The World Online

Snow-War Rose mercenary group had sent the first batch of lifestyle players into Shanhai City.

The players numbered 500, along with their families, totaled at 2,400. The Fallen Moon Guild absorbed all of them and arranged for them to stay in the residential area. He would give them the same benefits and status as ordinary guild members.

In this way, the Fallen Moon Guild officially had 850 members. They were close to the maximum limit of 1,000 members. This left Ouyang Shuo with no choice, so he could only hurry Sun Xiaoyue to upgrade the guild to the next rank. This upgrade would expand the maximum members limit. At the same time, the Fallen Moon Guild would slow down its rate of absorbing members. Instead, they would the allow Snow-War Rose mercenary group to handle the new members.

Fallen Moon Guild members consisted of talents all across every industry. However, most of them were still intermediate talents, some even basic talents. There was only a limited amount of those advanced talents.

Like the Earth Online aboriginals, the players were assigned to workshops, shops, or sites according to their respective talents. Their wage and work benefits would all be the same as the aboriginals. Of course, the four main workshops in the East district were restricted from players until Ouyang Shuo had determined their loyalties.

In this way, the players could earn money. At the same time, they could level their talent skills. Especially in a city like Shanhai, the territory’s special properties could help lifestyle players easily break through in their talents.

A player’s achievement values didn’t only take into account their assets. It also accounted for the achievements one had achieved in their field of profession. As for lifestyle players, leveling their skills to the rank of God-level was their ultimate goal. In Ouyang Shuo’s past life, no one in China region had achieved that ultimate goal yet.

Ever since the world online policy, players weren’t allowed to log out for a long period of time. That said, there would be almost no difference between players and the aboriginals in the game anymore.

Ouyang Shuo simply had no reason to treat them differently.

Furthermore, in comparison to the aboriginals, the players had a worse discipline. Some players were still unable to fit into their current character. They looked down on the aboriginals, and they even fought with them. Otherwise, they would slack off from work, and subsequently, the Business Division would receive complaints about them.

For matters like these, Ouyang Shuo’s approach was really strict. He had given the Procuratorate Division full authority in dealing with those at fault. If the faults were serious enough, they could be mercilessly jailed.

When the players came into the territory, they had to follow the rules of the territory. A lord player had more than one ways to mete out punishments, and the players couldn’t even leave from the territory. Even if one committed suicide, they would only be revived again in the reincarnation hall of the territory. Therefore, as long as Ouyang Shuo didn’t allow the players to leave, the players would be tied to the territory for life. They would live as the resident of Shanhai and die as the ghost of Shanhai.

There was one exception. If a lord player’s territory was destroyed, the players could once again lay their hands on freedom.

Other than that, there were other changes happening around Shanhai City.

Under Elder Sun’s suggestion, they moved the advanced shipyard to Beihai Harbor. Elder Sun had also officially taken up the position of the Chief Advisor of the shipyard.

According to Elder Sun’s words, the valley was too narrow and shallow. It simply wasn’t suitable for large-sized warships, and the geographical condition didn’t allow them to build a large dock. Therefore, it would be better to shift it to Beihai Harbor and solve the problems all at once.

Naturally, Ouyang Shuo naturally wouldn’t refuse. Moving a building around in the game was merely a simple task. The only trouble was the fees that the system charged for shifting buildings.

Not only that, but Ouyang Shuo had also instructed the Construction Division to upgrade and refurbish the Shanhai dock for expansion. From now onward, tradings between Shanhai and Beihai would grow more and more.

During this half a month, Ouyang Shuo’s most important action was establishing a mysterious research institute.

He set up the research institute in the military restricted area in the East district.

Members included ship expert Elder Sun, metallurgical expert Elder Liu, dynamic expert Elder Zhou, mechanical expert Elder Bian, weapons expert Liu Mo, master blacksmith Wang Gao, and advanced alchemist Magnus. Altogether, there were seven of them. Hence, Ouyang Shuo gave it the name of Research Institute No.7.

Needless to say, Research Institute No.7’s mission was naturally to conduct and research technologies regarding steam engine driven warships, firearms, and artilleries. Ouyang Shuo’s goal was to at least reach the technological level of the British during the late Qing dynasty.

However, he had little hope of immediately visible results. There were loads of basic technologies involved, which included materials, machinery tools, fire-powders, and more. A complicated series of technologies were needed as the base before they could build the technology pyramid higher.

Within the next two to three years, it would be perfectly normal if there weren’t any progressions. Ouyang Shuo hoped that Research Institute No.7 could shine brightly during the mid-late period of the game.

7th Month 20th, Ouyang Shuo, Ge Hongliang, and Shi Wanshui arrived at the City North Camp.

Military Camp Chamber, Ouyang Shuo sat on the throne. He glanced around and said solemnly, “Lately, the nomadic tribes are like a pool of stagnant water, no ripples, no waves. The disturbances Operation Dawn caused had ceased, as it dispersed into thin air. Mengke and Dariachi, the two cunning old foxes, were really impressive. They restrained themselves from making reckless decisions. As a direct result, the numbers of our Qingfu horses are critically insufficient. Up until now, we can only fully-equipped the Vanguard Unit. St this rate, how can we still develop our cavalries?”

