Chapter 111: Recruiting Newcomers and Friendship with Hoge Village

Chapter 111: Recruiting Newcomers and Friendship with Hoge Village

At this moment, two Survivors asked, "Great… Great Lord Cao Xing…"

"We have already told you what you want to know. Can you let us go now?"

Cao Xing nodded. "Alright."

Intense joy appeared in the eyes of the two Survivors.

Right at that moment.

A flash of cold light swept across their necks.

[-2054]

[-2175]

The heads of the two tilted sideways, and they died instantly.

Cao Xing looked at the pile of corpses on the street, along with several Imperial Soldiers and Imperial Archers nearby who had been beaten half to death.

Fresh blood stained the ground red, and several houses on both sides had also been destroyed.

Fortunately, it did not cause any casualties among the ordinary villagers.

Cao Xing said, "Assam, Lenis, clean up the battlefield."

…

…

A few minutes ago.

In a snowfield dozens of kilometers away from Hoge Village, a Survivor camp was located.

Inside the Lords Cabin, Fang Long and his family respectfully looked at a masked Hunter before them wearing a black robe.

Their attitude was extremely humble.

Fang Long said with a flattering smile, "My Lord Priest, you have already seen my territory. What do you think?"

The black-robed priest nodded. "Not bad. As expected of a Chosen Lord, this is a very good hiding spot. The kingdom's soldiers basically won't enter here to search."

"Then, as agreed, I will dispatch my subordinate assassins to deal with that brat."

"And your territory will serve as a stronghold for our Church of Light to ensure that our location is not exposed."

Speaking of this, the black-robed priest's tone turned somewhat chilling. "If you dare to betray the Church of Light, I think you should know the consequences. By then, you will beg me to kill you!"

Hearing the last sentence, Fang Long and his family shuddered all over.

But he hurriedly forced a smile and nodded respectfully. "Rest assured, Lord Priest. Since I have joined the Church of Light, I will definitely serve the church wholeheartedly."

The black-robed priest nodded. "Then, you may leave. This cabin will be our temporary stronghold from now on."

"Alright, Lord Priest."

Fang Long took his family and respectfully left the Lords Cabin.

Probably no one could have imagined that these Hunters would be so cunning as to think of using a Survivor's territory as a hiding place.

However, just before they went out the door, that black-robed priest's gaze lingered on the beautiful and glamorous married woman beside Fang Long.

This woman was Fang Long's wife, named Lan Qianqian.

In Xiangjiang City, she could also be considered one of the rather famous beauties.

Although her looks could not compare to the top ten goddesses like Liu Muxue and Yan Jingwei, she was still an extremely eye-catching existence among ordinary people.

At this moment, Lan Qianqian was wearing twin ponytails, with light makeup on her face, and her blinking big eyes made her look very pure.

Beneath her wolf-skin coat was a pair of beautiful legs wearing fishnet stockings.

It gave people a style that was both pure and seductive.

To these indigenous people, this was a woman they had never seen before.

The black-robed priest suddenly said, "Wait a minute."

Fang Long and the others stopped in their tracks. "What is it, Lord Priest?"

"Is this woman your wife?"

Fang Long nodded. "Yes, My Lord."

The black-robed priest did not speak, but instead looked at Lan Qianqian with a scrutinizing gaze, revealing a look of considerable interest in his eyes.

Lan Qianqian felt a bit unnatural being stared at by his undisguised gaze.

Fang Long also didn't dare to breathe heavily for a moment.

After a moment, the black-robed priest chuckled. "It's nothing, you guys go ahead first."

Fang Long and the others felt immensely relieved.

Meanwhile, Fang Long had already brought his family into the shelter on the side.

The beautiful married woman beside him softly asked, "Brother Long… Are we really going to hand over the territory to these guys? I heard that these are all a bunch of cultists, and the entire kingdom is hunting them down…"

"If we are exposed… will we be implicated?"

Fang Long chuckled. "Qianqian, you don't understand."

