The World Online

After seeing off Tian Wenjing and Du Xiaolan, Ouyang Shuo got up and left the Manor. He was ready to go to the barracks and pick a sergeant to go with Gu Xiuwen and form the Beihai village guards.

There were ten active sergeants. Zhang Daniu, Zhao Sihu and Li Mingliang were fighting hard for the infantry squadron captaincy, and he could not pick them. Of the rest of the officers, Liao Kai and Zhou Feng were the most outstanding, but he did not know if Lin Yi was willing to release them.

At the barracks door, there had long been posted recruitment notices. There were a group of young boys gathered around them and talking about them.

“Look, the barracks posted a recruitment notice, we cannot miss this!”

“Come on, smelly. The last time you participated in the screening you were washed out, why do you even come again!”

“That was then, this is now our turn to show up, hey!”

“You want to know something, the last recruitment was for cavalry, I was washed out because of vision. But my body and physical tests were excellent. This time is the infantry, I can certainly be selected.”

“Hey, I will not be worse than you. If you can qualified, I certainly can, too!”

“Yes, yes. You know, in our Shanhai town, being a soldier is the best. Didn’t you see Uncle Tie’s son leading dozens of soldiers as a sergeant? It was awe-inspiring!”

“Yeah, and also mother Wu’s son Liao Kai, she was so happy when he was made sergeant, he has even met the lord! She is so proud of her son. I want my mother to be that proud of me, I have to join the army. If I can be a sergeant one day, that would be so awesome!”

“Unfortunately they are only recruiting infantry. I still like cavalry, riding a horse has so much more prestige!”

“What do you know, the infantry and cavalry have their own pros and cons, you can’t put them together and compare. Infantry wear heavy body armor, and don’t even mention how cool they are! If the usual light cavalry engages them, they can defeat them easily!”

“Indeed! Siege warfare also relies on infantry.”

“Well, I still feel that cavalry is powerful. A collective charge, what can a square formation do that rivals that?”

“Hey, if you want to fight, then wait until we are admitted and fight it out!”

“Yeah, you’re not even chosen yet you’re having daydreams already.”

“I say, dont stand at the door to the office, quickly go and register!”

“True! Go go go~~”

An eager group of people rushed with mighty purpose towards the barracks.

It seemed that the enthusiasm of the citizens was very high. Unsure of why, Ouyang Shuo suddenly felt a little sad. These young bloods had only seen the proud side of soldiering, not the tragedy of the battlefield, and the desolation of the seriously injured and retired.

Shaking his head, Ouyang Shuo stilled his heart, following slowly behind the group and into the barracks area. The soldiers were out on the field. There was already a long line. At first light on the first day of registration, no less than 100 people had already come.

General Shi was sitting on the training field on a chair, watching everything with 2 attendants behind him. He was surprised to see Ouyang Shuo out at this public registration.

Ouyang Shuo ignored him, stayed cool and went directly to find Captain Lin Yi.

The two of them headed inside the barracks to use the meeting room. Ouyang Shuo smiled at him and asked, “You’ve just taken over the cavalry squadron. Are you used to it?”

“It is okay,” Lin Yi replied with a smile. He certainly wasn’t going to complain to his lord, but the influence of General Shi still permeated the cavalry squadron and played a role in everything. Ouyang Shuo had appointed him as the cavalry squadron leader, both out of recognition and as a test for him. If he could not overcome this difficulty, he didn’t deserve to stay in the squadron position.

Ouyang Shuo had transferred General Shi from the cavalry squadron and had assigned him to train new recruits. It was a warning to him. The results of the last battle, he had not forgiven. If he could find a suitable army strategist, Ouyang Shuo was not ready to let General Shi lead the troops again. At this stage, Shanhai Town didn’t have enough depth to bear multiple miserable victories like that.

“Well, this time I came to you to borrow someone,” Ouyang Shuo said, ending the small talk and going right into the crux of things.

“Lord, as you command.”

“In order to quickly increase the combat effectiveness of the garrison in the new subordinate village- Beihai Village, I have decided they need an officer. Do you have any recommendations for the commander of this garrison?” Ouyang Shuo didn’t specify which officer, waiting to hear the view of Lin Yi.

“Well, I would like to ask, how many people would sire want in this garrison?” Lin Yi did not directly answer, but first asked the garrison’s situation.

“Beihai Village’s security threat is much lower than Shanhai Village’s used to be. Therefore, the garrison is tentatively scheduled for 50 people. Just a preparation team.”

