Chapter 10: The Expansion Conference

When Lidas, stationed at the As Sea, Shuiyue Tian, stationed at the Hill Stone Mine, and Jessica, stationed at the City of Blessings, arrived at Ghost Butterfly City, the ancient vampire castle at the city's edge had already been upgraded by one level. Now looming even larger, it was surrounded by over a dozen slightly smaller bone dragons circling up and down.

Seeing the astonishment on the three newcomers’ faces, Li Bin could only smile wryly and explain, “It’s all because Reed kept pestering me. So, I used up a silver dragon corpse and a large number of level 8 standard corpses to make these thirteen pseudo bone dragons. Luckily, I had a ‘Bone Dragon Creation Manual’ on hand, or else even if I’d used up all the silver dragon corpses, I couldn’t have made so many. ”

The three laughed it off and followed Li Bin into Ghost Butterfly City. Not long after they entered, Jessica noticed that the corpse research institute, the corpse refining chamber for training other undead soldiers, the corpse storage, and the corpse poisoning room had all been moved next to a small fountain, as if they were forming a new district within the city.

In front of a hero’s mansion, Jessica then saw four squads of liches standing in neat rows of three, as if awaiting something.

“What’s going on here? Why are they all standing here?” Jessica asked, puzzled.

“That’s because Little Carter lost to Gru again in their contest and had to relinquish the title of No. 1 archer squad. Now he’s racking his brains to figure out how to overcome the liches’ inability to provide covering fire,” Li Bin explained with a laugh.

“So where’s Gru?” Jessica inquired further.

“He heard that only nine squads of phantom undead archers could be deployed this time, so he’s over there drilling them, hoping to pick out the strongest soldiers,” Ted, standing beside Li Bin, explained.

“But Ted, aren’t you worried? Why haven’t you asked for any troops?” Jessica asked, looking at him.

“What’s there to worry about? I know full well that Ghost Butterfly City can only recruit up to level 7 troops. Since the master doesn’t have any manuals for creating death knights or things like that, where would he get reinforcements for me?” Ted laughed heartily.

“You could ask for other troops,” Jessica suggested offhandedly.

“Other troops? But where would I find units that can keep up with the speed of a death knight?” Ted still shook his head.

Jessica could only smile helplessly and say no more, just as they arrived at the city hall and everyone squeezed inside.

In the city hall’s meeting room, the other heroes under Li Bin were already waiting. As soon as Li Bin entered, Reed, who had been sitting there for some time, jumped up and said, “Master, make more bone dragons!”

“No,” Li Bin shot him a look. “Don’t you know the remaining silver dragon corpses are for building the Dragon Grave? Once we have it, even a single silver dragon corpse can produce at least thirty of these bone dragons.”

“But those are pseudo bone dragons made by mixing in corpses from other races. Their attributes are lacking, and they’re only level 10. Only a true level 11 bone dragon made entirely from a giant dragon corpse will suit me,” Reed complained.

“I have no other choice for now,” Li Bin replied helplessly. “Just make do for the time being. Once this campaign is over and we’ve acquired enough Hearts of the City, we’ll upgrade Ghost Butterfly City to level nine and build a Dragon Research Lab.”

“How long will that take?” Reed grumbled, but ultimately agreed with Li Bin’s plan.

Having placated Reed, Li Bin turned to address his heroes. “I’m sure you all know why I’ve called you here. I’ll repeat it: we have two objectives for this campaign. First, to deal with those players who dared attack our territory. I want them to understand the consequences of crossing me. Sanai…”

At the mention of her name, Sanai immediately stood and reported, “According to our investigation, among the nearly three hundred players who attacked our lands this time, thirty-three own territories themselves. Of those, Nairo, Amanda Wind, and Light have especially large territories. Nairo holds a level 4 undead city; Amanda Wind holds a level 3 dark city and a level 1 freedom city; and Light possesses two level 2 dark cities.”

“So in these three days, I’ve already dispatched scouts—thieves, ghost bats, and ghost wolves—to locate all thirty-five of these cities. Some of the players also have mobile villages like Cursed Graveyards, which we must watch out for,” Li Bin said, pointing to the map as he spoke.

Everyone saw that thirty-five city markers had already been placed near Ghost Butterfly City, some with annotations, others with a simple cross.

Noticing their confusion, Sanai explained, “These symbols were created by the master himself. Those annotated are cities with favorable terrain and strategic locations; the plan is to capture and develop them further. The rest are to be destroyed—after seizing their Hearts of the City, the cities will be razed. If we succeed, this will be the result.”

As she spoke, Sanai pulled out another map. On it, the cities marked with a cross had vanished, while the control range of the remaining cities had expanded, making it possible to travel from one city to another in a single day.

Everyone understood: if things went as Sanai described, Li Bin’s domain could become a true, unified territory.

Seeing their expressions, Li Bin said with satisfaction, “This is just our first step. Once this plan is done, we’ll expand eastward, all the way to carve out a passage to the continent’s edge.”

This stunned everyone present. In their eyes, even managing these cities would stretch Li Bin’s strength, let alone expanding further east.

Li Bin saw their doubts and declared confidently, “I know what you’re worried about: that I won’t be able to manage all the lands and cities once my territory expands. But don’t worry—I’ve already found a solution.”

Everyone perked up, eager for him to reveal it.

Li Bin smiled and said, “The answer is internal affairs heroes. One level 1 Heart of the City can be exchanged for an internal affairs hero; a level 3 Heart for a city governor; a level 7 Heart for a lord. This is a special discount offered to me by the Joshua Chamber of Commerce.”