Watchtower

Zhan Xiaobai, along with Li Asan, Sword Overlord, the Disabled Veteran, and several others, patrolled the village, wandering leisurely through the marketplace, the fields, and the craftsman’s district. Whenever he encountered an NPC farmer basking in the sun, he would strike up a casual conversation, thereby boosting the morale of the villagers.

As Zhan Xiaobai walked, he pondered the next steps in the village’s development. During the month-long closed beta, not a single player had managed to upgrade a small village to a middle village.

“Asan, what do you think are the requirements for upgrading our small village to a middle village?” Zhan Xiaobai asked.

Li Asan responded promptly. “My lord, though my knowledge is limited, I happen to know the requirements for upgrading. It’s quite straightforward—there are four main conditions. But given our current situation, I fear we are still some ways off...”

“Oh? You actually know? Tell me more!” Zhan Xiaobai said, intrigued.

Li Asan explained, “First, the village must have at least fifteen different types of basic buildings to complete its essential functions. Currently, we’ve built: the administrative courtyard (automatic), a fence, latrine, carpenter’s hut, lumberyard, martial hall, blacksmith shop, infirmary, and ferry, which means we’re still missing six. Second, the village chief must reach level twenty and have thirty reputation points. You are just shy of the level, my lord, and you have only twenty reputation points. Third, the population must be full, which we’ve already achieved. Fourth, we need a ‘Village Upgrade Blueprint,’ but I am unsure where to obtain such an item.”

After hearing this, Zhan Xiaobai and Sword Overlord finally understood the requirements.

These conditions made sense: a village could only be upgraded once all its functions were complete; the chief needed higher prestige to command the people; and, naturally, there were blueprints for both construction and upgrading.

It all followed a natural logic.

On the surface, upgrading the village did not seem too difficult. Yet, fulfilling these requirements was anything but easy. Besides the six missing buildings, how could reputation be earned? Zhan Xiaobai had never even heard of an ‘Upgrade Blueprint.’

He did not dwell on it, however, and laughed, “When the time comes, things will work themselves out. I’ll ask around about the upgrade blueprint—someone is bound to know.”

As they chatted and laughed, the group reached the eastern gate of the village.

“Let’s start with the simplest requirement: building more structures,” Sword Overlord suggested. “Buildings fall into three categories: residential, functional, and military. So far, we’ve only built residential and functional types. Since we’re still short by six buildings, why not construct some military structures?”

Li Asan immediately replied, “Elder Sword Overlord, while your suggestion is sound, our village’s current level prevents us from building proper military facilities like barracks or stables.”

Sword Overlord grinned. “Of course, I wasn’t referring to those advanced military buildings…”

Just then, a player came running with news: “The lumberyard three li west of the village has no more trees to fell. The lumberjacks have nothing to do.”

Zhan Xiaobai immediately ordered the carpenter to gather the lumberjacks and set up two new lumberyards at the southern gate. The carpenter set off at once. After a moment’s thought, Zhan also instructed the Disabled Veteran to join them, asking him to work with the carpenter to see if they could improve their tools and raise efficiency. The veteran followed suit.

With these matters handled, Sword Overlord continued, “We could build a watchtower here. With a single militia member standing guard, the village’s safety would be much improved.”

Zhan Xiaobai nodded. “That’s an excellent idea. Let’s do it.”

When the carpenter returned, Zhan Xiaobai asked if he could build a wooden watchtower. The carpenter patted his chest confidently. “For a mid-level carpenter like myself, building a tower is no trouble at all. Leave it to me, Chief.”

By midday, a brand new wooden tower rose at the village’s east gate. To call it a tower was generous—it was little more than a seven or eight-meter-high timber scaffold, with planks and a simple railing at the top. It was a crude affair.

Basic Watchtower: Capacity—one soldier. Visual range—five li. Defense—zero. Durability—five hundred.

The watchtower required only a single militia member on duty at any time. With five soldiers in the village, they could take shifts. Standing watch would also earn them a small amount of experience, and there was little risk involved.

Zhan Xiaobai was pleased with the tower’s field of view; climbing up himself, he could even see the activity of players in Tiger and Leopard Village across the river, three li away.

However, a minor problem arose: the tower was not just for show—it needed to function in an emergency. If the village were attacked, how could the guard at the top warn everyone? Running down to deliver the message would be far too slow.

Flags? Drums?

There was not enough cloth for flags, but a piece of tattered cowhide tied to a stick would suffice. That solved the flag problem—but flags had two drawbacks: they could only be seen by those looking, and they were useless at night.

Drums could carry sound, but there were no craftsmen skilled enough to make them, and a drum was not something to be fashioned from a piece of cowhide in a hurry.

As a last resort, they posted a notice at the east gate, offering a thirty-copper reward for a solution.

One enthusiastic player brought forth a bull’s horn, dropped by a wild bull. Hollow and sturdy, it was a perfect natural horn. A single blow produced a droning sound heard for several li around.

Bullhorn: Deep tone, range three li.

With a bullhorn and a cowhide flag, everyone in the village could immediately be alerted to any threat or disturbance nearby.

Qiushui and others studied the use of ancient horns and flags, drafting a set of rules: a rapid horn blast meant an enemy attack; a slow blast indicated the appearance of a suspicious large party. The flag pointed in the direction of the threat. Thus, a simple but effective watchtower system was established.

All day long, an NPC militiaman, armed with a wooden shield, stood guard atop the tower. After some basic training from the Disabled Veteran, the NPCs were fully up to the task.

===========================================
——Urgent request for suggestions on basic buildings! Everyone, please contribute your ideas. We just need to fill in five more buildings. If we can’t make up the list, I’ll have to cut the later building chapters, and revise the rules so only ten buildings are needed for the upgrade.
===========================================