After circling around Mei Qian's territory, Liu Yuan was completely hopeless.
Even a slum might have better conditions than this place.
"Boss, how do you think the environment here is?"
Mei Qian rubbed his hands expectantly, waiting for Liu Yuan's guidance.
Someone who could casually give away a butchering knife had to be a god-tier player.
And for a god-tier player, building a territory should be a piece of cake, right?
Although he'd never seen Liu Yuan's territory, deep down Mei Qian was sure it had to be far better than his own.
Don't be fooled by the proud look on his face when introducing it—he knew perfectly well how lacking he was.
"God forsaken. There's no saving it."
Liu Yuan rolled his eyes, completely blunt.
"Don't! Boss! I think I can still salvage it! I'm just a little short on people, a little behind on equipment, and the infrastructure's a little primitive…"
"But I've got you, Boss! I think I can still turn it around. After all, it took me and these refugees more than ten hours yesterday to build this place." Mei Qian pleaded.
A little?
This wasn't a little issue—this was a disaster!
Forget comparing it to the bustling Ping City.
Even the cooking camps Liu Yuan stayed in before were miles better than this place!
Liu Yuan frowned, his gaze scanning over the entirety of Mei Qian's territory.
Before long, a refugee came rushing over, stopped beside Mei Qian, and whispered a few words.
As he listened, the bitterness on Mei Qian's face deepened. He looked at the refugee, then glanced at Liu Yuan nearby, and sighed.
"Forget it. There's still some food in the granary. Go get it and distribute it to everyone."
"If anyone truly doesn't want to follow me anymore, they can leave freely. No need to run off in secret."
Mei Qian took a key from his sleeve and placed it in the refugee's hand.
The refugee clutched the key tightly, face full of gratitude, and dropped to his knees with a thud:
"Sir, don't worry! You saved our lives—we'd never betray you or run away."
"If I see that bastard Gou Dan again, I swear I'll twist his head off and bring it to you as an apology!"
Mei Qian nodded with satisfaction and waved his hand to dismiss him.
Once the NPC left, Liu Yuan looked at Mei Qian with a strange expression. "Someone ran off?"
He'd seen plenty of complaints on the forums about NPCs having low loyalty and constantly trying to flee.
He just didn't expect to witness it firsthand.
Mei Qian nodded, his face full of guilt.
With a sigh, he said, "Yeah… that was the second one."
"Damn those bandits! If I had more strength, if I was higher level, I'd have wiped them out by now!" Mei Qian cursed bitterly.
He had put real effort into building up this territory.
But unfortunately, just as his land was starting to develop, he found out there was a small bandit camp just a few miles away.
Those mountain bandits had a terrifying reputation, occupying precious resources and even threatening the safety of Mei Qian's refugees whenever they went out to forage or hunt.
It was their presence that had stunted the growth of his territory.
"Bandits?"
Liu Yuan's eyes lit up at those two words. "How big is the group? What's their strength like?"
Since switching classes, he hadn't had a chance to go all-out.
Not that he didn't want to—it was just that he hadn't found the right target.
Now, here it was.
A perfect punching bag, gift-wrapped by Mei Qian.
"About thirty men. The leader's a level 4 mountain bandit chief. Heard he used to be a deserter from Ping City's army and now he's holed up in the mountains, causing trouble."
Mei Qian replied. He had already done his homework on the enemy.
"And the rest?" Liu Yuan asked.
"They're mostly level 1 or 2 grunts."
That weak?
You can't even take down enemies that weak?
Seriously—Liu Yuan figured he could've soloed that place even before his class change.
But when he looked back at the skinny refugees inside Mei Qian's territory, he held his tongue. He just patted Mei Qian on the shoulder.
"No worries. It's just a little bandit den. Come on, I'll help you crush it!"
"Crush it?"
Mei Qian's previously dull eyes instantly lit up, staring at Liu Yuan with disbelief and excitement.
Liu Yuan nodded and grinned. "Let's go! What're you standing around for?"
Mei Qian quickly nodded. "Boss, wait a sec—I'll go rally the men."
"I won't claim they're strong, but I've got eight guys under me. Weak as they are, they're still a bit of help."
"No need." Liu Yuan waved him off, but after a moment's thought, nodded anyway. "Fine, let them come—but tell them to head out half an hour later."
"Half an hour?"
Mei Qian looked puzzled.
"By the time they get there, we'll already have taken care of business. They can just clean up the battlefield. Can't expect me to do everything, right?"
Mei Qian shook his head quickly, then nodded even faster.
He turned around and waddled off toward the refugee shelters, bouncing with excitement as he went to give orders.
Roughly fifteen minutes later, he came running back, face flushed with joy. On his head was a wooden bucket, his body draped in armor made of dried bark, and in his hand was the butchering knife Liu Yuan gave him.
"What the hell is this…"
Liu Yuan pointed at the bucket and bark armor.
"Bandit slaying gear! Oh—you mean the helmet and armor?"
"These are masterpieces crafted by my men. This helmet gives me +0.1 defense, and the armor adds +0.5!"
Liu Yuan: …
The hell kind of helmet and armor are those?!
Fine. If they give a stat boost and make you happy, knock yourself out.
Liu Yuan rubbed his temples. This guy was giving him a headache.
"Lead the way."
"Got it!"
Mei Qian responded and led Liu Yuan out of the territory, heading toward the forested area southeast of the valley.
After walking for about an hour or two, Mei Qian started to slow down, crouching low and darting his beady eyes around.
"Boss, we're in the bandit territory now."
Liu Yuan nodded. "Mm. Take me to their base."
Mei Qian didn't respond right away. Instead, he showed a troubled look and lowered his voice. "Um… Boss, I don't actually know where their base is."
Liu Yuan: …
His mouth twitched. He wanted to grab a big sword and chop this fat idiot in half.
He was so eager when talking about taking down bandits.
But now?
You don't even know where the hell they are?!
"Fatty, you messing with me?"
Liu Yuan narrowed his eyes, his tone full of dissatisfaction.
"No, Boss! I swear! I don't know where their base is, but I do know they have a stronghold. There are people there!"
"Where?"
"One li west of here, there's an abandoned iron mine. That's where they're holed up."
{One li is roughly equals to 500meter.}