Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 389: Level 4 Territory

And right as Li Wei was conferring Duan Bowen as the ninth Riverside Knight, within Zhao Kewu's territory, he was currently sitting in a Three-Star Tavern with a male and a female player, staring fixedly at a recruitment list.

When several names finally refreshed on it, displaying their recruitment prices, that elderly old woman suddenly spoke up.

"That's him, this Mage, the one with a monthly employment price of thirty thousand gold coins. Recruit him!"

Hearing this, Zhao Kewu chose to recruit without hesitation. The moment the recruitment succeeded, he couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. It truly hadn't been easy. Over the past three months, he had consistently followed his grandmother's instructions, selecting out the mercenaries with the highest employment prices.

However, this kind of matter wasn't so easy. Because this kind of special mercenary with a monthly employment price of thirty thousand gold coins would select their own employers.

Meaning to say, only the person he wanted to be hired by could see him; otherwise, it was absolutely impossible.

And clearly, in this City Building Pioneering Mission, he wasn't the coolest guy present. Therefore, even if there was this kind of mercenary, Li Wei would definitely be the first choice.

But looking at it currently, Li Wei had rejected the recruitment, which was why it was his turn to pick up the bargain.

"What a true pity! Li Wei, I hope you can hurry up, your remaining time is not much."

Zhao Kewu sighed emotionally in his heart, but it wasn't mockery, much less ridicule. Rather, he knew more of the inside story.This kind of mercenary whose employment price reached the max limit of thirty thousand was simply not a normal mercenary, but regular army—the exceedingly powerful kind. The moment this kind of person appeared in a Tavern, it usually meant the plot had changed, and the countdown to settlement had begun.

Yes, the countdown to the settlement of the entire Pioneering Mission had begun.

Usually, this kind of situation occurred because it was unknown who among the enemy and allied sides managed to achieve a unified front value like a birdie in golf, so on a higher level—such as the Royal Family of the Locke Kingdom—there was a possibility of intervention.

Specifically speaking, it was like an Imperial Envoy wielding an Imperial Sword, granted special permission by royal authority to execute first and report later—even Duke Weir had to pinch his nose and acknowledge it.

As for who achieved this unified front value, it was definitely not him, Zhao Kewu, and even less likely to be Li Wei.

Then it could only be the Frost Duke. Perhaps he triggered some plotline capable of offering amnesty to the Frost Duke to surrender!

Thus, Zhao Kewu only sought a better Clearance Evaluation, because building the city was impossible.

The matter was plainly evident. Once the Frost Duke took down Socrates's territory, he would go all-out to attack his territory next year. He had been delayed for half a year this year; what was he supposed to use to build a city with next?

Up to this point, he was only a Level 1 Territory. He had to reach Level 5 Territory to count.

Rather than being killed in the end and having nothing to show for it, it would be better to take this chance to grind for a Sinecure Viscount title.

Thinking up to this point, Zhao Kewu didn't dare slack off. He immediately went out to welcome that existence who was a mercenary in name but an Imperial Envoy to cease the war in reality.

And upon meeting the other party, the other party only said one sentence: "Assemble all military forces. Taking advantage of the emptiness of the Frost Duke's old lair, take down his old lair."

After saying that, the other party casually waved his hand, and a Magic Shield fell within Zhao Kewu's territory. Twenty square kilometers, no more, no less!

"Understood!"

Zhao Kewu said loudly, not daring to act rashly in the slightest, because the person standing before him was absolutely a Six-Star Professional!

He didn't need to ask anything, and he didn't need to risk his life either. Just following this individual in a direct attack would be fine.

However, right at this time, that man suddenly asked a question, "What is Li Wei doing?"

"Uh, reporting to Lord Mage. Just this morning, Li Wei seems to have led troops out on an expedition. He just slew a Barbarian Centurion in battle."

"Oh, he's quite ambitious, rather like an energetic little Teddy."

The man smiled faintly and didn't speak anymore.

But including Zhao Kewu, and his grandmother included, no one dared to let their thoughts run wild. Behaving obediently and acting as puppets was perfectly fine.

——

At the same time, within Li Wei's territory, starting from Riverside Fortress going hundreds of kilometers west, further extending to Hathaway's Baron Territory, to the Small City Base, all the way to the territory main base—within this region spanning over thousands of kilometers, starting from yesterday afternoon, pouring rain had poured continuously. The flood peaks from upstream came wave after wave. The river dikes were already useless. They didn't even need mutated large fish to ram them; there were breaches everywhere, and water was flooding everything everywhere.

Even the south bank was flooded.

Hathaway and Li Yue were already incapable of sealing the entire river dike. They could only fall back to defend Riverside Fortress, erecting an Ice Dam all around Riverside Fortress. On one hand, it protected Riverside Fortress; on the other hand, it protected those over a thousand acres of farmland.

Qin Yu was in charge of protecting the Great Bridge and the Black Mountain Fortress on the south bank. She was also responsible for dispersing the torrential rain above the farmland.

This fucking wasn't a normal climate. What kind of farmland could withstand torrential rain of this magnitude?

Precious Magical Power was being consumed, but they could only grit their teeth and forcibly endure!

This was a war of life and death. This time, the Frost Duke had truly unleashed his ultimate move, acting as if he had gone mad.

However, the crazier he grew, the more it proved his anxiety.

He was anxious, he was truly anxious!

At the same time, at the territory main base, Liang Yuzhi, Nelson, Linus, and the others were also leading the freemen to go all-out against the flood. Although this side was also inundated by massive waters, the impact was actually negligible. Because there was no farmland in the surrounding wilderness here. The farmland was all located near the Northern Fortress. Counting the newly reclaimed cornfields, there were nearly five hundred acres there, but they were all perched at slightly higher elevations. No matter how much the flood overflowed, it was useless; it couldn't reach up there.

