Things went very smoothly, but after Lijie came back, she was taken aback by this new stronghold, and the poor girl hovered at the gate with the supplies and items she bought, but she didn't dare to come in, if it wasn't for Rhodes discovering her, I'm afraid Lijie would have to stand outside until dark.

Of course, Lijie had some doubts about what would happen to her, after all, Rhodes said that she would clean up the mess before she left. But according to common sense, at most, it is only to the extent that the mess is cleaned up, and it is impossible to do it so thoroughly. But since Rod didn't want to say more, Lijie didn't ask any more. After going through so many things, the girl has basically unconditional trust in Rhodes. Although it is indeed strange that such a strange thing is, Rhodes himself is a very mysterious person, so there is nothing strange about it.

And Lijie believes that one day, Rod will tell these secrets to herself.

Through Lijie, Rhodes also inquired about the situation on the side of the Mercenary Association, and it was obvious that the old man was quite surprised that he was able to deal with this murderous mansion, and obviously did not believe that they had the ability to deal with this well-known murderous mansion in Deep Rock City. Serek was on their side, and not only that, but he also hinted to Rhodes through Lijie to be careful about his own identity to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.

Rhodes understood Serek's hints, and he also knew very well that although Serrell's murderous mansion was famous, there was no shortage of good players in Deep Rock City, and people like Serek, the master of swordsmanship, could easily clean up the things here even if they didn't know the true face of the things here. And they still haven't made a move, so it's certain that it's not the monster's strength gap, but some more external factors.

After all, this is also located in the upper district, which belongs to the realm of the nobility, and there will definitely be trouble in it. Now Rhodes and the others have just moved in, and the name of the murderous mansion is still there, so I'm afraid that no one will come to trouble for a while. However, after a long time, when people find that the murderous house is no longer "fierce", then things will not be easy to do. Six hundred gold coins to buy such a large house, although there is no problem with the procedures, but I am afraid that people will have some ideas. After all, as the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

These Rhodes naturally knew very well, but he was very curious about why Serek would remind himself of this kind of thing, knowing that he didn't have much to do with him......... Could it be that in the previous battle, Serek developed a heart of love?

However, these are all things in the future, and there is only one thing that is most practical in front of Rhodes, that is, the real development of the Starlight Mercenary Group in the future.

The first problem is manpower.

A mercenary group of two people is definitely not good, and indeed, relying on Rhodes' familiarity with this area, it is not difficult to complete some tasks back and forth. However, the lack of manpower means that there is no way to change the formation flexibly. With Rhodes' current staffing, he can only fight undead creatures, and it will be very troublesome if he encounters living creatures. As for those ordinary mercenary tasks, such as escorts, transportation, etc., with their own manpower, no one will be willing to entrust them.

But what kind of people should you hire? At least the cost performance must be drawn......... Judging from the current property in Rhodes' hands, he can only hire one or two more people at most. Good steel should be used on the blade, in case you choose the wrong person, then it is too late to cry.

Sitting in the study, Rhodes frowned and pondered, the large room was a little empty, with nothing but a desk, a few chairs, and a bookshelf. It's a bit shabby, but now it's only possible.

Closing the book in his hand, Rhodes fell into deep memories.

In August of the Year of Radiance——— a year and a half later, the Land of Light investigated and declared that the Night Nation had attacked its border merchant ships, and then they quickly dispatched troops to occupy the mountains of Soragon and take control of the inhabitants there, claiming that they were responsible for the attack on the merchant ships of the Land of Light, and arrested and executed.

Two months later, the Night Nation responded with an army that recaptured the Soragon Mountains, where the Koh-No-Light garrison was wiped out.

Then came the outbreak of all-out war.

