Chapter 303 - 265: Village Defense (1)
Chapter 303: Chapter 265: Village Defense (1)
"Even if they don’t want to give up, they must be in disarray and unable to handle everything at once.
"We can no longer rely on Zhao Quan. From now on, we must take things one step at a time.
"But the problem is, the rebels hold a grudge against us. The road ahead will likely be difficult.
"All of you must be mentally prepared."
The crowd exchanged glances.
They had previously thrown in their lot with the nobles out of necessity, for the very survival of the family.
But it had only been a few days, and the nobles were already driven back.
Now, it seemed the family had once again arrived at a critical juncture for its survival.
Zhao Shizhang spoke.
"Over the course of last night, nearly every county and town in all of Snowfield City was hit by a surprise attack.
"The nobles were too slow to react and must have suffered disastrous losses.
"Next, both the rebels and the Alien Race will surely rush to claim their spoils of war.
"And we... are the spoils.
"Therefore, the situation we face is grim. Everyone must prepare for battle.
"However, we won’t be fighting alone. The Xiao, Qi, and Liu Families, as well as other smaller households, will also be involved.
"Everyone in our Stream Village will resist.
"If it’s just one or two rebel factions, dealing with them shouldn’t be a problem, though we would still suffer considerable losses.
"What we truly fear, however, is the involvement of the Alien Race.
"So, we’ve discussed this with the other Clan Leaders.
"If the rebels invade, our best option is to pay them to leave. If that fails, we will fight back with everything we have.
"If the Alien Race invades, we must do our best to pool our money—as much as possible—to convince them to leave. We must avoid war at all costs, as they may be even stronger than the nobles.
"But don’t worry. The Alien Race is targeting the nobles. They shouldn’t be interested in small families like ours. After all, our resources are meager, and they have better targets.
"Does everyone understand?"
The crowd nodded silently.
Although no one felt good about it, they all understood the logic.
The rebels who fight the nobles are heroes to the common people.
But they were also somewhat hostile toward families of commoners.
Ultimately, however, their strength was relatively low. If they couldn’t be bought off, the only option was to fight.
Besides, there were many different rebel factions.
Most of them didn’t know each other; some were even hostile to one another, rife with internal conflict.
Combined with the widespread instability, the rebels were all busy scrambling for their own gains, making it difficult for them to unite against any single family.
In contrast, the Alien Race’s target was the nobles.
The nobles’ assets and resources were far greater than those of commoner families.
Even if the Alien Race did decide to target families, they would surely go after the major families in the counties and towns.
They wouldn’t come all the way to a village like this to rob a minor family like the Zhaos.
Most people agreed with this analysis.
Zhao Chi, however, had a question.
’What about the Magical Beast quota?’
Before, the nobles had held the line, dealing with most of the Magical Beasts.
But now, with so many nobles dead or injured, there would surely be a surplus of Magical Beasts left unchecked. The situation would be even more severe than the last time.
’Among the rebels, a few factions are actually decent.
’They have real goals, ideals, and even principles of governance.
’But most are just primitive bandits and robbers.
’They have no problem with fighting and killing, nor with robbing and pillaging.
’But getting them to take responsibility and handle a portion of the Magical Beast quota? That would be nearly impossible.’
’And the Alien Race?
’Snowfield City is a Human city.
’The Alien Race are just guests here.
’Expect them to shoulder the nobles’ former responsibilities?
’That’s like asking an outsider to provide for your family. Who would agree to that?
’If no one deals with the surplus of Magical Beasts...
’...they’ll break through the Array and swarm directly into Snowfield City.’
Zhao Chi’s own parents had died during a Magical Beast invasion.
At this thought, Zhao Chi suddenly felt that having the nobles around hadn’t been so bad after all.
They may have oppressed commoners and levied heavy taxes, but at least they fulfilled their administrative duties.
The city could still function normally.
It was, relatively speaking, a time of peace.
’But now...’
Zhao Chi sat in a corner, his mind churning with these thoughts.
The meeting continued.
They discussed battle pairings—who would coordinate with whom, and what level of enemy they would face.
Should they fight alone? Or form teams for group combat?
Naturally, some wanted to fight on their own, while others preferred to work in teams.
