Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 113 - 108 Where Does the Money Come From?

Chapter 113: Chapter 108 Where Does the Money Come From?

Li Hongyun was not convinced and wanted to try again.

How about matchlocks? Are matchlocks that superior?

Could my unparalleled javelin skills not surpass matchlocks?

Well, it seems they couldn’t.

After his first attempt failed, Li Hongyun chose to start over and tried several more times.

But the outcomes were all similar.

Puning Port was naturally a strategic location that was easy to defend but hard to attack. These bandits had bows and matchlocks, while Sheng Army, despite having a numerical advantage, did not have superior equipment and found it difficult to maximize their effectiveness at the choke points, resulting in prolonged unsuccessful assaults.

In the previous attempts, Li Hongyun fought these bandits to the death, but no matter how accurate his javelin throws were, he could only kill one person at a time. Moreover, no matter how fast he was, he was not faster than a matchlock.

Therefore, after several attempts, Li Hongyun decided to change his approach.

Perhaps this was a plot twist?

Should he just try to survive first?

Li Hongyun decided to focus on surviving. Though he still threw spears to attack the bandits in the watchtower, he began to prioritize his safety as soon as the bandits drew their matchlocks, trying hard to remain alive.

As a result, he fell into a certain cycle.

Though struggling to survive would indeed allow him to live until General Deng retreated his forces, this approach seemed rather meaningless.

Since Sheng Army’s objective was to capture Puning Port, if they couldn’t take it in one go, they would try a second and a third time.

In the army, Li Hongyun could only follow General Deng to attack and face setbacks, over and over again.

It led to a stalemate.

However, Li Hongyun soon realized that these repeated battles weren’t just simple repetitions. Before each battle, the conversations between General Deng Yuanjing and Lord Governor Wang Zongchang would also slightly vary.

It was clear to feel that the longer Puning Port remained unconquered, the more pressure built up from the higher-ups. If it took too long to conquer, General Deng might risk being dismissed, which would virtually equate to failing the instance.

But Li Hongyun could only be anxious, unable to help.

There were limited manpower and resources. General Deng was already a top-notch general commanding perfectly without any signs of tampering.

Moreover, Li Hongyun had not yet activated the role-playing privileges of General Deng. Trying to attempt the siege using Deng Yuanjing’s identity was impossible.

On this day, they were supposed to attack the city as usual.

However, just as they were lining up, a downpour suddenly began.

Actually, it had already been raining often before, but as time passed, the rain had become heavier.

They had to cancel the attack plan and return to camp.

Ambushing in the rain sounded simple, but in reality, it was virtually unfeasible. The bandits weren’t fools; a slight counterattack from them in the watchtower would send the attacking Sheng Army scrambling in the rain.

Back in the camp, Li Hongyun was somewhat restless.

He felt that his enjoyable evening was almost over.

Although he didn’t know exactly how much time had passed in the game, he sensed that it was probably just enough for him to try three to five more times.

So far, however, he had not found a way to resolve this second stage.

Relying solely on combat power was clearly not sufficient, but without it, he couldn’t think of any direction to breakthrough.

Make money?

How to make money?

As Li Hongyun was mired in his confusion, he suddenly saw a special fragment slowly appearing in his field of vision, and it had General Deng Yuanjing’s image on it.

"Huh? A memory fragment!

"After fighting alongside General Deng for so long, I’ve finally obtained his memory fragment!"

Li Hongyun was instantly invigorated and became active again.

In the first instance, the memory fragment was a rare golden talent, but in this instance, the talent of a memory fragment had been activated as a fixed talent, which was clearly a significant favorable news for the player’s puzzle-solving.

Li Hongyun hurriedly touched the memory fragment.

Then, scenes of intermittent memories flickered through his mind like a slideshow.

...

"Lord Governor, Puning Port is strategically important, easy to defend and hard to attack, and the bandits resist fiercely with exquisite equipment. It’s difficult to conquer instantly.

"I have already thought of several weapons that could counter the bandits and have found suitable troops. As long as the provisions and military supplies are in place, we will definitely be able to eradicate the bandits!"

In the memory fragment, Li Hongyun saw this from General Deng’s first-person perspective; these words were naturally spoken by General Deng to the governor.

The governor, dressed in official attire, appearing to be over fifty years old with a face full of wrinkles, said to Deng Yuanjing, "Yuan Jing, of course, the bandits must be eradicated, but there are priorities and urgencies in all affairs.

"I am trying my best to secure the military supplies for you, but the current situation in the capital is complicated. You only need to focus on military affairs, but I have to consider the overall situation across the southeast and even the capital...

"Let’s wait a bit longer, there will be a turnaround."

The scene shifted, and a person resembling a Deputy General secretly reported.

"General Deng, I saw that the Lord Governor had someone secretly send another chest of jewels to the capital. I also heard that the opera troupe he sent to the Grand Secretary’s residence last time was worth over a hundred thousand Silver, and Lord Governor was involved in that too...

