015 A Friend Request from the Grasslands

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There were only two days left until the end of the protection period. Ever since overcoming the food crisis and successfully entering the Age of Darkness, the entire tribe had officially set itself on the right path.

The newly appointed officers worked tirelessly, sharing much of Yang Jie’s workload.

Today, for once, Yang Jie found himself with a rare moment of leisure, lying on his wooden bed in the mouse burrow, enjoying his private downtime.

Covered by a mat of grass, Yang Jie pondered what affairs still required his personal attention.

He opened the system interface, and in just three days, the number of lords who had reached the Age of Darkness had surged from his previous rank of seventeenth to five hundred and thirteen, and the count was still rising.

He suddenly noticed a string of friend requests in the bottom right corner of his system panel. He had been so busy recently that his feet barely touched the ground, but today he finally had time to interact with the first batch of players who had entered the Age of Darkness on the continent of Lox.

“Lord (Liu Yu) has sent you a friend request. Do you accept? ✓”

Attached was a message: “Hello, brother. I’m the president of the ‘Explorer Alliance’ guild. How about teaming up for cooperation?”

Yang Jie decisively rejected it. Anyone who so bluntly invited him to join their guild was directly refused.

As a veteran player, Yang Jie understood the rules of the game:

Once a lord joins a guild, map-sharing is automatically enabled, meaning all guild members can see your location.

With strangers like this, there was no trust to speak of; whether friend or foe was impossible to discern for now. Though the continent of Knox was vast, there was always the chance their camp was right next to yours.

And once you joined, you might find yourself less than fifty kilometers apart. “Ah, your spot’s excellent, rich in resources. You must be the chosen one, brother.” It wouldn’t be surprising if their hearts weren’t moved.

So, he refused all those who directly invited him to join their guild.

As he manually rejected one request after another, one friend application caught Yang Jie’s attention…

“Lord (Xia Rong) has sent you a friend request. Do you accept? ✓”

[May I ask if you are the esteemed lord located on the southern part of Lox, on the Northen Plains?]

Yang Jie: ???

“Has my location already been exposed?”

“What are our scouts even doing?”

As a veteran, Yang Jie knew how crucial it was to hide his position in the early stages.

A simple theory perfectly explained it—the “Dark Forest Principle.”

In the early stage, every civilization is a gun-wielding hunter; once another civilization blocks your path to development, you eliminate them without hesitation.

The same logic applied to “Tower Defense and Civilization.”

This friend request was from two days ago, meaning his location could have been exposed as early as then.

Yang Jie stroked his chin, thought for a long time, and finally made his decision: Accept the request (✓).

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…

At the same time, one hundred kilometers south on the Northen Plains, a graceful albino lizard woman was leading her tribe in gathering food for the winter.

Not far from her, a group of two-meter-tall, emerald-green prairie lizardfolk huddled around a pond, thrusting wooden spears into the water to catch wild fish.

Unlike Yang Jie, Xia Rong was not a beta tester. She had conservatively chosen the prairie green lizardfolk at the start and set up camp on the vast Chakalk Prairie, which spanned five hundred thousand square kilometers.

She thought everything would go smoothly, but further exploration revealed the prairie was unimaginably vast. More terrifying, within just fifty kilometers, she had found thirteen other lords’ camps—all choosing to settle here.

That meant once the protection period ended, the Chakalk Prairie would inevitably descend into a protracted melee; only the last surviving lord would own the entire prairie.

Unfortunately, the prairie was crowded with powerful civilizations. Any lord daring to settle here was extraordinary.

Less than fifty kilometers southwest of Xia Rong’s camp was the centaur tribe, ranked forty-seventh in the Dark Civilization sequence; and forty kilometers east, the ferocious prairie jackalfolk were stationed, theirs ranked fifty-eighth.

Moreover, the Chakalk Prairie was populated with countless other powerful tribes.

By contrast, her own tribe was ranked three hundred and twenty-third, trailing the leading tribes by a full three days.

What made Xia Rong despair was her tribe’s location, wedged between the centaurs and jackalfolk—two formidable races. War was clearly unavoidable.

So Xia Rong had to prepare for both possibilities. Before the Chakalk Prairie erupted into chaos, she needed to find another place to settle outside the prairie.

She dispatched scouts in all directions. Good news soon arrived: two days ago, her northbound sentinels discovered the Northen Plains bordering the northern edge of Chakalk Prairie, and also found traces of Yang Jie’s tribe.

While Xia Rong was directing her people in fishing, the system suddenly popped up a message.

“Lord (Yang Jie) has accepted your friend request.”

Thus began the next chapter…

Xia Rong’s heart leapt for joy, and she quickly tapped her system interface.

Xia Rong: Are you the lord of the Northen Plains?

Yang Jie, after some thought, replied without hesitation, “That’s me!”

Since his location was exposed and they were neighbors, he figured there was no harm in admitting it—he’d see what the other party wanted first.

Seeing his acknowledgement, Xia Rong was overjoyed and kept tapping.

Xia Rong: Hello, I am the lord player one hundred kilometers south of you, the leader of the prairie green lizardfolk. Here’s my situation...

After ten minutes of messaging, Yang Jie understood her circumstances and intentions.

Xia Rong: May I lead my tribe to settle on the Northen Plains? We green lizardfolk are skilled at fishing and farming, and we’re willing to exchange resources...

Yang Jie: No.

Seeing her endless requests, Yang Jie refused without hesitation.

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“Want to share my territory? Form an alliance? Should I gift you a pillow so you can sleep on it some more?”

Seeing her proposal rejected, Xia Rong bit her lip and pressed her case.

Xia Rong: Do you know how powerful the prairie lords are? Once they unify, they’ll surely invade your Northen Plains.

If our two tribes unite, they wouldn’t dare trifle with us.

As she spoke, Xia Rong revealed her own rank…

323!

One hundred kilometers north, curled up in his mouse burrow, Yang Jie snorted.

“Heh, is that all?”

He then revealed his own rank to her…

“Rank 17?!”

Staring at the screen, Xia Rong’s mouth fell open in shock. She knew the centaur tribe nearby could overrun her camp in three days once the protection period ended, and they were only rank forty-seven.

But this person was one of the absolute top lords on Knox.

What Xia Rong didn’t know was that Yang Jie’s tribe, though nearly three thousand strong, was mostly newborn mice. At least two months of recovery would be needed to adjust the population structure.

But Xia Rong didn’t think that far. In her eyes, she had encountered a rare master—on the vast continent of Knox, to find such a master right next door?

She had to persist, pleading and coaxing, so she kept messaging…

Xia Rong: Could you mentor me? Our prairie green lizardfolk aren’t just good at fish farming, we’re also experts at grilling fish. With the right seasoning, the taste will leave you craving more!

Yang Jie: Fish farming? Do you think you’re the king of the sea?

Xia Rong’s brows furrowed as she tried a new angle, only to see:

You have been added to the blacklist. You can no longer send messages to this user.

Xia Rong: I’m furious! You’ll regret this!

Hmph! I’m so angry!