Chapter 156 - Outsmarting the Enemy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Why, if it isn’t the soldier captain, Dark Wing. Nice to meet you, I’m the Castellan of Shattered Frost City, Archiemonde. Pardon my rudeness but I can’t get up to greet you.”

Archiemonde’s voice was extremely feeble. In accordance with Li Yi’s Official Position Points, Archiemonde promoted him three ranks, allowing him to reach the position of Shattered Frost City’s Guard Commander. His jurisdiction now included all the city’s soldiers, and at the same time, his Reputation Value in Shattered Frost City rose drastically to 30,000 points, which meant he had leaped all the way up to Adoration status. He just had to put in a little more effort and he would reach Worship status in no time.

His buff within the city increased to 20%, whereas all his attributes would be increased by 10% when he was outside Shattered Frost City.

These were the benefits of rising by three ranks at once: reputation and power.

“We shall serve Shattered Frost City with dignity, and protect this city together!” said Archiemonde in a booming voice.

“Protect this city together!” Li Yi was equally enthusiastic.

The rank of Guard Commander was no small matter. He was now effectively second only to the Castellan, and every NPC soldier in the city now had to heed his every command.

Other benefits included the ability to kill others without getting a red name as long as he was within the borders of Shattered Frost City. PK would not increase his Sin Value, and he received a monthly salary worth 5,000 Gold Coins as well.

Now that he had been promoted, his responsibilities began to pile up too. Since the Castellan, Archiemonde was old and ill, and since no players had yet to go the civil servant route, all the power over the jurisdiction of the city was now in his hands. Of course, this was also one of the reasons why Li Yi chose Shattered Frost City as his base of operations.

He needed to have all the power in his hands before he could really let loose.

The first thing Li Yi did as Guard Commander was to reorganize the city. There were many wealthy people among the players, but there were some among the NPCs as well. The indifferent businessman Taka was one such character. He had at least a hundred properties under his name, all situated in the prime area of Shattered Frost City. These had much better locations than the house Li Yi bought.

Taka was Li Yi’s first target. On the list for the reorganization of the city, Li Yi added a tick next to Taka’s name, putting him down for investigation.

This was a surprise that the system had left for players. After all, what was an NPC to do with so much property? At the end of the day, was it not all for the players’ benefit? The difference between Li Yi and other players was that he knew how to get his hands on those properties, whereas others did not.

“Investigate! Investigate! Investigate! Investigate!”

Li Yi kept issuing orders, and within half a day, he had arranged investigations for all the wealthy NPCs controlling the development of Shattered Frost City.

If he did not have his memories from the past life, there was no way he could have been so wise...

The results of his investigations revealed 380 cases of illegal properties, 127 cases of illegal land occupation, and 581 cases of tax evasion. In total, he retrieved all sorts of assets worth 18,970,000.

Within half a day, Li Yi’s Reputation Value in Shattered Frost City had increased by another large chunk.

Li Yi checked his Degree of Popular Support and saw that it had reached 39%. He was now in second place, second only to the Castellan Archiemonde’s 58% Popular Support.

Li Yi could not mobilize the assets and funds he had collected, so he sent them all to the Castellan’s residence. However, he immediately bought the illegal properties that he had discovered at the very first opportunity under his own name, spending a total of 380 Gold Coins.

If other players found out about this, they would probably spew blood out of anger on the spot. After all, it was by no means an easy feat to buy a house in King of Pantheon. In the later days of the game, a house was worth anywhere from several hundreds of thousands to millions, tens of millions. Who would not be furious to hear that he bought 380 properties with 380 Gold Coins?

There were benefits that came with being an official. He had been farming Official Position Points day in and day out for so long it would nauseate him, but now Li Yi could finally reap the rewards of his efforts. He would be the world’s biggest idiot to not make full use of his power as an official now.

Of course, there were pros and cons to his using his official position for his private gains. If he was unlucky enough to have another player become the Castellan of Shattered Frost City, they would just have to select [Investigate] on him. If that happened, it would be more than just the properties he had secretly claimed for himself—even his own properties would be seized, and he would end up utterly bankrupt.

Of course, to Li Yi, he would never give any player the chance to be the Castellan of Shattered Frost City, because he had the position of Shattered Frost City’s Castellan firmly in his sights!

In his hand, he held a pile of grey-colored property deeds that could not be used. However, Li Yi was unperturbed. Once he became the Castellan, these worthless pieces of paper would immediately be worth millions.

And just as Li Yi was reorganizing Shattered Frost City, the Pinewood Brigand Leader suddenly sent him a messenger with a secret letter.

Riding the Crimson Tiger King, Li Yi rushed to the Pinewood outside Shattered Frost City and met the Pinewood Brigand Leader.

“Brother Dark Wing, I’ve killed the previous Guard Commander of Shattered Frost City, but I never thought you’d take the post. Geez, this sure is a pain in the neck for me.” As soon as the two of them met, the Pinewood Brigand Leader shook his head.

He may be an NPC, but the way he handled things was closely based on the relationship between both parties. This was also thanks to the fact that the Pinewood Brigands’ impression of Li Yi was now Intimate. If that impression was just slightly less favorable, these hooligans would probably turn on him immediately.

“What do you have planned, Brother Dark Wing? When will you give the orders to raid us?” ventured the Brigand Leader with a question.

