Chapter 43 Early Development

  Things were going very smoothly, but Lisha was shocked by the new base after she returned. The poor girl hesitated and held the supplies and items she had bought at the gate, not daring to enter. If Rode hadn't discovered her, Lisha might have stood outside until nightfall.

  As for why such a change occurred, Lijie naturally had some doubts. After all, before she left, Rode said he would take care of these broken things. But according to common sense, at most it was just cleaning up the broken things, how could it be so thorough? However, since Rode didn't want to say more, Lijie didn't ask again. After experiencing so many things, the girl basically trusted Rode unconditionally. Although such a strange thing was indeed strange, Rode himself was a very mysterious person, so there was nothing strange about it.

  And Lizzie believed that Rod would one day tell her these secrets himself.

  Through Liche, Rod also inquired about the situation at the Mercenary Association. It was clear that the old man was quite surprised that they were able to take care of the haunted house and did not believe they had the ability to handle this notorious haunted house within Deep Stone City. On the other hand, Sereck stood on their side, and through Liche, he also hinted to Rod to pay attention to his tone and identity in order to avoid unnecessary trouble.

  As for Serac's hint, Rode understood it silently. He was also very clear that although the reputation of Serac's mansion was notorious, there were also many masters in Deepstone City who could easily deal with these things without knowing their true nature, such as a sword master like Serac. And since they still hadn't made a move, it could be confirmed that this wasn't an issue of monsters' strength difference, but rather some more external factors.

  To be honest, this place is also located in the upper district and belongs to the noble's range, so there will definitely be trouble. Now Rod and his family have just moved in, the name of the haunted house is still there, so for a while, it's unlikely that anyone will come looking for trouble. However, as time passes, when people find out that the haunted house is no longer "haunted", things won't be easy to handle. Six hundred gold coins bought such a large mansion, although the procedures are not a problem, but people will have their own thoughts. After all, as the saying goes, there's no free lunch in this world.

  These words were naturally clear to him, but he was curious why Serrek would remind himself of such things, knowing that he and himself didn't have much contact... Could it be that in the previous battle, Serrek had developed a fondness for him?

  But all these are future things. The most practical thing in front of Luo De is only one thing, that is the real development problem of Xing Guang Mercenary Group next.

  The first problem is manpower.

  A two-man mercenary group is definitely not feasible. Indeed, relying on Rode's familiarity with the area to complete tasks back and forth is not difficult. However, being short-handed means that there is no way to perform flexible formations. With Rode's current personnel configuration, they can only deal with undead creatures, but if they encounter living creatures, it will be very troublesome. As for ordinary mercenary tasks such as escorting and transporting, with their current manpower, no one would be willing to entrust them with the task.

  But if you want to hire someone, what kind of person should you hire? At least the cost-effectiveness must be worth it………Looking at Luo De's current assets, he can only afford to hire one or two more people. Good steel should be used on the blade, and if you choose the wrong person, you'll cry before you even have time to react.

  Sitting in the study, Luo De furrowed his brow and sank into thought. The large room seemed a bit empty, with only a desk, a few chairs, and a bookshelf, nothing else. Although it was a bit shabby, he could only make do for now.

  Closing the book in his hand, Rode fell into a deep reverie.

  August of the Year of Radiance———a year and a half later, the Nation of Radiance announced through investigation that the Night Nation had attacked its border merchant ships. They then quickly dispatched troops, occupying the Soragang mountain district and controlling the residents there, claiming they were the ringleaders in attacking the Nation of Radiance's merchant ships, and arresting and executing them.

  Two months later, the Night Country responded with its army and recaptured the Sola Gorge region, annihilating the Light Country's garrison there.

  Then, full-scale war broke out.

  The Moon Kingdom where Rod is located was the first to be attacked by the Night Country, and this fact could have been avoided, but the Council of Light ordered that the Moon Kingdom had no choice but to stand up against the dark night's blade and sword.

