Chapter Forty: The Conscription Order

Following Old Joel's directions, Li Xia found a notice board in front of the tower, with a piece of parchment pinned to it.

Upon clicking on it, a large number of faction quests refreshed.

Because the newbies had all purchased the "strategy guides," not a single person joined the human faction.

Just as Robin Hood had said, only those who performed exceptionally well in the solo trials would feel invincible enough to trigger different content within the human faction.

Yet who would have thought that the other side many people racked their brains to find wasn't inside the faction at all, but rather at the moment of joining it?

Li Xia browsed through these faction quests, initially intending to pick a few with high contribution points, only to discover that this system was gated by reputation levels.

His current reputation was [Neutral (0/200)], and raising it to the next tier, Friendly, required 200 contribution points.

Moreover, most of the available quests were minor chores like driving away wild beasts or finding lost items. The only one with a high contribution reward was delivering a letter all the way to the capital of the human kingdom.

It would take at least half a month for the round trip, so Li Xia directly passed on it. Such quests were generally prepared for teams; only Apostles with very high agility could barely manage the journey back and forth.

After careful selection, he could only pick a few quests with moderate rewards that didn't take too much time to tide him over.

.......................

"Bang!"

A body flew backward, crashing heavily against thick wooden planks. The man clutched his stomach, curled up on the ground, and let out a painful groan.

The surrounding people fell silent in fear, quietly pushing back the knives they had just drawn out.

Li Xia's gaze swept across the room. Anyone who met his eyes immediately looked away, turning their attention to the ceiling, their surrounding companions, or suddenly taking a deep interest in the cheap brandy in their hands.

He walked over to the man and squatted down:

"The villain... Chuck? You're under arrest."

"Yes.... No.... I'm not..... Who are you? I don't even.... I don't know you at all."

Throwing the bounty order onto the man, the security guards finally arrived fashionably late.

[Faction Quest: Arrest the villain Chuck completed]

[Contribution points obtained: 20]

[Reputation level increased. Current level: Friendly (0/400)]

The captain of the security guard looked at Li Xia with awe. This lunatic seemed not to know the meaning of fatigue, having captured a full ten criminals in a single day.

Every single one of them was a notorious ruffian and thug in Longlake Town.

"I'll leave them to you."

Li Xia waved his hand and hurried away. With his level increased, many more quests had become available, and tonight, those grouped-up newbies would arrive en masse.

By then, Longlake Town would become exceptionally lively, and there was no telling if some stubborn individuals or teams would want to test the mettle of the human faction.

Accumulating team reputation was much faster than doing it solo, so it was crucial to complete more quests while he still had this time.

After quickly having a meal, Li Xia went to Old Joel's place and directly exchanged contribution points for two items he had planned for long ago.

Contribution points and reputation functioned on a dual-track system; spending contribution points did not affect one's reputation level, which was a nearly universal rule.

[You have spent 200 contribution points]

[You have exchanged for: Requisition Warrant * 2]

[Requisition Warrant: Can summon 1 Longlake Town Archer Guard with basic intelligence]

Two parchment scrolls covered in text appeared in his hands. Upon choosing to use them, the parchments immediately caught fire and quickly turned into a puff of black ash.

A thick fog suddenly rose not far away, and two figures emerged from the mist. They wore somewhat tattered uniforms of the Longlake Town Archer Guards, their faces obscured by masks so their features could not be seen.

They walked over to Li Xia with longbows slung over their shoulders and knelt on one knee.

After testing them out, Li Xia nodded in satisfaction. The stats of both archers were decent, roughly comparable to the unlucky fellow he had killed when he first entered the forest.

Their basic archery was at Level 4 (Proficient), making them qualified ranged units.

Furthermore, their basic intelligence far exceeded Li Xia's expectations. Aside from lacking subjective initiative, they understood Li Xia's intentions remarkably well.

No hesitation—let's go!

Spending some money to rent a small boat, Li Xia was pleasantly surprised to find that these two archers actually knew how to row.

Or rather, they were originally members of the deceased Longlake Town Archer Guards, only temporarily resurrected through the power of the Temple of Light.

Rowing could be said to be a basic skill for everyone in Longlake Town.

.............

Longlake was deep, giving it a somewhat dark green appearance. A faint mist rippled across the water's surface, adding a touch of mystery.

Amidst the soft "swishing" sounds, the small wooden boat pierced through the fog, its bow parting the lake water and trailing a line of ripples.

Approaching the shore, Li Xia waved his hand, and the two immediately stopped rowing, slowly propelling the boat forward with bamboo poles.

Li Xia gathered his breath and landed lightly upon the rocks by the shore, the two archers following closely behind.

This time's quest was to exterminate a band of water bandits entrenched around Longlake. They were numerous in number, possessed decent combat strength, and were exceptionally cunning.

They had as many as 10 suspected lairs. The elves and Longlake Town had attempted to wipe them out multiple times, but they had always managed to escape.

If not for having a simplified tool like the minimap, Li Xia wouldn't have wanted to take on this quest, which was clearly designed for teams.

Not only was soloing it prone to failure, but reconnaissance alone was a massive problem.

Of course, the rewards were also extremely generous, reaching a full 400 points, equivalent to 20 primary quests.

Quietly leading the two archers up a giant boulder, Li Xia poked his head out to look.

He saw that in a messy camp, a dozen or so bandits were sitting around a campfire. They wore old, stain-covered clothes, and chewed-on bones and empty wine bottles were scattered across the ground.

Even so, their weapons were still piled up seemingly at random around their bodies.

Guards holding bows still stood watch at several strategic vantage points, making it a tightly guarded perimeter.

"Number 1, stay here. When you see Number 2 make a move, shoot down the nearest guard and smear this on your arrowhead. If the people below are alerted, do not shoot; circle around from below and rendezvous with us, understand?"

Number 1 nodded, took the paralyzed spider venom sac, and began applying the toxin to his arrowhead.

Li Xia circled around the perimeter to another location, gave similar instructions, and left the spider venom sac with Number 2.

Then he moved to the front, forming a triangle with the two archers.

Pulling out a TAC-50, he found a comfortable spot to set it up. In the real world, Li Xia had taken the time to learn shooting, and he still had the basic marksmanship skill hanging on his status.

Adjusting the scope, he clumsily zeroed the scope to eliminate parallax, entirely ignoring wind speed and the like.

At a distance of 100 meters, it was almost negligible for a military sniper rifle with a muzzle velocity of 850 meters per second.

"Bang!"

A muffled gunshot rang out. A blood flower suddenly burst from the body of a water bandit by the campfire below, and he fell backward. A notification popped up almost immediately.

[Killed a water bandit. Current quest target: 18]

The water bandits below froze, instinctively jumping up to grab their weapons and looking toward the direction of the gunshot with bewildered expressions.

At the exact same moment the gunshot rang out, two arrows silently cut through the night sky, hitting the two patrolling guards stationed on high. The spider venom worked exceptionally well on these ordinary people.

In just a fraction of a second, the two foamed at the mouth and slumped limply to the ground.

Meanwhile, the water bandits in the camp below were distracted by the gunshot and completely failed to notice that the two lookout guards had already vanished.

A flying start!