Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 389 Level 4 Territory
Just as Li Wei was bestowing the title of the ninth Riverside Knight upon Duan Bowen, Zhao Kewu was sitting in a three-star tavern with a male and a female player in his territory, staring intently at a recruitment list.

When a few names finally appeared and their recruitment prices were displayed, the old woman suddenly spoke.

"It's him, the mage, the one who charges 30,000 gold coins a month. He's the one who was recruited!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Kewu did not hesitate to recruit. When the recruitment was successful, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It was not easy. For the past three months, he had been following his grandmother's instructions to select the mercenaries with the highest hiring price.

However, this is not so easy, because these special mercenaries, whose monthly hiring price is 30,000 gold coins, will choose their own employers.

In other words, he can only be seen by whomever he wants to be hired; otherwise, it's absolutely impossible.

Clearly, he wasn't the most outstanding figure in this city-building mission, so even if there were mercenaries like him, Li Wei would definitely be the first choice.

However, it seems that Li Wei has refused to recruit, which is why he got to take advantage of the situation.

"What a pity! Li Wei, I hope you can hurry up, you don't have much time left."

Zhao Kewu felt a sense of感慨 (gan3kai3, mixed feelings), but it wasn't a sarcastic or mocking tone; rather, it was because he knew more inside information.

These mercenaries, whose hiring price reaches the maximum of 30,000, are not normal mercenaries at all, but regular soldiers, the very powerful kind. Once such people appear in the tavern, it usually means that the plot has changed and the countdown to the settlement has begun.

Yes, the countdown to the end of the entire exploration mission has begun.

This situation usually occurs because neither side knows who has scored a goal with significant strategic value, like a birdie, and thus, at a higher level, such as the royal family of the Kingdom of Locke, intervention may be possible.

Specifically, it's like an imperial envoy, wielding the imperial sword, authorized by royal power, able to execute orders before reporting to the emperor, something even the Duke of Ver had to reluctantly acknowledge.

As for who demonstrated the value of united front work, it certainly wasn't Zhao Kewu, and it couldn't possibly be Li Wei.

Then it can only be the Ice Duke. Perhaps some plot point was triggered that could recruit the Ice Duke!

Therefore, Zhao Kewu only wanted a better completion rating, since the city was impossible to build.

It's obvious that once the Ice Duke takes over Socrates' territory, he will launch a full-scale attack on his territory next year. He has delayed for half a year this year, so what will he use to build a city next?

He currently only has a level 1 territory; he needs to upgrade to a level 5 territory to be considered a level 5 territory.

Rather than being wiped out and left with nothing, it's better to take this opportunity to earn a nominal viscount position.

Thinking of this, Zhao Kewu dared not delay and immediately went out to greet the person who was called a mercenary but was actually an imperial envoy for cessation of war.

Upon meeting the other party, they only said one sentence: "Gather all forces and take advantage of the Ice Duke's weakened lair to capture it."

After saying that, the other party casually waved his hand, and a magical shield landed in Zhao Kewu's territory, covering exactly twenty square kilometers!

"As ordered!"

Zhao Kewu shouted loudly, not daring to be presumptuous at all, because the person standing in front of him was definitely a six-star professional!
He doesn't need to ask anything or fight desperately; he can just follow this person and attack directly.

But at that moment, the man suddenly asked, "What is Li Wei doing?"

"Well, reporting to the Mage, it seems that Li Wei led his troops into battle this morning and just killed a barbarian centurion."

"Oh, he's quite ambitious, like an energetic little teddy bear."

The man smiled and then said nothing more.

But no one, including Zhao Kewu and his grandmother, dared to have any wild thoughts. They just had to obey and be puppets.

-

At the same time, within Li Wei's territory, from the riverside fortress hundreds of miles westward, to Hathaway's baronial territory, the small town base, and all the way to the territory's main camp, this area of ​​over a thousand miles had been experiencing torrential rain since noon yesterday. Wave after wave of floods from upstream had rendered the riverbanks useless; there was no need for the mutated giant fish to crash into them anymore. Breaches were everywhere, and water was flooding everywhere.

Even the south bank was flooded.

Hathaway and Li Yue were unable to block the entire riverbank, so they had to retreat to the riverside fortress and build an ice dam around it to protect both the fortress and the more than 1,000 acres of farmland.

Qin Yu was responsible for protecting the bridge and the Black Mountain Fortress on the south bank, as well as dispersing the torrential rain over the farmland.

This is not normal weather. What farmland can withstand this level of torrential rain?

The precious magic power is being consumed, so we can only grit our teeth and bear it!
This is a war, a life-or-death struggle. The Ice Duke has truly gone all out this time, acting like a madman. But the more frantic he becomes, the more anxious he is.

He panicked, he was really panicked!

