With both players and NPCs busy, the day quickly came to an end.
With the help of players and villagers, Duolin and his team managed to build three boats that could float on water without sinking in less than 24 hours. The skillful players also used leftover materials to make two small rafts.
[ Dawn Ah ] finally managed to pass Duolin's Trial by dragging his mentor along, earning the title of " Logistics Warrior," and taking in [ Do Some Farm Work ], who wanted to grow crops in another world, as the final piece of the team's puzzle.
The investment Master, [ Shit Appraisal Master ] and [ Good Times Don't Last Long], somehow managed to recruit [ Howling Pothos ], a powerful figure, into their team. They then started publicly auctioning off the last two spots in the team, and surprisingly, amidst the players' jeers, they actually made a small profit...
[ Pond Fish and Old Abyss ] found several familiar faces, including [ Zhong Lele ] and [ Litang's Supremely Fierce Tiger ], and formed a team. Since everyone's skill level and combat ability were not significantly different, the positions of captain and commander remained undecided. Everyone said that playing by default was fine.
Other players also did their best, communicating frantically both online and offline, and finally completed the team formation before the deadline.
World of Disorder, August 18th, 908 AD, 8:00 AM.
Players who had already memorized the time logged in on time, and none of the fifty players currently qualified for the game were absent.
Ten of them, led by [ Dark Archmage ] and [ Zhongde ], had already arrived in White Wax Town to begin digging the tunnel, while the remaining forty gathered in the castle's hall, full of fighting spirit, looking at Ed who was about to say something.
At this moment, the hall was not only occupied by Ed and forty players, but also by Duolin's five-man guard squad, the armored knight Xilǐ'er and his horse, and a few seemingly unruly young men from the Upperstream Village who had been selected by Kaping and others.
Only Seraphina was absent from the meeting because she had no intention of participating in what she called "animal fighting." At this moment, she was still behind the bank counter, either eating sunflower seeds (mithril ore) or taking a nap.
As a negotiation Master is well-versed in "social skills" and "people-reading techniques," Ed knows that people don't want to listen to those long and tedious leadership speeches.
So he stood in that spot between the first and second floors, a spot he had stood in countless times before, and a spot he would always take every time a new player logged in, waiting for that moment to arrive.
At 8:00 AM sharp, as the countdown reached zero, the second phase of the large-scale long-term quest— the Reclaim White Wax Town— ended, and the third phase (the final phase) officially began.
Having planned everything, Ed addressed the crowd with great enthusiasm:
"Brave and wise Soul Returner, we gather here today to condemn the utterly corrupt and irredeemable Tree Worship Church of White Wax Town!"
"I believe everyone has heard about their atrocities over the past few decades. Whether it was due to the temptation of the Demonic Tide or the tarnishing of faith, their depravity is an indisputable fact."
"They have lost their chance to turn back now. It's time for these people to get the end they deserve!"
"Their depravity has already disgraced the Tree God, and the corruption and depravity extend far beyond White Wax Town!"
"From White Wax Town to Aduolin Province, and then to the Holy City where the Verdant Holy See is located, depravity and corruption are constantly eroding the once glorious and holy Tree Worship Church, and blaspheming the divine grace of the Creator."
"We are both the last bulwark of the Tree God's glory and the sharpest sword in the Tree God's hand. We will surely sweep away all evil, give the Tree Worship Church a new life, and restore order to the whole world!"
"We are the Second Holy See!"
"Ooo...
The cheers of the players echoed through the castle's hall, even causing the dust on the ceiling to tremble slightly.
In such an exciting occasion, someone who was too engrossed in their role shouted:
"War!"
The others immediately joined in the shouting, their cacophony eventually harmonizing into a single, rhythmic roar that echoed throughout the castle.
"War! War! War!"
Their faces were filled with excitement, their warrior genes were being reawakened, and they seemed confident that they could cut down whatever they were about to face.
Duolin and the guard squad were overjoyed to see this.
As expected of the Saint who have returned from the long river of history, not one of them showed any fear upon hearing that their opponent was the entire corrupt and decadent Tree Worship Church. Instead, they all erupted in such a battle cry.
Thinking back to how they had felt anger and fear when they first learned the truth about the Tree Worship Church, the guards felt remorse for their thoughts at the time—their faith in the Tree God was indeed far inferior to that of the Saint.
Feeling the excited hissing of the Radish beside him, even Xilǐ'er, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but feel a little emotional and even a little regretful at the sight of this spirited scene.
Although it was just a suit of armor, if... if the real Xilǐ'er back then could have borrowed such a disciplined and highly motivated army, even if it were only fifty men, could they have brought a Vitality of hope to Duke Frostblade's war if used properly?
Thinking of this, he habitually reached out and stroked the non-existent bristles of the Radish.
Unlike Xilǐ'er and Duolin, the selected youths from the Upperstream Village trembled uncontrollably upon hearing the deafening cheers.
They could roughly guess why they had been chosen.
Yes, they misspoke, but... but how many soldiers were there back then?
They clearly remembered that there were only about ten soldiers at the beginning, and in just a few days there were forty or fifty?!
Damn it, where did these guys come from? Did they grow out of the ground?
If they had known there were so many terrible guys, they wouldn't have said such bad things.
People aren't stupid. If they had known this would happen, they would have either complied from the start or prepared to slip away early on. Why would they have lazily gossiped and talked loudly like they did the previous times?
With things having come to this, and seeing each other's pale faces, the disloyal youths decided to play the coward for now.
They outnumber them, so it's not shameful for them to back down.
The cheers and battle cries also reached the area below the castle, where Seraphina, somewhat impatiently, covered her ears with her fingers inside the bank.
"Ugh, it's so noisy. What was I thinking about?"
"Yes, yes, I must create... no, what's the word again? Invent, yes, invent something that will make him look at me in a new light, that's it!"
In the castle hall, the cheers of the players gradually subsided, leaving only the buzzing of excited whispers among them.
Ed waved his hand and began the detailed planning for the battle.