Nie Yan was flabbergasted. Yallop had gone off on his own to bring back NPCs to Okoron?
What was going on?
Nie Yan headed over to the mercenary association.
Many Asskickers United players were crowding around outside of the mercenary association.
"The boss is here!"
"Boss!"
…
Everyone parted ways to let him pass. Nie Yan saw Yallop walking out of the entrance.
Yallop was a head taller than ordinary players. He was fairly conspicuous. However, even more eye-catching were the several dozen burly men following behind him. They were like walking fortresses of flesh, exuding a domineering pressure.
Nie Yan wondered if these NPCs had barbarian blood flowing through their veins.
"Master, these people are my brothers. We fought many battles for the Kavannas against the other tribes in the Abernathy Great Grasslands. After Sampur caught me, he banished them. They've been without a home ever since. So, when they heard I came to Okoron, they wanted to follow me," Yallop said.
Nie Yan inspected the stats of these men with Transcendent Insight. Most of them were Level 160–170 Elites. Five were comparable to Yallop, Level 180 Elites.
This truly was akin to meat pies raining down from the sky. Nie Yan couldn't be happier with having these NPCs join Okoron's army.
"Yallop, I will appoint you the Captain of Okoron's 1st Corp. The 1st Corps will consist of 500 men. All of them will be under your command," Nie Yan said.
"Yes, Master!" Yallop's eyes lit up in surprise. He hurriedly bowed. "Thank you, Master. In the name of the God of the Grasslands Bekepein, I will not betray your trust!"
Cheers broke out behind Yallop.
Nie Yan performed a head count; 28 men had followed Yallop in total. They were all Warriors. Their clothes were tattered, exposing their sun-scorched skin and frightening scars.
"Go get them some treatment. Afterwards, provide them with our best equipment. Give those two pieces of the Mountain Guardian set to Yallop," Nie Yan said to Tyrannical.
Before long, Tyrannical and Paladin of the Elegy came back with a large pile of equipment. They started distributing them to Yallop's followers. The NPCs underwent a complete transformation after putting on the equipment; from unkempt exiles to dignified soldiers who struck fear into the enemy with their presence alone. They felt deep gratitude toward Nie Yan.
Okoron had already recruited 136 NPC guards so far. As the city grew, this number would only continue to increase.
On the second day, Nie Yan spent 10,000,000+ gold to upgrade Okoron to a medium sized city.
Asskickers United's astonishing wealth left players gasping in incredulity. With this display, Okoron was destined to become a flourishing metropolis. This city's future was as bright as the sun. Numerous teams across the Viridian Empire and Satreen Empire set off for Okoron, seeking better opportunities.
News of Okoron's rapidly expanding army quickly reached Qin Han.
With Nie Yan making all these big moves, Qin Han was growing increasingly restless. Since his skeleton army couldn't reach Okoron in the distant Abernathy Great Grasslands, he could only focus on what was right in front of him. Asskickers United's strongholds in Calore. He once more started assaulting them. However, Nie Yan wasn't planning to sit back and do nothing. Asskickers United retaliated with equal ferocity.
NPCs from all walks of life arrived in Okoron. Businesses popped up left and right. This city already felt alive.
"Boss, a few guilds operating in the Abernathy Great Grasslands are requesting to move their guild headquarters over to Okoron. Should we accept?" Paladin of the Elegy asked. After arriving in Okoron, he was promoted to mayor of Okoron.
"Which guilds?" Nie Yan asked. As Okoron became more and more prosperous, it was only natural for guilds to want to move here. His understanding of the going-ons in the Abernathy Great Grasslands was too shallow. He only knew the rough situation.
The Abernathy Great Grasslands was different from other places. People from both the Viridian Empire and Satreen Empire were here. Orcs, humans, and other races could be seen walking the streets of Okoron. Some would stay, but most were simply passing through; they'd only come here to do a quest or level. As for exactly how many guilds were operating in the Abernathy Great Grasslands, he had no idea.
After the construction of Okoron, the guilds active in the Abernathy Great Grasslands naturally wanted to move their guild headquarters here.
