In the pitch-black cave, the heavy breaths of beasts echoed occasionally.
On the open ground in front of the cave.
A few farmers armed with stone axes and pickaxes were edging forward under the harsh supervision of the lord.
Thwack!
The lord raised his whip, mercilessly striking a farmer.
The whip was made from rattan vines, lined with small barbs. A frightening bloody scar appeared on the farmer's back with just one strike of the whip.
Hiss!
Fang Hao gasped sharply.
The fiery pain brought him to immediate alertness.
He turned around quickly.
There, a man wielding a whip was staring at him with a wicked glare.
"Get moving, and don't come out without the treasure chest. Or I will flay you alive."
Thwack!
The man roared, slashing the whip in the air again.
Before Fang Hao could react, an alert sounded in his ear.
[Welcome to the game "Universal Lord".]
[Recruit farmers, collect resources, train soldiers, expand your territory, and use anything you can to survive!]
[Your territory is your sanctuary, developing it will increase your chances of survival.]
[Treat your recruited farmers and soldiers kindly. If their loyalty decreases, they might slacken their work and even desert you!]
[If you encounter others like you, congratulations! You've just caught a fat pig, unless, of course, you're weaker — then you are the fat pig.]
[Newbie protection countdown: 6 days 23 hours 40 mins, during this period your territory will not be attacked!]
[For more features, refer to the Book of Lords!]
[Lastly, good luck!]
Upon hearing the complete prompts, Fang Hao's face drastically changed.
He could accept the fact that he had travelled across dimensions.
However, his current situation seemed dire.
Dressed like a farmer, and the sinister man behind him, who looked more like a lord.
Around his waist hung a brown, leather-bound book, which must be the Book of Lords mentioned in the prompts.
"Damn it, I'm cannon fodder!" Fang Hao cursed silently.
The five villagers were moving at a measured pace.
Farmer at the side pleaded tearfully.
"Lord, we are just ordinary farmers, we can't steal the treasure chest."
However, this plea did not invoke sympathy from the lord.
"Shut up, just go in!" The lord cursed loudly.
His expression was severe and impatient.
The five villagers had no choice but to continue their way forward.
Fang Hao stayed silent all along, and didn't look back.
Apparently,
The lord was using the farmers as cannon fodder, betting on their luck to get resources and gain an early advantage.
Worst scenario, he would simply sacrifice the farmers, which wouldn't affect him at all.
The five persons moved forward step by step.
Eventually, they entered the cave.
The deeper they went into the cave, the darker it got.
The breathing of the beast grew louder and clearer.
The farmers became even more terrified. Their legs began to tremble, and they had to lean against the wall, dragging their feet forward.
With slow and painful steps, they finally saw the cave's occupant when they reached the depths.
It was a giant brown tiger.
Black stripes, colossal size; much larger than any tiger Fang Hao had seen on television.
At that moment,
The tiger's sanguine eyes were firmly fixed on them.
They radiated a deadly aura and held a grudge.
"Tig...Tiger, we're doomed."
The farmers fell into panic.
With their combat power, they stood no chance against a grown tiger.
"It's injured." Fang Hao whispered.
The cave was dim, and the smell of blood filled the air. Looking closely, one could see that the tiger was injured.
And grievously so.
Its abdomen was filled with dark, fresh blood.
"Let's... try to stick to the wall, grab the treasure chest and leave." suggested one of them timidly.
Without retrieving the treasure chest, the lord would certainly not let them go. They suppressed their fear and carefully tiptoed around the tiger towards the treasure chest in the cave.
Hoping in their hearts, the tiger would ignore them due to its injury.
They moved gingerly along the wall.
The tiger's eyes were glued to them, following their steps and shifting with their movement.
When the tiger noted that these humans were attempting to sneak past and go straight for the treasure chest.
It roared in rage, dragging its bloodied body and entrails towards Fang Hao and his group.
"Fight it, kill it, or we'll all die." Fang Hao yelled, swinging his stone axe.