  That was the most devastating defeat in Rod's memory, with the Night Kingdom sending out a powerful army of around level 80, including vampires and skeleton mages, to launch a destructive attack on Mu'en Kingdom. This was a disaster for players who were at most level 40-50 at that time. Although many players spontaneously organized themselves to defend their land, their weak resistance was powerless against the Night Kingdom's strong army. They died repeatedly, revived repeatedly, but still couldn't stop the Night Kingdom's army from advancing triumphantly. Just then, the Council of Light made a shocking decision that stunned all players - they declared Mu'en Kingdom to be secretly collaborating with enemy countries and sent troops to attack it.

  This became the final straw that crushed the already unstable Kingdom of Muun, which began to retreat in disarray under the attacks from both sides. Just then, the ruler of the Kingdom of Muun, Litiya Paphield Mira Franlika, finally made a decision and dispatched her elite military unit "Purple Lily" to escort the player and her people to the port city of Trisfia for evacuation.

  Roth still remembers the scene at that time, they stood beside the long queue of refugees, almost every player was gritting their teeth and staring at the land behind them. It wasn't just because as a player he was driven out by an NPC, but also anger towards the idiotic council of the Land of Light.

  The inhabitants of the Mu'en kingdom left, wearing tattered clothes, with faces ashen and footsteps hasty.

  Players of the Mu Online game left, their faces flushed with anger, shouting "Game developers, you're playing us!", "Game company go to hell!", "I'll kill those XX in parliament!", and left reluctantly.

  Only one person stayed behind.

  With the power of the throne angel, she single-handedly blocked the 100,000-strong army of the Night Kingdom until the last ship left the port of Tristia, and only then did she close her eyes. Until the very end, she remained true to her oath: "The king must always stand behind his people, shielding them from wind and rain, whether they want it or not."

  The players' anger then erupted.

  Rod remembered clearly that this was the largest outbreak in the history of Long Soul Continent, and within a week, tens of millions of players almost flooded the game's official forum. Many people claimed that it was a violent attack on the player's will. And more players expressed their anger through actual actions, one by one, player guilds emerged, and they raised their knives to take revenge on their fellow players and NPCs in the Holy Light faction. Rod also gave up his attitude of just playing the game after this, and began to take it seriously. After gathering several players who had deep grievances against the Holy Light, he formed Starlight. It was for their dignity as players, a rebellion against the game system, and a naked desire for revenge.

  They succeeded.

  Under Luo De's leadership, Starlight grew stronger and stronger, then they swept through the Country of Light, thoroughly destroying the Council of Light. Next, they sharpened their blades and launched a fierce attack on another arch-nemesis, the Night Country. In the end, they also achieved success, even personally eliminating one of the Five Dragons of Creation, the Dark Night Dragon. And it was after this war that Starlight rose to become the strongest guild in the entire game, without exception.

  It can be said that they succeeded and were brilliant. But in Luo De's heart, there was always a small voice.

  When they annihilated the Council, when they brought down the Dark Dragon of Night, Rod had such thoughts. If I had possessed such power at that time, would things have turned out differently? Would everything still be changed?

  Rode didn't know, but he was also very clear that it was just a dream. The game wouldn't reload, and there was no way to start over again. He had thought so until he came to this world... ... Rode only discovered that he had another chance to start over and change his fate.

  He didn't want to taste that kind of humiliation again, whether as a refugee or the player he used to be. It was absolutely not allowed to happen to him again.

  Before that, Rod had also thought about leaving the Twilight Forest and trying his luck in the Golden City, but after learning of Lige's experience, Rod changed his mind. If he could once build a powerful guild capable of completely destroying the Light Country and Night Country, even rivaling the Hell Demons, and ultimately killing the Void Dragon, why couldn't he do it again?

  There is still one and a half years' time, it's neither long nor short.

  Now that he has gained the recognition of the Mercenary Association and obtained a foothold in Lode, he is finally ready to make his move. He wants to relive his past glory here, and this time, he will not let the same humiliation befall him again. This is something Rod absolutely cannot tolerate.

