Chapter 102: The Stake

Cao Feng grew more and more worked up as he spoke.

Next, he sent over a dozen messages in a row.

Every single one was a provocation.

This time he watched his wording and didn't get muted by the system.

So this was what Yang Xiong and Lu Yi had been leaving messages to tell Zhao Chi about.

Cao Feng's troop strength recovered very quickly.

Either he'd used an item, or he'd bought population from outside.

In any case, he'd put his money power to work.

A duel, of course, meant an internal war between two lords.

The official side didn't encourage it.

But if there really was a grudge, you could register a duel and sign a liability waiver.

Zhao Chi checked the settings.

He had previously set himself to "receive messages, but no notifications."

So receiving messages gave no prompt.

He changed his private chat to normal mode.

Then he sent a message:

Zhao Chi 【Two trainee lords dueling? Are you trying to make me laugh? Isn't the opening test in four days? If you want to win the bet, just go by the results in four days, right?】

The moment Zhao Chi sent the message, Cao Feng replied immediately.

He didn't know if Cao Feng had been waiting for Zhao Chi all along.

Cao Feng 【Finally dare to show your face? Fine, everyone in the group saw it, no backing out!】

Zhao Chi 【I always keep my word】

Cao Feng 【Keep your word? Fine, that's best. What about the stakes?】

Zhao Chi 【Go ahead and name them, but I'm afraid you'll back out】

Cao Feng 【Me back out? You still dreaming? If you lose, sign a vassal agreement with me — I want 20% of all your territory's income for one year. Dare you?】

Zhao Chi 【Sure. You still have an unused "Race Improvement Tome," right? That item's wasted on you. Use that as your stake】

Cao Feng 【Who told you that? Which bastard leaked my info?】

Zhao Chi 【If you say a bastard leaked the info, that's not wrong either】

Cao Feng 【What do you mean?】

Kong Xiang 【Bro Cao, you said it yourself last week】

Cao Feng 【... Is the only mouth you have on your face? Shut it!】

Zhao Chi 【No worries, if you don't dare, just pick something else】

Cao Feng 【Shit, how could I not dare? It's settled then. Whoever backs out, their whole family dies】

Zhao Chi 【Good, it's settled】

Zhao Chi closed the system.

The moment he closed it, a notification sound came from the system.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

He opened it and saw it was Yang Xiong.

Yang Xiong 【Holy shit, you really accepted? Just curse him out and leave it, don't let him provoke you. He's got money to buy troops, you'll lose out competing with him.】

Zhao Chi 【Relax, just focus on training hard】

Yang Xiong 【What's the point of me training harder? You're the one competing with him. Otherwise... shit! How about I send you a few orcs?】

Zhao Chi 【Haha, please don't. I appreciate the thought, thanks】

Yang Xiong 【Don't be a damn hero, try to cancel this bet. We're at a disadvantage】

Zhao Chi 【Got it, hurry up and develop your territory】

Yang Xiong 【Mm, you too】

He closed the system.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Another message.

This time it was Lu Yi.

Lu Yi 【Zhao Chi, didn't I tell you not to be impulsive? Why bother with him? Why accept the bet? This kind of verbal bet doesn't count. Just don't sign a formal agreement with him】

Zhao Chi 【Mm, thanks for the reminder. I know what I'm doing】

Lu Yi 【What do you know? His family has money. Didn't you see he bought Shadow Leopards straight up to thirty? Plus five Centaur Archers. He might buy more】

Zhao Chi 【I understand, thanks for the reminder. I'll be careful】

Lu Yi 【Why do I feel like you're not taking what I say seriously at all?】

Zhao Chi 【How could that be? I'm not an impulsive person, you know that】

Lu Yi 【... That's true. Anyway, don't get worked up】

Zhao Chi 【Got it. Thanks, Class Monitor my lord】

Lu Yi 【No need to thank me. Don't call me Class Monitor my lord, just call me by name】

Zhao Chi 【Alright, Lu Yi. Good luck developing】

Lu Yi 【Mm, good luck to us both】

He closed the system.

This time it was finally quiet.

Zhao Chi was not impulsive.

He had carefully looked into the family situations of the people around him.

On one hand, to better understand this world; on the other, to understand his own circumstances.

Especially since Cao Feng often picked quarrels, Zhao Chi had looked into him in even greater detail.

The Cao family was wealthy, and Cao Feng could be said to be the family's Yang Xiong—ranked low and not valued.

The fact that he could obtain a Shadow Leopard bloodline, plus a "Race Improvement Book," was probably the limit of the resources he could get his hands on.

After all, the brothers and sisters of the same clan within their family were also fiercely competing with one another.

The pressure on the fathers' and grandfathers' generations to fight magical beasts was also immense, requiring vast amounts of resources.

Zhao Chi also analyzed from other angles and judged that Cao Feng had strength, but not too much of it.

Only then did he decide to accept the wager.

After all, the "Race Improvement Book" was too tempting.

Zhao Chi went out.

He saw that the 10 newly arrived women were all wearing clothes.

While the clothes on Gu Qing and the others were gone.

Instead, they had changed into short tops and shorts.

It was probably Gu Qing and the other female soldiers who had given their clothes to the new villagers.

This way, everyone had something to wear.

Zhao Chi asked these new villagers about their work preferences.

Only 2 had a clear preference; the rest would follow Zhao Chi's arrangements.

Soon, Zhao Chi reassigned 4 female carpenters, 1 female militia member, and 5 female construction workers.

Construction workers could be reassigned freely.

The job attributes were the same as the others.

【Class】 Construction Worker