"Player Fatty is inviting you to join Level 2 guild [Wolves Roam the World]. Do you wish to accept?"
"I accept."
After some hesitation, Chu Tian put his name under the guild. Their guild consisted of some beta-testing players, who knew all the important events that were going to happen throughout the year. Their knowledge would be useful in the future. Besides, Wolves Roam the World was a rather scattered alliance of players, so there weren't many rules and regulations. It most likely wouldn't affect Chu Tian at all.
If they could rely upon their real-life capacity, a big influence with the chairman in lead could be formed with ease perhaps. However, being trapped in the world of Feudal Lords meant that their real-life interpersonal relationships were totally invalidated. The guild was destined to have no one truly in lead when all the villages were similar in terms of prosperity levels and the guild itself was a loose organization.
"The Chairman of Wolves Roam the World is a beauty. She's wealthy in real life. It's a pity that we're all trapped here in the world of Feudal Lords, or else this would never be just a Level 2 guild. You will have a chance to meet her in the future. Her village is ranked among the top 100 in the Eastern Han, you know.
"If your village ever gets assaulted in the future, you can post a request-for-reinforcement order in the guild. If any nearby members of the guild find the prices you pay satisfactory, they will come forward and provide aid. You may aid the members in your vicinity as well. The bond strength of our guild only falls below [Ceasefire] and [League].
"There are other guilds formed by players in Langya City, such as the Lingyan Pavilion and the Gang of Fire Wolves. Some guilds are very ambitious. They will likely attack Langya City in the future, becoming dukes and lords of a region. I suppose you already know this, but in the early and middle stages of the game, the power of a lone feudal lord is helpless in the face of the dukes and lords of the Three Kingdoms.
"The commanders of the Three Kingdoms start off with very high grades. Even if the feudal lords manage to recruit imperial commanders, it still isn't enough to suppress the commanders of the Three Kingdoms before getting an upgrade. Hence, some feudal lords intend to form alliances and expand their territories.
"I am just a free player, but sometimes I recruit members in Langya City. The feudal lords in the guild spend most of their time in their own territories."
Vice Chairman Fatty pattered away for a good while, talking about everything and nothing. Chu Tian had grasped most of the contents of the guild system by the time he was done.
Some guilds were focused on defending themselves amidst the chaos, whereas others strove for expansion.
Xiaozhu Village followed the lead of Xia Village and joined the Guild of Roaming Wolves as well.
Fatty left right after introducing the guild system to them, telling them that he was going to train for upgrades.
Chu Tian opened the guild panel, on which the names of all the members were written. The Chairman was Snow Moon, but details regarding other players were not displayed. This was to prevent the spies from opposing guilds from getting hold of the guild's information.
Only the Chairman and the Vice Chairman could dispatch public notices.
After purchasing the drawings, Chu Tian took a leisurely stroll around the city, taking in as much as he could in this rare opportunity to visit Langya City.
Langya City was the future developmental direction of Xia Village. The levels of constructions here were very high and diverse, including taverns, auction houses, city defense workshops, inns, cavalry camps, tea stores, and even brothels…
"Langya City has at least 10,000 city defense soldiers, which are subordinates to the feudal provincial of Xu Prefecture, Tao Qian. These city defense soldiers are easily Level 50 or above, much stronger than low-grade new soldiers."
Chu Tian found out that Langya City had a great number of defending troops. Indeed, no ordinary feudal lords could attack it.
Therefore, Langya City was very secure as a temporary neutral zone, with so many troops maintaining public security.
Chu Tian came to the notice board outside the governmental office of Langya City, where lots of free players received their missions. Notice boards were constructions that were unique to big cities. Theoretically, once the players' territories got upgraded to the level of big cities, they would also be able to issue missions on the notice boards of their own cities. As long as the rewards were handsome enough, players would take up the missions.
Free players could pay deposits and issue missions in big cities on their own.
