Chapter 113: The First Batch of Tier-Two Players!
Luoshui Base Camp.
The latest 100 players have logged in.
Among them is a ranger newcomer named "Toasting the Moon."
This person is none other than Wang Yue, the only individual from the Intelligence and Security Department who earned the game qualification.
Toasting the Moon, as the village's hope, naturally entered the game with an investigative task, hoping to uncover the secrets of this game from within.
Although he had mentally prepared himself, the moment he entered the game, he was still deeply shocked, even to the point of being completely conquered.
The near-perfect realism, this flawless immersion, made him almost forget that he was in a game.
He finally understood why the higher-ups were so focused on this game!
The technology embedded in this game is so rich that it likely surpasses anyone's imagination, enough to completely overthrow human society!
After entering the game, Toasting the Moon didn’t rush to hunt monsters or level up like the other players. Instead, he took a stroll around his territory. Although the territory had developed for some time, it was still in the early stages of construction.
The current buildings mainly include: the Territory Hall, Forging Workshop, Alchemy Workshop, Skill Tower, two spiritual fields, six barracks, as well as structures like the canteen, stable, and warehouse.
In addition to these buildings with the Stars style,
the territory now also has several hundred young and strong laborers.
These people, under the leadership of the player "Great Wall of China," were busy building houses and laying roads, adding various facilities. It could be said that they were working in full swing, and the entire territory was brimming with a vibrant atmosphere.
It was clear to see.
It wouldn’t take long.
The territory would be completely transformed.
"These people are all NPCs?!"
Toasting the Moon had a chat with a few of the workers on the construction site.
He learned that most of these workers were villagers from Hexi Village, with a portion being villagers newly assigned from Shangyang Hamlet. They were all in-game characters, not players.
Even though he had been told in advance that they were NPCs,
Toasting the Moon still found it hard to believe this fact!
Because these people were simply too real. Whether it was their joys, anger, sorrow, or character quirks, or even their accents and habits, everything made them feel like a group of down-to-earth, time-appropriate farmers.
"They have blood, flesh, and souls!"
"They aren’t just cold data!"
This is how many beta-test players described the NPCs.
Toasting the Moon now wholeheartedly agreed with this viewpoint. Although there had been plenty of praise for the game’s realism and the NPCs’ artificial intelligence on the forums, it was still difficult to grasp even a tenth of it without firsthand experience.
This report was going to be hard to write!
Toasting the Moon found it incredibly difficult to assess the game!
At least with his professional judgment, it was hard to believe he was inside a game.
As Toasting the Moon pondered,
"Rui Ge and the others are back!"
"Aren’t they at Wo Niu Mountain? How did they return so quickly?"
"Did the Blessing Point of Shansang City activate successfully?"
"I don't know, they’re in the hall. Hurry and ask them!"
"..."
Toasting the Moon overheard several players talking, and his curiosity was piqued. After all, he had kept close tabs on the operation related to Wo Niu Mountain and even provided a lot of support.
Around ten minutes ago,
Xiao Lingdang, Ye Li Meng, Black-Eyed Rui Ge, Salty Fish Charge, Chenxi, and others had all resurrected and returned.
"What’s going on with the big shots?"
"Does anyone know the situation?"
"How’s the situation in Shansang Ancient City?"
The Shansang Ancient City mission had not only sparked great interest and discussion on the forums but was also the most important event in the game so far. As the first city to appear, its significance was immense!
"Don’t mention it!"
"Big shots are emo!"
"It’s said that the activation progress has exceeded ninety percent."
"At the final moment, it was interrupted! This wave is probably over!"
The players, upon hearing this, all felt deeply disappointed. Chenxi, Xiao Lingdang, Salty Fish Charge, and others were equally gloomy. If there had been no hope from the beginning, it would have been fine, but this time, success was just one step away.
"Don’t be discouraged!"
Ye Li Meng stepped forward at this moment and said, "Although we’ve experienced failure, it doesn’t mean we have no chance. I suggest we try again before the task ends!"
Black-Eyed Rui Ge also said, "That’s right, win or lose is common in the military. Moreover, this mission is so difficult. Our gains from entering Wo Niu Mountain have already been quite considerable, and one failed mission isn’t a big deal!"
As they were preparing to encourage others,
Suddenly, a notification sounded in everyone’s minds.
[ Ding, task completed. Your team’s essence +120,000, contribution points +150,000, golden treasure chest +1! ]
Upon hearing this message, all eleven people on-site were utterly stunned.
What’s going on?
The task suddenly completed?
Such an exaggerated reward, such a generous prize, there can’t be another task!
Xiao Lingdang immediately shouted, "The only one not back among us is Chimera Wraith, could the situation have changed after we all died? Let’s quickly contact Chimera Wraith and ask!"
"Ask again!"
