Conquering OtherWorld Starts With a Game

Wagner's face soured as he saw the throng of nearly two hundred undead in the large town hall courtyard.

He was well aware of the combat capabilities of these undead: slightly stronger than burly farmhands armed with pitchforks and of a similar standard to henchmen in a bandit gang.

However, their resilience to pain, indifference to death, and unwavering determination—qualities not even elite forces possessed—made them truly formidable.

Wagner and his men's current status was prisoners with no liberty to refuse. Taking a deep breath, the seasoned knight led his men into the courtyard.

Their attire seemed to serve its purpose, as the undead not only displayed zero hostility toward them but also voluntarily cleared a path.

Wagner heard a subdued sigh of relief from the soldiers behind him. It was evident that, despite the passing days, the group still harbored apprehensions about these undead…

Wagner sighed inwardly, gathered his resolve, and strode toward the town hall doors.

In the town hall, Yang Qiu was speaking with a female clerk. As Wagner and his men entered, he overheard Yang saying to the woman, "…Send Hal to apprehend him. Place him in the militia's custody for the time being."

"Yes, Mr. Lord." The female clerk, bearing a large, bluish birthmark on her face, hesitated for a moment as if she didn't know whether to voice out. "And… There's that…"

"No need to disclose the charges," Yang Qiu calmly replied. "Simply inform everyone that someone reported that fellow's past misdeeds."

"Understood, Lord. I will go and inform Mr. Maxwell." Mia bowed.

Wagner stepped aside to make way for the hastily leaving Mia and couldn't help stealing a curious glance at her.

Wagner had heard rumors of an exceptionally hideous female clerk when running his errands in the town, but this was the first time he had seen her in person.

While it was true that she didn't possess beauty by conventional standards, the term "hideous" seemed somewhat exaggerated. If she hailed from a more affluent background, her birthmark could have easily been removed with alchemical elixirs.

"Wagner, over here." Yang gestured for Wagner to join him in the room.

Wagner nodded, signaling his men to remain in the hall while he followed Yang into a meeting room on the first floor.

Yang placed a map of the Weisshem territory on the table and pointed to a village by the Horsehoof Lake in the southeast. "Lakeside Village, consisting of 56 households, totaling 321 villagers. A day ago, a merchant caravan passing through from the Sorensen Mountains attacked Lakeside Village, seizing all the villagers and holding them for ransom. I'm asking you and our undead friends to rescue the villagers and capture the members of that merchant caravan. Can you do it?"

Upon hearing that a merchant caravan from the Sorensen Mountains had targeted such a remote village, Wagner couldn't help but feel that Yang was toying with him. However, the thought of the undead fabric, superior to Kenyan fabric, made him change his mind.

"I'll do my best," said Wagner.

Yang raised an eyebrow and said, "For every three mercenaries you capture and bring back alive, I will release one of your soldiers."

Wagner was greatly shocked: "?!"

"The spies confessed that this mercenary group from the South consists of over a hundred men. You would be able to secure the freedom for most of your men," Yang calmly explained. "Our undead friends will be a powerful asset for you, and, to some extent, you can command them. They may not be as obedient as your soldiers, but I believe you know their strengths better than anyone."

The City Defense Force served as Indahl's line of security, and the Bartalis family understood what kind of soldiers this force required. Those in their employ were local young men from good families.

It wasn't that Yang Qiu hadn't contemplated using these soldiers, but after some observation, he hesitated to go through with it. That was why he allowed these soldiers to serve as exemplary prisoners when held in the militia headquarters. However, if there were mercenaries instead, Yang Qiu would have much fewer reservations.

Wagner didn't have an internal struggle at all; he just nodded.

His men were clueless about why they had come to Weisshem. Before this mission, they didn't even know if the orders originated from the captain or Adra III.

Others might not understand, but Wagner knew it all too well… Neither Adra III nor the City Defense Force captain would pay a ransom for any of these soldiers.

At the end of the day, these soldiers were expendable. Even if they were all killed, their captain would likely only lament the loss of equipment and horses, while Adra III would probably care only about saving face.

The only one who might be rescued was the squire with a blood relationship to their captain…

Yang smiled and presented a contract written on parchment for Wagner to sign. He then asked Wagner to take the document outside for the soldiers accompanying him to affix their thumbprints. These soldiers all possessed quasi-professional level abilities, and to prevent anyone from deserting during the mission, they needed to be bound by "rules of language."

"If you wish to command our undead friends, you will need to wear this," Yang said, presenting Wagner with a badge with a cuckoo flower emblem on it. "Before you do so, please heed my advice. If you don't want to lose your sanity, it's best not to delve too deeply into the thoughts, words, and actions of the undead."

Wagner nodded solemnly. He definitely wouldn't make any attempt to understand the thoughts of those dark beings.

"Finally… I will provide you with assistance," Yang said as the space beside him suddenly warped, and another Yang appeared.

Both Yangs gazed at Wagner with the same calm demeanor. One of the Yangs spoke, "'I' will conceal myself around you. When you require 'my' assistance, just hold the badge and call 'my' name."

The other Yang took over, "My illusion will only respond to one summon, so please use it wisely."

