Chapter 22: Does Maogong Have a Good Plan?

“MDZZ, I am not taking the blame for this!”

When Mo Xiaobai saw the Plane Announcement, his first reaction was that the Plane Intellect had tricked him. Clearly, the Plane Intellect was supposed to clean up the players’ territories for the first time, so why was the blame being thrown at me?

It made me look like the enemy of all people!

Mo Xiaobai was depressed and also bothered by the Plane Intellect’s sudden move. As a veteran battle-chaff who had wandered in the Planes for fifteen years, Mo Xiaobai absolutely dared not look down on the Plane Intellect’s cunning.

The Announcement warned all Players to be careful, so if the scapegoat like himself did not be extremely careful, he would definitely fail in this bandit cleansing mission.

Mo Xiaobai had reason to believe that other territories might only encounter one bandit mountain stronghold, or even just a small group of bandit attacks. But his “Daming Village” might very likely face a combined attack from two, or even more than three bandit mountain strongholds.

The cunning Plane Intellect would absolutely make such an arrangement.

“Maogong, this time we have really caused a huge mess.”

Standing in front of the dilapidated Stone Stele of the bandit camp that he had personally destroyed, Mo Xiaobai helplessly looked at Li Ji: “Today, incorporating the group from Eagle Beak Mountain might invite attacks from many bandit strongholds surrounding the territory.”

“My Lord, Daming Village has very weak Defense. Once attacked, relying solely on the ten-foot-high fence might not be enough to hold them back.” Li Ji thought for a moment and spoke, which also made Mo Xiaobai’s heart sink a little.

With Li Ji’s skills, he might not fear a few hundred bandits; at least he could kill them and then run away. But Li Ji could protect at most a few dozen people at the limit. How could he protect the entire territory?

“The battle cannot happen in Daming Village.”

Mo Xiaobai understood very well that before the defensive works at the valley entrance reached the level of a fortress pass, and before Daming Village had ranged Units, it was not advisable to have a battle right at their own doorstep.

“What My Lord said is also what this subordinate was thinking.” Li Ji nodded upon hearing this, looking at the people from Eagle Beak Mountain who had already been incorporated into Mo Xiaobai’s territory population: “This time, to safely pass through this military disaster, we still have to rely on them.”

“Does Maogong have a good plan?”

Hearing Li Ji say this, Mo Xiaobai’s eyes lit up.

Who was Li Ji?

He was the top military commander of “Wagang Stronghold,” the number one mountain bandit force at the end of the Sui Dynasty. Regarding how to deal with mountain bandits and outlaws, he was probably as familiar as could be.

“My Lord, it can be done like this, like this…”

…

In the jungle north of Dang Mountain, seven or eight figures with tattered clothes, looking no different from beggars, kept darting and jumping around.

“My Lord, if we walk two more li ahead, we will reach Tiger Head Stronghold.”

“Good, follow up, and try to get there before dark.”

The brief conversation spread through the jungle, but because the words were too quiet, they became inaudible before they could travel more than four or five meters.

While rushing through the jungle, Mo Xiaobai checked his Attribute panel on the way.

Although Mo Xiaobai was already familiar with Li Ji’s plan and thought it had a high feasibility rate, he still had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

And the worst-case scenario was nothing more than raising his sword to fight desperately.

“Lord: Daydreaming!”

“Nationality: Huaxia!”

“Faction: Great Han Dynasty!”

“Renown: 650”

“Official Title: None!”

“Position: None!”

“Noble Rank: None!”

“Level: 10 (Remaining Lord Attribute Points: 10)”

“Personal Attributes: Strength [14]; Intelligence [17]; Constitution [16]; Agility [13]; Fortune [18]”

“Lord Attributes: Combat [15]; Administration [18]; Command [16]; Wisdom [15]; Virtue [40]”

“Lord Talent: Civil and Military Rule [Within the territory ruled by the Lord, all Territory Citizen templates receive a buff, with the buff effect at 10%].”

“Worn Equipment: Spacetime Star Disc, Lord Token, Lord’s Sword!”

“Personal Supplies: 100 Gold, 3 Silver, 37 Copper; Heaven’s Gift Treasure Box; Territory Expansion Map x1; Random Special Territory Building x1; Random Special Territory Building Blueprint x1.”