"After today, we will be removed from the novice protection mode, and the subsequent development will be much harder than now."

"Although this group of Hunters is crazy and evil, their strength is powerful enough, and their members are spread all over the Ice Crystal Kingdom."

"We can completely use their power first to rapidly develop our territory."

"Then, relying on our advantages, we will harvest other players. After reaching a certain strength, we will turn around and report these guys to the Ice Crystal Kingdom, which is equivalent to eating from both ends."

Hearing this, a look of sudden realization appeared in the eyes of Fang Long's parents and the glamorous woman beside him.

Moreover, the gaze looking at Fang Long also carried adoration.

"Brother Long, you are so amazing, you actually managed to think of this method!"

The middle-aged man beside him also praised, "As expected of my son!"

Fang Long had a smile on his face, seeming to thoroughly enjoy his family's praise.

The glamorous woman continued softly, "Brother Long, I heard that you sent people to kill that Cao Xing today?"

"He is already the highest-level person in District 174. There shouldn't be any problems, right?"

Fang Long laughed, "What problems could there be?"

"This time, in order to show their sincerity in cooperation, that group of Hunters actually dispatched more than a dozen Tier 2 Hunters all at once, along with three Tier 3 assassins!"

"Tsk tsk! It really makes my mouth water! How wonderful it would be if this power were mine!"

"With this batch of power, once the novice protection period ends tomorrow, I will be able to wipe out all Survivor camps within dozens of kilometers nearby and force them to join our Three Heroes Association."

"Then, using this to continuously expand, it won't be long before I have the final say in the entire District 174!"

Fang Long's eyes carried strong yearning, but he quickly shook his head, knowing that this wasn't very realistic.

"However, this time, that little brat definitely has no wings to fly away; he's dead for sure!"

His family members looked at each other, and expressions of gratification also appeared on their faces.

The glamorous woman also nodded.

Then she said somewhat hesitantly, "Brother Long… Although these Hunters are very strong, I always feel that they harbor malicious intentions…"

"Moreover, that black-robed priest's look at me is also a bit strange…"

Fang Long's expression stiffened.

He had also seen that undisguised look in the black-robed priest's eyes when looking at Lan Qianqian.

But right now, they still had to rely on the other party's power, so they didn't dare to flare up.

Fang Long reluctantly comforted her with a couple of sentences, telling Lan Qianqian not to worry.

Then came silent waiting.

A few minutes later, Fang Long received a message over there.

"Boss, the target has appeared. It is indeed that Cao Xing!"

"An elite-level Tier 2 archer has appeared by his side."

Fang Long's spirit instantly lifted, and he quickly replied, "Very good, just an elite archer. It's not a big problem."

"Next, you guys cooperate with that group of Hunters. Don't worry about so much, go all out and take him down directly!"

The other side replied, "Received, Boss. We will act immediately."

After closing the private chat, Fang Long wore an expectant expression on his face.

Then he waited with his family for good news.

However, not long after, Fang Long noticed once again that several avatars in his friend list had gone dark.

Fang Long's expression instantly changed.

"Damn… Could something have gone wrong again this time?"

But thinking about it again, Fang Long breathed a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, only a few people died."

"That brat is very strong. It's normal for some casualties to occur."

Fang Long comforted himself like this.

However, not long after.

When he saw the avatars in his friend list dimming one after another.

More than half of the Survivors he sent out were already dead!

At this moment, Fang Long only felt a chill instantly rush to the top of his head!

"Damn it! What is going on?"

"With so many people going to assassinate this Cao Xing, how could it possibly fail?"

Fang Long's family also noticed that his condition was a bit abnormal.

His mother asked, "Xiaolong, what happened?"

Fang Long did not speak, his expression turning increasingly ashen.

When he saw that the people he sent out had been completely wiped out, his fists clenched even harder.

At this moment, Fang Long walked straight out of the shelter, headed directly to the front of the Lords Cabin, and pushed open the door.

Seeing Fang Long enter, the black-robed priest looked impatient. "Didn't I already tell you? This place will be our temporary office location in the future. You need to understand some rules."

