Chapter 125 : The Income Brought by War
Chapter 125: The Income Brought by War
They had finally won.
Hang Yu let out a slight sigh of relief.
Although Chi Lin was not a powerful lord, he had not been without chances in this Lord War. On the contrary, he actually had many opportunities and various methods to pose a threat.
The reason the Dragon-Lizard Lord was swiftly defeated despite having the upper hand was not due to overconfidence or impatience in mindset, nor was it due to misjudgment or failure in tactics.
His defeat—
was mainly due to intelligence failure.
Chi Lin had no idea from the beginning about the undead ability of the Calamity Legion.
Even up until the end, he did not realize that hunting down the Calamity Legion was essentially madly supplying his enemy.
That was extremely fatal!
Had he not relentlessly hunted down the players—
how could Hang Yu possibly have grown this fast?
Of course, being overly aggressive and excessively confident—Chi Lin’s own mindset—was also a major reason for his loss!
If Hang Yu were Chi Lin, upon discovering that the enemy soldiers had a rapid resurrection ability, he would have immediately abandoned the strategy of encirclement and hunting. Instead, he would have chosen methods like capture, control, and imprisonment, to prevent his own troops from being endlessly harassed and worn down.
Perhaps the time was too short.
Or maybe it was the absolute superiority in troop numbers.
Chi Lin failed to adjust his strategy in time at a critical moment.
Otherwise, had he successfully restricted the development of the Calamity Legion, and then, once the seven-day buffer period passed, assembled a large army to strike directly at the base camp, it would have been incredibly difficult for Hang Yu to respond!
But hindsight was meaningless.
No one possessed an omniscient god's perspective.
From Chi Lin’s standpoint, whether it was detecting and suppressing immediately, or using a feint to try and launch a surprise attack on the base camp, those tactics were not without merit—they were in fact quite reasonable and feasible.
This battle made Hang Yu realize deeply that one must never underestimate any enemy. After all, among the Will of the Stars, there were countless lords far superior to the Dragon-Lizard People in talent, far more terrifying in physique, and even more cunning in strategy.
As a human lord—
Hang Yu was naturally at a severe disadvantage.
Though he was supported by a powerful Calamity Legion, he could not allow that to breed arrogance.
Additionally, intelligence confidentiality was extremely important—especially the ability to obtain Essence through the deaths of Calamity Legion players. That could be said to be his greatest secret, his core ability.
"Thank you, Lord, for your assistance!"
"Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy for us to kill him!"
The players gathered in front of Hang Yu to express their gratitude.
Although in the end it still required the lord himself to act, in that kind of situation, if he hadn’t made a move, Chi Lin would definitely have escaped, leading to unforeseen complications and increased risks of uncertainty.
Compared to territory safety—
a lower mission rating meant nothing.
The players quickly picked up the loot dropped on the battlefield.
First to be claimed were, of course, the items dropped by the Dragon-Lizard Lord and the Ground Dragon Beast mount—two commander-level units.
【You have picked up loot: Essence +62,000, Abyssal Magic Crystal +1,000, Crimson Dragon-Lizard Chestplate +1, Crimson Dragon-Lizard Legguards +1, Crimson Dragon-Lizard Helmet +1, Crimson Dragon-Lizard Cloak +1, Crimson Dragon-Lizard Boots +1!】
【You have picked up loot: Essence +16,000, Abyssal Magic Crystal +120, Ground Dragon Meat (Fiery) +200, Ground Dragon Flame Scale +200, Ground Dragon Tendon +200, Ground Dragon Bone +200, Ground Dragon Blood Essence +200!】
The players were utterly stunned.
Chi Lin not only dropped a huge amount of Abyssal Magic Crystals and Essence, but also an entire set of green-quality equipment.
The Crimson Dragon-Lizard Set was not only a Green-Quality Armor Set, but also a Tier-Two Set. Each individual piece in terms of stats and quality was not inferior to the upgraded Huangtian Commander Set worn by Hang Yu.
Whether in quality and tier—
or in set bonus effects—
everything left the players speechless.
It was evident this set had been crafted by Chi Lin for himself.
Now, with his death, it all burst out at once.
However, it was quite unfortunate for the players that the equipment dropped from the Foreign Tribes of the Will of the Stars, though abundant and of high quality, was typically race-bound and could not be used directly.
This Crimson Dragon-Lizard Five-Piece Set was no exception.
If players wanted to use it, they had to undergo Forging modification.
The modification cost for a Tier-Two Green-Quality Armor set was extremely expensive—roughly equivalent to paying half the price of a new set—something not affordable for the average player.
In fact, modifying the equipment itself didn’t consume much material.
