Chapter 6: Recruiting Angel Envoys

Sige Town was originally a gathering place for runaway slaves.

People who couldn't survive in human society fled to this basin, where they cultivated the land—it could be considered a medieval utopia.

But Sige Town was not a true utopia, nor did it have a passageway conducive to human access.

When the population grew, it attracted the attention of the Riptide Grand Duke.

In his youth, the Riptide Grand Duke, leading three Conquest Knights, stormed into this place, killed many, and claimed the land as his territory, then he left an Agricultural Officer and neglected the rest.

But the disaster was not completely eradicated.

Or rather, as long as the oppression from the outside world persisted, people would flee here to escape the oppression of nobles and the Royal Family.

Farmers and slaves were temporarily unthreatening.

But some were different.

Such as fugitives, grand thieves, and deserters from battles.

These were characters who could be wanted by the Black Iron Kingdom and the nobles.

Due to the geographical environment of mountains surrounding Sige Town, hunters also appeared.

This primitive profession mastered force, could make weapons, and use bows and arrows; only the nobles could subjugate them.

Sige Town had no nobles, only Moor and his thirty guards.

As long as there were no large-scale peasant uprisings, these thirty semi-professional guards—clad in leather armor, wielding iron-tipped spears, possessing shields, and having undergone basic military training—were basically sufficient to maintain order.

In fact, in the heartland of the kingdom, the number of these guards was somewhat small; a population of two thousand should have at least one hundred qualified guards to form a militia—families with guards could reduce various taxes and hold a higher status.

But even with more guards, they were helpless against the mountains and hunters.

The cost was too great and unnecessary.

Moor cautioned, "Sir, some people are very dangerous..."

His advice was to ignore those savages; some possessed the same power as Conquest Knights, and were legendary thieves and fugitives.

A direct confrontation would be unwise.

And it's better for everyone if well water does not interfere with river water.

Roman did not say much, only encouraged Moor to continue.

The number of slaves in Sige Town was over a hundred, also included in the total population.

The slaves were purchased from the outside world, dependent on merchants, stewards, and craftsmen of Sige Town, and only these people could afford to buy slaves.

Although Moor was timid in front of Roman, in Sige Town he was a legitimate Agricultural Officer, owning the most slaves, accounting for half of all slaves, and possessing vast wealth.

Otherwise, he would not maintain himself so clean and tidy.

Roman quietly listened for a while and noted that the overall population trend of Sige Town increased with decreasing age.

That is, there were the fewest elderly people over forty, followed by middle-aged people around thirty, relatively more young people around twenty, and the most were minors and children under fifteen.

The population structure of Sige Town was in this lifespan pyramid form, with a larger base of younger children.

Physical decline often meant sickness and death; hardly any farmer lived to a natural old age.

Wars and diseases could cause significant reductions in numbers, with nobles and the kingdom frequently waging war on each other, leaving the population unable to rise, and not falling considered a win.

According to Roman's estimation, the average lifespan in this era was only thirty to forty years.

And this data indicated that this place had not experienced unnatural population reductions for a long time.

The farmers of Sige Town lived quite comfortably, enough to have children.

The reason for the slow increase was mainly due to the small population base and insufficient productivity.

If productivity were sufficient, the population would explode easily.

One could say that humans were like weeds; as long as the nutrients were sufficient and the survival pressure was low, given enough time, a large patch would naturally emerge.

Roman fully understood the situation and then sent Moor away.

He continued methodically cultivating the wasteland, preparing to plant cabbage and strawberries.

Before coming to Sige Town, he had purchased a large quantity of seeds in the Duke Domain, specifically aiming to farm.

The land on the north side of the manor was very fertile and moist, evident from the densely packed sprouting grass.

Three more days passed in this manner.

After this period of construction, the land began to take on the semblance of a manor, no longer just a few empty wooden houses, and Aaron and Green no longer had to share a room.

Roman had the authority to summon the residents of Sige Town to work here, but he felt it was not yet time for major construction.

...

Today marked Roman's seventh day in Sige Town.

He had cultivated ten acres in six days and finally upgraded his "Planting" skill to Second Rank.

Returning to his room, his mind was flooded with knowledge, which made him somewhat dizzy.

After recovering, Roman realized the benefits this "Planting" skill upgrade brought were significant.

Firstly, it unlocked basic agricultural knowledge such as manure, seed screening, deep plowing, as well as transformations of various agricultural tools like the curved plow and heavy plow, and harnesses.

