Chapter 98: The Astonishing Value of Food! The Breakthroughs of Yan Ling and Bai Mu!
Hang Yu officially issued the first mission.
【Mission: Head to Sanxiang County!】
【Mission Content: According to the latest intelligence, Sanxiang County is the largest town in the Wo Niu Mountain area, a place where risks and opportunities coexist, and it may become the base for the Calamity Legion in Wo Niu Mountain.】
【Mission Objective: Please be the first to reach Sanxiang County within 24 hours.】
【Mission Reward: 4000 Essence Points, 8000 Contribution Points, to be shared among participating members!】
Hang Yu did not directly issue the mission to conquer Sanxiang County, mainly due to two considerations.
First, the current understanding of Sanxiang County was still insufficient, and under unclear circumstances, it was not suitable to move too aggressively.
Second, Hang Yu wanted to probe the reaction and latest deployments of the Dragon Lizard Lord.
The Calamity Legion's actions yesterday not only caused the Dragon Lizard Lord to lose a resource camp but also cost him dozens of soldiers and even a general.
Although this loss might not be enough to cripple him, it was still a heavy blow, and he could not possibly let it slide.
Although he could not directly attack Hang Yu’s main base for the time being.
There was no doubt he would take targeted measures out of resentment.
This Dragon Lizard Lord might not be an extremely powerful lord, but after operating in the Abyss for several years, he surely had some special tricks up his sleeve, and underestimating him in a formal confrontation could lead to a major loss.
Hang Yu knew very well that entering Wo Niu Mountain next would be extremely dangerous and would surely attract the Dragon Lizard Lord’s frenzied retaliation by any means necessary, yet instead of being cautious, he urged the players to enter Wo Niu Mountain directly.
What was there to fear?
At this moment, the Dragon Lizard Lord could not break in.
Rather than scouting cautiously and slowly.
It was better to let the players go straight in for a swift action.
Hang Yu would suffer no loss, and he could take the opportunity to reap some gains; any new actions or methods by the Dragon Lizard Lord would naturally be exposed during the process.
...
The level 8 Monk player, Chenxi, came online.
This youngest assistant professor in the history of Yanjing University never expected to become so deeply addicted to the game.
Because Twisted Three Kingdoms not only had highly addictive gameplay but also an incredibly well-crafted level of detail; whether it was the worldbuilding, the restoration of the Three Kingdoms period history, or the evolution of Abyss Era customs and culture, it did not feel like something made up out of thin air.
Every place, even the smallest details, could withstand scrutiny and displayed evolutionary coherence; even from an academic research perspective, the game world had countless areas worth deep exploration.
Chenxi received the latest mission notification: "Are we going to Sanxiang County today?"
This was truly something to look forward to!
Sanxiang County was a real ancient county town in history.
Given the hardcore nature and high fidelity of Twisted Three Kingdoms, even the most professional historians would not find faults with it.
Of course.
This Sanxiang County had already been separated from history.
It had evolved for forty years under the influence of the Abyss Era, affected by various supernatural forces and abyssal influences, so the city's style and customs would surely have undergone huge changes; no one knew what it had become now.
Precisely because of this.
It was even more exciting to anticipate.
Chenxi saw a message pop up in her friends window.
Chimera Wraith: "Is Chenxi-jie online? Little Bell is treating everyone to a meal, hurry to the Kiba Restaurant when you see this!"
Chenxi heard that the territory had added a new canteen building, mainly to provide food for players; although she had not been there yet, those who experienced it all gave rave reviews.
Kiba Restaurant?
Why was it called that?
Chenxi walked out of the barracks and found the territory canteen, a somewhat simple place, about the size of a typical middle school cafeteria, capable of accommodating four to five hundred people dining simultaneously.
"Chenxi-jie!"
"Over here!"
When Chenxi entered the canteen, she found the air filled with a tempting aroma, and at least a hundred players were dining; Little Bell, Chimera Wraith, and others were waving at her from a table.
Besides Little Bell and Chimera Wraith, there were also the level 7 Warlock Green-Clothed Fox, level 6 Ranger Light Dust, level 5 Warrior Hua Mulan, and level 5 Monk Meow Meow, all female players.
Chenxi smiled, "Hehe, sorry, I was a few minutes late getting online."
Little Bell said boldly, "Hahaha, no worries, no worries, let’s finish eating and head to Wo Niu Mountain! Everyone order whatever you want, don't be polite with me today!"
Chimera Wraith exclaimed, "Wow, Little Bell the tycoon has gotten rich again!"
Opening the menu options.
