Chapter 11: The Annexation of the Dwarven Village

Amid the dwarven player's complaints, Li Bin learned about this audacious fellow—named Wine Barrel (a detail omitted earlier, now rectified; this character was provided by the reader Fenghun GE). In real life, Wine Barrel was the owner of a small tavern. Born with a love for drinking, he chose to play as a dwarf in the game, a race whose livelihood also revolved around wine. He possessed an impressive skill: Drunken Frenzy, which could instantly boost his troops' attack power by forty percent.

With such a skill, Wine Barrel made quite a name for himself on the novice continent. But this also accelerated his leveling up; by level five, he still hadn’t found a usable City Core. In the end, he was expelled from the novice continent by the system’s countdown, becoming a miserable cityless wanderer.

Without a city, he had to carry his mercenary certificate and roam the continents in search of a suitable lord to serve. Unexpectedly, after years of wandering, Wine Barrel was tricked by the mayor of a dwarven village—who wasn’t even level three—exchanging all his troops for the position of deputy mayor and endless fine wine. This time, after getting him drunk, they gave him a few level zero and one units, then sent him off to tackle a tough nut like Ghost Butterfly City.

Needless to say, both men understood that, after swallowing up Wine Barrel’s troops, the dwarven village was now preparing to deal with him as well.

Fully aware of all this, Li Bin eyed Wine Barrel with a sly look and only after a moment spoke: “Do you want a village of your own?”

“I do, but I don’t want to be just another high-level quest-giver,” Wine Barrel replied boisterously.

“Very well. Once we take it, we’ll split it sixty-forty—you get sixty, I get forty. You’ll cover the construction expenses,” Li Bin suggested.

“Well… all right,” Wine Barrel agreed after a brief hesitation.

“Then sign this contract. Don’t worry, it’s a standard player subordinate contract, not the kind used for recruiting heroes. You’ll have plenty of freedom, but you must follow my lead—and you’re not allowed to betray me.” Li Bin smiled as he spoke, gauging Wine Barrel’s reaction.

Even NPC heroes, supposedly incapable of betrayal, could choose how to follow a player's orders based on their own motives and closeness to the player. They might even surrender after defeat or flee the battlefield. With player subordinates, the uncertainty was even greater, so those in power always opted for stricter contracts.

Long accustomed to such things, Wine Barrel gave the contract a quick scan, then pressed his handprint on it, thus becoming Li Bin’s first subordinate player.

After putting away Wine Barrel’s contract, Li Bin smiled and had a ghostly servant bring a small cup of wine. “Now that you have no ties to the dwarven village, you can tell us about their situation, can’t you?”

Wine Barrel didn’t refuse and immediately spilled everything about the dwarven village. As it turned out, the so-called Hillstone Mine was only a level two village, with their strongest troops at level five—the only two level six units were the ones Wine Barrel had brought himself. When Li Bin founded Ghost Butterfly City, they had noticed immediately and feared he would strike their city quickly. But since Li Bin spent a long time developing the eastern and western fronts without attacking their position, they began to think he was afraid of them. (“That’s only because I didn’t have time,” Li Bin mused to himself. “Had I the time, I’d have wiped them out already.”)

Growing bolder, the dwarves, after a few drinks, set their sights on Ghost Butterfly City, vowing each day to capture it and turn it into another dwarven stronghold. During this period, they neglected village development, concentrating their forces and preparing for war. According to Wine Barrel’s estimate, the village now had at least five squads of troops below level three and seven or eight small squads above level three. Though still inferior overall to Li Bin’s forces, their defense far exceeded that of a typical level two village.

For his first external war on this new continent, Li Bin intended to make a name for himself. To deal with this level two village, he not only recalled Tordina and Deirdre but also mobilized all the troops from Ghost Butterfly City. Even the Amazon troops who had just arrived were reassigned as the vanguard for the assault.

But what excited Li Bin most was that, on the eve of their departure, a caravan from the Undead Seven Lords Alliance arrived, bringing the two bone dragons he had ordered. According to the caravaners, Li Bin’s undead scorpions were selling well among necromancers—so much so that several undead lords, lacking internal currency, wanted to trade their own troops for them.

As the caravan leader spoke, he produced a list. “These are the items those undead lords are willing to offer. Since these aren’t internal guild trades, the prices are a bit higher.”

Li Bin scanned the list and found all sorts of offers. The most expensive was a level nine Death Knight for a single undead scorpion. Most outrageous of all, a lich who had not yet become a hero was offering three level four spells he had researched over the years in exchange for one. Such a good deal—how could Li Bin refuse? After picking out a few desirable items, he handed over the undead scorpions he’d made during his recent idle hours. An enhanced super undead scorpion was also entrusted to the caravan, to be traded for internal currency with the Undead Seven Lords Alliance.

The caravan leader, having pocketed Li Bin’s commission, readily agreed to keep an eye out for big-ticket items like Death Knights, liches, necromancers, and bone dragons on his behalf.

After escorting the caravan out, Li Bin didn’t return to the city but began reorganizing his troops in the wild. Led by the two bone dragons, they advanced directly toward the dwarven village a hundred kilometers away.

Meanwhile, the dwarven village was in full combat readiness. When they spotted the mass of skeleton soldiers charging toward them through thick black smoke, they knew trouble was at hand. The red-bearded dwarf mayor immediately mustered all the village’s troops and prepared for battle. In his pre-battle speech, he declared with great confidence, “Those walking bags of bones are just level four and five units. They don’t even have a single level six. As long as our two level six dwarven berserkers stand atop the walls, they’ll scare the enemy into submission.”

But all such bravado vanished the moment the two bone dragons appeared. Not only did the dragons’ presence bring overwhelming pressure, but the sheer gap in levels robbed everyone of their confidence. As the undead army slowly revealed itself, the red-bearded mayor’s face turned ashen. He raised his warhammer with resignation and murmured, “Prepare for battle…”