Wagner eyed the Yang on his left, then the one on his right, and gulped. "I understand."

Wagner was familiar with illusions created by illusionists, but perhaps due to the proximity of Yang and his illusion, he couldn't distinguish the difference in auras between the two.

Both Yangs smiled faintly, and one of them disappeared just as abruptly as when 'he' had arrived.

After Wagner left the room, Yang Qiu used the imprint matrix to check on the number of players that arrived at the town hall courtyard, then issued the quest:

———

[Crisis at Lakeside Village]

An illegal armed force from the South has kidnapped the villagers of Lakeview Village. Please assist Captain Wagner Pitt in repelling and capturing the enemy to rescue the villagers.

This quest will be rewarded on a campaign basis, and the reputation earned will be distributed uniformly among participating players based on individual contributions. Please work together and move forward bravely!

1. For each successful capture of a mercenary, the capturer will receive 200 territory prestige.The source of thɪs content is Noᴠᴇlꜰire.nᴇt

2. For each successful capture of a merchant caravan member, the capturer will receive 50 territory prestige.

3. Each successful enemy kill grants 10 territory reputation.

4. Each successful villager rescued grants 100 territory prestige to the rescuer.

5. Friendly fire or actions that hinder or impede allies will result in a corresponding deduction of territory prestige based on the extent of damage.

During the territory defense battle, death penalties are waived. Any player that dies in the defense battle can be respawned instantly.

———

The current enemies might not be stronger than the previous fully armed city defense force cavalry. However, there were more of them this time, with two hundred personnel of the merchant caravans on top, and they had hostages.

To ensure the success of the Crises, Yang Qiu had to continue acting as a power bank, constantly recharging and reviving them. In any case, he was currently overflowing with magic, so the players could die as many times as they liked.

"Once this batch of tools is in place, construction of the railway can begin."

After issuing the quest, Yang Qiu brought out his ledger and began calculating the necessary supplies…

Due to the principle of the "unknowable cannot be seen," contracts formed by the "rules of language" couldn't bind ordinary people.

When a professional level cast a curse, they had to pay a corresponding price, either life or soul.

The curses of ordinary folk were completely harmless, and there was no need to pay a price. This was also known as a double-edged sword.

The over a thousand reserve laborers detained in the militia headquarters would require supervision if they were sent to work on road construction. The best "supervisors" were, of course, tool characters bound by the "rules of language." Enduring harsh conditions outside while tolerating harassment from players… mercenaries would be most suitable for such a job.

With modern engineering equipment, constructing a railway from Weisshem to Exile Town wasn't too difficult.

For the required railway, tracks from the obsolete and abandoned green trains from the Earth plane could be exchanged for timber. (There were far more abandoned railway tracks in the country than one could imagine, and several in G Province alone, but due to local financial issues, they had been left untouched since dismantling them would also require manual labor.)

Stone needed for the railway could be sourced locally. There were enough mountainous areas in Weisshem and Taranthan to establish quarries.

The cost of equipment for both ends of the station, the dispatch center as well as electrical components for related signal lights, cables, and more could be covered by the helmet material fee and the gold seized during the capture of Weisshem.

As for employing townsfolk, the issue of wages would be left to Rex to worry over; felons worked for free as long as they were provided with meals.

Were it on Earth, constructing a several hundred-kilometer-long railway would cost several billion yuan, but in Yang Qiu's case, he planned to complete it with a few million.

"Cheaper, large-bowl instant food supplies are needed."

After spending over half an hour calculating the budget for the various needs, Yang Qiu shut his notebook and mulled for a while before opening a spatial rift on the spot and returning to the Earth plane.

He used his phone to call the processed meat factory that had originally supplied him with low-cost frozen dumplings.

For the past couple of weeks, the salesperson from the meat processing factory had been happily offloading unsold unlabeled dumplings to Yang Qiu. Upon receiving Yang Qiu's phone call, the salesperson was delighted and greeted him warmly, even suggesting to meet for a drink to strengthen their relationship.

However, his cheerful disposition quickly changed when he heard Yang Qiu's request for a larger order of frozen dumplings, and especially when he heard the price.

"That won't work, buddy. You know our meat processing factory already operates on thin profit margins. Cutting the price by half just isn't feasible." The salesperson on the other end of the line had started trembling.

"What's the problem? Just control the production costs a bit," Yang Qiu calmly responded, unfazed by the salesperson's concern. "We don't need to use only pork. Use whatever meat is cheap—chicken, duck, fish—it's all good. The flour doesn't need to be super fine, either. Add some cornmeal; it's cheaper. More corn in the mix lowers costs, right?"

The salesperson protested, "But it has to meet national standards—"

"Come on, be flexible! It's not like we're selling this on the open market. You just need to produce it and deliver it straight to me," Yang Qiu reasoned.

"But…"

"No need for branded packaging. I'll return the foam boxes to you for reuse," Yang Qiu continued.

"But…"

"Save on packaging, transportation, and marketing expenses. Control the production costs a bit more. You aren't showing sincerity if you still say no," Yang Qiu persisted.

"But…"

"Cash payment!"

"…Alright."