World Conquest Online

"So, let’s move on to how the different Campaigns have been progressing?" Dom asked the group.

"Actually, let’s discuss Riverside’s development first." Lucius replied, putting his hand up in apology, "I just think it is worth us visiting the Map Room for the next bit."

"I agree with the Mayor." Subutai laughed, "Our Maps have grown slightly."

"I don’t know if I should be happy or scared." Dom replied with a laugh, looking at Subutai who now had a wide grin on his face.

"You are already aware of the farming and now the growth of the Blacksmith District within the Manufacturing District. Our population in Riverside is now over eight thousand." Lucius explained, before turning to Xun Yu for confirmation, who nodded his head in response. "All of these are housed either as a family unit or in a building of multiple occupancy, no one is in tents anymore."

"The Manor district is also being built up quickly, we had slowed this down to catch up with our building of housing. Now that we are up to date, we have been able to built eight manors." Hatshepsut explained.

"I claimed the first one, I need to grow my Zoo. You should come and visit, I have purchased some exotic animals." Crassus laughed, "But in seriousness, we have prioritised families in houses and singular people in the multiple occupancy houses. I believe we could use this to promote relationships, as those who are in one can be given a house easier."

"I agree." Shang Yang stated, "We are also currently giving away free housing, but now that we have currency flowing, prices will be added in the future so people will purchase houses. If we can promote birth and marriage by granting entry level houses to couples, I think it could bring a lot of benefits."

"We also plan to sell plots of land between the three Towns, so that people can build their own when they get to a certain financial stage." Lucius added, "It will allow people to follow their own dreams. The current Manor’s are all built within the City limits, however I personally want to build mine in the Farm District."

"I agree completely." Hatshepsut agreed, "So far the Manor’s are for Heroes and then rewards for key Civilians such as Lars and Wang Shu. Eventually everyone should have these opportunities."

"I will leave that with you all." Dom replied, not overly stressed on where people lived. For him, they were houses for his Civilians and Warriors, but they were game characters and where they chose to build those houses wasn’t something he could totally understand. "Hatshepsut is in charge of all building across our growing Kingdom, so I will leave that with you."

"I will work with those around me to make sure we have the best Kingdom that we can." She replied honestly. "Other than the Manor’s now being built and all Civilians in housing, everything is progressing as planned. We have been working on a sewage system, as well as ways to get clean water to people’s houses without the need for Wells or travelling to the River. Hua Tou has been pushing for cleanliness to reduce risks of disease, so we are working with him on solutions for that."

Dom had heard both Ou Yezi and Hua Tou mentioned, both of them had increased their responsibilities and he wondered if they had upgraded as Gu Kaizhi did when he increased his own. He decided to check with the system, but thought it best to wait until he had finished here first.

"That’s great all, thank you." Dom said, "Shall we move to the Map Room then?"

...

They arrived in the Map Room that was ow on the second floor, Hatshepsut had left them as they walked, where Xun Yu, Crassus, Shang Yang and Lucius stayed to support Subutai with his explanations.

"I’ll start with the simple ones, and then get in to the more complex ones." Subutai smiled, heading towards the East Coast where Serenity was now based. Dom could see that the land between Serenity, the Northern Mountain and then connecting to Tongpai Town was now completed, where as in the past it was a blank space. "Sun Ce has been working tirelessly with Artemisia on training the new Ships, as well as working with Hua Rong to train the new Warriors that arrive, before they are dispatched to their units. Working with myself and Xun You, we have also built a temporary forward fort to the East of Tongpai Town, where we plan to build a future Town ourselves. Sun Ce dispatched Hua Rong to that location and he has been working with a forward unit to scout it."

"You can see the results of the scouting quite clearly here, and here." Crassus explained as he pointed at the new blocks that had been filled in during Dom’s absence. "We sent ships north to the large cliffs and mountains that separate us from the north. Hua Rong has explored inland and we are clearly defending by both Tongpai Lake and the Northern Mountain."

"The land in between is mainly a combination of wetlands and beaches on the shore, with lush grasslands and a secluded section of the Silver Forest filling the rest beneath Tongpai Town as we were aware." Subutai continued, "Overall it is a great place to expand and easily defendable if we build the Northern Town as planned. I do believe it may also be worth building a separate Military Port Town beneath the Northern Mountain, or expanding our current plans for the Town to cover from Tongpai Town to the Sea, but that is a lot of land for one City."

"We are not at the current size to be able to expand to that level yet unfortunately." Shang Yang lamented, "But the Northern Mountain is a key location to defend us from the North. Subutai and Xun You have been working on plans to build a mountain pass to promote trade, whilst securing it defensively."

"It is great that all of this land is explored now, I can easily see at least three locations just on the outer rim for us to build a new Town. Hopefully as we expand we can have natural forming Towns, not only ones generated by Town Cubes." Dom replied honestly as he looked at the Map, noting the locations that Subutai had mentioned, as well as the former location of Tongpai Town. There was also space for a Town near the Wetlands and even one in the location of the grasslands. The land covered was immense and Dom worried if they would be able to expand in to it fast enough.