Rhodes' Duchy of Moon bore the brunt of the Night Nation's attack, which could have been prevented, but the Council of Light issued an order that forced the Duchy of Moon to stand up to the Night's Blade and Sword. …,

It was the heaviest number of casualties in Rhodes' memory, and the Night Nation sent a powerful army with an average level of nearly eighty, including vampires and bone mages, to deal a devastating blow to the Duchy of Moon, which was catastrophic for players who were no more than forty or fifty at the time. Although quite a few players spontaneously organized themselves and tried to defend their land. But the weak resistance of these players is so powerless in the face of the powerful army of the Night Nation, they die again and again, and they are resurrected again and again, but even this is not able to resist the overwhelming pace of the Night Nation army. At this moment, the Council of Light made a decision that shocked all players——— claiming that the Duchy of Moon was secretly with the enemy and sent troops to attack the Duchy of Moon.

This became the last straw that overwhelmed the Duchy of Moon, which had been crumbling in the storm, and under the attack of both sides, the Duchy of Moon began to retreat, and at this time, the lord of the Duchy of Moon, Lydia. Parfield. Mila. Franlica finally made the decision to send her elite legion, Purple Lily, to escort the player and her people to the port of Trisfia for a retreat.

Rhodes still remembers the scene as they stood beside the long line of refugees, almost every player gritting their teeth and staring at the land behind them. It was not only because of the insult that he was banished by NPCs as a player, but also because of the anger against the idiot council in the Land of Light.

The inhabitants of the Duchy of Moon departed, dressed in tattered clothes and earthy faces, and hurried away.

The players of the Duchy of Moon left, their faces flushed and they roared angrily, "Production team, you play us!" "Death to the game company!" "I'm going to kill those XXs in the council!" , unwillingly left.

Only one person remained.

With the power of an angel, she single-handedly held back the 100,000 armies of the Night Nation, and did not close her eyes until the last ship left the port of Trisfia, and until the last moment she still carried out her vow——— "The king will always stand behind his people, and shelter them from the wind and rain, whether they want it or not."

Then, the anger of the players exploded.

Rhodes clearly remembers that this was the largest outbreak in the history of the Dragon Soul Continent, and in less than a week, hundreds of thousands of players almost swept up the game's official forum. Many people claim that this is a rape of the player's will. More players expressed their resentment with their actions, and one by one, the player guilds appeared, and then they raised the blade of revenge against their compatriots and NPCs in the Land of Light camp. And it was after this that Rhodes finally gave up his attitude that the game was just for fun and began to get serious. After gathering several players who also have a deep hatred for the Land of Light, Starlight is formed. That's for their dignity as players, but also for the rebellion against the game system, and even more out of naked anger and revenge.

And they succeeded.

Under Rod's leadership, Starlight grew stronger and stronger, and then they swept through the Land of Light, completely destroying the Council of Light, and then, sharpening their knives, they launched an attack on another mortal enemy, the Night Nation, and in the end, they also succeeded, even destroying the Night Dragon, known as one of the Five Dragons of Creation. And it was also after this battle that Starlight rose to become the most powerful guild in the entire game, without one.

It can be said that they succeeded and were brilliant. But in Rod's heart, there was always a small voice.

When they eliminated the Council, when they defeated the Night Dragon, Rhodes had thought that if I had this kind of power at that time, would things have changed? Will everything still change?

Rod didn't know what to do, but he knew very well that it was just a dream. The game doesn't roll back, and it's impossible to redo it. He used to think so until he came to this world............ Only then did Rhodes realize that he had another chance to start over and change his fate.

He didn't want to taste that again, and the same humiliation he had suffered as a refugee or as a player would never be allowed to happen to him again.

Before that, Rhodes had thought about whether to try his luck in the Golden City after leaving the Twilight Forest, but when he learned what happened to Lijie, Rhodes changed his mind. Since he could have formed a powerful guild that was powerful enough to completely destroy the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Night, and even to compete with the devils of hell, and finally to kill the Void Dragon, why couldn't he do it again? …,

There is still a year and a half, which is not long or short.

And now, Rode, who has been recognized by the mercenary association and has also obtained a stronghold, finally plans to start a big fight, he wants to recreate his glory here, and this time, he will not let the shame of the year befall him again, which Rod will never be able to tolerate.