However, Fang Long said with an ashen face at this moment, "The assassination operation failed, and our people were completely wiped out!"

Hearing this, the black-robed priest's expression changed.

"What did you say?"

…

Meanwhile, Cao Xing's side had also finished cleaning up the battlefield.

He picked up all the items dropped by the corpses of these Hunters and Survivors.

Cao Xing cumulatively obtained:

[Coin] * 2723

[Primary Heart of Power] * 3

[Night Stalker Dagger (Blue)]

[Standard Machete (Green)] * 7

[Standard Iron Bow (Green)] * 4

[Damaged Wool Coat] * 4

[Damaged Linen Garment] * 7

[Dirty Hat] * 8

[Rations] * 241

Aside from that group of Hunters dropping a few green weapons and three primary Hearts of Power.

Those Survivors were a bunch of penniless wretches.

They only stripped off a few sets of ragged clothes.

Of course, this was probably because they kept all their resources in their territory storage boxes.

Unless we find their territory later and loot their storage boxes.

At this moment, Cao Xing remembered something.

"These guys brought their families along and moved out together just to kill me."

"After I wiped them all out, many territories don't even have a single lord left and are in an ownerless state."

"If I can find these guys' territories, not only can I loot their territorial supplies, but I can also bring all their Arctic People over by the way to increase my manpower!"

Cao Xing pondered for a moment, and an idea came to mind.

Thus, Cao Xing looked at the several recruited creatures lying on the ground.

There were originally eight left, but due to excessive blood loss, two more died.

The remaining six were also in a near-death state.

Three Imperial Soldiers, one Wild Boar Warrior, and two female mage apprentices.

Their levels were between 5 and 8.

Cao Xing walked over and said directly, "You just attempted to assassinate this Lord, so according to the rules, I am going to kill you and hang your corpses in this Lord's territory to warn those restless fellows."

Hearing this, those Imperial Soldiers were relatively fine.

The two female mages lying in a pool of blood raised their heads with difficulty and asked, "You… will you strip off our clothes before hanging our corpses?"

They had just witnessed Cao Xing's actions here; this truly was a ferocious lord who wouldn't even spare those corpses!

Cao Xing nodded, "Of course, this is the rule."

Hearing this, the two female mages turned pale with fright and felt so wronged that they were about to cry.

They were only apprentices of the Melandru Mage Association, and before entering the summoning space, they weren't very old.

A trace of imperceptible amusement appeared at the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

Then he spoke, "However, I know that you only made a move against me because you were driven by your own lord."

"And I am a benevolent lord."

"So now, I am willing to give you a choice: submit to me, or death."

Hearing this, the six recruited creatures lying on the ground exchanged glances, and then they replied without hesitation, "We are willing to submit to you, My Lord!"

They were just some ordinary creatures, and these Survivors didn't have any great opportunities either.

Unlike Cao Xing, who cultivated Assam all the way from an ordinary creature to the chieftain rank.

Therefore, their loyalty wasn't very high.

You must know that even if loyalty reaches 100, as long as the lord dies, the subordinate recruited creatures will still submit for survival.

Unless it was like Assam, reaching the level of absolute loyalty.

In this way, even if the lord died, Assam would still fight for the territory to the end.

Cao Xing sent recruitment invitations to all of them.

System prompts appeared.

[Kaishan Imperial Soldier: Zantoro / Ragid / Youssef have joined your territory, territory population + 3]

[Wild Boar Warrior: Blitz Reina has joined your territory, territory population + 1]

[Melandru Mage Association: Sylvia / Ellie have joined your territory, territory population + 2]

…

Cao Xing nodded with satisfaction, and then said to Liu Muxue, "Muxue, cast Holy Heal on them."

Liu Muxue walked over, raised her silver longsword, and streaks of holy light energy struck them.

Meanwhile, Cao Xing also raised his staff and cast individual [Ice Healing Art] on them.

These near-death recruited creatures gradually recovered.

