Seeing this prompt, Rod was stunned for a moment, and then reacted.

Have your colony reached the upgrade requirements?

Thinking of this, Rhodes temporarily put down the book in his hand, and then quickly called up the information, and then he saw the latest news about his mercenary group.

Name: Starlight

Scale: Small,

Leader: Rod Elant

Members: 42 people

Location: 1 (Medium)

Level: 1

Prestige: Regional

Facilities: Hall (Lv: 1) Study (Lv: 1) Bedroom (Lv: 1)

I really didn't expect my reputation to be wiped away so quickly.

It was a bit of a surprise to Rod to see the (regional) prestige cue, but he didn't think it was strange when he thought about it. Starlight is indeed the most famous in the Parfield area now, and it is not surprising that the reputation of his mercenary group will increase so quickly when so many things have been spread by himself. In fact, at the beginning, Rhodes didn't think about it in this way, he still subconsciously thought about it with the player's thinking, thinking that only by completing more tasks would it be useful to brush up on reputation. However, there is obviously still a gap between reality and the game.

Thinking of this, Rod clicked on the upgrade task and looked at it carefully.

The mission itself is not complicated, requiring Rhodes to travel to a mountainous area in the middle of the Parfield region to retrieve a "Orb of Mysteries" from the ruins. "Then bring it back, and you can start the upgrade of the mercenary group.

The task was not difficult, but it seemed strange to Rod.

He asked himself that he had done a lot of mercenary group upgrade missions, but he had never encountered such a thing. He knew what the "Arcane Orb" was, it was an ancient relic, but it was mostly used to construct bodies and supply magic technology, and it had nothing to do with the mercenary group itself. In the game, the mercenary group is upgraded when the number of mercenary groups, and after the reputation reaches the requirements, a prompt will pop up directly, as long as the holder has enough money and materials, then it can be upgraded. And those tasks are just icing on the cake, and they have never occupied any center.

But now it's a matter of not being able to level up if you don't complete the task? What kind of truth is this?

With this question in mind, Rhodes took a closer look at this quest again, the location is in the Black Pine Ruins in the middle of the Parfield region, where he has been in the game a few times, it is a very ordinary early dungeon, the only thing that is a little special is that there are task items necessary for the alchemist to change classes, and other professions will occasionally go there to farm a little alchemy materials. The Orb of Mysteries is one of the pieces of equipment produced inside, but Rhodes can swear he'd never remember anything to do with it and the mercenary group's stronghold upgrades.

But now they are related.

Now that the relationship has been involved, Rod can't help no matter how strange it is, he hesitated, and finally accepted the task.

In fact, Rod didn't really want to take on this task, because this is a time-limited task, and it requires Rod to complete it within half a month, which is very tight for Rod now, and he doesn't want to take time out to run the ruins. But in the end, what drove him to take on the task was the most unfortunate task reward. That's when the mission is completed, and when the stronghold is upgraded, you can choose to build a new component, a training ground.

After Rhodes saw the introduction to the "Training Ground" section that "it can simulate the real environment, conduct combat training, and speed up the ascension", he immediately decided to complete this task no matter what. If he really does it, then after building the training ground, he will be sure that his subordinates will conduct more standardized and systematic training, and their strength will be further improved, which is very necessary for Rod. ..., but this time Rhodes didn't plan to bring other mercenaries, after all, it was a very secret matter, and he didn't plan to bring many people with him. Rhodes has already decided, anyway, it is a tenth-level dungeon, and now he is eighteen-level, with his ability to summon swordsmen, there is no problem with a single brush, and it is not good if there are too many people. Of course, in order to ensure that nine out of ten are safe, Rhodes also decided to bring a helper. As for the new mercenaries, let them stay here for the time being and familiarize themselves with the environment. Although the destination is a bit far from Deep Rock City, fortunately, since Rhodes killed the black-robed mage in the Dusk Forest, there has been no news of a merchant ship being attacked in the Wind Road. Now that the waterway from Deep Rock City to other areas has been reopened, you can get there in half a day by taking a floating boat.

With Rod's strength, he will be back in three or four days at most, and he will not delay anything.

"Knock knock."

Just as Rod confirmed the task, a crisp knock sounded on the door, and then the door slowly opened, and Christie's petite figure appeared at the door, she held the door with one hand, and looked up cautiously at Rod sitting at the desk.

“… Rod... It's noon, and everyone is going to eat.......... ”

"Okay, I'll come now."

