Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 176 A sudden turn of events
After the explanation, Ron and Hathaway both fell silent, as if they had experienced some great ups and downs in their lives. Their sorrow was so intense that even Li Wei felt a sense of unease.

But he couldn't find any words to comfort him. It was fine that he didn't win the Rookie of the Year award; he was usually quite calm. But how many times had these two failed their four-star lord missions?

"Ron, can you tell me exactly what happened? I don't believe that headquarters doesn't have a similar emergency circuit breaker mechanism set up."

Li Wei then asked again, noting that Ron seemed to be in a slightly more stable emotional state.

Ron sighed and said, "First of all, you need to understand that the fundamental purpose of setting up this newcomer scenario at headquarters is to achieve three goals at once. Everything revolves around this, you understand?"

"The training of new players, the follow-up training of veteran players, and the distribution of benefits to core players should all be carried out simultaneously. No one should take all the benefits. This is the premise."

"Normally, the task of recruiting ten new recruits is done once every three years, but sometimes it happens once every five years. Sometimes, we can't even gather ten groups of new recruits, so it might start with eight or five groups."

"In theory, these ten groups of newcomers will compete in development, eliminating each other in the early stages. This is how plot kills are used. In the mid-stage, they will go to Kah City to trigger the snow mountain plot. In the late stage, everyone will fight against Kah City together. The best one will become the new city lord of Kah City."

"You understand now? The initial mission design followed this template, highlighting a battle for supremacy. You didn't think that just the mission storylines of you five newbies would be exclusive to the snow mountain scenario and the Kahe City scenario, did you?"

"That's too extravagant. The Snow Mountain and Kahe City scenarios are meant to be shared among ten newcomers. Otherwise, since everyone's scenarios are different, why should they be on the same newcomer list? Who would be convinced by the results? Just because you got 59 in math doesn't mean you're better than me who got 58 in English? You start in Suzhou and Hangzhou, and I start in the Sahara. Is that fair?"

"But there are always exceptions, like me. This time I'm supposed to go to Joffrey's camp. The player playing Joffrey's father is my subordinate Carson. His role was similar to Old John when the family split up. He paved the way for everything, just waiting for me to be reincarnated so I could seize power, gain the right to speak, and finally have a showdown with Hathaway in Kah City. She's in the north, and I'm in the south. That was the initial design, you know?"

"However, Joffrey's side is a bit too difficult to get into. Although his camp is developing well, everyone is in their own position, and there's no chance for me to be born. Seeing that you're about to turn the tide, our logistics department leader went to Night Owl's boss and, after much pleading, managed to get me in. What do you think about that three-star war bow of yours? Do you think it's a favor I did for you? No, it was something your Night Owl's boss asked for for you, as compensation!"

"Of course, under normal circumstances, you wouldn't know any of this. We just need to kill the Mad Baron, kill the Great Witch, and then you kill the Black-Robed Witch. That's it. Everyone can go home and find their own mothers! That's great. Joffrey's camp can just stay in seclusion. As long as they don't cause any trouble, Blood Raven won't be able to find them. Once the three-year period is up, or the key criteria are met, the mission will be settled. It wouldn't be bad if Joffrey got second place on the newcomer list."

"But things are just so messed up. The natives aren't game NPCs. The caravan from Vido Town definitely discovered this camp, or Joffrey and his group suddenly had the idea to go out and explore, just like your sister Penny from the beginning. They just happened to run into the caravan, which caused the caravan to be delayed and thus completely exposed. So this is definitely the truth!"

"As for the emergency circuit breaker mechanism you mentioned, how could there not be one!"

"The lessons learned over the past few centuries are there for all to see. As long as a new player dies, a veteran player will take their place at the end of the following month. Add in the plot-driven deaths, and that's the first line of defense! Wolves and bears, or wild boars, leopards, venomous snakes—these little surprises are enough."

"Then veteran players go with title quests. As soon as the title quests are completed, a forced settlement will be triggered immediately. This is the second line of defense."

"Even if veteran players are targeted and suppressed, and cannot complete the title mission, as long as the six months are up and they leave, a forced settlement will still be triggered. This is the third protective wall."

"Finally, if there is a situation similar to Old John's that triggers the division of the family, then the settlement will also be triggered at the end of the month. This is the fourth protective wall. These are the four settlement methods that have been registered with the gods of this world."

"With these four protective walls in place, there shouldn't be any major problems with the newbies' missions."

“But geniuses appear every year, but there seem to be more this year than ever. That Joffrey is too capable. Because he is different from you, he entered the mission world with his mother Catherine and sister Anna. So he analyzed the plot logic and several rules from the very beginning, and used various means to get his father Dave to praise him. Wouldn't you secretly support a promising newcomer?”

"In short, Joffrey's camp was invincible in the early stages. Building houses, logging, farming, fishing, hunting, making traps, and crafting weapons were all done in a very orderly and efficient manner. Moreover, he found a way to increase favorability in the first month. He used the same method that Hathaway used on you to increase the relationship and intimacy as much as possible through various details. In this way, once the relationship is maxed out, it is easy for others to trigger NG, and no matter how good the excuse is, it will not work."

