"This is the core restricted area of Blazing Ember City. No one is allowed to enter without permission!"
The moment Lin Mo and Ning Xi arrived at the entrance of the City Lord's Manor, they were stopped by several NPC guards whose levels were as high as level 50.
Lin Mo was prepared. He took out the Shadow Codex from his bag, "I have vital intelligence concerning the safety of Blazing Ember City that I must report to the City Lord."
When the guards saw the Shadow Codex radiating a dark aura, they were all shocked.
"Th… this is… the Shadow Codex?"
"Could it be related to the Shadow Clan that has been causing unrest within Blazing Ember City's territory over the past few years?"
The guards did not dare delay any further and immediately escorted Lin Mo into the City Lord's Manor.
Ning Xi, who was stopped outside the manor, was burning with anxiety.
She did not know what Lin Mo's plan was, nor whether it would work.
She only wanted, like before, to do everything she could to help Lin Mo solve his problems.
Just like how every time she ran into trouble, Lin Mo would always appear immediately and help her overcome it.
So Ning Xi opened her friends list and clicked into the chat window of her friend [Dragon Soul Aoshi].
———
[Inside the City Lord's Manor]
Lin Mo met the City Lord of Blazing Ember City, Roga, a level 50 Tier 4 Boss.
He got straight to the point, "City Lord, let's make a deal."
"I'll eliminate the Shadow Clan, kill the Dark Ruler Riga, and lift the crisis facing Blazing Ember City."
"And you lend me an army."
———
More than ten minutes later.
When Lin Mo came out of the City Lord's Manor, he saw Ning Xi anxiously waiting outside.
And at this moment, there were two other people beside Ning Xi.
Level 27 Warrior Dragon Soul Aoshi.
Level 27 Archer Su Muqiu.
As expected of a merchant, upon seeing Lin Mo, Dragon Soul Aoshi got straight to business without any nonsense, "I can help you fight a path out of the encirclement of the Chaotic World Guild and cover you safely into the Snake King Island dungeon."
"As the condition, I need your girlfriend to make twenty Tier 3 pieces of equipment for me. I'll handle the rest of the materials myself. I only need her reputation."
At this time, Ning Xi ran to Lin Mo's side and said softly, "I calculated it. One level 30 Tier 3 piece of equipment needs about 400 reputation points. Twenty pieces only cost 8,000 reputation. I have 20,000 reputation right now. It's no problem."
Eight thousand reputation points.
If not for Ning Xi's SSS tier talent with its hundredfold reputation gain bonus, an ordinary player would need at least two or three years to save up that much reputation.
"Dragon Soul Aoshi, you really are a merchant through and through."
Actually, Lin Mo had already thought of asking Dragon Soul Aoshi for help as well.
But precisely because of their previous dealings, Lin Mo already understood how profit driven Dragon Soul Aoshi was, so this time he deliberately did not ask him for help.
Lin Mo then said to Dragon Soul Aoshi, "Thanks, but no need. I can handle this problem myself."
As soon as he finished speaking, Su Muqiu said to Lin Mo with a worried expression, "Wang Junjie has taken a big hit recently. Last night he invested fifty million and recruited over seven thousand players for the guild in Blazing Ember City. He also issued a citywide kill on sight order specifically targeting you."
"At present, the number of Chaotic World Guild players here in Blazing Ember City has grown from three thousand to ten thousand. You could become their prey at any moment."
"You alone, how are you going to deal with this?"
Dragon Soul Aoshi suddenly stopped Su Muqiu, who was about to continue persuading him.
He said calmly to Lin Mo, "I respect your choice. But if you need me, you can come to me anytime."
Lin Mo nodded in acknowledgment, then took Ning Xi by the hand and left the City Lord's Manor.
On the road, Ning Xi said guiltily, "Sorry, Brother Lin Mo. I acted on my own…"
"It's fine. You just wanted to help me," Lin Mo said, "It is a way, but it's not a long term solution."
"This time it's Snake King Island. What about next time, when we need to run Poison Swamp, Corrosion City, and Scorpion Empire?"
"Besides, with Wang Junjie's nature, outside of dungeons he'll still find every way possible to get revenge on me. Chaotic World Guild members are everywhere, but Dragon Soul won't necessarily be available whenever we call."
Ning Xi frowned slightly, "But is there any other way?"
"It's better to rely on yourself than on others," Lin Mo said, "I just borrowed a unit of troops from the City Lord of Blazing Ember City."
Ning Xi looked surprised.
For the first time, she felt how limited her own knowledge was.
'This game can actually be played like this?'
Lin Mo said confidently, "The NPC soldiers of Blazing Ember City are all level 50 on average."
"And the Chaotic World Guild players average below level 25. Even a single level 50 normal soldier, at this stage, is no weaker to them than a Sabertooth Tiger King."
"When the time comes, what they'll be facing will be hundreds or even thousands of Sabertooth Tiger Kings."
Hearing this, Ning Xi finally let out a sigh of relief. Only then did she realize that she had worried for nothing. Everything really was under Lin Mo's control.
Lin Mo might not have studied military strategy as deeply as Ning Xi.
But, he had thoroughly studied the game rules of Divine Oracle.
So he had long known that "as long as you can provide sufficient proof that you can contribute to the safety of the main city, you can gain the City Lord's trust and obtain the qualification to temporarily command NPC troops."
Even before raiding the Shadow Holy Hall dungeon, Lin Mo had already thought of using this point to counter Wang Junjie.
At first, he planned to casually take on a main city protection quest and then use that as a reason to negotiate with the City Lord.
But now, the A rank hidden quest Annihilate the Darkness in his hand had become the strongest proof.
Of course, merely gaining the City Lord's trust was not enough.
If a player wanted to borrow military authority, they also had to pass the City Lord's high difficulty trial.
Especially since Lin Mo wanted to borrow one thousand troops, the difficulty of the trial he needed to complete was even higher.
So earlier, Lin Mo accepted the assessment quest from City Lord Roga.
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[City Lord's Trial: Beginner] (Normal Quest)
— Difficulty Rating: 910
— Description: One month ago, a patrol squad from Blazing Ember City discovered a group of bandits in the southern Black Wind Mountain area. They often rob the people of Blazing Ember City and have already posed a huge threat to their safety. Please go to Black Wind Mountain and kill the bandits.
— Quest Progress: 0/300
— Quest Rewards: EXP +2,000,000, Silver Coins +10, Reputation +10, City Lord Favorability +3, Random Equipment +1 (guaranteed Tier 2, extremely low chance of Tier 3), Beginner Command Token +1 (time limited)…
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With the Command Token, allowing him to deploy Blazing Ember City's level 50 army, Lin Mo would have the capital to resist the Chaotic World Guild.
What's more, this time, what Lin Mo wanted to do was not just resist Wang Junjie, but to strike back.
Taking advantage of this opportunity.
"It's time to grind down your edge."
Before setting off to carry out the assessment quest.
Lin Mo sent messages to Qin Feng and Ling Xiao, ["Meet at the south gate of Blazing Ember City."]
Ding!
Ling Xiao replied quickly, ["Okay. Wanwan and I don't have classes this morning anyway. We'll log on right away."]
Not long after, Qin Feng also replied anxiously, ["What's wrong, Brother Mo? Did something happen?"]
Lin Mo said, ["Nothing. Taking you to level up."]
As soon as he said that, Qin Feng felt completely flattered, ["Got it!"]
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