At the same time, at the territory's main camp, Liang Yuzhi, Nelson, Lenos, and others were leading the free people in their all-out efforts to fight the flood. Although this area was also flooded, the impact was not significant because there were no farmlands in this wilderness. The farmlands were all near the northern fortress, which, including the newly reclaimed cornfields, covered nearly 500 acres. However, these fields were all located at slightly higher elevations, so even if the floodwaters were to overflow, they would be too high to reach.

Therefore, for the free people here, this flood is more like a general mobilization to unite people and help each other.

The more than 500 free citizens brought back by the Templar Knight Mark were hastily integrated into the territory, and under Liang Yuzhi's supervision, they were given level one professional cards, which were no longer in short supply.

Once a profession card is bound, the individual will be included in the territory's population by the prestige system.

With the addition of the three hundred free people brought back from Ron’s territory to the riverside fortress, Li Wei’s territory population reached 2215 without anyone noticing!
At that moment, Li Wei, who was leading his cavalry at full speed across the vast area north of the northern mountains to search for the wandering squad of superhumans, suddenly received the relevant information.

[Congratulations! Your Temple of the Gods has reached three stars! Furthermore, your territory now boasts three or more fortresses, one three-star magic mine, and a population of 2000 or more. Your territory has met all the requirements and is officially upgraded to a level four territory.]

[Congratulations! At level four, your legal territory area will continue to increase, currently at fifty square kilometers. Note: Starting from level two, you will gain ten square kilometers of legal land for each level increase.]

[Congratulations! Under Level 4 territory, you can now acquire up to 500 square kilometers of illegal territory. However, you need to station a strong legion to garrison these illegal territories. Otherwise, they may be captured by natives or new settlers in the next round of expansion missions, as illegal territories are unprotected!]

[Friendly reminder: After upgrading a level 4 territory to a level 5 territory, it will automatically upgrade to a level 1 city. Bind this city to your Flame Viscount title, and you will become a powerful viscount. Specific upgrade conditions are as follows.]

[First, you need to construct a level 4 city wall with a circumference of at least five kilometers around your territory's main base. Note that the level 4 city wall is connected to the magic mine, and its interior and exterior should be embedded with the most basic magic structures.]

Second, you need to build a one-star mage tower at the magic mine, and have a spellcaster permanently stationed in the mage tower (at least until the city-building quest ends).

[Third, your territory needs to have at least three thousand free citizens, and at the same time, it needs to have the conditions to provide basic humanitarian care for no less than five thousand free citizens, such as protection against hunger, cold, illness, learning, training, growth, and reproduction. This requires you to have a legal and effective internal affairs system, a medical system, sufficient and sturdy housing, and ample job opportunities.]

Fourth, you must have at least one Templar Knight and at least two Temple Priests.

Fifth, you must have at least three hundred standing, full-time soldiers, ready to be summoned by the king or duke to participate in conquest missions. Note that conquest missions can be substituted for cross-border missions, and vice versa.

[Friendly reminder: Cross-border missions are primarily based on infiltration and development, and are launched every five years. You must venture into a contested world that neither side has actual control to develop your own power and strengthen your advantages. You must build a bridgehead for your main army's arrival. Once the bridgehead is built and your main army arrives, the mission is considered complete and the settlement is made. However, if the enemy discovers and destroys the cross-border camp, it essentially means failure.]

[Friendly Reminder: A conquest mission involves leading at least 300 full-time soldiers into a bridgehead successfully constructed by our cross-border personnel. Using the bridgehead as a base, you will launch several expansion and conquest missions in the surrounding area. Sometimes, you will also need to participate in the defense of the bridgehead. Conquest missions typically last one to two years, and all participating soldiers have one chance to revive. A conquest mission will fail if the soldier casualty rate reaches 50% or the commander is killed.]

[Friendly reminder: Successful completion of cross-border and conquest missions will reward you with a valuable six-star item card – the Territory Upgrade Card, which allows you to upgrade your territory to the main magical world where the Kingdom of Rock is located.]

-

Wow!

Are we finally about to see the light at the end of the tunnel?
As August approached, Li Wei was filled with excitement; he was now only one step away from victory!

However, he immediately realized that the most difficult, darkest, and most dangerous times were also likely to come.

For the past few months, he had been trying not to think about when his brother Socrates' territory would be breached. He had to suppress his urge to go to the rescue, because he knew that his current strength was just a drop in the ocean.

No matter how powerful his heavy cavalry was, it was only effective in specific environments and on specific battlefields when the total number of enemies did not exceed three hundred.

Once barricades, spears, heavy shields, giant crossbows, and traps are deployed, the enemy can wait and reap the rewards of his soldiers!

Therefore, motorized development is the key.

At the same time, protecting Templar Mark and allowing him to calmly farm some survivors is also a key point.

Population is very important.

Future cross-border missions and conquest missions are like twins.

To become stronger, and even to drive the territory's development upwards, it will likely require participation in both tasks, and winning both.

All of this is inseparable from a high-quality population and high-quality resources.

Every battle is a fight for the fate of the territory; a single defeat could mean breaking bones...

(End of this chapter)