There were twenty different dish names.
【Grilled Snake-Tailed Chicken】: Tier-One Normal Food, Max HP +5, duration 10 hours, 12 Contribution Points per serving.
【Secret Flame Snake-Tailed Mountain Chicken】: Tier-One Quality Food, Max HP +10, Fire Resistance +10, Spirit +1, duration 10 hours, 100 Contribution Points per serving.
【Scorpion-Tailed Wild Bull Steak】: Tier-One Normal Food, Strength +1, Poison Resistance +5, duration 8 hours, 20 Contribution Points per serving.
【Stewed Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull】: Tier-One Quality Food, Strength +3, Max HP +10, Poison Resistance +15, duration 10 hours, 200 Contribution Points per serving.
【……】
It was easy to see that the dishes all came from the food materials handed in by players.
Food ingredients in this world were generally delicious; even without using cooking skills, simply roasting them would taste good, but it would not produce such exaggerated and long-lasting attribute buffs!
For a moment.
Chenxi seemed to understand the significance of the canteen.
Chimera Wraith laughed, "Chenxi-jie must have realized it already, the canteen has professional chefs cooking the food; we’re not just here to fill our stomachs but also to brush attribute buffs to prepare for upcoming adventures."
Chenxi nodded, "With the canteen, we can choose different foods based on different daily action goals... can these buff effects stack?"
Little Bell replied, "Yes, someone tested it. Different food buffs can stack, but only up to three at most, and once stacked, the duration will shorten."
So that was how it worked.
You could only brush the food buff once per day.
In other words, by eating "Secret Flame Scorpion-Tailed Mountain Chicken" and "Stewed Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull" together, you could get a double food buff, but the effective time would shorten to 5 hours.
Although the buff effects would be stronger during these five hours, you would be unable to get another buff for the next ten-plus hours.
"We are going to Wo Niu Mountain today, and we might encounter big lizards!"
"Yeah, those lizard people's poison attacks are annoying. Since that's the case, let's eat Stewed Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull; this dish boosts poison resistance by 15!"
"But this dish is super expensive..."
"I already said, don't save money today, everyone just eat to your heart's content!"
"Boss Little Bell is so generous! Then I won't be polite!"
"......"
Little Bell had just received financial support from her father and also wanted to win over this group of good sisters, so she ordered a portion of Stewed Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull for everyone, which was one of the most expensive dishes in the canteen.
Perhaps because the ordering was too extravagant.
It directly alarmed the canteen’s managers.
Two mountain-like fat figures walked out of the kitchen, personally delivered the food, and even gave some complimentary dishes!
"This is the complimentary dessert and soup."
"I am the head chef Aji, and this is my twin brother Aba."
"Thank you for your support, and we hope to receive your continued patronage! If you have any needs, feel free to tell us, and we will do our best to serve everyone!"
"......"
Chimera Wraith and the others were all dumbfounded upon seeing the chefs.
Although they had guessed that the chefs might not be human, they did not expect such appearances.
【Territory Chef: Aji】: Level 8... Introduction: This is a Pigman from the Land of the Stars, now hired specially by the Lord for the players as a territory chef.
【Territory Chef: Aba】: Level 7... Introduction: This is a Pigman from the Land of the Stars, now hired specially by the Lord for the players as a territory chef.
The two chefs looked exactly the same, about two meters tall, weighing at least six hundred pounds each, with massive obese bodies and pig heads with two tusks.
It was a new NPC!
Chenxi finally understood.
No wonder players called this place the Kiba Restaurant.
These two Pigman chefs, along with the Alchemy NPC Bai Mu and Forging NPC Yan Ling, must have come from the same place, but compared to Bai Mu and Yan Ling, their appearances and looks were truly indescribable!
"I thought everyone from the Land of the Stars would be handsome or beautiful!"
"The Kiba brothers may look a bit ugly, but they seem diligent and honest!"
"Now our territory has two more Star NPCs, I wonder if they come with stories and quests!"
"I'm getting more and more curious about the Land of the Stars. When will we get a chance to visit? It must be a very special place!"
"......"
After the Pigman brothers left.
Chenxi impatiently opened the Stewed Skeletal Scorpion-Tailed Bull in front of her and was immediately overwhelmed by an indescribably rich aroma… Players had eaten Scorpion-Tailed Wild Bull meat before, but it had never achieved this level of color and fragrance!
She picked up a piece of meat and put it in her mouth, feeling the meat almost melt instantly, the juice and aroma bursting wildly, stimulating her taste buds and spirit, giving her a tingling sense of pleasure.
"My god!"
