Chapter 51: Step 51 to Greatness: It Is Wise To Let Fools Weed The Field
Adrian sliced the meat into thin pieces and hung the last batch of the meat on the racks. The chicken and wolf meat were separated into racks, and surprisingly enough, most of the room was filled with wolf meat. All thanks to the wolf attack last night.
Once everything was properly spaced, he stepped back and placed his hands on his hips. He looked at the hanging meat with a satisfied nod.
"Not bad," he muttered. "Though I will have to hunt more animals."
It was no secret that wolf meat wasn’t exactly suitable to smoke or eat. It had less fat and was gamey. The taste Adrian had on the first night was more than enough for him to not want it again.
Smoking it might help with the taste, but not by much. Once they get proper salt, it would taste much better and could be converted into jerky for traveling rations, which they would do a lot in the coming days.
Other than that, the only use of wolf Adrian could think of was for trading or emergency rations, as he had planned at first.
"Hm... if there are chickens, there should also be boars around, right? I should ask Mika about them. Killing them would be difficult, but they should taste better than wolf meat."
After setting everything, he walked out of the smokehouse and lit the firepit. As soon as he was done, an announcement was made in the global channel.
[Greetings, players and slayers!]
[We hope you have enjoyed the peaceful days of the Savage Earth.]
[However, the peace does not last for long.]
[We hope you’ll enjoy the last day of the novice period.]
[Starting from sunrise tomorrow, your shelters will no longer be protected from monster invasions.]
[Even the docile tribals you’ve gotten used to might turn hostile at the slightest aggression.]
[Be careful! You never know when your next step might be the last.]
Adrian read the notification and was confused. They were living in a protection period? What kind of protection period was it that wolves were casually attacking them at home, even breaking the fence apart? Not just that, both attacks were done by alpha creatures!
"Novice period my ass!"
Adrian’s good mood immediately soured. It wasn’t just him, the entire chat was in an uproar.
<My Wife Left Me For My Dad>: WHAT THE FUCK?! Novice period?! We’ve been getting attacked by all sorts of creatures while gathering supplies this whole time, and you call this NOVICE?!
<Green Tea is My Love>: I only have a shitty stick fence and a half-built hut! How are we supposed to survive monster invasions!?
<A Certain University’s #99 Beauty>: Please... someone from the rankings help us! I’ve only been foraging berries nearby. I don’t even have a proper weapon... I’ll do anything, just protect me!
<xX_DarkSlayer69_Xx>: This is bullshit! We’re all gonna die tomorrow!
<Lonely Virgin Summoner>: Top rankers, please form a rescue team or something! My shelter is just a hole in the ground with leaves on top! I’m begging you!
<Sugar Mommy Wanted>: I’ll be your slave, just let me join your settlement!! I’m level 4, and I can cook!
After reading the last message, a plan formed in Adrian’s head. Sure, it was a shitty situation for most of them, but then he looked around himself.
He had everything one needed in a settlement. Water, food, shelter, and then some. In front of their dilapidated shelters, his settlement was like some imperial castle. A smile appeared on his face.
"This... is actually perfect timing."
He needed three more people to complete the ’Expand your tribe’ part of his advancement quest. And right now, hundreds of scared, desperate players were openly begging for protection and a safe place.
Some were willing to become slaves. Adrian knew that if he sent them a message, given his high ranking, they wouldn’t refuse his offer and willingly sign slave contracts with him.
Heck, they wouldn’t budge even if he had them make the contracts themselves, just like he did with Sera. But Adrian refrained from acting on his thoughts just yet.
"Right now, only those low-level players and those with weak classes are panicking. I don’t have any use for them."
He needed three people who could contribute to the settlement and not be dead weight.
Those with level five or over weren’t sending any messages. How did Adrian know that? Because their levels now showed against their made-up usernames.
When the actual crisis hits, even they would panic. That’s when Adrian would offer them to become his slaves. Once they accepted, he could arrange a meeting and bring them back to the settlement.
As for why he wanted them to sign slavery contracts, it was simple. He didn’t trust strangers, and the easiest way to establish that trust was to have them surrender willingly.
This brought him to another issue.
"I’m not the only one planning for it."
As soon as he said that, the message he had been waiting for finally appeared in the chat.
<Unity Is Da Wae>: [Aid Alliance] recruitment notice! Fellow survivors, as it has been announced, the Novice Period ends at sunrise tomorrow.
<Unity Is Da Wae>: The Aid Alliance offers you safety no one else can! We have warriors, shelters, and resources to share.
<Unity Is Da Wae>: If you are scared, if your shelter is weak, if you don’t want to die, reply "I SEEK UNITY" or send a private message. Our recruiters will guide you safely to our camp. No one will be turned away.
As the saying went, in the face of fear, people would readily give up their freedom for a sense of security. Right now, that was happening in front of Adrian’s eyes.
People who had made fun of the alliance yesterday were now flooding the channel with ’I SEEK UNITY’. Adrian had a feeling this alliance wasn’t as simple as he thought.
"They must have known about it," he muttered. "They started recruiting heavily yesterday because they knew the novice period was ending today. Now they’re acting like saviors to scoop up as many desperate people as possible."
Even though he did not like the alliance, given his meeting with one of their self-proclaimed representative, he couldn’t help but applaud their strategic thinking.
"Turn the crisis into an opportunity to gather free workers and meat shields."
Adrian saw more and more names pop in the chat and smiled.
Was he pissed about the alliance jumping the gun? Absolutely not. If anything, he was grateful to them. This sudden development had just made his own recruitment plans much easier and more effective.
The Aid Alliance was aggressively recruiting every scared, low-level player they could get their hands on. In Adrian’s eyes, they were basically weeding the farm for him.
He would let them gather all the weak players. That way, they would waste their resources feeding and protecting the dead weight.
Then, when the stronger players would need help, they wouldn’t immediately have the resources to poach them. That’s when Adrian would step in and show off a bit.
After all, he didn’t need numbers, but people with talent and potential to grow. However, there was one person he wanted to recruit as soon as possible.
