed with emotions.
Many things in the base reminded him of his life before transmigrating.
After his transmigration, he had never seen them again.
At that moment, Sterl felt a bit touched.
He could vaguely guess that Rosalie had restored many traces of Earth's past civilization.
After the tour, Sterl patted Rosalie's head. The petite "demigod" was easy for him to do this with.
"Good job, leaving the base in your hands was the right choice."
As soon as he said this, Rosalie, who had been leaning against him affectionately, became ecstatic, "Really? Master, then I want a reward!"
Sterl paused, "I just brought the others back..."
He had intended to say that next time he would accompany Rosalie.
But the girl's eyes suddenly lit up: "Really! All five of us together!"
"Sure! Sure!"
She looked forward to exploring new worlds together.
Upon hearing this, Sterl initially wanted to scold Rosalie for being too reckless!
But feeling a bit tempted himself, he chose to chuckle and lifted Rosalie onto his shoulder.
"Wow! Master!"
"You're so wise!"
Her soft breath tickled Sterl's ear, causing a wave of heat to rise within him.
At this moment, Rayna, standing nearby, commented, "This is how you should use this thing."
She had performed well in the human base, so she was teaching Teresa how to use a set of cooking machines.
Suddenly, the girl felt herself spinning and found herself in Sterl's embrace.
"What are you doing...?"
Rayna complained softly, her voice light and sweet, like soft cotton candy brushing against Sterl's face.
"What am I doing?"
"Fucking you... no, fucking both of you."
On the other side, Teresa, having understood what was happening, moved closer to Sterl, "Master, let me help you change."
She smiled, her expression alluring.