Online Game: Me, with Unparalleled Comprehension

Wu Feng nodded. With three thousand new recruits, plus the new recruits from Mu Lingyun's side, and the veterans in the city, the total force was now close to ten thousand.

Although most of them were new recruits, the numbers were there.

He thought for a moment and then said, "Transfer two thousand men from your side to Xiong Batian."

Zhou Tieshan nodded without hesitation: "Yes, Your Excellency."

Xiong Batian grinned and quickly clasped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, Your Excellency!"

Wu Feng waved his hand, not letting him continue to pledge his loyalty.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over the people present, and continued, "There's one more thing. Now that we have too many soldiers, we can't just keep them idle. We'll just be wasting our resources. When you have free time, take some men to the nearby mountain strongholds and plunder them."

He paused, picked up his teacup, took a sip, put it down, and continued, "We can also train the troops while we're at it. New recruits haven't seen blood before; a few battles will get them used to it. We can also recruit some bandits to expand our army, which is also a good idea. We can also plunder the resources in the mountain strongholds—timber, stone, grain, silver, everything—it's a win-win situation."

After listening, the group nodded in agreement.

Mu Lingyun was the first to stand up, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "The governor is right. Using war to sustain war is the least costly approach. Simply keeping the supplies unused is indeed not a solution."

Zhou Tieshan also stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your subordinate understands. New recruits need real combat experience; training only on the drill ground is useless."

Xiong Batian stood up and said in a rough voice, "I've wanted to go out and fight a few battles for a long time. I'm getting restless staying in the city every day."

Han Yufeng also stood up, clasped her hands in a fist and said, "This subordinate can also gather some intelligence while we're at it, killing two birds with one stone."

Wu Feng looked at the group of people and nodded.

"Alright, it's settled then. Everyone go back and prepare. When you have time, take some people out for a sweep."

Several people clasped their hands in unison and replied, "Yes, Your Excellency."

After saying that, Mu Lingyun turned and walked out, with Zhou Tieshan following behind him. The two whispered something, as if they were discussing which mountain stronghold to attack first.

Xiong Batian left with Chang Kun and Mei Ruolan.

Han Yufeng, along with Zhao Yu'e and Sun Yujiao, turned and left.

Zhang Heng bowed and withdrew.

The lobby fell silent.

Wu Feng leaned back in his chair, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked at Li Hu, who was still sitting in his chair.

Li Hu didn't leave. He leaned back in his chair, holding a teacup in his hand, and slowly sipped his tea.

"If you guys have nothing to do, go and clean up the nearby bandit strongholds. You can earn some resources for development," Wu Feng said to Li Hu.

Li Hu leaned back in his chair and nodded: "Of course, we can't just sit here idly. Attacking bandit strongholds can also help us get some equipment from bosses. I'm thinking about whether we can recruit more bandit bosses to help us."

Upon hearing this, Wu Feng tapped his fingers lightly twice on the armrest.

"It's not easy to recruit the bandit boss, but you can try. It seems that as long as you have a position, you can recruit them. Now that you've become a county magistrate, you should be able to recruit these people too."

He thought for a moment, then added, "After all, even without his bandit identity, he can still recruit soldiers and other people."

Therefore, as long as one has sufficient identity, unlocking this function's permissions will allow for the recruitment of prisoners.

Li Hu's eyes lit up after hearing this: "Okay, I'll give it a try. By the way, have you received a reply to your letter to the Song Dynasty?"

"It's strange, there hasn't been a reply yet. Let's just wait," Wu Feng replied.

After all, the journey was long, and trouble was possible. Although the bandits delivering the message were skilled, it was normal for them to be delayed for a few days on the road.

Li Hu sighed, "It seems we won't be able to wait for aid from the Song Dynasty. We'll have to do it ourselves. But the fact that the players here have left has freed up all the monster resources for us, which is actually quite good."

He smiled after he finished speaking.

Wu Feng nodded as well.

That's true. Without other players joining in, farming wild monster resources was indeed incredibly rewarding.

It all depends on whether you have the ability to do it.

The surrounding strongholds, large and giant, used to be highly sought after by players, but now everyone has fled, leaving them all empty.

Resources, bosses, and equipment are all there, waiting for people to claim them.

Li Hu stood up and stretched his shoulders: "Then I'll go make the arrangements. Take some men to raid the mountain stronghold and fight some monsters."

Wu Feng nodded.

The advantage of players is that they are almost tireless, and the impact of combat on them is not as long-lasting as that on NPCs.

Mental fatigue can be recovered with just a rest.

Li Hu turned and walked out of the front hall, his footsteps fading into the distance in the corridor.

As Wu Feng watched his figure disappear, he also stood up and walked out of the front hall.

I walked through the short corridor, across the front yard, and back to my room.

He closed the door and sat down on the bed.

He took out the Divine Wood King Cauldron from his backpack, held it in his hand, and as he circulated the Vermilion Toad Technique, the poisonous power stored in the Divine Wood King Cauldron continuously flowed out for Wu Feng to absorb.

Absorbing this poison immediately triggered the mechanism of losing blood when practicing poison techniques, but with the help of his multiple poison immunity and poison resistance, this blood loss was only a forced loss of a little blood per second.

The effect doesn't harm him at all; it's not even as fast as his health regeneration.

Wu Feng sat up from the bed and stretched his wrists.

Several days passed, and apart from handling government affairs, he spent the rest of his time in his study circulating his inner energy.

The poison in the Divine Wood Cauldron was absorbed wave after wave, and the forced damage that caused blood loss was like a tickle in the face of multiple poison resistances, so even elixirs were useless.

With a slight thought, he opened the skill menu.

【Crimson Toad Skill (Minor Success) (396000/2400000): Releases a small-area Crimson Toad Poison Mist. Enemies within the mist's range suffer continuous poison damage, and their internal energy circulation is hindered. The true energy carries fire and poison attributes, causing both burning and corrosive effects.】

Although it's still far from being fully mastered, the Poison Mist skill has been released, and it will be useful in group battles.

He got up from the bed, pushed open the door and went out.

The sunlight in the courtyard was perfect, shining brightly on the blue brick ground.

"Wu Lang." Li Qinglu saw him.

"Young Master," Mu Wanqing called out.

Wu Feng nodded, said nothing more, and walked through the short corridor toward the front hall.

After several days, things in the city were basically sorted out.

The residents of Yong'an County, Anping County, Qinghe County, and Pingshan County have also been settled.

Troop strength has also increased. Mu Lingyun's side has a force of over six thousand, consisting of both veterans and new recruits.

Zhou Tieshan's 8,000 new recruits have been training for a few days. Although they are not as good as the veterans, at least they can stand in formation and hold their weapons steadily. They are barely usable when they are sent out to fight a favorable battle.

With the addition of able-bodied men selected from the refugees, the total military strength of Yingzhou City is now close to 20,000.

The players on Li Hu's side weren't idle either.

For several days, he led his men to sweep through the surrounding mountain strongholds, taking down all the large and giant ones that could be fought.

The resources, equipment, and items dropped by bosses were quite plentiful.

The three newly built small county towns have also started operating. Although they are not large in scale, at least they have a foundation.

Wu Feng walked through the corridor, around the screen wall, and arrived at the front hall.

He pushed open the door and went in, then sat down in the main seat.

The front hall was empty; no one had come. He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes as he waited.

Not long after, footsteps could be heard in the corridor.