Chapter 1

"Jiang family young man, Jiang family young man?"

"Who?" In a daze, the young man who was called tensed his muscles, subconsciously gripping the hilt of the knife at his side. However, as soon as he opened his eyes, he felt a wave of dizziness, and all his strength seemed to drain away like air from a punctured balloon. He couldn't even think about drawing his knife, let alone getting up.

But his fierce gaze startled the elderly man who had woken him, causing him to shrink back repeatedly: "Jiang family boy, what are you doing?"

The young man's eyes flashed with confusion for a moment, then he quickly regained his composure and muttered, "Projection succeeded!"

In the next second, a flood of memories surged in, almost making him faint again. However, he knew he couldn't lose consciousness at this moment, or his memories might become disordered, turning him into a genuine native...

His name was Jiang Sheng, a graduate of the latest batch of metaverse pioneers from Black Penguin Group, and one of the four hundred pioneers in this new world.

Projected identity: A soldier serving in Guankou County, Bingzhou, the Great Jin Dynasty.

Specific information: Jiang Sheng, nineteen years old, no courtesy name, from a military household, his father Jiang Dalin died in the Bingzhou military unrest four years ago!

...

A massive amount of information flooded his mind, and it took Jiang Sheng at least a quarter of an hour to regain his composure and open his eyes to observe his surroundings.

This was a very crowded cabin. Besides the elderly man who had woken him, there were six other people: two young women and four children. The youngest child was probably still a toddler, thin and weak like a bean sprout. The four children were all crying loudly, frightened by his earlier actions, and the two young women, while comforting their children, also looked at him with fear...

Seeing this scene, he was a bit confused. Could his projected identity have children?

Four of them?

This scared him a bit, and he quickly searched his recent memories. Not only was he terrified at the prospect of suddenly becoming a father, but the surrounding environment also made him uneasy. He was a soldier, so why was he on a boat? And from the packed luggage around him, it seemed they were preparing to flee...

As he carefully controlled his thoughts, recent memories slowly flooded his mind.

The information he received confirmed that he was indeed fleeing!

The Great Jin Dynasty was on the brink of collapse, with uprisings breaking out everywhere and smoke rising from the battles. Among the various rebel leaders, the self-proclaimed Green King, Han Xiao, had already reached the Zijing Pass in Bingzhou, just one city away from Guankou County. His reputation for frequently massacring cities had frightened many local residents into fleeing overnight. Jiang Sheng had decided to flee on the advice of the elderly man from the Chen family next door.

In his memory, although he was a soldier and should have responded to the call to defend the city, he had no loyalty to the court or his superiors after five years of service without a single paycheck. He naturally didn't want to risk his life. Persuaded by the elderly man from the Chen family, he didn't hesitate for long before joining the escape.

The idea of fleeing abroad was proposed by the village chiefs of four villages outside the county. It was said that their fellow villagers had organized a large-scale escape overseas during the military unrest four years ago and had found a good place, a large island with fertile land and no heavy taxes from the court, a veritable utopia!

Three years ago, those people returned with several ships full of grain to exchange for supplies, which many local villagers envied. Since then, more and more people had joined them, especially as the land in Guankou County was poor and the taxes from the court were becoming increasingly heavy. A few months ago, a fishing tax was added, making life even harder for the already struggling villagers.

With the rebel soldiers now at their doorstep, many people finally made up their minds, and thus organized this escape overseas.

By this point, Jiang Sheng's heart had sunk. Fleeing overseas at the start was a terrible beginning, but the good news was that the four children were not his. The two young women were the daughters-in-law of the elderly man who had woken him...

"Sorry, Old Master Chen..." After sorting out his memories, Jiang Sheng's fierce gaze softened, and he quickly smiled and apologized, "I had a nightmare just now, it wasn't intentional..."

"It's fine, it's fine..." The thin, elderly man, while comforting the frightened children, waved at Jiang Sheng. His gaze, far from being angry, became even more affectionate.

He had called on Jiang Sheng because the young man had been a soldier and had a knife. Both of his sons had died young, and with no strong male relatives to protect his family, the more fierce and capable the young man was, the better!

"Old Master, you called me up before dawn. Is there something wrong?" Jiang Sheng looked outside the boat, where it was still pitch black, clearly far from dawn.

At this, the elderly man became excited and whispered, "Just now, someone on the front boat signaled. I think we're almost there!"

"Almost there?" Jiang Sheng's eyelids twitched, and he quickly moved his fingers to restore his physical functions.

With his modern knowledge, he was different from the naive local villagers who believed they were heading to a utopia!

According to the villagers, the last time those who had fled overseas returned to trade was three years ago, meaning no one had returned for three years!

