Chapter 114: Gathering in Langfang

Chen Hao specified that what was being auctioned was the headquarters. Regardless of who purchased the blueprint, once the buyer provided the construction materials, he would build the headquarters at a location designated by the buyer and then transfer ownership to them.

This arrangement might seem needlessly complicated, but Chen Hao had no choice. The first player to establish a headquarters would receive five points of prestige, and no player who aspired to become a warlord would be willing to surrender that reward. At present, Chen Hao lacked the financial resources to develop a base of his own, so he could only auction off the headquarters blueprint. However, he did not want to give up those five points of prestige.

To prevent real-world transactions between players from leading to criminal disputes, the game's trading platform allowed considerable freedom. Players could draft transaction contracts on the platform, and once the buyer paid, the seller had to fulfill the contract within the specified time. Because such a system existed, Chen Hao could build the headquarters first and then transfer it to the buyer without any problem.

Since players overseas had already established headquarters, the reward for being the first to do so was no secret. Anyone buying the blueprint clearly wanted to become a warlord, and prestige was equally important to them. Chen Hao believed that the main reason they wanted the blueprint was the advertising effect of possessing the first base. Although they would lose the prestige reward, they probably would not make an issue of it.

Many players checked the trading platform every day. Before long, someone discovered the headquarters construction blueprint and posted a screenshot with the title, “The First Headquarters Construction Blueprint in the China Region.” Every Chinese player understood what a headquarters construction blueprint meant, and the post quickly attracted a flood of attention.

The China region had the largest player base, as well as the greatest number of players hoping to become warlords. Soon, players began participating in the auction. Most of them were merely testing the waters. More than eighty people placed bids, yet the price rose only four million yuan above the starting bid, still six million short of the price fetched by the first blueprint sold overseas.

Because the game War involved real-world interests, prices were extremely inflated during its early stages. Thirty million yuan converted into silver dollars amounted to only a little over twenty thousand yuan in real-world value. Chen Hao refreshed the auction page several times. Seeing that the price was still lower than that of the overseas blueprint, he felt somewhat disappointed. He had expected the first blueprint in the China region to sell for more.

Chen Hao had not sold the blueprint outright. Instead, he had chosen to establish the headquarters himself and then transfer it to the buyer, which displeased many prospective purchasers and kept the price from rising. The main reason, however, was that too many players in the China region wanted the blueprint. Everyone was testing the waters, unwilling to drive up the price through a frantic bidding war and let the seller profit at their expense.

After waiting for a while and seeing that the price could not break through the thirty-million mark, Chen Hao began to wonder whether he should simply sell the blueprint. But his initial judgment had been that players cared more about the advertising effect. Changing course now would mean admitting a lack of confidence in his own judgment, so he held firm. To keep himself from staring at the auction price and wavering, he simply stopped checking the trading platform and entered the game.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Langfang was still an isolated little village. It was only after the Jingshan Railway was completed and a station was built there in 1897 that Langfang gradually developed into a market town. By 1900, it had taken on the appearance of a small town, though it remained crude and underdeveloped.

Chen Hao had arranged to meet the others outside Langfang Station. When he arrived, he saw a tall female player standing at the entrance.

The first to reach Langfang was Xia Weiwei. She had already been active in the area and was delighted to learn that she could complete missions alongside Chen Baxian, so she had hurried over at the first opportunity. Although Xia Weiwei's appearance in the game differed considerably from her appearance in real life, Chen Hao still recognized her. After all, very few women were as tall as she was.

Chen Hao stood not far from Xia Weiwei, pretending not to know her as he kept gazing toward the road. Xia Weiwei approached him of her own accord, smiling brightly.

“Hello! I’m a friend of Fishing Passerby. Are you waiting for him here?”

Chen Hao nodded. “Yes. My name is Chen Baxian. You must be Flower in Love, the person Fishing Passerby mentioned, right?”

Xia Weiwei looked excited. “You’re Chen Baxian? You’re about the same height as Fishing Passerby. Thank you for taking me along on the mission.”

“It’s nothing.” Chen Hao tried to avoid speaking in his usual real-life manner, lest Xia Weiwei notice something amiss.

Fishing Passerby was about the same height as Chen Hao, which was why Chen Hao had claimed to be Fishing Passerby at Wang Ying’s birthday gathering. He had also privately explained the arrangement to Fishing Passerby in the forum’s reception room. Fishing Passerby had no intention of establishing an independent faction in the game, so even if his identity were exposed, it would not matter. He had therefore agreed readily to play Chen Hao’s role.

Xia Weiwei was just as talkative as she was in real life, chattering endlessly. To avoid revealing himself, Chen Hao said very little, merely nodding or smiling from time to time. Xia Weiwei was beautiful both in the game and in reality. Whenever she spoke with a male player in the game, he would become enthusiastic, so Chen Hao’s indifferent attitude struck her as unusually cool.

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

A burst of hoofbeats came from the stone-paved road. More than ten riders galloped toward them. It was the group of White Freak and his five companions. All six had brought two horses apiece—the twelve finest horses they owned—for Chen Hao would need mounts during the mission to guard the railway and its telegraph lines.

The six dismounted. Chen Hao tilted his chin toward Fishing Passerby, who immediately understood. He stepped forward and said to Xia Weiwei, “Weiwei, you got here so quickly!”

Xia Weiwei rolled her eyes. “Please! My name is Flower in Love. You can call me Flower, but don’t use my real name.”

To avoid saying anything else that might expose them, Fishing Passerby laughed awkwardly. “All right! I’ll call you Flower next time. Let’s hear how Brother Chen plans to organize this mission.”

“Wait a little longer. Four more people will be here soon.” Chen Hao told White Freak and Chen Feng to find somewhere to stable the horses, while the others continued waiting outside the station.

Before long, two carriages stopped outside the station. Double Happiness Very Harmonious and the other three lifted the curtains and stepped down. Everyone participating in the mission had arrived.

Chen Hao clapped his hands, signaling the others to gather around.

“My goal this time is for everyone to reach at least Level 20. Horses are extremely important to this mission. Double Happiness, have the four of you learned Basic Riding?”

Double Happiness Very Harmonious nodded. “We have. We followed your instructions and found the patrol-camp non-player character. It took only an hour to learn.”

Xia Weiwei asked anxiously, “You can all ride? What am I supposed to do? I can’t.”

Chen Hao took out a Basic Riding skill book. “Fortunately, I prepared a few in advance. Take this and learn Basic Riding.”

“Thank you, Brother Chen.” Xia Weiwei smiled seductively and accepted the skill book with delight.

The Basic Riding skill book had actually been prepared for Xia Weiwei. Everyone who had been leveling with Chen Hao could already ride. Chen Hao had informed Double Happiness Very Harmonious and the other three long ago that they should go to the patrol camp to learn. Xia Weiwei was the only one who could not ride.

Now that all twelve of them could ride, a small cavalry unit had taken shape. Cavalry possessed far greater mobility than infantry. If they accepted the mission to protect the railway and telegraph lines from Nie Shicheng, most players would choose to lie in ambush beside the railway. Chen Hao, however, had no intention of doing that. He planned to make full use of the cavalry’s mobility.

Once everyone was mounted, Chen Hao seemed to remember something. He turned to Double Happiness Very Harmonious and the other three.

“Did any of you draw the Commander-type special skill called Forced March?”