Chapter 42 – The Great Recruitment Day

That night, Mu Yuan carried Deadbone and Bone Two within his mark, wore an Amulet, and carried a Mystic Crystal Lamp in his bosom as he cautiously took a detour back home.

He encountered no ambushes.

Mu Yuan felt relieved, though for some reason, there was a faint trace of regret.

An illusion! He loved peace above all else.

Upon returning home, Mu Yuan immediately turned on his computer. The supplies sent to the territory not long ago had already been moved by Deadbone to the dilapidated hut serving as a Warehouse, protecting them from sun, wind, and rain.

Deadbone not only stationed several Skeleton Soldiers to guard the hut firmly but also kept watch personally, ensuring no fly could sneak in—especially guarding against a certain greedy Slime.

“Gurgle? Gurgle!”Its large body swelled, its big eyes turning into (▼ヘ▼#), but seeing Deadbone unmoved, it could only bounce away to find food on its own.”

Mu Yuan walked to the Warehouse, first taking out all the Remnant Souls, then looked around.

“It really is too shabby. Skeletons have no craftsmanship; no matter how much they patch it up, there are holes and cracks everywhere. Fortunately, from today onward, we’ll have a proper warehouse too.”

Carrying these Remnant Souls, Mu Yuan went to the Lord Altar outside. He first recruited Little Skeleton, Slime, and War Falcon one by one.

“Ding!”

“Prompt: You have consumed 10 one-star Remnant Souls and 50g of Soul Sand to recruit 10 units of ‘Little Skeleton’.”

“Prompt: … You have recruited 10 units of ‘Slime’.”

“Prompt: … You have recruited 1 unit of ‘War Falcon’.”

…

Little Skeletons, ragged and staggering in their walk, emerged one after another from the recruitment glow.

As soon as they steadied themselves, they were pushed off the Altar by the Slimes bouncing out behind them.

The newly recruited War Falcon, surrounded by a group of Slimes, let out choked chirping sounds.

Mu Yuan: “…”

He continued the tradition of veterans guiding newcomers: skeletons guiding skeletons, Slimes guiding Slimes, and War Falcons guiding War Falcons, thus assigning each unit accordingly.

“With this, my territory now has…”

45 units in the skeleton series.

Among them: 1 Skeleton General, 2 Skeleton Warriors, and 18 Skeleton Soldiers.

15 units in the Slime series.

Among them: 5 Large Slimes.

2 War Falcons and 1 War Falcon.

“With 15 Slimes, Dolai’s daily Evolution Point output has reached 6 units. Tomorrow, we can try evolving Dolai to make its role as the transport captain more fitting.”

“As for the skeleton series… Currently, Skeleton Soldiers are the backbone, practical for patrols, guarding, and exploration. Even without evolving all of them, we can round it up… to 30. It’s also worth evolving a few more Skeleton Warriors.”

Skeleton Warriors, capable of both melee and ranged combat, may not be top-tier among rare one-star units, but they are quite versatile.

And rare one-star units are already the peak combat strength for outstanding newcomers at this stage; even spenders would pride themselves on recruiting just one.

As for evolving Deadbone?

Deadbone’s next evolution stage requires 125 Evolution Points, which cannot be gathered in a short time. Forcing it would only slow the pace.

Currently, Deadbone’s task is cultivation, to raise its Rank.

High-tier units also need sufficient ability to unleash their potential.

After roughly finalizing the plan, Mu Yuan looked at the remaining twenty Remnant Souls.

Sentinels and Archers.

Their numbers were destined not to be as high as Little Skeletons or Slimes, and their Evolution Point output would be weaker than these two, but they could still become the core combat strength of the future territory.

It was time to welcome new unit types.

My turn, recruit!

“Ding!”

“Prompt: You have consumed 10 two-star Remnant Souls and 100g of Soul Sand to recruit 10 units of ‘Sentinel’.”

“Prompt: You have consumed… same as above… to recruit 10 units of ‘Archer’.”

The rules of heaven and earth descended, shaping one Remnant Soul after another.

