Various Troops and Forces

Early in the morning on May 6, 180 AD, Zhan Xiaobai, Qiushui, and others led fifty of White Village’s most elite players to the village closest to Sword and Tripod Village: Warring States Village.

There were currently eighteen medium-sized villages in Wuwei Commandery, Liangzhou, which had upgraded one after another with a time gap of nearly two months. These included White Village, Sword and Tripod Village, Hegemony Village, Perfection Village, RMB Village, Do Not Laugh Village, Warring States Village, ..., and Tiger and Leopard Village, among others.

White Village, the First Village Under Heaven, had upgraded in early March. Sword and Tripod Village upgraded in late March, while the remaining villages upgraded between early April and early May. White Village’s overall strength far surpassed all other villages in Wuwei.

Among them, Sword and Tripod Village had somehow triggered a quest called [Rise of the Turbulent World Heroes]. After plundering several villages, it rebelled and proclaimed itself the Lesser King of Xiqiang, becoming Liangzhou’s first player rebel faction. The remaining seventeen villages accepted the dispatch of the Liangzhou government and participated together in the encirclement and suppression campaign.

Warring States Village was closest to Sword and Tripod Village, yet it had not been attacked like Seven Swords Village or Rainbow Village. The reason was simple: Warring States Village was also a powerful medium-sized settlement and had maintained a high level of vigilance against its neighbor, Sword and Tripod Village.

While Sword and Tripod Village could launch a dawn raid on small villages like Seven Swords and Rainbow with fewer than a thousand people, taking down Warring States Village, which boasted a population of over three thousand, was beyond its capability.

When Zhan Xiaobai, Qiushui, and the others arrived at Warring States Village, more than ten factions of Wuwei Commandery players had already gathered inside.

The village chief, "Warring States All-Under-Heaven," personally greeted the various village chiefs at the village entrance. Seeing Zhan Xiaobai and his group of brightly equipped players, his eyes lit up, and he hurried forward to welcome them. With a little effort, promotional images and data of village chiefs across the game could be found on various forums, making them easy to recognize.

Warring States All-Under-Heaven laughed heartily and said, "Village Chief Xiaobai, Elder Qiushui, the two of you truly possess extraordinary bearing. It is an absolute honor for my Warring States Village to welcome two such distinguished guests."

Zhan Xiaobai had never met Warring States All-Under-Heaven in person before, but he had long since seen his picture. With a smile, he replied, "Not at all, Brother Warring States is too polite. I have long heard of Brother Warring States, but unfortunately never had the chance to visit. I never expected Brother Warring States to be so heroic and righteous, and I’ve been eager to pay my respects much earlier! Please!"

"Please!"

After exchanging pleasantries with Zhan Xiaobai, Warring States All-Under-Heaven did not forget the player experts standing behind Qiushui. He smiled and said, "All you brothers have had a hard journey, please!" Having welcomed White Village's players, Warring States All-Under-Heaven did not linger at the village gate—these were the guests most worthy of reception and naturally required his personal accompaniment, while the other arriving players were left to his assistants.

Accompanied by Warring States All-Under-Heaven and others, the members of White Village entered the village.

Warring States Village had only upgraded its primary buildings: a medium-sized inn, a medium-sized tavern, a medium-sized post station, and various medium-sized artisan workshops. The remaining structures had not yet been upgraded and remained at the basic level.

Inside the village, the tavern could not hold so many people, so dozens of simple banquet tables were set up outside. Those present were predominantly village chiefs, elders, and legion commanders, packed tightly together. In addition, nearly a hundred tables were arranged to host the regular players. Although not lavish, it was enough to boost morale.

Seeing Zhan Xiaobai and his group arrive, people called out from all directions, "Ah, Xiaobai is here!" "Come sit over here, our table is right this way! Let's have a good chat." "Haha, hearing a hundred times is nothing compared to seeing once. I never imagined Xiaobai would be so young."

Many female players in attendance gasped, "It's Xiaobai!" "Big Brother Xiaobai, over here! Come on, give us a smile, let's take a photo as a souvenir!"

Zhan Xiaobai felt slightly embarrassed, but maintained a polite smile and cupped his hands. "Hello, hello, brothers and sisters! It's our first time meeting, I, Xiaobai, greet you all. Please take care of me." He then led Qiushui and the others, along with Warring States All-Under-Heaven, to sit at the largest table. The people there introduced themselves one by one—they were precisely the seventeen village chiefs and their key assistants.

"This is the chief of Hegemony Village, Village Chief Hegemony."

"This is the chief of Perfection Village, Village Chief Perfection Girl (female)."

"This is the chief of RMB Village, Village Chief Unlimited RMB."

"This is the chief of Do Not Laugh Village, Village Chief Do Not Laugh Wind."

......

"This is the chief of Tiger and Leopard Village, Black Tiger......"

Zhan Xiaobai greeted them one by one.

