Chapter 115: Generous Reward! A Thousand Gold for Talent!
Hang Yu had Xiao Ba report the current resource reserves of the territory.
Xiao Ba said, “The territory's resource reserves are as follows: Abyssal Magic Crystal 9539, Tier-One Food 46945, Tier-One Material 21521, Tier-One Material Essence 8359, Grey-Quality Equipment 3801 pieces, White-Quality Equipment 463 pieces, Abyssal Essence Points 378650!”
After the number of Players increased—
The territory's revenue had continued to soar.
Less than five days had passed since the second beta opened.
The food reserves had grown so abundant that the warehouses were almost bursting.
For most Lords, food supply had always been a troublesome issue.
Because a Tier-Two Lord could easily have two thousand or more troops, and even if each soldier consumed just one unit of food per day, the fixed daily cost of extraordinary ingredients would reach several thousand.
Other Lords did not have tenfold drop rates, so they needed to allocate a considerable portion of their troops to hunt for ingredients to sustain the territory’s needs.
During the hunting process, if soldiers were injured or killed, it would be a significant loss for the territory. Therefore, to play it safe, Lords would have their troops guard a limited area and hunt a limited number of monsters.
Not only was the yield inefficient,
It also dragged down the growth of the territory and the army.
Hang Yu had never been troubled by such things.
On one hand, his army was small, only six hundred men, with daily consumption far less than the income.
On the other hand, Players, thanks to Heavenly Dao’s Blessing and their undying nature, could cover a massive hunting area. As long as they could gain more rewards, they were willing to take risks or even die, naturally yielding income tens of times larger in scale.
The territory’s material reserves were slightly lower compared to food.
In fact, material income far exceeded food, because not all wild monsters dropped food, but nearly all wild monsters dropped materials — even some humanoid monsters dropped various materials.
So why was the stock lower than food?
Mainly due to consumption.
Materials could be used for alchemy, forging, construction, or converted into Essence, used to strengthen and repair equipment for Players.
Precisely because there were so many areas in need of materials, each day a large number of Players bought potions and enhanced equipment, which greatly depleted the reserves.
Even though there were two Spirit Fields available to cultivate large quantities of herbs to replenish alchemy materials, and a large number of low-grade grey equipment could be recycled as forging materials, the material stock in the territory still remained significantly lower than food.
Especially with the recent appearance of a batch of Tier-Two Players—
Strengthening Tier-Two or Green-Quality Equipment consumed an enormous amount.
Of course, even though the reserves were lower, they were still sufficient for now.
As for Essence?
The income was even more astonishing.
With a large influx of new Players into the territory, even though Hang Yu did not deliberately exploit them, the benefits from their self-inflicted hardships were considerable, and as the Players' levels increased, the profits were becoming even more impressive!
However, high income also meant high expenses.
Hang Yu himself consumed a fair amount of Essence.
In addition, raising Personal Guards and issuing quests to Players incurred even greater costs.
For example, in just one short day, Hang Yu had spent 120,000 Essence Points in one go as quest rewards for the Shansang Ancient City mission, and spent another 70,000 Essence Points to level himself up twice. Otherwise, his Essence reserve would have long surpassed 500,000.
Hang Yu would also have Xiao Ba continuously optimize and assign new quests based on territory needs and Player development. These ordinary and daily quests, when accumulated, also became a significant expense.
Of course, compared to food, materials, and Essence, the currently most lacking resource was still the Abyssal Magic Crystal!
The Magic Crystal reserve originally held only 4539.
The other 5000 came entirely from Fate Treasure Chests (Green).
Even so, it was still far from enough. Recruiting 500 new soldiers in one go required 10,000 Abyssal Magic Crystals, not even counting the cost of building Abyss Barracks. Based on the current financial reserves, it was simply unsustainable.
So, the most urgent task now was still to make money.
Hang Yu wanted to get the Abyss Barracks built as soon as possible and then fill the personnel quota. After all, with enough territory capacity, the more Players there were, the more income they generated.