"If you are impressed by that, the south will scare you." Subutai teased, "I expect you want to hear about Gan Ning and Tomyris first though?"

"I definitely want to hear about them, even though the south does look interesting." Dom replied, looking at the huge expanse that the south now covered. He gulped internally, looking at all of the new markers that flooded the southern part of the large room they were in.

"Tomyris headed north as planned and met Gan Ning at the Mountview Fort. As you can see, the whole West and Northern River’s edges have been covered. Most of the Forest has also now been explored as you can see, with just one singular cube missing." Subutai explained, as the curved edge of the Calm River from Riverside all the way in a large curve to Tongpai Town and all in between was now shown. "The key findings from Tomyris were when the mountain was explored, teams have climbed it and several caves and cave systems have been found. For now these have been blocked, but she is planning to do a deep exploration of them soon. Our key issue is the lack of lighting and risking unnecessary danger to her men."

"I can understand that, there were some glowing stones in the Underground Ancient City that we discovered, can these be repurposed?" Dom asked, wondering if there was anything worth discovering in the caves, or if they were just caves.

"That is the plan." Xun Yu explained, "But it hasn’t been the priority, our team of experts who are based at the Library have been working through solutions to a lot of the problems."

The team at the Library was most of Dom’s Elite Villagers, who had a wide range of knowledge and high levels of intelligence. He still hadn’t visited the Library properly, and he planned to do it when he got chance.

"Gan Ning has done a large amount of the Forest Exploration, they have been travelling in a particular pattern so no aspect can be missed. The last section has been scouted from long distance, but we believe this is the location of the missing City from the Map. He and Tomyris are currently planning this campaign, which is why Xun You is with them." Subutai continued, "If we get chance, it may be worth us travelling north to see them tomorrow. Guo Sheng and Lu Fang have also integrated well in to their units and both Gan Ning and Tomyris have been full of praises of the two."

"I would be glad to do travel north tomorrow and get involved." Dom agreed, happy that nothing else had been discovered of worry in his absence and that the final part of securing the north of his new Kingdom was about to be complete.

"Once we have explored this last area and built the planned Towns as discussed, we can claim this as our area for the Kingdom." Lucius explained, mirroring Dom’s thoughts. "But first, we need Town Cubes, more Population and more Warriors. Once we have decided on our Southern Land, we will be in a great place."

"We have two Golden Tokens to use, hopefully we can solve some of our problems with them." Dom replied, his mind thinking. "Before we move on to the Southern Campaign, I need to let you know that whilst I was gone, I discovered that Song Jiang and a large amount of his Bandits have arrived in this World."

"Song Jiang from the Halberd Twins mission?" Subutai asked, his hand on his chin as he thought.

"There is no guarantee that it is the same one, but based on what we know about him and his Bandits, it is very likely." Dom replied, all of the Heroes present were aware of everything that had taken place, as the Hierarchy of Riverside made sure to share as much information as possible so that everyone could plan together.

"Then what about Rameses?" Subutai followed up, his mind following a similar pattern to Dom’s when he discovered the information. Subutai had no worry about Song Jiang and his forces, confident that they could be destroyed, but Rameses was a different type of person.

"I don’t know, but it’s a possibility." Dom explained, as he opened his arms wide and shrugged.

"This is alarming news, it means that the approach in these Quests needs to be thought about more thoroughly." Shang Yang stated seriously, "If that is the case, these can bring additional benefits and risks to us. The second is what makes me worry."

"If it is the case, this does give us possibilities to solve some of our issues though." Lucius interrupted, "Meritamen could request both Population and Warriors from her father. We could request it as part of the bridal package."

"We did steal his gold and his prisoners. He may also think we stole his daughter, things were left a bit ambiguous." Subutai interceded, "There is also no guarantee of loyalty."

"There never is guarantee of loyalty and we also do not know how far they are from us." Xun Yu added.

"Or if they are here at all?" Crassus finished, "Let’s deal with today’s problems now, and tomorrow’s problems in the future."

"Before we move on, if that is the case. I wonder if anything extra from our area has arrived?" Xun Yu queried.

"It also comes to the question of how much of that area. If it’s just the location at the time, then it’s very different. But if it is a wider scope, it can bring a lot of new variables." Shang Yang agreed.

"I’ll task Crixus with spreading his ears a bit further." Crassus put forwards, "If he can extend to some other nearby large Cities and Kingdoms, then we may get a better intelligence network."

"I think that is an area we need to invest in." Xun Yu agreed, "Intelligence is the biggest winner in wars. Sun Tzu once said, if you know your enemies and you know yourself, then you do not need to fear the results of a hundred battles."

"If you know neither the enemy or yourself, then you will succumb in battle." Shang Yang finished.