Chapter 16: Farmers are Productive [Please bookmark and recommend]

There were people in the tent.

Living, breathing people.

There were men and women, at least seven or eight of them, all with their hands and feet bound by hemp rope and their mouths stuffed with rags.

Their gazes did not seem as numb as those of the bandits; their spirited eyes betrayed their terror.

Zong Shen focused his mind slightly.

The golden strategy prompt arrived as expected.

(Pitiful natives plundered by bandits. If you are willing to rescue them and provide food, they will pledge their loyalty to you. Your territory is currently lacking manpower.)

So they were ordinary natives, with origins similar to the three foolish farmers.

Zong Shen breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his kite shield.

By this time, Luna had already tossed that corpse into the bonfire.

Letting it turn to ash, so it would no longer suffer desecration and pain.

She also saw the poor wretches being plundered in the tent and spoke up proactively.

"My Lord, our territory needs people."

"Rescue them, let them submit to your mercy, and build your territory."

Zong Shen nodded in agreement.

He stowed his kite shield and dismounted.

One by one, he hacked through the hemp ropes binding their hands and feet.

Upon regaining their freedom, these natives immediately tore the rags from their mouths.

"I am a Lord from this vicinity, and this is my soldier."

"I have rescued you."

"Now, are you willing to serve me and help me establish a great territory?"

Zong Shen spoke solemnly, holding his sword in one hand.

The natives looked at each other, glancing around, unsure of where they were.

However, those hateful and ferocious bandits had indeed been wiped out.

After a moment of hesitation.

They bowed in unison and saluted Zong Shen.

"Great Lord, it is our honor to serve you."

"Please treat us kindly and provide us with shelter and food."

Zong Shen nodded, giving his word.

"Very well, your decision is wise!"

There were eight natives in total: five men and three women.

They all wore coarse cloth garments.

Their skin was dark and weathered.

They looked quite sturdy.

Zong Shen began to scan them.

[Farmer: Er Hua] [Aptitude: Ordinary] [Level: lv3] [Attributes: (Click to expand)] [Satiety: 33] [Loyalty: 60] ...

[Farmer: San Pang] [Aptitude: Excellent] [Level: lv5] [Attributes: (Click to expand)] [Satiety: 36] [Loyalty: 60] ...

[Farmer: Zhuang Zhuang] [Aptitude: Ordinary] [Level: lv5] [Attributes: (Click to expand)] [Satiety: 31] [Loyalty: 60] ...

Zong Shen looked them over and was quite satisfied with these newly joined farmers.

None of them had dull aptitudes; the worst were "Ordinary," and there was even a farmer named San Pang whose aptitude reached "Excellent."

The quality of this batch of farmers was high!

Far superior to the three foolish farmers he had at the start!

Although their loyalty was somewhat low, it would grow quickly with proper management.

With the addition of these eight farmers, the efficiency of the territory's development could be greatly increased.

As the saying goes, farmers are productivity.

Productivity is strength.

Strength is justice.

It was a simple logic.

"Very well, Luna! Take them back to our territory."

Zong Shen turned and commanded. A journey of over thirty li on foot would take at least two and a half to three hours.

If they left now, they could make it back to the territory before sunset.

However, he saw the farmers clutching their stomachs with distressed expressions.

"My Lord, we haven't eaten or drunk anything for several days. Could you provide us with some food first?"

"Otherwise, I don't think we will make it to your territory."

The farmer named San Pang spoke up proactively.

He was the one with the "Excellent" aptitude and was now implicitly the leader among the eight farmers.

"You have a point."

Zong Shen nodded. It just so happened that he was carrying [Unknown Dried Meat] scavenged from the bandits' tents, and there was a good amount—exactly 23 portions.

So, he distributed one portion to each of them.

As for water, that was also easy to solve.

These bandits carried leather water skins on them.

Zong Shen had found them too dirty to pick up, but they would serve to quench the farmers' thirst.

Thus, the eight filthy farmers each grabbed a piece of jerky made of unknown meat and took turns drinking from the water skins.

They wolfed down their first meal.

"Luna, protect them and head back first. I will follow shortly."

Once they had finished the jerky and drunk some water, regaining some of their strength.

Zong Shen spoke seriously to Luna.

"My Lord, but your safety...?"

Luna's loyalty was as high as 83; she was already proactively worrying about Zong Shen's safety.

Zong Shen simply waved his hand with a smile, brandishing the rusty one-handed sword in his hand.

"It's fine, I can protect myself. Hurry and take them off. Make sure to reach the territory before dark."

Hearing this, Luna no longer insisted. She nodded, mounted her black panther, and led the eight farmers on the return journey.

Zong Shen remained in the camp to continue exploring.

The bandits had also dropped some items.

They were all weapons with broken quality, displayed in gray text.

The color displayed depended on the item's quality.

So far, Zong Shen had discovered five grades.

Broken (Gray), Common (White), Fine (Green), Rare (Purple), and Legendary (Orange).

As for whether there were higher grades, Zong Shen did not know yet.

He swept all the junk weapons dropped by the bandits into his [Kodo Hide Backpack], following the principle of not leaving a single grain behind.

No matter how much junk these weapons were, even if Zong Shen didn't use them himself, they could be used to arm the farmers in critical moments.

At this time, two tents remained in the bandit camp.

Zong Shen sliced the tents open.

One tent still contained supplies.

Mostly wood.

[Wood ×30] [Stone ×13] [Iron ×6] [Hemp ×27] [Hemp Rope ×5] [Iron Axe ×6] [Iron Pickaxe ×6]

Another wave of resources was swept into Zong Shen's possession.

Clearly, these bandits had been prepared to set up a permanent camp here.

The gains from killing monsters and treasure hunting were much greater than those from gathering.

With a strategy module, it would be a waste of talent if he gathered resources like a common farmer.

Zong Shen didn't care much for these resources.

What truly caught his attention was the item in the last tent.

It was not far from where he stood.

It was a treasure chest, made entirely of metal, with a dark surface and crude workmanship.

Zong Shen focused his gaze.

[Black Iron Treasure Chest] [An unknown black iron treasure chest. No one knows what might be inside.] (The chest is safe; you may open it with confidence.)

"A treasure chest?"

Zong Shen's eyes lit up.

Opening a treasure chest was just like opening a blind box.

He spat on his palm, rubbed his hands vigorously, and walked toward it with great excitement.