Chapter 93 - Unstoppable Force
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Levs
Meanwhile, in the Fallen Phoenix Town lord bureau.
"Sister, Di Chen's side is remaining silent against us to express their dissatisfaction." An 18-year-old, petite, female strategist said.
In the town of Fallen Phoenix, other than the town lord Feng Qiuhuang, there were also 4 core members: Qing Luan, Zhu Que, Hei Tian'er and Xue Ya, the princesses from the Alliance's 4 core clans. These 4 girls were all top-rated in terms of their appearances and abilities.
"Hmph, who does he thinks he is? Behaving so arrogantly, we joined the Handan Alliance but that doesn't mean that he can order us around as if we're some pawns. Qing Luan, go and tell them that we, Fallen Phoenix, have our own position. We will not give in to them and Handan town has no right to interfere."
Feng Qiuhuang frowned and anger could be seen clearly on her beautiful face as she was extremely discontented with the arrogant Di Chen.
"Understood, but sister, why do you support that Qiyue Wuyi so much? Is he really that powerful?" asked a curious Qing Luan.
"You wouldn't understand."Feng Qiuhuang said as she frowned and murmured.
Upon seeing this, Qing Luan decided to give Feng Qiuhuang some private time and walked out quietly.
……
On the 18th of March, Shanhai town's Spring Assault Operation officially commenced.
Their first victims were the two intermediate bandit camps. Three cavalry squadrons, along with three infantry squadrons from the main camp crushed the bandit camps one by one with unstoppable force under the command of Ge Hongliang. The operation seized 387 gold coins, huge amounts of equipment and supplies, and captured 67 bandits and 241 non-combat personnel as prisoners of war.
On the same day, Qiushui town also brought good news: under the leading of Zhang Daniu, the garrison platoon had annihilated and abolished a low basic bandit camp. As for the loot, Ouyang Shuo did not touch them and fully handed it over to Qiushui Town.
………
On the 20th of March, after a day of rest, Ouyang Shuo's forces launched their attack again.
The victim this time was the only advanced raiders' camp within the border. In order to be foolproof, Ge Hongliang even shifted the troops garrisoned in Qiushui Town to participate in the operation. Ge Hongliang first ordered the infantry squadron to provoke the enemies in order to lure their main forces out of the fort. He then commanded the cavalry squadron to pierce through the enemy ranks from behind once they all got out of their fort, destroying them in one strike.
The result was rewarding. They seized 825 gold coins, huge amounts of weaponry, and captured 232 bandits and 375 non-combatant personnel as prisoners of war. In addition, they also acquired 1 territorial scroll, 5 civil servant job tokens, and 1 middle-rank space stone.
【Territorial scroll】(2) : Special talented person attraction rate increases by 5% after use.
【Space Stone】(Medium rank) : Increase storage capacity up to 100 cubic meters after use.
The territorial scroll and space stone were directly used by Ouyang Shuo. As for the 5 civil servant job tokens, they were given to Sun Yannong, Du Xiaolan, Zhao Youfang, Yang Yun and Yuan Shaoping. In the end, other than the Military Intelligence Division, Armory Division and the Security Division, the other divisions' core officers have advanced their jobs to civil servants, increasing Shanhai Town's administration efficiency to a higher level.
San Gouzi, the secretary of the Military Intelligence Division, had also successfully advanced to basic officer. Wang Hao, the secretary of the Armory Division, had to maintain his advanced blacksmith job, and the Security Division's secretary, Li Tie, had already advanced to government servant.
After several battles, except for San Gouzi, Zhang Daniu and Lee Ming Liang had also advanced to basic officers. Liao Kai, Shi Hu and Wang Feng had also been promoted to rank 8 elite soldiers, only one step away from advancing to basic officers.
The sergeants who shined and performed great in the war were also promoted to lieutenants, chosen as alternative candidates for captains. A sergeant named Zhao Yan, had shined brightest among all, advancing straight into a rank 8 elite soldier and was promoted to the first infantry 1st squadron 2nd platoon lieutenant.
However, the greatest amazement was from Lin Yi. This little general had participated in every single battle and after a successful breakthrough, advanced to intermediate officer.
