10 Fierce-blooded Militiamen

A’Fei exclaimed excitedly, “Great, just great! Right now, I bet there aren’t many players in the whole world who have NPC soldiers. If each of us could have a squad of NPC soldiers, imagine how impressive we’d look strutting down the road. We could even station a few NPC guards at each village gate. Let’s see who dares cause trouble here then!”

Spring and Autumn Young Hero was extremely tempted; he’d been waiting for this day for ages. He quickly asked, “Brother Bai, how do we recruit soldiers? Do you have any experience?”

Zhan Xiaobai was a bit embarrassed. Even though he had experience from the closed beta, he’d never actually recruited soldiers before. He turned to Li A-San, who was standing behind him. “A-San, you should know how to recruit soldiers, right?”

Li A-San replied respectfully, “My lord, there are two ways to recruit soldiers: First, a level 10 farmer can be converted into a level 10 militiaman, and then the militiaman can be promoted to a level 20 regular soldier. Second, by building a barracks, you can directly recruit level 20 soldiers. Our small village doesn’t have the resources to build a barracks yet, so our only option is to convert farmers into militiamen. After training, the militiamen can be promoted to regular soldiers.” (Militiamen: Level 10, farm during planting season, train during downtime, can fight. Soldiers: Level 20, full-time warriors, do not farm.)

Qiu Shui asked, “Are there any differences between soldiers recruited via these two methods?”

Li A-San answered, “No real difference; the end result is usually the same.”

Zhan Xiaobai asked curiously, “So how many soldiers can we recruit right now?”

Li A-San seemed troubled. “My lord, a militiaman consumes two catties of grain a day and requires no pay. A regular soldier consumes three catties of grain a day, and every seven days, they’re paid ten copper coins. With our village’s resources, it takes at least twenty farmers to support the food and pay for one militiaman. It will also slow down the village’s development to some extent. We’re not exactly flush with resources right now, so my advice is to shelve this idea for now.”

Zhan Xiaobai was a bit embarrassed at this. If it took twenty farmers to support a single militiaman, they could only manage to recruit one at most. A civilian-to-soldier ratio of thirty to one was considered moderate. At one hundred to one, the tax burden was light; at ten to one, it was considered a high-risk recruitment level.

It was a burden, but the village could still handle this ratio.

Training troops was a must. He couldn’t wait until he was flush with resources to think about raising an army; who knew when an unexpected danger might arrive? Waiting until disaster struck to shore up defenses would be too late for regrets.

Currently, most players were only level four to seven, and the beasts they hunted rarely exceeded level ten. Having a high-level NPC—be it a militiaman above level ten or a full-fledged level twenty soldier—could make all the difference in a crisis.

Everyone fixed their eyes on Zhan Xiaobai, waiting for his final decision.

Zhan Xiaobai stood up, brimming with resolve. “I’ve decided—for safety’s sake, our village will recruit soldiers!”

The crowd erupted with cheers. “Recruit soldiers! Recruit soldiers!” “Let’s build a strong village with a strong army!”

At once, Zhan Xiaobai raised a finger. “Don’t get too excited; for now, we’re only recruiting one militiaman.”

Instantly, there was a chorus of sighs. “Ah, just one? That’s not enough for everyone!” “Well, at least it’s better than nothing; our little village finally has a soldier.” “Boss, so who gets to take the militiaman out to level up?”

Zhan Xiaobai waved his hand. “Let’s recruit first. A-San, go and bring in a militiaman! Let’s see what he looks like.”

“Yes, my lord.” Li A-San accepted the order and hurried out.

A little over ten minutes later, Li A-San returned to report, “My lord, from among thirty-four farmers, I’ve selected the three best candidates. They’re waiting in the courtyard for you to choose one as our militiaman.”

“Oh?” Zhan Xiaobai smiled. “Good, let’s go have a look. See which one is best suited for the job.”

