The Seventh Act Begins!

Planet CX-M04, the fourth planet of the Merrick Civilization.

At this moment, the original planet has been divided into three parts.

The largest group consists of the planet's original inhabitants, essentially undocumented individuals within the Merrick Civilization.

Approximately one-quarter of the area was designated as a military control zone, i. e., a new recruit camp construction area.

It was the same as the Arcane Recruit Camp where Lister had been.

The entire recruit camp is not just a military camp; it can be viewed as a super-large city.

Of course, the initial construction area will not be very large, but over the years, military facilities will be gradually improved, and more new equipment will be requested from the Federation Military District.

The smallest area is actually a city near the teleportation array, which has been designated as a special zone.

It is also the absolute economic, political, and military core of the planet.

The surge in foot traffic in the special economic zone in recent months is mainly due to recruitment by the conscription office.

Lister is also here today.

In less than six months, they were busy with the specific arrangements for the advancement of the Merrick Civilization.

Some things, especially in political matters.

It's really not a big deal if he doesn't take action.

But once you actually start making certain decisions, a whole host of other tasks will follow.

Fortunately, he had Quint, and some interesting job offers were made, but these difficult jobs have since been passed back to Quint.

"My lord~!"

When the officials in charge of the recruitment office saw Lister, they all stopped what they were doing.

Led by Adrian, they saluted Lister.

"Adrian, make the arrangements so they can all continue working. Don't worry about me."

Adrian was the former commander of the heavily armored black-armored legion of the Duchy of Merrick, holding the title of viscount.

Now a member of the House of Representatives, he has spent the last six months traveling around the Merrick Civilization on behalf of Lister, primarily responsible for recruitment.

His own strength has been improving steadily over the years, and his talent is several levels higher Tim's.

It has not only completed three evolutions, but its rank has also reached 14, even ahead of Quint.

This is also why he was able to remain a member of the House of Representatives and be appointed by Lister as the head of recruitment.

Once everyone had returned to their places, the unregistered residents outside the hall were gradually allowed to enter the conscription process.

Everything was a process he was very familiar with.

He was originally a conscript, but now he is the number one general in his own Civilization Army.

"It's already the last few days, and there are still so many people signing up for the army?"

I glanced at the long queue outside the hall; there were dedicated staff members who organized the queues into several sections and waited in different areas.

Judging by the number of people, there are probably tens of thousands. My first thought was that this office was inefficient at recruiting soldiers.

"Sir, the number of people is even higher in the last few days."

"Recruiting offices on every planet are like this; aside from recruiting a large number of people at the beginning, they are relatively idle for about two months in between."

"Now, on the one hand, the scope of the publicity has expanded, and on the other hand, the deadline is approaching. Many people who were originally hesitant have finally decided to join the army."

Hearing this, Lister nodded silently.

This makes sense, as most of the life forms in this star system have only heard of the Galactic Federation and its Federation Government for the first time.

Even if the Yalan Civilization itself doesn't have Civilization Army, it naturally wouldn't initiate conscription, so it's normal for everyone to hesitate.

"The nine of you meet the recruitment criteria for the Expeditionary Army."

"If you agree, I'll add your names to the directory."

"If you don't want to, then leave on your own."

The voice of a recruitment office worker came from behind me.

Lister glanced at the group of ten people who had signed up for military service.

Without exception, they were all unregistered individuals.

The only one who meets the standards of the Civilization Army's new recruit camp is actually only at the seventh level, but his combat strength evaluation is good, reaching C level, so he still has a lot of potential.

As for the Expeditionary Army, it is actually the original army of the Merrick Civilization. All the core personnel will undergo training in this recruit camp and then officially become members of the Merrick Civilization Army under the Federation Military District.

All military ranks are no longer used internally by the Merrick Civilization, but are now common to the Galactic Federation.

The remaining Expeditionary Army was tasked with other missions or serving as cannon fodder.

This includes some of the escort and supply ships from established civilizations, which may have been partly involved in the Expeditionary Army.

How many new reserve recruits have met the standards so far?

"Hmm... as of last week, it was about four thousand people."

At this point, Adrian felt somewhat embarrassed, since the minimum requirement for setting up a recruit camp was 20,000 men.

Seeing Lister looking at him, even though he appeared calm, it was still a great pressure for him.

He quickly began to explain.

"My lord... our star region is truly lacking in talent."

"Moreover, we already recruited a batch ten years ago. If it weren't for the fact that our civilization now has a large territory and that citizens of our subordinate civilizations are so eager to join the army..."

