Absolute Death Game

The next system is the territory management system. Currently, we only possess one territory—Thousand Pines Town, but now it’s in an occupied state. Within the territory management system, there’s an option to subdue territories, but it’s definitely not something that can be considered now.

Besides, there are options for purchasing new territories and occupying new territories. Both are temporarily unusable as well, so this elite territory system will have to wait until later to be effective.

The last system is the military system.

Opening it reveals an interface akin to a real-time strategy game, with a row of troop cards below, each representing a unit. Currently, there’s only one troop card—Thousand Pines Town Militia, right-click to check out the unit’s attributes.

Thousand Pines Town Militia (Understaffed)

Military Strength Evaluation: Grey. @@novelbin@@

Members: 16 (Full complement 100).

Commander: Zhang Zhixi (Ordinary Elite).

Unit Introduction: This is a militia force composed of civilians from Thousand Pines Town. They lack training, have rudimentary equipment, and can only carry out simple defensive tasks. Please don’t expect too much from them.

In this system, there are also options for establishing units, recruiting soldiers, and setting military pay, but like the previous two systems, they are currently of no immediate use.

Xiao Buli familiarized himself with the numerous benefits of being a mayor, and now had a general understanding of how to expand his influence in the future. However, the most important thing for now was to find a place to settle down.

He estimated the distance to Black Stone Village, which should be about half a day’s journey away. Without further ado, he led his team directly towards Black Stone Village.

Along the way, they still encountered Minor Monsters blocking the road, but they posed no threat in front of him. By noon, the team finally arrived at the outskirts of Black Stone Village.

From afar, the Militia spotted the convoy and went back to the village to report. By the time the refugee team arrived at the village entrance, the village Militia had already assembled and were guarding atop the wall.

This wall had been built previously to defend against the Black Mountain Bandits. Unexpectedly, it now prepared them for Xiao Buli’s arrival.

The militia captain was a high elite with a deep blue name, accompanied by two vice captains, one an ordinary elite with a light blue name, and the other was a player. Who else could it be but Qin Dahai?

Xiao Buli couldn’t help feeling somewhat speechless. Why was it that Black Stone Village, just a small village, had a high elite as its militia captain, while Thousand Pines Town, which was at least a town, only had an ordinary elite as its militia captain?

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"Who are you?" the captain asked sternly, looking quite unfriendly.

Now that Xiao Buli had taken up the role of town mayor, it was naturally his turn to speak, "We’re villagers from Thousand Pines Town. Our homes were destroyed by the Demon Clan, forcing us to flee here. We’d like to settle down in the vicinity and ask for your convenience."

The militia captain said, "Our village can’t accommodate so many people, and Black Mountain is a mine with not much farmland, unable to support so many. You should go somewhere else."

After speaking, he shouted, "All hands to battle stations!" The Black Stone Village militia immediately went on alert.

The Militia of Black Stone Village numbered over fifty, with the advantage of the palisade wall to rely on. The disparity between the two sides was now quite apparent. But there was a variable in the mix now, and that was the players. There were fewer than ten players present, and most of them stood with Black Stone Village at the moment.

However, as soon as a fight broke out, these players would undoubtedly turn coat, making it uncertain who would win.

NPCs might not be aware of this, but there was one person who knew it very well, and that person was Qin Dahai.

Qin Dahai’s mood had been quite complicated these past few days. Initially, when he noticed a few newcomers in the village, he was rather pleased since he had been cooped up in Black Stone Village for months, and it was rare for him to see a living soul, let alone get the opportunity to kill it.

Having a few newcomers to blend in with wasn’t bad, but what slightly irked him was that these newcomers were obviously a group, and he felt a bit of an outsider, even though they could hunt monsters and do quests together. Compared to the camaraderie among the newcomers, he definitely felt like an outsider.

However, Qin Dahai was skilled at socializing and soon integrated himself among the group. He didn’t consider himself a bad person, at least not in his own eyes.

When necessary, he would offer some starter gear to the group, or provide guidance for in-game quests, and even directly help with some quests. After spending some time together, they could barely be called friends, but when asked where they got the game from, the newcomers kept their lips sealed, only saying he would find out when the time came.

The arrival of He Suoju and Du Yibo the next day raised Qin Dahai’s worries. It was apparent that these two were experienced players, though he wasn’t sure if they were from a Great Guild or independent players. Moreover, they seemed to recognize the previous newcomers.

But there was nothing he could do—he knew he was no match for them in terms of Strength, so he could only try to form connections with them. Fortunately, Du Yibo and He Suoju were unaware of his killing of Xia Zuowei and thus bore no hostility towards him. In fact, Du Yibo even sold him a light blue spear at a bargain price, which delighted Qin Dahai for a long time.

During casual conversations, the two pros and four newcomers seemed to always mention a player, who appeared to be the core figure among their group. With this in mind, Qin Dahai paid extra attention and now, seeing Xiao Buli leading a group of NPCs to the outside of the village, he couldn’t help but understand.

However, as soon as he understood, he was shocked. A player who could subdue so many NPCs to serve him and become the leader of a town was just too impressive. No wonder he was the leader of that group.

Thinking this, he decided he had to build a good relationship with Xiao Buli; otherwise, he wouldn’t have a place in the village. With that thought, he approached the militia captain.

"Captain, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you."

The captain turned and saw Qin Dahai, who was known for his wisdom in breaking the Black Mountain plot and bravery in killing Black Mountain spies, and nodded at once. Qin Dahai’s Prestige in Black Stone Village had risen to respect over the months, so the militia captain trusted him. "Vice Captain Qin, go ahead and speak your mind," he said.

Qin Dahai leaned in and whispered something. Xiao Buli was standing under the rampart, hesitating on whether to launch an assault on the village, and when he saw Qin Dahai, he was startled and wondered what he was up to. He couldn’t possibly make things worse, could he? Surely he wasn’t about to help, was he?

But he always had reservations about Qin Dahai because of the incident with Xia Zuowei and didn’t fully trust him.

The militia captain nodded after hearing what Qin Dahai had to say, "Vice Captain Qin makes some sense."

Turning to Xiao Buli below the rampart, he said, "Normally, we wouldn’t allow you into the village, but our Black Stone Village is currently being harassed by the Black Mountain Bandits. To permanently resolve this threat, we’re preparing to attack the Black Mountain Bandits’ camp.

If you can send people to help us fight the Black Mountain Bandits, we can temporarily shelter you and provide some food. After defeating the Black Mountain Bandits, you can obtain a small piece of land nearby."

System prompt: Campaign quest ’Overlord of Black Mountain’ triggered.

Quest details: Assist the watchers of Black Stone Village against the Black Mountain Bandits,

Victory condition: Capture the Black Mountain Camp, and prevent Black Stone Village from being captured.

Failure condition: Black Stone Village is captured or exceeding the quest deadline.

Quest deadline: Thirty days.

Accept the quest? Yes/No.

PS: Campaign quests can only be triggered by players who have activated the army system.

Xiao Buli was first startled, then immediately pleased; it seemed that this game indeed had a warfare system. (