Factions and Claims

[Faction System Activated]

"[Dúnedain] Faction Reputation +50." "Current [Dúnedain] Faction Reputation: Friendly."

[World Map Unlocked]

[Territory Claim Enabled]

Just as his headache was setting in, several prompts rang out in succession, interrupting Li Wei's irritation.

Faction? Map? Another new mod unlocked?

Setting aside everything else, Li Wei quickly opened the newly added interface and skimmed through the explanations.

First was the faction reputation system. Whenever he did something beneficial for a faction, the corresponding reputation would increase.

However, not every action would grant reputation. If Li Wei was too far from a faction's area of activity, that faction wouldn't be able to learn of his deeds, and thus couldn't reward him with reputation.

For instance, Li Wei was currently within the Dúnedain's territory, and he had a witness right beside him.

Falrodan had watched Li Wei single-handedly defeat an entire cavalry squad, granting him full reputation points and pushing the Dúnedain reputation straight to "Friendly."

But if Li Wei went alone to some remote corner of Mordor to ambush Orcs, no matter how many he killed, as long as the news didn't spread and no one knew about it, he wouldn't gain any reputation.

He'd only lose reputation with the Mordor faction.

Faction reputation wasn't just a marker—it had practical effects.

For example, now that Li Wei's reputation with the Dúnedain had reached "Friendly," every Dúnedain he met from now on would start with that same reputation level, treating him as one of their own.

After a preliminary understanding of the faction system, Li Wei turned his attention to the second function: [World Map].

The World Map could record every place Li Wei had been, marking which factions were active in each area with absolute precision.

But for now, Li Wei hadn't traveled far. The map only showed the region from the Shire to Bree and then to his castle; everything else was shrouded in mist.

"After this battle, your deeds will spread across these wilds, Li Wei."

The voice beside him pulled Li Wei's thoughts back.

Falrodan continued, "You've solved a tough problem for us. That assembled squad wouldn't have been dealt with in a single night."

"On behalf of the free people of this land, I thank you."

The Ranger bowed politely, offering his respect to Li Wei.

"I couldn't have done it without your help. If not for your timely news, I might have been caught off guard, and in the worst case, I'd have had to abandon the castle and flee in disgrace."

Li Wei nodded.

"And I thank you, Falrodan."

This wasn't flattery—it was the truth. If he hadn't prepared in advance and faced that squad head-on, he really might have lost. After all, those Wargs' jumping power could easily clear the shoddy wall he'd thrown up.

"My honor."

"From today onward, Falrodan, you or your kin may enter my castle without prior permission. You can come and go freely and use whatever supplies are inside. Consider it a small token of my gratitude."

"Then I thank you. I will remember this friendship." Falrodan didn't refuse.

A sturdy fortress like this, even if only used occasionally for rest and resupply, was an immense help.

[Dúnedain Faction Reputation +10]

A line of text appeared.

This guy was honest—he really did add reputation.

But speaking of which...

Li Wei suddenly thought of that elite Orc with 40 HP.

On a whim, he looked directly at Falrodan's head.

A health bar popped up.

[25/25]

Twenty-five HP.

The Dúnedain lived for centuries on average, their vitality naturally surpassing that of ordinary humans, so a higher HP cap was expected.

Thinking about it, that elite Orc, standing out among the average dozen-HP Orcs, must have had some Troll blood in him. Otherwise, there was no way his hide could be that thick.

Shaking his head, Li Wei dismissed the thought.

The night was deep.

After a night of nerve-wracking battle (ambush), Li Wei felt somewhat exhausted. He said his goodbyes and went to rest.

The next morning, he woke to find Falrodan already gone.

Only a set of Iron Armor left in the guest room proved he had been there.

He hadn't taken the armor Li Wei had gifted him.

This guy...

Li Wei shook his head, suddenly remembering that yesterday he seemed to have activated another system, but before he could look at it, Falrodan interrupted, and he forgot all about it.

[Territory Claim]

"You may claim an unclaimed building area as your own territory."

"For every ten levels gained, you receive one territory claim quota. Current claimable territories: 0/3."

This Territory Claim reminded Li Wei of a mod called "Utility Tools," which also allowed claiming a certain amount of territory—very convenient.

Without a second thought, Li Wei immediately claimed the castle he had built beneath his feet as his first territory.

"Please confirm the territory name:"

Li Wei thought it over. His castle was in a wilderness area not too far from the main road, so...

"Let's call it [Roadside Fortress]."

[Territory "Roadside Fortress" created successfully]

After creating the territory, he felt something was missing. Thinking for a moment, Li Wei made a sign and hung it at the city gate.

Carving the words "Roadside Fortress" onto it.

Mm, perfect.

From now on, everything within the walls of Roadside Fortress counted as Li Wei's "territory."

According to the instructions, inside his territory, storage blocks like chests were protected. Without his permission, others could neither open nor break them, let alone take them away.

This was just the most basic permanent Territory Property Protection.

Additionally, within the territory, Li Wei could summon Iron Golems and Snow Golems.

Yes, Li Wei was now certain—only within his own territory could he summon golems, and the golems could not leave the territory.

Li Wei sighed.

Ahh--

The plan in his head to summon an army of Iron Golems and sweep through Mordor was declared bankrupt before it even began.

But this was fine, at least when he left his base, he wouldn't have to worry about it being taken over by Orcs or bandits or something.

Thus, a major headache was solved, and he could roam without worries.

After understanding the newly unlocked mod functions, Li Wei immediately wanted to summon a few Iron Golems to see what these powerful helpers with 100 HP looked like—were they blocky and square, or did they have a more realistic style with textures like iron armor?

But after searching through every chest, Li Wei couldn't find one crucial material—a pumpkin.

Right, during this time, Li Wei had only planted one crop: wheat. He only had wheat seeds, which he could get directly by breaking the weeds outside.

Everything else, he still needed to find.

Having made up his mind, Li Wei focused his thoughts, opened the world map, and then spread out the paper map he had gotten from Bilbo, comparing the two.

West of Roadside Fortress was Bree. For Li Wei, this was backtracking along a familiar route.

East was Rivendell, and further east was the Misty Mountains.

According to the map, Li Wei was about the same distance from both Bree and Rivendell.

Looking at Rivendell to the east, Li Wei felt a stir of interest.

He had never seen an elf before.

And, if he remembered correctly, Aragorn was living in Rivendell at this time. Calculating the timeline, he should still be a child under ten years old.