Seeing the girl's figure, Rod smiled helplessly, then he shook his head, stood up and walked to Christie, and left the study with her.

mm

After coming to Deep Rock, Christy didn't have to work as hard to live as hard as before, and in fact, she couldn't do any heavy work with her physical fitness. In the past, the people of the high cliff didn't treat her as a human being, as long as she could do everything she could, and even let Christy carry the wheat on her back - can you imagine a girl about the height of the sack struggling to grasp the sack with both hands, dragging it forward with all her might, and stopping to cough from time to time?

Of course, Lijie and the others were unwilling to do such a cruel thing, in their opinion, since Christy was out of the sea of suffering, she should enjoy her life to the fullest like an ordinary girl. But Christie, who grew up in a harsh environment, doesn't think so, she feels that she shouldn't enjoy it unconditionally, she has obtained such a beautiful life, everyone loves her so much, and she should try to do something to repay them. Instead of eating and drinking for nothing here.

However, the girl's health was so bad that even asking her to clean the room would be worrying, and in the end, Marlene found Christy a job that wasn't a job - in charge of telling Rhodes when to eat, or asking him when he was drinking tea or going to bed......

Strictly speaking, this is more like a maid's job, but it is still different from a maid, because Christy does not have the physical strength to learn to serve tea and water and clean like a maid...... "Her body was too badly damaged before, and she needs to be slowly conditioned to gradually recover." She now spends most of her time recuperating in her room, and only when it's time to eat and sleep does she leave her room to say hello to Rhodes or say goodnight to him.

Holding Christy's hand, Rhodes soon made his way to the cafeteria on the second floor, where Marlene and Anne were already ready and waiting for their arrival.

Seeing Rhodes arrive, everyone said hello and began to enjoy the delicious lunch on the table.

And it was at this time that Rod spoke his decision.

"I'm going to go out of the city in the next two days, and the mercenary group will be handed over to you for the time being."

"Out of the woods?"

Hearing Rod's words, Marlene, who was holding a piece of bread in her hand, frowned in surprise.

"Where are you going? Mr. Rhodes? Do we want to .......... ”

"No need." ..., Rod shook his head.

"I'm going to the middle of Parfield to do something, I can't say the specifics, I can only tell you, it's related to the stronghold of our mercenary group, I want to improve it, it just so happens that there is a method in front of me, so I'm going to try."

"Do you have to go now?".

Lijie asked curiously as she served Christy the fragrant hot soup.

"Mr. Rhodes, there are so many people from the mercenary group recently, if you are not there...... I'm afraid there may be a problem."

"These guys aren't going to be looking for trouble."

Rhodes shook his head, these mercenaries don't have the courage to make trouble for themselves now, after all, if something happens to them, then it won't be easy for Serek to introduce them here. And Kavos had assured themselves that these mercenaries were trustworthy...... Let's hope that what they say is exactly the same as the truth.

Thinking of this, Rod raised his head and looked at Marlene.

"Marlene, you are in charge for the past few days, if there is any problem, it is not too urgent, press down and wait for me. If it's troublesome, you can solve it yourself. I'm sure you're half-broken."

Hearing Rod's words, Marlene paused, and then she quickly nodded with a serious expression.

"I see, Mr. Rhodes, don't worry, I promise nothing will go wrong."

"That's fine."

After receiving Marlene's answer, Rod nodded in satisfaction, and then he looked at the blonde girl who was sitting cross-legged in the chair and unceremoniously reaching out her hands to stuff food into her mouth.

"Annie?"

"Huh? What about the four? Greedy factory? Woo... Uhhh!!h ”

The girl with her mouth full of oil heard Rhodes call her name, and hurriedly raised her head and replied. As a result, she forgot that she had stuffed too much in her mouth, and she choked on it. The poor girl hurriedly dropped the food in her hand, and at this moment, Lijie hurriedly stood up and gently patted the girl's back, and Christy hurriedly brought a glass of water to Anne.

"Sister Anne, be careful, drink ......... water"

"Woo......, poof, ......, ah!!"

The girl with her mouth wide open finally came back to her senses, and then she hurriedly took the glass of water handed by Christy and drank it in a big gulp, then she wiped her mouth embarrassedly and looked up at Rod.

"Commander, what did you call me for?"

In the face of Anne's inquiry, Rhodes stretched out his hand, pressed his forehead helplessly, and said after a while.

"I want you to go with me this time, you're idle anyway, aren't you?". (To be continued) ......,