"This is too delicious!"
"How can stewed beef be this good?"
"It's like I've crossed over into a gourmet anime world!"
"I dare say that even if the game had nothing else, just this restaurant could attract countless players to experience it, matching real-world restaurants and earning huge cash income, easily building a market worth at least hundreds of billions!"
Among these players, there were no lack of real foodies, but even the so-called masters of Michelin-starred restaurants could not match one-tenth of the Pigman chefs, taking the game experience to an entirely new level.
No wonder players were willing to spend more money.
It wasn’t just about buffing attributes; it was a top-tier enjoyment in itself.
No need to worry about getting fat, no need to worry about food poisoning or illnesses, no psychological burden—where else in the world could you find such a deal? Although the only downside was the cost, as long as players worked hard, it was affordable!
The surprises brought by Twisted Three Kingdoms kept increasing, and the immersion into this world grew deeper and deeper.
…………
Hang Yu noticed.
Since the construction of the territory canteen.
And the arrival of chefs from the Land of the Stars.
This paid dining service had received unanimous praise from the players.
Just this one meal that Little Bell treated them to cost almost 1500 Contribution Points.
For most ordinary low-level players at this stage, it was simply unimaginable; it could be said that, after the Alchemy Workshop and Forging Workshop, another giant scythe for harvesting players had appeared!
After eating and making all the preparations.
Sixty-one players assembled at Shangyang Village, then headed straight for Sanxiang County through Wo Niu Mountain, with commendable execution and action—but whether they could arrive safely was another question!
"Master, a lord wishes to exchange a blueprint for your equipment."
"Oh? Really? Let me see!"
Receiving the prompt from Xiao Ba, Hang Yu immediately opened the Trading Hall and first saw a series of successful transaction records; quite a few pieces of equipment had already been sold.
【Lord 1562 purchased 5 pieces of White-Quality Equipment. You received 82 Abyssal Magic Crystals!】
【Lord 2231 purchased 7 pieces of White-Quality Equipment. You received 108 Abyssal Magic Crystals!】
【Lord 0530 purchased 6 pieces of White-Quality Equipment and 45 pieces of Gray-Quality Equipment. You received 149 Abyssal Magic Crystals!】
【……】
Due to high drop rates and efficient production among players, equipment in the territory was usually abundant.
This time, a total of about 400 White-Quality and 800 Gray-Quality equipment were put up for sale—all leftovers after careful screening, with average attributes and quality, and relatively poor durability.
Although these pieces were considered low-grade by Hang Yu, they still held considerable value for lords with low drop rates or difficulty acquiring materials.
Of course.
None of these were weapons.
They were mostly various scattered armor pieces or accessories, priced several points above the market rate, naturally not selling like hotcakes.
From listing to now, nearly a hundred White-Quality items and over three hundred Gray-Quality items had been sold; after deducting the Trading Hall fees, the revenue was around 2000 Abyssal Magic Crystals—not bad.
Opening the private message window.
Hang Yu saw messages from five or six lords.
Since he had authorized Xiao Ba to handle transaction messages, most of them had already been answered—these lords were mostly haggling, and even those who offered item trades rarely had anything worthwhile; Xiao Ba directly rejected them without disturbing Hang Yu.
However.
At this moment.
A lord offered a "Spiritual Field Blueprint" for trade.
Xiao Ba could not decide on its own, so it notified Hang Yu to handle it personally.
Lord 4324: "We all know how important a Spiritual Field is to a territory. Such an essential production resource can’t be easily bought even with money. I am willing to trade this blueprint for your remaining equipment, but you must also add 2000 Abyssal Magic Crystals!"
That was quite a high asking price.
However, a Spiritual Field was indeed an extremely valuable resource.
Hang Yu's remaining nearly three hundred White-Quality items were further-filtered scraps; most were worthless junk to him, and selling them at current prices would be difficult.
If he could trade them for a strategic resource like a Spiritual Field, it was certainly worthwhile!
After a round of bargaining, Hang Yu finally traded this batch of scrap equipment and an additional payment of 1000 Abyssal Magic Crystals to successfully obtain the Spiritual Field Blueprint, then immediately deployed the field.
Thus.
The territory now had two fields.
In the future, material production efficiency would greatly increase.
Hang Yu was very satisfied with this transaction; considering that the territory’s resource reserves kept growing and players' levels were steadily rising, production capabilities had to keep up, so he summoned the staff for a meeting.
Soon after.
Yan Ling, Bai Mu, Aji, and Aba arrived.
