I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Stone is a remorseful person; such people are always reminiscing about the past, feeling regret, and feeling constrained.

"He would probably be very pleased, because you have ultimately inherited his legacy and everything, become the chosen one, and walked the path he once walked."

Lu Ban replied.

Stone stopped and looked at Lu Ban, but Lu Ban didn't wait for him and continued forward.

Stone followed and saw that the crops in the field were not growing well. Due to the contaminated water, the plants were growing in a distorted state, and it was hard to imagine what a bizarre appearance they would eventually look like.

Further into the fields lies a lush, dark forest. The edges of the fields are enclosed by fences, but these wooden structures would be utterly useless against any real monsters.

"What should we do now?"

Stone looked at Lu Ban.

This situation is really terrible.

Stone imagined some scenes from the movies, where a group of residents who initially knew nothing gradually awakened their will under the protagonist's eloquent speeches and practical actions, supported the protagonist in building the city, and ultimately resisted the invasion of foreign enemies. But that was just that. Stone felt that even if he used some extraordinary power, the townspeople here would not be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility of resisting the demonic tide, whether psychologically or physiologically.

He turned his head and found that Lu Ban had disappeared at some point.

After searching for a while, he found Lu Ban talking to a farmer.

"The harvest hasn't been very good lately, what are your plans for the winter?"

Lu Ban asked.

"I don't know, I'll just live like this, one day at a time."

The farmer answered in a low voice.

"What if the monster attacks?"

Lu Ban asked again.

"Monster...monster...I don't know."

The farmer hesitated for a moment before answering.

"If we could build some structures to hold off the monsters, what do you think? Would you be willing to help?"

Lu Ban pressed for an answer.

"Impossible, those things, we can't stop them, they're terrifying, there's nothing we can do..."

The farmer shook his head, picked up his tools again, and continued weeding.

Seeing that the other person was no longer willing to talk to him, Lu Ban wisely refrained from asking any further questions.

In this isolated place, it is indeed difficult to rely on the townspeople to resist the demonic tide.

"Let's go back first. Maybe Mr. Trist will have some success."

Stone walked over, and he and Lu Ban headed towards the Baron's mansion. As soon as they returned to town, they saw a group of people.

Compared to the guards of Sunset Town, that group was clearly a regular army. They were riding horses, wearing armor, and equipped with sophisticated weapons, which made Lu Ban sigh with admiration. It turned out that the Night Kingdom of this era also had such proper soldiers.

The leader, dressed in red armor, rode towards the baron's house with a look of disdain.

Meanwhile, someone was shouting from within the cavalry.

"His Excellency the Duke needs to build a palace. According to regulations, Sunset Town needs to provide one hundred able-bodied men. Everyone in the town, gather at the entrance of the Baron's mansion. Repeat this..."

"The bedroom?"

Lu Ban felt something was really wrong when he heard these words.

The town of Dusk is so harsh, yet those well-dressed knights still force the people here to do hard labor, not even building fortifications to defend against monsters, but rather their palaces. It makes one wonder if the minds of these nobles have long been corrupted and utterly tainted.

"and many more."

Lu Ban spoke to the man in red armor.

Are you here to help guard this place?

Since most of the townspeople were taciturn, Lu Ban's words were clearly heard by the man, who glanced at Lu Ban.

"Where did these traveling merchants come from?"

The man turned his horse around.

“I have never seen you before. Where did you come from? By order of the Duke, I have the right to collect tolls from you.”

He spoke in a stern tone as if he had spotted someone he could take advantage of, while raising the whip in his hand as if he would use it to lash Lu Ban if he disobeyed.

"So you're not here to help?"

Lu Ban asked, feigning innocence.

"Stop talking nonsense, you idiot!"

The knight in red armor saw that Lu Ban looked bewildered and lashed out with his whip at him.

But the next moment, the whip missed its target.

Lu Ban deftly dodged the whip and looked at Stone and the others.

"You all saw it; he started it."

Chapter 700 Sustainability: Dead-End Strategy

The knight in red armor frowned, unsure of Lu Ban's intentions.

He felt a surge of anger, after all, no civilian had ever dared to defy him before.

In this territory, as an expatriate member of a small detachment under the Duke's guard, he was even more powerful than some barons who had bought their titles.

whoosh-

He raised the whip, making a whistling sound as it cut through the air.

The whip was about to strike Lu Ban, but this time, Lu Ban did not dodge.