"Actually... actually, our original Merrick Civilization Domain could barely muster a team of a thousand people."

This is the problem in remote star systems: there's a severe shortage of talent.

Despite the vastness of the star field, there are actually very few life forms, and even fewer talented individuals.

What's amazing is that the real talent seems to be concentrated in Chali Nation of CX2989, and Merrick Governing Planet from which Lister himself originated.

Especially Merrick Governing Planet, Lister hadn't paid much attention to before.

Looking back now, it seems that Merrick Governing Planet truly produced talented individuals, and top-tier ones at that.

Hoffman, Kavin Deer, Wang Yue —aside from himself, each has three Overlord Tier, all concentrated on one planet—something unimaginable for any civilization in the Galactic Federation.

Even in a fourth-level civilization, the successors of Overlord Tier talents are primarily recruited.

It's unclear whether it was due to the selection process of the game "Divine Revelation" itself, or if there was another reason.

"Based on the number of registrations over the past few days, the number should exceed five thousand by the time the deadline is fully closed."

"Sir, do you think we should lower the standard by one level?"

"Judging from the standards of the nearby star system, even an E-level combat force could barely pass."

"Don't rush, don't underestimate our own civilization. Many of the old powers have plenty of talented people; they're just hesitant about whether to pursue the military route."

"Wait a little longer. If the restrictions are really relaxed to Level E, I'll let you know."

He didn't criticize Adrian either; Lister had a general idea of the current situation.

His recruitment standards for the Merrick Recruit Camp were actually one level higher than those of the Arcane Civilization Army.

However, the two civilizations developed at different stages. Lister's first recruit camp was aimed at producing officers and building the foundation of the military region.

Moreover, the original military region has currently selected 3,000 reserve personnel, and if the requirements are relaxed, the number could exceed 10,000.

If there are not enough people, priority will be given to those soldiers who have served in the Merrick Civilization for ten years to be transferred to the recruit camp and promoted to regular soldiers.

More importantly, the old forces that Lister mentioned were just a pretext; the real purpose of this recruit camp was not just for them.

Let them continue handling things here.

"I heard today that the recruit camp is almost finished. Come with me to take a look."

Lister's primary concern at the moment is the construction of the new recruit camp.

Upon hearing this, Adrian immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed behind.

Soon, as the special airship landed, the group entered the recruit camp area.

The first thing that catches the eye is the simulation training hall, which is also the absolute core of the entire recruit camp.

The stadium was installed and constructed by a professional team dispatched by the Federation Military District.

Of the five million military merit points, the majority actually comes from this stadium, making its real value far exceed that of the planet itself in this remote star system.

In addition, there are training halls, several training fields, classrooms, meditation areas, dining areas, entertainment areas, accommodation areas, hospitals, etc.

All buildings have been constructed as envisioned on the blueprints.

"My lord~!"

Tim, dressed in special work clothes, was already waiting at the gate of the recruit camp.

"How's it going? Is it finished yet?"

"The final defense system is still being deployed."

"Deployment should be complete in another hour."

The entire recruit camp was supposed to take five months to build, but it was delayed by a week due to the construction of the simulation training facility in the Federation Military District.

Today, the construction is finally about to be completed.

Guided by Tim, Lister entered the recruit camp's dining area.

While sipping the tea offered by the robot, he simultaneously activated the control panel system.

While browsing through some major news from the Federation, I also hoped that new announcements might come.

Really!

Less than an hour later, a smile finally appeared on Lister's lips.

Seeing the long-awaited player announcement on the system panel, he knew he had made the right bet!

System Announcement: Maintenance is complete, the server is back online, and players are now allowed to log in.

"Announcement: The seventh expansion Expansion has been released: After years of struggle by the Merrick Civilization and the continuous efforts of the great pioneer Lister Merrick, the Merrick Civilization has advanced to a Level 3 civilization six months ago, expanding its star field to the entire CX Star Region and part of the CV Star Region."

Meanwhile, at the request of the great pioneer Lister Merrick, the Merrick Civilization finally received approval from the Federation Military District to establish a brand-new Merrick Civilization Army Group.

Today, the construction of the Merrick Recruit Camp is officially complete. Civilization's development will soon focus on politics and military affairs, entering a new phase in the Galactic Federation's growth...

Player spawn location: Merrick Civilization Domain.

Congratulations! You have triggered the Main Quest "The New Development of Merrick Civilization": With the civilization's further development, both the Merrick Government and the Civilization Army are lacking in talent and need your assistance...

