Chapter Fourteen: Winning Over the Immigrants

"Ding-dong!"

[Agility +1]

A surge of experience poured into Mo Fangyuan's body.

After several days, he had finally leveled up.

His experience bar emptied, and his level rose from six to seven.

As the warmth spread through his body, Mo Fangyuan felt a wave of comfort.

"It wasn't easy," he sighed, deeply moved. The effort required to go from level six to seven had drained him, and the path to levels eight and nine would surely be even more challenging.

After a brief moment to collect himself, Mo Fangyuan returned to the valley.

The blonde girl, still sitting on the ground, had also regained her composure.

"Can you take me inside? I have something I'd like to discuss with your leader..."

Mo Fangyuan was certain that this blonde girl, with her slightly silly demeanor, was the commander of the team guarding the entrance.

After all, beauty is its own form of power; surely a girl this attractive would hold a high position...

Well, that was just a joke.

In truth, Mo Fangyuan had judged by observing how others acted around her and by assessing her own abilities. During their time fighting side by side, he noticed that while her combat skills were decent, she was undeniably the strongest among them.

When he entered the area just now, he saw that the others obeyed her commands without resistance and cooperated willingly.

All these signs pointed to her being able to control this "rookie squad," and if she wielded such authority over the village's defenders, then her status among the survivors within must be significant.

"Thank you. Please, come in..."

The girl seemed caught off guard, stammering a little as she spoke.

To her, he was a radiant "hero," and it was her honor to speak with him.

This was something the old village chief had taught her. Though he was gone now, his influence lingered in her heart.

Mo Fangyuan didn't say much more, following the girl into the small valley.

Surrounded on all sides by mountains, there was only a narrow crack for entry and exit.

From a builder's perspective, this place was ideal for constructing a fortress or other defensive structures.

Mo Fangyuan couldn't help but feel a flicker of curiosity about the grandfather Aili had mentioned—what kind of person, in such a primitive and ignorant era, had the foresight to prepare this place as a fallback?

On their way into the valley, Mo Fangyuan and Aili conversed.

From her, he learned her name: Lovie Aili, a distinctly Western-sounding name. Forced by the invasion of the Skeleton King’s forces, she had led the villagers here, with many others from neighboring villages joining them along the way.

"There are seventy-one of us now..."

Mo Fangyuan opened his mouth as if to speak, then stopped. His expression made it clear how surprised he was.

"Seventy-one people... What a windfall..." Mo Fangyuan was inwardly bursting with joy.

"These people are as good as mine!"

"But... um, could you join us... no, just help us for a while..." Lovie Aili asked with embarrassment, speaking very cautiously to Mo Fangyuan.

"What?!"

When he learned that Lovie Aili was the leader of this group, Mo Fangyuan could hardly believe it.

Though she was skilled in combat, being the head of so many seemed a heavy burden.

During his time with her, Mo Fangyuan had assumed she was merely a fighter, but now...

"Yet perhaps that's not such a bad thing," he mused.

He knew Aili admired him greatly. In their previous conversation, she had confided that she didn't want to be "village chief," but the old chief's dying wish was for her to protect the villagers and keep them from becoming homeless.

"If I invite them to join the Block Kingdom now, there's a high chance of success," Mo Fangyuan thought, deciding to give it a try—he had nothing to lose.

"Aili, as King of the Block Kingdom, I invite you all to join our realm."

"Ah?"

Lovie Aili was stunned.

Mo Fangyuan's voice rang out loudly, and the busy villagers in the valley all paused.

For villagers living in these lands, joining a kingdom was a momentous event—it could change their fate, even their entire lives.

Becoming a subject of a kingdom was far safer than struggling to survive in the wild.

In the world of Blocks, villages had short life expectancies, while the survival rate of a human kingdom far surpassed that of any village.

Any sane person would long to join a kingdom; even a cruel king was preferable to being slaughtered by monsters.

"That's right. As King of the Block Kingdom, I once again invite you to join the Block Kingdom, in the name of the Sun!"

Knowing how much the block people longed for a human kingdom, Mo Fangyuan repeated himself, this time invoking the Sun.

The Sun was humanity’s chief deity: it brought light, punished monsters, helped crops grow, and allowed humans to thrive on this land.

If not for the lack of large-scale human settlements and the near absence of communication between communities, perhaps some "Cult of the Sun" or "Church of Light" would already exist.

"You won’t last long here. Without the resources to develop—no ores, no grain—you can’t make tools or weapons, and you can’t guarantee your safety. The skeleton monsters from last night are proof: they’ve already found you. If you stay, you’ll only face more and more monsters, and the end will be total annihilation..."

Mo Fangyuan laid out his reasoning, letting Aili decide for herself.

He didn’t believe she would refuse to return to the Block Kingdom with him. Even if she did, the villagers who heard his words would surely persuade her.

After all, he had spoken loudly enough that almost everyone in the valley had heard.

Aili glanced back at the villagers. Their eyes, just as Mo Fangyuan expected, brimmed with longing.

"Alright, I agree!"

Seeing the villagers’ expressions, Aili made her decision without hesitation.

Now it was Mo Fangyuan’s turn to be stunned. He had expected her to say, "I need to think about it," or, "We need to discuss," and then he would bring up the massacre in the desert villages and the threat of the Skeleton King to force her hand.

But it seemed all his preparations had been unnecessary.

Shaking his head, Mo Fangyuan realized he had been overthinking things.

Aili looked up at him with her large sapphire eyes, making Mo Fangyuan feel as if he were a villain luring away a little girl...

"Well then, pack your things and come with me!"

Mo Fangyuan was actually quite wary of the skeleton forces; last night’s skeleton horde was still fresh in his mind.

Who knew if they would attack again tonight?

He was running low on TNT.

Leaving now was both a wise and a risky choice.

It was still morning...

His original plan had been to explore the plains, but now, with a large group of immigrants in tow, taking unfamiliar routes was out of the question.

If anything happened, the losses would be disastrous.

Fortunately, the plains were free of major obstacles, so returning to familiar paths wouldn’t be difficult.

"But how do we avoid those skeleton monsters?"

The skeleton forces, having suffered heavy losses last night, would surely not let this go.

If they returned to the valley tonight and found it empty, they would almost certainly give chase.

In half a day, the migrants couldn't possibly escape the skeletons' reach.

To give up their defensive advantage and fight the skeletons in the open would be suicide.

"What should I do?"

Mo Fangyuan was racked with worry—he was just a weak, pitiable underachiever; how could he be expected to come up with a good plan?

"Indeed, taking in these immigrants wouldn't be easy..."

"...The road... the road... that's it!"

Mo Fangyuan’s eyes lit up as he hit upon a not-so-great idea.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than nothing.