So for the freemen over here, this flood felt more like a general mobilization used to gather the people's hearts and unite them in mutual aid.

Those over five hundred freemen brought back by Paladin Mark thus hastily integrated into the territory, and under Liang Yuzhi's administration, they were distributed Level 1 Profession Cards—there was no shortage of this stuff now.

And as long as they bound a Profession Card, they would be incorporated into the territory's population by the Prestige system.

Adding those three hundred freemen brought back from Ron's territory who were currently assigned to Riverside Fortress, imperceptibly like this, Li Wei's territory population smoothly reached 2215 people!

At this moment, Li Wei—who was currently galloping at full speed with the cavalry through the vast region north of the northern mountain ranges to search for roaming Ability User squads—suddenly received the corresponding information.

[Congratulations, because your Temple of All Heavens level has upgraded to Three-Star! And because the total number of fortresses within your territory has reached or exceeded three, simultaneously possessing a Three-Star Magic Well, and concurrently possessing a territory population of 2000 or more. Your territory has satisfied all conditions and is officially upgraded to a Level 4 Territory.]

[Congratulations, as a Level 4 Territory, your area of legal territory will continue to increase. It is currently at fifty square kilometers. Description: Starting from a Level 2 Territory, for every level upgraded, you will receive ten square kilometers of legal land.]

[Congratulations, under a Level 4 Territory, you can obtain a maximum of five hundred square kilometers of illegal territory. But these illegal territories require you to dispatch a powerful legion to garrison. Otherwise, there is a possibility they will be taken down by natives in the next round of Pioneering Missions, or taken down by new Pioneers, because illegal territories do not receive protection!]

[Friendly Reminder: When a Level 4 Territory upgrades to a Level 5 Territory, it will automatically upgrade into a Level 1 City. Binding this city to your Flame Viscount title will make you a Substantive Viscount. The specific upgrade conditions are as follows.]

[First: You need to construct a Level 4 City Wall with a perimeter of at least five kilometers around your territory main base. Description: A Level 4 City Wall is a city wall connected to the Magic Well, with the most fundamental magic structures embedded on the inner and outer surfaces of the city wall.]

[Second: You need to construct a One-Star Mage Tower at the location of the Magic Well, and must have a spellcaster stationed long-term in the Mage Tower (at least until the City Building Pioneering Mission ends).]

[Third: Your territory needs to reach at least three thousand freemen, and simultaneously possess conditions to provide the most basic Humanistic Care for no less than five thousand freemen, such as safeguards against hunger, cold, illness, while providing learning, training, growth, childbirth, and many other guarantees. This requires you to have a legal and effective internal administration system, medical system, sufficient and sturdy civilian residences, and abundant job opportunities.]

[Fourth: You must possess at least one Paladin, and at least two Temple Priests.]

[Fifth: You must possess at least three hundred standing Professional Soldiers, ready at any time to await the conscription from the King or the Duke to participate in Conquest Missions. Description: Cross-Border Missions can be used as flat replacements for Conquest Missions, conversely, Conquest Missions can also be used as flat replacements for Cross-Border Missions.]

[Friendly Reminder: Cross-Border Missions are primarily focused on infiltration and development. They are initiated once every five years, heading to contested worlds that are not practically controlled by either the enemy or ourselves, to develop our own strength and expand our advantages in order to construct a bridgehead for the arrival of our main army. Once the bridgehead is built and our main army arrives, the mission is considered completed and can be settled. But once discovered by the enemy and the cross-border camp is destroyed, it basically signals failure.]

[Friendly Reminder: Conquest Missions mean leading no less than three hundred Professional Soldiers to enter a successfully constructed bridgehead built by our cross-border personnel. Relying on the bridgehead as a base, several pioneering and conquering missions are initiated to all directions. Sometimes it is also necessary to participate in defensive battles to protect the bridgehead. Usually, a Conquest Mission lasts for one to two years, and all participating soldiers have one opportunity to resurrect. Once the soldier casualty rate reaches fifty percent, or the main commander dies in battle, it will represent the failure of the Conquest Mission.]

[Friendly Reminder: Once Cross-Border Missions and Conquest Missions correspond to success, they will both reward a precious Six-Star Item Card—Territory Ascension Card—that is, you can elevate your own territory into the main magic world where the Locke Kingdom is located.]

——

Wow!

Am I finally about to see the dawn's light?

With the imminent arrival of August, Li Wei felt very agitated in his heart. Now, he was only a single step away from victory!

However, he immediately also realized that the most difficult, the darkest, and the most dangerous time was also very likely to appear.

These past few months, he actively made himself not think about when old brother Socrates's territory would be breached. He had to suppress his thoughts of wanting to go render rescue, because he knew his current bit of strength was a drop in the bucket.

No matter how formidable his heavy cavalry was, it was only effective in a specific environment, on a specific battlefield, and when the total number of enemies wouldn't exceed three hundred people.

Once things like abatis, long spears, heavy shields, giant ballistas, and pit traps were arranged, the enemy could wait at ease to reap out his soldiers!

Thus, mobile development was the main point.

Simultaneously, protecting Paladin Mark to allow him to leisurely grind out some survivors was also a main point.

Population was very important!

Future Cross-Border Missions and Conquest Missions were just like a pair of twins.

If one wanted to become stronger, and even drive the territory's development to spiral upwards, it was highly probable that both missions had to be participated in, and they had to be won.

And all of this couldn't be separated from a high-quality population and high-quality resources.

Every time was a battle staking the destiny of the territory; a single failure, and one might have their bones beaten into fractures...

(End of this chapter)