The Appearance of Magic Ball Authority

But Shen Mu's smile quickly faded.

Sitting in his high-backed chair, the upturned corners of his mouth slowly relaxed, still somewhat stiff.

Thinking of how, when he had tried to deploy that one-mu Wheat Field earlier, he had been unable to enter the Map Editor, Shen Mu pursed his lips unconsciously and said helplessly,

"I didn't expect the remaining rooms on the Seventh Floor Apartment to be unable to support the full deployment of that one-mu Wheat Field."

Simply put, there was not enough remaining space to construct the building.

Given the already limited area of this apartment building, he would have to connect all forty apartment units to meet the conditions for deploying the one-mu Wheat Field.

However, when Shen Mu tried to deploy the one-mu Wheat Field from the Third-person Perspective, he discovered that the areas near the outer units were marked in red, indicating they could not be deployed.

Under the Mount & Blade Rules, green meant deployment was permitted.

Red meant there was an obstacle and deployment was impossible.

If even the one-mu Wheat Field could not be deployed, then the Lake Rats Training Camp, which Shen Mu valued greatly and which could train Lake Rats Recruits, naturally could not be deployed either.

"This really is one problem after another."

Shen Mu frowned slightly.

Of course, he knew that the so-called red obstacle was the Spiritual Realm Scene hidden inside Room 4070.

It was even a Demon Stronghold occupied by Demon Monsters!

"A Spiritual Realm Scene is itself a special kind of Spiritual Realm Mark. It is simply extremely concealed, and because the Crystal Wall System of the Spiritual Realm shattered and collapsed, it became tainted with a portion of special space-time power."

Recalling the memories left behind by the previous owner of this body, Shen Mu pondered carefully.

"So is it because of this special space-time power that the space-time power within the Mount & Blade Rules cannot take effect, making it impossible to deploy buildings and use the Map Editor?"

Only that conclusion could reasonably explain why he was currently unable to deploy buildings.

Ding! The Mission System has detected an event!

Mission Issued: Recover Lost Ground.

Mission Description: You have discovered a Small Castle occupied by demons. At the same time, you have noticed that the Demon Troops within this Small Castle seem to have suffered heavy losses, leaving their defensive strength extremely weak. Therefore, you intend to reclaim it.

Mission Requirement: Kill all remaining demons inside and take control of the Space-Time Core.

Mission Reward: Map Editor (Magic Ball) operation authority for 30 minutes.

As Shen Mu was thinking, a dialogue box from the Mount & Blade System instantly appeared on his retina.

It startled Shen Mu awake. "Map Editor operation authority... thirty minutes!?"

Shen Mu's gaze immediately fixed on the mission reward.

He was already quite familiar with these Temporary Missions issued on the spot, but seeing this newly introduced type of mission reward, he was still somewhat surprised.

"Magic Ball." Shen Mu pursed his lips.

His expression turned solemn.

He was no stranger to the Magic Ball.

A large part of the reason he could combine so many Mount & Blade DLCs and MODs lay in the program known as the "Magic Ball."

It was an editor in the Mount & Blade game that could alter and edit everything, from maps and characters to attributes!

The Map Editor Shen Mu had used before was merely one of the permissions within the Magic Ball editor.

For veteran players, many could even use the Magic Ball to create their own troop types and add more fun to the game.

"If I remember correctly, the map-editing authority in the Magic Ball can even edit the terrain, building appearances, and plant appearances within an area, and it can complete construction instantly."

Shen Mu raised an eyebrow slightly.

He fell into thought.

According to the thirty minutes of Magic Ball authority listed as the mission reward, he truly had enough time to accomplish many things.

For example, the buildings in the Building Interface of his Swadian Stronghold that had yet to be constructed!

"Once again, just what I needed."

Shen Mu was becoming increasingly satisfied with the Mount & Blade System.

Especially as he looked toward the kitchen, where the Swadian Peasants had begun bustling about again because noon was approaching, the smile on his face grew even brighter.

As long as these fifty Swadian Peasants underwent the crucible of battle a few times, they would soon become Swadian Recruits.

At the recruit level, although they were not much different from peasants, they had already undergone a complete transformation from civilians into soldiers.

It was extremely important.