"So after his mother Catherine and sister Anna were forced to NG once, the two of them became completely obedient to Joffrey and dared not resist at all. They didn't even know why they had to NG?"

"And so, as the camp was upgraded to level 2, the fourth newcomer arrived. She was Joffrey's fiancée, but as you can imagine, she was a little lamb who was easily controlled by Joffrey."

"Later, this woman even gave birth to a child for Joffrey, thus taking up a player's spot. When his sister Anna's fiancé arrived, the family of six occupied their ecological niche, farming, fishing, hunting, and creating every day. Joffrey was also a polymath, knowledgeable in astronomy and geography. He found iron mines, coal mines, and even refined salt from the rock walls. They could be self-sufficient without even needing to communicate with others! Damn it, if he's so awesome, he shouldn't have come to the Alliance of Lords of the Heavens; he should have gone to another world!"

At this point, Ron couldn't help but curse.

Li Wei had a general idea: how to settle accounts if there were no players who joined midway? There wasn't enough time to make rules now, so why should he go to his superiors for such a trivial matter?
So Ron, who was originally supposed to be reborn in Joffrey's camp, was forced to squeeze into his camp. He felt awkward about it; Ron was so powerful, Hathaway was so powerful, and yet they were put together.

Is this a perk for veteran players?
This is clearly forcing veteran players to fight each other from the very beginning. Especially since last time, the heads of two departments personally came to talk to him, a mere newcomer ranked second on the newcomer leaderboard, and their words were so vague and unclear. Is that reasonable?

So that's where the problem lies.

"In short, while Thomas was frantically quarrying stones here last winter to prepare for building the city wall, the Joffrey family was happily singing, dancing, and rolling around in bed in their warm room, living a very comfortable life."

"They were excellent in every way. They wiped out the wolf pack with traps and the bear in spring with an even bigger trap. There were no casualties. They even grew wheat of three-star quality and made a fortune just from selling it. They had no motivation to expand trade routes and had no contact with the outside world. Naturally, the three witches of the snow mountain could not find them."

"When your city wall was completed and you successfully upgraded to a level 4 camp, Joffrey finally began to work on building an even smaller city wall. It was three months before he entered the level 4 camp. Actually, that was very fast. The headquarters hurriedly sent two veteran players over, giving them countless instructions and even giving them several free conspiracy cards. They were determined to cause internal strife and make sure that some newbies got rid of them as soon as possible, but they were powerless to resist Joffrey's suppression."

"Because his storyline is still at two-star difficulty, he can't use the four-star conspiracy card, nor can he directly reincarnate me. Therefore, he can't reveal a lot of information involving gods. Fortunately, after some trouble, Joffrey quickly realized his shortcomings. Now he should be busy helping those two veteran players build a one-star tavern. If all goes well, it will be completed by the end of this month. As a result, the caravan from Vidor Town destroyed everything."

Hearing this, Li Wei also felt it was a tricky situation, but he still offered his advice:
"So, can we help Joffrey hold his camp, or at the very least, use them as bait to take down a final boss and weaken the enemy as much as possible?"

Ron looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Why should we help him? Do you know how absurd your suggestion is? The enemy now has the Black Witch's Blood Ravens, who practically monopolize the skies. Their messages travel like lightning. If we dare to help Joffrey defend the city, they'll immediately rush back and take down Victor Town and our camp. How are you going to counter that?"

"This problem has no solution!"

"No, there is still a solution, but the premise is that we have to get Penny safely to Joffrey's camp. She still has a settlement card. As long as she triggers the settlement at Joffrey's camp and is not locked by Blood Raven, the headquarters won't be stupid enough not to take the opportunity to force a settlement on Joffrey's group."

Hathaway suddenly spoke up.

“Impossible. Joffrey’s camp is definitely under close surveillance. The Mad Baron’s army will soon be heading south. How could that weakling Penny possibly bypass Blood Raven’s surveillance and reach Joffrey’s camp at this time? Absolutely impossible.”

Ron rejected it outright.

This time, Hathaway also fell silent. Li Wei estimated it himself and felt it was unlikely. He could sneak over with the settlement card, but why should he sacrifice himself to save Joffrey and his group?

"If you ask me, shouldn't we take this opportunity to build the temple first? That way we can recruit refugees, continue upgrading, and if all else fails, we can have a fierce battle to defend the city!"

Li Wei further suggested that he was better suited to a down-to-earth, methodical approach.

But Ron and Hathaway looked over, seemingly having come up with a brilliant idea.

"Don't even think about it. I still have to work hard for my Rookie of the Year award. I'm not going to throw my life away!" Li Wei immediately refused. What a joke! Did they think he was so easily fooled?
"What if the benefits we offer are no less than the benefits you get for winning Rookie of the Year?" Hathaway continued to try to persuade her.

“That won’t work either. I’m not stupid. I know how risky this is. Why don’t you send your four-star hunter, Little John? He’s much better than me.” Li Wei shook his head vigorously.

Hathaway gave a wry smile and stopped trying to persuade her. Yes, why should she?

"Alright, let's settle for second best and work together to repair the One-Star Temple, preferably by the end of the month. Let's get started!"

"Also, when that second-level priest wakes up, he might give us a surprise."

"hope so!"

(End of this chapter)