Chapter 64 Wielding the Blade as a Deterrent

Since he was going to manage these people, Lin Yi needed to interact with them at least to some extent to figure out who was worth cultivating and who was not.

However, before meeting them, Lin Yi found a half-wood mask and put it on.

Although many Descenders in the village had seen his real face, back then, restricted by the village rules, Lin Yi had no way to cover it. Now, as the esteemed vice-village chief, if he chose to wear a mask, no one would dare say a word.

Wang Zilong obediently went off to work. About half an hour later, the first batch of Descenders actually arrived.

There were three of them in total, and Qin Changsheng was one of them.

Despite Lin Yi wearing a mask, Qin Changsheng recognized him at a glance.

Changing his previous tone, Qin Changsheng immediately greeted him warmly, "I was wondering who summoned us, and it turns out to be Vice-Village Chief Lin! After all, the reward for this quest looks far too generous to be handed out by an NPC..."

He was quite well-informed within the village, so he had already heard the news that Lin Yi had become the vice-village chief of Gutan Village as a Descender.

Of course, he was still deeply shocked by Lin Yi's sudden leap into the village's upper echelons.

Because he knew that Lin Yi had probably descended upon Gutan Village for less than a month, making him a completely rookie player.

However, whether a rookie or a veteran, the Lin Yi before him was a thigh-level influential figure whom he desperately needed to cling to.

After exchanging pleasantries with Qin Changsheng, Lin Yi looked at the other two individuals—a man and a woman.

The man was named Ultimate Tech Man, a third-batch Descender of Gutan Village currently at level four. He had previously participated in the selection for the Fifth Militia Squad but failed, which was why he remained at level four.

The woman was named Jiang Hanxue. She was a first-batch Descender of Gutan Village, just like Qin Changsheng, and was currently an official member of the First Militia Squad with a level of six.

Lin Yi lingered his gaze on Jiang Hanxue for a moment longer.

He had to admit that the number of female Descenders in Gutan Village was pitifully small, and compared to men, women faced massive disadvantages upon arriving in the Apocalypse World.

If Jiang Hanxue had managed to reach her current level relying solely on herself, then this woman was definitely formidable—a ruthless character.

Judging by his appearance, Ultimate Tech Man was around Lin Yi's age and possessed a rather burly physique. He raised an eyebrow and asked casually, "You are Vice-Village Chief Lin? You're a Descender too? Spit it out, what did you call us here for?"

Jiang Hanxue also said coldly, "Vice-village chief? How come I've never heard of a vice-village chief in the village? I still have duty tasks in my squad. If you have something to say, spit it out. Don't waste everyone's time."

Lin Yi frowned slightly. They were giving him attitude the moment they met; as expected, most Descenders were unruly and untamed.

And here he was, trying to greet them with a friendly smile.

What a waste of time!

In that case, things would be simpler...

Lin Yi retrieved the recently acquired Wind-Riding Saber from his inventory and slashed forward with a flick of his wrist.

Whoosh!

A fierce blade-wind swept right between Jiang Hanxue and Ultimate Tech Man, shattering the wooden table inside the room directly into pieces.

The two of them were startled, never expecting Lin Yi to resort to violence without a second word.

Moreover, in that split second, the sharp and fierce intent of the blade genuinely gave them the sensation of facing death.

When they lowered their heads, their pupils couldn't help but contract violently. The place where the blade-wind had just swept had actually left a slash mark about three meters long.

If that blade had struck them, their bodies would probably have been torn to pieces instantly.

Not only Jiang Hanxue and Ultimate Tech Man, but even Qin Changsheng was stunned by Lin Yi's display of power.

He quickly stepped forward to smooth things over, saying, "Village Chief Lin, let's talk things out calmly. We're all on the same side..."

Lin Yi chuckled and said, "I wanted to speak with you reasonably as well, but none of you seemed patient enough to listen. I threw out that strike simply to make sure you'd have the patience to hear me out. Of course, if your patience still isn't enough, I have a second strike..."

Having witnessed Lin Yi's strike, Ultimate Tech Man, who had been somewhat arrogant earlier, instantly cowered. He quickly said, "Enough, enough! I guarantee I've got patience. Brother Lin, go ahead and speak, we're all listening."

Jiang Hanxue also pressed her lips tightly together, not daring to speak out of turn again.

As expected, communicating through force was much more straightforward.