The sooner the Player base expanded,
The sooner income could be created.
Ultimately forming a snowball effect, growing stronger and achieving greater glory!
After much deliberation, Hang Yu found that the only quick way to make money was to sell resources. Fortunately, he had not only a massive surplus of food stock on hand, but also hundreds to thousands of high-grade materials and rather high-quality equipment.
Other than that, the materials, skills, and construction blueprints obtained from the Fate Treasure Chest (Green) in Shansang City were all high-quality, high-value items. Those that could not be used could be sold at a high price.
Speaking of chest rewards—
The main gains were 100 pieces of Forging Crystal, 2 Skill Stones, and 1 Construction Blueprint.
The Forging Crystals could be used to upgrade equipment tiers. Hang Yu planned to upgrade his Huangtian Commander Set, first enhancing each part by a few levels, which would significantly increase the success rate for further upgrades.
If the Tier-One Green Set could be upgraded into a Tier-Two Set, then its attributes would increase by at least 30%. Once enhanced, the improvement would be even more substantial, enough to greatly enhance individual strength.
The two Skill Stones were both of green-quality.
One was called "Wind's Protection", a wind-element defensive spell that not only blocked attacks but also provided a minor attribute Buff Enhancement.
The other was called "Shadowstep", a skill for rapid advance and fast movement, usable for both offense and evasion, with excellent practical value in combat.
All of the above—
Would of course be kept for personal use, with no plans to trade.
However, this time he also obtained a very special blueprint from the chest.
【Construction Blueprint: Shansang City Elite Barracks】, Tier-One Construction Blueprint. Construction cost: Abyssal Magic Crystal x4000, Tier-One Material Essence x30000.
This was a special barracks-type building.
In a way, it was similar to the "Spirit Horse Stable".
Except that the stable provided the territory with 100 Spirit Horses, while the Shansang City Elite Barracks provided the territory with 50 "Shansang City Elite Soldiers".
These soldiers were a type of spiritual unit.
Each one summoned would be a Level 9 Elite right from the start.
They could immediately form a formidable fighting force.
However, the drawbacks were just as obvious. Since these soldiers were special spiritual entities, they could not be cultivated or grown, and the recruitment cost was relatively high.
Overall—
The blueprint itself was quite good.
Especially for the human race.
Because for low-tier races like the human race, the biggest weakness lay in their low starting point. Every soldier had to be trained from Level 1, which not only took a long time but also involved high costs and risks.
Once dead—
It was a complete loss.
All investment vanished without a trace!
This kind of special barracks-summoned combat unit, although lacking in plasticity and growth potential, would possess considerable strength immediately upon summoning. Such a building was extremely precious to lower-tier races.
Do not underestimate 50 Level 9 Elite units.
To train a human soldier to Level 9 Elite, they would need to master two max-level skills, wear a full set of White-Quality Equipment, and cover all upgrade costs. The total investment was exceedingly high for low-tier lords.
If a territory had such a special troop-type building, then it could directly summon combat-ready forces and use them to assist or protect regular troops during hunting or combat.
Even if they died in battle—
The most valuable Essence would not be lost.
As long as the Abyssal Magic Crystals were sufficient, they could be replenished again.
This building held great meaning for the vast majority of low-tier races. But for Hang Yu, it held little significance.
After all, the Calamity Legion’s soldiers were inherently undead. Hang Yu did not have to worry about troop losses, so there was no need to spend an enormous amount on such a building, nor to create a force with no growth potential.
Awkward indeed—
Quite the chicken rib!
But that couldn’t be helped.
Construction blueprints came in all forms and functions.
Hang Yu couldn’t expect to always obtain exactly what he needed from chests.
However, although this special barracks-type building was rather useless to Hang Yu, getting such a blueprint wasn’t bad luck at all. It still held high value, and many human lords would be interested in it.
With that thought—
Hang Yu opened the Trading Hall.
