Chapter 96: Major Intelligence Acquired! The Video Went Viral!
Woniu Mountain was definitely more than just a mountain; the area of this map was several times larger than that of the Luoshui base camp, with towns and villages of various sizes scattered across thousands of square kilometers.
According to known information.
There was a county town called Sanxiang County in the southwest of the region.
During the late Han Dynasty, the population of this small city once reached twenty to thirty thousand.
Although the population sharply declined due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the descent of the Abyssal Nightmare, it was said that nearly ten thousand people still lived there.
After the Dragon Lizardmen arrived in the Woniu Mountain region, they naturally discovered this city quickly.
However, after several assaults, they ultimately failed to capture the city, showing that its defenses were extremely strong.
Hang Yu was also a Lord.
As long as one was a Lord, they could not help but be interested in expanding their territory and crazily seizing land.
Although Sanxiang County was just an inconspicuous county town, if it could be taken, it would surely bring abundant benefits and greatly increase the territory’s population limit.
A strong assault was not advisable.
Even the Dragon Lizardmen had failed to capture this city.
The troops Hang Yu had were still far inferior to the Dragon Lizardmen.
Since strong assault was not an option.
They could only resort to clever tactics.
Hang Yu had an advantage that the Dragon Lizard Lord did not—he and his people were also human, and he had Zhou Ji and a group of local native NPCs who were familiar with the area.
Under such circumstances, they could completely blend into the city and then find a way from inside.
This might not be easy.
But Hang Yu believed in the wisdom of the players.
The most solid fortress was always breached from within.
Sanxiang County was not some famous city, merely an ordinary county town.
Its garrison commander was unlikely to be a renowned minister or general of the era, and thus it was impossible that there were no flaws.
Hang Yu asked, "How much have you learned about Woniu Mountain’s Zhou Cang?"
Chimera Wraith replied, "Zhou Ji claims that he was adopted by Zhou Cang as a foster son thirty years ago, at which time Zhou Cang had already begun showing signs of corruption and monstrous mutation."
"According to the information Zhou Cang himself provided back then, and based on our interviews with many old villagers, it can now be basically confirmed that Zhou Cang was one of the earliest individuals in the Woniu Mountain area to suffer from Abyssal Corruption."
"However, Zhou Cang had often moved around even during non-Ultimate Dark Days, and had lived together with Zhou Ji for a long period."
"This shows that Zhou Cang was definitely not the core source of the corruption."
Hang Yu corrected, "Actually, core polluters are not necessarily restricted to the core area only on Ultimate Dark Days."
Chimera Wraith froze.
This was obviously unexpected.
Hang Yu explained, "Some Abyssal Fallen can use special methods to expand their range of activity."
"Additionally, if a Lord of the Stars happens to be defeated, and their Star Core is absorbed by the Fallen, it can also allow the core polluter to break free from the restrictions, and there is even a certain probability they will evolve into a special Abyss Lord."
This was critical information!
Chimera Wraith’s eyes widened.
They had accidentally acquired major setting details again!
Hang Yu paused and continued, "Of course, judging by the intelligence gathered so far, it is indeed unlikely that Zhou Cang is the core source of corruption."
"It is more probable that an even stronger or more suitable target was chosen by the Will of the Abyss."
Chimera Wraith nodded and continued, "Zhou Cang was last seen fifteen years ago."
"According to Zhou Ji, Zhou Cang entered Woniu Mountain at that time and never came out again."
Zhou Cang had gone into the core polluted area?
And had never come back?
"Did anything change in the area after that?"
"It’s said that ever since Zhou Cang entered Woniu Mountain, the pollution there seemed to be suppressed."
"Even during Ultimate Dark Days, the Abyssal creatures in the core polluted area have not spread the pollution outward."
Hang Yu pondered, "Could it be that Zhou Cang used some method to seal off the pollution zone?"
"No wonder the Dragon Lizard Lord across the way could so easily control most of the territory here, since he didn’t have to worry about the shocks and threats of the Ultimate Dark Day."
Although the specific details of the Woniu Mountain area were still unknown.
From the information already obtained, at least two pieces of intelligence could be summarized.
First, Zhou Cang had not completely fallen at least fifteen years ago and was probably not the core source of the Nightmare Corruption here.
Second, the pollution of the core area of Woniu Mountain had been suppressed.
Although there were still various secondary pollution sources in other regions, the pollution capabilities of secondary sources were limited, and the threats they posed were not significant.
This explained why.
Even though the Woniu Mountain area's pollution sources were stronger and had been polluted for longer, it did not seem especially severe.
As for who exactly the big boss of Woniu Mountain was, and what hidden stories lay behind it, that remained unknown.
They could only send people in to investigate when the time was ripe.
Chimera Wraith also reported some other intelligence.