“Considering how close we are, how could I do something like that?”

Li Yi’s one sentence instantly put the Brigand Leader at ease.

System Notification: [Your affinity with the Pinewood Brigands has increased by 300 points.]

“It’s just... Sigh, you’re always taking your boys and stealing the Castellan’s wife away. As Shattered Frost City’s Guard Commander, I can’t just let that be.”

System Notification: [Your affinity with the Pinewood Brigands has decreased by 3,000 points. The relationship is now Friendly.]

‘Great, half a month’s worth of effort down the drain thanks to just one line.’

“Without wine and women, what kind of men would we be?” The Brigand Leader laughed coldly, the green name above his head flickering from red to green and back, showing just how emotionally unstable he was.

Li Yi asked, “Wind Capital’s closer to your base here, so why don’t you go raid Wind Capital?”

A member of the Brigands approached him. “The Guard Commander of Wind Capital, Leghar (the NPC who was once Castellan and got demoted one rank to Guard Commander when his position was usurped) is mighty and invincible. Wouldn’t we be running into a wall if we tried to raid Wind Capital?”

Why were there bandits around Shattered Frost City? It was because Archiemonde was constantly sick in bed. Otherwise, Archiemonde would be perfectly capable of obliterating Brigands of this level with one move.

Li Yi thumped his chest. “That’s easy. If you’re willing to turn your sights elsewhere, I’ll settle Leghar for you.”

“Really?” The Brigand Leader was tempted.

System Notification: [Your affinity with the Pinewood Brigands has increased by 500 points. The relationship is now Intimate.]

“Give me half a day. If all goes well, you guys can go raid it this very night.”

“Fine, I’ll trust you just this once.” The green name above the Brigand Leader’s head settled down.

“I’ve one more request. Release the Castellan’s wife.”

The Brigand Leader looked at Li Yi for a long time in silence before he finally clenched his teeth and decided, “Fine, I’ll release her!”

They had been raiding Shattered Frost City for too long now, and the Brigand Leader had long since gotten bored of it. This place did not have much of a bounty anyway, so why would he not want to change his hunting grounds?

The Brigand Leader released the Shattered Frost City Castellan’s wife immediately. Li Yi did not loiter around, either. Taking the Castellan’s wife with him, he returned to Shattered Frost City.

Although his Reputation Value with the Pinewood Brigand had decreased, he had still managed to rescue the Castellan’s wife, and his Reputation Value in Shattered Frost City increased drastically by 5,000 points again. To Li Yi, this was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise.

“Many thanks for rescuing me, Master Guard Commander.”

The Castellan’s wife was average-looking. If this was real life, no brigand would attempt to kidnap her. Of course, these were all Li Yi’s own opinions, and the Castellan Archiemonde very much begged to differ. He had always firmly believed that his wife was the most beautiful woman in the world.

“If Archie wasn’t always so ill, I wouldn’t have to suffer this humiliation.” On the way back, the Castellan’s wife kept complaining to Li Yi.

Li Yi responded with nods and grunts, not mentioning even one word about Archiemonde’s illness.

He must not mention it, or else the Castellan’s wife would give him a quest asking him to save Archiemonde. To Li Yi, it was a matter of time before he saved Archiemonde, but before he achieved his goal, he must never attempt to save him.

He did not want to give himself a powerful opponent in his bid for the Castellan’s seat.

If players all attacked at once, anybody could kill an NPC Castellan. And if an NPC Castellan was killed, it would be at least three to seven days before they respawned again.

Leghar’s HP was 90,000,000 and his level was a daunting Level 100. If Li Yi tried to solo him, he would end up even worse off than when he faced Karlinthor.

In terms of martial power, Li Yi knew he was no match. But when it came to strategy, Li Yi was 80% sure he could take down Leghar.

Li Yi used the Stranger Mode to message Scumbag Wang, “Leader Scum, I just saw the old Castellan, Leghar, receive 50,000 Gold Coins in salary from the Castellan’s residence. D’you got that much cash?”

“Salary? Whazzat?” Scumbag Wang replied quickly.

“That’s the money you get for being an official, you get some every month. If Guard Commander Leghar gets 50,000 Gold Coins a month, I bet you definitely get more. After all, you’re the Castellan.”

“Huh, I wouldn’t know it if you didn’t tell me. Oh yeah, what’s your name?”

“I’m called Wang’er’s Uncle.”

“Mm, I see that you’re a bright one. Come over and join me tomorrow.”

Scumbag Wang scampered over to the Castellan’s residence, all excited, and ended up being told that other than the Patrolling skill, all of his other authorities as the Castellan had been suspended.

“Leader Scum, I hear that the Castellan can hire his own friends as officials. Think about it, we’re wasting that salary on Leghar every month while our own men get squat. Isn’t that a waste?”

“Then what should we do?”

“Fire Leghar and get one of our own to take the job.”

“My authorities have been suspended, how do I fire him?”

“I got a plan, you just gotta do this...”

“Damn, your IQ is almost as high as mine. Don’t need to wait for tomorrow, come over to my side now.” As soon as Scumbag Wang heard Li Yi’s plan, he was instantly elated.

An hour later, Guard Commander Leghar nursed a broken heart as he resigned from his post as Guard Commander, announcing that he would leave Wind Capital for good...