Qin Shujian felt a little melancholic.
It had already been a full day since he sent out the letters, yet he had not received any replies from the Mountain Thief factions in the Messy Stone Forest.
Logically speaking, this should not have happened.
He thought that the contents of the letter were extremely sincere.
Any person or NPC who had common sense would agree to his demands.
"Mountain Thieves are Mountain Thieves. Do they have any common sense?" Qin Shujian shook his head, "I wanted all of us to work together and achieve a win-win situation. It looks like we won't have that opportunity now."
Seeing that a full day had passed.
He immediately left his room.
Outside, Zheng Fang and the group of Elite Leaders were waiting for him.
Qin Shujian said with a deep tone, "The Messy Stone Forest refused to give us a reply today. Their ill intention toward the Liangshan Stronghold is clear as day. Rather than passively wait to be beaten, we should seize the initiative and attack."
"We'll listen to your orders, Stronghold Chieftain," Zheng Fang was the first to voice his opinion.
Zhang Tieniu and Wang Tiezhu followed soon after.
Seeing this, Qin Shujian was very satisfied.
He cleared his throat, then continued, "There are three caps of Mountain Thieves in the Mist Stone Forest at the moment. They are Mount Mingai, Chuanyun Stronghold, and the Messy Gold Mountain, respectively."
"Other than that, there is also the appearance of a village of outlanders in the Messy Stone Forest."
"So, other than facing the Mountain Thieves from Mount Mingai and the rest of the areas, we also have to deal with the mob of outlanders."
When he said this, Qin Shujian paused for a moment, "This time, you guys will deal mainly with the outlanders. As for the rest of the Mountain Thieves, I will personally visit them."
"Stronghold Chieftain, would that be too risky?" Zheng Fang hesitated before asking, even though he didn't know how strong Qin Shujian was.
However, taking on a faction alone harbored a significant amount of risk.
"I am confident," Qin Shujian did not directly answer the question. He waved his hand and spoke.
According to his estimate, the Mountain Thieves faction should be a little stronger than Wu Sheng when he was in the LIangshan Stronghold.
Martial Entry-Level Five. Martial Entry-Level Six should be the highest they could go to.
Of course, within their own territories, the strength of these Mountain Thieves might receive a certain boost.
However, no matter how much of an enhancement they had, Qin Shujian didn't believe that they could rival him at Martial Entry-Level Nine.
Furthermore, based on his current strength, he should have no problems escaping to safety even if he couldn't defeat the Mountain Thieves.
As he looked at Zheng Fang and the rest of the group back down after receiving their orders, Qin Shujian couldn't help but think about the Messy Stone Forest situation.
Three gangs of Mountain Thieves.
If there were no surprises, each of those factions should possess a Core Token.
Just like the token of the Liangshan Stronghold Token that had dropped after Wu Sheng was defeated and the Core Token that had been in Starter Village #10021, these tokens directly represented the faction. It was the true core of their territory.
"The Core Token of a starter village was enough to level up the Liangshan Stronghold to become a Level One Faction. I would need more of those tokens if I wanted to level the territory up even more, to Level Two, Level Three, or even higher." Qin Shujian thought to himself.
The Liangshan Stronghold, as a Level One Faction, already had bandits that started at Martial Entry-Level Three.
If they became a Level Two Faction, even the weakest Mountain Bandits might become experts at Martial Entry-Level Five.
The only thing that disappointed Qin Shujian was the number of Mountain Bandits in the Liangshan Stronghold had was too small.
They only had a total of 130 or so Mountain Bandits.
Compared to the tens of thousands of players in a starter village, the number of Mountain Bandits was insignificant.
Furthermore, who knew just how many starter villages there were in this world.
Qin Shujian guessed based on his understanding of the population of the previous world he had been in, as well as the proportion of players in past games that had been incredibly famous.
There might be millions, or tens of millions of players who had swarmed into this world.
A little over a hundred Mountain Bandits compared to tens of millions of players.
Qin Shujian knew what the outcome would be without having to think too much about it.
Even though not all of the players in this world would set their sights on the Liangshan Stronghold, Qin Shujian still felt that he had to prepare for a rainy day.
He had to obtain Life Value!
He had to increase the level of the faction!
He had to recruit more Mountain Bandits!
These were the three goals that Qin Shujian had come up for himself, arranged in their order of importance.
Obtaining more Life Value was definitely ranked first.
Only with enough Life Value could he become sufficiently powerful. It was the foundation for him to complete the next two tasks.
…
"Recently, the Mountain Thieves have ravaged the village. If you, young hero, could clear off these evil men for us, I'll definitely give you the highest thanks!" Liu Qinghong was speaking to the captain of the guards in Starter Village #23012.
After he saw the system notification, Liu Qinghong silently chose to accept the mission, then smiled and said, "The Mountain Thieves are ravaging the village. As a member of Starter Village #23012, I' will not idly sit by the side and not help."
"Then, I'll await your good news, young hero."
"Alright," Liu Qinghong nodded, then bade goodbye to the captain of the guards.
Then, a dozen players surrounded him.
"Brother Liu, how is it? Have you accepted the mission?"
"Yes," Liu Qinghome immediately shared the mission with his team.
A player by the name of Zhang Quan laughed and said, "You sure are strong, Brother Liu. Players strike up conversations with the captain of the guards every day, but no one has managed to receive the mission."
"The rest of the players cannot receive the mission probably because their level does not meet the criteria," Liu Qinghong said with a faint smile.
However, his heart was a little heavy when he saw the mission.
Eliminate 50 Mountain Thieves!
Even the weakest Mountain Thieves had abilities at Martial Entry-Level One.
They might even encounter more powerful Mountain Thieves if they were not lucky.
Fifty Mountain Thieves was not a small number. Even players who were at Martial Entry-Level Three or Four might not be able to complete the mission alone.
But, the harder the mission was, the more generous the rewards would be after it was completed.
Liu Qinghong looked at the color of the sky, and then he said, "The mission this time is not easy. I'll give you guys an hour to refill your supplies and make the necessary preparations. We'll meet at the entrance of the village in an hour."
"Alright!"
None of the other players objected to Liu Qinghong's instructions.
Then, a dozen players split up.
Only Liu Qinghong and a young lady with a round, baby face remained at the original location.
"Brother, what are the rewards for this mission?" Liu Qingqing blinked and tilted her head as she asked curiously.
Liu Qinghong shook his head and said, "The mission didn't mention any specific rewards, but I guess that the value of the rewards would not be too low. We only have an hour. Do you have anything you need to prepare?"
"With you around, what do I need to prepare for?" Liu Qingqing snickered, then hugged Liu Qinghong's arm.
Seeing this, Liu Qinghong shook his head in frustration. He had a pampering look in his eyes.
However, just as Liu Qingqing had said, with his current abilities at Martial Entry-Level Four, along with the cooperation of the rest of the members in the group, they shouldn't have much of a problem eradicating 50 Mountain Thieves.
Whether or not Liu Qingqing was useful should not have too much of an impact on the result.
An hour passed quickly.
Liu Qinghong and his sister had been waiting at the entrance of the village before the specified time.
Not long after, the rest of the players in the group arrived one after the other.
Liu Qinghong saw that everyone had arrived and said with a stern tone.
"Let's go!"