Moreover, there’s another thing: earlier, some members said they saw a person who, just half a month after the game started, couldn’t take it anymore and ran deep into the mountains to die. The woodcutter NPC also said he heard a tiger’s roar, so he was probably eaten by a tiger.

A person who was eaten by a tiger has reappeared? According to the usual pattern in folk ghost stories, there’s only one possibility: he’s become a “servant of the tiger spirit”! But it’s only been half a month since the game started, and everyone is still unfamiliar with each other—no one even remembers his name or what he looked like, so this isn’t very credible.

But if it’s true, and this tiger-spirit ghost has already infiltrated the gang? Just thinking about it made Chicken Bro break out in goosebumps all over.

However, if players really turn into ghosts after dying, it’s just a different way to play the game, and that’s even better—just kill them! No moral or ethical pressure.

As he was pondering, a villager hurried in with a small bundle: “Sir, Mark Ford left the city urgently with the main army and sent this through someone, telling you to remember to act according to circumstances, just like you said when you were drinking last time!” With that, he immediately left.

Chicken Bro opened the bundle and was instantly stunned!

—System prompt: You have obtained the magical artifact “Genuine Ugo Kingdom Horn”!

A magical artifact! He actually gave me the genuine key to enter the Ugo Kingdom?

So he wasn’t just drunk—he was serious! Is there really a legendary treasure appearing in the world? But he also knows I’m bad at fighting, and he’s said before that the Ugo Kingdom is actually in the Netherworld Demon Realm, not a place ordinary people can go. So what’s the point of telling me?

Well, even though he knows telling me is useless, he still gives me the right to know and decide—that’s what a true buddy does, that’s the treatment the number one player in Yongchang deserves. “Act according to circumstances” probably just means I get a free magical artifact for self-defense, right?

The guards at the village gate once again broke the night’s silence with their questioning: “Who goes there? Password!”

“From the gang, Leo Zero Top-up, password is ‘Chicken Dances in the Nine Heavens!’”

“Go on in!”

Chicken Bro smiled knowingly. Those who flatter you all day just to eat and drink well don’t really count; it’s people like Luke Price, who have been in sync with you since the start and have spent half a year hauling firewood, who are truly trusted confidants.

Luke Price, drenched in sweat and panting, rushed in: “Chicken Bro, something big has happened!”

Chicken Bro had already guessed what it was, and calmly handed over the teapot: “Don’t rush, have some pu’er tea!”

“Thanks, Chicken Bro… Three things. First, Big Charles’s ranking has soared again—he’s already up to 103rd place!”

Chicken Bro was so shocked he couldn’t stay calm! He’d started from scratch, gambling on chickens and snowballing for half a year, now holding a ninth-rank official post with a Beast Command, a gang of a thousand, a chicken farm the size of a village, and three major investments in cockfighting arenas, teahouses, and taverns, plus three general tokens—all that only got him to 43rd place. And Big Charles jumped two levels in a single day, from the hundreds of thousands to ten thousand, then straight to the top hundred?

What’s left to talk about? Make him deputy leader? Give him a share of the business?

Chicken Bro took a deep breath. “Go on!”

Luke Price continued, “The city’s Grand Shaman just announced two things in the square: first, a general’s star has fallen outside the city; second, the drought can be resolved! Then Matthew Ford and all the visiting cave lords took the supply convoy and set out overnight—Chicken Bro, look out the window, those bright lines in the distance are their torches!”

Chicken Bro asked, “What does the Grand Shaman mean by a general’s star falling?”

“It means an unknown little star disappeared from the sky, and then outside the city, some golden light drifted around like snowflakes for a while before vanishing too.”

Is this the big event Mark Ford is up to? Is there a legendary treasure there?

Chicken Bro frowned. “What do you think?”

Luke Price said, “It must be that an NPC general outside the city died! Then Big Charles absorbed some of the scattered general’s star power and became an overnight sensation! As for why they’re taking the supply convoy, I don’t know. The Grand Shaman would never reveal the real secret, but it’s probably related to the general’s death. Anyway, it’s too dangerous at night, Chicken Bro, there’s no need for you to go out and pick up general stars.”

Agreed. Chicken Bro is someone with assets—there’s no need to take such risks.

Speaking of which, among the high-level players who own general tokens, everyone is studying one question: how to quickly upgrade the general token’s star level? The system prompt, of course, says to go out and fight monsters, but the only ones who really have a say are “Logan King,” ranked 47th, who got the general token for Chen Dao, a subordinate of Liu Bei, and the White Ear Soldier token; and “Dylan Wolf,” ranked 48th, who got the general token for Gao Shun, a subordinate of Lü Bu, and the Camp Crusher Soldier token.

These two have no other businesses and aren’t interested in management—they survive solely by going out of the city to hunt monsters, which is extremely dangerous. In fact, forget monsters—even running into an ordinary tiger nearly got them killed.

By comparison, those ranked in the thirties and above mainly get points from their businesses; in terms of combat power, they’re not necessarily stronger than those two. Not to mention, running a business keeps them so busy they can’t possibly spend long periods outside hunting monsters.

So there’s a famous theory about “exploding general stars”—that is, tricking an enemy city’s NPC general into dying, so the general star aura under his feet disperses, and maybe you can max out your star level in one go!

This idea sounds like a joke right now, but at this moment, Chicken Bro isn’t laughing.

Chicken Bro said in a low voice, “So, even if I now have a 2-star enhanced Matthew Ford, I still might not be able to beat him?”