【Name】: Lin Yi (gold level)
【Identity】: Shanhai Town First Cavalry Squadron Captain
【Occupation】: Intermediate Officer
【Loyalty】: 90 points
【Leadership】: 40
【War】: 50
【Intelligence】: 25
【Political】: 20
【Skill】: Lin Family's Hereditary Spearmanship (Total 12 styles)
【Equipment】: Fine Iron Spear, Pommel Sword, Fine War Horse
【Evaluation】: Started learning the art of war and practicing spearmanship at a very small age, but has wild and bohemian behavior.
…
On the 22th of March, Shanhai Town launched a total assault at the last large-scale water bandit camp within the border. An army of 900 soldiers from the main camps' 3 cavalry squadrons and 3 infantry squadrons, along with the navy forces and the troopers garrisoned in Qiushui Town, marched towards the bandit camp through land and sea under the command of Ge Hongliang.
The navy launched a feint attack on the river as a decoy to lure the water bandits out of their camps. Once the water bandits got lured out, the infantry squadrons and the cavalry squadrons stormed with lightning speed into the bandits' camp and took over the camp.
With their camps taken over and their path to escape intercepted by the navy forces, the helpless water bandits see neither the hope of winning nor escaping, they were forced to lower their heads and surrendered.
Because of the well-planned strategy and effective tactics used in this battle, the water bandit camp was taken down with little effort. Other than the 52 bandits that were killed, the other 1000 people in the camp were all taken prisoner by the forces of Shanhai Town. A total of 954 gold coins, a huge amount of materials, three intermediate warships, and four special items were seized in the battle.
These special items included two talismans, a series of books of the Art of War and "Meng Chong Warship Manufacturing Manual". However, it was a shame that the village creation token Song Jia wanted did not drop in the loot.
【Talisman of Vitality】: Quickly restores strength and combat power upon use.
【Talisman of Rapid Marching】: Increases the troops' marching speed by 50% for two hours upon usage.
The two talismans were very rare and valuable. This was because, at crucial moments, one could turn the tables of fortune to their side if used appropriately. As for the talisman of rapid marching, it was even more valuable. If used for raiding, it could result in the enemy's wrongful calculations, causing forces to reach the enemy's ranks earlier than expected and deliberately crushing them with the element of surprise.
【Name】:《Liu Tao》: (Wu Tao Volume)
【Stats】: Upon equipping, increases leadership by 10 points and battalions combat power by 10%.
【Evaluation】: One of the ancient top-ten books about the art of war. A famous book that contains the pre - Qin military tactics and thinking, often known as the ancestor of every book about the Art of War. 《Liu Tao》 has six volumes in total, and the "Wu Tao Volume" is the second volume. It talks about military strategies and tactics.
《Liu Tao》: Although only a remnant is left, its effectiveness is still incredible. If all of the volumes could be acquired again, god knows what kind of amazing stats it has.
【Meng Chong Warship Manufacturing Manual】: Acquires the technology to produce Meng Chong Warship upon usage.
Meng Chong Warships were used by the Han Dynasty as the main naval warship. This type of warship had high mobility and high thrusting force to tear enemy ships apart due to its long and narrow hull. With the manual, the naval shipyard had finally gotten their hands on the knowledge to produce decent moderate warships to arm the navy.
Ouyang Shuo participated in the entire Shanhai Town's Spring Assault Operation, and as a result, his level soared to a whopping level 40, surpassing the highest level 38 adventurer player in a blink of an eye.
Not only that, thanks to the continuous extermination of the 4 bandit camps and one water bandit camp, the successful establishment of Qiushui Town, and promoting a village into a town, his meritorious value had skyrocketed to 13200 points and his prestige value reached 10450 points. As a result, he had now been promoted to a 2nd class Earl, and advanced to a prestigious level and obtained the title of "Patriot".
Ouyang Shuo could not help but to check his own personal stats because of these rapid changes.