He first listed twenty thousand portions of food at a high price of one Abyssal Magic Crystal for every five portions.
Then he put the blueprint’s information up in the Trading Hall as well, hoping to exchange it for something useful.
Just as Hang Yu expected—
Once the blueprint was listed in the Trading Hall—
It almost immediately drew the interest of several lords.
Some lords wanted to buy it with Abyssal Magic Crystals, while others hoped to barter. But the prices or goods they offered failed to satisfy Hang Yu, so he simply delegated the negotiation task to Xiao Ba.
As the Heavenly Dao Cube, an intelligent assistant with computing power on par with a supercomputer, it was fully capable of processing vast amounts of information simultaneously and filtering out time-wasting, low-quality offers for its master.
While Xiao Ba haggled and negotiated with all kinds of lords—
Hang Yu took some time to browse the items on sale in the Trading Hall.
Among them were many materials the territory needed, such as high-quality spiritual herb seeds or useful functional items. A few very unique things caught his attention.
For example, this item:
【Flame Mechanized Left Arm】, Tier-One Prosthetic Equipment, Green Medium Quality, Strength +15, Agility +5, Independent Defense +50. Comes with Skills: Mighty Strength, Fire Spray, Grappling Hook.
This was a rare piece of prosthetic equipment.
Prosthetic equipment referred to a special type of implantable gear.
Such equipment did not belong to the thirteen common equipment slots, but rather replaced a body part or specific organ.
This type of gear was usually crafted specifically for disabled soldiers. It was rare to hear of lords who would intentionally amputate their soldiers’ limbs or gouge out their eyes to equip prosthetics, because the loss of any body part would trigger a disability Buff, causing attribute loss.
Take Zhou Ji for example.
This Level 12 native expert once had strength nearing a commander’s. But ever since he lost his left hand and became disabled, his attributes dropped considerably, now only equal to upper-mid-level elites of the same rank.
Though the disability Buff could be removed, and the Stars held many methods and potions that could regenerate disabled parts, Hang Yu had yet to obtain such items or abilities.
"This prosthetic equipment is only 350 Abyssal Magic Crystals? Buying it!"
Hang Yu directly bought this cost-effective prosthetic arm.
He then returned to the City Lord’s Mansion of Shansang City and summoned Zhou Ji and Feng Yi to meet him.
Hang Yu said bluntly, “The two of you made major contributions in the conquest of Shansang City—especially you, Zhou Ji. You have contributed tremendously along the way. In this territory, rewards and punishments are clearly defined. Since there is merit, there must be reward.”
Feng Yi looked slightly excited upon hearing this.
It seemed that Ye Li Meng of the Calamity Legion had not lied.
The Lord would indeed reward subordinates who had rendered meritorious service, even if those subordinates were not his direct vassals.
Hang Yu said directly, “Feng Yi, you assisted the Calamity Legion in entering the city, cooperated with the Calamity Legion soldiers’ operations, and even rushed in at a critical moment, earning valuable time for the Calamity Legion. You are awarded 20,000 Contribution Points and promoted to Executive Deputy City Lord, with a monthly salary of 5,000 Contribution Points!”
After becoming Hang Yu’s subordinates—
Hang Yu had unlocked their NPC Panel.
At this point, they were both very clear on what Contribution Points meant.
These Contribution Points could not only be used to mobilize the Calamity Legion to perform various high-difficulty tasks, but could also be exchanged for a wide range of resources and territory services. NPCs could even convert Contribution Points one-to-one into Abyssal Essence Points!
20,000 Contribution Points!
That meant 20,000 Abyssal Essence Points!
Feng Yi had already reached Level 10 in cultivation, and leveling from 10 to 11 required exactly 20,000. In other words, Hang Yu’s reward could directly help Feng Yi break through the bottleneck in cultivation!
In addition, Hang Yu promoted Feng Yi to Deputy City Lord, with a monthly salary of five thousand, plus performance-based bonuses!
What kind of divine treatment was this?
It should be known—
The growth rate of natives was generally extremely slow.
