Section 002: Ranking Soared by a Hundred Million!!

As Li Zhan approached, the villagers parted to form a path for him. Li He, upon seeing him, greeted him with delight.

“Chief, the domestication of the wild oxen has already shown promising results. All five have become much tamer, and I am currently training them to get used to pulling the plow.”

“Oh?” Li Zhan responded, “I didn’t expect the process to advance so quickly. In your estimation, how much longer before the oxen can be handed over to the villagers?”

Li He replied, “Three more days should be enough. However, I suggest we fit them with nose rings to prevent any mishaps and ensure better control.”

Li Zhan nodded, “Very well. I’ll leave everything in your hands. Prioritize the villagers’ safety, but get the oxen to work as soon as possible.”

“Yes, sir!” Li He answered.

At that moment, a semi-transparent system dialog box popped up—

Dear player, the three-day public opinion poll has concluded. During this period, players from all over the world cast their votes for the upcoming regional mode. According to the results, the new regional modes will reflect the will of the majority: the Chinese region will be based on the Three Kingdoms era; the English and French regions, on the Hundred Years’ War; the Japanese region, on the Sengoku period… The system will now automatically install the map patch, a process that will take approximately fifteen minutes. Please log off and rest during this time, then rejoin your imperial adventure. We apologize for any inconvenience—United International.

Li Zhan had participated in this poll himself—a simple process. A semi-transparent dialog box had suddenly appeared, synchronizing across the world, allowing players to select their preferred historical era. Chinese players had six eras to choose from: Spring and Autumn, Warring States, the end of Qin, Three Kingdoms, Sui and Tang, and Ming and Qing. Each player could only pick one. Officially, the new regional mode would match the chosen era—for instance, selecting the Three Kingdoms era would bring cities like Luoyang, Jianye, and Xuchang into the game, along with the corresponding map patch and legendary heroes of various races. These heroes would appear as NPCs in the game, possibly as ordinary citizens or as magnates. If a player was lucky, they could befriend a hero or even recruit them. These heroes generally boasted superior attributes and some might possess unique skills, distinguishing them from regular NPCs.

Li Zhan had chosen the Three Kingdoms era simply because he was unfamiliar with the others. In truth, even his knowledge of the Three Kingdoms was limited, gleaned mostly from strategy games. Whether this would help him in "Rise of Empire" remained to be seen.

Players had many opinions about United International’s sudden change of course to add regional modes. Some argued it would make the game more engaging and increase its longevity; these were the majority views. Others contended that the real purpose was to raise the difficulty and curb players’ rampant expansion. Some even boldly predicted that after the map patch was installed, player tribes would be severely suppressed by NPC factions, and powerful tribes might be wiped out entirely.

Li Zhan noticed the name of a player making such a bold prediction—Donkey’s Not Me—and smiled. Their opinion matched his own. Still, he wasn’t concerned; with his current strength, he doubted the NPCs would pay him any mind. What preoccupied him more was where he’d find himself once the regional mode opened. Would it be inland? On the coast? Surrounded by other players, or in desolate isolation?

These factors would directly affect his tribe’s future development and trade routes.

During the fifteen-minute break, Li Zhan spent ten minutes browsing the forums. Finding nothing useful, he closed the page and opened the game leaderboard.

This was only his second time checking the rankings since entering the game. He didn’t expect his Yanhuang Tribe to have made much progress in such a short time. What interested him more was the ranking of the twelve elite foreign civilizations. After more than a week, had their standings changed?

Elite Civilizations Leaderboard

Rank – Civilization – Player(s) – Tribe Name – Era [New] – Military – Economy – Technology – Society – Civilization – Total National Value

1 – Aztec – Allen and four others – Lost – Dark Age – 45 – 5427 – 50 – 10 – 4 – 5536
2 – Egypt – The Oldest Pharaoh and three others – Baema – Dark Age – 30 – 5435 – 47 – 10 – 4 – 5526
3 – Great Britain – Richard and three others – Never Set – Dark Age – 40 – 5028 – 45 – 9 – 4 – 5126
4 – Greece – Zeus’s Slipper and two others – Divinity – Dark Age – 35 – 5032 – 45 – 9 – 4 – 5125
5 – Saracen – Countercrusade and three others – Arabia – Dark Age – 40 – 5014 – 40 – 9 – 4 – 5107
6 – Spain – The Cardinal and three others – Light – Dark Age – 40 – 5009 – 40 – 10 – 4 – 5103
7 – Persia – Saladin’s Legacy and four others – Holy Land – Dark Age – 35 – 5012 – 40 – 9 – 4 – 5100
8 – Japan – Tojo and four others – Yamato – Dark Age – 50 – 4897 – 37 – 8 – 3 – 4995
9 – Frank – Napoleon I and four others – Blackwater – Dark Age – 40 – 4858 – 40 – 9 – 4 – 4951
10 – Teuton – Rudean the Great and four others – Germanic – Dark Age – 45 – 4820 – 40 – 10 – 4 – 4919

11 – Byzantine – Goodman Phili and one other – Rome – Dark Age – 35 – 4825 – 40 – 10 – 4 – 4914
12 – Turkish – Muhammad and three others – Ottoman – Dark Age – 37 – 4805 – 40 – 9 – 4 – 4895

All twelve foreign civilizations had shifted somewhat, with several even dropping out of the elite rankings. To Li Zhan’s annoyance, the Japanese player Tojo had not only stayed in the top twelve but had even risen from ninth to eighth place, boasting the highest military score among them—a clear warmonger.

The top Chinese tribe, "Prosperous Tang," had also improved its global ranking from twenty-seventh to twenty-sixth.

Before closing the page, Li Zhan took one last look at his own tribe’s position. He didn’t expect any dramatic change, but curiosity got the better of him—sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.

14885193 – China – Li Zhan and one other – Yanhuang – Dark Age – 5 – 2215 – 15 – 5 – 3 – 2243

His ranking had surged by a hundred million places!

This astounding leap was due in large part to the rich resources surrounding his tribe and the planning skills of his NPC deputy Zheng Jun, which allowed Yanhuang to steadily progress even while Li Zhan logged off to rest. From this point on, Li Zhan officially shed his newbie status and joined the ranks of the veteran players.

First shocked, then amused, Li Zhan mused that he might be the fastest-climbing player in the world—if only there were a reward for that. Despite the leap, he was still ranked beyond ten million. Nevertheless, it was a good omen. Perhaps the next time he checked, he’d have left the ten million mark far behind. (Certain men are prone to daydreaming—do not disturb…)

“Ding-dong!”

The familiar alert sounded from the gaming helmet lying on his bed—the map patch had finished installing. Li Zhan snapped back to reality, picked up the helmet, and dove back into the game.