At the same time.

The militia of Hoge Village walked over cautiously after seeing that the battle here had ended.

"My… My Lord?"

"W-What happened?"

The militia captain looked at Cao Xing and asked cautiously.

Cao Xing turned around, cleared his throat, and said righteously, "Everyone, you have all seen it. These are all Hunters, that group of crazy guys."

"The others are all heretics of the Church of Light!"

"They attempted to assassinate this Lord, but they were all killed by my powerful subordinates!"

"Such an evil church deserves to be punished by everyone!"

Cao Xing appeared very indignant.

Regardless of the reasons behind the matter, putting oneself on the side of justice first was always right.

Those villagers naturally knew the fierce reputation of the Hunters.

And they indeed saw the iconic masks of those guys on the ground.

The villagers recovered from their previous panic one by one, their faces filled with excitement.

The Hunters who previously terrified them had actually been completely killed by this lord.

This showed how formidable the opponent's strength was!

"This Lord, your power is comparable to the Earth Knights of the Empire!"

"That's right, you are eliminating evils for the people!"

"The Goddess of Order will bless you…"

When that group of militia looked at Cao Xing, there were also looks of adoration on their faces.

A system prompt appeared.

[You killed a group of Hunters, Hoge Village villagers witnessed your heroic deeds, Hoge Village favorability has increased, Current status: Friendly]

(Note: After increasing the favorability between factions, you will have a higher probability of triggering special quests for that faction, and when recruiting in the tavern, there will also be a higher chance of recruiting special personnel.)

Seeing the prompt, Cao Xing was secretly overjoyed.

He didn't expect that this could also increase faction favorability.

This group of villagers didn't know the truth behind it; they only knew that it was this young lord who wiped out that batch of crazy guys.

Of course, without Cao Xing's rhetoric, it might have just ended there, or even aroused the villagers' fear towards him.

This world seemed to be getting more and more interesting, able to bring different impacts due to his different actions.

The corners of Cao Xing's mouth curled into an arc.

At the same time, an elderly person who looked around Old Mel's age walked over quickly.

He looked very prestigious, and the onlookers among the villagers and militia actually proactively cleared a path for him.

Cao Xing glanced at his attributes.

[Hoge Village Chief: Maldo Shark lv5]

[Tier: Tier 1 Ordinary Creature]

[Health Points: 280 / 280]

[Attack Power: 24 ~ 27]

[Skills: Primary Management, Erudition]

[Talents: None]

…

This was the village chief.

He had already been alerted when the battle began.

But because the battle scene of Cao Xing and the others was too terrifying, this level 5 village chief didn't dare to get close at all.

It wasn't until the battle ended that the village chief dared to come to Cao Xing's side.

He also heard Cao Xing's rhetoric, so he asked in a low voice, "My Lord… how did this group of crazy heretics target you?"

Cao Xing shook his head and said, "It's a long story. It's probably because I saved a few innocents from their hands, so they started holding a grudge against me."

He casually made up an excuse.

A look of realization appeared on the face of the Hoge Village chief.

"I see. This Lord looks so young, yet he possesses a benevolent heart and formidable strength. Your prestige will definitely spread across the entire Gale Snowfield in the near future!"

At this moment, all the militia of Hoge Village looked at Cao Xing with respect in their eyes.

However, the two female mages behind Cao Xing curled their lips.

In their impression, Cao Xing wasn't benevolent at all.

Killing so many people in one breath without even blinking an eye.

And even wanting to strip off their clothes and hang their corpses on pillars.

Too cruel!

Cao Xing smiled and then said, "Village Chief, I'll have to trouble you to deal with these corpses."

The Hoge Village chief quickly waved his hand and said, "No trouble, no trouble…"

"If it weren't for this warrior, we wouldn't even know that so many Hunters had sneaked into Hoge Village."

"This is just a small effort. If you have any other matters, Hoge Village will definitely give you all the help within our power."

Cao Xing pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Speaking of which, I indeed have a matter that requires the Village Chief's help…"

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