Launching Story Mode

The Adventurers' exploration did not go smoothly.

Teams were wiped out in all sorts of ways by Zombie attacks.

Though they were repeatedly brutalized,

they only grew bolder with every setback.

The various thrills of adventure and battle were simply too addictive.

Besides, sacrifice had value. As the Adventurers worked together to gather intelligence, gradually drawing ever-clearer maps and marking the distribution of monsters and supplies,

they felt themselves constantly improving and gaining something.

They discovered more than ten kinds of firearms and nearly a hundred ammunition supply points in succession. Their equipment level improved greatly, to the point that some could no longer hold themselves back and felt they were ready.

The result was predictable!

Everyone who refused to believe it and went to challenge the BOSS

was taught a harsh lesson by Tracker within minutes.

After several crushing defeats, the Adventurers discovered that Tracker's Flame Thrower had unlimited ammunition.

Although there was an interval of five to eight seconds between each shot, once it fired, the flames could reach more than ten meters, cover a huge area, last for over five seconds, and inflict terrifying damage.

Although their current equipment had improved considerably,

these light weapons alone clearly still could not pose a threat.

Finally, as the Adventurers exhausted their Mental Strength, today's challenge came to an end. It seemed impossible to clear the level.

"What a pity!"

"We still couldn't beat it!"

"It's fine. We've improved. If we push a little harder, we'll definitely find a way to defeat this monster!"

"This level has only been unlocked for a day or two. It's perfectly normal that we can't clear it yet. The Second Level has more content than the First Level. Anyway, I feel the Raging Tide Secret Realm is getting more and more fun!"

Though they lost battle after battle,

though they were tormented half to death,

the Adventurers were still having a great time.

At this moment,

Qi Ji got out of bed.

He had been extremely busy these past few days.

Today, he had finally gotten some proper rest. He was now full of energy and glowing with health. When he glanced at the data panel, he saw it packed with scrolling notifications.

Adventurer "White Crane Hermit" generated 1 Mental Strength!

Adventurer "White Crane Hermit" has died. Soul Crystals +1, Mental Strength +1!

Adventurer "Irritable Little Chicken" generated 1 Mental Strength!

Adventurer "Lone Wolf" generated 1 Mental Strength!

Today's earnings

were indeed quite impressive!

Qi Ji briefly scanned the records

before directly checking the final statistics.

A total of 440 Adventurers had been received today. Soul Crystal income: 2230. Mental Strength Net Income: 4062!

Soul Essence income and output were: One-Star Essence Soul 143/261, Two-Star Essence Soul 18/33, Three-Star Essence Soul 4/14, Five-Star Essence Soul 1/2.

It was worth mentioning that

two Five-Star Essence Souls had dropped today.

A new Adventurer called "Nanshan Guest" had an incredible stroke of luck and obtained the first Tank Essence Soul to drop in Raging Tide. However, he chose to turn it in in exchange for Contribution Points and priority contract rights, which somewhat surprised Qi Ji.

This round of recycling was incredibly rewarding!

There had originally been only ten Common Zombies left.

There had not even been enough to form a force at a critical moment.

Today alone, 143 Common Zombies had been recycled. In other words, the One-Star Essence Soul stockpile had directly risen to as many as 153, giving Miracle City sufficient war resources for the current stage once again!

As for income,

Mental Strength income was 4062.

This was the net income after expenses were deducted.

The Adventurers had used up at least five hundred points.

Miracle City's Mental Strength production rate was exceptionally high. Otherwise, with daily operating costs of over five hundred points, even most dual-city territories might not have been able to withstand it.

If Mental Strength production and recycling could not cover the losses, the only thing a Lord could do was reform, update, or redesign the Secret Realm to prevent further Mental Strength loss from draining it dry.

Of course,

altering a Secret Realm came with risks.

If a Dungeon frequently altered its Secret Realm, Adventurers would consider it unable to accept defeat.

This would inevitably cause the territory's reputation to collapse. It could even permanently damage the Dungeon's credibility and get it completely blacklisted by various Adventurer rights organizations.

Qi Ji felt that everything was going well.

Although the operating costs were not low, Mental Strength production was even more impressive.

This little bit of consumption could be completely covered by the income. Even while Qi Ji was casually taking it easy, the Soul Essence Recycling Rate was quite good, and that alone was enough to bring huge profits to the territory.

There was no need to fuss over these expenses.

The territory's revenue stream was very healthy.

What it needed now was a large amount of Soul Essence to build an army!

The territory was now capable of building a force with several hundred combat power. Although Gloomy City had over a thousand combat units, it no longer held an overwhelming advantage. It would be even better if another Second Order monster could appear.

With one Second Order monster,

they would initially possess the ability to attack Gloomy City.

At their current rate of development, that would happen within just a few days.

