Upgrades and Plans

Qi Ji received a prompt:

You have lost "Black Bone Camp"!

Miracle City has lost an outpost. The Divine Stone there has been contaminated and cannot be used unless it is recaptured and reactivated.

"That was pretty fast!"

But it was not surprising at all.

The territory had too few troops.

It was impossible to defend every outpost.

Black Bone Camp had little strategic value and had been tactically abandoned from the start. Though it had little defensive value, it was an excellent bait.

Sure enough.

The fish had taken the hook.

Through the lord's perspective, he saw it.

Around two hundred Goblin Warriors had entered the camp.

This was no weak force. If they stayed holed up in Gloomy City, they would pose quite a threat. But now that they had left their sturdy city, wiping them out would definitely be much easier.

If they could be annihilated.

Gloomy City would suffer a severe blow.

That would benefit the upcoming siege campaign.

However, Hundun was about to rise.

There would most likely be no more fighting for now.

Qi Ji nodded slightly. "That's fine too. One more day to prepare will give me a better chance."

There were currently fifty Adventurers staying overnight in the Main City. If Maggot Eye attacked Red Rock Mountain or Red Claw Village, Qi Ji could assemble fifty Mercenaries or combat units at any time, enough to defend the mine or Red Claw Village.

Repelling them would be easy.

Fighting an annihilation battle was not very realistic.

He would not alert the enemy for now. With one more day to prepare, the chance of wiping them out would be much greater. This would both greatly weaken Gloomy City and allow him to recover a batch of Soul Crystals and materials.

Miracle City having only one Doomsday Frenzy secret realm was far from enough!

At this stage, the most important task was to create the Second Secret Realm while opening more Adventurer Towns, comprehensively increasing the territory's development potential. He was already not far from achieving this goal.

Qi Ji withdrew his attention.

He began focusing on Territory Construction.

He still had quite a few usable resources on hand.

In fact, expanding the Dungeon did not necessarily require constructing new buildings.

A lord could also increase population capacity by upgrading old facilities.

Among the many buildings in a Dungeon, upgrading special buildings required corresponding blueprints or items. Basic territory buildings, however, had no such requirements, as long as one possessed sufficient materials.

Qi Ji upgraded the Mercenary House, Monster Camp, Soldier's House, and Warehouse.

Total consumption: 2,400 Soul Crystals, 1,000 Mental Strength, 500 portions of Material Essence.

Current resource stockpile.

Soul Crystals: 735.

Mental Strength: 1,589.

Material Essence: 0.

By the end of business today, his Mental Strength had once reached a peak of 5,521!

Qi Ji had spent a total of 2,682 creating the Third Level and Story Chapters, 100 on stocking the Secret Realm Shop, 150 on contracting five new Adventurers, and another 1,000 on these upgrades, leaving him with only 1,589.

Soul Crystals accounted for the greatest expenditure in Territory Construction.

However, there were also many sources of income. Aside from the most important secret realm output, they could also be obtained through war and Treasure Chests.

In addition, the territory itself had begun generating income. The Adventurer Inn and Secret Realm Shop, for example, did not yet account for much income, but they could already cover miscellaneous expenses such as Territory Secret Realm Crystals and Territory Godstones.

As supporting facilities increased in the future, the growth potential of this income was worth looking forward to.

Materials were actually the most urgently needed resource now.

The territory had only 486 portions of materials, while this construction required 500. Qi Ji had no choice but to purchase 14 portions from the Lord's Market at an average price of 3 Soul Crystals each, barely completing this round of construction.

If he had not run out of materials.

He could have gone further with construction.

It was clear that building a territory was no easy task. The various resource expenditures were simply too great.

But every bit of investment was worth it.

This round of upgrades had brought considerable improvements to the territory.

For example, a First Order Mercenary House could only increase Adventurer population capacity by 25 and provide 30 First Order Mercenary slots.

After the upgrade.

The Mercenary House (Second Order) could increase Adventurer population capacity by 60 and recruit 30 Second Order Mercenaries, or 150 First Order Mercenaries.

One Second Order unit was roughly equivalent to five First Order units.

Qi Ji could recruit 30 Second Order Mercenaries, or choose to recruit 150 First Order Mercenaries, or combine them in any proportion—for example, 10 Second Order Mercenaries and 100 First Order Mercenaries.

Now, the Second Order Mercenary House, Soldier's House, and Monster Camp were all available.

Miracle City could now possess Second Order combat power!

But the biggest problem was.

There were no Second Rank Essence Souls!

He hoped the Adventurers would pull through.

And clear the Second Level of the Raging Tide Secret Realm soon!

After this round of strengthening, the territory's visitor capacity had increased from 440 to 550, rising by 110 in one go. Its overall strength had grown considerably, and tomorrow's income would surely increase by a lot as well.

After completing the construction.

He summoned Little Net Admin Nan Xi Li Ya.