This information was gathered from Zhou Ji and local villagers and greatly helped Hang Yu understand the local pollution conditions and the distribution of the Dragon Lizard Lord’s forces.
After Chimera Wraith took his leave.
Hang Yu checked the current resource reserves.
Xiao Ba immediately reported, "The current resource reserves are: Abyssal Magic Crystals 4489, Tier-One Food 10345, Tier-One Materials 8521, Tier-One Material Essence 4456, Abyssal Essence Points 174650."
The current resources were not abundant.
But the growth trend was very strong.
After all, the second beta had only been open for two days.
The crazy monster hunting and reckless behavior of several hundred players had brought large amounts of food and material income to the territory.
Hang Yu glanced at the log panel again.
【Player "Little Lamb" has died, Essence +100……】
【Player "Iron-Blooded True Man" has died, Essence +150……】
【Player "Master of Sow Care" has died, Essence +400……】
The death rate among new players was quite high.
Even without key players like Black-Eyed Rui Ge participating in high-risk operations and campaigns, Hang Yu could still earn tens of thousands of Essence Points every day.
Moreover, as the players’ levels grew, the income was also increasing.
In addition to these general resources.
The inventory of equipment and advanced materials was also considerable.
There were over five hundred pieces of white-quality equipment alone.
Some were dropped directly from players' backpacks upon death.
Others were voluntarily submitted by players in exchange for Contribution Points.
This was not all the white-quality equipment the territory had.
Players were also using and collecting a considerable amount of equipment.
The territory was able to accumulate so much equipment mainly because players had a tenfold drop rate.
When players hunted humanoid elite monsters like Yellow Turban Fiend Soldiers, almost every monster would drop at least one piece of equipment.
Without the blessing of the Heavenly Dao, only about one piece would drop for every ten monsters killed, so for most Lords, fine equipment was still relatively valuable and scarce.
After thinking briefly.
Hang Yu kept the more practical pieces of equipment.
They would later be distributed as rewards for players completing missions.
He listed the remaining equipment on the trading market at a price of 15-20 Abyssal Magic Crystals for white-quality equipment and 1-2 Abyssal Magic Crystals for gray superior-quality equipment.
Because the overall quality of this batch of equipment was mediocre or low, the current selling price was several times higher than the market price.
If any Lords were willing to buy at a premium, it was naturally not a problem, since it was not him who would be the sucker.
However, Hang Yu was not aiming for Abyssal Magic Crystals.
Hang Yu specifically noted in the transaction list that he accepted blueprints and skill stones as exchanges.
If a Lord urgently needed a large amount of equipment to arm troops and happened to have good blueprints or skill stones, he could directly trade resources.
"Hopefully, I can get one or two good blueprints."
Hang Yu's territory had only been developing for a short time, and its various functions were not yet complete.
Not to mention rare buildings, even the structures included with the Lord Core had not all been built.
He opened the construction section for a glance.
【Administrative Hall】, Tier-One Building, construction cost 400 Abyssal Magic Crystals, 800 Tier-One Material Essences, currently buildable 0/1.
【Hero Hall】, Tier-One Building, construction cost 500 Abyssal Magic Crystals, 1000 Tier-One Material Essences, currently buildable 0/1.
【Abyss Post Station】, Tier-One Building, construction cost 1000 Abyssal Magic Crystals, 2500 Tier-One Material Essences, currently buildable 0/1.
【......】
【Stars Teleportation Station】, Tier-One Building, construction cost 3000 Abyssal Magic Crystals, 10000 Tier-One Material Essences, currently buildable 0/1.
The function of the Administrative Hall was to recruit civil administrative personnel for the territory.
The function of the Hero Hall was to recruit military generals for the territory, that is, so-called hero units.
The Dragon Lizardman Black Fang was one such general recruited by the Dragon Lizard Lord.
These two buildings, like the Trading Hall, were part of the Lord's Hall.
The functions they provided were indispensable for many territories.
However, for Hang Yu's current situation, they were optional.
First, Hang Yu's territory was still small, with few lands and limited output.
Under such circumstances, there was no need to hire management personnel at all.
As for generals?
The players under Hang Yu’s command each had an excess of self-awareness and could manage themselves.
There was no immediate need to recruit dedicated generals to lead actions.
Moreover, recruiting such combat personnel was very expensive and not cost-effective for the territory.
Rather than recruiting professionals from the Stars.
It would be better to absorb famous ministers and generals from the Twisted Three Kingdoms.
Although Hang Yu had no immediate plans for active recruitment, as basic components of the Lord's Hall, it was necessary to build them soon to meet the upgrade conditions for the Lord’s Hall.
【You have built the Administrative Hall!】
【You have built the Hero Hall!】
A total of 900 Abyssal Magic Crystals and 1800 Material Essences were consumed.
This expenditure was not significant for Hang Yu at this stage.