Suddenly, the cave was filled with the tormented cries of the farmers and the furious roars of the tiger.
...
Several minutes later.
Bathed in blood, Fang Hao emerged from the cave, waving to a man gazing off into the distance.
"Has the monster inside been killed?" The man called out from afar.
Fang Hao nodded.
A sudden, irrepressible look of joy crossed the man's face. "That's great. That's wonderful."
Muttering to himself, he ran towards the cave.
Entering the cave, he saw the tiger and the bodies of four villagers. Without hesitation, he moved farther into the cave.
When he saw the wooden treasure chest, a hint of confusion appeared on his face.
"Why is it already open?"
Just then.
An intense sense of danger swept over him from behind.
Thump!
A sound like chopping wood echoed in the air.
A stone axe, flung with considerable force, slashed across his neck from behind.
The blade, carved from stone, wasn't sharp, but it still managed to tear apart his flesh, managing to hack halfway through his sturdy neck.
"You, …." The man's eyes were wide with astonished rage, and a look of incredibility.
How was this possible? A villager sent by the system, how could he attack himself?
Why would this happen?
Fang Hao swung his axe a second time.
Blood splattered.
A head dropped instantly, rolling to one side.
[As a villager, you've killed the lord of the territory, your sin value +500.]
...
Fang Hao took a deep breath.
He bent down to pick up the book from the other man's waist.
The cover of the book was brown leather, with gorgeous golden designs embossed on it.
At the center were four large characters: "Book of Lords".
As he touched the Book of Lords.
A notification appeared again.
[An error in initial lord data detected, data correction.]
[Compensation issued, a hundredfold increase.]
[Detected lord sin value of 500, automatically assigned to the evil camp---Undead.]
He was done for!
Upon hearing the new prompt, Fang Hao's heart tightened.
Because he had killed the lord just now, he was automatically assigned to the evil camp.
Wasn't he now an enemy of all?
But, in the next instant, he calmed down.
Even if he was assigned to the evil camp, he did not regret it; it was far better than being a mere villager under this man's rule.
He continued to look at the Book of Lords.
As he flipped through, each page was marked with a different title.
[Resources][Manufacture][Buildings][Channel].
It was like touching a page of paper, but at the same time, like touching a tablet screen. Touching it yielded feedback.
He flipped to the first page [Resources]. The amount displayed was 0.
In the manufacture section, he had unlocked [Hemp Rope][Stone Axe][Stone Pickaxe].
In the building section, he had unlocked [Level 1 Cottage].
The next moment he opened it, [Level 1 Cottage] swiftly turned into [Level 1 Graveyard].
It must have been due to his allocation to the Undead camp.
He continued to flip to the channel page.
[Speaking privileges, 10 instances per day.]
Information started to stream rapidly.
"Has anyone left the village? Is it dangerous outside?"
"Someone save me! There's a wild boar near my village as large as a tiger. At this rate, I'll really be killed by a pig."
"Wow, that's so thrilling. I want the full story."
"How are your villagers? A few hyenas ran by the village gate a few minutes ago, and now no villager dares to go out to work."
"I'm doomed, there's a giant python outside my village. It's just swallowed two of my villagers."
...
One message after another appeared.
Between the lines, the danger of this world was reflected.
And most people, it seemed, were trapped in their villages, too afraid to venture out.
The lord that he had just killed was actually a ruthless character who had ventured out of the village with his villagers.
He had even tried to infiltrate the tiger's lair to steal the treasure chest.
Unfortunately, he had ended up dying in the cave.
Closing the chat channel.
Fang Hao went back to the dead tiger. He had hidden all the items from the chest beneath the gigantic carcass.
[Level 2 Warcraft Magic Stripe Tiger, do you wish to slaughter it?]
Yes!
[Slaughter completed. You've obtained 600 meat, 45 Beast Skins, and 25 Beast Bones.]
With the Book of Lords, he had acquired the lord's abilities.