Without her reminding,
Chenxi had already contacted Chimera Wraith.
She immediately understood the detailed situation.
After the ten-plus players learned what had happened,
Each one of them opened their eyes wide, showing expressions of disbelief.
"F*ck!"
"This can work!"
"Is this real?"
"It feels like a dream!"
"Is there any fake in this? We did it!"
"Hahaha! It really worked! We succeeded!"
"..."
Just a moment ago, the eleven top players who were still emo were now all excitedly cheering and laughing out loud.
A newbie sycophant immediately started flattering, "Congratulations, big shots! Congratulations, everyone! You've won a city for the territory! This is a milestone in the history of the territory's development and an unparalleled achievement at this stage. It will surely be recorded in history!"
Another clever player seized the opportunity and shouted, "How can we not celebrate such good news? How about you big shots go to the Kibba Grand Hotel and set a table, let us newbies bask in your glory!"
"Set a table!"
"Set a table!"
Several players began egging it on.
Ye Li Meng laughed heartily, "Hahaha, setting one table isn't enough. Such a great event, I’ll set ten or twenty tables, invite all the friends here and treat them to a good meal!"
"F*ck!"
"The boss is generous!"
"Boss, do you need any ornaments?"
Many newbie players were overjoyed!
At this stage, eating in the game was much more expensive than dining in luxurious real-world restaurants!
Although the food at Kibba Grand Hotel was delicious, it was very extravagant, and new players didn’t have many contribution points to spend. Now, they could take this opportunity to "take advantage" of the big shot players!
The twelve players divided the task rewards.
Although Chimera Wraith, who had made a significant contribution, received a higher proportion of the contribution points and materials, the essence points were evenly split among the twelve, with each person receiving exactly 10,000 essence points.
This was just the task reward, not counting the essence gained from kills, and it was still an astonishing number!
It takes 20,000 essence to level up from 10 to 11.
Players already had quite a bit of essence stored up.
This 10,000 essence allowed players like Lone Boat, Ye Li Meng, Black-Eyed Rui Ge, Mad Blade Old Wang, Salty Fish Charge, Chimera Wraith, and Artist General to break through to the next level.
The territory gained several new Tier-Two units!
This could be said to be another milestone development.
[ You have leveled up to level 11. Health +10, Mana +10, Strength +2, Agility +3, Spirit +1, Will +1! ]
[ Ding, you have broken through to Tier-Two. Health +100, Mana +100, Strength +20, Agility +30, Spirit +10, Will +10! ]
After Lone Boat’s breakthrough, he felt like he had undergone a complete transformation. His base attributes nearly doubled, making it almost unbelievable!
So this was the incredible growth after a breakthrough!
No wonder Tier-Two monsters are so hard to kill; the difference in attributes is too great!
With the first batch of Tier-Two soldiers from the Calamity Legion appearing, from this moment on, the territory’s development would enter a new chapter!
With Shansang Ancient City as the base for Wo Niu Mountain, and a batch of powerful Tier-Two Calamity Warriors, what’s to fear when dealing with the Dragon-Lizard Tribe? Lone Boat could hardly wait to find a big lizard and try out his new abilities!
Of course!
Before taking revenge on the Dragon-Lizard Tribe,
He needed to make himself stronger!
The benefits from this Wo Niu Mountain operation were very substantial.
In addition to gaining a large amount of essence, contribution points, and items,
Lone Boat took stock of the resources he had accumulated. The contribution points totaled 28,000, with 10 Evil Corruption Gems, 8 Crimson Gems, 5 Forging Crystals, and over twenty pieces of high-quality materials including various gems, as well as several pieces of impressive equipment in terms of attributes and quality.
The value of these resources was undoubtedly extremely high.
Xiao Lingdang, Ye Li Meng, and several wealthy players were madly collecting contribution points. Moreover, as player-to-player contribution point trading was now open, the price for one contribution point had skyrocketed to at least 50 pieces.
In other words, the market value of this batch of contribution points was a staggering 1.4 million!
For the rich, this might not seem like much, but for ordinary people, it was already a huge fortune. It’s worth noting that Lone Boat had only been playing the game for less than half a month!
Just in this half-month,
Lone Boat’s life had undergone a tremendous change. Not only did he pay off his family’s debt, but he also became a person worth millions, even tens of millions... This brought an immense shock and encouragement to him, someone who could only be considered a useless person in real life!
Contribution points are very valuable.
Lone Boat, however, had no intention of selling them.
At this stage, they should be spent on more meaningful things.
Lone Boat thought this to himself as he arrived at the Forging Workshop. At this moment, the Forging Workshop had already been upgraded, and with the repairs and renovations made by Great Wall of China and others, it had grown larger and more impressive.
In addition to the main forger, Yan Ling,
The Forging Workshop had gained two new NPCs.