Qi Ji had originally had 1459 Mental Strength remaining. Adding today's income, he now had a total of 5521 Mental Strength!

Advancing from a Second Rank Lord to Third Order required only 5000 Mental Strength. In other words, he could break through at any time if he wished!

Every breakthrough could activate the Sea of Inspiration, generate new Inspiration Crystals, and activate one of them.

Based on his previous experience,

he could awaken three crystals at once.

That was extremely tempting!

However, after giving it some thought, Qi Ji temporarily gave up on advancing.

There was actually little meaning in advancing too quickly. While it could further enrich the materials for the territory's Secret Realm, the Resident Evil series alone was enough for the Raging Tide Secret Realm to use for quite some time.

Qi Ji still had excellent crystals, including Sekiro, waiting to be activated.

He did not lack material at all right now.

What he lacked was a core!

Thus, rather than rushing to advance and obtain more Inspiration Crystals, he might as well further strengthen the Secret Realm, build the territory, and forge an army, thereby increasing the territory's scale of income and quickly completing territorial expansion.

"Now that I have enough Mental Strength,

let's first create the Raging Tide Third Level and its Story Mode!"

Qi Ji had already planned out the Raging Tide Third Level and Story Mode in advance.

At this moment, he directly spent 1250 Mental Strength to create the Third Level, then spent another 1432 Mental Strength to create two Story Chapters for the Raging Tide Secret Realm's Story Mode.

These two Story Chapters were based respectively on Resident Evil 0 and Resident Evil 1.

Without altering the main plot or the characters,

he reduced some of the slower-paced puzzles,

increased the combat content,

made the content more compact,

and made the experience more exhilarating.

The main reason Qi Ji abandoned the Worldview and plot of Left 4 Dead in favor of Resident Evil to create the Doomsday Frenzy Secret Realm's story was that Left 4 Dead was, at its core, simply a power-fantasy game.

Compared with it, the Resident Evil series surpassed it by several levels in imagination, information density, plot depth, Worldview construction, character count, and character development.

There was a reason this series had become a universally known classic.

Take Resident Evil 0, for example.

Its main plot followed Rebecca as she investigated a dismemberment case in the Arklay Mountains with Team B, encountered a series of horrifying incidents, ultimately escaped through cooperation with Death Row Inmate Billy Cohen, and stopped the revenge plan of the tragic villain James Marcus within the research facility.

It revealed the predecessor of the T-Virus,

namely the original source of the Progenitor Virus.

At the same time, it portrayed several classic characters and villains.

The Final Boss was the Leech Queen, born from Marcus's obsession. She was an elite Two-Star monster. Her strength was not particularly high, but defeating her within the story was far from easy.

Qi Ji believed

that Resident Evil's Worldview,

along with the experience of becoming a protagonist in a biographical novel,

was something no Secret Realm in Black Stone Town could compare to.

This would absolutely bring the Adventurers unprecedented shock and freshness.

After finishing the creation, Qi Ji left the Lord's Mansion and arrived at the Secret Realm Lobby to meet the Adventurers.

"Lord!"

"Why did you take so long?"

Like sharks smelling blood, the Adventurers swarmed around him.

These people had far too many questions. Little Net Admin Nan Xi Li Ya knew nothing when asked, and now that the real person had finally arrived, they naturally had to seize him and interrogate him thoroughly!

"You want to know about the Second Level's big BOSS?"

It was necessary to introduce the Game Bestiary System.

The Adventurers themselves could unlock some information.

That way, these people would stop bothering him like flies at every turn!

Qi Ji generously revealed, "This monster is one of the many Modified Models of Tyrant Zombies. Its codename is Nemesis, and it is also known as Tracker."

Tyrant Zombies?

Nemesis?

Tracker?

That was a huge amount of information!

Black Stone Hammer King said, "Could it be that Doomsday Frenzy has other Zombies like this?"

"Of course. What you have seen so far is merely the tip of the iceberg of Doomsday Frenzy!"

Everyone was stunned and could scarcely believe it.

He continued his announcement:

"I will present the stories and information of the Raging Tide World in Story Mode. As long as you successfully enter the Third Level and challenge it more than three times, you can unlock Doomsday Frenzy's Story Mode."

According to the original plan,

Story Mode would only open after clearing the Third Level.

However, considering that the Third Level was not easy,

Qi Ji temporarily lowered the requirements and released more content early.

This revelation

excited every Adventurer.

Miracle City always managed to surprise people.

This was simply too amazing!

This Dungeon had far deeper foundations than they had imagined.

And this Lord's potential might be even greater than they had imagined!

Thanks to ChunJie Nan for becoming this book's first Grandmaster. I can't do a huge release during the new book period, but I plan to release around twenty thousand words on the first day it goes premium, along with an additional extra chapter. Thanks as well to Fa Fa A for the reward and for becoming this book's second Hall Master!