Chapter 102 – Departure

Cheng Yang swiftly dealt with the remaining enemies using his ice spheres. Although one of them tried to grab a nearby woman as a hostage, his hand barely moved before Cheng Yang’s ice sphere ended his life.

“Clean up the rest. It’s best if you don’t mention what happened here,” Cheng Yang said indifferently, ignoring Xiao Zheng’s expression as he took Liu Xiyue’s hand and left the basement.

Xiao Zheng opened his mouth to call out to Cheng Yang but swallowed his words, sighing softly. *Such a powerful figure is beyond my reach.*

Within a minute, a large group of people entered the cave – the combat professionals who had been with Xiao Zheng. Though they had heard about the carnage, seeing it firsthand left them stunned.

The middle-aged woman reacted fastest, immediately shooing all male combatants out, including Xiao Zheng, leaving only a dozen female professionals.

By the time Xiao Zheng emerged, Cheng Yang and Liu Xiyue were long gone.

“Douzi, did you see that gentleman when you came in?” Xiao Zheng asked a young man nearby.

The youth shook his head. “No, has he left already?”

Xiao Zheng nodded. “He left after dealing with those scum. Remember, if you ever see him again, show utmost respect. Never offend him.”

“Boss, you’re joking,” Douzi chuckled. “That guy’s ridiculously strong. We wouldn’t dare cross him.”

Xiao Zheng said seriously, “He’s even more powerful than you imagine. Not only would we not dare offend him, but even if all the combat professionals in Xiang City joined forces, they might not be his match.”

Douzi’s mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg. After a long pause, he said incredulously, “That can’t be! Xiang City has over twenty thousand combat professionals. Even if we all spat at once, we could drown him!”

Xiao Zheng glanced at him. “That was before the apocalypse. Under the new rules, numbers don’t always matter. Didn’t you see how Scarface and his men couldn’t even touch that man? They couldn’t break his defense. Do you think the main city’s forces are much stronger than Scarface?”

Douzi was left speechless.

Xiao Zheng continued, “And that gentleman is even more powerful than you can imagine.”

…

“Lord, those people seemed decent. Why didn’t you recruit them for Luofeng Village?” Liu Xiyue asked as she walked beside Cheng Yang.

Cheng Yang replied, “I don’t want Luofeng Village exposed yet. Xiao Zheng’s group was transformed in Xiang City. We can’t guarantee they’ll prioritize Luofeng Village’s interests. To avoid unnecessary trouble, it’s better not to bring them to the village. Besides, their group only has forty or fifty people – not much help in strengthening Luofeng Village.”

Liu Xiyue nodded, though not fully understanding.

By the time they returned to Luofeng Village, it was 1 AM. They didn’t need to hunt monsters anymore – the creatures they’d slain on the way back had already exceeded their usual nightly harvest. However, Cheng Yang still had to leave the village again, having promised Liu Hao he’d help find an iron mine that morning.

When Cheng Yang led Liu Hao to a small mound, the latter couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“Yangzi, you’re saying there’s iron ore under this tiny mound?” Liu Hao complained.

Cheng Yang nodded. “Naturally. What did you expect?”

Liu Hao grimaced. “How much ore can we get from such a small pile?”

“Probably not much,” Cheng Yang admitted. “Being so close to our base, there can’t be a large iron vein. Finding this small deposit is already good. Once we mine it out, we should get enough for several hundred tons of steel – enough to forge tens of thousands of pieces of equipment.”

Liu Hao shook his head. Tens of thousands sounded impressive, but for warrior-class equipment that required significant steel, a few hundred tons would only outfit a few thousand people at most.

“Whatever, let’s just dig. Consider it skill practice,” Liu Hao said, taking out his pickaxe and starting to clear the soil, revealing the ore beneath.

As a blacksmith, knowledge of ores had been imprinted in his mind during his transformation. He immediately recognized the iron ore, though its quality was mediocre, only suitable for common-grade equipment.