The Pigman brothers were new employees who had just joined yesterday; although they looked ugly and fierce, they were honest and diligent, and could be nurtured into main chefs of the territory.
As for the old employees, Yan Ling and Bai Mu, they had made significant progress during this time.
Hang Yu glanced at their basic information.
——
Name: Yan Ling
Level: 10
Race: Red Fox Tribe
Profession: Forger
Ability: Tier-One Forging Level 10
——
Name: Bai Mu.
Level: 10.
Race: White Feather Tribe.
Profession: Alchemist.
Ability: Tier-One Alchemy Level 7.
——
Both were about to reach Tier Two.
Their professional levels were also on the verge of breaking through.
Yan Ling respectfully asked, "Lord, you specially summoned us. Do you have tasks to assign?"
Hang Yu said calmly, "You and Bai Mu are employees under a long-term contract with the territory. Now that both your personal levels and professional levels have reached bottlenecks, I have decided to grant you each an additional exchange quota of 40,000 Contribution Points."
40,000 Contribution Points meant 40,000 Essence Points.
This amount of Essence was enough for both of them to fully break through.
Of course, exchanging Contribution Points required spending Abyssal Magic Crystals.
But a mere 400 Abyssal Magic Crystals—this cost was negligible compared to the value of the Essence!
"Thank you, Lord!"
Even Bai Mu, who usually seemed a bit gloomy, felt a jolt of energy at these words; as a former Star Lord, he admired Hang Yu’s generosity, since no other lord would squander Abyssal Essence like this.
Aji and Aba both showed shocked expressions upon hearing this.
Even though the Pigman brothers had already learned about the territory’s benefits.
Seeing a living example right before their eyes still deeply shocked and encouraged them.
After all, they had just arrived at the territory and had not yet received an exchange quota, but now, with the old employees as examples, they would surely work even harder from now on.
Let alone signing a long-term contract.
If they could receive the territory’s training.
They would be willing to sign a lifetime contract without hesitation.
Pigmen were a very low-ranking species in the Land of the Stars, and Aji and Aba were born at the very bottom of the Pigman community; they could be considered the hope of their hundreds of family members, and such an opportunity to change their destiny and rise in the world might never come again in their lifetimes.
After motivating the employee team.
Hang Yu said, "Xiao Ba, recruit two more Alchemists and two more Forgers. Same conditions as before—not asking for high ability, but they must be sensible, obedient, and easy to train!"
Xiao Ba immediately replied, "Alright, Master, I will find suitable candidates for you right away!"
After Yan Ling and Bai Mu became Tier-Two Intermediate Producers, Hang Yu would also upgrade the Alchemy Workshop and Forging Workshop to Tier Two, and then recruit two more employees for each, which would greatly boost the territory’s production output.
The main Forger and Alchemist would keep their high-level benefits.
They could get a 1% commission from the operating revenue.
Other ordinary clerks would get slightly lower benefits, only 0.5% commission.
However, this was not a fixed situation; in the future, as the territory’s domain expanded, Hang Yu would need to set up new Alchemy and Forging stores in other towns or regions, and then he could promote the current clerks as new shop managers.
While Hang Yu was busy handling internal affairs and managing the team.
Suddenly, death notifications for players started pouring in.
【Player "Ye Li Meng" has died. Essence +2500!】
【Player "Chimera Wraith" has died. Essence +2000!】
【Player "A Sword Comes from the West" has died. Essence +1600!】
【Player "Midnight Pig Slayer" has died. Essence +2000!】
【……】
In less than an hour.
All sixty-one players had been wiped out.
Just from this batch of players who died in Wo Niu Mountain.
Hang Yu earned more than 100,000 Essence in one go.
Not only did this cover the expenditure for training Tier-Two Intermediate Forgers and Alchemists, but there was even a surplus.
Hang Yu did not even need to check to know that this must have been the work of the Dragon Lizard Lord; although he had expected revenge, he had not thought the Dragon Lizard Lord would be so efficient—killing all players who entered Wo Niu Mountain without leaving a single survivor.
Truly ruthless!
The problem was.
How had he managed to do it?
The players were currently in the process of rapidly resurrecting; they were clearly very unwilling to give up and were preparing to launch a second wave of attack.
Hang Yu did not dare to be careless about this, and immediately began investigating the situation in detail; although he did not mind players dying multiple times, it was still best to find out exactly what methods the Dragon Lizard Lord had used.
Otherwise, let alone quickly occupying Sanxiang County, they might not even be able to get close!
The current primary objective was not to clash head-on with the Dragon Lizard Lord.
It was to seize a stronghold as soon as possible.