【Name】: Qiyue Wuyi
【Title】: Patriot (Increases NPCs' relationship by 25%)
【Territory】: Shanhai Town
【Level】: 40
【Merit】: 13200 / 25600
【Rank】: 2nd class Earl
【Body Structure】: 18
【Comprehension】: 21
【Luck】: 5
【Charm】: 8
【Command】: 53 + 10
【Force】: 16
【Intelligence】: 13
【Political】: 50
【Talent】: Locked
【Technique】: Bajiquan
【Art of War】: 《Liu Tao》(Wu Tao Volume)
【Skills】: Advanced Collection, Basic Shipbuilding, Intermediate Diplomacy, Advanced Scouting, Advanced Weapon Proficiency, Basic Riding, Basic Spearsmanship, Basic archery
【Mount】: Black Tornado (Gold)
【Equipment】: Ring of Courage (Gold), Exquisite Composite Bow (Gold), Exquisite Iron Sword (Gold), Exquisite Iron Spear (Gold), Bulls Guardian (Dark Gold), Barbaric Gauntlet (Silver), Barbaric War Boots (Silver), Bulls Belt (Silver), Bulls Gauntlet (Silver)
【Unique Items】: Talisman of Blood Thirsting, Talisman of Vitality, Talisman of Rapid Marching
Ever since deciding to pump his stats more towards an officer, his stats for strength should've been higher for sure. Therefore, when his political stat touched 50 points, Ouyang Shuo then auto assigned his stat points to 1 command and 1 strength every time he leveled up. That was because 50 points in the political stats were more than enough. Besides, he had so many strategists helping him with his political works.
As for the talent column, to unlock it would greatly depend on his luck. Some players had unlocked their talents at the 10+ level, and some hadn't even unlocked their talents even around 50 to 60 levels. For those like Ouyang Shuo who did not unlock their talents at level 40 were in the minority of the game. The main reason was that they leveled up with the help of external forces. This was because the easiest way to unlock a player's talents was through participating in war a countless number of times, and to unlock them by fighting for his or her life on the battlefield.
After a long period of practice, Ouyang Shuo's Bajiquan had finally leveled up, reaching the rank of Novice. In addition, his gathering, diplomatic, scouting, weapon proficiency, and the other basic skills had also increased by one level. The only disappointing part was that he had yet to find himself a suitable art of spearsmanship for himself.
Other than these changes, Ouyang Shuo had also upgraded some of his equipment. After seizing a large amount of weaponry and armor, he easily replaced his sword and bow with gold class weapons. As for the dark gold level weapons, he did not obtain any of them because they still remained invaluable and rare in numbers.
That said, everything came with a good side and a bad side. Although the battle to wipe out the water bandits was very smooth, because the bandits did not put up much of a fight with the army, those rank 8 elite soldiers who were on the verge of breaking through to rank 9 missed their chance for advancement. If they wanted to advance into basic officers, there was still quite a long way to go.
Chapter 94 - Grade 3 Town
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
The five days of intense Spring Assault Operation had brought Shanhai Town abundant rewards.
First of all was the population of the town. There had been an increase in population by 1967 people, among them were 868 armed forces and 1099 non-combat personnel, exceeding the limit of maximum 5000 people the town could have. With no choices left, Ouyang Shuo had to transfer some of the captives into Beihai Town and Qiushui Town.
Among the 868 combat personnel, 18 of them who have committed a series of unforgivable sins were executed, 600 of them recruited and reorganized into the army, and 250 of them were sent to the mining site to mine minerals for one year.
The navy picked out some of the captives from the large-scale water bandit camp and reorganized them into another 3 squadrons. With this, the Navy Unit was officially formed and placed under the command of intermediate officer, Colonel Pei Donglai, acting as the head of the navy unit. Under him was Zhou Feng as the 1st navy squadron captain, You Fang as the 2nd navy squadron captain, Li Hai as the 3rd navy squadron captain and the other two squadrons would temporarily have no captain.
Li Hai, a basic officer who was one of the best among all of them in the water bandit camp with a good reputation among the villagers, was promoted straight to a captain.
The cavalry squadron had formed another 3 more squadrons, officially establishing the Shanhai Town Cavalry Unit and placed under the command of intermediate officer, Lin Yi, who was acting as the colonel of the cavalry unit. Under him was Lee Mingliang, as the 1st cavalry squadron captain; Sun Tengjiao as the 2nd cavalry squadron captain; Liao Kai as the 3rd cavalry squadron captain; Guo Liang as the 4th cavalry squadron captain; Su Wang as the 5th cavalry squadron captain.
