As red-named monsters at the bottom of the food chain in Lord World, the Fire Foxes' will broke remarkably quickly. After just a few minutes, the words "Recruitable" clearly appeared on their panels.
Qin Feng didn't waste any time. He recruited them immediately, making the three Fire Foxes the first combat unit under his command.
With the buffs from his "King of War" skill and the extra attribute boosts from his Lord's Equipment,
the cannon-fodder Fire Foxes, who originally had a Zero-star (Gray) Combat Evaluation,
instantly reached a Zero-star (Green) Combat Evaluation.
At this point, they were comparable to the freshly-trained Level 1 Militia from a Militia Camp and could easily slaughter villagers who only had a Zero-star (White) evaluation.
However, if a single Green-rated Fire Fox faced several villagers at once, although its sharp claws and fangs could easily pierce a villager's body, the collective damage from the villagers' encirclement could also instantly take the Fire Fox's life.
This was rather similar to the combat mechanics in Riding and Cutting 2—a level-six soldier might be strong, but if they ran into a mob of pitchfork-wielding peasants and got cornered, they'd be instantly overwhelmed.
As for Qin Feng, his Combat Evaluation was fixed at the Zero-star (Blue) level.
According to Lord World's quality ranking, Gray, White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold, Red... this was roughly the level of Elite Monsters in other games.
He had some power, but not a lot. He could still be crushed by a swarm of low-level mobs.
However, Qin Feng had a hunch that the system had lowered his Combat Evaluation only because he didn't have a suitable main weapon.
If he could find a shortbow or a Longbow and maximize his "Ranger" advantages,
his Combat Evaluation would likely reach Zero-star (Purple).
Equivalent to an Epic Level mini-boss.
'So?'
'Why wasn't there even a weapon selection pack in the starting rewards?'
'I'm a dignified Divine Chosen Lord, the King of War, the Riding and Cutting Dominator! Am I really supposed to fight enemies bare-handed?'
As he grumbled to himself, Qin Feng issued a command to the five villagers, ordering them to return to the territory and forage for wild fruits and mushrooms in the surrounding area to gather their daily quota of 1 unit of Food.
Don't ask.
If you did, the answer would just be "mystical gathering techniques."
After all, Qin Feng had circled this forest three times, and as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but uniform bushes and fallen leaves. Forget the shadow of a fruit or mushroom; he hadn't even seen a single berry bush.
'Hmm... the main task for now...'
'is still getting Food.'
'I need to recruit all 10 villagers that refresh weekly, at the very least. Only then can my territory's development get on the fast track.'
With a clear goal in mind, he acted without hesitation.
Thus, Qin Feng led the three Fire Foxes on a grid search, tracking the wild animals that roamed the forest.
Most of the animals they encountered along the way were white-named herbivores.
These included, but were not limited to, hopping wild rabbits, herds of deer in the woods, low-flying birds, and field mice scurrying through the grass.
Unfortunately, these creatures were completely non-aggressive. They would scatter and flee at the first sign of danger and couldn't be captured by the "Riding and Cutting" prisoner mechanic to be converted into members of the Lord's army.
But, in terms of their value as "Food," they were perfect prey, far more worth hunting than slightly threatening red-named animals like the Fire Foxes.
The only problem was that their carcasses converted into very little Food.
Only 1 unit each.
In addition, while searching for Food, Qin Feng also discovered a small, winding river.
The various types of fish swimming in the river were all classified by the system as Food resources. The only issue was they were hard to catch bare-handed. Like a dedicated fisherman, one had to rely on various tools to have any chance of catching these swift aquatic creatures.
Fortunately, the Fire Foxes were top-tier hunters accustomed to surviving in the jungle and had a natural keenness for the small fish gliding through the water.
Whenever a school of silver fish dared to pass by the riverbank, the Fire Foxes would crouch low to the water and strike the surface with lightning-fast claws, accurately hooking the slippery prey.
The amount of Food obtained through this hunting method far exceeded that of conventional jungle Hunting.
This was because no matter how small the fish, it provided at least 1 unit of Food, and the variety of river fish was much greater than the appearance rate of wild animals in the forest.
'Amazing!'
'Who needs to go Hunting?'
'I should just have the Fire Foxes guard this fishing spot and catch fish all day!'
The accidental discovery of the Fire Foxes' Hidden Talent opened up a whole new path for Qin Feng's Food collection.
It was no exaggeration to say that if Qin Feng and other Lord Players entered Lord World at the same time, while others were still worrying about not having enough Food resources to distribute each day, Qin Feng's Fire Foxes could absolutely leverage this "dedicated fisherman"-like Hidden Talent to develop far faster than anyone else in the same amount of time.
After all, this kind of unique advantage that allowed resources to snowball had always been one of the most top-tier abilities in any game.
However, then again, if he didn't have the Fire Foxes, a special Soldier Type unobtainable through conventional means, even if Qin Feng had professional fishing equipment, he would probably find himself in the predicament of "a pot of tea, a pack of cigarettes, and one rod until sunset," struggling to gather a large amount of Food resources by fishing.
This made it understandable why the Food resources provided by river fish were more abundant than those from land animals in the forest.
'I wonder...'
'if later territory buildings will unlock professional fishing gear like nets...'
'If they do...'
'then my territory's Food gathering efficiency will definitely increase dramatically...'
While mulling this over, Qin Feng directed the pack of Fire Foxes to dive into the water and furiously catch fish. He, on the other hand, sat leisurely on a Stone by the river and slowly began to 'touch fish'.
However, the good times didn't last long. A wild Wolf Pack with red names suddenly arrived to drink from the river, running right into the three fishing Fire Foxes.
[Beast Name: Forest Wolf (Red-named)]
[Life Value: 15/15]
[Power Assessment: Zero-star (White)]
[Description: A Wolf Pack that roams the Northern Forest. They prefer to live in groups and are extremely vindictive. If a member of their pack is harmed, they will relentlessly track and retaliate against the enemy.]
'Wolves?'
Eight of them in total.
They had the advantage in numbers but were at a complete disadvantage in quality.
A Zero-star (White) Combat Evaluation was only good enough to bully ordinary Fire Foxes before they were conscripted, or the villagers whose Four-dimensional Attributes were slightly weaker than theirs.
Now that the three Fire Foxes were part of his army, they just needed to coordinate a little and pay the price of being heavily wounded to completely annihilate this pack of Forest Wolves.
Afterward, the Fire Foxes could even use the ridiculously effective "Evil Aura" to restore their Life Value to full.
There would be almost no combat losses.
'However, the Bloodthirsty MOD requires the player to personally kill enemies to gain a permanent Life Value Bonus and attribute points bonus.'
'Enemies killed by my soldiers don't count for the Bloodthirsty MOD.'
'This 'fish'... I guess I can't touch it after all.'
'Then let's fight!'
'Charge!'