The Boss King actually disguised himself as a novice village chief?!

Loves White Silk wasn't the least bit embarrassed, makes sense, since wandering around in nothing but a pair of modesty shorts in the middle of the street really demonstrates a lack of grasp on what the word "embarrassing" means.

He quickly got used to it, and although his hand started to give off a charred smell, his face remained expressionless.

"Dude, my hand is really busted!" Loves White Silk continued to marvel, staring at his burnt hand as if it wasn't his own.

Who wouldn't have a busted hand after grabbing a hot coal?

Lind quickly picked up on Loves White Silk's change. It couldn't be that he had suddenly become some stoic tough guy impervious to pain; he must have done something to block out the pain sensation.

"Ahem," Lind felt it was time to get to the point, to prevent this guy from doing something even more idiotic.

"This immortality, was it a gift from the gods?" Lind asked, for he had just seen how eagerly the other was eyeing the pot. Him dying didn't matter, but that pot of hot soup couldn't go to waste.

Loves White Silk sat up straight, his face serious, but his green hair and twisted features turned his solemnity into something grotesque: "Exactly, the gods guided us to this world where the flame of life is about to be extinguished. Someone must become the kindling to ignite the flames! Until our mission is complete, we are immortal!"

Old Pete, who was passing by, was visibly moved by these words, though it was hard to tell if he was touched or further convinced that this guy was nuts.

Meanwhile, Lind ignored the crazy talk and continued playing the role of a curious and magnanimous lord.

"Star Dragon Ridge welcomes the undead who harbor grand aspirations to save the world," Lind said, "With the Ring of Magic broken, we also want to contribute to saving the world. If there's anything we can help you with, just name it!"

Loves White Silk's eyes lit up: "Can you give me some equipment? Weapons, armor, stuff like that. Those wolves are too tough to handle."

"Of course!" Lind nodded enthusiastically: "Please, follow me!"

"Yes!" Loves White Silk exclaimed excitedly, pumping his fist: "I'm definitely the fastest at getting equipped! New adventure! New adventure!"

Lind led Loves White Silk into an adjacent room, which was stocked with piles of rusty weapons and armor scattered all over the floor, ranging from cloth to heavy armor.

Over the years, Star Dragon Ridge had slain quite a few thieves and robbers, accumulating a lot of worn clothing that couldn't be sold because it wasn't worth repairing, so it was just piled up here.

Despite facing difficulties with food and drink, Lind and his men were regular infantry of the first army of the Rand Kingdom, wearing very fine armor and weapons. With equipment and fighting capability for ten men, they could easily cut through an armed force of thirty to forty bandits. Positioned on the walls of Star Dragon Ridge with their crossbows, they could take down a hundred to two hundred adventurers attempting a foolish siege.

"So much equipment," Loves White Silk marveled.

His gaze quickly settled on a set of dark green armor and linger at it for a long time. Lind remembered that it had been stripped from a mercenary; the partners had quarreled over their loot, one had drugged the other, and then one had silently drawn a blade. In the end, both died by the roadside.

Lind pointed to the weapons on the ground and said, "You can pick a weapon. If you can slaughter and bring back the bodies of the wolves, I can grant you the privilege to purchase weapons and armor here."

A nearby soldier was confused. Privilege? Sir, what are you talking about? Didn't you just offer unconditional assistance? Giving just one shoddy weapon and sending them off to risk their lives seemed a bit stingy.

Send someone to risk their lives to kill wolves and, after completing the task, not only withhold the weapons but offer only a purchasing privilege? That seemed way too harsh, even if he was immortal.

Unexpectedly, Loves White Silk, with his tuft of green hair, excitedly replied, "Thank you for your generosity, my lord, I will definitely complete the task!"

Generosity, where did he see generosity here?!

Lind said nothing more, leaving the nearby soldier repeatedly questioning whether it was the lord and the immortal who were crazy or himself. Why did listening to their conversation feel so strenuous?

In response, Lind argued that this was precisely what players liked. Making players spend money on shoddy equipment was an essential experience of the game. Players definitely didn't like getting stuff for free.

Starting off with nothing and relying on whatever one could find—that, according to him, was the romance of being a player!

Giving out divine equipment right from the start would only make players complain about the trash and lack of gameplay. Add in microtransactions, and that would be downright game crap.

According to the game's logic, he was merely "granting purchase permissions to players."

Lind wasn't short on benefits. With the world having collapsed, the monetary system had long since fallen apart. The word 'buy' wouldn't frequently appear in this land. However, as an NPC unable to issue quests, Lind needed to have enough of a reward system. For now, he was just looking to experiment by constant talking and probing, then figuring out what players could and couldn't do in this world.

By now, he was pretty sure that the player had a game interface because, as he was observing the weapons, Loves White Silk kept staring space out while looking at a particular spot, then shifting his gaze after a while to the next one.

However, Lind wasn't quite sure how much information he could gather from that.

"Maybe he can see health bars, so how much health do I have?" Lind was curious, but alas, he couldn't find out.

As for whether players would get angry upon discovering these items were junk and no one wanted them, that wasn't a concern at all. Wasn't that perfectly normal? In the game, NPCs set the prices of equipment whimsically and players couldn't even bargain. If they didn't have enough money, they had to go farm materials. That's gaming!

Loves White Silk perused for a long while and finally picked out a one-handed sword. He left buoyantly to kill wolves.

The sword was among the best of the "junk" pile, and Lind, with his years of experience handling weapons, could tell at a glance, unlike players who had to stare and compare stats. Still, he envied the players' ability. Stats made things much easier and ensured that no critical information was missed.

"Lord..." The soldier was quite puzzled but had too many questions to know where to start.

"Confused?" Lind asked, observing the soldier's hesitant expression and added, "Undying and our way of thinking are different, they don't need these weapons and armor, nor wolves and money. What they need is a sense of accomplishment, glory."

Lind turned to stand at the door, watching a figure wearing only shorts heading towards the Star Dragon Ridge gate, and said, "Heroes about to save the world need a sense of accomplishment and glory, so I'm not just selling them things, I'm helping them find that sense of accomplishment, that glory!"

The soldiers nodded. If the Undead indeed were the God's Knights, it was understandable their way of thinking would be different, especially since that green-haired guy had been acting crazy ever since he started speaking.

It's said that those who listen to the divine word are generally not all there, muttering to themselves.

They agreed with Lind's explanation, trying hard to equate the bizarre man in shorts with a God's Knight, though it was difficult—very difficult!

Lind then continued, "Increase staff at the warehouse, alternate guards between night and day to prevent the Undead from stealing weapons and armor. You can reduce the guards at the lookout posts, just keep this place secure."

Since players were here, the surroundings were bound to be cleared of life, no need to worry about monster attacks.

What he should be worried about was whether he might be robbed by the players.

"Yes, uhm?" The soldier nodded, then immediately looked up in confusion.

Lord, weren't you just talking about glory? Why would the Undead come to steal things then?

God's Knights weren't supposed to be that dishonorable, right?

If Lind knew what they were thinking, he would only laugh. Not that dishonorable? Back when he played the scavenging game, he used to steal so much he couldn't even walk, not leaving a single dish or cup for the NPCs. Some people are just like hamsters, you can't imagine the joy of hoarding through stealing.

"If the Undead come to steal, just kill them," Lind reiterated, "Regarding the prices of these weapons... I'll write a price list, then follow the exchange rates strictly."