In a lavishly decorated room, the game pod slowly opened.
Cao Hong sat up from within the pod. He patted on his head a few times to wake himself up before he stepped out of the game pod.
His expression was extremely ugly when he recalled the last system notification he received.
"What was going on? We got wiped out by a Boss?" Cao Hong couldn't help but curse when he thought about the situation.
He had already been prepared to leave the troubled land that was Starter Village #10021 when Qin Shujian absorbed the Core Token.
The Mountain Bandits of the Liangshan Stronghold were too powerful.
He couldn't afford to offend them, but he thought that he should at least hide.
However, he hadn't managed to execute the next step of his plan when he received the system notification. Then, he was forced offline.
Cao Hong sighed when he remembered Qin Shujian's frightening strength.
He expertly came to the front of his computer.
He then accessed the forum for the game and browsed through it.
The game had already been released for some time. He believed that several high-level players would have come up with certain strategies.
After he had gone through the crisis of the Mountain Bandits, Cao Hong knew that he couldn't view the game like the other games he had played in the past.
Know thyself and the enemy to emerge victorious in all of his battles.
However, when Cao Hong accessed the forum interface, a large caption occupied the forum's main page's top-most section.
"A frightening Boss eradicated a starter village. Tens of thousands of players were helpless!"
An uneasy premonition welled up in Cao Hong's heart when he saw the caption.
Indeed, Cao Hong saw a paused video at the top when he tapped into the post. On the cover of the video was the stoic expression of the Liangshan Stronghold Chieftain.
He tapped on the video to play it.
Then, the image suddenly changed.
Half an hour passed.
Cao Hong finally finished the video with a dejected expression.
The video started with the Mountain Bandits attacking Starter Village #10021 and ended with Qin Shujian standing within the circle of light. None of the players in a three-meter radius around Qin Shujian dared to step near him.
The entire process had been recorded in full.
As for the recording function, it was a supplementary function that every player had access to.
However, Cao Hong couldn't understand who would record the entire incident and post it on a public forum.
If everyone could see the defeat, it would be hard for him not to be disgraced.
Cao Hong wanted to immediately close off the tab after he finished watching the video. He succumbed to his curiosity and tapped on the comments on the forum when he saw that there were more than 999 of them.
Then, a string of comments appeared.
Twenty minutes passed.
Cao Hong exited the forum with a dark expression.
He knew that there would be nothing good that would come from the forum.
However, he hadn't been able to resist the temptation and accessed it anyway.
The truth proved that there were no mistakes in his prior understanding.
However, judging from the comments of the forum.
Almost none of the other players had faced a major Boss like the Liangshan Stronghold Chieftain in person.
A small minority of the players felt sympathy for the eradication of Starter Village #10021.
Of course, most of them were talking trash about them.
"Liangshan Stronghold Chieftain, there's now an animosity between us. Don't give me an opportunity to…" Cao Hong suppressed the fury in his heart.
The growth of a player was often much faster than that of an NPC.
The Liangshan Stronghold Chieftain might seem so strong that he was invincible now. But that didn't mean that it would be that way in the future.
Cao Hong was already prepared to demolish the Liangshan Stronghold when the levels of all the players increased.
…
The Liangshan Stronghold had transformed dramatically.
After having leveled up to Martial Entry-Level Three, the Mountain Bandits' intelligence increased from the level of an idiot to the level of an average person.
That was the area Qin Shujian was most satisfied with.
Even though the Mountain Bandits had been obedient in the past, most of them had low levels of intelligence. It was easy for players to kill them when they were so stupid.
He had been unable to have a normal conversation with the Mountain Bandits before Zheng Fang and the rest of his group arrived.
However, now that the Liangshan Stronghold became a Level One Faction, the Mountain Bandits that Qin Shujian had been worried about had finally become human-like.
Other than that, the simple buildings in the stronghold had also changed drastically.
Through the efforts of a few professional carpenters and builders, the renovated stronghold now had a befitting aura, even though the material used for the buildings had been locally sourced.
In the Zhongyi Hall, the space in the Zhongyi Hall had been expanded considerably after the renovation. Even the decorations in the hall were not as simple as they once were.
Qin Shujian sat at the top-most seat.
Beneath him were Zheng Fang, Zhang Tieniu, and the rest of the leaders.
"You guys put in a great deal of effort during the attack of the Outlanders' village and raising our stronghold to become a Level One Faction. I am very pleased," Qin Shujian had a smile on his face as he surveyed everyone in the Zhongyi Hall.
Zheng Fang brought his hands together and said, "It is all because of your immense strength that we managed to obtain victory. We wouldn't dare to claim the credit."
"The military advisor is right. All of this is because of your brilliance, Stronghold Chieftain!"
Zhang Tieniu and the rest of the group quickly agreed.
"If I say that you contributed, it naturally means that you have contributed!" Qin Shujian raised his hand slightly and brought it down. The scene immediately became silent.
Then, his line of sight landed onto Zheng Fang.
This newly-inducted military advisor was once an expert at Martial Entry-Level Four. However, he had been killed once by a mob of players and had his level drop to Martial Entry-Level Three.
However, as the Liangshan Stronghold leveled up to become a Level One Faction, his strength had seen a net rise. He had become a Martial Entry-Level Five expert.
Even the original Mountain Bandits like Zhang Tieniu and Wang Tiezhu, as well as Zhao Shanlin and Wang Hu who had come with Zheng Fang, had leveled up and reached Martial Entry-Level Four.
Aside from that, there were three other Mountain Bandits who had reached Martial Entry-Level Four.
They were all seated here at this moment
Zheng Fang felt a strong pressure when he sensed Qin Shujian's gaze.
"I intend to set up three other positions under the position of Stronghold Chieftain, namely Elite Leader, Major Leader, and Leader," Qin Shujian said as he looked at the group. "The military advisor contributed greatly in our battle against the Outlanders' village this time around. Thus, your title will be promoted to have the same status as an Elite Leader."
Zheng Fang trembled slightly after Qin Shujian spoke. He immediately stood up and said with a serious tone, "Don't worry Stronghold Chieftain. I'll serve you with my utmost ability until I die!"
"Yes!" Qin Shujian gave a slight nod. He then looked at Zhang Tieniu and the rest of the group and said, "Zhang Tieniu and Wang Tiezhu have been serving under me for a long time and have always contributed greatly to my plans. Today, I'll also promote the two of you to Elite Leader."
"Thank you, Stronghold Chieftain!"
Zhang Tieniu and Wang Tiezhu were elated. They quickly stood up and replied.
"Zhao Shanlin, Wang Hu, Chen Daniu, Fu Gang…"
Qin Shujian could not help but pause for a moment when he read the name "Fu Gang".
He couldn't help it.
He couldn't help noticing the sudden appearance of a normal-sounding name in a den of Mountain Bandits with names like Tieniu, Ergou, and Goudan.
However, he only paused for a slight second. He then continued.
"Fu Gang, Sun Erzhu, and the rest of you will be promoted to become Leaders."
"Thank you, Stronghold Chieftain!"
Zhao Shanlin and Wang Hu, as well as the three other Mountain Bandits who had just reached Martial Entry-Level Four, replied in unison.