Everything is on track, and it's time to start preparing yourself.

Looking out the window at the beautiful scenery of Deep Rock City, Rhodes began to recall in his brain the attributes and skills of the hired NPCs in the game, and then soon after that, Rod made up his mind.

"Lijie."

He stood up and knocked on the table, and soon the girl who had been sitting by the window reading a book heard Rod's call and immediately stood up.

"Let's go to the Mercenary Society."

The mercenary association is still as lively as ever, no different from the previous days, the bored mercenaries sit at the table next to the hall drinking and chatting, and more people crowd in front to take tasks or hand in tasks.

Rhodes quickly found their names on the stone slab on the front of the hall that marked the ranking of all the mercenary groups in the Parfield area, there were a total of thirty-two mercenary groups on the slate, of which Starlight was ranked first from the bottom, and it was also a very eye-catching zero egg in terms of points.

Seeing this, Lijie's expression was a little helpless, although she had seen it yesterday, but when she thought that her mercenary group had fallen from the original middle to the tail, she really couldn't stand it. However, she still took a deep breath and barely calmed down before she spoke to Rod.

"Sir, we're at the bottom of the rankings right now, and we don't have any points......... The other mercenary groups are at least five points, and we'll have to figure out a way to do it. ”

"I know very well."

Rod nodded slightly in response, he looked up at the shang, and soon saw another name - Red Eagle, if Rod is not mistaken, Red Eagle should be the team led by the female mercenary captain that Li Jie knew before, it seems that they are doing well, ranking twenty-first, belonging to the kind of midstream level that does not seek merit, but seeks no fault, neither high nor low, not up or down.

But Rhodes wasn't here for such a trivial matter, he just glanced at it, and then walked to the other side of the hall.

The distribution of mercenary associations is very obvious, the lobby on the left is occupied by the people of the various mercenary groups, and the right is the place where the mercenaries who are idle and unorganized stay. For various reasons, these people did not enter the mercenary group, and could only wait here, either to take on some ordinary tasks, or to wait for the mercenary group to recruit people. Because of this, it was much more deserted than the lobby, and the mercenaries sitting at the table were either chatting with an idle look, or sitting in the corner with a cold face as if someone owed him money.

The appearance of Rod and Lijie attracted the attention of many people, who whistled loudly and greeted the two with a grin. However, Rhodes apparently ignored the meaning of these idiots who didn't even know the gender of the person, and Lijie was already used to this confusion, and just distanced herself from them with a polite and reserved smile, and did not intend to respond. Because she also knows very well that these mercenaries are actually idle and bored and want to have some fun, whether they are angry or happy, their purpose has been achieved, and it will be even more troublesome at that time. It's better to pretend that nothing has happened, so that they don't find it boring and won't come back to pester.

Putting the annoying noise aside, Rod turned his head and looked into the corner next to him, and walked over......

The wine in the glass is still so sweet.

The old man put down the wine glass in his hand, pressed his slightly trembling right hand hard, leaned back on the chair, and stared blankly at the ground. He used to be a member of the Bright Wind Mercenary Group, at that time he was confident, brave, full of hope and vitality, he had thought countless times that he would be able to become the leader of the mercenary group one day sooner or later, leading his subordinates to open up and take risks, this was his hope and his goal.

But after the injury, everything changed.

He no longer has the strength he once had, and those who once admired him have abandoned him, and now? The once glamorous young man has become a poor old fellow who can do nothing but drink to kill his sorrows. Thinking of this, the old man couldn't help but feel sad, he raised his head and glanced at the group of imps around him with contempt. They are so young, they are still dreaming, adventures, beauty, money, fame, what is all this? Everything is meaningless, and when they have lost everything they rely on, what is left of these little ones?

The old man reached out and touched his right eye, which was covered by the blindfold, before raising his glass and trying to get the bartender to have another drink.

And just then, he noticed that two people had come to sit down beside him.

"Walker? Walker. Mr. Dedar? ”