"We've received over 20 applications already. Some guilds are making ridiculous demands, like giving them a headquarters facing the main street," Paladin of the Elegy said. He was extremely displeased with the guilds making such ridiculous demands. These guilds wanted to apply pressure on Asskickers United by leveraging their influence in the Abernathy Great Grasslands. Given Asskickers United's strength, these guilds posed absolutely no threat. However, he was only overseeing things; it wasn't his job to put these people in their place. That rested with Nie Yan. So, he could only suppress his anger.
Paladin of the Elegy handed over a list to Nie Yan. Glancing down the list, he saw the detailed information of 25 guilds. Some were from the Viridian Empire. Others were from the Satreen Empire. The largest had more than 170,000 players while the smallest only had 2,000. These 25 guilds combined numbered 700,000 players in total.
"Wow, that's a surprise. I didn't expect there to be so many players operating in the Abernathy Great Grasslands," Nie Yan muttered.
Thinking for a bit, Nie Yan didn't find it all that strange. The Abernathy Great Grasslands was located between the two great empires. Any commerce had to pass through this place, which in turn led to merchant and mercenary businesses to flourish. So, there were many players active here. They'd joined together and made guilds. After which they struck up cooperative relationships with the various large tribes indigenous to this place and started operating from their lands.
"Let them know they're free to move their guild headquarters here, though a street facing location is impossible, and they'll have to follow the rules of Okoron. The guilds that migrate here will have to sign a defensive alliance pact. If the city is under attack, they'll have to help with its defense. If they no longer wish to stay in the Abernathy Great Grasslands, Asskickers United will have no qualms about booting them out. It's best if they don't doubt whether we have this strength or not," Nie Yan said. He knew if he gave an inch, these guilds would ask for a mile. They would think Asskickers United was afraid. Even though Asskickers United's main forces were busy dealing with Qin Han's skeleton army, they weren't afraid of these small guilds. They couldn't show any weakness, even if they were a little short on manpower for now.
Paladin of the Elegy was stirred up after hearing Nie Yan's words. He vigorously nodded and went to give his response to the guilds in question.
About an hour later, Paladin of Elegy reported back to Nie Yan. 16 guilds were willing to abide by his terms in order to enter Okoron. A few of the larger guilds refused.
Nie Yan glanced through the list. The 16 guilds numbered about 360,000 players in total. He discovered Dark Recital, the guild he previously encountered when hunting the Kong King, was among the names. With these people entering Okoron, the city would become even more bustling.
With everything taken care of on this end, Nie Yan set off to do his own thing. First, he collected the 200 Inferno Bombs Violet Mist had just crafted.
The Inferno Bombs were about two inches long with a tapered front, resembling a miniature missile. It was crafted out of a dark golden metal. This was a fairly dangerous toy. A violent shake or tremor could cause it to explode prematurely. The destructive power of these bombs even threatened high level Lords. It was definitely an extremely powerful item.
Nie Yan made some adjustments to the Inferno Bombs. He took out some high quality bolts, then replaced the heads with the Inferno Bombs, creating a special type of bolt.
After completing this work, Nie Yan had an idea. Okoron's growth was steady. He could sneak away to do some levelling.
「Elegy, help me collect the information and location of all the Lords in the Abernathy Great Grasslands, then send the data over to me.」
「Alright, give me five minutes tops.」Paladin of the Elegy nodded.
Three minutes later, Paladin of the Elegy reported back.「Boss, here's the data you wanted.」
Nie Yan looked at the map Paladin of the Elegy sent over. It was a map of the Abernathy Great Grasslands. The location of the Lords were all clearly marked. If you hovered over a specific marker, it would give detailed information about that Lord. The legend was also very intuitive.
Nie Yan had a pleased smile on his face. Paladin of the Elegy was definitely a reliable subordinate.
With this data, Nie Yan summoned his Darkwing Dragon and got on its back.
The Darkwing Dragon flapped its wings and took off westward.
His first target was the Level 160 Lord, the Abernathy Grand Grizzly.
The Abernathy Grand Grizzly was a tank-type Lord. Nie Yan had heard of its name before. In the previous timeline, several of his friends had participated in an expedition to hunt this lord. They suffered more than several wipes and could only return with their heads hung low in defeat. However, he had never personally been to the Abernathy Great Grasslands in his past life. The journey was extremely time-consuming and inconvenient. It simply wasn't feasible for the him of back then.
This time, he planned to solo the Abernathy Grand Grizzly. Apart from him, no one else would dare to attempt such a reckless feat.