Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

"The Lord is coming soon, right?" Xu Ruoguang rubbed his tiny hands together, full of anticipation.

After all, last night's battle had clearly demonstrated to them the distinct hierarchy among the high-end combat forces of this world.

Our Lord > High-Dimensional Demon

High-Dimensional Demon > Elite Executioner of the Arbitration Place

Elite Executioner of the Arbitration Place > Regular Executioner of the Arbitration Place

After all, the young lady who came later performed much better than the first two, which shows there is also a disparity among executioners.

And then there are players like us.

Of course, this ranking system is neither authoritative nor clear.

There might be a difference of ten thousand and eight thousand levels between our Lord and a high-dimensional demon, after all, a one-sided massacre doesn't seem just a little bit of victory.

So this time, the leg we've clung to might just be the ceiling of combat power in this game!

And such a character might... perhaps... possibly, also know some information related to the main-line mission they bear, like, knowing who the Emperor of Mankind is and where he is.

"But the Lord mentioned before that he will only take one for now, and it's okay if he doesn't choose us temporarily. At worst, we'll start as teammates and then become official later," Dai Lian preemptively inoculated the two of them. He was quite satisfied with his two teammates, who at least seemed to have a certain tactical mind, and weren't like the muscle gorilla Kuang Xin.

"Mm... No problem, we have an understanding," Xu Ruoguang said with a bright smile, the very image of a sunny young man.

Not far away, under the midday sun, a figure walked over at a steady pace.

With the boost from last night's achievements, even the three old players who thought they knew their Lord inside out couldn't help but subconsciously hold their breath.

"My Lord..."

"My Lord..."

Bai E's gaze easily swept over them, pausing noticeably on Gu Lan and Xu Ruoguang.

Last night, Bai E had spotted these two unfamiliar new players who were likely brought in as new recruits.

And even to have two at once for him to choose from...

"These two..."

"Are our companions," Dai Lian stepped forward half a step to phrase his words for the critical moment, "They aspire to the Lord's ideals, so they want to follow the Lord's guidance in our glorious pursuits."

"But I already said I only want one..."

With the limited capacity to issue missions, Bai E didn't want those at the same level to feel he was showing favoritism, so it was better to define the hierarchy right from the start.

"That's fine, Lord. They just hope to work behind you, official titles are not important," Dai Lian interjected.

"..."

So sensible...

A visible pleasure flashed in Bai E's eyes as he looked straight at Gu Lan and Xu Ruoguang, "I saw your performance last night, and you did very well."

Even though the unfolding events at the beginning were not witnessed and all he saw was two people struggling to dig trenches in the ruins... Bai E didn't let that stop him from praising them.

Indeed, the approval of the mighty always seems to stir people's hearts more easily.

Even Gu Lan, a lady who had grown up surrounded by luxury and adulation, felt her mood elevate at Bai E's praise.

This game is too realistic, and the Lord before them seemed so high and lofty, praise from someone far above one's own status was always gratifying.

"Thank you, Lord..."

"It's what we ought to do."

"What are your names?"

"Gu Lan."

"Xu Ruoguang."

"Mm," Bai E nodded, still wearing a light smile on his face, his tone calm, "They must have already mentioned to you—due to the current design development policy, our plan will not change to recruit only one core member. One of you is bound to be temporarily unable to learn the organization's core secrets."

While speaking, Bai E's gaze swept over the trio of old players, "Even they, before certain matters are made public, cannot share more core information with you."

"We are aware of it, Lord."

The game's full realism gave them the pleasure somewhat akin to role-playing make-believe. The sense of superiority over their two-dimensional characters also prevented them from feeling truly inferior.

If you really piss me off, I'll just unplug your power!

So, with complete immersion in their role-play, both showed visible anticipation, "So, Lord, if you could consider..."

"You," Bai E said, looking at Gu Lan with a slight smile, "Welcome to 'Dawn'."

In the slight daze of the two, Bai E stepped forward and patted Xu Ruoguang's shoulder with a light-hearted tone, "Don't be discouraged; she is just richer than you."

Under the puzzled gaze of the players, Bai E kept a calm expression, unflustered, "The organization is still in its development phase; a lot of times, we need everyone's effort. Your own social status and wealth can also help the organization achieve its goals more quickly. For this purpose, we sometimes have to learn to compromise."

Whether it was in terms of attire or the weaponry she was equipped with, Gu Lan was clearly not just one notch above Xu Ruoguang.

Not to mention that over the course of a night, her Spiritual Energy had reached the terrifying threshold of 60 points.

The increased power of Spiritual Energy allowed him to sense more about Spiritual Energy-related things—like the small, delicate black pistol that was faintly visible at the root of Gu Lan's thigh.

Clearly, this female player had uncovered more content in the game and had more resources.

With the conversion function of the warehouse, the players' money is the organization's money, and the organization's money is my money...

No problem there.

[The other party invites you to join the faction: Dawn (Prestige Level: 2), do you accept?]

