Outside the gates of Qingliang Prefecture, Xu Peng exchanged a few words with the burly young man and learned that he was also an Independent Player of the Order Faction.
Within the Order Faction, the New Year's Watchers represented China's official forces, but that did not mean every Player in the faction was a New Year's Watcher.
In fact, the New Year's Watchers had extremely strict selection criteria, particularly regarding personal character. They had always upheld the principle of quality over quantity, so anyone hoping to join the organization and draw a government paycheck had to pass multiple assessments.
Moreover, not every Player in the Order Faction or Free Faction wanted to join the New Year's Watchers. Many Players who only wanted to travel through Star Gates and casually "mine" avoided contact with any organization.
Although these people received none of the benefits available to the New Year's Watchers and rarely got to participate in large-scale, highly competitive Star Gates, they were free and unrestricted. That was actually pretty good, too.
The young man accompanying Xu Peng was one such Player. Although they did not work for the same organization, they both belonged to the Order Faction, so their conversation was friendly.
When they reached the city gates, Xu Peng took the initiative to ask a guard, "Sir, we heard Prince Huai issued a recruitment order and wish to join him. Do you know where we can sign up?"
The soldier turned and pointed toward the central street inside the city. "Register at the Clerks' Office in the Prefectural Yamen."
"Thank you!"
"...!" The soldier gave an aloof nod and said nothing more.
"Let's go!"
Xu Peng called to the young man accompanying him, and the two walked into the city.
Along the way, they saw bloodstains in quite a