I Become a Landlady in the Game World

Meanwhile, Zhong Yongnian and his team were gradually approaching Hope Village.

"Our ranking has dropped again," Yun Juncai kept an eye on Barnes Village's territory ranking all the way.

After the first batch of people fled, Barnes Village's ranking had already dropped by more than a thousand and was continuing its downward trend, making it clear that the loss of personnel had significantly reduced Barnes Village's strength.

However, having left a contingency plan in Barnes Village, he naturally paid extra attention to it.

Seeing the ranking of Barnes Village drop by several hundred more, Yun Juncai was certain that the contingency plan he left behind had indeed worked.

Of course, he mentioned this to Zhong Yongnian because he felt that Zhong Yongnian must have also left a contingency.

Upon hearing Yun Juncai's words, Zhong Yongnian glanced at him and asked directly, "What did you do?"

Yun Juncai replied nonchalantly, "Not much, I just left two people there."

And these two people just happened to be former residents of Barnes Village.

"What about you?" Yun Juncai continued, having answered, he expected the other to respond in kind.

Zhong Yongnian smiled, "Same as you, I left someone behind."

But this person just happened to be the captain of one of Barnes Village's mercenary teams, and happened to have a special skill.

The two of them looked at each other, with no need to say anything more.

After all, as long as their objective had been achieved, that was all that mattered.

Watt and the others listening to the conversation felt like their intelligence had just been trampled on in an instant.

What exactly had these two been hiding and doing behind their backs?

Sure enough, they presumed they would find out once they returned to their territory.

The mercenaries and soldier teams from Barnes Village who followed later also noticed Barnes Village's decline.

After realizing this, their expressions were complex; although they had known Barnes Village would be significantly weakened after their departure, they did not anticipate it would weaken so swiftly.

Yet despite their melancholy, deep down, they were quite elated.

Because Barnes Village's weakened state meant one thing: It would be difficult for Barnes Village to hold them accountable for their defection in the future.

"Barnes Village is bound to face disaster this time; if not by us, then by others," Lucian spoke openly to Maimaiti, Pavel, and the others.

Hadn't they left Barnes Village because they saw it as a sinking ship destined for doom?

Now it seemed they had made the right decision.

Barnes Village stood no chance against Hope Village.

"I know, I was just wondering what else Hope Village might have done to Barnes Village," Pavel said directly.

Having fled, he no longer considered himself a part of Barnes Village.

But as they would need to live in Hope Village in the future, he wanted to learn more about it.

Understanding Hope Village was the key to understanding their own new beginning.

"Maybe they're continuing to chip away at them?" Maimaiti suggested on the side, a phrase he had heard from the soldiers of Hope Village.

They had said this venture was all about chipping away, and that it was very successful.

Initially, they didn't understand what "chipping away" meant, but after finding out, they thought the term was quite apt.

Thinking about it, poaching people was the most direct way to weaken Barnes Village's strength in such a short span of time.

What future could a territory have without its people?

"It's hard to imagine they're just a mercenary team from a territory; their strength is truly formidable," Lucian noted with a hint of admiration.

"Their soldier team is also strong, but this time they were responsible for the rear guard, not the main offensive, and most importantly, Hope Village's soldier team is not quite what I had envisioned," Pavel said with a queer look, because the soldier team from Hope Village had divided into two groups during the entire return journey, at the very front and back of the team, as if to protect them.

When did soldier teams from other territories ever protect people?

"They are indeed quite special," Lucian and Maimaiti concurred.

Then, looking at the pondering Pavel, Lucian asked, "Do you plan to continue being a soldier in Hope Village, or will you start your own mercenary team, or even a mercenary group?"

A mercenary group was a level above a mercenary team, requiring at least a thousand members, along with other requirements.