Chapter 334: Upgrading the Assembly Hall
Chapter 334: Upgrading the Assembly Hall
September 25, 2017
Currently, Dian Wei and Li Xiong have not returned from their trip to the Xianbei, so Lu Haikong admired the Dragon Scale Armor and then stored it away in the secret room.
On this trip to Dingxiang, Lu Haikong had two additional gains besides the two treasure chests.
One was a 'Heroic Trait Revelation Scroll', and the other was a random building upgrade slot.
The former's function was predetermined, but when Lu Haikong picked up the scroll and took a look, he found that the trait revelation was entirely random, and the revelation had specific requirements.
Heroic Trait Revelation Scroll
Item Type: Military/Commander
Item Effect: After use, there is a certain chance to reveal a commander's trait.
Item Requirements: Strength: 80, Command: 50
If Lu Haikong didn't plan to use this himself, currently, only Pan Feng and Cheng Yi in the bandit camp could meet the requirements.
Compared to Pan Feng, Lu Haikong was more inclined towards Cheng Yi. Pan Feng already had two excellent commander traits, and adding another might not necessarily enhance his abilities further. Moreover, based on Lu Haikong's understanding of the system's quirks, if Pan Feng, a historical commander with two traits already, used the scroll, the success rate would undoubtedly be terrifyingly low.
In comparison, this scroll would be best utilized by Cheng Yi.
However, after some thought, Lu Haikong ultimately decided to put this scroll away in the secret room as well.
Currently, Cheng Yi was under Lu Haikong's command and assigned to Gao Shun's unit. That guy had already surpassed Gao Shun in strength, and if Lu Haikong gave him a 'Heroic Trait Revelation Scroll' at this time, what if he revealed a powerful trait? Would Gao Shun's unit still be manageable?
Compared to Cheng Yi, Lu Haikong valued Gao Shun more, so for now, he could only put this scroll away.
After putting away the scroll, Lu Haikong immediately claimed the random building upgrade reward he had earned from the Ten-Faced Ambush mission.
This was a matter purely dependent on luck, and the difference between the maximum and minimum benefits was enormous. As usual, Lu Haikong left it for last.
In fact, before using this reward, Lu Haikong already had a building in mind that he wanted to upgrade or was particularly looking forward to.
Lu Haikong wondered if this reward could upgrade buildings that had already been upgraded. If so, the buildings he most anticipated were undoubtedly the Bandit Camp, Fortifications, Shrine of Heroes, and Bandit Camp Barracks.
Upgrading the Bandit Camp could significantly increase the number of skilled personnel and provide opportunities to encounter powerful bosses. Fortification upgrades could enhance the camp's defense, while upgrading the Shrine of Heroes could cultivate exceptional commanders. As for the Bandit Camp Barracks, an upgrade would increase the production speed of soldiers.
All four of these upgrades would be beneficial to Lu Haikong, but unfortunately, he had bad luck. Instead of getting one of the desired buildings, he randomly received an upgrade for the Assembly Hall.
"Assembly Hall building level upgrade: Upgrade from Ordinary Level 15 Assembly Hall to Excellent Level 1 Assembly Hall."
As the system notification sounded, Lu Haikong stared in disbelief at the massive changes occurring in the Assembly Hall where he stood.
The Assembly Hall was already quite spacious, standing at a height of ten meters, and after the upgrade, it grew even taller.
Although it had advanced to the Elite level, the Assembly Hall's size didn't increase much. However, the interior decorations were much more grand than before. Eight pillars, each one and a half meters thick, stood tall within the hall, and each pillar was carved with a fierce mythical beast.
These beasts included wolves and tigers, and each carving was both splendid and ferocious. Under the vivid depictions of these beasts, the hall seemed to exude an even more solemn and majestic atmosphere.
"This change is quite significant. With these decorations, if I had to purchase them myself, I wouldn't be able to afford them without at least a hundred thousand."
Lu Haikong marveled for a moment, then immediately checked the attributes of the Assembly Hall, as attributes were the most crucial aspect in this world.
Assembly Hall
Building Level: Excellent Level 1
Auxiliary Buildings: Secret Room, Training Room, Study
Secret Room: A place for the proper preservation of treasures.
Training Room: Can enhance the warlord's training speed by 100% and provides an opportunity to comprehend martial skills once a year.
Study: Studying in the study can improve the warlord's 'Politics', 'Strategy', and 'Command' attributes.
The attributes were much more impressive than before, but Lu Haikong couldn't help but wonder why they seemed so useless to him.
The secret room was something he already had, so he could essentially ignore it. As for the study, aside from 'Command', Lu Haikong didn't know what the other two attributes were for. In the end, the training room seemed to be the most beneficial for him.
A 100% increase in training speed, coupled with an annual opportunity to comprehend martial skills, made this the most attractive feature of the Assembly Hall upgrade in Lu Haikong's opinion.
"I wonder, with this additional opportunity to comprehend martial skills, if I can comprehend the 'Mysterious Scroll'."
Lu Haikong's eyes lit up, and his face showed eagerness, but he decided not to attempt to comprehend the 'Mysterious Scroll' just yet. He still had things to do.