The reason Hang Yu charged so much was purely to exploit the players, reclaim distributed Contribution Points, and have players hand over unusable equipment to expand the territory’s equipment reserves.
Chi Lin’s loot was thrilling.
What surprised people even more was the Ground Dragon Beast mount.
This mount was a Level 10 commander monster, its strength not inferior to Ma Yuanyi or Pei Yuanshao. Although, as a beast-type monster, it never dropped equipment and the Abyssal Magic Crystal drop was limited, it was a veritable mother pig of material production!
The Ground Dragon Beast was a treasure from head to toe.
Its meat could be eaten, while its scales, tendons, bones, and blood were materials for Forging or Alchemy, capable of generating tremendous value.
Under the effect of Heavenly Dao’s Blessing—
players obtained a total of one thousand units of precious materials!
“We’re rich!”
“This wave is pure profit!”
The players were all thrilled upon learning of the monster drops. This operation had not only defeated the territory’s number one enemy but also brought them tremendous rewards.
“Everyone!”
“Don’t pop the champagne just yet!”
“Our battle isn’t over!”
“Chi Lin only personally acted as the vanguard. He still has several hundred subordinates active in the Luoshui Region!”
“Each of them is a walking treasure chest. We must eliminate them all as soon as possible!”
“After eliminating these invaders—”
“we will liberate the villages in the Wo Niu Mountain region!”
“Finally, we’ll counterattack the Dragon-Lizard Base Camp and destroy their lair once and for all!”
“Kill kill kill!”
“Long live the Calamity!”
“We will win this round!”
The players were all extremely excited.
Even Level 1 players were scrambling to join the upcoming operation to wipe out the Dragon-Lizard troops.
Because during the Large-Scale Quest event, all participants would receive a free Essence Contract, allowing them to share and earn Essence after the mission concluded.
There were still at least 700 to 800 Dragon-Lizard soldiers.
Eliminating them all would result in unimaginable profit!
The players immediately regrouped and launched a mighty campaign to eliminate the remnants.
Hang Yu tracked the entire operation through the Lord’s perspective. The Luoshui Execution Ground area wasn’t large, and the players quickly encountered the remnants of the Dragon-Lizard People. A fierce battle erupted along the banks of the Luoshui River.
【Player “Crawling in Darkness” has died, Essence +100...】
【Player “Arthur King” has died, Essence +100...】
【Player “Big Head Brother” has died, Essence +100...】
【...】
Another large wave of players had fallen.
Although the Dragon-Lizard People were leaderless, their remnants were still strong. Ordinary players were essentially meat shields and cannon fodder, and even high-level players couldn’t avoid dying once more.
During this process, a large amount of Essence was once again contributed to the territory.
As players took down Dragon-Lizard soldiers one by one, they received a ton of Contribution Points and loot rewards. Everyone was fired up like they’d been injected with adrenaline. After all, opportunities like this would be rare now that the Dragon-Lizard Lord had fallen.
In this Lord War—
the players felt like they had profited massively.
And Hang Yu had reaped an even greater harvest.
Though the war couldn’t end immediately, from wiping out the Dragon-Lizard remnants, reclaiming each stronghold in Wo Niu Mountain, to completely conquering the Dragon-Lizard Base Camp—it would take at least two to three days.
As for the total gains from this war—
there was no precise figure yet.
Hang Yu estimated there would be at least 3 million Essence in direct revenue.
Though he earned a lot—
he spent a lot too.
First, he spent 1 million Essence to promote the entire Personal Guard Corps to Tier-Two.
Then Hang Yu needed to allocate another large portion of Essence as mission rewards for the players. Among them, the top 100 to 180 players would receive 2,000 to 10,000 Essence, while the rest would receive participation rewards based on their actual contribution. As for the low-level players who were mere cannon fodder, 100 to 200 Essence would suffice.
This expenditure was expected to consume another 1.8 million Essence.
Though the cost was significant, it was entirely necessary—not only to elevate top players’ strength to a higher level, but also to quickly boost the levels of low-tier players and give them positive reinforcement.
Hang Yu still had a net gain of over 1 million Essence in hand. This income could be used as territory reserve, either to enhance his own strength or for other expenditures.
It must be noted—
the Essence Hang Yu earned—
was only a part of the territory’s total Essence revenue.
The Essence gained by players through killing Dragon-Lizard soldiers was also quite impressive.
These Will of the Stars soldiers were not only numerous, but uniformly elite monsters. Their Essence drop rate was at least double that of same-tier Abyssal Creatures. With players benefiting from a tenfold drop rate bonus, the effect was astonishing.
The total strength of the Dragon-Lizard People was around 1,300.
