Zhang Pingfan stood on his attic, looking at the bustling players and NPCs around him with satisfaction.
"Good, my territory will expand significantly with this!"
At this moment, Black Emperor appeared beside Zhang Pingfan.
"Master, someone is lurking suspiciously around the small courtyard!"
Zhang Pingfan frowned. Everyone was on missions at this hour, so why was someone lingering around his small courtyard? Could it be an NPC?
Zhang Pingfan said, "Bring him here!"
"Yes!"
The next moment, with a bang, Zhang Pingfan heard a scream from the northwest corner of the yard.
Then, Black Emperor dragged a peasant dressed in coarse cloth and hemp to Zhang Pingfan's side.
"Master, it's this guy. He's not from our village!"
I'm not blind. The characters above his head aren't from our village.
Looking at the NPC, dressed as a peasant, kneeling before him, Zhang Pingfan sneered.
"Are you Seven Star City still not giving up on me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not from Seven Star City; I'm from another village!"
Zhang Pingfan rolled his eyes. Can't you see the three big characters, Seven Star City, above your head?
"Slap!"
Zhang Pingfan slapped him, sending the NPC tumbling.
"Do you take me for a fool? I'll give you one chance: state your purpose!"
"Bah! I'm doomed today. You want to know my purpose? I won't tell you!"
Zhang Pingfan glanced at Black Emperor.
Black Emperor nodded in understanding.
Well, with such a subordinate by his side, it's easy to find out any secret.
Seeing Black Emperor walking towards him, the NPC was so terrified that he desperately retreated.
He, a dignified fifth-tier warrior, couldn't even withstand one casual attack from the other. Even if he were weaker, he could still fight against sixth or even seventh-tier opponents. This meant the person in front of him was at least eighth-tier.
Experts above eighth-tier were rare even in their Seven Star City. He never expected such a high-level individual to be in a small village, and even more so, the guard of this village chief. This information must be reported to his superior!
"Senior, don't come closer. What do you want to know? I'll tell you right now!"
Zhang Pingfan said, "It's too late!"
Black Emperor raised his hand and pressed it onto the NPC's head.
Soon, the NPC's memories were read.
"Master, he is indeed from Seven Star City. Seven Star City seems to have taken a liking to our village. They originally planned to capture you and imprison you with fabricated evidence. Then, they would send people to take over this place and make it their subordinate territory!"
Zhang Pingfan nodded. As expected, they still wanted his village.
But they didn't dare to act openly because they feared the other two main cities would interfere.
"Do you have any information about Seacoast City and Pingjiang City?"
"Yes, but currently, only Seven Star City has made a move. Pingjiang City and Seacoast City have not taken any action yet. After all, our sudden appearance has caused them some hesitation!"
Zhang Pingfan nodded. Caution was indeed appropriate.
"Get rid of this guy and give me everything on him. Perhaps there are items that Youyou can use at this stage!"
"Understood!"
The foaming man was none other than Old Six from the Seven Star City Guard. His mission this time was to assassinate the village chief directly if he had the chance.
When it came to stealth, he dared to claim second place in the entire guard team, with no one daring to claim first.
However, as soon as he appeared, he was ruthlessly exposed.
Following that was an overwhelming defeat without any ability to fight back.
And now, he was tossed aside like useless garbage.
Black Emperor snapped his fingers, and a black flame ignited on Old Six's body.
Soon, Old Six's entire body turned into ashes, as if he had never been there before.
Zhang Pingfan looked at the bag in his hand, which contained the NPC's entire belongings.
Besides gold coins and the like, there were also many useful items.
This brought a cunning smile to Zhang Pingfan's face.
I like it when you all come like the Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather, one by one, dying one by one. Send me more things, and maybe I'll leave you a complete corpse.
Zhang Pingfan dumped all of Old Six's items and equipment into his warehouse.
As his forces grew stronger, he would definitely lack these equipment and items. He would save them for future benefits.
To become stronger, one must have money and equipment.
Zhang Pingfan thought that all three main cities were interested in his territory, so cooperating with them was impossible.
Therefore, he could only find another way and extract the maximum benefit from the players.
However, with only the players from Novice Village No. 88, the number of players was not enough for Zhang Pingfan to develop.
"System little sister, come out for a moment!"
[Ding! Coming!]
"When will my novice village be open for all players to travel freely?"
[Ding! The current village level has not yet met the conditions for free trade. For now, only one-way passage is allowed!]
"Aren't you stating the obvious? I know that. I'm asking when it will be possible!"
[Ding! The village level reaches level 4. The current village is being upgraded!]
This meant he still needed to make some changes to the village to allow players to travel freely.
"Will I get another village upgrade quest when players reach level 30?"
[Ding! Yes!]
Well, the village upgrades once every 10 levels, but the higher the level, the slower the players' level progression becomes, making it even more difficult to upgrade the village.
But it's okay. With Black Emperor, Youyou's leveling speed should not be slow.
Ultimately, he had to thank Black Emperor. If he hadn't shown up to give away kills at the start of the game, I wouldn't have been so smooth.
Youyou's progress was going quite smoothly.
Zhao Xin was the highest combat power in Novice Village No. 88, aside from Youyou.
He was quite familiar with the village's players, as there were only so many players in the village, and only a few high-level ones came and went.
When those players heard that they were going to join the village chief's guard, they all agreed, not hesitating even after knowing the consequences.
"No matter who you follow, you're still following someone. Is there any difference between following the village chief and following the guild leaders of those big guilds? Absolutely no difference!"
"Nonsense, of course, there's a difference! Those big guilds don't treat us players as humans, but the village chief is different. He occasionally gives us such quests. It's better to follow the village chief!"
"That's right. I never planned to join a guild. Since the village chief wants to develop his own power, we'll help him!"
Hearing these words, Youyou was a little moved.
Good heavens, all my previous worries were for nothing. Why is it so different from what I imagined?