plan?
What plan?
If a local NPC asks, [ Ginseng Rooster ] will not admit to having any so-called plan.
But as he walked through the crowd, the faint fragrance of the [ Forget-Sorrow Mint ] grew stronger and stronger.
Pain relief, excitement, fatigue relief, and... a slight enhancement of subjective emotions.
Finally, as [ Ginseng Rooster ] patrolled the militia for the twentieth lap, he heard several whispers:
"Damn it, I really don't want to train anymore. They give us nothing and expect us to fight like crazy?"
"Who says otherwise? After so many days of training, all we've been given is a wooden spear, and it's just for training. Are we going to have to carry this thing up to the city wall?"
"Hey, have you heard? Those guys who were chosen to join the Holy Crusaders are really living the high life right now, especially the first batch who were sent to the West District. I heard their treatment is pretty good..."
"Stop talking, or I'm really going to quit. I don't know where those guys (referring to the Soul Returner ) get all that energy from."
"Sigh, they're healthy, but being healthy has its downsides, namely, their brains aren't so sharp."
"Haha, that's true. It's kind of funny to see them practice from morning till night every day but not get a single penny."
"Don't even mention it. How are we any better? We're being watched every day, aren't we ashamed... Our reputation for being stupid has already spread."
[ Forget-Sorrow Mint ] stirred up the strongest emotions in these local NPCs at this moment, and to some extent relaxed their vigilance, causing them to collectively enter a state similar to "speaking the truth after drinking".
Upon hearing these expected comments, a barely perceptible smile appeared on [ the Ginseng Rooster's ] lips.
Luorui'er Luorui'er, since you never intended to treat the militia as human beings, don't blame them for letting you play a Chongzhen simulator game...
According to [ Ginseng Rooster ]'s original plan, he only intended to trick the local NPCs at the last moment, and then open the city gates to welcome the army of the Soul Returner.
But ever since he learned that Luorui'er didn't even plan to give the cannon fodder any military funding, his thinking completely changed, from just wanting to win the mission to wanting to leave Luorui'er with a little psychological trauma.
Even though the archbishop later increased military spending, it was only as a result of external pressure, and not what he truly wanted.
Therefore, [ Ginseng Rooster ]'s plan remains unchanged. He intends to use his expertise in instigation and historical fabrication to stage a truly spectacular event during the siege of Black Pine City!
Leaving the militia's training ranks, [ Ginseng Rooster ] arrived at the edge of the training ground.
This place was originally just a relatively flat open space, but after the militiamen trained for a few days, almost all the vegetation on the ground had been trampled to death. At this moment, seven or eight Soul Returner were quietly using their abilities to build a wooden fence around the camp.
The fence is now mostly complete, and it is estimated that about one-third of it will be fully enclosed.
Once this matter is resolved, [ Ginseng Rooster ] believes the militiamen's emotions will be temporarily calmed down.
This was something [ the Ginseng Rooster ] promised the militiamen; after all, regular Holy Crusaders had fences, but the militia units did not.
This results in many locals observing the area during daily training sessions, as if watching monkeys.
If you put yourself in their shoes, you'll understand how upsetting this is. Many people hate being treated like monkeys in a zoo during military training, so the natives of this other world would naturally have similar feelings.
It could even be said that their emotions in this regard are even stronger than in reality, because...
People in the real world, after watching, will at least go home for dinner, but people in the World of Disorder don't need to eat; they can watch from morning till night as long as they want to.
This was also part of the [ Ginseng Rooster ] plan, because he understood a principle well-known to him—
Constantly increasing pressure will only cause the militia, like a ticking time bomb, to explode prematurely. However, if one knows how to balance pressure and relaxation, one can gradually quell the emotions of this group until a specific time point is reached to detonate it...
At midnight, [ Ginseng Rooster ], who had been offline for four hours, logged back in and crawled out of his tent.
Two simple watchtowers have been quietly erected, and the two men on guard are naturally "one of their own," the Soul Returner.
According to the Holy Crusaders's military discipline, no one is allowed to enter or leave the camp after nightfall; violators will be severely punished.
But in the eyes of the Soul Returner, these rules were less valuable than a single tree seed. After a brief greeting, [ Ginseng Rooster ] was released from the camp.
He changed into a plain, old, gray outfit and, like an ordinary passerby, slipped into a small alley.
After winding his way through several turns, [ Ginseng Rooster ] saw a half-open door, with dim light shining through the crack. He stepped forward and gently knocked on the door three times long and two times short, forming a coded signal.
As he entered the room, seven or eight pairs of eyes immediately turned to him, and only after they saw the ID above his head did a sound of someone putting down their weapon ring out.
This place was originally a private residence, but now it serves as an intelligence station for the Soul Returner.
As for the original residents, they have been relocated elsewhere by the players, just like they were in Fir City.
Seeing that it was an acquaintance, everyone went back to what they were doing. Some were sharpening their weapons, while others played cards in a corner.
[ Ginseng Rooster ] walked to the opposite side of a small round table and looked at the Dragonborn player in front of him.
The person he was staring at had several distinct dragon scale patterns on his face, and his right hand, resting on the armrest, was openly flipping a coin with a polished dragon scale.
Skillfully flicking a tree seed into the other's arms, [ Ginseng Rooster ] leaned closer and whispered:
"[ Dragon Roar Egg Yolk ], any new information recently?"
"Dude, you were just here yesterday, I can't exactly make up some big news for you, can I?"
"But you know that information is rather limited in the military."
"Okay, there's only one message, half true and half false. Want to hear it?"
Tell me about it.
"In the southern district, near the city wall, some brothers have heard what sounds like digging a tunnel."
"Oh, what's the big deal? It's always like this, isn't it?"
[ Dragon Roar Egg Yolk ] leaned closer and whispered:
"Yes, it's always like this, but I'll give you two extra pieces of information for free:"
First: To date, no player has admitted to digging the tunnel.
Second: Archbishop Luorui'er's residence is in the southern district...
"So, you still think it's just regular news?"
Having said that, [ Dragon Roar Egg Yolk ] raised its head again and continued to play with the dragon scale in its hand:
"That's all for today. You lost out on that seed."
"You also feel you're losing out?"
[ Ginseng Rooster ] asks a rhetorical question.
"Of course, I feel you're getting the short end of the stick."
"Then how about you do me another favor? Consider the seeds a deposit, and I'll pay the balance later."
"Speak, what do you need me to do?"
"Spread some rumors."
[ Ginseng Rooster ], spread this gossip!
This is already quite explosive news.
[ Dragon Roar Egg Yolk ] looked at him with an expectant expression:
What is it?
[ Ginseng Rooster ] did not answer, but stuffed a piece of paper into his hand and turned to leave the Soul Returner' stronghold.
A group of players who overheard the conversation immediately gathered around [ Dragon Roar Egg Yolk ], and in the dim light, they all saw the contents of the paper.
After the neatly structured, melodious sentences of varying lengths were recited, everyone only remembered the final, deeply moving line—
"... When the Son of God came, no grain was required!"