Although not all could be slain by the players, effective kills under Heavenly Dao’s Blessing were estimated to be near 1,000. Each Dragon-Lizard soldier, depending on their level and strength, dropped between 3,000 to 6,000 Essence!
Of course, during such large-scale battles—
the Essence loss rate would be relatively high.
For example, some targets killed at long range had no time to be looted, or the battle on the battlefield was simply too intense, often resulting in mutual destruction. In such situations, a portion of the Essence was inevitably wasted.
According to Xiao Ba's calculations and predictions based on the battlefield situation, the loss rate in this war was about 18%. This percentage was not high and fell within a normal and reasonable range.
After factoring in all elements—
the Calamity Legion players each earned about 3,500 Essence on average.
This average included the four to five hundred newbies. These low-level players received only a base share of 500 to 800 Essence from the Essence Contract, while the majority of the Essence was concentrated among the top 300 players.
Especially the top dozens of players—
each of them easily earned tens of thousands of Essence.
Moreover, with the abundance of Contribution Points earned in this mission—
Hang Yu believed that these players would surely invest most of their Essence into Skill Proficiency Training and learning new skills, thus further enhancing their foundation and strength. The number of Tier-Two Players would also see tremendous growth after this battle.
Having finished discussing Essence—
next came Abyssal Magic Crystals.
With the players enjoying the tenfold drop rate—
this battle was expected to bring over 35,000 Abyssal Magic Crystals in revenue to the territory!
Although these Abyssal Magic Crystals would not be directly in Hang Yu’s hands, players now recognized Contribution Points as the real hard currency. The vast majority of players would trade their crystals to the territory in exchange for Contribution Points.
Of course, a small number of players might hold on to some Abyssal Magic Crystals and Abyssal Magic Stones, since they could also be exchanged directly for Contribution Points and served as a token without transaction fees.
This portion should not be large—
because Hang Yu had already issued player-exclusive game coins.
While these game coins incurred a minting tax during conversion to Contribution Points, they had the advantage of being bound and non-droppable. Abyssal Magic Crystals and Abyssal Magic Stones were indeed hard currency, fee-free, but posed significant security risks.
35,000 Abyssal Magic Crystals!
And that was a conservative estimate.
In the past, this was something unimaginable!
Hang Yu had never seen such a large sum of wealth!
Back when he was still at the Lord Academy, he had received investment intentions from the Will of the Stars offering 20,000 to 30,000 Abyssal Magic Crystals in one go—but the condition was to surrender lordship sovereignty and have his territory work for them for years to come.
Now, a single war had earned this much!
Hang Yu couldn’t help but feel lucky that all those investment deals were withdrawn.
Of course, his experience didn’t reflect that of other lords. Without the Calamity Legion, that 30,000 would have been slashed down to 3,000. While still a decent amount, it would be tight when weighed against the cost.
The reason Hang Yu thought Lord Wars were profitable—
was purely because his investment was minimal and the returns were massive.
For most lords, their greatest fear during exploration was triggering a Lord War.
Because once war broke out, it inevitably meant massive casualties and unpredictable risks.
Although the Abyssal Magic Crystals and Essence dropped by Will of the Stars’ Offspring Soldiers were higher than ordinary monsters, it was far from enough to cover their own losses. It wasn’t a profitable venture—it was a gold-devouring beast.
“Now that the funds are sufficient!”
“It's time to further upgrade and develop the territory!”
Hang Yu had never felt this wealthy and extravagant before.
Not only did he expect an income of 35,000 Abyssal Magic Crystals, but after completely occupying the Dragon-Lizard territory and seizing the Lord Core, he would also receive a Treasure Chest reward. In the short term, the territory’s development funds were abundant.
Given that—
there was no need to be stingy anymore.
Buildings that were previously too costly to upgrade could now be upgraded.
Buildings that had been unaffordable to construct could now be built.
The first two structures Hang Yu planned to construct were the Enlightenment Tower and the Stars Teleportation Station.
The former was from a recently acquired Construction Blueprint and could be used to enhance and fuse skills—immensely helpful for increasing strength.
The latter was essential infrastructure for most territories. Its main function was to facilitate travel to and from the Land of the Stars at specific times. It could be used for gathering the latest intelligence, trading rare items, and even saving lives in critical moments.
The shared characteristic of both buildings was: expensive!
A few minutes later, with a faint tremor, two brand-new tower-like buildings appeared within the territory.
Hang Yu placed the Stars Teleportation Station near the Territory Castle Hall, while the Enlightenment Tower was positioned between the two Skill Towers. The appearance of these two buildings signified further advancement in the territory’s functions.