[Second Rank Planting: 1\380]

[Milestone Unlock: First Bucket of Soil]

[First Bucket of Soil: Obtain 500 Original Stones]

...

Including the 100 original stones he received daily from signing in, totaling 1200 original stones, enough for seven draws at 160 per draw.

Roman originally planned to draw ten times, merely waiting four more days, aside from converting some extraordinary resources into original stones.

But he felt it unnecessary, as extraordinary resources were very valuable.

He was also temporarily unsure about what Angel Envoys entailed.

He glanced at the Recruitment Pool; there were no guarantees, no rotation pools, and no previews explained.

On the interface was only a gray, foggy pond, flickering inside like faint stars; at a rough glance, the numerous stars were densely packed together, difficult to count, possibly close to two thousand.

After a moment, Roman finally decided to recruit.

After all, recruiting and training "Angel Envoys" was the main gameplay in "Noah's Ark."

Even if he didn't know what would happen, he had to recruit; he couldn't just give up because of choking.

Whoosh!

The gray pond rippled slightly, and a weak starlight surged up like a comet attacking the moon.

The starlight stood above the pond and burst into dazzling blue light!

Roman felt himself getting nervous for the first time in years.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Three stars appeared one by one on a card, the blue light dissipated, revealing the character's true face.

Roman took a close look, then his eyes bulged out, and he tactically leaned back!

Green!

Why is it you, kid?

In the interface, above the Recruitment Pool, a reckless character image was branded on the floating card, dressed as a knight but not looking serious, with a handsome appearance, slightly tilting his head, and a corner of his mouth carrying a sly smile.

[Three Stars Green (can be assigned an Angel Envoy code)

Attack: D+, Defense: E, Speed: D+, Constitution: E+, Energy: E+

Talent: Agility—flexibility enhancement

First Skill: Evasion—increase the probability of dodging attacks

Second Skill: Quick Attack—increased attack speed]

Roman was genuinely startled and didn't know what to say.

But it seemed reasonable; he had originally thought the recruited "Angel Envoys" would fall from the sky and kneel before him, swearing allegiance.

Although he didn't need to explain anything to anyone else, he was curious about the origins of the Angel Envoy.

He hadn't expected the recruited Angel Envoy to be someone from his surroundings.

That made sense.

The attributes and talent skills of the assassin-type were also very consistent with Roman's understanding of Green's strength; that guy was not someone suited for frontal combat.

Roman immediately started the second round of recruitment.

Another starlight burst out from the Recruitment Pool, standing above the pond.

Four stars shone with a purple glow.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

When the light dissipated, a solemn-faced, armored traditional knight image sprang onto the card.

Well, another acquaintance!

[Four Stars Aaron (can be assigned an Angel Envoy code)

Attack: E+, Defense: D+, Speed: E, Constitution: D+, Energy: D-

Talent: Tenacity—enhanced resistance to abnormal states

First Skill: Shield Strike—when attacking with a heavy shield, suppresses the enemy

Second Skill: Unyielding—body endurance increases with the intensity of battle]

Roman observed for a moment; it seemed Aaron's potential was clearly stronger than Green's.

Both were of similar age, both born into the Riptide Family, and difficult to distinguish in battle, but now seeing the panel...

It looked like Aaron had been holding back.

Aaron 3D2E, just by attributes, was clearly stronger than Green's 2D3E.

But why were all the Angel Envoys people from around him?

With this puzzling thought, Roman conducted another recruitment.

Thump! Thump!

A starlight emitted a white glow, standing above the Recruitment Pool.

Roman squinted his eyes, only to see a... stranger he did not recognize appear on the card.

It was a young man with a rugged face, wearing animal skins, and carrying a longbow, dressed similarly to a hunter.

Who is this?

[Two Stars Dota (can be assigned an Angel Envoy title)

Attack: E+, Defense: E, Speed: E+, Constitution: E+, Energy: E

Talent: Eye Power—enhanced observational skills of the environment

First Skill: Tracking—captures traces and deduces the movements of the trace maker]

Although a 5E panel was pitiful, Roman expressed his understanding.

Green and Aaron were both First Rank Knights from the Riptide Family, well-nourished, with their bodies trained from a young age, quite talented.

Especially Aaron, who was expected to advance to a Second Rank Knight soon.

Not everyone could compare with the growth conditions of Conquest Knights.

This young man called Dota was obviously just an ordinary person; having such values was quite normal.

So...

Where is this Angel Envoy named Dota he had just recruited?