Similar to Li Hai, Su Wang was also a basic officer originated from the water bandit camp. Albeit he was from a bandit camp, an elite who was very firm with his own principal based on justice. After understanding about his situation, Ouyang Shuo decisively promoted him to a captain.
Ouyang Shuo expanded all of the troop divisions except for the infantry division as he had plans for them. According to his plan, he hoped to recruit quality troops from the mountain barbarian tribes. In order to improve efficiency, he arranged the infantry into a unit and place them under Shi Wansui, maintaining the same 3 squadrons.
Another fruitful result from the battles was the financial aspect. The money seized, including the money gained from selling building blueprints, was a total of 2250 gold. After deducting the expenses for upgrading the armies and officers, there was still a total of 1710 gold.
However, regardless of the massive income, Ouyang Shuo had yet to have a plan on how to maximize the advantage of the gold coins. The main concern now was on upgrading the town level into level 3 as fast as possible as the population of the town was reaching its limit. Unfortunately, the progress had come to a halt because of the alchemy workshop, one of the basic requirement buildings to level up the town level, was not available yet because there was no alchemist in the town.
As expected by Ouyang Shuo, the most troublesome issue to upgrading the town level was this goddamn alchemist. He couldn't believe that even with everything he had now and the conditions of the Shanhai Town, it was still so hard to spawn an alchemist. God knows how Di Chen got so lucky, getting an alchemist in just half a month.
In the end, Fan Zhongyan reminded Ouyang Shuo, "My lord, if I recall correctly, the Recruitment Hall recruits one people with special talents once a month, and you have not used it this month, so why don't you give it a try?"
Ouyang Shuo nodded but he did not hold too much hope and replied with a wry smile.
"There's no such coincidence in this world, getting an alchemist that we urgently need just like that."
"If you don't give it a try, you wouldn't know, my lord."
"Okay then, I'll give it a try then.", said the compromised Ouyang Shuo.
This was the 2nd time Ouyang Shuo had walked into the recruitment hall. The last time he entered, the hall recruited two men of great talent, Fan Zhongyan and Du Chun, but would the hall help Ouyang Shuo to solve his problem this time?
"System Notification: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for operating the Recruitment Hall, there is one use left for the hall at the moment, do you want to recruit someone?"
"Yes!"
"System Notification: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for successfully recruiting one special talented personnel…An advanced alchemist. 10 gold auto-deducted from inventory."
A white light flashed and a portal appeared. Immediately, a European appearing to be 30 years old walked out from the portal, saluted Ouyang Shuo in a very medieval aristocratic way, and said enthusiastically, "Magnus at your service, my lord."
HA, praise the lord, Ouyang Shuo really managed to recruit an alchemist! The happy Ouyang Shuo then smiled and said: "Mr. Magnus, welcome to Shanhai Town!"
After the recruitment of Magnus, the rest was very simple. By giving it everything they had, an alchemy workshop was built in only 1 day by the Construction Division, and the master alchemist, Magnus, officially settled down in the workshop. With this, the final barrier stopping the town from upgrading was finally removed completely.
….
24th of March, 9.00pm, Shanhai Town Hall
Ouyang Shuo whispered to himself in his mind, Territory upgrade. A white light flashed across his eyes, the hearstone rose from the ground slowly, he placed his right hand on the heartstone, and the system notification prompted.
"System Notification: Scanning for Shanhai Town upgrading requirements…."
"Requirement 1: Reaching a population of 5000 people --- requirement met."
"Requirement 2: Constructing all basic buildings required --- requirement met."
"Requirement 3: The town lord must be at least a first class viscount --- requirement met."
"System Notification: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for meeting the requirements to upgrade Shanhai Town, do you want to upgrade?"
"Upgrade!"
A golden ray shot up to the sky from the heartstone exploded into energy and spread around. The golden energy disappeared once it spread up to the far border of the territory.
"System Notification: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for being the 2nd player upgrading his town into a grade 3 town. Reward: 1000 points of merit points."
"System Notification: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for …….
"System Notification: Congratulations……
Shanhai Town only managed to finally advance to a level 3 town one week after Di Chen upgraded Handan town into a grade 3 town. However, this was still a counter to the questions troubling Shanhai Town. The nationwide competition for the world's first district had officially kicked off.