In the courtyard, the three robust and imposing NPC farmers stood shoulder to shoulder, looking much the same at first glance.

Zhan Xiaobai asked, “How do we tell which one is best?”

Li A-San replied, “You can’t tell by looks alone; you have to check their stats. All three are level ten farmers, but their health is higher than average. Ordinary farmers have 100 HP, but these have 136, 141, and 131, with strength values of 13, 12, and 12, respectively. They’re born sturdy farmers.”

Zhan Xiaobai’s eyes lit up. “Xiliang has a reputation for producing tough soldiers, and it’s well deserved. In Jiangnan, farmers with such high health and strength are rare, yet here we have three at once. Let’s call them ‘bloodforged militiamen.’ Choose the one with the highest strength, and keep the others as reserves. When we have more resources, we’ll convert them all.”

What Zhan Xiaobai didn’t know was that even in Xiliang, such tough farmers were rare. Were it not for his village’s unique trait—“5% chance to recruit special-status NPCs”—they wouldn’t have gotten so many at once.

Li A-San converted the level ten farmer with 136 HP and 13 strength into a level ten militiaman.

On the outside, there wasn’t much change—just the long-sleeved farmer’s shirt replaced by a short-sleeved militia uniform. His courage skyrocketed, giving him a fierce, intimidating air.

Li A-San explained that ordinary farmers, when startled by wild beasts, would panic and flee, but militiamen would stand their ground and fight. That was one advantage. Plus, militiamen could be equipped with a weapon and a shield—farmers could not.

“What a bloodforged militiaman! We’ll call him Militiaman Number One. I’ll lend him my bronze saber for now, and later we’ll try to get him a shield for extra defense.”

Zhan Xiaobai was quite satisfied and handed his bronze saber to the village’s first bloodforged militiaman.

A’Fei’s eyes sparkled. “Big brother, do you think he could use a wooden shield? We could make one right now for him.”

“Hey, that’s a good idea—maybe a wooden shield would work. Let’s check with the carpenter.”

The group ran to the carpenter’s workshop. Though a wooden shield wasn’t technically furniture, it was simple to make, and the carpenter quickly put one together. Militiaman Number One was equipped at once. With a bronze saber and a wooden shield, he was ready for both offense and defense.

“But who’s going to take him out to level up?” Zhan Xiaobai wondered aloud.

Everyone scrambled to volunteer. With such a high-health, high-attack NPC bodyguard, leveling up would be a breeze! A’Fei and Spring and Autumn Young Hero nearly came to blows over it.

Unable to decide, Qiu Shui suggested, “We’ve never really leveled up together before, and since we’re all free, why not just go as a group? We can all gain experience and help Number One level up at the same time.”

“Great idea!” A’Fei grinned mischievously. “Sister Qiu Shui, you’re as smart as Zhuge Liang and as pretty as Diao Chan!”

Qiu Shui beamed.

Zhan Xiaobai playfully smacked his head. “Flatterer. All right, you lead the way—let’s show off Number One.”

“Yes, sir!”

A’Fei led the way with his broadsword. Number One, Sword Tyrant, Spring and Autumn Young Hero, Qiu Shui, Zhan Xiaobai, and the rest followed, leaving the village to level up.

When Number One appeared at the east gate, he caused quite a stir among the players. Five or six hundred players relaxing nearby nearly blocked the gate completely.

“Look over there, what’s that?” Player Jia gasped. “He’s got a sword and a shield!”

“Oh my god, that’s a soldier! (Well, technically a militiaman.) Xiaobai Village has officially produced its first soldier!”

“Niuniu, want me to buy you a little soldier to keep you company?” A certain guy tried to impress his girlfriend.

“Boss, how much for one of those soldiers? I’ll buy—no, I’ll pay real money. Three thousand yuan—how about it? Big Brother Xiaobai, you have to sell me one! Having a soldier at your side is the ultimate status symbol! Wait, don’t go! I’ll raise my offer—four thousand, forty-five hundred?”

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