I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

"No, we can't make too much noise here. You can sing as much as you want once we leave the forest."

Brown quickly tried to dissuade him.

Old Eggplant had no choice but to give up; otherwise, singing "Returning from Target Practice" amidst this marching formation would have been such a wonderful thing.

Fortunately, this place is not far from the edge of the forest.

Light soon appeared ahead, and Old Eggplant saw that the trees were thinning out, so he went into the sunlight.

A world unfolded before his eyes.

He saw scattered fields, people working in them, houses and watchtowers in the distance, and a desolate land.

"This is the Kingdom of Night?"

Old Eggplant shared the same sentiments as the other players.

This was completely different from the magical civilization they knew; it looked more like a backward and impoverished mountain village.

The villagers had blank expressions on their faces, remained silent, and showed no emotion or reaction to the appearance of this group of players.

"It seems the NPC debugging here is not yet complete. Only a small number of NPCs have autonomous consciousness, and I guess those are just random people."

Old Eggplant thought that in many games, only key NPCs have dialogue, while others are mostly just a few words to gloss over. Games where the dialogue of random NPCs changes as the game progresses are very rare. More often, random NPCs only have a model, and when you click on them, you can tell that they were once adventurers until they took an arrow to the knee, which is rare.

As for Lu Ban's game, as everyone knows, these NPCs are extremely detailed, as if they have a huge database. There will never be a loop dialogue situation. No matter what dialogue you have, there will be progress. This kind of NPC logic design must require a lot of time, so Lao Qiezi can understand why the passers-by are not designed with such a rich variety of response states.

"The taste of this grass is quite authentic."

"It stinks here, has someone urinated or defecated in the ground?"

"The smell of this mud is quite authentic."

"Brother, that's not mud, it's cow dung."

"Bah bah bah!"

Players were like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, looking around curiously at the whole world.

"Will we be able to get that kind of equipment after we upgrade?"

"Are you stupid? You've come all the way to the Land of Night, you're obviously going to learn magic!"

"I understand, our main task is to fight against the demonic tide."

"But there's nothing here. Are we supposed to build it ourselves?"

Everyone was talking excitedly as they finally arrived at the gates of the Baron's mansion.

Despite being called a baron's mansion, it was really just a mud house.

The players eagerly awaited the Baron's appearance.

Soon, a man wearing a red robe came out.

Then, behind him, the players saw Lu Ban, Shia, Stone, and Twisted Fate looking quite serious.

"???"

Old Eggplant was stunned when he saw Lu Ban, and almost didn't react.

Is this Lu Ban himself, or his NPC?

He muttered to himself as he listened to the baron speak.

"Gentlemen, I am Jero, the lord of Sunset Town. I have gathered you here to build a fortress to defend against monsters, as well as facilities to research and fight monsters. If you can utilize your strength, I will reward you handsomely."

Baron Jerro's voice trembled slightly as he spoke, initially worried whether his blunt arguments would convince these seemingly thoughtful men.

However, it seems his worries were unnecessary.

As soon as Baron Gerald finished speaking, the players became restless.

"Holy crap, awesome! They're really going to fight the demonic tide. This is awesome!"

"Can we become mages? I really want to cast fireballs."

"I guess those characters are mentors. For example, you can become a mage by finding Xia, or become an archer by finding Lao Cui."

"What will happen if we look for Lu Ban?"

"Becoming mentally ill?"

"It turns out to be a game about picking up trash and farming. I never thought that I would have to do the same thing in the game as I do in real life."

"I'm a veteran Minecraft player, and building houses is my specialty."

Different players have different expectations, but no one questions Baron Geralt's words.

This puzzled him.

Based on observation, these people, like Lu Ban and his group, should have received a good education, have their own independent consciousness, and seem to be very proactive. Would such people listen to the words of an inconspicuous baron who doesn't seem to have much fighting power?

But the reality was quite different. They accepted Baron Gerald's words as readily as breathing and immediately came up with some solutions.

"I'll do it."

