The Carrion Queen's Broken Sword emitted a soft, glowing light.
He hid the sword under the covers to take a closer look. Well, look at that, it even glowed in the dark!
It seemed to breathe, flickering on and off.
A green-tier weapon.
Lind scrolled through the forum on the official website and found that players had already begun speculating about the stats of the "Carrion Queen's Broken Sword." But due to the ownership issue, the undead's ability to "glance and see the stats" couldn't be used, so they could only rely on imagination and guesswork.
There were also some discussions about players trying to take Lind down to get the equipment, but these players always followed their statements with a doge meme, so it could be dismissed as just joking around.
Inside Star Dragon Outpost, the undead were bustling and starting to harass the NPCs. Several women and children bore the brunt of it.
After half a day, the women got into the swing of things. Occasionally handing out a useless Land Gold coin would get the undead fired up to work.
But no one dared to really mess with the undead; they just treated it as a chance to stay in Star Dragon Outpost.
Although the Lord hadn't explicitly said it, everyone could guess.
If the undead don't need you, you don't have a reason to stay.
As the Lord, Lind was patrolling, but not to supervise the undead. Instead, he was checking to see if the others were fulfilling their NPC responsibilities properly.
"Lord, I think we should use No. 42 concrete to repair the wall, because the length of the screws can easily affect the torque of the excavator..."
Lind, having just walked to the broken wall: "..."
Do you think you're being funny by meme-ing at an NPC?
This seemed to be what they were into.
Oh right, that's what us players are like.
He glanced at the hole in the wall. They had barely patched it up before, but it was just a patch job. While the task was assigned to keep the undead from getting bored, it was also meant to eliminate a lingering danger.
A hole in the wall, no more sweet dreams.
A few players seemed to suddenly have a breakthrough.
"Dude! How do you make concrete? Gotta learn that!"
"This wall looks super thick, but it seems to be just stacked stones. If we tear it down and rebuild it with reinforced concrete, would that work?"
"Or we could just renovate it on this foundation and build a castle? DIY a medieval castle ourselves! How about Hogwarts? The sense of participation would be insane! Dig a moat outside, then bury anti-dragon spears at the corners of the walls."
"I'll pull in a few of my Minecraft buddies. They're out exploring right now, but we can work on it together when everyone's free at night."
"I'll go offline later and find some resources and tutorials."
Watching the lively discussion, Lind really wanted to remind them that he just needed a relatively sturdy material to plug the hole, not to tear down the entire wall and remodel it.
But oh well.
Happy undead, happy life. Although he was outwardly a fake NPC Lord pretending to be a starter village chief, he was actually in the service industry.
Murder mystery? Immersive game experience? In any case, he had to provide the best performance to satisfy them.
Besides, there was no reason to refuse if a group of people wanted to help him rebuild the city walls. It was just Land Gold, after all.
It would be good if it kept them busy for a while.
Ultimately, only a small number of undead remained in Star Dragon Outpost. More players went out to explore and investigate, hoping to find food to complete quests, earn money to buy equipment, and level up along the way.
This was the real gameplay for most players. It was very unrealistic to tie people to one territory and not let them leave. Even invisible walls couldn't hold them back, so how could any player really stay in one place and not move just because of a game quest?
If they were that obedient, they wouldn't be playing games. Their mothers always said games were like tigers when they were kids.
The undead were like individual Traveling Frogs. After they left, they would act independently and then bring back surprises, one by one.
Assuming they are really willing to come back after they leave, instead of being blinded by the wide world and abandoning the small Star Dragon Outpost from then on.
"What is my core competency?"
Lind suddenly wanted to write a PPT and hold a small meeting with his NPC subordinates to discuss this issue together.
His core advantage was being able to access the official website and understand the undead's true identities and their awful memes.
He couldn't really "get" the memes, but he could understand the undead's needs and then indirectly provide some emotional value.
Turn Star Dragon Outpost into the "City of Easter Eggs," and you guys will have to come, right?
The further he thought, the brighter the future seemed.
Until his stomach started growling.
"Lord, food's ready."
Two pots of meat broth were bubbling away in the cauldron, one for Lind and the soldiers, and the other also for Lind and the soldiers.
As for the women and children, they could have some meat broth.
The battle last night had taken a huge toll on his stamina. Although the power of a Great Knight within him was slowly recovering, his body still felt kind of "empty."
Lind ate large chunks of meat and drank big gulps of soup, quickly replenishing his energy.
While he gave his teeth a break from chewing, he'd chat a bit, talking about the surrounding situation.
The danger hadn't disappeared with the death of the Carrion Queen.
Basic life issues like food, water, and protection from the cold hadn't been completely resolved.
The wanderers, the stragglers, the giant hoofprints, the new nobles of the East, the town of Prei in the South, and the old soldier's corpse that the players had accidentally recovered all represented dangers.
But compared to three days ago, everything was steadily improving.
Although the soldiers didn't understand the undead, they were also fantasizing about the future.
Even Nana Elluna was squeezing out a wrinkled smile because she had a few extra pieces of meat.
Old Peter's hands weren't shaking as much this time. God would bless him. Which god? Nana Elluna said it didn't matter, any god!
The few of them talked about the changes of the last few days and casually made plans for the future.
It was difficult to be certain about the plans because the players were too unpredictable. They had to be changed constantly.
The most important plan was still to find a way to increase their strength. According to Nana Elluna, finding the Blackfire Brothers might tell them which way to go next.
Miss Mikko, the buck-toothed witch of Prei, might also know some secrets about the post-apocalypse.
But there's no rush. He'd only left Prei a little over a day ago, even if a lot had happened in that one day.
The nine soldiers were his long-time followers, and Nana Elluna was a pitiful woman who needed shelter the most, so Lind still had the final say.
"Guard the weapons and armor well. When dealing with the undead, focus on warnings and only use force as a last resort..." Lind reminded them again and again.
He was afraid that the soldiers, seeing the undead always bowing and scraping, would mistakenly think they were weak and easily bullied.
Players are all two-faced like dogs.
Moreover, Lind's self-positioning was very clear: service industry!
He might beat up players, make them work for him, and even scold them, making it seem like he had all the power. But only he knew that he was providing them with role-playing opportunities and various kinds of emotional value.
If you perform well, you could kick them, and they still wouldn't be willing to kill you.
So, calling it a service industry isn't wrong.
He then looked at Nana Elluna. The old nun was covered in grease from eating, and had just licked her bowl clean. Perhaps feeling that everyone was enjoying their conversation, she naturally reached out and handed her bowl to Old Peter.
"Lord, that meat won't last long," Old Peter said, shaking his ladle. Under Nana Elluna's murderous glare, he poured her a bowl of clear, oily broth.
God will curse Old Peter! Which god? Every god, of course.
Ignoring Nana Elluna's murderous gaze, Old Peter said, "Even if the undead don't need to eat, there are now nine more mouths to feed. We need more food!"
Suddenly, there was a commotion outside.
A woman's voice came in a rush: "Lord! Lord! We've brought back some food!"