Gu Lan decisively confirmed.

[Yes!]

[Gu Lan has joined your faction.]

Having joined Li Ming, Gu Lan, who had long anticipated the legendary Faction Shop, immediately clicked to enter it.

[Temporary members cannot view the Faction Shop.]

"..."

Huh?

Facing Gu Lan's somewhat blank look, Bai E sipped his lips lightly, "You still need to work..."

Behind him, Kuang Xin, recalling the experiences of himself and others in the past, suppressed a laugh and comforted, "We all came up this way..."

"Let's go, let's check out our secret base."

Arriving at the spacious underground base, it was almost no different from the last time he was here.

Bai E hadn't been here these past two days, and the players had gone out to do tasks.

Turning to see the four people following him, Bai E twisted his head and called out, "Xu Ruoguang, come down."

Looking at Xu Ruoguang, who only came down after being called, Bai E was satisfied with him; the lad was quite self-aware...

Looking at the five people before him, as well as the Rat People and Gilder standing behind them, Bai E knew these were the core members of his group for the time to come.

After a brief moment of calm, he began to speak.

"Last night everyone was here, so you know some unexpected events took place beyond my expectations."

"It happened suddenly, and for the sake of everyone, I had to accept the proposal from the Arbitration Place to take over Black Street from that moment on."

"Of course, even after taking over Black Street, our organization must still and will certainly be divided into 'Light and Dark' sections."

"The Dark Department is the true core of the organization, still centered around this secret base... We always need some cards that others don't know about."

"But we must also do well with what we have promised. Furthermore, our organization will have to surface eventually, and Black Street is not a bad opportunity to test the waters. As our starting point, everyone can freely try without pressure. Should any situation arise, I can cover for you."

At the moment when the faction's reputation level increased to level 2 last night, Bai E received a notification from the panel—

[As the reputation level of the faction you created (Li Ming) has increased to level 2, the number of faction tasks you can issue to members of Li Ming has increased by 1, the total number of faction tasks you can now issue is 2.]

The previous faction task was to build the underground base, and Gu Lan, having joined the organization, automatically accepted it without needing to say more.

And now...

[Generating mission description automatically...]

[Side Mission—Black Street Protection (Combat-Type Task): Black Street is now your turf, and it's a just cause to defend the Order on your own ground. You need to maintain all the established Order within the "Black Street" area, and when outsiders initiate unjust "aggressive actions" against the original residents of the territory, you must step in to protect them. Successful defense will earn rewards, while failure will also incur punishment. (This task can be executed by up to five people jointly)

Task requirements: Maintain Black Street Order for the day 0/1 (Daily), Resolve external conflict incidents 0/??? (Extra).

Task rewards: Daily (Each Day): General Experience ±50~100 points (adjustable), Faction Contribution *10; Extra (Each Incident): General Experience 100~200 points (adjustable), Faction Contribution *10~???.]

(Note: "Auto-complete" allowed; after confirming the commission, "permissions" and "expenses" will be deducted and locked.)

[Do you want to issue the current task?]

Faction tasks are not subject to the permission restrictions of individual task issuances, and the type doesn't matter.

Bai E maximized the range of adjustable rewards and chose to issue the task.

"From now on, Black Street will be the place we all need to protect together. The specific public order regulations will be arranged by Gilder, and what you need to do is... to protect this Order."

As faction members, the task was automatically accepted.
Experience more tales on empire

The four players, upon understanding the task description, immediately felt their blood boiling with excitement.

Maintaining the basic Order... is the same as doing nothing, and they would earn a net of 100 general experience points and 10 faction contribution points per day.

If there's trouble caused by outsiders, they would need to take action, gaining 200 general experience points and an unknown amount of faction contribution points for each incident.

Isn't this a skyrocketing opportunity?

The trio knew all too well how difficult it had been to earn faction contribution points before; without taking any action, they would definitely not make any.

And now, as long as there's no trouble, they would have contribution points credited daily even while lying down, not to mention the "surprises" they'd get for each incident where they repel outsiders causing trouble in Black Street.

Awesome!

The expansion of the organization indeed affected their own benefits, and if the organization's influence were to expand further in the future, the benefits they could receive as members of the organization were simply unimaginable.

For Gu Lan, it was an even bigger surprise.

She had heard from the trio about their ways of earning contribution points—starting from construction work, which was somewhat torturous for her.

And now, upon joining, she had a "basic guarantee" to rely on, soon able to earn enough contribution points to learn many skills they talked about.

This organization is brilliant!

Only Xu Ruoguang was anxiously watching the four elated players, fidgeting like ants on a hot pot, but without an explanation, he could only look upset, "Did I miss something..."

Bai E looked at the four with a smile, waiting for them to digest the new task.

The future of Black Street was unclear to him as well.

Whether this job was tough or leisurely, who knew?

As the four gradually calmed down and looked back at him, Bai E chuckled before speaking.

"There's one more thing."