Both of these new forgers were Tier-One ordinary forgers. They could easily service regular players, but could not meet the demands of top-tier players like Lone Boat, so he went straight to the chief forger, Yan Ling.
"Do you want to upgrade your equipment?"
Yan Ling was certainly familiar with Lone Boat.
After all, he was one of the rare top-tier players.
Lone Boat nodded without hesitation and said, "I’ve broken through to Tier-Two, and this broken sword needs an upgrade."
The Bloodstained Sword in his hand was dropped from the corrupted Xu Feng, who invaded Hexi Village. As a white-grade top-tier weapon, it was still relevant, but it was hard to keep up with the other top-tier players' equipment upgrades.
Yan Ling, however, advised, "Your Bloodstained Sword has already been upgraded to level 8. While it is possible to continue upgrading, the chance of success is very slim, and the resources required would be enormous. I don’t recommend investing too many resources into this weapon."
[Bloodstained Sword], Tier-One equipment, white-grade top-tier, Attack +14, Agility +5, Attack Speed +1, Durability 30/30.
These were the initial stats of the Bloodstained Sword.
Lone Boat had spent a great deal of resources, plus a bit of luck, to upgrade the Bloodstained Sword to level 8!
[Bloodstained Sword] +8, Tier-One equipment, white-grade top-tier, Attack +21, Agility +8, Attack Speed +2, Durability 30/30.
It’s easy to see!
The power of the level 8 Bloodstained Sword is incredible!
It would not lose to a green weapon of the same tier.
Lone Boat’s purpose in coming here was to further enhance his weapon.
He brought many gemstone materials and Forging Crystals, not just to increase the upgrade level, but to elevate the weapon's tier and quality.
First, the tier!
With the consumption of one Forging Crystal,
Lone Boat’s Bloodstained Sword was upgraded to a Tier-Two weapon.
[Bloodstained Sword] +3, Tier-Two equipment, white-grade top-tier, Attack +24, Agility +8, Attack Speed +3, Durability 40/40.
The Bloodstained Sword’s level dropped from 8 to 3, but its stats didn’t just remain the same—they actually showed a slight increase… This indicates that after a breakthrough in equipment tier or quality, the upgrade level may be affected, but it won’t be a loss.
Even!
First, upgrade the weapon to a high level.
Then, break through its quality.
This is actually a good strategy to increase the success rate of the tier-up!
White-grade!
Far from enough!
Lone Boat was about to clash with the Dragon-Lizard Tribe, how could he go without a suitable green weapon?
The first attempt, upgrade failed!
The second attempt, upgrade failed again, equipment level +1!
The third attempt, still failed!
...
Lone Boat used five opportunities.
Finally, he succeeded in breaking through the Bloodstained Sword.
[Crimson Bloodstained Sword], Tier-Two equipment, green-grade low-tier, Attack +36, Agility +15, Strength +7, Attack Speed +10, Special Skill Crimson Curse, Durability 50/50.
[Crimson Curse], special skill: Each time damage is dealt, there is a 10% chance to inflict bleeding effect on the enemy. Each time damage is dealt to a bleeding target, 30 points of physical immunity are ignored.
Upon seeing the new equipment's attributes,
Lone Boat felt very satisfied and exhilarated.
Although this weapon’s upgrade level was 0, its power was already comparable to a regular level 10 Bloodstained Sword. The only issue was that the upgrading cost was incredibly expensive, with each of the first 3 levels requiring a large number of contribution points.
Lone Boat hesitated for just a couple of seconds.
He spent all his contribution points on it.
By now, Lone Boat’s accumulated contribution points were almost completely wiped out!
Even though so many contribution points were spent, the immediate change was evident. The players didn’t feel any discomfort, but instead, they felt the satisfaction of "you reap what you sow," which motivated them to earn more contribution points.
It wasn’t just Lone Boat.
Hang Yu saw from afar.
Almost every Tier-Two player began to pay attention to Tier-Two equipment, working hard for higher-level and higher-quality gear.
After learning that the Forging Workshop could now forge and upgrade Tier-Two and green-grade equipment, Ye Li Meng, with his ample funds, took immediate action.
He first used Forging Stones to upgrade a Tier-One Thousand-Skull Hammer to Tier-Two, then used various gems to upgrade a green-grade medium-tier hammer to green-grade top-tier, and finally, he immediately upgraded it to level 5, causing its power to surge by 60%.
Just Ye Li Meng alone spent nearly 100,000 contribution points at once, making Yan Ling and the other forgers so happy that their smiles nearly became crooked.
One could say!
This wave of players had their strength explode!
The time to challenge the Dragon-Lizard Tribe was rapidly approaching!
At this moment, Zhou Ji returned to the City Lord’s Mansion and respectfully reported, "My Lord, we have completed the notification. Now, all the citizens of the city are willing to swear loyalty to you!"