Battle Imminent

Liuli District.

Upon the Skeletal Throne, Shana stared gloomily at the northern mountains, his fists gradually clenching.

He had never imagined that Du Yan would betray him. What chilled his heart even more was that Du Yan had taken all of his Yin spirits with him.

He was now completely trapped in a difficult situation.

First, he had already promised Sea King a tribute of two hundred thousand Yin spirits. Second, his strength had nearly broken through to the Ghost King Realm, and this batch of Yin spirits was one of the keys to his breakthrough.

But now, everything was gone.

Thinking of the report delivered by the envoy he had sent out—that Du Yan had defected to Rock Ghost King and offered up all of his Yin spirits—the flames in Shana's eyes surged.

Sea King stood on one side, Rock Ghost King on the other. Both were stronger than him, and the breakthrough he had once been so confident about had also been thwarted. Shana no longer knew what path to take next.

"Lord Shana, since Liuli District is caught between them and is extremely unsafe, why don't we relocate our camp? We can go to the Netherworld and lie low for now, then make further plans once you break through to the Ghost King Realm."

Hearing this, Shana froze. After considering it carefully, he realized this method was indeed feasible.

Although the Netherworld lacked Liuli District's resources, it was far from the Underworld Sea. He refused to believe that Sea King would chase him all the way from Liuli District to the Netherworld just to demand those two hundred thousand Yin spirits.

But Shana immediately frowned. "What about Liuli District's Yin Spirit Pool? We can't just abandon it, can we?"

The Yin Spirit Pool was where Yin spirits were born. Du Yan had managed it before, and the Yin spirits produced there every year were essential to Shana's cultivation. He was unwilling to give it up.

Upon hearing this, the Soul Hooking Envoy sighed. "Lord Shana, at a time like this, only by breaking through to the Ghost King Realm can you gain a voice in this land of Beiqi. Otherwise, when Sea King comes again and we cannot provide the Yin spirits we promised, the consequences may be terrifying!"

The Soul Hooking Envoy's analysis cast a shadow over Shana's eyes. At last, he gritted his teeth. "Pass down the order. Bring all supplies that can be taken. In ten days, we move to the Netherworld!"

On the second day after the hidden class Sun Chasing Archer was unlocked, many NPCs appeared near the Netherworld.

Lu Wu had created these NPCs to enrich the game's gameplay.

Among them, the most popular were the chubby Dark Cuisine Chef and the goateed old man who taught Players how to use various herbs to make poison.

The Fat Chef's arrival in particular allowed many Players to experience flavors they could never taste in the mortal world.

Although Players often brought poisonous underworld ingredients to make food and ended up poisoned to death by dark cuisine, that was nothing to many foodies.

Some Players with especially heavy tastes even brought in the legs of corpse wolves and Corpse Elephants for the Fat Chef to cook. It could be said that the Fat Chef's arrival was the greatest boon for foodie Players.

After the Fat Chef appeared, Players gained another pastime: searching for edible ingredients. Poisonous or not, before their twelve hours of game time ran out, they would take them to be made into food and eat to their hearts' content.

Thanks to the game's high realism, eating in the underworld felt one hundred percent real, winning over another group of Players.

Players with sharp business instincts even started one food livestream after another.

On the forums, one foodie Player went through death after death like Shennong tasting hundreds of herbs before writing a Dark Gourmet Record.

It described the ingredients that could be found around the Netherworld and how to combine them and hand them to the Fat Chef to create exceptionally delicious food.

But when it came to the most popular NPC, it was undoubtedly Lu Mo, the novice village chief.

Lu Mo was the first NPC Players encountered. From him, Players learned that this vast, fantastical underworld held so many wonders waiting for them to explore.

It could be said that Lu Mo filled in the gaps in rookie Players' understanding of this world.

Lu Mo's character setting was naturally very easygoing. He often chatted with Players, patiently listened to the frustrations in their hearts, and felt more like a friendly older brother next door than some fabricated existence. Thus, Lu Mo was widely recognized by Players as the number one most popular NPC.

That day, Lu Wu received a call from Wu Guoyi, informing him that the month-long selection had officially ended.

Just as all Players had expected, Battle Online had dominated every other game with a landslide lead in votes.

This dark horse had caught many people by surprise, but after experiencing the game, their surprise turned into amazement and praise.

Even Li Tianxia himself had been completely won over after trying Battle Online, becoming the vice president of Avengers Alliance, one of the game's major factions.

After the selection results were announced, Wu Guoyi said over the phone that he hoped Lu Wu would start considering the game's theme song, and that he could come to him with any difficulties.

Lu Wu had indeed been considering that.

But choosing which popular celebrity would sing it and producing the theme song itself truly gave him a headache.

He had even hopefully asked Bei Li about it.

What he got in return was Bei Li looking at him as though he were an idiot:

"I only know how to develop things. I can't sing, and I can't compose music!"

With no other choice, Lu Wu could only throw the problem to Wu Guoyi.

Wu Guoyi did not mind at all and readily agreed. He said he would recommend several celebrities for Lu Wu to choose from, while he would also hire professional masters to produce the game's theme song.

As for the costs, Lu Wu naturally would not let Wu Guoyi pay for them.

Now that the game was on the right track, there were plenty of ways to make money. Recently, Lu Wu had planned to unlock the costume feature.

Costumes would not increase a Player's strength in any way, but for the sake of appearance, he believed many beauty-loving Players would be willing to spend the money. This would also be the only type of item available for purchase through top-ups in the game.

As Battle Online grew increasingly famous on Platform173, the people in charge of other gaming platforms could no longer sit still.

Through every possible channel, they infiltrated Platform173's internal staff and obtained Lu Wu's contact information.

Lu Wu now received dozens of calls every day, all from other gaming platforms hoping to put Battle Online on their platforms and seek promotional partnerships.

Lu Wu naturally declined every one of them.

Of course, Lu Wu did not reject them completely. After all, he had an agreement with Wu Guoyi that Platform173 would have two months of exclusive promotion rights for Battle Online.

Wu Guoyi had helped him greatly, so Lu Wu naturally could not go back on his word.

As for two months later, that would be when Battle Online truly made its name known.