Chapter 54: Urgent Frontier Affairs

Before Li Zhan could finish speaking, Pigislikeanidea interrupted eagerly, “Brother Li, do you mean for me to lure the mountain bandits down under the guise of a merchant?”

Li Zhan nodded, “Exactly.”

Pigislikeanidea replied with ease, “I thought you needed my help with something difficult, but it’s just this. Although luring the bandits down is a bit dangerous, I’m a merchant, so my level doesn’t really matter—even if I die, I won’t lose any levels or experience. When do you want to carry out the task? If it’s urgent, we can set out right away.”

Li Zhan smiled, “No need to rush. The quest requires completion within five days, and today is only the first. Let’s add each other as friends first, so we can keep in touch.”

Pigislikeanidea agreed, and they added each other as friends.

By now, Li Zhan and Pigislikeanidea had returned to the center of the settlement. After waking, Ruoyan was inspecting the quality of newly finished garments under the dyeing shed. Upon seeing Pigislikeanidea, she greeted him and began counting clothes for him: forty-five sets of villager attire and thirteen sets of militiaman uniforms.

All forty-five villager outfits were handed to Pigislikeanidea, while six of the thirteen militiaman uniforms were distributed among the six new militiamen. Li Zhan kept the remaining seven for other purposes. Even though only forty-five sets were traded this time, Li Zhan still sold them at the discounted rate for fifty sets (2 gold and 280 copper coins per set). Pigislikeanidea was overjoyed, handed over 132 gold coins in one go, and then departed for Danyang with two villagers, piloting the cargo boat.

After this transaction, the settlement’s gold reserves surpassed 180, not only erasing the previous deficit but leaving a healthy surplus. Li Zhan watched as eight militiamen, clad in new uniforms (with three on duty in the watchtower), trained with iron swords in the barracks. They cut a rather imposing figure; even the militiamen of Sunneverfalls and Ba’aima, who had already advanced to the Feudal Age, couldn’t help but feel inferior in comparison.

After observing the training, Li Zhan thought it was time to practice his own throwing skills, which he had neglected lately due to the time spent making clothes. Currently, his throwing skill was at Beginner 57% experience, and his own level was 10, with 174% experience stored up. He was intentionally suppressing his level-up so the settlement could advance to a township first, after which he would learn both "Swordsmanship" and "Spearmanship" available at level 10, maximizing each level’s attribute gains before leveling up further.

He threw all ten wooden javelins in a round, each round increasing his throwing skill by 1-2%. On his seventh round, the friend icon suddenly flashed. Li Zhan stopped practicing and clicked it open—it was the chieftain of the border settlement, Wooden Fish (whose tribe was also named Wooden Fish).

Wooden Fish: Lord Li, I’m afraid the situation is becoming more serious.

Li Zhan: What’s wrong?

Wooden Fish: When I returned yesterday, I immediately built a watchtower and wooden palisade, and reassigned villagers as militiamen. By dinnertime, the watchtower was finished, so I climbed up to observe the Black Shade settlement. I saw over thirty of their militiamen eating dinner in the training grounds. The moment their watchtower spotted me, they signaled down with flags, and all their militiamen hid in the barracks and nearby huts, refusing to come out again. I thought about it all night and felt I should report this to you and to Lord Lei.

Li Zhan: You should have told me this yesterday! Any movement from them now?

Wooden Fish: None. Their militiamen are still hiding in the barracks and huts, not even doing their usual patrols.

Li Zhan: How many militiamen do you have now? Is the palisade finished?

Wooden Fish: I have ten militiamen, and I plan to convert ten more to reach the maximum troop count. The wooden palisade is complete, fully enclosing the settlement center.

Li Zhan: Convert more militiamen quickly and keep a close watch on the Black Shade settlement. By the way, how many watchtowers do they have, and how far is the nearest one from yours? Is it on high ground?

Wooden Fish: They have two—one beside their settlement center, and one on the flat ground between our settlements, about fifteen hundred meters from mine.

Li Zhan considered: the watchtower on flat ground had no height bonus, so its observation range was fixed at two thousand meters. If our reinforcements wanted to avoid being spotted, they should camp at least five hundred meters from Wooden Fish’s settlement. Black Shade had over thirty militiamen—surely some were from allied settlements. In this case, if they struck, it had to be a decisive blow to send a message, deterring Black Shade’s allies from targeting Wooden Fish again. Judging from their concealed troop movements, it was quite possible they would launch a surprise attack at night; the best counter was to ambush them halfway.

Li Zhan: For now, strengthen defenses and watch Black Shade closely. We’ll send reinforcements as soon as possible.

Wooden Fish: Understood. I’ll make preparations.

Li Zhan: Wait—have you informed Lord Lei of all this?

Wooden Fish: Not yet. I feel Lord Lei is too impulsive, so I preferred to tell you first.

Li Zhan massaged his temples and replied: Lord Lei is the chief leader. You should report to him first—that’s proper protocol. Now, with the enemy at our gates, we can’t afford internal discord. Tell him everything you just told me, but don’t say you spoke to me first.

Wooden Fish: Understood. I’ll contact Lord Lei right away.

A while later, as Li Zhan pondered his battle strategy, the friend icon flashed again. It was Lei Long:

Lord Li, I just received a message from Wooden Fish. It seems the situation is a bit dire.

Li Zhan pretended to know nothing. Oh? What’s happened?

Lei Long proceeded to recount everything Wooden Fish had just told Li Zhan, but described Black Shade’s situation as extremely severe and their actions as highly provocative—clearly expressing the need to teach that arrogant settlement a harsh lesson.

Li Zhan was well aware of Lei Long’s belligerent nature, so his attitude came as no surprise. After reading Lei Long’s message, Li Zhan paused, pretending to consider carefully, then replied:

Lord Lei, what do you think our next step should be?

Lei Long: My view is that we solve this by force—violence against violence—so the Black Shade settlement never dares covet Danyang’s lands again. But I’m curious what you think.

Li Zhan: My plan differs slightly from yours. Since we’re responding with force, let’s go all out—through this battle, not only should Black Shade, but all its allied settlements, learn never to target Danyang again.