Lu Ban then walked up to Baron Jerome and spoke.

"Everyone, I can provide equipment and tools for purchase. You must bring back useful materials before you can buy basic equipment. Go to the Black Forest and search for them. Let's turn that place into our fields. Go!"

Lu Ban pointed to the distant Black Forest.

The players all turned their heads at the same time.

Seeing the lush forest and the various creatures that might exist within it.

A greedy glint immediately appeared in their eyes.

Although I am currently penniless and only have one set of clothes, I am sure there are many good things in that forest.

Thinking about this, the players all became excited.

"@This mode is similar to Don't Starve, except that you start with a base where you can gather some branches or pick fruit."

"You can collect stones to make weapons and hunt those monsters."

"I'm going to explore the village first; maybe there's a hidden questline there."

"Yeah, didn't that baron just say he wanted to study monsters? If we capture monsters alive, we'll probably get even more benefits, right?"

"Start with a single stone, and acquire all your equipment by scavenging?"

"Think about it, that guy just got killed deep in the forest, which means there are monsters deep in the forest. If we act quickly, we can sweep through the outer edge of the forest first, and then go into the more difficult depths after everyone has finished sweeping. Right now, it's first come, first served."

The players quickly sprang into action.

Old Eggplant has a lot of experience with this kind of massively multiplayer online survival game. He knows that resources are limited in the early stages, and being one step ahead can give you an edge in everything.

Therefore, he decided to first use his position as the leader to get close to the knight and try to get some weapons.

Old Eggplant approached Brown and spoke in a consultative tone.

"Sir Knight, look, I've organized your troops. Could you provide me with a weapon? I'll go into the forest right now and capture a monster for you."

"???"

Brown was completely bewildered when he heard what Old Eggplant said.

Weapons are secondary; with your tattered clothes, how dare you go into the Black Forest to catch monsters?

That's incredibly brave!

Besides, I don't want the monsters you captured!

However, after thinking about it, he decided that providing weapons to this guy was also an option, since he himself didn't need them for the time being.

Having made his decision, Brown summoned his men and gave Old Eggplant a sword.

Old Eggplant got the sword, drew it, and immediately felt his fighting power explode.

The other players around him looked on with envy.

"Holy crap, I knew it! Getting on good terms with NPCs can get you treasures. Look at his sword!"

"We can't touch the grass anymore, let's go into the forest now!"

"Brother, we'll follow you!"

"We can just go find monsters and kill them. I don't know if we get experience points for killing monsters here."

"Hurry up, hurry up, if we slow down we might only have hoes left."

Spurred on, the players quickly headed towards the Black Forest, a place the townspeople had previously avoided.

Old Eggplant raised his sword, and at that moment, the souls of the Dragonborn, the Witcher, the Old Hunter, Ash, and the Faded Ones possessed him.

"Follow me to defend Sunset Town!"

He shouted, and several players followed him, quickly disappearing into the dark forest.

Chapter 706 Every flower here has killed me

Old Eggplant took the lead and ventured into the Black Forest.

The surrounding light was absorbed by the trees, making it dim.

His target was that flower that had previously killed a player.

According to Old Eggplant's thinking, monsters near the forest are generally not too strong.

Moreover, most players are currently without equipment or weapons, so if it's a normal game design, these initial monsters can definitely be defeated and won't be too strong.

Even the Tree Guardian can be executed with a level 1 shield parry by a skilled player. Old Eggplant still has a sharp longsword in his hand. What reason is there that he can't beat the monsters in the newbie village?

Then, a dozen minutes later, Old Eggplant understood Lu Ban's malice.

The unfortunate soul who was dealt with only saw one flower in that flowerbed; at least ten more hideous and terrifying flowers were waiting for them.

And countless wriggling, thorny vines, emanating a miasma that reeks of rotting corpses.

The only saving grace is that these creatures don't move; they just stay in place, waiting for unsuspecting prey like Old Eggplant and his ilk.

The battle lasted only about five minutes.

It can't even be called a battle.