Compared to when he first entered the Plane, Mo Xiaobai’s personal panel had changed significantly. His supplies were richer, and his Renown was far higher than other Players of this period.

But Mo Xiaobai was not currently concerned with these things. Mo Xiaobai was staring at his Lord Attributes right now.

Combat, only a mere 15 points!

With such a small Combat value, even if Mo Xiaobai had killing skills from his past life, he would hardly have any confidence when facing mountain bandits.

Originally, according to his plan, he did not want to follow the path of personal Combat strength in this life anymore, but instead wanted to be a Commander-type Lord. Unfortunately, reality forced him to put all his precious Attribute Points into the Combat value.

“Although I broke the Eagle Beak Mountain stronghold Stone Stele with no effort, all the Lord Attribute Points I earned had to be smashed into Combat strength. Couldn’t the Plane Intellect let me be a quiet and handsome battlefield Commander?” Mo Xiaobai felt a wave of resentment in his heart. He was destined to become a Great Lord who commanded thousands of troops in this life. How could he be a brute who only said “Life or death doesn’t matter, if you don’t agree, just fight”?

However, Mo Xiaobai’s complaints received no response. Furthermore, he had already finished adding the Attribute Points from the level-up, so there was no opportunity to regret it anymore.

“It’s all thanks to these damn mountain bandits and outlaws. Let me teach you a lesson today!” Mo Xiaobai had no way to deal with the Plane Intellect, so he could only vent on the surrounding bandits.

As long as the plan proceeded smoothly, those bandits who dared to plot against Daming Village would receive a lesson they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

The first step of the entire plan was for Mo Xiaobai himself to go “defect” first.

The group walked quickly for another four or five minutes and finally arrived at a bandit territory named “Tiger Head Stronghold.”

Mo Xiaobai had analyzed this stronghold with Li Ji before. The total number of bandits was about three hundred, with roughly a hundred strong young men. Although the number of people inside the stronghold was not small, they rarely patrolled the surrounding areas. Moreover, the stronghold was built on a steep half-slope, very conspicuous, which clearly showed that the leader was not a smart guy.

According to Mo Xiaobai’s own understanding, usually such mountain bandit leaders were very easy to trick.

In a couple of sentences, you could definitely fool them until they went lame.

The group of eight rushed and hurried up the mountain together. Only when they were about to approach the stronghold gate did a sharp shouted voice rise from an arrow tower at the entrance:

“Who are you? Daring to come to our Tiger Head Stronghold to act wild?”

“Don’t fight, don’t fight! We are all brothers, brothers~”

Ma Laoliu spoke urgently at this moment, running forward with his hands held high: “I am Ma Laoliu from Eagle Beak Mountain. Our stronghold suffered a disaster, and we have come to ask Lord Tiger to take us in.”

“Eagle Beak Mountain? What kind of small broken hill is that.”

The bandit on the arrow tower had an arrogant attitude. After looking at Mo Xiaobai and his group, he noticed that only Mo Xiaobai was holding an iron sword in his arms. He immediately showed disdain: “Our Chief has no time to see you. Just scram.”

“We have a great gift for Lord Tiger. Lord Tiger will surely like it. Please let us pass and report to him.”

“Great gift? What kind of great gift?”

“Well, we have a great gift of one hundred gold.”

One hundred gold?

Hearing this, the bandit on the arrow tower could not stay calm.

He eyed Mo Xiaobai and the others carefully, hesitated for a moment, and then snorted: “Wait here. If you dare to cheat Old Man, I will make you lie here today.”

After saying that, the sentry bandit had already left the arrow tower and ran into Tiger Head Stronghold in a flash.

It took a full half-kinch for the arrogant sentry bandit to return to the stronghold entrance. He opened the Village Gate and snorted: “Our Chief instructed me to bring you in.”

“Thank you, thank you, brother.”

Ma Laoliu said with a smiling face, but the sentry bandit did not appreciate it at all. When Mo Xiaobai passed by his side, he grabbed the iron sword in one hand, clamoring non-stop: “Give it here! Do you still want to bring weapons to see our Chief?”