What did this mean? Could it be that the people on the island didn't need supplies anymore? Salt, iron, clothes—these things couldn't possibly be produced in just a few years, right?

If the trading ships had met with a maritime disaster, surely new ships would have been sent in the second or third year, right? It couldn't be that they met with disasters every year, could it?

The most likely scenario was that something had happened to those people on the island!

Jiang Sheng wasn't sure what had happened, but during his training as a pioneer, he had learned that even if an overseas island had a good ecosystem and fertile land, it might not be a utopia. Malaria, savages, venomous insects, wild beasts, and unknown viruses were all very dangerous, especially the savages!

These uncivilized people had languages but no writing, and their social structures were extremely backward. Most were very barbaric and cruel, practicing headhunting, human sacrifices, cannibalism, and skinning. To them, outsiders were no different from livestock, and the fate of those captured would be extremely grim...

Jiang Sheng certainly didn't want to be decapitated by these headhunters and used as a trophy. He needed to prepare in advance...

Closing his eyes, he focused his mind and began to communicate with the system, the greatest advantage he had as a pioneer over the natives.

"Xiaomai, open the attribute panel!"

"Yes!"

In his mind, as Jiang Sheng communicated his intent, a clear system interface appeared in his consciousness, displaying his basic attributes...

Name: Jiang Sheng.

Age: Nineteen.

Primary occupation: Soldier (Deserter)

Character level: 0

Ancient soul: None

Personal attributes: Strength 1.2, Agility 1.1, Endurance 1.3, Intelligence 0.7, Charisma 0.2...

Physical condition: Malnourished with multiple hidden injuries, long-term lack of meat has led to anemia and night blindness...

Seeing his condition, Jiang Sheng's mood grew heavier. The attributes weren't a big problem, roughly matching his expectations. The attributes of the projected character were aligned with his real-life attributes. His low political and strategic evaluation scores during training meant that his Intelligence and Charisma attributes were predictably low, though his Charisma was even lower than expected, possibly due to his low social status as a deserter.

The real issue was his malnourishment and anemia, which reduced his attributes to only 60% of their potential. This was not a good start...

But what could he do as a commoner pioneer?

The wealthy pioneers who could contribute energy to Go City could choose their projected identities, such as merchants, landlords, or even nobles and royal family members. Those who couldn't afford identity cards, like him, had to rely on the system's random assignment. Getting a soldier with a knife was already a good draw; some of his fellow pioneers might have been assigned as beggars or vagrants, starting with just a bowl...

There was no time to complain. Jiang Sheng quickly had the system switch to the item selection page, where the beginner items would be his initial capital.

Although he was a poor pioneer, as a beginner, he still had access to beginner items, which included a resource card pack and an ancient soul card pack.

The ancient soul card pack was the strongest item for pioneers. By drawing from it, one could obtain the ancient soul of a historical figure, which could be a military general, a famous politician, or a top scientist. These ancient souls had powerful attributes and special skills, allowing pioneers to quickly gain the talents of historical geniuses and establish themselves.

However, the drawing was random, and beginners only had three chances. To draw more later, one would need to use faith energy from the metaverse world...

Jiang Sheng didn't draw immediately but first looked at the resource card pack. The resource card pack provided initial resources based on the chosen identity.

There were four options: Heroic Lord, Virtuous Lord, Wise Lord, and Renowned Lord. Jiang Sheng confirmed that the Renowned Lord would provide two free attribute points, which were very valuable in the early stages. For example, adding all points to Strength would make one a powerful warrior, significantly boosting one's initial capabilities.

The Heroic Lord provided some ancient soul combat points, which could improve the proficiency of ancient soul skills. If one drew a good historical figure, these points could quickly give one a specialized skill.

The Virtuous Lord provided some money and a universal medicine, which could help build a good reputation in the early stages.

The Renowned Lord provided a growing divine weapon, which could be armor, any weapon, or even a well-trained and intelligent horse.

Jiang Sheng quickly analyzed the options. Each had its pros and cons. Given the environment, he first ruled out the Virtuous Lord, as money and medicine were not as useful on a remote island.

The remaining three were all appealing. The Renowned Lord's weapon would be very useful in the wild, and the Renowned Lord's strong initial attributes were also important, making it a tough choice.

After some thought, he decided to draw the ancient soul card pack first. Depending on the historical figure he drew, he could make a more informed decision. Historical figures had complex attributes. For example, if he drew someone like Xiang Yu, with a starting Strength of 4, the two free attribute points from the Renowned Lord would be less useful, while a divine weapon or horse would be more beneficial. If he drew someone like Zhang Liang, a strategist, then adding two points to Strength for survival would be crucial...

With this in mind, Jiang Sheng didn't hesitate and directly selected the ancient soul card pack, beginning his first draw as a pioneer!