Global Game: Developing a Knight Clan

Chapter 454 - 75: Players Gather, Battle of the Border (2)

Furthermore, if we assume an average rank of Sergeant for a squad of soldiers, and an average rank of Second Lieutenant for ten squad leaders, a standard team could earn a base of 3,000 distributable Merit Points every hundred days.

It’s easy to see why, in this world, the standardized war game mode arranged by the True Game for its Players could also be called a "volunteer recruitment model."

The more soldiers a Player recruited, the greater their potential for promotion and the more rewards they would naturally receive.

Within a year, Yue Xin had naturally long since filled his recruitment quota for soldiers.

After all, wars between the various Kingdoms were frequent due to the Black Prison Race, so the slave market was highly developed.

In this world, an individual could even obtain an honorary title of Nobility through donations, as long as they had enough money.

Of course, the rulers of this world were no fools.

The established Nobility, in particular, took measures to prevent those who bought their titles from threatening their standing.

Therefore, merchants or individuals who became Nobility through donations could, at most, obtain the status of a Baron with actual authority.

However, most could only obtain the title of an honorary Baron. The status of a Baron with actual authority couldn’t be obtained with money alone; it required the sponsorship of at least three of the Kingdom’s Viscounts with actual authority and even a strict identity review.

In short, it was a problem that money alone couldn’t solve.

An honorary Baron, however, possessed very few privileges.

For example, they had no fief and no right to command troops.

In return, their noble status was recognized, granting them the right to purchase a property of up to 100 mu to establish a Baron’s Mansion, as well as tax exemptions on certain commercial rights.

At the same time, the Baron was permitted to employ up to five hundred servants or slaves.

They could even form their own personal guard, but this detail could not exceed fifty men.

Furthermore, once established, the guard had to be registered with the local noble holding actual authority and be ready at any moment to answer the summons of local Nobility or the Royal Family to join any future wars.

In short, the position of an honorary Baron was of dubious value.

Therefore, even when people donated for an honorary title, most would not bother to establish their own honorary Baron’s Mansion.

After all, most who donated for the title were merchants interested only in the tax exemptions on commercial rights.

Of course, this didn’t stop some nouveau riche individuals within the Kingdoms from donating to become Nobility and establishing their own mansions.

Overall, however,

this world’s policy on donations was quite advantageous for Players.

Take Yue Xin, for example. By making a donation in a border city, he had established his own Baron’s Mansion under the authority of a Viscount.

Since the role Yue Xin was playing was that of a Commoner from a local village, he didn’t encounter any major issues during the vetting process.

His story of having accidentally unearthed a chest of treasure was enough to complete the donation process for his honorary title of Baron.

In fact, thanks to some clever maneuvering on Yue Xin’s part, the local Viscount had even gladly sold him a piece of his own territory on which to establish his mansion.

Thus,

after a year and a considerable expenditure of money on Yue Xin’s part,

the construction was finally completed not long ago.

And since he had already purchased five hundred slaves to serve as servants early on, he also successfully formed his hundred-man team within that year.

Most of the men in this hundred-man team were soldiers who had been captured in the various small-scale wars waged annually by neighboring countries.

Many of these soldiers were disabled, suffering from internal injuries and serious illnesses.

Otherwise, Yue Xin never would have had the chance to purchase them.

After all, following the frequent small-scale wars between the Kingdoms, the best of the captured soldiers were always snapped up by the Nobility of the victorious Kingdom.

It was only natural that only the rejects were left over.

But no matter how severe the internal injuries or illnesses, as long as they weren’t missing limbs, Yue Xin naturally had ways to heal them at a minimal cost.

Therefore, after healing these slaves and earning their overwhelming gratitude, it was a simple matter to screen them for loyal soldiers.

Using his authority to distribute the True Game’s team and logistical rewards, Yue Xin successfully trained over fifty Apprentice Knights and more than ten Apprentice Mages within that year.

Even more impressively, the three with the best aptitude successfully reached Entry Tier after undergoing the infusion ritual with a Low Tier Bloodline Potion.

As one could imagine, in a world with no Transcendents but which was effectively at a Mid Magic Level, the Power he now wielded was enough to control an entire city, even if it wasn’t enough to conquer a Kingdom.

But obviously, no Player at this stage would do such a thing.

After all, the enemy of every Player was not the mortals of this world, but the unseen Black Prison Race.

To prevent individual Players from destabilizing the situation,

the True Game even placed strict limits on their actions. Players were forbidden from actively attacking the ’Neutral Faction,’ which referred to the forces of the Human Race in this world.

They were also forbidden from any public displays of their Extraordinary abilities.

Even when retaliating, all actions had to be conducted in secret.

If widespread, public discussion of Extraordinary phenomena occurred in a region, or if it attracted the attention of a High Tier Black Prison Clan, the Players in that area would face the worst possible reward settlement.

In severe cases, all Players within a city-designated region could face the penalty of having their Player status revoked entirely.

Alternatively, all Players in the affected area might be forced to leave their original region and live incognito for at least half a year.