Still Playing? I'm Here to Haul You Back!

No turning back now!

Qi Ji sprang into action.

He led the adventurers in a charge on the camp guarded by Black Bone.

This camp had been established by Black Bone, hence its name, Black Bone Camp. More than ten goblins had been stationed there, but the adventurers had already wiped them all out.

Mental Strength -150

Divine Stone activation successful!

You have successfully occupied "Black Bone Camp" and obtained "Chaos Treasure Chest (Gray Quality)" ×1!

Miracle City now had three strongholds: Red Claw Village, Red Rock Camp, and Black Bone Camp!

Qi Ji did not hesitate.

He opened the treasure chest at once.

You opened "Chaos Treasure Chest." Soul Crystal +400, "Blueprint: Cremator" +1!

Another blueprint!

Blueprint: Cremator. First Order special building. Construction requirements: 300 Soul Crystals, 100 Mental Strength, 100 Material Essence.

The Cremator was a common yet practical and important facility.

It could not increase the territory's capacity, but it provided a useful function. As its name suggested, it burned corpses.

Do not underestimate this function. For dungeons, it was extremely important. It could even greatly speed up the efficiency and time needed to conquer Gloomy City.

Why was that?

Dark Territories generally possessed resurrection abilities.

This allowed them to rapidly replenish their living forces.

The Cremator, however, could counter the Dark Race's resurrection. As long as the target had been dead for less than ten hours, the corpse could be thrown into the Cremator and destroyed. This would completely destroy their soul while recovering some resources.

That was not all.

The adventurers had captured twenty-five Gnome Servants.

These neutral races were, without question, all incorporated into Qi Ji's territory. This brought the territory's population to forty. Though it was little more than a drop in the bucket, they could still help the lord handle some affairs.

Next.

They cleaned up the battlefield.

Seventy-six goblin corpses.

All of them were thrown into the Cremator and completely destroyed.

You cremated a Dark Race corpse. Soul Crystal +1!

You cremated a Dark Race corpse. Soul Crystal +1!

...

You cremated a Dark Race corpse. Soul Crystal +5!

The final yield was 124 Soul Crystals. It was not much, but better than nothing. They would often come in handy in the future, making it a decent long-term source of income.

They recovered the equipment.

A total of 433 portions of First Order Material Essence were obtained.

This greatly eased the severe shortage in material reserves after upgrading the core.

At this point.

Today's work was more or less finished.

Qi Ji began preparing to open the gates tomorrow.

Considering that Miracle City's reception capacity had risen to as many as 420!

He spent another 100 Soul Crystals to add 20 Secret Realm Crystals, bringing the current total to 60, allowing more adventurers to come in and play.

On the trading market.

Zombie Soul Essence sold one after another.

After several adjustments, Qi Ji—

found that a price of 17 to 18 Soul Crystals was the most suitable.

In the end, after fees, the sale of 50 Zombie Soul Essences brought in a total of 894 Soul Crystals. It was undoubtedly a massive income that greatly improved the territory's finances.

Qi Ji did some calculations.

He currently still had 70 One-Star Common Zombies, 9 Two-Star Zombies, and 1 Three-Star Zombie.

It was neither a lot nor a little. Just as he was considering whether to sell some more, the lord who had sold him the Adventurer Inn blueprint contacted him again.

Lord 0340: "Friend, I still have a blueprint here. I wonder if you're interested."

Another blueprint?

Qi Ji was immediately energized.

"What blueprint? Send it over and let me see!"

Blueprint: Secret Realm Shop. First Order building. Construction requirements: 300 Soul Crystals, 100 Mental Strength, 100 Material Essence.

Not bad!

It was equivalent to a territory shop.

It was also one of the most common buildings.

After some haggling, Qi Ji exchanged just 60 Common Zombie Essence Souls for the Secret Realm Shop blueprint. He then immediately built it outside the entrance to the Secret Realm Lobby.

Current resource reserves: Mental Strength 1559, Soul Crystals 902, Materials 484

After this trade was completed—

only 10 Common Zombie Essence Souls remained.

The inventory was critically low!

If troops were urgently needed, there would not even be enough to form a unit.

That definitely would not do!

He had to open the gates soon.

Let the adventurers come in and farm souls!

Of course.

The trade itself was not a loss.

The Secret Realm Shop had two functions.

1. Increase population by 20.

2. Use Mental Strength to exchange for some Secret Realm drops.

Each Secret Realm Shop—

could only bind to one Secret Realm.

The vast majority of non-Soul Essence drops farmed by adventurers would be unlocked in the Secret Realm Shop.

