His gaze swept across every determined gaze, and a sense of pride welled from within.
These were my people.
Mine!
Lin Ye stood on the platform, fists tightly clenched.
A seed sowed within his heart, growing rapidly under these admiring and respectful gazes.
He did not know what would happen in the future, but for now.
He enjoyed this indescribable feeling.
Of course, these complex emotions only flashed through his mind for an instant before they were suppressed by his strong willpower.
As his thoughts went back on track, Lin Ye nodded calmly. "I will take this silence as acknowledgement that no one has any objections. If that's the case, prepare to welcome the transformation of the territory."
At that, he looked at Worker One, who had just levelled up.
"In the underworld, you are lowly peasants without a name, discriminated against by other races. But from today onwards, I hope you can forget about the past. I will bestow the surname of Lin to all native workers who are 100% loyal. From you, your surname will be Lin and your name will be One, and so on!"
"Lin One, I have a name now…"
Worker One, no. It was Lin One now.
He muttered to himself as tears welled up in his eyes. The image of a burly man crying overwhelmed them.
Of course, it wasn't just him.
Almost all of the 100% loyal native workers were fighting back tears.
However, the emotions that they had been suppressing for a long time burst out like a flood.
From the initial silent sobbing, it eventually turned into a collective wail when someone cried out loud.
"Sobs, I have a name. I, Lin Five, finally have a name!"
"Father, your son is no longer just a number who doesn't even deserve a tombstone. My surname is Lin. My name is Lin Eleven!"
"Mother, my name is Lin Seven. Isn't it nice? You must have blessed me with this new life in the heavens. Don't worry. From now on, I will follow the lord and build the most powerful sacred city for him!"
"Grandfather, did you hear that? My name is Lin Nineteen. The neighboring warrior tribe's Gou Sheng can no longer laugh at us for being bastards without names! Our surname is Lin, and we have a name. Next time, we can confidently curse back. Hahaha, this feels great!"
....
Everyone was venting.
Years of grievance, humiliation, anger, and dissatisfaction turned into roars and tears that fell to the ground until everything was calm.
The process was a waste of time but Lin Ye did not interrupt them. He listened intently to each of their hearts' voices.
He always believed that the number in the 100% loyalty was just the beginning.
Only by understanding his citizens' wishes and liberating their grievances could he obtain their true loyalty.
Being nameless and without a surname was a great mental hurdle of the native workers in the underworld. After today, the character 'Lin' would probably be deeply ingrained into the hearts of every native worker. Only when one's own value was reflected would one start to feel a sense of belonging.
What he did not know was that his careless actions would create a terrifying clan for the future generations.
Father of all races, camps where monsters concentrated at, a name synonymous to terror…
In the end, they were collectively known as the Lin Clan!!!
If some Lin were to find out about this, he would definitely shamelessly ask someone to set up a stone tablet and seal a letter. The glorious achievements of the Lin Family's Old Ancestor Lin Ye would spread throughout the entire universe.
Of course, that was all for later.
After venting for about ten minutes, Lin One and the others suddenly quieted down. The scene was engulfed in a pin drop silence.
They looked carefully at the light shield armored soldiers, the blacksmiths, the rangers, the cat-eared chefs…
Finally, they turned to look at Lin Ye on the platform.
"It's nice to meet you Lin One, Lin Two, Lin Three… Lin Hundred and Ninety Seven."
Lin Ye's voice was not loud, but he said it sincerely. He read each person's name tirelessly.
After that, he smiled and said elegantly, "It might be a little awkward to say after 99. If there are any characters that you like, you can add them in. Don't change it after you've confirmed it. A new name will accompany you for the rest of your life and your descendants will be blessed with this name forever."
"Thank you for giving me a name, my Lord! I, Lin One, swear to never change my name. I am willing to serve the Lin family for generations to come!"
Lin One's face was filled with fanaticism and excitement.
Under their boiling fervour, he led his brothers to kneel on the platform. He placed his hands on the ground and performed the highest form of etiquette as they kowtowed to Lin Ye.
197 people knelt in deference.
In such a huge graveyard, especially for Lin Ye, who still had the mindset of a person from Earth, the impact was not small.
Even the faces of Light Priest Gran, Elemental Ranger Adelia, and Cat-eared Chef Nicole lit up.
"My lord, my loyalty has also reached 100%. From today onwards, I'll change my name. I'll be called Adelia Lin. What do you think?" Adelia leaned against the wall on the second floor of the bunker and shouted with a smile.
"What changing her name? It's obvious that she wants to be the lady to our lord. For her to beat around the bush like this, she's too manipulative."
The cat-eared chef Nicole pouted and muttered unhappily.
However, she had underestimated the lethality of her words.
The entire place fell into a deafening silence as everyone stared at her.
Adelia Lin's face flushed red. She shouted, "Ah, my corpse poison is acting up! I'm going to faint!" Then, she ran away in her wooden slippers.
After she left, everyone burst into deafening laughter.
"Everyone is too bored." Lin Ye shook his head and laughed.
He took it as a joke.
Besides, before his parents and sister escaped, he did not dare to enjoy himself.
After the atmosphere became relaxed, Lin Ye started his territory reform plan.
He had already calculated the detailed steps in the virtual sandbox.
In the early stages, the territory would establish two lines of defense.
The first line of defense was at the two thousand meters mark, a defense circle made using wooden fences.
It could effectively defend against zombies and warn the human lords in the dark fog.
The second one was at the five hundred meters mark, made using stone fences.
This line of defense was mainly to save lives.
If anything were to happen, the stone fence could be used as a fortress and be guarded tightly. It would provide him with more time to save himself.
Lin Ye quickly told Lin One his thoughts. Lin Ye patted Lin One's shoulder and said solemnly, "Lin One, this is the recruitment order and the blueprints of the two types of fence. I'll leave the construction of the defense circle to you. If you don't have enough manpower, go to the bunker to recruit native workers. I've added your name to the Civilization Archive. All the resources are yours to use. I only have one condition. In five days, before the corpse tide arrives, the construction must be completed."
"I…" Lin One gasped.
Now that he was an Intermediate Native Worker, he naturally knew how important and complicated the defense project mentioned by the lord was.
For ten days of work to be squeezed into five days, it was an incredibly stressful task.
However, looking at Lin Ye's expectant gaze, Lin One's made up his mind. He gritted his teeth and said, "I will not let you down!"
He had already made plans to recruit his father's clan's talents.
It was alright for them to work harder since they were family. There was a high chance of completing this task if they operated overnight in shifts.
He just hoped that his dad wouldn't beat him to death when he found out!
"Everything is for the lord!"
Lin One secretly cheered himself on. His face revealed the valiant yet tragic look of a warrior cutting off his wrist.
He puffed up his chest and walked towards the recruitment hall.