Han Xiao smiled without saying a word, his words carrying a deeper meaning. "Time will tell."
Lü Cheng nodded, temporarily suppressing his doubts about the refugees, and prepared to have his men investigate thoroughly.
He then invited Han Xiao to visit his territory, the Black Pine Settlement. Black Phantom said he didn't want any payment, but Lü Cheng didn't dare take it seriously; he felt it necessary to show goodwill.
Han Xiao agreed, because he wanted to spend more time with Lü Cheng.
I did some research on the Dark Net before. Lü Cheng is a very powerful wandering warlord in the Southern Continent. The Black Pine Settlement is very large. Compared to Green Valley Town, it is a small fry. Black Pine is located in the ruins of a small city in the old era, which has been transformed into a settlement with tens of thousands of residents. It has rich facilities, and even has a biological research institute and a weapons research institute. You can imagine how high-end it is.
There is a difference between the concepts of a wandering warlord and a wandering settlement. A settlement is a spontaneous group of wanderers to defend against dangers in the wild. They are usually led by reliable people elected by democracy. The structure is loose and there is basically no class distinction.
Warlords are more like lords, investing resources to build settlements that can absorb scattered groups of wanderers, charging a fee for shelter, which can be taxes or labor. They purposefully develop armed forces to defend their settlements and attack other warlords. Most of their armed personnel are mercenaries, but there are also wanderers who volunteer to join the army.
Warlords and settlements are scattered across the continents, numerous and of varying sizes. One of the goals of the Bennett's Sanctuary storyline is to unite all the wanderers, establish a new city independent of the Six Nations, and provide shelter for all refugees. This naturally leads to conflict with the warlords, making it a very large undertaking.
Bennett's plan was like providing shelter to all the poor and needy, Sanctuary refuge not only from war but also from the dangers of the wilderness.
Lü Cheng invited Han Xiao to get in the car and head to Black Pine.
Players in Green Valley Town can still get quests from the town. Those who chose the Guardian faction were pleasantly surprised to find that their Green Valley Town's favorability had not decreased, and they all breathed a sigh of relief as they watched Black Phantom leave.
There were two of them when they arrived, but now there's an extra Meat Bun Hits Dog, and they're all crammed into the troop carrier.
The scenery outside the window rushed by. Han Xiao made a phone call and asked the pilot of the Dark Net helicopter to go directly to the Black Pine Settlement to wait for him. He told Lü Cheng about this, Lü Cheng said he would have someone let them through and leave a helipad.
Han Xiao and Lü Cheng chatted casually for a while, then Han Xiao suddenly asked, "With your armed forces, you could have attacked as soon as you arrived in the town. The refugees wouldn't have been able to stop you. Why did you give Bashas time to prepare?"
Lü Cheng shook his head. At that time, he didn't know that players could resurrect. He said, "Only people without faith would believe that killing can solve all problems."
"The lives of your men matter too." Han Xiao smiled.
"The strong should protect the weak." Lü Cheng paused, then said, "I will not massacre unarmed refugees. The Laopote Massacre is a lesson for all warlords."
"The Laopote Massacre? What's that?" The question came from Meat Bun Hits Dog, who was still recording footage.
Lü Cheng assumed that Frenzied Saber and Meat Bun were Han Xiao's henchmen. Out of respect for Han Xiao, he explained, "Laopote was once a large settlement of wanderers in the Western Continent. It was invaded by a warlord. The warlord of Laopote was very popular, so the residents spontaneously helped resist. Unfortunately, the enemy was too strong, and the settlement was breached. The attacking warlord, enraged by the residents' counterattack, massacred the unarmed inhabitants, looted all their supplies, and burned the settlement down. Tens of thousands of wanderers perished..."
The man, dismissing the Meat Bun Hits Dog," pointed out that such acts of killing prisoners and massacring entire cities had occurred countless times throughout history, and pressed on, asking, "And then what?"
"Then, twenty days later, the warlord who carried out the massacre, along with the hundreds of mercenaries who did it, were all wiped out overnight by a superhuman. After that, no warlord dared to indiscriminately kill innocent people again."
