[ Clear Soup Master ] ran through the streets of Fir City in the afternoon, and along the way he saw many sights: ruins, civilians, prisoners, and several half-tree people walking out of the cathedral.
He even saw several familiar young faces— the Treant Hunter that Ed had turned back into humans. Most of these children, barely ten years old, had returned home and were now enjoying a long-awaited reunion with their families.
But there are many more people like them being Stained Ones. Without the Second Holy See, without these players, who knows how long those children and teenagers would have been oppressed by the Stained Ones...
Thinking of this, he quickened his pace.
The words of the [ Great Wei Boxing Champion ] still echoed in his ears—the entry and exit records of the South Gate, and the results of the interrogation of the former city guards.
Fir City Cathedral, Great Prayer Hall.
The Half-Tree people expressed their gratitude for Ed's kindness in deep voices, even though many of them would soon be embarking on a journey to perform labor at High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant. As long as they could survive, they didn't care too much about it.
Ed politely saw them off, then sat down in a chair, lost in thought.
The scene before him was utterly comical. This was the Great Prayer Hall of the Fir City Cathedral, which, in theory, should be the most solemn and dignified place in the entire Aduolin Province.
Unfortunately, the situation here is no longer just a mess.
The wooden benches that should have been neatly arranged have long since turned into a pile of rotten wood, interspersed with countless fragments resembling shell structures.
The fragments came from two transformations: one when Antiya Lisi transformed people into half-tree beings, and the other when Ed turned the Treant Hunter back into humans.
He was sitting at the very front of the prayer hall, at the altar, but the statue of the World Tree was buried in dust.
Through the scenes here, Ed can reconstruct Antiya Lisi's final madness.
He disregarded all rules and broke free from all shackles. He overturned the icon, smashed the wooden chair, and sat down in the most sacred place, doing the most blasphemous thing in the most solemn setting.
Who exactly are these people Stained Ones?
Ed found himself unable to see the group clearly, which was why he hadn't completed the hidden quest for [ Clear Soup Master ] when he finished the first phase of the " Great Adventurer " mission, " Fir City Operation ".
Let them continue their investigation; they might uncover more information.
However, the thought of the players brought Ed another worry.
As the number of players continues to increase, the systems they develop also become more and more numerous.
Besides the normal plant-based players, there are now Dragon Transformation builds, Blood Corpse builds, and four-legged creature builds. Fir City has been liberated, and according to the players' ideas, it won't be long before tutorials on how to change to a half-tree or tree person appear on the forums.
Although creating Treant Hunter is Antiya Lisi's unique skill, if we disregard the possibility of reverting to human form and using the rules to perform "cursed killings," it is possible to do similar things as long as the Plant Compatibility reaches a certain level.
So, should we also offer players something new?
In Ed's view, throughout the entire Fir City Operation, almost all players encountered a major problem: their strength was insufficient to defeat opponents stronger than themselves.
Even players like [ Howling Pothos ] and a few other high-level players from large guilds or gaming clubs in real life are only capable of defeating a typical squad leader in Fir City, which is hardly impressive.
Their secret to defeating powerful enemies boils down to three points: first, they are not afraid to die; second, they can resurrect; and third, they can call in reinforcements.
Aside from these three points, due to level limitations, the players' current combat power is indeed insufficient to turn the tide of battle.
what to do?
Realizing the problem, Ed began to think of solutions.
The players' bodies were created by Ed. If he wanted, a player could be level 20 the moment they were created, but that was useless because Ed could only affect their physical bodies, not their souls, and the soul of a level 1 player was not enough to control the body.
The players' consciousness does indeed originate from Ed's summoning using his abilities, but he cannot actively enhance the players' souls.
Over the past few months of observation, Ed has identified certain patterns:
In World of Disorder, soul strength and physical strength are two different things; their ranks must be the same or not significantly different for them to be compatible.
As players explore the World of Disorder, their souls will be subtly strengthened, and they may even be able to bring a small portion of their Psionic Energy power back to the real world.
Ed couldn't control the growth rate of their souls, but he could control the growth rate of the players' bodies. He forcibly matched the growth rates of the two to ensure that the players' bodies and souls were always in harmony.
When a player dies, because their soul strength remains unchanged, Ed can directly recreate a body of their original strength and reintroduce them into the game.
If the components that make up the new body are different from the previous ones, they will transform into the direction preset by the players after a period of adjustment.
This is the current operating logic of the game " World of Disorder " under Ed's guidance.
Therefore, his current challenge is how to empower players with more combat power without hindering their growth rate.
In other words, even if a novice player wants to fight an elite boss, they should be provided with a way to do so, even if it's just to try.
Is it like giving out Character Blessing Card to [ Howling Pothos ]?
This is definitely not going to work, or rather, it's not a long-term solution.
Some items are expensive precisely because their production is extremely limited. If something that was rare in the previous version suddenly has its production increased without prior notice, it's not good for collectors or for Ed's reputation.
Moreover, forcibly raising attributes can only be maintained in the short term; otherwise, the soul and body will also become mismatched.
Therefore, Blessing Cards are still suitable as rewards for hidden quests and some difficult quests, so as to maintain their rarity while ensuring a continuous output.
Are there any other methods?
Ed closed his eyes and switched the perspective to that of the player.
Little Green instantly understood what he meant and began playing the players' first-person perspective replays in Ed's mind.
Using this method, Ed began to browse Antiya Lisi's experimental records, trying to find some means or methods that could be used.
After all, some methods would seem cruel to ordinary civilians, but when applied to players, they'll only ask why they weren't used sooner...