After quickly processing the gains from this trip, Lu Haikong sent the prepared meal to Xi Zhicai and then headed to Xi Zhicai's residence himself.
Two months ago, Xi Zhi Cai had already relinquished his duties in the White Tiger Hall, entrusting its management to Li Feng. Currently, Xi Zhi Cai is responsible for intelligence matters. In the past two months, Xi Zhi Cai had primarily focused on the Qiang Yin region, and his intelligence network had yet to fully cover the Dingxiang area.
Xi Zhi Cai's intelligence network has a relatively complex structure, but it is mainly divided into two parts. One is led by Ma Pin, consisting of the Phantom Guards, and the other is a network of spies cultivated step by step from the civilians within the stronghold, with some originally trained by Li Xiong. This simple network forms the current intelligence network of the stronghold.
However, this intelligence network cannot be considered all-encompassing, even in the Qiang Yin region where it is most active. After all, although Xi Zhi Cai is talented, intelligence gathering is not his forte, and two months is indeed a very short time.
When Lu HaiKong arrived, Xi Zhi Cai was still drinking tea.
It wasn't that Xi Zhi Cai was slacking off, but rather, he had already arranged everything that needed to be done. The only reason he hadn't completed certain tasks was that the time hadn't come yet.
Lu HaiKong had realized long ago that Xi Zhi Cai was exceptionally efficient. A task that might take Wang Jun a whole day to complete could be finished by Xi Zhi Cai in half a day or even just an hour or two.
It was precisely because of this work efficiency that Lu HaiKong felt reassured entrusting the vast responsibility of intelligence matters to Xi Zhi Cai, without worrying that Xi Zhi Cai's small physique would buckle under the pressure.
After Lu HaiKong arrived, he had someone clear the tea table in front of Xi Zhi Cai, and after the table was set with food, Lu HaiKong sat down without any courtesy and started eating without even greeting Xi Zhi Cai.
Lu HaiKong knew very well that at this point in time, Xi Zhi Cai would not eat anything other than medicinal tea, so he didn't bother being polite.
Xi Zhi Cai watched Lu HaiKong devouring his food while maintaining a gentle expression and sipping his tea.
"The Governor of Dingxiang County has been replaced. That guy intended to encroach on the stronghold's interests, but I suppressed him. Additionally, I killed over a thousand county troops outside Dingxiang County and captured hundreds of officers of various ranks..."
After eating until he was about eighty percent full, Lu HaiKong continued to eat while intermittently sharing his actions and thoughts during his trip to Dingxiang with Xi Zhi Cai.
Lu HaiKong provided a detailed account, explaining the causes, the thoughts of the other party, and his own calculations step by step.
Xi Zhi Cai listened attentively throughout, occasionally asking for more details or sharing his own views on certain aspects.
Xi Zhi Cai's opinions were mostly about matters that had already been decided, and while he didn't completely avoid discussing the future course of events, he mainly talked about minor aspects, guiding Lu HaiKong to think for himself.
"In our current situation with insufficient intelligence, after today's incident, the stronghold may face two possible scenarios.
First, the Zhang Family and the Dingxiang Aristocracy will back down, swallow their losses, and return to the previous status quo.
Second, the Zhang Family and the Dingxiang Aristocracy will not yield and will launch a crackdown on the stronghold."
"I believe the first scenario is more likely, as a crackdown on the stronghold would bring few benefits and many adverse consequences to the Zhang Family and the Dingxiang Aristocracy, which they may not be able to bear."
Lu HaiKong ultimately made his conclusion.
"But what if they choose to launch a crackdown?" Xi Zhi Cai asked while sipping his tea.
"That's unlikely, but even if they do, it's not a problem. At worst, we'll fight them. With the stronghold's current strength, we can defeat them. If it comes down to it, we can hold out for a year or two. By the time the Yellow Turban Rebellion arrives, I'll see if they can still continue their crackdown."
Lu HaiKong was well aware that the Yellow Turban Rebellion was imminent, which gave him great confidence.
Recently, after interacting with Ye Junru and the others, Lu HaiKong gradually learned that the system's restrictions were not as rigid as they seemed. With the Yellow Turban Rebellion already brewing, it was destined to break out, and the control over the rebellion's plot had begun to relax.
At the very least, Lu HaiKong could now boldly speak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, even though the plot was still locked, and the indigenous NPCs would subconsciously ignore these four words, not delving into their meaning.
This relaxation of restrictions was like opening a small crack, allowing the outsiders to gradually pry open the plot of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, either accelerating or slowing down its onset.
However, Lu HaiKong didn't fully understand the deeper meaning behind this relaxation at this time, and he didn't have the time to delve into it. He just wanted to know what Xi Zhi Cai was thinking.
Just then, Xi Zhi Cai took a sip of hot tea after hearing Lu HaiKong's words and then set down the cup without saying a word.
Seeing Xi Zhi Cai's reaction, Lu HaiKong immediately realized that there must be a problem with his strategic thinking, as this was Xi Zhi Cai's typical response whenever there was an issue. However, Xi Zhi Cai never proactively pointed out the problem...
(End of Chapter)
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