Chapter 51: Preparing for the Upgrade

During the two days the Tycoon lingered in the small village, all sorts of materials for constructing the villa were transported in batches from Wuwei City. The villa’s architect, craftsmen, and the construction crew took up their posts; Sword Tyrant was busy discussing the villa’s design with the architect.

This sophisticated villa would take several more days to complete. The Tycoon did not have the leisure to wait and returned to Wuwei.

“Village Chief, please stay. When I have some free time, I’ll visit again!”

“No need to see you off. Remember to come often if you have the time, old gentleman.”

Zhan Xiaobai smiled as he watched the Tycoon’s luxurious carriage, escorted by cavalry, leave through the village’s east gate, heading northwest towards Wuwei City.

After seeing the Tycoon off, Zhan Xiaobai walked to the back of the administrative courtyard and found Sword Tyrant and the architect surveying the land, hammering in numerous wooden stakes for positioning.

Seeing him approach, Sword Tyrant put down a stake and grinned. “The moneybags is gone? You look much more relaxed now. You’ve been accompanying him on hunting trips for the past two days—how was it?”

At the mention of hunting, Zhan Xiaobai felt a wave of frustration. “Hunting? That’s hardly the word! The Tycoon’s meager skills couldn’t even bring down a fawn—he nearly got gored by its antlers. I was nothing more than a moving shield, taking all the hits for him. Thankfully the cost of medicine wasn’t too high, or I’d have lost on the deal. How are things on your end? How long do you need to finish up?”

Sword Tyrant considered for a moment. “The Tycoon has high standards. It’ll take at least five or six days to get everything done.”

“All right, you and your team carry on. I won’t get in your way.”

Sword Tyrant had more to say and quickly called after him, “Wait a moment, Xiaobai. We’ve already built fourteen basic structures; now we lack only one last building. In your opinion, what should it be?”

“Just one left?” Zhan Xiaobai paused, doing the calculations. “The administrative office, the watchtower, the tavern, the inn, the post station, the stables—that makes fourteen. Plus this wooden villa. That’s exactly fifteen different types of buildings.”

Sword Tyrant shook his head. “I checked with Old Li. The post station and stables both belong to us. But the land for this villa, as well as the villa itself, are private property of the Tycoon. They don’t count as village assets, so they can’t be considered functional village buildings.”

“Oh,” Zhan Xiaobai understood. “So there’s one left. No rush; you and Old Li can decide. If you find a suitable building, put it up. I need to go level up. By the time I return, you’ll probably have finished the last building.”

“We’ll see,” Sword Tyrant smiled, saying nothing further.

Zhan Xiaobai returned to the administrative office, sat alone at his desk, and pondered his next move. He was currently at level seventeen, a reputable figure. Upgrading the small village to a medium-sized one required the village chief to reach level twenty. Without a doubt, he needed to raise his level.

Then there was the Ebony Bandit Order, a quest involving the extermination of ten bandits, which would earn him a bit of reputation. (He sighed, not knowing exactly how much.)

These two tasks could be completed together.

Just then, the Young Hero of Spring and Autumn burst into the hall. “Big brother, you were looking for me?”

Zhan Xiaobai had sent someone to summon him before the Tycoon left, but was told he had gone off with a group to level up, so he’d had to wait. Now, finally, the Young Hero returned.

“You’re back. I haven’t seen you around much lately. What level are you up to now?”

“Not much, just level twenty-three. There aren’t many places to level up near the village, so I’ve been leading a group of brothers further afield, looking for suitable spots.”

“Good. Come with me.”

Zhan Xiaobai rose, and together they made their way to the annex—the pharmacy.

As they walked, Zhan Xiaobai explained, “Tonight, pick the strongest hands from your group. I’ll start leveling up tomorrow, and you’ll come with me. Let’s try to reach level twenty in the next few days. Also, I have a bandit extermination quest. We’ll be counting on your strength.”

The Young Hero was surprised. “Bandit extermination? Those are killer NPCs—high difficulty. Few players dare provoke NPCs directly. Are you sure, big brother?”

Zhan Xiaobai smiled. “Yes, it’s a reputation quest, necessary for advancing the village.”

They entered the pharmacy, where bundles of herbs filled the center of the room and the cabinets overflowed with completed and half-finished +5 HP healing potions. Zhan Xiaobai ignored these, instead retrieving some large-grained blood potions from a cabinet in the corner.

“This will be a dangerous journey, so we need to be well prepared. All of these are subpar products made during A-San’s trials of the +10 HP potion. They still restore between +6 and +9 HP, better than the +5s on the market. Take them, and distribute them to your brothers.”

“Understood,” the Young Hero accepted the potions. “But, big brother, how many men should we bring?”

“You’ve more experience—what do you think?”

“I have over twenty of the best technical fighters in this region. Too many people would actually make it harder to deal with the bandit NPCs. These should suffice. Plus, we’ll bring Blood Fiend Number One, who’s level twenty-six.”

“All right. There are about four hundred pills here—so each person gets twenty. Take a few dozen +5s as backups as well.”

Handing out over four hundred high-grade healing pills, plus hundreds of standard ones, Zhan Xiaobai was investing heavily to complete this bandit quest.

The Young Hero wasted no time and immediately went to gather his men.

Zhan Xiaobai still felt this wasn’t enough; their fighting strength needed further reinforcement. He made his way to the smithy, where the disabled veteran was hard at work at the forge.

Bare-chested, the veteran was hammering away when he saw Zhan Xiaobai enter. He quickly put down his hammer and greeted him, “My lord, what brings you here? Please, have a seat.”

“No need for chairs, old friend. I came to ask—what level of weapons can you forge now?”

The veteran beamed and brought out several weapons. “I've advanced to intermediate blacksmithing. These blades, swords, and spears are my latest work—I was planning to wait until I made even finer arms before presenting them to you. But since you need them now, please take a look.”

Zhan Xiaobai examined them one by one. All were +2 attack, ordinary iron weapons, each with different attributes: sharpness, rending, piercing. They were far superior to bronze blades.