"What are the Adventurers doing?"

Although Black Bone Camp had been retaken by the Goblins, Qi Ji had not launched an immediate counterattack. The Adventurers therefore did not yet know about it, so he was curious what they were doing.

"Reporting to my lord, most of them are holding banquets at the inn. Some are studying secret realm information and holding Story Chapter and tactical discussion meetings. A few Contract Adventurers have also gone out to explore the surrounding area."

Adventurers could not truly die in Chaos World.

That was the source of these people's uninhibited personalities and their fearlessness.

However.

Being difficult to kill completely.

Did not mean death came without a price.

If they were not empowered by Territory Power and their actual bodies were killed, their contracted Soul Essence would loosen, causing their Fusion Degree to drop drastically. In other words, they would lose a large amount of experience and be forcibly removed from Chaos World, essentially going offline.

Clearly.

The death penalty was not light.

And Adventurers' actual bodies were generally very weak.

Unless necessary, they would not casually go out looking for trouble.

The difference between Contract Adventurers and Tourist Adventurers was that they had one free transformation opportunity through the Soldier's House. They could transform into any Soul Essence form they already possessed, which was equivalent to having an extra life every day.

With such a benefit.

Bright Moon Reflecting Snow, Irritable Little Chicken, and the others naturally could not sit still.

They transformed into the territory's various troop types and voluntarily patrolled for Miracle City, hoping to kill a few Dark Race members and earn some merit. However, without intelligence support, they had gained nothing.

This was a good opportunity...

Nan Xi Li Ya took the chance to report all sorts of information about the Adventurers, especially mentioning the threat posed by White Crane Hermit.

"Black Stone Town has an expert like that?"

Qi Ji's eyes lit up.

That so-called Black Stone Town's Top Adventurer had better truly be capable. Miracle City desperately needed a sufficiently powerful big shot to push the pace of secret realm development. Otherwise, relying on these Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals and reckless fools, when would they ever defeat the Tracker?

Without a doubt.

This was not a bad thing.

It was an excellent thing instead!

Nan Xi Li Ya had no idea what Boss Qi was thinking.

As a spy, she had painstakingly gathered a great deal of intelligence, including the Adventurers' ideas and tactics. At this moment, she hoped her lord would come up with a way to deal with it.

This hidden Elf girl.

Cared even more about the Dungeon's operations than the lord himself.

Qi Ji noticed this, and it was a very good sign. At the very least, it showed that she had initially acknowledged Miracle City. She was not far from being completely won over.

"There's no need to worry. Ignore it. As long as they follow the rules, winning is their ability, and however much they win is what they deserve. This lord will never interfere, much less stoop to petty tricks!"

Qi Ji said firmly, "Miracle City fears no fair competition. If we are even afraid of our own Adventurers, how can we become a great Dungeon?"

Nan Xi Li Ya froze.

She had not expected that reaction.

She only felt that this young genius lord possessed a powerful confidence and frankness, as admirable as the blazing sun. It instead made her feel narrow-minded.

He truly was someone worthy of trust and assistance. Though still young, he already faintly possessed the bearing of a great ruler!

But Nan Xi Li Ya did not think her concerns were unfounded.

She had seen too many Dungeons.

She knew full well how terrifying Adventurers could be.

This group appeared harmless, but the number of Dungeons brought down by Adventurers was probably greater than the number destroyed by the Dark Race!

Underestimating these people.

Would lead to a painful loss!

But before she could say anything else.

"You've been doing well lately, but there are more and more Adventurers now. You can't handle everything alone. This lord will assign five more Gnomes to help in the hall, and you will manage them!"

Qi Ji waved his hand. "All right, City Opening is about to begin. Go prepare!"

"Yes..."

Nan Xi Li Ya left the Lord's Mansion somewhat dejectedly.

Half an hour later.

Miracle City opened on schedule.

Although the visitor limit had increased to 550.

It still filled up within a minute without any suspense.

The number of Adventurers had surged, and their proficiency was also increasing. Their average challenge time had become longer than before.

To prevent insufficient Crystals from leading to an inadequate harvest of leeks, Qi Ji had already increased the number to eighty.

The population was growing too quickly.

It was estimated that this would soon not be enough again.

A First Order hall could generate at most 100 Secret Realm Crystals.

Qi Ji realized that he had to upgrade the Secret Realm Lobby as soon as possible, or construct a new one.

This would not be easy, because among basic buildings, the Secret Realm Lobby had one of the highest construction and upgrade costs.

In the end.

There were not enough resources!

The territory's foundation was still too thin!

Mental Strength and Soul Crystals could both be acquired through operations.

Only materials could be obtained through the market, or through territory management and expansion.

As the ravenous Adventurers poured into the hall, sharpening their blades in anticipation, Qi Ji nodded in satisfaction and hoped they would perform even better today!

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