"Alright. First matter: the village elder of Guhe Township has spoken. From now on, all Descenders in Gutan Village will be under my management. Of course, I couldn't care less about micromanaging you—keep doing whatever you were doing before. However, I will establish some basic codes of conduct for Descenders within Gutan Village. For instance, internal fighting is strictly prohibited within the village, and harming the native villagers is forbidden. You are not allowed to violate these rules."

"Second, I will set up a trading platform for Descenders within the village, allowing you to freely trade information and supplies on this platform..."

Upon hearing this, Qin Changsheng's expression turned grim. If such a place existed within the village, how was he, a gaming merchant, supposed to make money?

"What? Brother Changsheng has an objection?"

Noticing Lin Yi's unfriendly gaze shifting toward him, Qin Changsheng quickly stammered, "No, naturally not! I also think our village lacks a proper place for trading."

Lin Yi nodded. "Very well. Third, I will conduct periodic training sessions for you, which will include the distribution of monsters near the village, the weaknesses of various monsters, how to save yourself when encountering spectral entities, and essentially a series of training programs on how we Descenders can grow better in the Apocalypse Continent."

Hearing the third point, Ultimate Tech Man instantly grew excited. "Brother Lin! Brother Lin! This part is brilliant. Right now, this is precisely the knowledge I'm lacking."

"Alright, we'll start with these three points for now. If there's a need in the future, I'll add more."

Lin Yi took out the quest rewards for the three of them—three taels of silver each, along with a hand-drawn paper booklet.

The booklet crudely depicted the terrain of Gutan Village, the distribution of surrounding monsters, and suggested information regarding attribute allocation copied from official data.

Upon receiving this information booklet, both Jiang Hanxue and Ultimate Tech Man began reading it earnestly.

Ultimate Tech Man was low-leveled and lacked experience, having had to grope his way through the Apocalypse World entirely on his own. When he saw the information on the booklet, he felt like he had gained an immense amount of knowledge.

The look he gave Lin Yi became fervent as well. He was now exceptionally glad that he had accepted this "Vice-Village Chief's Summons" quest, otherwise, he would have missed out on a major opportunity.

As for Jiang Hanxue, she was immersed in the section regarding the awakening of physical talents at level seven. For her, although she knew that level seven was an important milestone, she truly knew nothing about awakening physical talents.

Meanwhile, after glancing over the contents of the booklet, Qin Changsheng couldn't help asking, "Village Chief Lin, are you affiliated with the authorities?"

Lin Yi glanced at Qin Changsheng. True to form, this gaming merchant was no simple figure; he had likely seen the documents issued by the authorities in reality, which was why he guessed Lin Yi had official backing.

"No, I found the information online."

"Village Chief Lin is joking. Ordinary people don't just get their hands on this kind of internal official training material."

"I have no idea. I found it online anyway."

Lin Yi shrugged, too lazy to offer further explanations. He could tell that Qin Changsheng had probably been in contact with official personnel, but was not officially employed himself.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, you may head back. But I will definitely summon you again in the next few days. Remember to be prepared; when that time comes, every single Descender in the village who can make it will be required to attend."

After sending the three of them away, Lin Yi simply jotted down notes in the "Gutan Village Descender Roster" and then sent Wang Zilong out to look for more people.

However, the Descenders in the village were scattered and logged in at random times. Over the next three hours, only five more Descenders arrived successively, three of whom were rookies.

Because these five Descenders were low-leveled, they showed immense respect to Lin Yi, who had summoned them and held the title of vice-village chief.

Lin Yi couldn't be bothered to use force to intimidate them either. He repeated the same routine he had just used, handed out their quest rewards, and dismissed them.

When no one was visiting, Lin Yi didn't idle around. He picked up the Wind-Riding Saber and practiced the Blazing Sun Saber Technique in the courtyard.

Among the three external martial arts techniques he currently possessed, only the Blazing Sun Saber Technique was at the highest level, making it the most cost-effective to practice.

Only when he grew tired of practicing the saber would Lin Yi switch to practicing the [Heavenly Star Archery] and [Extreme Speed Footwork] for a change of pace, though his progress in these two external arts remained consistently slow.

Ever since he drank two bottles of divine water in the morning and experienced a small-scale boost in his attributes, Lin Yi felt that his current strength should be more than capable of handling a level-ten corpse monster.

However, if he were to encounter a level-ten great demon, the outcome remained uncertain.

Still, he had five bottles of divine water left in his possession, which he would consume successively over the next few days. This period would likely mark an explosive growth phase for his attributes.