Su Ye looked at his private messages, continuously clearing some of them; since he was in the Void Trial anyway, he treated it as a way to pass the time.
As one message was cleared, another appeared before Su Ye.
[Qing Wu Fei Xue: Hello, I have artisan-type troops. Can we chat privately?]
Su Ye looked at this message with a strange look in his eyes; finally, someone wasn't immediately asking which great family he belonged to or which Great Merchant Guild he was the heir of.
Su Ye directly opened the private chat and replied.
[Otherworld Traveler: I just saw your message. Do you have time? If so, we can talk.]
In a certain territory, a girl wearing black glasses who looked rustic and carried a timid aura was looking helplessly at the troops in her territory.
Tier 10 troops: Hill Giant.
These giants belong to one of the branches of the Golden Giants. They are skilled at forging weapons and equipment and have decent combat power. However, the only problem is their massive appetite and their addiction to alcohol.
This had led to Tang Wuxue being unable to guarantee her daily income.
Even her Void Trial difficulty had always remained at the Hard level. Given the strength of Tier 10 troops, passing a higher level of the Void Trial should have been no problem at all.
Especially for a powerful Tier 10 troop like the Hill Giant; among Tier 10 troops, Hill Giants belong to the strongest tier.
This is the trouble a lord encounters: insufficient food leads to a continuous drop in troop loyalty, and failing to satisfy the troops' preferences also causes loyalty to decline.
So far, Tang Wuxue had exhausted her entire fortune just to feed the eight hundred giants in her territory, and that was without even completing her daily recruitment.
Otherwise, whether these giants could even get a full meal would be a question.
She now had only one path left: to find a powerhouse to rely on. Otherwise, she would eventually be unable to afford these troops under her command. Even after the novice period, this was her only option.
Why? This is the reality for ordinary lords. Don't think that an ordinary lord awakening a good troop type is a good thing; quite the opposite, the early-stage burden is enough to crush you, preventing you from growing at all.
For the final choice, most who fail to grow during the novice period end up returning to the Main World and signing slave contracts with merchant guilds. Even if they aren't Subordinate Lords, those contracts are no different from indentured servitude.
Tang Wuxue looked timid, but she was actually very independent. Otherwise, with her Tier 10 troops, someone would have taken her in long ago, and she wouldn't be in this state now.
Seeing Su Ye's announcements yesterday, Tang Wuxue had sent him a message with the mindset of giving it a try. She was well aware of the consequences; as long as her conditions were met, she would even sign a subordinate contract.
Seeing Su Ye's reply, Tang Wuxue took a deep breath and responded.
[Qing Wu Fei Xue: I'm here.]
On his end, Su Ye raised an eyebrow as he looked at the message from Qing Wu Fei Xue.
[Otherworld Traveler: I have several blueprints for weapons and equipment in my hands. You should know what these things are, so do you have anything to say?]
Tang Wuxue looked at Su Ye's message. Weapon and equipment blueprints—the geese that lay golden eggs. She naturally knew this. Su Ye's question about what she had to say was very clear.
It meant: what are your strengths, specialties, and conditions? Show your worth.
Thinking of this, Tang Wuxue sent the same message she had previously sent to other lords.
[Qing Wu Fei Xue: troops: Tier 10 Hill Giant, skilled in combat and forging equipment. Talent is temporarily confidential. Requirement: Equality Contract!]
"Hmm?" Su Ye looked at Tang Wuxue's message.
Tier 10 troops, talent unstated... but this requirement for an Equality Contract, hmmm, no wonder she sought him out.
Such a contract is basically impossible to see unless the powers are equal. Those from great families or large merchant guilds would never sign such a contract.
[Otherworld Traveler: An Equality Contract is impossible. You know no one will sign that, especially when you are the one asking for help, not the other way around. I have several Purple Blueprints. For a Subordinate Lord Contract, I can guarantee not to force you to do anything; this can be written into the contract. Think about it.]
Tang Wuxue bit her lip as she read Su Ye's message. Signing a Subordinate Lord Contract truly meant sharing life and death. Specifically, a Subordinate Lord's life and death are basically at the whim of the main lord, who can even strip away the Subordinate Lord's rights to recruit troops and such.
However, compared to the slave contracts or master-servant contracts others wrote, the conditions Su Ye offered were already much better.
"Purple Blueprints!!" Tang Wuxue keenly grasped the key point. Purple Blueprints—not white, not green, but Purple Blueprints!!!
What did this mean? It meant the other party's troop strength was not low—it was likely very strong. Otherwise, how could they obtain Purple Blueprints at this stage?
Thinking of this, Tang Wuxue gritted her teeth and sent Su Ye a new message.
[Qing Wu Fei Xue: My talent is: Infinite Recruitment! I can recruit troops without limit and have a constant +10 bonus to troop loyalty, as long as I have enough gold coins!]
Su Ye looked at the message from Qing Wu Fei Xue.
"Infinite Recruitment?" Su Ye rubbed his chin as he looked at Tang Wuxue's talent. It was a bit ridiculous. Even without any combat bonuses, a constant +10 loyalty boost was absurd. Although no specific traits were mentioned, this one talent alone was enough.
[Otherworld Traveler: With this talent, you still need to find someone? I'm a bit curious how you managed that.]
Looking at Su Ye's message, Tang Wuxue bit her lip hard. Her composure broke slightly as she messaged Su Ye directly.
[Qing Wu Fei Xue: Big brother, do you know how much a single Hill Giant eats in a day? Do you know how much trouble it is to raise them? They also have to drink alcohol; if they don't drink, they won't work. What can I do?]
"Ah, that..." Su Ye looked at Tang Wuxue's message, and only one thought came to mind.
She's desperate! She's really desperate!
But it made sense. If it were someone like Lin Xiaoxiao, they basically wouldn't have to worry about troop issues; their background provided Subordinate Lords as a safety net, so they could get by no matter what.
This Qing Wu Fei Xue was clearly an ordinary lord. Although she had a great talent and great troops, she was currently facing a massive problem.
And that was being unable to afford her troops. The money earned from the Void Trial was basically all spent on buying food, and food prices during the novice period were ridiculously high.
The most expensive thing in the novice period is food. As for why?
A territory doesn't have to Upgrade, but troops have to eat. That is the most fundamental logic.
A Hill Giant's appetite is basically on the same level as a dragon's. It's already not easy for an ordinary lord to keep them alive; as for letting them eat their fill, that's even more unlikely. One could only say they were barely being kept alive.
The resources earned were completely insufficient to feed them.
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