Chapter 85: Teleportation Station and Exploration Squad
Hang Yu began to focus on handling internal affairs.
He first checked the resource reserves.
Xiao Ba immediately reported, "The current resource reserves are: Abyssal Magic Crystal 2654, Tier-One Food 2645, Tier-One Material 521, Tier-One Material Essence 432... Abyssal Essence Points 131215."
The Day of Ultimate Darkness had earned over ten thousand magic crystals.
Most of them had been used for building barracks and recruiting players.
But there was still a fairly considerable balance that could be used for continued territory development.
Xiao Ba reminded him, "Due to the massive consumption of Material Essence in the construction and upgrading of Abyss Barracks, the current material reserves of the territory are insufficient. It is recommended to intensify resource gathering."
Material reserves were extremely important.
Without raw materials, it would be impossible to forge medicines and equipment.
Without Material Essence, it would be impossible to enhance equipment or build new structures.
Hang Yu, however, was not anxious.
This time, he had recruited 400 players in one go; under ideal circumstances, each could at least hunt 5–10 small monsters daily, which, though it did not seem much at first glance, was actually quite realistic.
Twisted Three Kingdoms was not a hack-and-slash computer game.
It was impossible for the screen to be filled with monsters to kill at random.
Although the Abyss World could be partially digitized, it was not much different from the real world.
Monster hunting was more akin to real hunting, requiring luck, patience, and bearing significant risks, so it usually required teamwork.
Under the Heavenly Dao’s Blessing with tenfold drops, each Tier-One monster could drop 3–4 pieces of materials, so theoretically, at least 6000 pieces of material could be earned daily.
Hunting itself was very dangerous.
The wilderness was also filled with venomous insects, snakes, and ants.
Suppose every player died once a day on average.
Even if all 400 players were Level 1, they could still bring in 40,000 Essence Points for the territory.
If the 400 players leveled up, the daily income would multiply several times or even dozens of times; by then, earning hundreds of thousands of Essence Points per day would be normal — that would be the effect of scale!
Of course.
This was just a rough estimate.
The actual material and essence income would depend on the real situation.
For example, the revenue from hunting wild monsters differed from hunting humanoid monsters.
Usually, only wild monsters dropped a lot of materials, but humanoid monsters dropped more Essence Points and were also much more dangerous.
If one aimed for economic value, hunting wild monsters would yield a higher return; a single Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Wild Bull could be used to forge five or six sets of white-grade equipment.
If one wanted faster leveling, then killing humanoid monsters was a better way for players to gain Essence Points quickly, because humanoid monsters not only yielded more Essence Points but also tended to gather in groups of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands, and were more prone to killing players instead.
As the Lord and strategist, Hang Yu could control which types of monsters players hunted by adjusting material recovery task rewards or by issuing special bounty tasks according to the territory’s needs.
Managing the territory was truly a profound discipline.
Especially since the main force of the territory consisted of a group of players.
"Although I currently don't have abundant resources, because the player slots are full, at least I don't have too much to worry about in the short term. I can use the resources for construction."
Hang Yu opened the construction list and scanned it: "Although the basic functional buildings of the territory are in place, there are still many useful buildings yet to be constructed... This time, I'll first build a Stable and a Canteen!"
"Since the territory has lacked a canteen, players have had to cook their own meals every day. If each person wastes an extra hour daily on this, the cumulative effect will greatly impact productivity — the loss is not small!"
"Find me a few chefs."
Xiao Ba immediately responded, "Yes!"
As for the stable?
There was no such thing listed in the Human Lord’s building list.
Hang Yu had a blueprint for the "Spirit Horse Stable" that he had exchanged for food.
This structure was very cheap to build, but its role in the territory was significant, so he unhesitatingly chose to construct it, placing it near the main gate for easy player access.
【Spirit Horse Stable】: Tier-One building, Spirit Horse Recruitment +100, current Spirit Horse count 0/100.
The stable was completed.
Spirit Horses needed to be purchased separately.
Each Spirit Horse only cost 1 Abyssal Magic Crystal.
Hang Yu decisively filled the quota by purchasing one hundred horses; these Spirit Horses were not made of flesh and blood and did not require feeding, but would continuously consume energy, with each consuming 1 Abyssal Magic Crystal per month.
It could not be allowed to become a losing business.
This could be considered a value-added service.
Naturally, players would be charged accordingly!
"These Spirit Horses are only for rent, not for sale!" Hang Yu instructed his assistant Xiao Ba: "Each player must pledge 1000 Contribution Points or an equivalent item of equal value to rent a Spirit Horse, and the rental fee will be 100 Contribution Points per hour."
With a highly mobile means of transportation, players' gameplay experience would further improve.
With high-mobility soldiers, the territory’s expansion efficiency would increase.
Hang Yu could also recycle players’ Contribution Points.
This move would undoubtedly be a triple win.
After resolving the issue of the stable, Hang Yu once again scanned the construction list and felt that many buildings needed to be added or upgraded, but unfortunately, the current financial income and material reserves were still insufficient.
For example, there was a building called the "Stars Teleportation Station."
This building was extremely expensive to construct, yet was essential for many territories.
Because Lords could only enter the Abyss in a one-way trip, only by building the "Stars Teleportation Station" could they return to the Stars.
The reason Lords like Bai Mu survived after defeat was most likely because they used a hidden teleportation station to escape at the critical moment.
The reason Hang Yu had not built it yet.
On one hand, it was because it was too expensive to afford.
On the other hand, it was because its function was limited regarding territory development.
The primary function of such a teleportation station was to leave the Lord an escape route; if he felt the territory was about to be completely destroyed, at least he could still save his life.
However, the use of the teleportation station itself came with many restrictions.
The Lord could not leave the territory most of the time.