"General, Lord Governor obviously has the money! He just doesn’t want to allocate funds for our military needs..."

Deng Yuanjing rebuked, "Is this something you should be discussing? Shut up and never mention it again!"

The Deputy General stepped back, but his face clearly showed dissatisfaction.

Following that, there were several other fragmented memories, including Deng Yuanjing leading his troops in battle, inspecting troops, trying to develop new weapons, and so on.

"The enemy danced forward with their barbarian blades, and our soldiers had already lost their morale... Those who encountered it were often cut in two, because the weapon was sharp and used with both hands, making it heavily forceful..."

"The enemy came out of the watchtower, and our soldiers stabbed at him with their spears. With one strike from the enemy’s blade, a dozen spears were broken, and the soldiers fled unarmed..."

"When facing the enemy, our soldiers were timid; their weapons were frail, and their courage was shaken. Even if they were well-practiced on normal days, many were panicked and forgot their usual prowess. Only the dense bamboo could provide enough cover, bolstering their courage enough to hold their ground."

...

A moment later, these memories were completely absorbed by Li Hongyun.

And he fell into deep thought.

"Lord Governor probably refers to the current Governor. The Governor at this time is Lin Xiangmin, who according to historical records, is considered a notable official and an enthusiast of opera.

"As for the current Grand Secretary, it should be Yan Maoqing, who has been controlling the politics for over two decades. Historically, he is considered a corrupt and treacherous official, comparable to Wang Chong from the ’scholar’ instance.

"The current Governor of Jiangnan Road, Lin Xiangmin, is a Yan party member and also deeply involved in opera. The matter of sending an opera troupe could hardly be unconnected.

"Since Governor Lin’s act of sending money and opera troupe to Chief Minister Yan originated from memory shards, the reliability of this information is high.

"However, this does not necessarily mean that Governor Lin is a villain. After all, he wants to eradicate the invaders and must secure his position as Governor first, which requires attaching himself to Chief Minister Yan...

"As for other memory fragments, many are related to weaponry.

"This indicates that at this moment, Deng Yuanjing has already thought of many methods to counter the enemy, but due to insufficient military supplies and lack of funds, he can neither re-recruit nor train elite soldiers, nor can he equip them with weapons to counter the barbarian blades.

"In the end, it’s all about money.

"Now I know what I should do next.

"If we want to conquer Puning Port, where the bandits are entrenched, we need to focus our efforts on this Mr. Lin."

If a player were not well-versed in historical knowledge, they would probably be confused by the content of the memory shards by now and might not even distinguish among the characters involved.

But Li Hongyun, who was a history student, quickly sorted out these relationships.

So, he chose to restart.

But this time, he was not playing a soldier but chose to be an adviser.

...

[Ren·Serenity (White): Your calmness allows you to handle danger more nonchalantly.]

[Ren·Eloquent Speech (Blue): Your speeches become more infectious and persuasive.]

[Xin·Keen Observation (Blue): Your observation and memory skills are enhanced.]

Li Hongyun looked at the three talents in front of him; indeed, after switching to an adviser, the talent skills also refreshed to three support talents.

This way, there won’t be a mismatch between the talent skills and the character’s identity, making them useless.

Li Hongyun furrowed his brows, lost in thought.

Being serene might be useful for someone not great at acting like him, but now, he wasn’t an assassin; he was an adviser.

For an adviser, poor acting might not cost him his head.

Eloquent Speech and Keen Observation both appeared useful; the former could enhance the persuasiveness of his words, making his suggestions more likely to be accepted as an adviser; while the latter was a more versatile skill, perhaps redundant, but might also be of great use.

After a brief consideration, Li Hongyun decided to go with Keen Observation.

Because his role wasn’t a scholar, he couldn’t use Keen Observation in combination with Eloquent Speech. Keen Observation, as a Xin level Blue skill, won in terms of level and rarity.

If he could notice some crucial details, that would be a significant gain.

After choosing his talent, everything in Trial Illusion began to operate.

Suddenly, Li Hongyun found his clothing had changed; he was no longer in the armor of a soldier but was now wearing the long robe of a scholar.

At that moment, several others dressed almost like him gathered together.

And sitting in the middle was the Governor, Lin Xiangmin.

This Mr. Lin looked exactly as Li Hongyun had seen in General Deng’s memory shards, only in the candlelight, his wrinkles seemed a bit deeper.

The Governor looked around at the advisers and said, "We have been unable to take down Puning Port for a long time, and the capital has already held us accountable many times.

"If we don’t respond soon, my position as Governor may really be in jeopardy, and even Elder Yan might not be able to protect me.

"I heard that the terrain of Puning Port is not very high, and there is a riverbank nearby. What do you think about breaching the riverbank to flood the bandits?"

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