I summoned the Fourth Scourge in Warhammer

Chapter 72 Military Committee

Just then, someone in the group suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, Ruan Wenbo has posted!"

Upon hearing this, the players, who were still immersed in the afterglow of the battle, immediately erupted like firecrackers.

"Oh? Really? What did you post?"

"Hey, don't push me! Don't you have your own system panel?!"

New and veteran players alike opened their system panels and rushed to the forum, eager not to miss any important information. As new players gradually joined, Ruan Wenbo's reputation in the game not only didn't diminish, but actually increased, reaching an almost admirable level.

The majority of this success can be attributed to the pinned post titled "How New Players Can Rationally Allocate Their Merit Points." That post was detailed and practical, providing guidance to countless newcomers to the game and enabling them to efficiently utilize resources from the outset. It's fair to say that all new players benefited greatly from this post.

Veteran players, having completed numerous missions and earned substantial merit points under Ruan Wenbo's command, naturally became his supporters. Therefore, as the number of members in the Death Squad continued to rise, Ruan Wenbo's prestige grew even greater, making him a veritable spiritual leader within the player community.

When people clicked on the post, the title clearly stated:

Solicitation of suggestions regarding whether to establish a military personnel committee

The post begins with Ruan Wenbo's usual concise greeting:
"Greetings to all my brothers and sisters who are going to their deaths."

He then got straight to the point, explaining why he posted the message:

“Recently, the number of people in the suicide squad has been increasing, from less than 100 at the beginning to nearly 300 now, and the number of squads has also begun to increase dramatically. This is certainly a good thing, indicating that our squad is growing stronger. However, the problems that come with it are becoming increasingly prominent.”

"As a company commander, I find that I no longer have enough time and energy to distinguish who is truly qualified to be a squad leader. In most cases, a group of a dozen or so grassroots players come to me and ask me to appoint one of them as a squad leader, and then I approve it directly."

"Personally, I think that since this is already the case in practice, it would be better to institutionalize this process. This is the proposal of the 'Military Committee' mentioned in the post title."

"My idea is to change the appointment of generals from direct appointment by the top leadership—that is, by me, the company commander—to democratic elections at the grassroots level. Anyway, the Death Squad is mainly player-led now, so removing the meaningless process of officer approval will actually make it more efficient."

"As for why it's called the 'Military Committee' instead of the 'Soldiers Committee,' it's because I personally believe that among those going to their deaths, non-commissioned officers and soldiers are an equal group. There's only a difference in job duties, not in status. Calling it the 'Soldiers Committee' would seem biased, as if excluding non-commissioned officers. The 'Military Committee' better reflects the equality and unity within our ranks." "Furthermore, transferring power to the Military Committee has another crucial advantage: every player's merits will be fully guaranteed."

"All players are aware of the death penalty in this game: the game's only currency, Merit, is reset to zero. The principle behind this mechanism is that, from the perspective of NPCs, a player who dies and is resurrected is a completely new person, an individual who is essentially unrelated to the deceased player. And this new person naturally does not inherit anything from the deceased player."

"The reason why we can ensure that everyone's merits are not reset is because the highest-ranking officer for players at this stage is me, a fellow player. I can use my authority to ensure that you inherit the merits of the previous player after you die and are resurrected. This is not a built-in function of the game system, but a workaround I have implemented based on my understanding of the game mechanics."

"However, I am ultimately just an ordinary player. I cannot guarantee that I will never die, or that I will not quit the game for some reason in the future. There are always unexpected events and uncertainties in life. In that case, it is better to transfer the highest power from the individual—that is, me—to the collective before such a thing happens."

"After all, any individual player could die unexpectedly for various reasons, but the possibility of the entire player group being completely destroyed is almost nonexistent. If we were to be completely destroyed, then I don't think we would need to worry about things like merit points."

"In this way, even if I die in an accident or decide to quit the game in the future, the Military Council can immediately elect a new officer. In other words, the supreme power has always been in the hands of the Military Council, so that the entire player group will not be thrown into chaos due to the accident of one person, and thus there will be troublesome situations such as the Ministry of Military Affairs sending an NPC to take over the supreme command after hearing about it."

Ruan Wenbo's post sparked unprecedented discussion among players. However, in reality, most players didn't fully grasp the post's deeper meaning. Those complexities—such as the transition of power from the individual to the collective and the organization of the military—were beyond their everyday gaming experience.

They simply saw that the post was made by Ruan Wenbo—the big shot who led them to earn countless merits, formulated a newbie guide, and was like a pillar of strength in their hearts.

The entire post is logically consistent and well-organized, with every word reflecting consideration for the players' interests. Furthermore, Ruan Wenbo explicitly stated that there are many benefits to doing this.

Based on their trust in Nguyen Van Bo and their simple sense of collectivism, the vast majority of players chose to support him without hesitation. For a time, the comments below the post were almost unanimously in favor and agreement.

As Ruan Wenbo watched the number of player comments below gradually increase, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief. The players' lack of resistance made him very satisfied, and it could even be said to be the best-case scenario.

Since the players did not object, the formation of the military committee naturally encountered no resistance. Under Nguyen Van Bo's organization, the election of officers and executive committee members proceeded smoothly.

The final election results were entirely as expected—Nguyen Van Bo remained the company commander, and he even gained the additional title of chairman of the Military Affairs Committee. After all, if Nguyen Van Bo hadn't held these two key positions, the players would have been quite surprised and felt uneasy.

(End of this chapter)