Among them, ungraded items could be exchanged at a rate of 10 units per 1 point of Mental Strength. Gray Quality consumables required 1 to 10 points of Mental Strength per unit, while Gray Quality equipment started at 10 Mental Strength. A First Order Secret Realm Shop could exchange at most 100 Mental Strength worth of supplies per day.

So far.

The Raging Tide Secret Realm's material drops—

were all daily necessities and snacks.

Things like alcohol, cigarettes, instant noodles, Chocolate, and so on.

Qi Ji could not help suspecting that the Doomsday Frenzy Secret Realm might not drop guns, explosives, vehicles, or other such items. However, it was more likely that those items had extremely low drop rates, or that their manifested grades exceeded Gray Quality.

Secret Realm drop rates—

were actually limited by adventurer rank.

First Order adventurers could only farm First Order items.

If the supplies, equipment, or items in a Secret Realm were above First Order quality, First Order adventurers would never be able to farm them. Soul Essences, by comparison, were not entirely restricted by rank, though lower-rank adventurers would have reduced chances of obtaining High-Rank Essence Souls.

The greater the rank gap—

the lower the probability.

However, one point was especially worth mentioning.

No matter how low the chance of obtaining Soul Essences was, it would never be completely zero!

Therefore, some lower-rank adventurers did not mind trying their luck. On one hand, high-rank Secret Realms also contained low-rank resources. On the other, if they hit the jackpot and obtained a High-Rank Essence Soul, they could turn their lives around.

No matter what, the Secret Realm Shop was extremely useful.

More than twenty types of goods had already been unlocked.

All kinds of common food, drinks, and daily necessities were basically available.

By spending 100 Mental Strength every day, he could exchange for 1,000 units of supplies. Not only could they be kept for personal use to improve quality of life, but he could also open a small shop outside the Secret Realm Lobby to collect Contribution Points or earn Soul Crystals.

The next day.

Miracle City opened its gates.

Today, it could receive as many as 440 adventurers.

As expected, Nan Xi Li Ya saw—

that the dungeon was full almost immediately.

During her conversations with adventurers last night, she had learned that the number of adventurers lining up to enter Miracle City had long exceeded a thousand every day!

Unbelievable!

It was truly unbelievable!

Miracle City's current popularity was no less than that of most territories that had developed a Second City!

How long had Miracle City even existed?

It had only opened up a small Adventurer Town so far!

Lord Qi Ji and Miracle City truly had immense potential. If they could maintain this trend of development, they might really rise in the future and even shake the Eternal Night Dragon King!

Nan Xi Li Ya decided to work hard at her job as an "internet café manager" and contribute to Miracle City's prosperity and growth!

There were many adventurers today.

Naturally, there were quite a few unfamiliar faces.

Among them were no shortage of unusual and special figures.

For example.

There was one man with snow-white hair and beard, his face full of wrinkles, looking utterly aged.

He was none other than Black Stone Town's former Top Adventurer: White Crane Hermit!

At that moment, he gazed forty-five degrees into the sky, looking as though he wanted to cry but had no tears left.

"This old man finally squeezed in..."

Old Master had never imagined that getting into a new dungeon would be this difficult!

Most Black Stone Town Adventurers were young people in their teens or twenties. Old Master's appearance quickly drew everyone's attention, and his identity was recognized at once.

"Eh? Isn't that the Old Dean?!"

"The dean of the Adventurer Academy came to Miracle City too!"

"Elder Crane, do you remember me? I used to be your student!"

"Wow, a big shot! This man is the publicly acknowledged number one adventurer in Black Stone Town over the past few decades!"

"..."

A legendary expert had arrived!

The commotion was easy to imagine!

Everyone excitedly stepped forward to curry favor with him.

On the other side, Cat MeowMeow, White Little Deer, Bright Moon Reflecting Snow, and the others emerged from the inn, eagerly discussing the tactics they planned to test today.

"Still playing?"

"I'm here to haul you back!"

Pig King ran over to deliver the news.

The moment they received the information, all their expressions changed drastically.

"We're so done!"

Cat MeowMeow wailed miserably. "The dean came personally to catch us!"

White Little Deer said, "We've skipped school for several days already. If we get dragged back this time, we definitely won't have it easy!"

Everyone turned their gaze toward Bright Moon Reflecting Snow.

Because she was an even bigger deal. Not only was she the Old Dean's student, she was also his granddaughter. Not only had she taken the lead in skipping school and running off to Miracle City, she had even terminated the contract with Sky Cloud City, which the Old Dean had thought most highly of!

Now the old man had come directly to Miracle City!

They were in serious trouble now!

Thanks to reader 20191208000727781 for the 1,000 Qidian Coins donation.