Feng Yi had been cultivating for twenty or thirty years and was still a Tier-One unit.
Let alone compared to the Calamity Legion blessed by the Heavenly Dao’s Blessing—even compared to the descendant soldiers under an ordinary lord, there was a large gap. But Hang Yu provided Feng Yi with generous treatment—something he had never even dared to dream of!
“Thank you, Lord!”
“Willing to serve until death!”
Feng Yi immediately knelt and bowed his head in reverence.
Grateful from the bottom of his heart for the Lord’s cultivation!
In fact, for Hang Yu, even Contribution Points that could be distributed freely—let alone a monthly expenditure of five thousand Abyssal Essence Points—were barely a drizzle, nothing to worry about, yet they could very effectively win loyalty.
Hang Yu then looked toward Zhou Ji. “As for you, Zhou Ji, I reward you with 40,000 Contribution Points, and appoint you as the City Lord of Shansang City, with a monthly salary of 8,000 Contribution Points!”
Upon hearing this—
Zhou Ji was stunned.
He hadn’t expected the reward to be this generous.
“I am but a humble commoner. Such generous rewards are far beyond what I deserve... and the position of City Lord is of great importance. A wise and capable person should assume this responsibility.”
“This is what you’ve earned. No need to decline.”
Hang Yu appointing Zhou Ji as City Lord wasn’t because he truly expected this warrior to govern the city—he was merely giving him the title. As for city management, Hang Yu would either handle it himself or assign it to capable administrators.
“This Lord has also prepared a special reward for you.”
Hang Yu took out the mechanized arm. “This can replace your severed limb. Put it on and see.”
Under Hang Yu’s guidance, Zhou Ji implanted the mechanized arm into his left hand. He immediately felt his nerves connect with the device, and his five fingers moved with agility—almost indistinguishable from a real arm.
Not only that—
The arm came with attribute boosts.
It also included three auxiliary skills.
This alone was enough to greatly boost his strength.
Zhou Ji stared in shock at his cold, mechanized arm. He could hardly believe such miraculous creations existed in this world. The Lord truly possessed boundless power!
“I merely did what was expected of me... It’s not even worth one percent of the Lord’s reward!”
“No need for more words. Since it’s been rewarded to you, just accept it. If you feel undeserving, then work even harder for the territory in return.”
“Yes!”
Zhou Ji was also a straightforward man.
This favor was etched deeply into his heart.
There was no doubt Hang Yu’s rewards for the two were overly generous. Even if halved, they would be enough to earn heartfelt gratitude. But this was exactly the effect he wanted—to spend a fortune in exchange for loyalty.
For Hang Yu—
His subordinates could be divided into three parts:
The Guard Corps, the Calamity Legion, and the native forces. Although the first two were fundamental, the third was also indispensable. Only by showing kindness to native personnel and generously rewarding those who rendered merit would more natives willingly submit in the future.
Hang Yu still hoped to recruit some Famous Generals of the Three Kingdoms and Legendary Heroes of History to serve under him.
After all, those who could go down in history as renowned ministers and generals were certainly individuals blessed with Fate. Their cultivation aptitude and attribute panels would surely surpass that of common natives. Some of them could even surpass the majority of Stars Lords and stand alone in command.
If such a person could be recruited—
The benefit to the territory would be immense.
“Though I’m earning a lot now—”
“I’m also spending quite a bit.”
“I need to think of a way to generate more income!”
With that in mind, Hang Yu casually drafted a group mission for the players.
【Mission Name: Second Resurrection Point!】
【Mission Description: The territory has gained its first affiliated town. This place will become an important base for the Calamity Legion. The advanced Blessing Point here can serve as your second Resurrection Point.】
【Mission Objective: Please activate the Shansang City Resurrection Point!】
【Mission Reward: 1000 Contribution Points. The first 100 players to activate it will receive double rewards.】
Thanks to Jianghu's so-called Little Scribe for the 1000 Qidian Coin tip.