"Hey!" a voice called out in an attempt to stop Sylas. It didn't seem to be malicious, but rather a friendly reminder instead. But Sylas ended up directly ignoring this man.
The guards at the entrance turned their glances over, and a great amount of pressure rose into the skies. But almost immediately, that pressure receded like the tide.
Under a mysterious power, the gazes of the guards changed from stern to respectful, and they immediately crossed an arm over their chests and bowed.
Many couldn't help but be surprised by this outcome, especially the kind middle-aged man who had called out to Sylas before. But no matter how many times they double-checked and rubbed their eyes, the scene didn't change at all.
"Please enter, hero."
The guards only spoke these words and then let Sylas through.
Sylas stepped into the city, his expression indifferent but his mind flickering with thoughts.
As expected, even if there were forces from alien powers acting in the System Cities, they couldn't possibly control every aspect. In fact, the vast majority of the city guard should be under the direct administration of the system itself.
What Sylas had done just now was a relatively simple test, one that didn't require himself to be placed in much danger. But the outcome was enough proof for him to embark on testing the rest of his hypothesis.
The reason the guards were so respectful was for no other reason than the fact Sylas was on the Merit Leaderboard.
The System Cities weren't here to be breeding grounds for alien races to make more money. Their initial intended purpose was as a sanctuary for the Summoned population.
Of course, in the very distant past, System Cities were also used as an initial contact point between races to start relations that could foster into something beneficial. But now, at least for Earth, they had become something far more sinister.
This was all to say that the System Cities were treasures of Earth... so long as they could figure out how to thwart the greedy hands that had taken control of them and wrestle back the control they rightfully deserved.
'There's likely not much time to move around freely. I will do a quick tour around first, then take the next step.'
Sylas walked fast, moving through the streets.
The city was only about 20 or so kilometers in diameter, but was made even more impressive by the fact tall steel walls enveloped the whole of it.
There could probably be up to a half million people who took up permanent residence here, but that would likely be pushing it. From what he could tell, affording permanent residency here was almost impossible, and even renting would bankrupt most.
The cheapest home he could find was about 500 F Coins a week just to rent. If he wanted to buy it outright, it would cost a hundred times that.
Still, that was exactly what Sylas did.
He had only just recently hit 50,000 F Coins, but the moment he found this little dingy apartment, he bought it up.
The cost of homes in System Cities would only increase with time, so it would only be more expensive to do so in the future. This also told Sylas that it would be a pipe dream to hope that he would be able to control the economy of a city with just 10,000 coins a day in cash flow.
That said, he didn't buy this home to have a place to stay. The real reason was two key words: Permanent Residency.
Only by having Permanent Residency could one begin citizenship qualification, and only by having citizenship would he have an easier path to the army.
He could have joined the army immediately, but he would have been an infantryman and would have likewise had no freedom of movement.
However, a citizen was only one step below a noble, and a noble would be able to start off as a captain at worst.
Sylas had prepared a lot for this, but he was still surprised by the outcome. That was because his Merits were even more useful than he thought.
First, the system took only 25,000 F Coins from him instead of the full 50,000, giving him an outright discount on his home. Then, in that moment, a city-wide system message echoed.
[The Noble Heir System has been unlocked. As the first Noble of Guiz City, Sylas Grimblade will be directly promoted from Noble Knight to Baron]
Sylas' gaze flickered. The Noble System was fairly straightforward. It started with Noble Knight, upgraded to Baron, then progressed to Viscount, Earl, Marquess, Duke, Grand Duke, and then finally City Lord.
Each stage came with its own benefits, but as a Baron, Sylas was already capable of swinging his weight around in the city a bit, and it had also become impossible for the City Lord to get rid of him via any simple methods.
'The fact that this is only a City-Wide message means that there's probably an opportunity to do this at every System City, and I may very well not be the first...'
It was doubtful, but Sylas didn't dismiss the possibility. Of course, the reason it was doubtful was because the citizenship test was a headache. He had only been able to skip it because of his Merits, and as far as he knew, he was the only one on the list.
[Title: Baron of Guiz]
[You now have a stake in the territory of Guiz City, and your power should reflect that]
[+20% to ALL stats while within 50 kilometers of Guiz City]
[Affiliation Detected]
[Would you like to transfer your Noble Title to the Grimblades?]
Another pleasant surprise, but this time, it was followed up by confusion. What did it even
mean to transfer his Title?
Either way, he could only keep this matter slotted to the back of his mind and decline. This Title was too useful to him right now.
It was time to join the military. This would make or break the next few months.