He had only met Black Tiger and Shen Biao from Tiger and Leopard Village before, and knew very little about the chiefs of the other villages. Amidst the cheerful conversations, he silently committed their names and characteristics to memory. Hegemony had a stern and unfathomable appearance, and his village possessed considerable strength; his subordinates were a batch of fierce warriors equipped with full sets of blades and swords, all looking domineering. Perfection Girl, having become the chief of a medium-sized village as a woman, must possess quite formidable strength. Unlimited RMB wore an outfit that looked extremely luxurious......

While introducing themselves, everyone did not forget to promote their own villages.

This gathering was not merely as simple as encircling and suppressing Sword and Tripod Village; it was also a contest of strength among the most prominent villages in Wuwei Commandery. One thing was certain: the entire process of this war would undoubtedly be faithfully recorded by military enthusiasts and uploaded to major forums—this would naturally affect each village's reputation and standing in the hearts of players, which in turn would influence the village's appeal to players. Villages with a stronger appeal to players would naturally attract a large influx of various technical talents.

Therefore, Zhan Xiaobai did not hold back too much; he had brought White Village's elite player troops to overshadow the momentum of the other villages.

While he was sizing up the various village chiefs, the village chiefs were likewise observing Zhan Xiaobai and the group of elite players he had brought.

Zhan Xiaobai wore a harmless smile, making it difficult to gauge his depth, and was dressed in ordinary novice cloth garments. If mixed into a crowd, one might easily mistake him for a newcomer. Such a person appeared ordinary, yet it was hard to find any weaknesses. The village chiefs secretly felt it was a tricky situation; trying to pick out flaws in Zhan Xiaobai would probably prove rather difficult.

Qiushui wore a level-20 gray wolf king leather armor set [+6 defense], with a sharp sword at her waist, willow-leaf eyebrows, and a proud, heroic posture. Standing beside Zhan Xiaobai, she occasionally glanced at the crowd while maintaining a faint, steady smile. Such a talented and sufficiently clever woman also gave the impression of someone extremely difficult to deal with.

The fifty high-level players from White Village wore a uniform set of level-15 gray wolf armor [+4 defense], equipped with sabers, swords, spears, and shields, carrying level-20 hard bows and two quivers on their backs. Each of them looked steady and full of vigor—these fifty players were recruited and poached from within White Village and more than a dozen surrounding villages, and their strength was naturally extraordinary.

The village chiefs whispered among themselves. To wear complete sets of leather armor as ordinary clothing—the reputation of White Village as the First Village Under Heaven was indeed well-deserved.

In contrast, among their own villages, the best-equipped individuals were only the village chiefs' bodyguards, with only a small minority wearing complete leather armor sets and carrying a limited number of bows and arrows. The rest of the players used all sorts of mismatched leather armor pieces, caring only about boosting defense while completely sacrificing their appearance.

The gap was too obvious, and they gradually abandoned the idea of comparing themselves to White Village.

There were no assigned seating arrangements at the banquet; everyone sat down casually.

Zhan Xiaobai happened to find himself seated next to Tiger and Leopard Village and Hegemony Village.

He smiled broadly at Black Tiger and said, "Brother Black Tiger, just a few days and we meet again, we really are fated. A few days ago, our two villages signed another batch of new trade agreements. I was busy for a while and didn't get a chance to share a drink with Brother Black Tiger to celebrate. Since we happen to be gathered together today, we must definitely have a few cups."

Black Tiger chuckled and replied, "Quite right, I'll consider this first cup as my toast to Boss Xiaobai."

Shen Biao curled his lip and muttered disdainfully under his breath nearby, "Hmph, hypocrite, a fellow who swallows meat without spitting out the bones. He swallowed our mine, and now he comes back to play the good guy......"

Black Tiger glared at him, and he instantly didn't dare to utter another half-syllable.

After exchanging a few words with Black Tiger, Zhan Xiaobai chatted briefly with Hegemony sitting nearby. However, Hegemony seemed dissatisfied with him and paid him little mind. Naturally, Zhan Xiaobai had no desire to make a fool of himself, so he smiled and turned to speak with others.

With so many village chiefs and legion commanders present, there was no shortage of conversational partners. The strength of White Village attracted many players who came over to say hello. Even a newcomer ran over, excitedly expressing a desire to join White Village, but lamented that the road was too far and he was afraid of being bitten to death by wolves halfway, so he begged Zhan Xiaobai to escort him there.

Zhan Xiaobai found it both funny and exasperating, completely at a loss for words. Taking him in would be troublesome, while refusing would crush his enthusiasm—after all, the person showed genuine eagerness. He had no choice but to leave the matter to Qiushui to handle.

Not long after, several more village chiefs arrived successively.

As the host, Warring States All-Under-Heaven saw that most people had gathered and said, "Village chiefs, I believe all the village chiefs who received the quest have assembled. Now, only the NPC commanding officials dispatched by the imperial court have yet to arrive. Before that, why don't we discuss the matter of Sword and Tripod Village and figure out how to deal with it!"

Unlimited RMB, Perfection Girl, Tiger and Leopard Village, and others readily agreed.