"Level E mission: Auntie Lee in Hutu Alley of the East Avenue of Langya City has lost a cat. Whoever finds her lost cat may retrieve their rewards from Auntie Lee."
"Level E mission: A pack of wild wolves have been spotted 20 miles beyond the city, blocking the path. Whoever clears the wolf pack may retrieve their rewards from the shopkeeper of the Langya Commercial Firm."
"Level C mission: A general of Langya City has rebelled after being captivated by Yellow Turban soldiers, threatening the safety of Langya City. The government is recruiting capable people and men of special talents to hunt him down. Whoever kills the renegade general may receive 30 units of gold as a reward."
...
Chu Tian took a glance at all the missions. Most of them were Level E missions, a minority of them were Level D missions, and there were a meager number of Level C missions.
However, no players were daring enough to take up Level C missions. Even Level D missions were barely taken up.
The ranking of players was currently way too low to even complete Level D missions.
In the past, a few dozen or even hundreds of players would have thrown themselves onto the missions at once, It wouldn't even be that difficult to complete Level C missions.
However, no one knew what was going to happen if they died in the game. Before the revival function came onto the scene, no one would put their life at risk.
Chu Tian took up a Level C mission.
[Mission]: Renegade general of Langya City
[Difficulty Level]: Level C
[Contents]: According to reconnoiters, the renegade general (Level 60 platinum hero) is hiding in a Yellow Turban camp located 15 kilometers from Langya City. Kill him and the mission is completed.
[Rewards]: 20 units of gold, a middle-grade skill book.
"A Level 60 platinum hero, and he's even in the Yellow Turban camp. It's hard to kill a renegade general. No wonder it's a Level C mission! The rewards are pretty attractive too."
Chu Tian couldn't help but be moved by the handsome rewards.
Based on the currency exchange rate in Feudal Lords, 1 unit of gold was equal to 10 units of silver, both amounts about 10,000 dollars in real life. 20 units of gold meant 200 units of silver.
After purchasing the construction drawings, money and materials would be needed for construction, recruiting formal soldiers, forging weapons and armors, etc.
Perhaps ordinary players were unable to complete Level C missions at this early stage, but Chu Tian had a Level 30 royal hero: Hua Mulan. He might be able to complete the mission.
'Humans die for money, birds for food. The ancient people aren't lying!' Chu Tian thought.
However, he accepted the mission. He planned to head for the Yellow Turban camp 15 kilometers away, wanting to see if he could complete the mission.
"Do you need my help? I have a Level 30 platinum hero and two strong local soldiers. All I need is a little reward. 50 units of silver. How about that?"
The chief of Xiaozhu Village saw Chu Tian accepting a Level C mission. Although she was slightly amazed, she thought it might not be totally impossible to complete the mission with the royal hero of Xia Village. Thus, she planned to aid him in completing the mission.
"50 units of silver? That's fine. The precondition is to complete the mission," Chu Tian agreed.
He had weighed the odds in his mind. Hua Mulan was the only hero capable of killing the renegade general, but the general would certainly be guarded by Yellow Turban soldiers. If there was a Level 30 platinum hero who could come to her aid, the chances of completing the mission would be raised.
Xia Village and Xiaozhu Village had formed a 12-month alliance. In the first month, neither party was allowed to backstab the other. Hence, cooperation should not be a problem.
In order to kill the renegade general, Chu Tian used his last 6 units of silver to purchase arrows.
Chu Tian and his team had set off from Xia Village and Xiaozhu Village, killing bandits with arrows along the way. As a result, they were running low on arrows at the moment.
In Feudal Lords, a standard quiver could hold 30 arrows. Bronze arrows were sold at 50 dollars/arrow, which meant one quiver cost 1,500 dollars. Training archers was equally expensive. Fortunately, some intact arrow clusters and arrow shafts could be recycled and reused.
In order to complete the rewarded Level C mission, he had to give up small amounts of money to make room for the bigger wealth he would obtain.