Chapter 93

Niu Bing's face was full of hesitation, still uncertain whether to speak or not. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, I'll tell you. What I said earlier wasn't wrong. Yesterday afternoon, we did indeed go a bit further because we weren't paying attention to our direction. We were walking down towards Huimin Town, and we crossed about three to four kilometers beyond it. There was a mountain ridge there, and on that ridge, there was a small village. In that village lived many very small metamorphosed beasts. They can walk upright and their behavior is similar to humans."

By the time Cheng Yang had heard half of it, he already knew what Niu Bing was going to say.

After the world had changed, humans referred to the monsters that appeared as metamorphosed beasts or mutated beasts. This term, to some extent, was a reflection of human self-satisfaction, as the word "beast" implied low intelligence. In reality, this was largely true, as most metamorphosed beasts had the same intelligence as animals.

However, there were exceptions. Some metamorphosed beasts were vastly different from ordinary animals; they possessed high intelligence, and a significant portion of them were almost indistinguishable from humans. The metamorphosed beasts in the village Niu Bing mentioned belonged to this category.

Unlike other groups of metamorphosed beasts, these village-dwelling metamorphosed beasts had a clear hierarchy and had formed their own social system. In a sense, they were already "people." Most people still referred to them as metamorphosed beasts, but some who recognized the fundamental difference between these metamorphosed beasts and ordinary ones called them "beasts."

Beast tribes were not common in this world, or at least, in the first year of the apocalypse, humans had not encountered many of them.

Coincidentally, there was a beast tribe village near Xiangcheng City, which was the one Niu Bing had just mentioned.

Although these beast tribes were very different from groups of metamorphosed beasts, they were fundamentally the same in that they were enemies of humans. If humans entered their territory, they would never return.

However, strangely, these beasts seemed to be under some kind of restriction, limiting their range of activity and preventing them from attacking human settlements.

Due to these reasons, humans and beast tribes rarely interacted, and people's knowledge of the beasts was very limited, often only knowing that they existed.

Because of this long period of non-interference, humans gradually adapted to the existence of these beasts, even to the point of ignoring them. Cheng Yang had not thought of this before because the beasts were like air to him.

But now, hearing Niu Bing mention it again, Cheng Yang's vigilance towards the beasts was rekindled. Although humans ignored the beasts, this did not mean they were not powerful. Even at the moment of his rebirth, humans had not fully understood the strength of the beasts in the village.

In the past, Cheng Yang was just a minor combatant, and the existence of the beast village was too distant for him. But now, as the lord of Luofeng Village, he had to pay close attention to the village, which was only seven to eight kilometers away from Luofeng Village.

Why did this beast village exist? Why did the gods place them here? Would they be released at some point to attack human settlements?

The more Cheng Yang thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.

However, Cheng Yang knew that now was not the time to investigate why the beast village existed. Compared to the beast village, Luofeng Village was still too weak.

"Old Niu, do you know how dangerous your actions were?" Cheng Yang's expression was not good.

Niu Bing was slightly taken aback. He had thought Cheng Yang was quite excited earlier, but now his attitude had changed. He immediately said, "I know it was dangerous, but as you said, in this apocalypse, what isn't dangerous? Besides, when we observed the village, we were very well hidden and far away, so the chances of being discovered were low."

Cheng Yang said, "You should be grateful. If you had gotten any closer, you probably wouldn't have come back. Think about it, in the wild, the strongest metamorphosed beasts we encountered were at the late first stage. How powerful would the metamorphosed beasts in a village be?"

After Cheng Yang's reminder, Niu Bing was no longer calm. He said, "Lord, what... what should we do? There are quite a few metamorphosed beasts in that village. If they are very powerful, wouldn't Luofeng Village be in great danger?"

Cheng Yang shook his head and said, "That's not certain. Let's observe for a while. Also, give the order that no one is to approach that village. This is a strict command."

Niu Bing, seeing how serious Cheng Yang was, quickly nodded.

"Lord, did you call me here just to ask about this?" Niu Bing suddenly asked.