“In that case, going to Beihai Village will be more of a disguised promotion to the selected officer. In my opinion, Liao Kai and Zhou Feng are both appropriate.”

This wasn’t contrary to Ouyang Shuo’s expectations, but the answer did not satisfy him. “Out of these two, Liao Kai and Zhou Feng, which do you think is more suitable?”

Lin Yi was somewhat embarrassed, thinking seriously, finally coughed out, “Zhou Feng!”

“Reasons?”

“How do I say this…these two people both have their own good points, they are not weak. Liao Kai is bloodthirsty, dares to fight, charges forwards bluntly. Zhou Feng is calm, doesn’t panic. Just for Beihai Village, if I were to pick only one of them, I would be more inclined to Zhou Feng,” Ling Yi commented clearly on the two of them.

“Well, you take care of this. Inform Zhou Feng, send him to Gu Xiuwen and he will start tomorrow.” With no hesitation, Ouyang Shuo chose to believe in Lin Yi’s judgement.

Having determined the garrison commander for Beihai, Ouyang Shuo did not stay in the barracks, directly returning to the Manor. Arriving there, it was already 5 PM. There were many things to still be arranged, but time didn’t allow for them. He simply returned to his office, closed his eyes, and began to plan out the layout of the town in his head.

After the promotion to township, the rapid expansion of the player’s territorial areas meant they were not as isolated as they had been at the village stage. It was possible that another player’s territory was not far from your own. And perhaps, you might find that after an upgrade your territory might be bordering on another player’s territory.

At this time, how to deal with your neighbors needed to be very subtle. After all, Earth Online was all about hegemony; war and death were core elements of the game. If players were snoring on the couch, how could he let others sleep?

As long as anyone had even a little ambition, they wouldn’t think of themselves as friends and neighbors. Whether it was sharpening swords or stabbing in the back, the ultimate purpose of the game was for them to destroy one another completely, to win a broader area for territorial development.

This kind of war between the territories would define the midpoint of the game. At the state level, the battles between the players would be the most intense, the frontier would see events of destruction and occupation played out every day. The township stage was merely a prelude, it wouldn’t even count as an appetizer.

So, he had to start preparing for it. After having experienced the Siege of Beasts, there were still no less than 70 player lords in the Lianzhou Basin. And three of those had ended up on the Dali Regional list!

The reason he’d set up the Military Intelligence Division early was just for this strategic reason.

Until he logged off in the evening, Ouyang Shuo still didn’t know what he was going to do. At this stage, he could only take the next step. After all, the whole world knew that Shanhai was now a township, and the rest of the players were still mostly struggling in the village stage, it wasn’t the time to meet one another.

******************************

Coming out of the game cabin, Ouyang Shuo did his usual few laps around the district. It was near the Spring Festival, and the district was slowly filling with the spirit of the New Year.

At the door to the community, the property company had put two huge kumquats, next to a circle of chrysanthemums. It was exceptionally festive. Red lanterns, as well as ‘Celebrate the New Year!’ banners had been posted all over.

Seeing the kumquat placed there, Ouyang Shuo thought of the traditional flower market. Today’s weather was good, why not go out for a ride and enjoy it?

Having thought of this, Ouyang Shuo headed home and called out to his still sleepy little sister, “Baby, get up now, today your brother is going to take you to visit the flower market. If you wait, it will be too late!”

Hearing that they were going out to play, Bing’er was awake in an instant, bouncing out of bed, nearly slipped, and ran to get herself washed. Really a little monkey, Ouyang Shuo thought as he shook his head.

The state of the spring flower market, a traditional event of the Han culture, was filled with both people and flowers everywhere.

For the people of Jiao state, flowers were indispensable for the Spring Festival. Because the flower symbolized good things, they could bring people a beautiful scene. A wide variety of flowers, of all shapes, sizes, colors, and fragrances, appealed to all manner of people for all manner of reasons, closely linked to happy times and memories.

Shuttling through the flowers like a happy deer, Bing’er was everywhere. From time to time she stopped, standing next to her favorite flowers, so her brother could take a picture of her.

At the flower market, what was selling most were the kumquats, peach blossoms, and narcissi. These three kinds were made into floral arrays. For the kumquat, because in Cantonese it was a homonym with luck, bringing a pot of kumquats home symbolized great fortune. The peach was a symbol of great success, and so it was purchased by younger people. Narcissus symbolized wealth and auspicious portents.

Ouyang Shuo naturally could not avoid this tradition, buying up all three in a pot, and giving them to Bing’er to take home with them.

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap