Chapter 23 - Start Of Campaign

Lin Feng

"Brother Feng, I have sorted everything out with our team leader. We will be part of the main team entering the village and follow his lead. ." Lin Yi informs as he enters their brand all-terrain new spirit energy truck. With the rear end of the truck customized to carry passengers, the can easily carry up to thirty passengers on a return trip.

It has been hectic ever since the three cousins returned to Oryn. The three of them have to juggle between taking care of their friends and relatives that has just began playing and making enough spirit stones to purchase a spirit energy vehicle for the campaign. Taking care of their friends has been easy. They just have to point them in the right direction and their friends will happily mind their own business exploring the game world. 

Dealing with Bai Xue on the other hand has been tough. Being the family's big sister, she naturally took charge after acclimating to . She is now a true believer in the game's potential and has never stopped giving them grief for how the three of them had been playing the game so far. Lin Feng had it worse when she had gotten up to speed on how much as a leader, he had bungled up planning their family's future. Sure, real life is important especially when both Lin Feng and Lin Fu has a proper job. It is irresponsible of them to put the game ahead of their job especially when they are both civil servants. However, Bai Xue has forced it into their head that the two of them need to treat the game as important as their job. This will be one rare golden opportunity for their family to build a better future and hopefully not having to worry about money for the rest of their life. Second, she had ordered that any future beta player slots earned must first and foremost be given to family members.

After Bai Xue has the chance to reorganize everything, the first thing she told Lin Feng is his goal is totally unfeasible in the short-term. Nonetheless, she likes Lin Feng idea very much off establishing ah high-end resort empire. If given a chance, who wouldn't like the idea of taking a few days of blissful vacation on a beach resort after a day of tiring and stressful work? However, the market is not ready for Lin Feng's business idea yet. Pretty much all players that join the game at this point in time or even in the short term will be able to see the game's potential. This means everyone will be too busy improving their cultivation realm and making money. Vacation time will probably be the last thing on their mind. Even if outliers exist, there just wouldn't be enough customers to make their business venture profitable in the short-term. Additionally, Lin Feng's idea of a high-end resort is too naïve. Aside from having the ideal location, the supporting services and facilities are equally important. For one, they can't rely on other players to help them establish a number of fancy restaurant and bars given the current state of the game. They will have to get their hands dirty and do it themselves.

Fortunately for them, Bai Xue is entering familiar territory and she has her husband to back her up. There are some differences from Earth but their big sister should be able to adjust quickly. Based on the revised plan, the family will start with opening a high-end restaurant serving spirit food. Both she and her husband will be the spirit chef running the whole show. The three younger cousins will provide all the support she will need. As for a secondary business, Bai Xue is planning to open a few restaurants serving the natives or plainly put mortals working for the rest of the players. The scale of their secondary business is still in the planning stage since none of them have a clue how strong will the natives' disposable income be. In any case, their operation will be on the smaller scale and need for manpower will be nothing compared to other players than are operating a mines, factories or other labor intensive businesses.

It was for this reason Lin Feng only bought a single spirit energy vehicle. Bai Xue has reasoned that there is no reason for them to pay such a hefty price when there is no need for them to compete against other players for manpower. The price will definitely come down as those production class players continue to create more spirit energy vehicles for subsequent portal openings. Moreover, the spirit stones they saved up can be better used elsewhere.

"Attention everyone, the portal will be opening in fifteen minutes. Only come forward to the departure zone when your turn has been announced. Leader of team one, please come to the front of the departure zone. Next, all those in team one, please line up behind your team leader." The announcement follows shortly after Lin Yi got into the vehicle.

"Seems like it will be our turn soon. This campaign better be worth all the effort we put in so far." Lin Feng added. Due to the nature of his work, Lin Feng has to make special arrangement with his unit leader to ensure his schedule is clear for the duration of the first campaign. In return for the special leeway, he will have to take on three additional graveyard shifts.

"Don't get all excited just yet. The first few destinations on the list will be uneventful since we are going after the surrounding villages. The sect believes we won't be seeing any resistance until we hit the first town." Lin Fu who is behind the wheel tries to manage his two cousins' expectation.

To avoid being detected, the portal is being opened in a location that is far from any major road or town. The plan is to clear the closest settlements and move outward from the portal's location. The first six settlements are just simple villages with a population of less than two hundred souls. Each village will at most have a few cultivators in the first major realm. With a show of force, the first few teams should be able to complete their trip within three to four hours at most.

*****

Alexander Smith

"Come on bro, time is wasting. I want to join a team that is going to be taking down a town. Going after villages are boring. More importantly, the family won't be getting the free labor we desperately need if I don't see any combat." Joshua exclaims in excitement from outside the family's workshop. As long as things go according to plan, it won't be difficult for him to get his hands on more than a hundred humanoid corpses.

Stepping outdoor, Alex can see that both Henry and Joshua are doing one last round of checking of the three vehicles parked right in front of the workshop. The three vehicles are a rush job after all, cobbled up within just two Earth weeks. It will be a major headache and also an embarrassment if any of the three vehicles broke down on the other side of the portal. They are one of the few private parties that each player is driving their very own spirit energy vehicle.

This is all made possible with the help of the family members' that has been playing one Earth month now. Aside from Aunt Eliza three children, everyone else in the family seems to be more partial towards being a production class specialist. Otherwise, there is no way in hell Alex is going to buy even a single spirit energy from the market. The price for such a vehicle before the campaign is simply absurd.

On a side note, it seems like the rest of the family are settling in just fine. Next to the workshop is a block of apartment that is nearing completion. Once completed, everyone will have their own private space. What really takes Alex a while getting used to is how young his mom, aunts and uncle look. Each of them looks at most just a year or two older than them. Speaking of his uncle, Lucas applied for his company's Voluntary Separation Scheme the next day after playing .

Before he could even say anything to Joshua, Alex received a message from Dan telling him to get to the gateway immediately. The message was sent via a message talisman and it is one of the cheaper communication methods available for the time being. However, using it can be a hassle. All message talisman comes in a pair split into a transmitting talisman and a receiving talisman. A player will need to give the receiving talisman in advance to whomever they are planning to send message in the future. Imagine the hassle running around giving receiving talisman to other players just so you can keep in touch with them while keeping a bunch of receiving talisman in return. Since it is quite cheap, there is also a distance limit for a message talisman to work. With all the new inventions that are cropping up, he can't wait for someone to finally invent something similar to a mobile phone. At this point in time, he will be happy even if the communication device is the size of a brick.