"System Notification: Congratulations to player Qiyue Wuyi for upgrading Shanhai town to a grade 3 town. The town level lord hall has leveled up. Randomly selecting 3 grade 3 town buildings, the player can choose one of them to build."
"System Notification: The randomly selected buildings are the inn, pawnshop and jewelry shop, please choose!"
"Choose the pawnshop!"
"System Notification: The building is generated automatically. Player is free to view now." Another white light flashed, and the heartstone once again sank into the ground slowly. Ouyang Shuo then took a look to check on the stats of Shanhai Town.
Territory: Shanhai Town (Level 3 Town)
Lord: Qiyue Wuyi (Second class Earl)
Title: The World's First Town (Increase town renown by 20%)
Morale: 92
Security: 91
Population: 5000/10000
Refugee Spawn Rate: 50 * (1 + 50%) = 75 / day
Territory area: 1000 square kilometers
Territory Unique Characteristics:
+50% Refugee attraction rate
+25% Special talented people attraction rate
+50% Crop production rate
+25% Productivity of workers
+20% Experience earned by troops
+10% Chances of talented people in the territory to advance a level
Subsidiary Village: Beihai town (Level 1 town), Qiu Shui town (level 1 town)
Treasury: Four Seas Bank
Territory Association: Textile Association
Territory Resources: Intermediate Logging, Intermediate Stone Mining, Intermediate Mineral Mining, Advanced Brick Kiln
Territory Forces: Cavalry Unit, Infantry Unit, Navy Unit, Qiushui Town Garrison Squadron
Territory Industry Prop: Northern Saltworks (5000 mu), Langshan Mining Excavation Site
Political: 50/100 (Affects the administrative efficiency and morale)
Economic: 45/100 (Affects the trading prosperity and tax)
Cultural: 10/100 (Affects the education development and quality of residents)
Military: 50/100 (Affects the military strength and stability)
Infrastructure Building: Town Level Lord manor, Toilet, Granary, Cemetery, Inn
Agriculture building: Farm, Mill, Mulberry field, Orchard, Vegetable farm, Medicine garden
Commercial building: Intermediate Market, Intermediate Smithy, Intermediate Grocery Shop, Advanced Woodworking Workshop, Advanced Hospital, Advanced Dojo, Premium Tailor Shop, Garment Workshop, Intermediate Pottery Factory, Large Brewing Factory, Agriculture Market, Vinegar Workshop, Soy Sauce Workshop, Tofu Workshop, Pharmacy, Small Textile Mills, Advanced Alchemy Workshop.
Cultural Buildings: Ancestral Hall, Private School, Lian Zhou College
Military Buildings: Advanced Barracks, Castle Wall, Moats, Towers, Turrets, Stone Outposts, Stables, Weaponry Workshop, Weapon Arsenal
Special Buildings: Dock, Harbor, Intermediate Shipyard
Hidden Buildings: Mazu Temple (Sealed), Recruitment Hall
Taoist Buildings: Taoist Practice Place.
Construction conditions: Taoist, Taoist Building Blueprint, timber 2000 units, brick 320 units, stone 1000 units.
Construction time: 4 days.
Pawnshop: The collection of movable assets and real estate as collateral, to the other side of the debt agencies.
Construction conditions: Businessmen, Pawnshop Building Blueprint, Wood 1000 units, Brick 2000 units, Stone 1000 units.
Construction Time: 3 days. (Description: The building is automatically generated.)
Inn: To provide people shelter who are away from their homes.
Construction Conditions: Businessman, Inn Building Blueprint, Wood 2000 units, Brick 320 units, Stone 1000 units.
Construction Time: 4 days.
Restaurant: For people eating outside of their homes.
Construction Conditions: Advanced Chef, Restaurant Building Blueprint, Wood 2000 units, Brick 4000 units, Stone 1000 units.
Construction time: 5 days.
Jewelry Shop: Shops selling gold and silver jewelry.
Construction Conditions: Gold and Silver Craftsmen, Jewelry Shop Building Blueprint, Wood 1000 units, Brick 2000 units, Stone 1000 units.
Construction Time: 3 days.
Tea Garden: For planting tea plants.
Construction Conditions: Tea Plant, Wood 2000 units, Brick 500 units, Stone 500 units.
Construction Time: 2 days.