The view on the grassland is excellent; you can see far into the distance.
The Sentinel was the first to spot their return and quickly informed the Armed Militia to report to the village!
For this mission, they spent approximately three hours in total.
They spent almost half of the time on the road.
By the time Zong Shen and the others arrived at the village entrance.
Village Chief Spike and Master Mars hurriedly walked out of the village.
When Master Mars saw Marie riding on the same Grassland Horse as Aisha, he excitedly ran over.
He quickly lifted Marie off the horse’s back.
"My daughter! My Marie!"
"Did those bandits hurt you?"
Master Mars asked with concern.
"No... no, they didn’t touch me because they wanted a ransom."
Master Mars felt relieved, hugged her tightly once more, and then set her down.
He turned and walked over to Zong Shen, who was riding a Blood-toothed Wild Boar.
With a sincere expression, he bowed respectfully.
"Sir, you are the benefactor of our entire family!"
"If there’s a chance, I would like to invite you to dinner at my house tomorrow night!"
[Mission: Rescue Marie]
[Requirement: Rescue Marie from the bandits and safely escort her to Mars’s side]
[Reward: 1500 Mainland Continent Universal Dinar, 100 Reputation Points, Avalon Prairie Ox x10, Small Ranch Construction Map x1, Friendship of Master Mars]
A mission prompt appeared.
Zong Shen nodded slightly and politely replied.
"Just a small favor, I am honored to have lightened your worries!"
"I might not be available tomorrow night, but I will definitely visit when I have the chance!"
A glow appeared in his storage grid, which was the [Ranch Construction Map].
The rewarded money and reputation had automatically been stored.
Master Mars looked at Zong Shen with a friendly gaze.
He ordered his men to bring over ten sturdy Grassland Oxen.
Zong Shen dismounted from the boar and approached Marie.
"Marie, you must be careful in the future!"
"If there’s a chance, you and your father are welcome to visit my territory."
Marie nodded and suddenly said.
"You will surely become a great Lord!"
To this, Zong Shen merely smiled; this young girl has the potential to become a Heroic-level talent, so it was wise to establish good relations early.
At this time, the old village chief also walked over.
Zong Shen took out [Bandit’s Left Ear x37].
Bloody ears fell to the ground one by one.
Old Village Chief Spike glanced at them and smiled.
"Thank you for ridding Sitanos Village of a great plague!"
"From now on, you are a friend of Sitanos Village!"
The old village chief said "good" three times.
Zong Shen had already proven himself with his abilities.
A mission prompt appeared, and the mission was completed!
[Mission: Eliminate the Bandits]
[Requirement: Completely eradicate the bandits that have been ravaging Sitanos Village and acquire their left ears as proof for the mission]
[Reward: 1000 Mainland Continent Universal Dinar, 200 Reputation Points, Friendship of Sitanos Village]
Zong Shen now had 10,520 Mainland Continent Universal Dinar and 1,200 reputation points.
At this moment, the old village chief suddenly asked.
"Sir, did you find our lost cattle and sheep in the bandit camp?"
Zong Shen heard this, kept his usual expression, and shook his head.
He then said earnestly.
"Dear Village Chief Spike, we didn’t find any cattle or sheep."
"I think they might have been eaten by those bandits."
Zong Shen casually fabricated an explanation.
The old village chief looked at his team and noticed Luna’s absence.
A subtle smile appeared on his face, and he shook his head gently, speaking with a hint of implication.
"Alas, those bandits are truly no good."
Zong Shen nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, they are really no good!"
The village chief didn’t say much more and silently turned away.
He didn’t intend to invite Zong Shen for a meal either.
He wasn’t as hospitable as Master Mars.
This old fox already understood where all those cows went.
This old man isn’t generous enough; most of those cows belonged to Master Mars, and even he didn’t say a word!
Small-minded, truly small-minded!
Nevertheless, Zong Shen didn’t mind because a new system prompt appeared before him.
[You have reached a Friendly relationship with Sitanos Village]
[Recruitment permission activated]
[Every 168 hours, you can recruit villagers once; the number of recruits is influenced by reputation, friendliness, and territory prosperity]
[ (Click to recruit) ]
You can recruit once every week, but the number and quality of recruits vary.
However, for Zong Shen, this meant a stable source of population.
Information refreshed one after another.
[Due to your fame and the allure of your territory]
[Villager from Sitanos (George), Talent (Ordinary) voluntarily joins your territory]
[Villager from Sitanos (Sims), Talent (Ordinary) voluntarily joins your territory]
[Villager from Sitanos (Ruiou), Talent (Good) voluntarily joins your territory]
[Villager from Sitanos (Lopez), Talent (Ordinary) voluntarily joins your territory]
[Villager from Sitanos (Piggy), Talent (Dull) voluntarily joins your territory]
[Total monthly salary is 80 Mainland Continent Universal Dinar (reduced by Command Level 4), paid]
A total of five villagers were recruited.
Among them, one had Good Talent, three had Ordinary Talent, and one had Dull Talent.
The five villagers walked out of the village one after another.
Each carrying luggage, there were three men and two women in total; they looked quite ordinary but seemed very young.
It is often the young people in a village who yearn for the outside world. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel⟡fire.net
They approached Zong Shen and bowed slightly.
"Sir, we are pleased to serve you!"
"May we together create a great territory!"
Zong Shen greeted them each in turn; as the first batch of farmers recruited from the native forces, he valued them greatly.
After recruiting these five farmers, Zong Shen’s Command Value had reached the red line, becoming 63/67.
It was only four points away from the maximum limit.
However, he hadn’t yet allocated points, which could temporarily resolve the current issue by increasing Charm and Command.
But to truly break the Command barrier, the best solution was to recruit a Hero.
Heroic-level individuals, like Lords, possess the Four Major Attributes and twenty-four Passive Skills.
They can unlock treasure chests, gather dropped items, and initiate constructions.
Once Zong Shen acquires his first Hero.
He will solve many problems.
Apart from Command, construction and exploration can also be delegated to a Hero.
He wouldn’t need to be spread so thin, wishing to split a day in two.
The most challenging material to gather for repairing the Natural Altar now is the purple soul.
This implies he must take down a Purple Rare Level creature!