Even with a teleportation station, it could only be activated at specific times.
Only during the so-called Day of the Stars' Return could teleportation be initiated.
If one truly wished to travel freely between the Abyss and the Stars without any restrictions or constraints, there was only one way — to become a high-ranking Lord like the Dragon Principal.
Only then could one completely break the limitations and freely travel between the Stars and various realms of the Abyss.
This was still too far away for Hang Yu.
Hang Yu had the idea of building a teleportation station, but only on the premise that it would not hinder the territory’s development.
This way, whenever the Stars aligned, he could teleport back to the Land of the Stars to meet classmates and friends and handle private affairs.
For example.
First, he could repay the school loan!
Hang Yu had always disliked the feeling of owing debts.
It would be best to also bring some Abyss Three Kingdoms specialties to the Dragon Principal as a token of gratitude.
After all, when everyone else gave up on investing in him, the Dragon Principal's small favor provided significant help.
Perhaps the Dragon Principal did not care at all, or maybe he did not even think highly of Hang Yu, but that initial funding had indeed been a great help.
Without that money.
Hang Yu might still have been bitterly grinding monsters for coins.
When Lords returned to the Stars, they were allowed to bring a few familiars with them.
At that time, he could select a few obedient players who had performed well to stay by his side, allowing them to broaden their horizons at the Land of the Stars and paving the way for future game expansions, treating it as an early benefit.
Uh.
He had accidentally thought too far ahead.
Better to first solve the Woniu Mountain problem!
Although Hang Yu had great confidence in himself, he still could not be careless when facing unknown enemies.
He began to observe the players' actions through the Lord's perspective and saw dozens of players forming several small teams.
One team was formed by Artist Faction Leader, Niu Shisan, and others.
One team was formed by Black-Eyed Rui Ge, Salted Fish Thrust, and others.
One team was formed by Ye Li Meng, Lone Boat, and others.
...
A total of five squads.
Each squad had between 5 to 7 members.
This arrangement had been discussed and decided by the players in a meeting.
First, it was necessary to clarify that this operation was a reconnaissance, not a crusade.
Because the destination was full of unknowns, and the Abyssal Corruption there was surely more severe than at Luoshui, putting all the eggs in one basket could result in a total wipeout from just one accident.
By splitting up, not only would the teams be smaller and easier to hide, but the chances of obtaining useful information would also increase.
About two hours later.
Suddenly, a prompt sounded in his ear.
【Ding, you have discovered the "Fate Crystal Stone of Shangyang Village," would you like to annex it immediately? Yes/No!】
Hang Yu was very surprised upon receiving the prompt; the players should not have entered the Woniu Mountain map yet, so how could they have found the local Fate Crystal Stone so quickly?
He hurriedly checked the details.
At a glance, he suddenly understood.
Shangyang Village was not in Woniu Mountain.
It was a desolate place located north of Luoshui Execution Ground, less than five li away from the Mist Gate of Woniu Mountain.
This place had been destroyed early during the Abyssal Descent.
However.
Towns could be destroyed.
But Fate Crystal Stones would not disappear.
Shangyang Village was located north of the core Abyssal Corruption zone of Luoshui Execution Ground.
To reach Shangyang Village, one had to pass through the core corruption zone.
That was why players had not discovered it before — even Hang Yu had not known of its existence.
In that case.
How was it found by players?
The greatest contributor was Chimera Wraith!
This female player, who loved researching storylines and lore, often interviewed elderly villagers of Hexi Village.
Initially, it was just to dig out more stories, but she ended up gathering a lot of useful information.
Among the information was the location of Shangyang Village.
Chimera Wraith realized that Shangyang Village was very close to the Woniu Mountain area.
If a Blessing Teleportation Point could be activated here, players would find it much easier to enter and explore Woniu Mountain.
According to the intelligence and data gathered previously.
She was almost certain that any place where humans had continuously lived and worshiped for generations had a high probability of nurturing a Fate Crystal Stone.
Activating a Fate Crystal Stone would unlock a teleportation point.
Following Chimera Wraith’s suggestion.
The squad led by Black-Eyed Rui Ge and Salted Fish Thrust specifically searched for the ruins of Shangyang Village, abandoned for twenty years.
In the end, they really did find the Fate Crystal Stone and successfully activated a Blessing Point — it had to be said, their luck was quite good.
Hang Yu was also surprised.
So story-driven players could be so useful?
Without this teleportation point, players could only trigger exploration from Hexi Village or He Ting Village, having to traverse rugged, difficult paths of twenty or thirty li just to reach Woniu Mountain.
With this new teleportation point.
Players would save a lot of time and energy.
Moreover.
According to what Hang Yu had learned.
Ordinary Blessing Points from different regions could not be used for cross-region teleportation.
In other words, even if players activated a teleportation point in Woniu Mountain, that point would only connect to local points within Woniu Mountain.
Only some higher-level special Blessing Points could enable cross-regional teleportation.
The teleportation node at Shangyang Village had great strategic value.
Hang Yu had not expected that in such a short time, the players would already make such a contribution.
Feeling satisfied, Hang Yu opened the newly obtained Luck Chest.
【You have opened the Fate Chest (White), and obtained "Abyssal Magic Crystal" ×500 and "Construction Blueprint: Reconnaissance Tower" ×1.】
Not bad!
Five hundred Abyssal Magic Crystals earned!
Besides that, he had also obtained a construction blueprint.
The Reconnaissance Tower was a fairly common yet very practical building.
Its main function was to monitor an area and to identify various stealth units, playing a significant role in counter-espionage.
Hang Yu then checked on the other squads.
Out of the five squads, three had already crossed the Abyss Mist Gate.
Players’ exploration of Woniu Mountain was underway.
Later, there would be another update.