Chapter 21: The Unexpected Change Arrives!
A string of mutters came from Xiao Wen's mouth as he tossed the two quest items back into storage.
Stretching lazily, he sat in his chair and opened the parchment scroll, studying it carefully.
At present, the number of Level 3 villages under his control had already reached five, which was the maximum limit.
Although there were still some Level 1 and Level 2 villages that could be conquered, Xiao Wen felt there was no real need.
He had already secured the biggest gains. The remaining scraps of profit were beneath his notice. What truly mattered now was the next step—establishing a county city.
However, building a city required a City Establishment Token.
To obtain one, he would have to target some bandit strongholds.
The Level 1 to Level 3 villages he had occupied might appear to be ordinary villages on the surface, but in reality, they were bandit-controlled bases.
Above these bandits were even larger strongholds.
The headquarters of those strongholds were hidden deep within the mountains, extremely well concealed. Most of the time, they simply dispatched their underlings to seize villages across various regions and stationed bandits according to the amount of resources submitted.
That was how the classifications of Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 villages had come about.
The bandits occupied the villages, enslaved the villagers to work for them, and then presented the fruits of that labor to the stronghold chiefs.
As for the villagers, they were the poorest and lowest class of all.
Xiao Wen had known this since his previous life.
They were alive, but there was little difference between living and being dead.
Fortunately, this great lord has arrived. This great lord is your savior!
I will lead you toward a bright future.
Xiao Wen indulged in his fantasies before using his finger like a pen to draw a circle on the parchment.
The circle marked the location of his current territory, but he expanded it outward by another ring.
This was the construction area he had designated for his future city.
If I'm going to build one, then I'll build the first city!
I'll build the greatest city in the world!
Xiao Wen silently declared to himself, having already set an ambitious goal.
His gaze then shifted toward the chat channel window at the side. Opening it, he found countless players either complaining or shouting in surprise.
[Detective Corgi]: What the hell did I just hear? What kind of nonsense is a hidden storyline quest? And what the hell are the Yellow Turbans?
[Falling Wind Stained Ink]: You seriously don't know the Yellow Turbans? Confirmed history illiterate.
[Invincible Explosive Fire Dragon]: Great news, everyone! I finally captured a Level 2 village at the cost of only one soldier and one general!
[I Possess the Spirit of Cao Wei]: It's just the Yellow Turbans. Why are you acting like you've never seen anything before? If you don't know, go read the official announcements. Servers are divided by region. Our Divine Province Continent server starts with the Three Kingdoms and the Yellow Turban era. You can tell just by looking at the generals you've recruited. The next major storyline is probably the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The only question is whether the developers made any major changes to it.
[Muscle Golden Wheel]: Generals? All I've recruited are Zhang San, Li Si, and Wang Ergou. What exactly am I supposed to understand?
[Roasted Yam]: Hah. Stop fooling around. Generals below Tier 3 are trash. Only generals above Tier 3 are historical figures. That's already been confirmed.
[Young Ox-Horse]: Remember this. You're not playing a game—you're living a life. What you're spending isn't money, but your vision for your gaming life!
[Detective Corgi]: The guy above somehow made this scam game sound elegant and inspiring! Anyway, I'm done chatting. I'm going to curse out customer service. I wanted the six-yuan first recharge reward, and those bastards wouldn't give it to me! I'm going to tear them apart!
...
A flood of complaints flashed before Xiao Wen's eyes.
However, his attention remained fixed on one particular topic.
The Yellow Turban Rebellion.
His eyebrows rose slightly as a trace of surprise appeared on his face.
Looks like quite a few people have already guessed the future main storyline.
The only question is how these guys will choose when the time comes.
Muttering to himself, Xiao Wen withdrew his attention and stretched again.
Just then, he noticed the private message window flashing.
A message from Shen Shuyi had arrived.
First, she congratulated Xiao Wen on perfectly completing the Prologue Main Quest.
Then she started asking about future developments.
After all, a top-tier player like Xiao Wen definitely possessed inside information.
Otherwise, tricks like cutting banners, pulling monsters, and exploiting terrain weren't things an ordinary player could come up with.
If this guy wasn't a game insider, then he absolutely possessed an absurdly deep understanding of the game.
Of course, there was an even more important reason.
Every time Shen Shuyi chatted with Xiao Wen, her viewer count exploded.
This was practically the secret formula for attracting traffic.
If she didn't keep increasing her presence, she'd be doing herself a disservice.
Seeing Shen Shuyi's message, Xiao Wen's mouth twitched.
He wasn't curious about her motives.
He was simply amazed that the icy Female Emperor who would one day stand at the peak of the world had once been such a noisy little fangirl before becoming famous.
What an eye-opener.
After thinking for a moment, he finally sent her a reply.
[Half-Journey Through the Mortal World]: Hurry up and keep improving. If your Sun Shangxiang can't defeat two opponents by herself during duel challenges, then I suggest farming more Level 2 villages and raising her level.
Once your general is capable of killing both defending generals of a Level 3 village, then challenge Level 3 villages.
Otherwise, with your current troop count, there's no way you'll win.
Also, if you have time, take a stroll around the NPC main city, Luoyang.
You might find something there that can increase your strength...
After sending the message, Xiao Wen immediately closed the chat window.
His fingers lightly tapped against the table as he thought about the message he had just sent.
The NPC capital city, Luoyang.
One of the most important cities in the game.
However, the overwhelming majority of players were currently focused on expanding their territories and increasing their combat power, causing them to overlook that place.
But with his reminder, combined with that woman's influence...
The news should spread.
The trap has already been dug.
Now it depends on whether that guy is willing to jump into it.
The thought flashed through Xiao Wen's mind, and Wang Heng's figure appeared in his thoughts.
A killing intent immediately flashed across his face.
All nearby Level 3 villages had already been conquered.
The City Establishment Token couldn't be rushed.
Now, he finally had time to deal with Wang Heng.
...
Meanwhile, far beyond Blue Star, in the depths of outer space, a meteor streaked across the endless universe.
It pierced through the atmosphere and plunged toward Blue Star's surface.
What was particularly strange was that despite such a brilliant meteor crossing the heavens, none of the monitoring systems deployed by the nations of Blue Star issued any warning.
The fiery-red meteor was allowed to descend unhindered, carving through the night sky with blazing flames before crashing toward a certain location in the ocean.
That location was...
The central server headquarters of Heroes Contend!
The unexpected change had arrived!
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