  Everything is on the right track, it's time for me to start preparing myself.

  Looking out the window at the beautiful scenery of Deep Stone Castle, Rod began to recall in his mind the attributes and skills of those hired NPCs in the game, and soon after, Rod made up his mind.

  Lily.

  He stood up and knocked on the table. Soon, the girl who was reading a book by the window heard Rod's call and immediately got up.

  "We're going to the Mercenaries' Guild."

  The mercenary association was still bustling as usual, and there was no difference from the previous few days. The bored mercenaries sat at the tables next to the hall drinking and chatting, while more people crowded in front to receive or hand in tasks.

  Rhode soon found their name on the stone slab that marked all the mercenary groups in the Paphield region, with a total of thirty-two groups listed, among which Starlight was ranked last and also had an eye-catching zero points.

  But seeing this, Lijie's expression was somewhat helpless. Although she had seen it yesterday, thinking that her mercenary group had fallen from the middle to the tail made her feel unbearable. However, she took a deep breath and barely calmed down before speaking to Rode.

  "Sir, we're currently ranked last with no points... other mercenary groups have at least five points already, we must think of a way."

  "I'm very clear."

  Rod nodded slightly in response, he looked up and soon saw another name - Red Eagle, if Rod was not mistaken, Red Eagle should be the team led by the female mercenary captain that Lige had known before. It seemed that they were doing quite well, ranking 21st, belonging to the kind of mediocre standard that was neither high nor low, neither good nor bad.

  But Luo De didn't come here today for such a trivial matter. He just took a glance and then walked towards the other side of the hall.

  The distribution of the Mercenary Association is very clear, the large hall on the left is occupied by people from various mercenary groups, while the right side is where those idle and unorganized mercenaries wait. These people have not entered a mercenary group for various reasons and can only wait here, either to receive some ordinary tasks or to wait for a mercenary group to recruit personnel. Therefore, this place is much colder than the large hall, with mercenaries sitting at the tables chatting with an air of idleness, or sitting in the corner with a cold expression as if someone owed them money.

  Rod and Lige's appearance attracted the attention of many people, who whistled loudly and greeted them with a smile. However, Rod clearly ignored these idiots who couldn't even tell their gender apart, while Lige had long been accustomed to this chaos and smiled politely and reservedly, keeping her distance without intending to respond. Because she was also aware that these mercenaries were just bored and looking for fun, whether they were angry or happy, their purpose was achieved, and it would be more troublesome later on. It's better to pretend nothing happened, so they think it's boring and won't bother them again.

  Throwing aside those annoying noises, Rode turned his head and looked towards the corner beside him, then he walked over...

  The wine in the cup is still so sweet and fragrant.

  The old man put down the wine glass in his hand, pressed his slightly trembling right hand hard, leaned against the back of the chair, and stared blankly at the ground. He used to be a member of the Wind Mercenary Group, when he was confident, brave, full of hope and vitality, he had thought countless times that one day he would become the leader of the mercenary group, leading his subordinates to open up and adventure, this is his hope, also his goal.

  But everything changed after getting hurt.

  He no longer has the strength of his youth, and those who once worshipped him have abandoned him. Now, that young man who was once full of vigor has become a pitiful old man, unable to do anything except drown his sorrows in drink. Thinking this way, the old man couldn't help but feel a deep sorrow. He lifted his head, casting a scornful glance at the group of young whippersnappers around him. They were too young, still chasing after beautiful dreams, adventure, beauties, wealth, and fame - what did any of it amount to? Everything was meaningless; when they lost everything they relied on, what would be left for these young whippersnappers?

  The old man stretched out his hand and touched the right eye covered by the eyepatch, then raised his wine glass to ask the waiter for another cup.

  Just then, he found two people came and sat down beside him.

  "Mr. Diddler? Mr. Diddler?"