Shops Spring Up, Red-armored Crocodiles

"This is Sparta!"

As Dilios led fourteen Spartan Warriors charging into the forest...

The wild monsters near Huanyu Town suffered another disaster.

The entire forest was thrown into chaos.

Huang Yu did not go with them this time.

The rapidly rising experience and constantly updating Soul Crystal count reassured him about the Spartan Warriors...

Well... as long as they did not get carried away...

Before long, Su Mo's experience suddenly surged, nearly breaking through to LV5.

The number of Soul Crystals also increased by forty-two in quick succession.

Huang Yu walked to the second-floor window of the castle.

From afar, he saw the Spartan Warriors returning.

Each of them dragged back at least one monster corpse.

Dilios, at the front, was even dragging a crocodile.

The crocodile was not much smaller than yesterday's Giant Tooth Lizard.

It was likely another monster above LV10.

"Did they wipe out a whole nest of crocodiles?"

More than half of the monsters the Spartan Warriors brought back were crocodiles with reddish armor on their backs.

The rest were animals such as wild boars, pythons, and giant rabbits.

After dragging the monsters back to the territory, the Spartan Warriors did not pause for even a moment before turning and charging into the forest again.

For them, constant battle was the meaning of life.

The Gatherers swarmed forward and began another busy day.

Large quantities of food and materials were sent into the warehouse.

The notifications in Huang Yu's mind scarcely stopped.

Obtained 35 units of Red-armored Crocodile Meat (Excellent Food)!

Obtained 8 Red-armored Crocodile Hides (Excellent Material)!

Obtained 86 units of Red-armored Crocodile Meat (Normal Food)!

Huang Yu's eyes lit up.

The Red-armored Crocodile's hide was actually an Excellent Material!

"My lord!"

Just then, the butler's voice sounded outside the door.

"Come in!"

Huang Yu turned around, only to find the butler accompanied by two male servants.

Each of the three men held an egg the size of a football.

"My lord, Lord Dilios asked me to deliver these three eggs to you."

The butler respectfully placed the three eggs on the table, then stepped aside to await Huang Yu's instructions.

Eggs?

Huang Yu focused his gaze on the three eggs.

Then a piece of information appeared in his mind.

Red-armored Crocodile Egg (Fine Grade Pet Egg)

A contract will grant a Red-armored Crocodile Cub pet!

Red-armored Crocodile

A monster that inhabits forests.

Its potential is generally Bronze Grade (LV19), with a certain chance of evolving into a Silver Grade (LV29) species!

They were actually Pet Eggs!

Huang Yu grew interested. He picked them up one by one and examined them.

Then he uploaded the Pet Eggs, along with some food, to Universe Shop.

He had seen many high-grade Pet Eggs in Chaos Mall.

Although none had appeared in the discount menu yet, he believed he would own them sooner or later.

So he was not particularly interested in Red-armored Crocodiles that were merely Excellent Quality.

His pets.

Even the pets under his subordinates.

Had to be at least Excellent Quality or above!

He opened the trading platform.

Huang Yu had intended to check his shop's sales.

But he discovered that...

After a single night...

More than a thousand lord shops had sprung up across the trading platform like mushrooms after rain.

Many lords had opened personal shops on the trading platform.

Most of the items listed in those shops were random junk.

For example, crude weapons made of stones and wooden sticks.

Or unreliable things like river water, artificial fertilizer, and sand.

Some lords had even listed their own citizens...

Of course, because the trading platform ranked shops by transaction volume,

Universe Shop's first-place position remained unshakable for the time being.

Still, this caught Huang Yu's attention and made him notice several other standout lord shops.

The second-ranked Wisteria Shop had listed Excellent Food ingredients.

They were not meat, but a fruit called Banying Fruit.

There was quite a lot of it.

A full eighteen units.

Huang Yu traded some Excellent Food—Red-armored Crocodile Meat—for one portion.

After tasting it, he found it sweet and sour, with a pleasant flavor.

It would not increase the consumer's experience.

But it could make one's mind somewhat clearer.

The third-ranked shop had listed a batch of Normal Quality equipment.

Though its ratings and quality were not as good as Chaos Mall's,

Its prices were cheaper.

In the shop description, that lord said he had received a craftsman from his first sign-in.

If lords were willing to provide materials, he could help customize equipment.

If Huang Yu did not have the discount artifact, and if Blue Mountain Workshop had not appeared in the discounted item menu,

He might have considered cooperating with him.

But there was no need now.

As he continued browsing, Huang Yu spotted an acquaintance.

Xuanji Shop, ranked seventh.

There was nothing particularly distinctive in the shop.

Only two basic territory-building resources: timber and stone.

But the quantities were enormous.

So enormous that Huang Yu's eyelids twitched.

4,000 units of timber!

2,000 units of stone!

Based on Chaos Mall's prices,

Their total value reached as high as 600 Soul Crystals!

Perhaps because these two goods were too common,

The lord of Xuanji Shop had set the price at only half of Chaos Mall's.

Moreover, they accepted only Soul Crystals and meat-based food.

So far, not even half had been traded away.

After all, not many lords were short of such things at this stage.

More lords were still struggling with their citizens just to stay fed...

As he kept browsing, Huang Yu also saw a group of remarkable people.

Some had made Excellent Quality furniture from timber.

Others had produced materials such as cement and bricks.

One lord had even tinkered out gunpowder.

Unfortunately, according to him, the gunpowder's power was pitifully weak...

After piecing together purchases from various sources, Huang Yu bought thirty units of refined iron.

It was currently a scarce resource.

Only a few lucky lords had encountered a handful of units.

The lively trend of opening shops

Was swiftly brought to an end

After Universe Shop listed Fine Grade Pet Eggs.

On the World Channel, Universe Shop once again became the center of everyone's discussion.

Did I see that right? Lord Huanyu listed Pet Eggs of Excellent Quality!

Red-armored Crocodiles! Two of my warriors died in the jaws of Red-armored Crocodiles. How did the big shot kill them?

I want to cry... People really cannot be compared.

Lord Huanyu, add me as a friend! I have a sexy mature woman's voice!

Lord Huanyu really has no sense of the bigger picture. We belong to the human camp and should help each other...

I call on all lords to resist the top lord shops. Those people are vampires, treating the rest of us lords like crops to harvest!

With one click, he cleared the friend requests.

He also completely blacklisted several people who used foul language and moral coercion.

Huang Yu felt refreshed as he looked at the 100 Soul Crystals that had arrived.

Just moments ago, Lord Bauhinia had paid 100 Soul Crystals to buy one Pet Egg.

His total number of Soul Crystals had reached 178.

Because many lords had listed food-related goods,

The food in Huanyu Mall was not selling very quickly.

But Huang Yu was not worried.

His plan for Universe Shop was to build it into a top-tier shop covering every category.

He wanted Universe Shop to become players' first choice outside Chaos Mall!

There was no need to fuss over such petty profits right now.

Huang Yu believed

That by noon at the latest, he would have his second Special Buildings.

The Perfect Grade Blue Mountain Workshop!

By then, he would also have the equipment market firmly in his grasp!