Chapter 12

Since there were outsiders present, Ying Yue naturally couldn’t directly check the system. Even though the man wouldn’t see the light screen of the system, staring at an invisible panel in the air might look very strange to him.

If you’re not careful, the other party might think you’re mentally ill.

Even if it wasn’t convenient to view the complete task page now, just hearing the title of Task 2 given by the system was enough.

There was no real content in the remaining task panels. In fact, except for the reward section, the rest was mostly pointless in Zhao Kuo’s opinion. Oh… perhaps the task notes would be worth checking.

From the literal meaning of Task 2, it seemed they still needed to find 300 people to come to the mountain stronghold. The plan would involve having men farm and women weave ^[1]is a traditional labor division in ancient China. or serve as soldiers to create a defensive line.

Now, Zhao Kuo, who had just thought the man might cause inconvenience, suddenly felt fond of him.

This can help their young master advance her mission, especially since he is a “fake bandit leader” with a group of strong men who could become guards with some training.

…Though he had previously thought that if this man joined a proper military camp, he would only end up being a fireman ^[2]is a minor role in military ranks responsible for simple duties..

But it depends on the context! Zhao Kuo’s previous evaluation was based on the Zhao army, the second most powerful among the seven states^[3]referring to regions or kingdoms during the Warring States period in China..

Given their current dire situation, making this man a centurion seemed reasonable—they were short on manpower.

Instantly, in Zhao Kuo’s eyes, the lump of iron he had just despised turned into a treasure.

These men had strong builds.

In terms of physical fitness alone, they were much stronger than many of the local “villains” here.

These bandits had committed many atrocities, even adopting some of the cannibalistic practices of the barbarians and Hu people, creating deep fear and a sense of inferiority towards them.

The defense line in their hearts collapsed first, making their strength meaningless.

But this situation wasn’t hopeless. As long as the men realized these “invincible villains” were not as powerful as they seemed, they would lose their fear.

It only takes one strike to kill one; if they’re weak, the fear naturally disappears.

This man was at this turning point. After personally killing the bandit he once thought was invincible, his mindset had changed completely.

If he shared today’s events with his close brothers, he might even turn them around. Gathering them and training them could form a temporary patrol team.

But these weren’t the most critical factors. The main reason why Zhao Kuo invited the man to the village was—

Despite initially robbing people, the man shifted from being annoying to saying, “I only want money,” and later claimed the blood on his knife was from a pig, showing he wasn’t irredeemably bad.

He was also responsible and willing to risk his life to save his brothers.

So… there were still some redeeming qualities.

The young man thought to himself.

When Zhao Kuo spoke, the man was delighted. He then saw the beautiful girl nodding slightly beside the bloodied young man. Quickly, he responded, “I’ll go back and ask my brothers!”

But before running down the mountain, he “sensibly” kowtowed to the three people, as if paying respect to the mountain. He said loudly, “Big sister, big brother, and second brother, please accept my respect!”

Zhao Kuo, surprised to be ranked as the second brother, was about to get angry. However, before he could say anything, the man quickly got up and ran off.

Zhao Kuo: “…”

Once the man left, Zhao Kuo turned to Bai Qi and Ying Yue, and proudly said, “How was it? Did I react quickly and smartly this time?”

“By the way, sister, please take a look at the task panel!”

Previously, Zhao Kuo had thought that the system’s task panels were useless.

Hearing this, the beautiful girl silently thought, and in an instant, a transparent screen appeared in front of the three people:

【Main quest: Fight for world domination!】

Mission 2: Have 100 subjects within the territory.

Mission introduction: As the ruler of a place and the future ruler of a country, how could you not have your own people within your territory?

As the saying goes, a vassal who fights for hegemony without his subjects is not a good emperor. Therefore, work hard to have a hundred subjects who believe in you!

Mission Reward: Ten consecutive draws from the card pool (one character card will be drawn)

Mission progress: 4300]

Ying Yue looked up at the task panel. Compared to the previous task, it was clear that this one had an additional task progress.

There were some characters written there that she couldn’t understand.

Since she couldn’t understand, Ying Yue directly asked.

The system, thinking of Bai Qi and Zhao Kuo, who were both ancient people, began to explain what the “characters” represented. It also taught them Arabic writing for numbers in case they encountered it again in the future.

After hearing the explanation, Zhao Kuo stared at the 4300 on the task progress, seemingly deep in thought.

After a few seconds, he stroked his chin and said, “So the three of us are also counted in.”

Ying Yue asked in confusion: “Why aren’t we counted? Aren’t we considered human beings in this system?”

Hearing Ying Yue’s question, Zhao Kuo fell silent.