Chapter 123: B-Rank Commander Special Skill

Guan Ning was delighted to see the storm of abuse on the forums; the greater the fame of the Twelve Riders, the more renowned his Guan Ning Iron Cavalry would be once they were annihilated. He believed the Twelve Riders had achieved such miracles solely due to their cavalry mobility, exploiting a gap in the game where few factions had yet established organized cavalry units.

Guan Ning commanded a thousand-man cavalry unit with seamless coordination, and he was confident they would have no trouble dealing with a mere twelve riders. He called Smiling Maitreya and issued a strict order to exterminate the Twelve Riders, additionally dispatching his subordinate, Long Dahai, with another two hundred horsemen to Langfang to take orders from Smiling Maitreya.

Sanyuan Village was a major base for the Boxers, housing over a hundred Boxer NPCs, though the village was closed to players. Chen Hao led his cavalry to the village gates and shouted, "Listen, you Boxer rebels! I have been ordered by the Governor to suppress you. Come out and surrender at once, or I shall leave no one alive!"

Soon, word reached the sect leader, Li Wencai. Grabbing the heavy spear leaning against the wall, Li Wencai barked, "Twelve imperial lackeys have come to Sanyuan Village to throw their lives away! Follow me and cut them down!"

Li Wencai charged out with over a hundred Boxer NPCs wielding broadswords and spears, launching a fearless assault. Watching these shirtless fanatics charge, Chen Hao sighed. While history often speaks highly of the Boxers, the reality was that they were ignorant, cruel, and largely responsible for the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

The credit for the Great Victory at Langfang was attributed to the Boxers, but could they really have defeated over 2,000 allied troops with "invulnerability"? That was utter nonsense. The main force behind the victory was actually Nie Shicheng’s Wuwei Front Army. At the time, the Qing government was collaborating with the Boxers, and because Nie Shicheng had suppressed the Boxers—thereby offending the interests of the conservative Prince Duan—the imperial court had shifted the credit to them.

Nie Shicheng had always viewed the Boxers as a root of chaos. During the Battle of Langfang, he ordered the Boxers to lead the first charge, where the "invulnerable" fighters were decimated. When they retreated, Nie Shicheng ordered his machine guns to fire upon them, fearing they would disrupt his own formation. Caught in a pincer, the Boxers were wiped out.

The Boxers loathed Nie Shicheng to the bone. When he fought the Eight-Nation Alliance, they even kidnapped his wife and children. When Nie sent troops to pursue them, a battalion of his own New Army, colluding with the Boxers, shouted that Nie was rebelling and opened fire, leaving him surrounded and riddled with bullets.

Nie Shicheng eventually died in battle at Balitai, west of the city. The Boxers even attempted to desecrate his corpse, only stopping when they had to flee from the approaching Allied forces. Because of the "victory" at Langfang, the Empress Dowager Cixi became convinced the Boxers could be used against the invaders. On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, she issued a decree granting them legal status and, spurred by conservatives, declared war on the foreign powers.

Traitors are hateful, but the ignorant "patriotic thieves" like the Boxers were just as detestable. If not for his connection to Wang Wu, Chen Hao would have chosen to stand with Nie Shicheng and Yuan Shikai in the game. Even unwilling to offend the Holy Mother of the Yellow Lotus, Lin He'er, he had still accepted a mission from Nie Shicheng to deal with the Boxers.

Seeing Yu Die and the others hesitate to fire, he took the lead and shot the leader, Li Wencai, dead. "Don't waste the free experience points delivered to our door," he said coldly. "Hurry up and finish them so we can move on."

"But these are patriotic citizens! They played a huge role in resisting the invaders," Xia Weiwei said, looking pained.

Chen Hao replied indifferently, "These people were at odds with Nie Shicheng. Do you think Nie Shicheng was a traitor? We are in a game, not a history seminar. Killing these fanatics is our mission."

Xia Weiwei was still reluctant to pull the trigger, but the others had no such qualms; they leveled their guns and fired without needing to aim. The Boxers didn't even know how to retreat, only charging forward with suicidal intent. After Chen Hao and his team expended over 200 rounds of ammunition, all the Boxer NPCs lay dead on the ground, providing a substantial amount of experience.

"Player Chen Baxian, congratulations on killing the Boxer rebels. You have gained 32,888 experience points."

"Player Chen Baxian, congratulations on leveling up. You are the first player in the China region to reach level 20. Your rank has been upgraded to Lieutenant, and you may now hire 20 NPCs to serve you."

"Player Chen Baxian, because your command of the cavalry is masterful and you are the first to reach level 20, the system rewards you with Cavalry Mastery upgraded to C-rank and a B-rank commanding skill: Galloping Steeds."

Galloping Steeds: When commanding a cavalry unit of under one thousand, the unit's movement speed increases by 10% and horse fatigue decreases by 10%. The effect diminishes for units over one thousand, and the bonus drops to 5% when commanding ten thousand troops.

Chen Hao had expected a reputation reward for being the first to level 20, but he hadn't anticipated a B-rank skill, not to mention the upgrade to his Cavalry Mastery. It was not surprising, however; the system often determined rewards based on a player's performance. Since he had spent his time from level 17 to 20 leading cavalry units to grind experience, the system rewarded him accordingly.

Unit mastery is a critical attribute for commanding-type players. If a player’s Cavalry Mastery is D, they receive no bonus when leading NPC cavalry. At C-rank, the individual stats of the NPC unit increase by 5%. At B-rank, it is 10%, and at the highest rank, S, the base stats of the NPC cavalry receive a 20% boost.

Unit bonuses only apply to NPC troops; a player's own performance depends on their personal skill. Therefore, C-rank Cavalry Mastery did not help the small team itself, but Chen Hao's enhanced skill, Galloping Steeds, was a massive boon. The 10% speed increase and 10% fatigue reduction were incredibly practical. Since the speed bonuses of the captain and vice-captain stacked, the cavalry's mobility was further elevated.

"April 12, 1900. Player Chen Baxian of the China region is the first to reach level 20 and has been promoted to Lieutenant. We offer him our congratulations."

The sudden system announcement stunned the entire player base in the China region. Most mainstream players were still at level 15 or 16. How had Chen Baxian reached level 20? Many had attributed his reaching level 10 first to luck, but could luck explain this?

"I understand why Chen Baxian leveled up so fast now, haha!" a sleazy-looking player in Cangzhou suddenly laughed.

A post titled "The Identity of the Twelve Riders Revealed" soon appeared on the forums. The author calculated the experience gained from killing enemy players during the Langfang regional missions and, based on the kill counts leaked on the forums, deduced that the person leading the cavalry unit must have gained at least three levels. Chen Baxian reaching level 20 was no coincidence.

The sleazy player, Zhuge Kuntian, concluded that the person leading the cavalry across northern Hebei was indeed Chen Baxian, and the others were his leveling team in the game.