Chapter 12: Before Departure

Faced with overwhelming strength, resistance was futile. Li Bin had encircled the dwarven settlement so thoroughly that he hadn’t even needed to deploy the bone dragons or the Valkyrie. Relying solely on the ghost soldiers’ ability to float and their 50% physical damage immunity, he swiftly breached the dwarven village’s modest walls.

When the gates swung open, Li Bin’s expendable troops rushed in, holding off the dwarven defenders. Meanwhile, Li Bin led his elite forces straight to the town hall.

“Now it’s your turn,” Li Bin said, turning to the beautiful woman behind him, who held a golden spear and wore silver-gray leather armor.

She nodded, gathered her long hair into a ponytail with a golden thread, and with a flick of her spear, a dozen golden flashes streaked through the air, obliterating half of the dwarven town hall in an instant.

After her second strike, the Heart of the City of the dwarven settlement appeared in Li Bin’s hand.

Li Bin smiled approvingly at her. “As expected of the strongest unit from the Amazon camp. I don’t know what heights you’ll reach in the end, but I have high hopes for you.”

The Amazon Valkyrie said nothing in response to the praise; she merely smiled and stood behind Li Bin.

With the city’s heart secured, the conquest was nearly complete. As his forces hunted down the scattered dwarven soldiers, Li Bin received a notification from the system.

After this battle, his campaign level had finally risen to level 5, crossing the first major threshold of the game. His direct command grew by more than double—he could now lead another squad—and he gained control over one more city.

Allocating his new points to leadership, Li Bin then chose a special branch skill from four options: Mystical Manipulation, triggered by undead mechanical units.

This skill allowed him, at the start of combat, to control a certain number of enemy war machines for his own side.

Soon, his subordinates came to report on the situation. Li Bin had profited greatly from this battle; dwarves were renowned for mining and manufacturing, and their warehouse was filled with minerals counted in the hundreds. There were also high-quality weapons and equipment that even moved the Amazon Valkyrie, but what excited Li Bin most was discovering a dwarven gold mine that could provide 1,500 gold coins daily and a dwarven treasury that increased the national gold reserves by 10% weekly.

Additionally, the dwarven settlement could supply Li Bin with a large number of miners and blacksmiths, boosting output from all mines in his domain by 5%, and increasing the speed and quality of weapon manufacturing by 10%. Combined with training grounds for recruiting troops from level 1 to 5, a sizable marketplace, and a distribution map of nearby major factions, Li Bin was leaving with a bounty.

After handing the city’s heart to Barrel, Li Bin assigned troop deployment tasks to Reed and began organizing a merchant guild for the markets of his three cities.

According to the system, once a player directly or indirectly owned three cities, they would gain a merchant guild and a caravan. This enabled intercity commerce, lowering resource exchange costs and granting additional income. However, there were special requirements: the cities must have safe roads between them, and sometimes the guild would require external trading rights.

As luck would have it, Li Bin encountered just such a merchant guild. He was considering travel to other continents, and to ensure the security of his territory, he decided that Barrel would reach out to factions friendly with the dwarven settlement, using its name to negotiate trade.

Once everything was settled, Reed reported the troops were ready. This time, Li Bin planned to take only Sannei and Reed with him; the others and their direct forces would remain. Lidas and Barrel would oversee Spider Village, Asea, and the dwarven settlement, Hillstone Quarry, while Shuiyuetian would protect the mines and all roads within the territory.

Ghost Butterfly City would be jointly managed by Toudina and Dierdre, handling only defense and minor affairs; Li Bin would still direct overall strategy remotely.

For his forces, Li Bin prepared two squads of undead crossbowmen upgraded to level 7 death crossbows, one squad of harpy poisoners advanced to level 7 poison mist harpies, capable of enveloping a thirty-meter radius in toxic fog; one squad of harpy assassins advanced to level 7 ghost harpies, possessing stealth and wall-passing abilities; five apprentice-level skeleton mages; one squad of harpy banshees; one squad of deep forest hunters; one squad of swamp ambushers; one squad of level 7 staff-wielding mummies; one Amazon Valkyrie; and a mixed battalion of three primary troop types advanced to level 6.

Of course, Reed’s four squads of elite subordinates, two bone dragons, and Sannei, now at the level of a primary mage, were not forgotten.

Yet upon learning that Li Bin planned to escort her home with such a force, Jessica was incredulous. She even suspected Li Bin intended to use the escort as a pretext to attack her father’s domain.

It took Li Bin considerable effort to dispel her doubts, and using the methods her father had taught her, she summoned traveling merchants who traversed the continents.

The first to arrive was a flying vessel over a thousand meters long. Its decorations of adamantine and mithril shimmered with magical light, causing Li Bin to swallow hard.

“Surprised, aren’t you? The first time I saw this beast, I nearly jumped out of my skin,” declared the captain, who resembled a goblin—a creature with six dexterous fingers, belonging to the spirit-mechanical tribe.

“My name is Gaga Darkwhisper,” he said casually. “But a name’s just a title, right? I hear you’re planning a cross-continental journey? We offer very reasonable rates: a hundred gold coins for every continent we pass through. And don’t worry, we won’t take detours just to fleece you. As you see, my vessel isn’t all that big, so cabin space is a bit pricey.”

“Speak with the lady; she’s agreed to cover all expenses,” Li Bin replied, unconcerned about etiquette, pointing straight at Jessica when he saw the captain’s eyes gleam with profit.

Jessica nodded. “Don’t worry. As long as you take me to Abira City in the Duchy of Warner, my father will pay you.”

“Your father will pay, but you should provide a deposit, shouldn’t you?” Gaga said offhandedly.

“I don’t have much money on me; maybe this will do,” Jessica replied after searching herself and finally producing an item that glowed with golden light.

“A life pendant?” All three exclaimed as they recognized what Jessica held in her hand.