Cheng Yang said, "Of course not. Didn't I build the military camp last night? Now, Liu Hao, Yu Kai, and Li Wanshan all have positions, but you and Zhao Chuan are still idle. After considering, I think you would be suitable as the manager of the military camp."

Niu Bing was stunned for a moment before bitterly smiling and saying, "Lord, are you joking? You know my capabilities. Managing a military camp would be a mess. There are nearly a thousand people, and I might have to command battles in the future."

Cheng Yang said, "You're overthinking it. The so-called manager of the military camp is more like a logistics officer, responsible for recruiting soldiers and promoting ranks. These are all procedural tasks. Apart from personally overseeing the recruitment of soldiers, the rank promotions are automatic. You don't need to use much brainpower. Besides, if you're not good at management, isn't there Pang Shan? Girls are meticulous, and with her help, you can handle this without any problems."

Niu Bing hesitated for a moment and said, "Alright, if it's that simple, I'll take the position."

Cheng Yang glared at him and said, "Don't act like you're doing me a favor. Being the manager of the military camp is a good position, you'll see."

Niu Bing chuckled but didn't argue further.

Then, Cheng Yang took Niu Bing to the altar of the territory and set him as the manager of the military camp. This position appeared after the military camp was built, and no other positions were added with the territory upgrade.

At this moment, Liu Hao and his group returned to the territory. Not only did his team return, but Yu Kai, Li Wanshan, and Zhao Chuan were also with them. They had been acting together all night, and with one high-level apprentice and two mid-level apprentices, their gains were substantial.

"Old Niu, you're finally back. We planned to call you last night, but we couldn't find you. Where did you go?" Yu Kai saw Niu Bing from a distance and immediately asked.

Niu Bing looked at Cheng Yang, and after he nodded, he briefly recounted what he had discovered yesterday. Cheng Yang then emphasized the severity of the beast village to everyone and ordered them not to approach within 200 meters of the village.

Yu Kai's expression turned serious after hearing this, and Li Wanshan said, "Lord, that village is like a tumor. We need to remove it as soon as possible."

"I know what you mean," Cheng Yang said, "but our strength is still too weak. We'll wait until we're stronger."

Li Wanshan said, "Should we send someone to test them? What if they're not that strong?"

Cheng Yang shook his head. Although he had never been near the village, in the previous life, many peak apprentices had been buried there, so he was not willing to take the risk.

Seeing Cheng Yang's determination, Li Wanshan did not press further and asked, "Lord, how should we arrange things today? Should we continue to kill monsters around here?"

Cheng Yang said, "I've already upgraded the profession statues to level 4, and each statue can now accommodate 530 people for profession changes. Your teams can expand. You can choose the members yourselves, and the spirit energy required for profession changes will be gathered by your teams."

Liu Hao and the others were immediately excited. Expanding their teams would undoubtedly give them more confidence when facing large groups of metamorphosed beasts. In the past few days, unless Cheng Yang led them to expand their territory, they could only operate in areas where the metamorphosed beasts had already been cleared, which was inefficient. Now, with the expansion of their teams and the improvement of their leaders' strength, they were gradually becoming capable of operating independently.

"Lord, expanding the teams is good, but with the current equipment production rate, we haven't even fully equipped our previous teams. This time, with the teams nearly doubling in size, the equipment shortage will be even greater. Should we use some spirit energy to buy equipment from the shop?" Li Wanshan said.

Cheng Yang immediately shook his head and said, "Buying equipment from the shop is not cost-effective. To fully equip one person, it would cost at least 700 to 800 points of spirit energy. It would be better to save that spirit energy for quadruple training speed."

Li Wanshan said, "We could just buy weapons. A weapon costs about 70 to 80 points of spirit energy, which is manageable for those who are changing professions. With increased attack power, they can kill monsters faster, which will help us expand our territory more quickly."

Cheng Yang hesitated for a moment and asked, "How many people in the territory have changed professions to blacksmiths or artisans?"

Li Wanshan and the others turned to look at Yu Kai, as he was in charge of the living professions.

PS: Requesting recommendations and collections...