Like warriors who fell on ancient battlefields, they returned with unyielding will, picking up their weapons again, stepping onto the battlefield to fight for the world.

The first to step down from the Altar were the Sentinels.

They had relatively robust bodies, holding a large shield half a person’s height and a Spear, wearing a full set of blue-gray armor.

However, perhaps because they were two-star units, the armor looked rather ordinary, with gaps at many joint connections, and the helmet seemed somewhat thin, but…

This setup was still quite luxurious.

Thinking of the ragged Little Skeletons with only a rusty Machete, the unequipped Slimes and War Falcons… Mu Yuan felt that indeed, the Human Race units were extravagant.

This setup might even be higher than that of Skeleton Soldiers.

Next came the Archers. Compared to the Sentinels, the Archers’ equipment was simpler, wearing only basic leather armor that outlined their strong or full figures. They held longbows, with quivers full of arrows on their backs.

The twenty units lined up for inspection.

Like Little Skeletons and Skeleton Soldiers, newly recruited units had no intelligence, their eyes filled with dullness, not even the clarity of foolishness.

But compared to Skeleton Soldiers and Slimes, these Human Race units had something different…

They had individual variations!

Perhaps skeletons and Slimes had them too, but Mu Yuan was face-blind and couldn’t tell. With these Sentinels, he could see differences in the parts of their faces not covered by helmets, and slight variations in height and build.

The Archers had even greater individual differences.

Because…

Looking at several Archers with shoulder-length short hair and clearly curved figures, Mu Yuan fell into thought.

Female Archers?

Indeed, there were many female unit types, such as nuns, priestesses, female musketeers, witches, and elf-type units were mostly female, but…

“Well, it’s not like normal unit types can’t have females.” Maybe there are females among skeletons and Slimes; I just can’t tell.”

Mu Yuan looked at the Little Skeletons without armor, stared for over ten seconds, but still couldn’t identify anything, so he turned his gaze back to the Archers.

Don’t misunderstand; he was just curious.

So, he grouped the male and female Archers and conducted comparative tests.

He found there were indeed differences: male Archers were relatively stronger and had slightly longer range, while female Archers were slightly more accurate.

The differences were small, after all, they were the same unit type.

“Now, I have a total of 83 units. If all cultivate at full capacity, they’d consume eight to nine hundred Soul Sand per day, which is a bit much.”

“Besides, my Evolution Points are limited; I must prioritize cultivating a few outstanding individuals. The others…

They were just ruthless Evolution Point producers.

So, how to screen for excellent individuals worthy of resource investment?

Mu Yuan entered the Taixuan Forum, input the access code, and began searching for information.

Soon, he found what he needed.

“The difference in base attributes among the same unit type is so minimal it can be ignored. Obsessing over whether a unit is slightly stronger or weaker at Rank 1 is meaningless.”

“When screening for excellent units, there’s only one consideration—the unit’s growth potential.”

“How to screen for units with high growth potential? First, look at their intelligence. Units with awakened intelligence are certainly worth heavy cultivation. Of course, that’s stating the obvious; intelligent units are rare and not something newcomers should expect—you might not get one even after hundreds of recruits.”

“So, do ordinary, dull-witted units have individual differences? Of course, they do.”

“There are many methods for judgment and screening, most not suitable for newcomers. Here, I’ll introduce one that everyone can use, simple and fast… leveling up.”

“Gather ten, twenty, or a hundred units of the same class, give them Soul Sand, and let them start cultivating simultaneously. The unit that breaks through to Rank 2 the fastest is the one with the best ‘Aptitude,’ and this superior Aptitude often manifests not just in faster leveling.”

“Don’t worry about wasting resources with this selection method; there’s no waste. Units level up quickly and consume little Soul Sand in the early stages. Even the lowest-tier units won’t be a loss after leveling up a few times… even weak Little Skeletons have decent combat power after reaching Rank 4.”

This method seems quite simple, doesn’t it?

The first Sentinel and Archer to level up will receive the power of evolution.

He silently noted.

“Sentinel series Evolution Points: 0.13”

“Archer series Evolution Points: 0.13”

(End of Chapter)