Specific requirements: Merrick Civilization. The selectable factions are the Merrick Government and the Merrick Army. (Note: The Merrick Government is divided into directly administered star systems and subordinate star system administrations; the Merrick Army is divided into Civilization Army Groups and Civilization Expeditionary Army.)

Mission duration: None.

"Mission Rewards: First-class (i. e., Merrick Directly Governed Star Region Government and Merrick Civilization Army) 10 million experience points, 8 free attribute points, and 300,000 credit points."

Second-tier (i. e., Merrick Affiliated Star Region Government and Merrick Expeditionary Army): 5 million experience points, 5 free attribute points, 100,000 credit points.

"Accept?"

"Yes!"

"Congratulations, Lister Merrick. Given your status, you have chosen the Merrick Civilization Army as your allegiance."

Looking at the series of announcements above, Lister was finally glad he hadn't made the wrong bet.

As expected, each scene in the game "Divine Revelation" is not actually based on a timeline, but rather on key events as entry points.

If there is an event that aligns with the main storyline of the game, we will immediately engage with it; otherwise, we will wait for the timeline to unfold.

Therefore, for Lister to grow better and faster, he needed to advance the progress of the world he was in.

Let the world of "Divine Revelation" continue to engage and resonate with players.

At this stage, "cutting leeks" is the only shortcut for his rapid growth in strength.

The player chat is already buzzing with activity.

Wow, this seventh act has some pretty big changes!

"They've suddenly become a Level 3 civilization? I remember that in the Galactic Federation, a Level 3 civilization is considered superior, right?"

"Superior to others my foot! In the Federation, only Level 4 civilizations are considered nobles, they're the big shots!"

"A level three civilization is nothing special; it's still a long way off!"

"Why are there fewer public areas? Are we only allowed to operate within the Merrick Star Region?"

"What if we want to go to the Yalan Civilization? Can't we go anymore?"

"Is the person upstairs stupid?!"

"Why don't you take a look at the star system and affiliated forces of the Merrick Civilization?"

"The Yalan Civilization is a lower-level civilization, but it's still considered to be within the Merrick Civilization's star system. I was born in the Yalan Civilization!"

"No wonder he's Count Merrick! The darling of 'Divine Revelation'!"

"From Act I to Act VII, all these expansion Expansion have used him as the background. They're not hiding anything from 'Divine Revelation' anymore, are they?"

Compared to Lister, who waited several years before seeing familiar players log in again.

For the players, it's only been three days.

Looking at the star map, which had been expanded thousands of times, and the dozen or so subordinate civilizations, they were still in a state of excitement and wonder.

Meanwhile, the changes to the ruling planet of the Merrick Civilization have been screenshotted and shared among players in the public chat.

After all, some players are born on other planets and may not have teleportation arrays, so it will take them some time to get here.

About two hours later, the discussion in the public chat shifted to the factions themselves.

"Wow! What factions did you all choose?"

"I chose a military region, and they notified me that I also need to participate in a conscription assessment."

"Brother, the military region has two tiers of ranks, and you need to take an assessment."

"The requirements for the Civilization Army are high: rank 7 or above, with a comprehensive evaluation of D grade or above."

"Otherwise, you'll have to join the Expeditionary Army. The Expeditionary Army only has rank requirements, not evaluation requirements."

"Actually, the rewards for the Main Quest are already quite clear."

"The Federation Government is the same; it's all based on rank and combat strength."

"New players probably don't have a chance!"

With players participating, the standard for recruit camps at level D or above can easily exceed 20,000 people.

Don't even mention 20,000, you could have 200,000.

Lister would only have made the loan request in the final week if it weren't for the announcement of Act VII.

In fact, now that players have reached level 12 and are about to enter the Third Advancement stage, the difference in combat power is already quite obvious.

Most players focus on leveling up in the early stages, and their combat power is mostly at the F level, with only a small number able to reach the E level.

As for the D-level standard, it is actually a watershed moment.

In other words, the player base is huge, and with their participation...

This led to a surge in the number of qualified new recruits.

This left Adrian, who was in charge of recruitment, somewhat dumbfounded. Did his own civilization really have so many potential talents?

And they all chose to join right before the deadline.

In the last month alone, the number of recruits in the new recruit camp increased from less than 20,000 to over 200,000.

As for the Expeditionary Army, it was even more exaggerated, with a number exceeding 100 million.

Of course, the Expeditionary Army itself was already enormous in number, and in normal times they mostly issued and accepted missions, operating like a mercenary force.

If it weren't for the Main Quest rewards, players, especially top players, would actually prefer the Expeditionary Army strategy.