As for the Abyss Post Station and the Stars Teleportation Station, they were also very useful territory buildings.
The latter would allow the Lord to return to the Land of Stars on the Day of Stars' Return.
The former could establish material transport channels between the Abyss and the Stars.
Hang Yu did want to build the Stars Teleportation Station, so he could return to the Land of Stars at special times, visit the Dragon Principal, and meet his former classmates and friends.
However, its price was truly exorbitant, and he could not afford it yet.
Moreover, the Day of Return only occurred once a month at most.
The next occurrence would not be for about a dozen more days, so even if built, it could not be used immediately.
Besides these buildings, there were several defensive structures in the Lord Core, such as defense towers and arrow towers.
Their main role was to protect the territory and resist external enemies.
In addition to constructing new buildings.
Upgrading existing buildings was also very necessary.
When a building advanced from Tier-One to Tier-Two, its functions would become much stronger.
For example, if a Tier-One Forging Workshop could be upgraded to a Tier-Two Forging Workshop, it would be able to recruit five resident Forgers at the same time.
Similarly, if a Tier-One Barracks could be upgraded to a Tier-Two Barracks, the population it could increase would also multiply several times, making it an effective way to raise the territory’s population limit.
However, some building upgrades also had conditions.
For instance, if Hang Yu wanted to upgrade the Abyss Barracks, he not only needed a large amount of Abyssal Magic Crystals and Tier-Two Materials but also had to build at least fifteen Tier-One Barracks.
This was obviously unachievable given the current situation.
"I must hurry to take Sanxiang County!"
Since the threat of Abyssal creatures had been suppressed.
It was better to secure a foothold in the Woniu Mountain region first and then purify the pollution sources.
Hang Yu decided to focus his efforts in the next few days on dealing with the Dragon Lizard Lord and capturing Sanxiang County.
After the recent lesson, the Dragon Lizard Lord would surely become extremely cautious and launch full-scale blockades.
Currently, the strength difference between the two sides was significant.
Moreover, Hang Yu had no base of operations in the Woniu Mountain region, making it unsuitable for battle.
But if they could take Sanxiang County.
The Fourth Calamity Amry would gain a strong base of operations in the Woniu Mountain region!
This would not only bring huge benefits to the territory and elevate its overall strength.
The confrontation against the Dragon Lizard Lord would also become much easier afterward.
Hang Yu already had a plan.
Soon, he could arrange specific actions.
He then spent about 1500 Abyssal Magic Crystals and 3000 Material Essences to upgrade the territory’s walls, warehouses, and other non-advancing buildings.
He also built a Scout Tower in the center of the territory to prevent enemy units from sneaking in and causing sabotage.
After finishing internal affairs.
Hang Yu habitually opened the game forum.
Browsing the forum and posting with an alternate account every day was not only a way to relax but also a means to understand the latest player experiences and gather various feedback and new suggestions.
At this moment.
In the game forum.
The latest topic was the rescue operation.
Last night, Chimera Wraith and Black-Eyed Rui Ge had posted on the forum, sparking great discussion.
As a result, many cloud players were very concerned about the progress of this mission.
The entire process was full of thrilling twists and turns, just like watching a drama series.
Due to the information delay and lack of synchronization.
The news appearing on the forum was often outdated.
This led to a flurry of rumors during the operation.
At one moment, someone would claim that the player team had been completely wiped out.
The next, someone would say that all the villagers had been killed and the mission had failed.
It made the cloud players’ emotions swing like a roller coaster.
Seeing this.
Hang Yu could not help but think.
Maybe he could add another plugin to the player panel.
Allowing players to log into the forum through a holographic panel during their Twisted Three Kingdoms adventures.
That way, even without exiting the game, players could interact, chat, and post news and intelligence with others on the forum.
Technically, this would not be difficult for Xiao Ba.
Of course, the embedding process should not be too rigid.
It would be better to design an item for this, allowing another wave of revenue.
As a game planner, Hang Yu had been collecting feedback since the internal testing began.
Within his capabilities, he was constantly working to make Twisted Three Kingdoms resemble an excellent game.
Functions like team formation, game screenshots, friend systems, and map features were all the results of development based on the Heavenly Dao Cube’s functions.
Only by continually improving the gaming experience.
Could more people become hopelessly addicted.
At this moment, more information continued exploding on the forum, sparking even more discussions.
Especially when a ten-second short video of Hang Yu dueling Zhou Ji was released.
It immediately ignited the entire forum and quickly went viral, becoming a trending topic across the whole internet like a wildfire.
There were actually players filming videos inside the game?
This was an extremely expensive and luxurious move!
However, the video quality was undeniable!
Whether it was the clarity comparable to professional cameras or the effects presented by the video content, it rivaled top-tier action blockbuster special effects, easily crushing all promotional CGs on the market.
With content like this, it would be hard not to go viral!