As a Lord Player, developing a military force was a core strategy for survival, for maintaining control, and for navigating a world in turmoil.
Wang Yi didn't have a barracks, and with only Man Datou as his sole soldier, his forces were clearly far from sufficient.
Therefore, Wang Yi wanted to form a Civilian Militia. He considered Yang Qingniu to be honest, straightforward, brave, and loyal—the perfect candidate for Civilian Militia Captain, someone to get things organized for him.
"Qingniu, I'm appointing you Civilian Militia Captain. You're off your regular duties. Your new job is to find some reliable young men to form a Civilian Militia. You'll be in charge of security and will report directly to me. And there will be more than enough roasted chicken for you. How does that sound?"
Wang Yi patted Yang Qingniu's shoulder.
Yang Qingniu looked stunned. He blinked, unsure if he had fully understood, but quickly dropped to his knees and kowtowed anyway.
Wang Yi laughed, spoke a few more words with Boss Li from Huangni Village, accepted the crispy chicken he offered, and then drove the Crossbow Machine Carriage away from the territory.
He still had to scout the map today!
Only Lord Players and exploration-type units could discover resource points when exploring the greater world. Wang Yi had no exploration units under him, so he had to do it himself.
Of course, he still had to bring along his personal bodyguard, Man Datou.
After Wang Yi drove the Crossbow Machine Carriage far into the distance, Yang Qingniu grinned widely. He tugged on Yang Wanli's arm and said, "Dad, am I an official now? A Civilian Militia Captain! What rank of an official is that? It's a higher rank than Zhang Dashan's as production leader, right?"
"'An official?'" But Yang Wanli suddenly slammed a fist into his palm. "I understand now! The Roasted Chicken Immortal is planning to rebel!"
"Rebel?"
"Yes, that must be it! Openly appointing officials, creating some sort of Civilian Militia... he's completely ignoring the County Yamen. This is going against the Court! He's going to rebel, and he wants us to lay down our lives for him!"
"So what? There's all the roasted chicken we can eat. I'd be glad to lay down my life for him!"
"Sigh, you blockhead. This is being a rebel. If the Court's soldiers catch you, you'll be beheaded!"
Yang Wanli shook his head and sighed. 'The Roasted Chicken Immortal is planning something big... I don't know if serving him is a good thing or a bad thing…'
"Of course it's a good thing! I'm not talking to a commoner like you anymore. I'm going to find my subordinates! Lengzi is a good choice. I have to go talk to Dashan and get him to join me!"
Yang Qingniu hurried off in a flurry to find Zhang Dashan.
Boss Li nodded to Yang Wanli and also left, his heart filled with anxiety.
'A sand factory? What's that? I should go back to the village and tell everyone, see if anyone is willing to work. Work... that's like doing corvée labor, right…?'
'I absolutely have to do a good job with the task the Roasted Chicken Immortal gave me,' Boss Li thought.
Wang Yi explored west of his territory today for one simple reason: the terrain was flat. The roads were good, which made driving easy. Heading north into the mountains and forests would have been far less convenient for his vehicle.
He chatted with Man Datou, enjoying the scenery along the way. After driving leisurely for nearly two hours, a system prompt suddenly sounded.
"Ding! A Treasure Chest has been discovered in the wild."
"Ding! Tip: Only Lord Players or exploration-type units can discover Treasure Chests while exploring the greater world. These chests appear translucent, are invisible to others, and vanish after being opened."
Wang Yi's spirits lifted. 'Finally, a discovery!' he thought. 'I must be several miles from the territory by now.'
He quickly scanned his surroundings and soon spotted, about a dozen meters away, a large, translucent, square wooden box sitting squarely on top of a rock.
The wooden box was over a meter in length and width and glowed with a green light. Wang Yi could see it clearly, but it was obvious that Man Datou could not.
'So there are Treasure Chests in the wild. Interesting. It seems scouting the map really is necessary!'
Wang Yi got out of the Crossbow Machine Carriage and gleefully went to open the green Treasure Chest.
When his palm touched the translucent lid of the Treasure Chest, it opened automatically, and the items inside popped out.
There were four items in total: one Green Chaos Blind Box, one Small Money Bag, a cloth pouch the size of a schoolbag, and a piece of stiff, straw-yellow paper.
'A Blind Box! Excellent! My Talents will finally be useful again!'
Wang Yi was overjoyed and turned his attention to the other three items.
Opening the Small Money Bag revealed 1 Gold Coin, 20 Silver Coins, and 88 Copper Coins.
The cloth pouch contained Wild Vegetable Seeds. According to the description, there were enough to plant a full field. After planting, they required no care as the wild vegetables would grow on their own. They could survive drought and flood, but not cold. Once sown, they would regrow endlessly unless completely uprooted!
The last item, the stiff paper, was a [Good Farmland Voucher].
[Good Farmland Voucher: Special item. Use in an open area to automatically clear the land and instantly create 1 to 10 plots of good farmland.]
'This is all great stuff! Good farmland, wild vegetables... If you cultivate wild vegetables, can you still call them wild?'
Wang Yi was delighted. He then took three deep breaths.
It was time for the main event!
He was going to open the Chaos Blind Box!
'With my Dual Talents, opening a Blind Box is all about testing my luck. Come on, let's see what I get!'
With a thought from Wang Yi, the Blind Box before him opened, and a notification window that only he could see popped up.
====
Ding! The 'One Box, Many Openings' Talent has been activated. The current Chaos Blind Box opening will now calculate 5 results for you.
Ding! The 'Box Opening Enhancement' Talent has been activated, applying enhancements to the items.
One: Sickle (White, Enhance +1)
Two: Dog Head Chopper (White, Enhance +2)
Three: Beast Cage Construction Drawings (Green, Enhance +3)
Four: Great Era Cigarettes (White, Enhance +4)
Five: Sexy Thong (White, Enhance +5)
====
"This..."
Wang Yi's face fell.
Bad luck!
One Box, Many Openings only produced five results!
And the items with the highest enhancement levels...
A Sexy Thong. That was even worse than an ancestral chamber pot. Forget Enhance +5; Wang Yi wouldn't pick it even if it were Enhance +10.
Then there were the Great Era Cigarettes. They were good, and definitely even better after Enhance +4, but right now was akin to homesteading in an Otherworld. This wasn't the time for luxuries. Naturally, he had to choose the most practical item.
'Forget it. I'll just choose the Enhance +3 Beast Cage Construction Drawings!'
With a thought, a brilliant golden Scroll appeared in his hand. It was the [Beast Cage Construction Drawings].
====
Name: Beast Cage Construction Drawings +3
Description: After use, constructs an enhanced Beast Cage in the territory.
Beast Cage Introduction: A Beast Cage can be used to raise demonic beasts.
Function: [Enclosure] +3, enhanced to [Taming]. Bestial creatures placed in the Beast Cage will be continuously affected by Taming, consuming Chaos Energy in the process. Once a beast is tamed, it will become a loyal Territory Pet Beast and can be released from the cage.
Note 1: The difficulty of taming varies between creatures, reflected in the time and Chaos Energy consumed.
Note 2: The Chaos Lord can pre-charge the Beast Cage with Chaos Energy.
Note 3: The Beast Cage cannot be used on creatures with excessively high intelligence or overwhelming power. Please explore the specifics on your own.
Note 4: The weaker a target's condition, the easier it is to tame. After successful taming, the target will be healed and restored to optimal condition.
====
'Huh, this is interesting!'
Wang Yi's eyes narrowed. He figured that since Boss Li had respectfully offered him 15 live chickens, he could take them back and try out the taming function to see what it did.