Zhao Shizhang said, "Everyone has different specialties and fighting styles, so we won’t force this. As long as you can defeat the enemy and maximize your Combat Power, that’s what matters. You can all confirm your choices in the system later."
Next, the discussion turned to financial contribution ratios.
War, after all, is the ultimate money pit.
Once fighting began, the Loss of Durability alone was a factor that couldn’t be ignored.
A single sword strike would reduce the Durability of the attacker’s blade and the defender’s Armor or Shield.
If 100 Soldiers were deployed, the resulting Equipment Loss from a single battle would be substantial.
If there were casualties on top of that, the losses would be even greater.
Furthermore, there was the risk of defeat.
Defeat would mean losing everything.
All things considered, it was better just to pay them off.
Although Zhao Chi had won two championships and the family had promised to invest resources in his development, for now, everyone still regarded him as just a Junior Lord and didn’t give him much weight.
The discussion was still dominated by the elders and a few of his older clan-cousins.
Zhao Chi didn’t mind.
After some discussion, they finally assigned a contribution percentage to each person.
Zhao Qizong announced, "Alright, I’ve sent the notifications to everyone through the system. Please confirm your choices."
Zhao Chi received a system notification.
[Please Confirm Your Combat Method]
[1. Solo Combat]
[2. Team Combat]
Zhao Chi chose Solo Combat.
For Zhao Chi, dealing with an enemy of the same Level shouldn’t be a problem.
Besides, the upcoming fight would be real combat, not a simulation; he would have to go all out.
Zhao Chi didn’t want to reveal his full capabilities in front of the others.
It was better to fight alone.
Besides, teaming up with others meant being assigned stronger enemies. He was better off on his own.
It was just a choice of combat style; you were meant to pick whichever you excelled at.
[Please Confirm Your Contribution Percentage]
[Your Contribution Percentage is 0.5%]
[Confirm?]
Zhao Chi clicked confirm.
A 0.5% share wasn’t much.
The family currently had 50 Lords. Excluding the temporarily missing Zhao Huai and the others, that still left 47 people.
Split among them, each person’s share wasn’t very large.
Zhao Chi wasn’t short on money, so a 0.5% share was perfectly fine.
Even if the entire family had to contribute 10,000 Gold Coins, Zhao Chi’s share would only be 50 Gold Coins.
That was completely acceptable.
Zhao Qizong nodded. "Alright, I’ve received everyone’s confirmation for their combat method and contribution. If there’s nothing else, you may all return and begin your battle preparations. We are all in this together, and I am certain we can overcome this crisis. You are dismissed."
Everyone rose and began to file out.
They murmured amongst themselves as they left.
Zhao Chi had no time to join their discussion. After all, the situation was perfectly clear.
His main concern was Zhao Huai’s group, but since there was no news of them, he decided not to linger. He needed to get back and craft the Pajamas.
Before he could leave, his Fourth Uncle, Zhao Qiye, suddenly roared, stopping everyone in their tracks.
"Wait! A message from Xiaojiao!"
Xiaojiao was Zhao Jiao.
Everyone immediately stopped and turned to look.
They saw Zhao Qiye standing rooted to the spot, completely still and focused.
It looked like he was listening to a voice message.
Soon, a look of delighted surprise spread across his face.
"This is great! I have news! They’re demanding a ransom!"
Zhao Qizong immediately said, "Qiye, calm down! Explain clearly!"
Zhao Qiye said, "Xiaojiao said she and Zhao Huai have been captured by the rebels! They’re both unharmed for now, but we need to pay a ransom for their release."
Zhao Shizhang asked urgently, "How much? And where do we pay?"
"Five hundred Gold Coins per person! The location is in their territory, and only one person can go. I’ll go!"
Zhao Qizong quickly stopped him. "Don’t be rash! We need to discuss this properly."
But how could Zhao Qiye possibly wait?
After all, Zhao Huai and Zhao Jiao were his children.
Zhao Qiye waved his hand dismissively. "There’s nothing to discuss. I can afford 1,000 Gold Coins. I’m going now."
Zhao Shizhang grabbed his arm. "Something like this must be handled with care. A discussion is essential. Besides, since this is a ransom, the clan should be the one to pay it."
Zhao Qiye sighed, then nodded and fell silent.