The situation also left the commander of City North Camp, the major of 1st Vanguard Unit, Lin Yi, unsatisfied, “My lord, since ordinary commerce did not work, we can only solve this problem through war.”

‘I agree with General Lin. However, the problem is how to make the right decision at the right time. Wiping out one or two small tribes like last time won’t help the situation. Exterminating a middle-sized tribe is possible, but with our military forces at the moment, we can’t guarantee that no fugitives will slip through the net.”

Lin Yi smiled. Then, he turned and said, “Sire, I have a thought.”

“Oh?” Ouyang Shuo exclaimed. He knew that Lin Yi had long garrisoned in the City North Camp, so Lin Yi’s understandings toward the nomadic tribes would be better than Ge Hongliang.

It seems like the general had already thought through the concerns of Ge Hongliang. Since he spoke up now, he must be fully prepared.

“In my opinion, in order to break the balance between the nomadic tribes, the key lies in the Tian Qi tribe. The peace of savanna is only kept because Tian Qi is too strong, way stronger than the others. That is why, even when they knew that someone was provoking the Tian Qi tribe, no one dares to break the order. This is because Tian Qi is beyond them.”

“The Tian Qi tribe has 12,000 brave warriors whereas the Tian Feng tribe only has 1,000. A disparity of tens of times, so only a fool will challenge Tian Qi’s royal throne. Therefore, from the way I see it, if the middle-sized tribes’ spirits are willing but their strengths are weak, why don’t we help them once?”

His words sparked Ouyang Shuo’s interest. He could vaguely tell Lin Yi’s intentions, and the young general’s thoughts truly astonished him. He hurriedly asked, “Be more detailed.”

His lord’s great interest in his plan boosted Lin Yi’s confidence, and he said, “The Tian Qi tribe has two sections, ZhenXi and ZhenDong. Each section is garrisoned with 5,000 warriors. If we can travel deep into the savanna and destroy one of the sections, then we will be able to break the peace and balance. A tangled warfare for the royal throne between the tribes will be inevitable.”

“How so?”

“Sire, you see, once Tian Qi tribe is severely damaged, it can’t suppress the other tribes anymore. Even then, the middle-sized tribes still will not dare to point their swords at Tian Qi, but they will definitely not take Tian Qi’s orders anymore. The best way out for them is to abide the orders and the warnings. They will annex the smaller tribes and strengthen themselves. In that case, no one tribe will be safe, so a war is hence inevitable. But, at this time, this is where Friendship City comes in. This is the best time to open Friendship City’s market. In order to expand their forces and strengths, the tribes will trade anything, including Qingfu warhorse, for weapons, food, and various other materials from us.”

Pak pak pak——

Ouyang Shuo led the crowd, as they clapped. He smiled and said, “Great thoughts, well planned and far-reaching. General Lin, one who has been away three days must be looked at with new eyes!”

This made Lin Yi excited, and he said, “I thank my lord for his appraisal.”

Ouyang Shuo then turned serious. Then, he solemnly said, “Then, I ask you, how many cavalries do you need? Only then can you have the confidence to defeat one of the Tian Qi sections. Bear in mind that they are 5,000 elite horseback warriors.”

Since it was open-field savanna warfare, the only suitable unit was the cavalries. The individual combat capabilities of the horseback warriors were better than Shanhai’s cavalries. The horseback warriors lived in the savanna, so they were proficient in archery and horse riding.

They also have Qingfu warhorses as mounts. Unlike the warriors, Shanhai cavalries are half-trained, without a solid foundation.

Lin Yi smiled with great confidence and answered, “My lord, 2,000 cavalries is more than enough.”

“There is no jesting in war. 2,000 cavalries and you can make it?” These words shock Ouyang Shuo. He couldn’t believe it.

“Of course, relying only on the cavalries won’t work. It all still need my lord’s coordination.” Then, Lin Yi told Ouyang Shuo his whole plan, each and every bit in detail.

Ouyang Shuo listened carefully. After he heard the whole plan, Ouyang Shuo was at ease. He believed the plan had at least 70-80% of success. Although there were still some risks, but to build an empire, one could not always be prepared. They had to be daring and take the risk and give their all when the time comes.

Without further hesitation, he followed Lin Yi’s plan and announced a military expansion arrangement, “Liao Kai!”

“Here!” Liao Kai stepped forward.

“My orders. Select 500 men from the military reserve unit, establish the Qiushui City cavalry unit. You have 10 days. After 10 days, I want to see a well-established cavalry unit.”

“Thank my lord for his trust. I will not fail you!” Liao Kai was filled with joy and excitement.

Ouyang Shuo only intended to leave the newly established cavalry unit under Qiushui City because after the upgrade, the count was very vulnerable with only one city defense unit. Furthermore, he didn’t want to garrison too many military forces in City North Camp. Otherwise, it would bring tremendous pressure to the Tian Feng tribe.

The 2,000 cavalries were arranged and fully prepared according to Lin Yi’s plans. They formed the two cavalry units from City North Camp, one cavalry unit from City West camp, and the last, newly established cavalry unit from Qiushui City.