"This assault on the Spiritual Realm Scene will let those infantry and Light Footmen lead them along so they can gain some experience and level up."

That was Shen Mu's arrangement.

It was not just the peasants. Shen Mu also intended for those ten Mercenary Sentinels to take their final step forward.

The Mercenary Sentinels had performed excellently in last night's battle.

Unfortunately, the massive experience gained from the pursuit had likely all been taken by the Swadian Footmen and Lake Rats Recruits, preventing the Mercenary Sentinels from leveling up.

Yet after leveling up, becoming Mercenary Crossbowmen armed with War Crossbows had always been something Shen Mu dearly wanted.

They were the strongest and most cost-effective Tier 3 Ranged Shooters.

The Mercenary Crossbowmen!

"If I remember correctly, Mercenary Crossbowmen possess crossbow proficiency second only to Rhodok Sharpshooters in the entire Warband series. If they were equipped with heavy crossbows or Sniper Crossbows instead of merely War Crossbows, they could probably contend with Tier 5 ranged troops."

Thinking of what he knew about Mercenary Crossbowmen, Shen Mu's mood improved even further.

After lunch,

and roughly thirty minutes of rest, Shen Mu began arranging the forces for this counterattack on the Spiritual Realm Scene.

Fifteen Swadian Footmen, thirty Swadian Light Footmen, and ten Mercenary Sentinels would serve as the main force.

Fifty Swadian Peasants armed with farm tools such as wooden clubs and pitchforks would follow behind with twenty-five bandits wielding Slaughtering Knives and possessing little combat ability, helping out and gaining experience.

As for the ten Lake Rats Veteran Thugs, they would specifically guard the Elevator Room and prevent anyone from coming up.

And the ten Swadian Heavy Cavalry...

Shen Mu hesitated for a moment, but out of a desire to protect such luxuries, he had them remain on standby inside the Stronghold Main House.

Though the Swadian Heavy Cavalry could also fight on foot, their heavy equipment allowed them to suppress many low-tier or lightly armed enemies.

But they were cavalry, after all. Their specialties, Attribute Points, and skills could only truly shine when used alongside warhorses.

Using them as infantry would simply be a waste of talent.

Besides, these precious Tier 4 Heavy Cavalry were painful enough to see suffer even a few bumps and bruises. If one or two were seriously injured while fighting on foot, Shen Mu would truly be heartbroken.

"That settles it." Shen Mu completed the tactical arrangements.

Very soon,

all of Shen Mu's soldiers, from the Stronghold Main House to the Wheat Field, had assembled and begun carrying out the plan passed down to them.

The ten Lake Rats Veteran Thugs soon headed out and relieved the five Swadian Light Footmen who had already been stationed there.

Then they stood guard with Woodland Axes that looked utterly terrifying in their hands.

Their faces were full of savage flesh.

They looked exceptionally hard to provoke.

That was why Shen Mu had assigned these ten Lake Rats Veteran Thugs to guard this place.

Sometimes, thugs could indeed accomplish a task better than soldiers.

Then the troops filed out in a stream. The Swadian Footmen and Light Footmen led the way, while Shen Mu and the ten Mercenary Sentinels held the center. The peasants and bandits followed behind as the group passed through the corridor.

The corridor was still filled with the stench of blood and sulfur. Many crude Iron Forks and black solids or liquids lay scattered in its corners.

They were all remnants left behind by the Demon Monsters last night.

There had not yet been time to clean up the battlefield.

This included the five carts lying askew in the corridor, blocking the entire passage.

And the richly varied, plentiful military rations scattered through the corridor, which the Kingdom of Swadia had intended to transport to the front lines but had been forced to abandon in the wilderness after losing on the battlefield and suffering a rout, only for the bandits to find them and painstakingly drag them back.

"After we return, I'll have the peasants clean up the battlefield and move all these supplies into the Wheat Field rooms."

Shen Mu glanced at them before withdrawing his gaze.

Because right ahead of them,

Room 7040, its door already destroyed, had come into view. A faint sulfurous stench wafted from inside, along with the frightened cries of demons, as though they had sensed the approaching troops.

"Now it's time to pay them a visit." Shen Mu's lips curled slightly, but his eyes turned cold.

He pointed the Germanic Sword in his hand forward.

"Kill!"