The whip struck Lu Ban, and it felt as if he had been sliced ​​open by a knife. The whip pierced into his flesh and blood, and then the wound healed suddenly, binding the whip directly inside Lu Ban's body.

Upon seeing this scene, the knight in red armor widened his eyes. The shocking and bizarre sight directly damaged his rationality. Behind him, the seemingly elite soldiers were thrown into disarray, and even the horses seemed to be startled and took a few steps back uneasily.

As for the townspeople, they didn't seem too surprised. It was probably because they were on the border and had long been accustomed to the monsters running rampant and harming humans. They had seen all kinds of deaths, so it didn't cause them much of a stir.

Of course, it is also possible that the pollution of water and land over the years has caused them to be at a high enough level of pollution that Lu Ban’s current strange appearance is already within their threshold and cannot cause their rationality to drop.

But the knights weren't so lucky.

These knights, who may never have fought any real monsters and only know how to bully others, could practically see the "[Sanity -1]" notifications constantly appearing above Lu Ban's head when they saw his current state.

Especially the knight in red armor, who tried to pull back his whip, but the whip seemed to have taken root in Lu Ban's body and wouldn't budge.

The knight looked as if he had seen a ghost. He immediately released the whip and drew his longsword.

The longsword gleamed with a cold light, clearly sharper than the best sword in town.

"A demon! A demon! It's a demon! Capture it!"

The knight in red armor shouted, trying to overwhelm Lu Ban with his numbers. But behind him, his men were already trembling with fear. If it weren't for their horses being far braver and not fleeing, they would have already abandoned their armor and scattered in all directions.

"Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!"

The knight in red armor immediately revealed a ferocious expression similar to that of Bu Jingyun.

He wanted to make the horse turn around and run away, but without the whip, he couldn't do it with just the reins. He could only stand there blankly as Lu Ban came up in front of him.

"Die! Die! Die!"

The knight in red armor began wildly swinging his sword, trying to stop Lu Ban, but before he could, his sword would likely hurt himself.

Then, the gentle Lu Ban conjured a silver fountain pen [Last Words] in her right hand, and at the same time, the knight in red armor paused in his movements.

Lu Ban grabbed his hand that was holding the sword.

As if some vines had stretched out from Lu Ban's palm, the man's hand could no longer be moved. He could only look at Lu Ban with tears in his eyes, begging him to let him go.

"It won't hurt, it'll be over in no time."

As if coaxing a child to sleep, Lu Ban lowered his pen, and countless pieces of information about the person jumped out like pages of a book.

[The captain's wife is really something, no wonder the captain always looks so pale.]

Should we have chicken drumsticks or pork chops tonight? I've been eating too much meat lately, it's getting a bit greasy.

[His swordsmanship is basically at the level of a primary school student picking up tree branches; he hasn't inherited even a fraction of his father's martial arts skills.]

[He was a womanizer and having affairs with married women was commonplace for him.]

[At least he hasn't killed anyone yet, which is good news.]

After quickly reading through the text, Lu Ban thought it was quite an achievement that someone could survive this long in the chaotic Night Kingdom.

Aside from being physically strong and having a good father who inherited his knighthood, his biggest advantage was that he had no advantages at all. If he had any strengths, he wouldn't be completely without any.

Such a person, let alone fighting against the demonic tide and monsters, would cause trouble even in peacetime.

Not to mention that he was actually doing alright, at least he didn't kill people indiscriminately. Lu Ban estimated that there were many people like him who might have already violently killed many who disobeyed him.

How can the Kingdom of Night be saved while surrounded by this swarm of insects?

After thinking it over, Lu Ban didn't interfere too much.

He only wrote one sentence in his messy messages.

[I want to be Mr. Lu Ban's dog]

Immediately, all the information was withdrawn.

The knight in red armor, named Brown, quickly came to his senses.

When he saw Lu Ban, he glanced at the sword in his hand and was so frightened that he dropped the sword. He then dismounted and, ignoring the muddy ground, knelt down in front of Lu Ban.

"Lord Lu Ban, Lord Lu Ban, I was blind, please forgive me, please forgive me..."

He made a move to kiss Lu Ban's shoes, but Lu Ban moved his foot away, letting him stand up.

“Tell me in detail what the Duke wants to build.”

Lu Ban asked.

The knight Brown, clad in red armor, immediately recounted in detail how the Duke had already built several palaces and was planning to build another one, and how he had sent his men around to collect laborers.