Seeing Liu Hao get to work, Cheng Yang left and returned to Luofeng Village to begin his nightly cultivation.

But before cultivating, Cheng Yang had one more task – constructing buildings.

Today’s wood and stone harvest had increased by 20% due to more collection tools among the village’s combat professionals. This number might rise further in coming days, but would eventually stabilize unless Cheng Yang raised material prices. Only when some professionals leveled up would there be another surge.

The increased materials were enough to build two new structures. Upgrading existing buildings like the blacksmith shop wasn’t urgent, so Cheng Yang decided to postpone that.

After some thought, Cheng Yang chose to build a Mission Hall and Trial Hall.

Two beams of white light flashed, and the new buildings materialized on empty plots.

Unlike the barracks, these buildings didn’t require village management as they came with divine administrators, similar to shops.

Cheng Yang also wanted to establish a Mercenary Camp, as he planned to become a mercenary himself.

For others, being a soldier contributed more to the village. But as lord, being a mercenary benefited the territory more.

In a sense, mercenaries were a global profession with few regional constraints, while soldiers were territorial, their value limited to their village or alliance.

As lord, Cheng Yang’s value to the territory remained the same whether he was a soldier or not. The village was Cheng Yang, and Cheng Yang represented the village. But as a mercenary, he could take missions restricted to mercenaries, even group missions. For these, Cheng Yang could bring the entire village army, effectively giving all soldiers temporary mercenary status.

Establishing the Mercenary Camp earlier would let Cheng Yang start taking missions and leveling up sooner.

However, the camp only benefited him personally for now, while the Mission and Trial Halls benefited all village combatants.

Cheng Yang didn’t enter the new halls. As neither soldier nor mercenary yet, he couldn’t take missions. The Trial Hall’s challenge dungeons were great for others but meaningless to him.

The night passed, and Cheng Yang’s cultivation progress reached 19.5%. Though still far from advancing to Warrior rank, he was getting closer.

Later, Cheng Yang cleared the Nightmare-level Bloody Church dungeon with Chen Yun and others, obtaining another silver-grade item, though unsuitable for him.

Emerging from the dungeon, Cheng Yang found Liu Hao absent. Upon inquiry, he learned Liu Hao had gone to Xianghe Village after clearing the dungeon. Chuckling at Liu Hao’s enthusiasm, Cheng Yang headed to the profession statues.

There, Cheng Yang used yesterday’s Warrior Statue Enhancement Stone.

He chose to increase the number of transformation slots, the most cost-effective choice in the early stages.

Now, Luofeng Village had 1,060 warrior slots – double other professions.

Warriors might seem weak early on, with low attack power and no ranged abilities, making them sitting ducks against archers or mages. But they were essential in group battles. With warriors tanking, archers and mages could attack freely, posing the greatest threat to enemies.

Normally, warriors should be the most numerous in a team, as equal numbers can’t perfectly protect other classes.

Having double the warriors was a good trend for Luofeng Village.

Cheng Yang left subsequent transformations to the camp commanders and Li Wanshan.

Next, Cheng Yang upgraded the Priest Statue’s final attribute – Physical Defense Boost. In 20 hours, the statue would reach level 4.

Not only would priest transformation slots increase, but Cheng Yang would also learn whether enhancement stones affected only current attributes or boosted base stats.

Setting this question aside, Cheng Yang took Liu Xiyue to Xianghe Village.

The protected road was indeed different – wide and free from monster harassment. In under half an hour, they entered Xianghe Village’s gates.

Liu Hao wasn’t in the village, but that didn’t stop Cheng Yang. Leaving Liu Xiyue in the village, he followed directions from villagers and soon found Liu Hao’s team.

PS: Seeking recommendations and collections. Thanks to ↘Kua Xia You Shen Hua, Qian Li Xun Yu, Zhao Zilong123, and Xing Zhe Sun Bu Er for their rewards.