The Meat Bun Hits Dog was taken aback. "Why?"
Han Xiao picked up the conversation, saying calmly, "Because there are some people who call themselves superheroes."
In an ordinary world, people would be powerless to resist atrocities. Even if they felt angry at the powerful perpetrators, they would be helpless. But on Planet Aquamarine, there are extraordinary powers. In a chaotic world without laws, those with power can become law enforcers. Some disgruntled superhumans have the power to kill their way in. The behavior of these "superheroes" sets artificial bottom lines for the forces in the wilderness, forming a code of law based on common sense.
What is common sense? It's something that most people consider excessive from a moral standpoint.
Unless the massacre or annihilation of an entire city is carried out flawlessly, sooner or later, superhumans who claim to be champions of justice will come knocking on their door. This can also be considered a form of moral blackmail: because I am strong enough, you must abide by my "morality." In essence, it is still the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak, but it has given the wilderness a crude set of rules, indirectly protecting the lives of wanderers.
Meat Bun Hits Dog hurriedly recorded the footage; he enjoyed these kinds of anecdotes from around the world, as they enriched his video content.
Han Xiao stroked his chin, and when the Laopote Massacre was mentioned, he was reminded of a wild boss.
"At the ruins of Laopote, the charred corpses lay unburied, attracting wild beasts. A new virus bred among the corpses, spreading outwards and contaminating a large area of land and water. Wild beasts entering this area mutated, and every so often a new beast-king level wild boss would appear, triggering a kill quest. I remember the reward was the boss's mutated heart, which, when given to a certain biological research group, could be used to create potions that increased attributes, and there was also a chance to awaken a rare feat."
Wilderness bosses appear periodically and players can repeatedly fight them. These repetitive actions are an indispensable part of the game, such as quests, monster hunting, and dungeons.
Speaking of which, let me briefly mention the issue of dungeons. There are several types of dungeons. The first is special scenarios where monsters constantly spawn, such as certain magical trial realms or simulated combat rooms on the technology side. Apart from these special spaces, in the reality of "Galaxy," there are also important areas where forces station troops, large battlefields, and so on that can be used as dungeons. These dungeons are full of randomness and may close at any time.
The second is the Dungeon Crystal, a special item dropped by special quests. Only players can use it to enter a parallel space that rewinds a period of time, allowing them to participate in an event that has already occurred. The scenes that can be entered by Dungeon Crystal vary and are related to the content of the quest that drops the crystal.
The quests that reward Dungeon Crystal can be repeated every now and then, making them a stable way for players to farm dungeons. There are also records of completion times and leaderboards for various dungeons.
Using Dungeon Crystal appears to others as a sudden disappearance, with the user entering a parallel space, unable to affect the outside world, but able to gain something within the dungeon. This phenomenon is similar to technological space jump devices and magical teleportation spells, and even has the effect of time reversal. Han Xiao didn't know if he could use Dungeon Crystal; he felt it was very risky. He didn't know the principle behind Dungeon Crystal. If they were broken down into molecules and reassembled, allowing players to revive and do whatever they wanted, he would be doomed.
Some special items can only be used by players. For example, the Esper Gene Awakening Fluid sold in the store appears out of thin air after purchase. The Gene Harmonization Agent that Han Xiao was rewarded with for completing the Rose Armed Forces mission was also obtained through the interface. The Dungeon Crystal is also such an item.
"Let's not risk trying to Dungeon Crystal." Han Xiao said helplessly. To be honest, farming Dungeon Crystal would be a waste of his time; doing main quests and hidden quests would be more reliable.
After driving for several hours, the outline of the Black Pine Settlement appeared in the distance. It was huge, like a miniature city, with a wild and desolate feel. There were bricks, animal hides, and jagged pieces of scrap metal. The electrified barbed wire on the walls showed signs of rust. A dirt road enclosed by barbed wire was the only passage to the gate, and there were many charred marks from artillery fire on the metal gate.
Welcome to Black Pine.
Lü Cheng smiled, his tone proud.