At this moment, Do Not Laugh Wind proposed, "In my opinion, a snake cannot move without a head. Each of our villages has scattered groups of fifty people, independent of one another. We might as well nominate someone to exercise unified command so that we can be coordinated. Otherwise, there's no point in attacking Sword and Tripod Village; we'd just be a tray of loose sand!"

"Well said!"

"Precisely my thought."

Hegemony immediately sneered, "Is that really necessary? I think this is making a mountain out of a molehill. With a thousand elite imperial troops dispatched, do we even need to make a move? We're just going through the motions, and I doubt we'll even get a chance to enter the field. Everyone just needs to manage their own people well; making up so many rules is troublesome and burdensome."

Perfection Girl said with a serious expression, "Hegemony, that remark is probably wrong. When the imperial court summoned us here, do you think they'd let us be mere window dressing? I'm afraid they'll sit back and watch the show while sending us in as cannon fodder to charge the lines. If we don't prepare early and it becomes too late, what will we do if we lose the battle?"

Hegemony was momentarily choked for words, unsure how to retort. He opposed establishing a unified commander because he knew his own strength was insufficient and he had no chance of securing the position. However, making him submit to someone else's command was something he found hard to stomach.

Do Not Laugh Wind smiled and said, "Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. We still need to unify. If we are to have unified coordination, I'm afraid none other than Xiaobai from the First Village Under Heaven can fill the role, and the rest of us needn't contend for it. Furthermore, Warring States All-Under-Heaven is the host here and also shoulders heavy responsibilities such as logistics and security, making him naturally the prime candidate for second-in-command. All of us village chiefs will do our utmost to cooperate and ensure the success of this suppression campaign. Once Sword and Tripod Village is broken, I believe everyone will inevitably reap the benefits."

The various village chiefs all expressed their agreement.

Warring States All-Under-Heaven laughed and said, "Many thanks for Brother Mo's flattering support!"

Standing alone and unsupported, Hegemony had no choice but to agree.

Zhan Xiaobai observed the expressions and tones of the various village chiefs, finding it all rather amusing. Warring States All-Under-Heaven and Do Not Laugh Wind had likely reached some kind of agreement long ago, playing off each other to arrange everyone's tasks neatly while successfully pushing him into the commander's seat. If victorious, it would be taken for granted, and his own gains would be minimal. If defeated, all the blame could be shifted onto him, the commander—heh heh.

To be honest, this commander's role carried little actual power, because the imperial court would send officials to manage and uniformly command the players. All he could do was cooperate; he lacked the authority to arbitrarily deploy troops.

However, Zhan Xiaobai already had a plan in mind; taking up this command was still necessary as it served to protect his own interests.

Since everyone else had stated their stance, only Zhan Xiaobai remained.

After weighing the pros and cons, Zhan Xiaobai said, "Very well, I shall temporarily take on this command. Let us all cooperate as much as possible and coordinate troop movements uniformly."

Do Not Laugh Wind continued, "The second matter should be the intelligence on Sword and Tripod Village. How much does everyone actually know about Sword and Tripod Village?"

Most players looked somewhat blank.

Even the various village chiefs knew very little.

Before Sword and Tripod Village launched its massive raids on neighboring villages, it had been completely unknown, and no one knew which corner it had crawled out of. The chiefs of Seven Swords Village, Rainbow Village, and others were also present; when questioned by the crowd, their expressions merely darkened, as they too lacked understanding of Sword and Tripod Village.

Seeing that most people were in the dark, Warring States All-Under-Heaven smiled and said, "As far as I know, Sword and Tripod Village was only established at the end of February, and by the end of March, it upgraded to a medium-sized settlement. Such rapid upgrading is truly shocking. Its village chief is a player who came from the direction of Wuwei City and is somewhat known in Wuwei. Based on my observations, this player must have obtained some special advantage to establish and upgrade their village here. Their security measures are extremely tight, and intelligence regarding their military strength is rarely leaked."

Discussions buzzed around the tables.

Some players even went offline and dug up all sorts of intelligence on Sword and Tripod Village from various forums, posting it all. They arrived at a surprising piece of intelligence: Sword and Tripod Village possessed two hundred NPC villagers, almost all of whom were militiamen, and its development strategy differed from that of ordinary villages.

By noon, the officials dispatched by the imperial court still hadn't arrived, and the crowd gradually grew impatient. Although the players were fully assembled, the authority to mobilize each village's troops rested in the hands of the imperial government officials. With them delaying their arrival, the players could not rashly take action.

At long last, a plump elderly NPC official, braving the scorching sun, finally arrived under the escort of more than a dozen Xiliang cavalrymen. After hurriedly drinking some tea, the white-bearded old NPC turned out to be quite approachable. "This old man arrives tardily, my crimes are heavy, my crimes are heavy! Old age simply cannot withstand such tossing about! Village chiefs, please summon the righteous volunteers immediately and let us depart. We shall rendezvous with the Commandant's troops."

The various villages rose in unison to welcome him, shouting out to rally their men and organizing the troops for departure.