Chapter 128 : Frenzied Expansion! Triple Map Lord!
Chapter 128: Frenzied Expansion! Triple Map Lord!
They had rested for approximately six hours.
Toasting the Moon logged into the game once more.
Starting today, he had a new goal: to increase his favorability with the Lord NPC, Hang Yu!
He hoped to become a follower chosen by the Lord to remain by his side, thereby gaining the opportunity to venture beyond the Abyss Three Kingdoms to the hidden map, the Land of the Stars, to investigate the game’s secrets.
As for how to increase favorability?
The Special Task Force had held a dedicated meeting to discuss this.
The favorability stat of NPCs was a hidden value and could not be directly gauged.
However, generally speaking, an NPC’s favorability was certainly related to one’s identity and stance.
For example, if one wished to increase the favorability of the Forger Yan Ling, then it would be best to frequently purchase equipment from her and provide her with the materials she needed. Or if one wished to increase the favorability of Zhou Ji, then one should either pay a higher price to learn skills from him or assist him in liberating and rescuing suffering civilians and refugees.
Hang Yu, being the most central NPC in the game, was not only a core figure but also the supreme leader of the faction. His stance and needs were undoubtedly tied to the development of the territory.
In theory—
The more contributions a Player made to the territory,
The higher the favorability they would gain from Hang Yu.
Toasting the Moon was a Second Test Player. When compared to the First Test Players in terms of battle merit, he was undoubtedly at a disadvantage.
However, contributing to the territory didn’t necessarily have to come from battle merit!
If he could purchase large quantities of equipment, materials, and Abyssal Magic Crystals to complete quests in bulk, it wasn’t impossible for him to match the First Test Players in contribution.
Toasting the Moon first headed to the Hall to exchange for items. In addition to various types of Team Contracts and various grades of Photography Crystals—those early game items—a great many new tools had been continuously added in the past couple of days.
For instance, the Regional Sound Transmission Stone, the Planar Sound Transmission Stone, and the Spirit Village Crystal.
The Sound Transmission Stones functioned much like the megaphones commonly seen in games, allowing a message to be sent to all online Players within the item’s effective range. As long as the Player opened their information panel, they could see the message.
Each use of a Sound Transmission incurred a variable cost.
The price fluctuated based on the size of the broadcast area and the number of online Players.
As for the Spirit Village Crystal, its price was due to its function—it was an item that allowed Players to connect to their Mental Home. The so-called Mental Home referred to the game’s Forum. Each activation lasted for one hour, enabling Players to log into the Forum directly from the information panel without logging out.
This item allowed Players to seek help on the Forum when in trouble. Of course, for some Players who enjoyed showing off, this feature also made it easier to live-stream and share online, while enhancing the communication experience for the broad community of Cloud Players.
This game was great in almost every way—
Except for one thing: Contribution Points were always in short supply.
All basic services required spending Contribution Points.
Fortunately, Contribution Points were not acquired through monetary recharge.
Every Player could easily earn them by completing various quests.
Toasting the Moon began broadcasting messages to buy equipment, materials, Abyssal Magic Crystals, Abyssal Magic Stones, and Contribution Points.
This was currently during the Lord Wars period.
Players had just made massive windfalls.
At this time, Players' Contribution Points and resources were relatively abundant. Toasting the Moon believed that as long as he offered enough money, it wouldn’t be difficult to acquire these resources from other Players.
Of course, there were many elite Players in the game who were also acquiring Contribution Points and resources in bulk. Notable among them were Ye Li Meng, Brother Xiao Ma, and Little Bell.
Even though Contribution Point income was plentiful—
The purchase prices still remained quite high.
Because Player consumption and demand were essentially bottomless!
Additionally, the developers likely did not want all Contribution Points to be concentrated in the hands of top-tier pay-to-win Players. Although they had opened a currency exchange feature, the amount of currency exchangeable each day was limited, and the majority of Contribution Points remained non-tradeable.
It only took two hours.
Toasting the Moon had already acquired over ten thousand Contribution Points, hundreds of pieces of decent-quality equipment, thousands of high-quality materials, and Abyssal Magic Stones and Crystals with a combined value of approximately 200 Abyssal Magic Crystals.
He immediately turned in all the equipment, materials, and Abyssal Magic Crystals for quests.
Among them, the number of material-type item quests, and even the quantity of Abyssal Magic Crystal exchanges, were capped per Player per day.
Only equipment recycling had no limit on the number of turn-ins. However, the vast majority of equipment recovery prices weren’t high, far less economical than Player-to-Player transactions—especially for high-quality equipment. Selling those at the standard recycling rate was simply bleeding losses.
Precisely because of this—
Toasting the Moon saw an opportunity to farm Contribution Points.
He planned to purchase a large quantity of equipment from Players and then hand it over to the territory. This kind of action was undoubtedly a loss-making business. But it was precisely because it was a loss-making business that no one was willing to do it, allowing him to earn significantly more Contribution than others—and thereby gain the favor of the Lord.
There were still seven or eight days before the Lord returned to the City of the Stars. With the support of the Special Task Force behind Toasting the Moon—and the national-level resources backing the Special Task Force—he didn’t believe he couldn’t secure a spot as a follower.
However, although this matter was important,
At the current stage, enhancing his own strength was even more critical.
Toasting the Moon couldn’t possibly spend all day at the base purchasing equipment and trading Contribution Points. He had already recruited several seemingly reliable subordinates in the game.
Trivial matters like these could be handled by his subordinates.
Toasting the Moon decided to increase his strength as quickly as possible to catch up with the first-tier Players and thereby participate in major events.
At that very moment—
A broadcast message caught Toasting the Moon’s attention.
【Niu Shisan: Final assault operation on Wo Niu Mountain! Recruiting for the Peach Grove Hamlet reclamation quest! Must bring your own Spirit Horse, minimum level 6. Those interested, gather at the Hall immediately. We depart once we have 100 people!】
After the remnants of the Dragon-Lizard forces in the Luoshui Region were completely annihilated,
Players had begun clearing and reclaiming Wo Niu Mountain in succession.
At this point, most of the occupied areas had already been retaken by Players, with only a few remote regions still in the hands of the Dragon-Lizards. Players had decided to complete the clean-up operations by the end of the day.
This operation organized by Niu Shisan was targeted at one of the remaining occupied areas, which piqued Toasting the Moon’s interest.
He immediately went to the stable to rent a horse.
After the outcome of the Lord Wars was determined,
The development of the territory had clearly accelerated.
Now, in addition to new buildings such as the Enlightenment Tower and Transmission Station, the stable had also been upgraded. The number of Spirit Horses available for rent had increased from one hundred to eight hundred, enough to provide ample transportation for Players.
When he arrived at the Hall,
The people were nearly all present.
Toasting the Moon saw the organizer, Niu Shisan.
This First Test Player wasn’t as well-known as Ye Li Meng, Black-Eyed Rui Ge, or Chimera Wraith, but his personal strength was not to be underestimated. He was among the top experts at this stage.
At the moment, Niu Shisan was clad in a set of black-gold armor, a white-quality armor set originally belonging to a Dragon-Lizard Commander, which had been modified at the Forging Workshop into Player-usable equipment.
In his hands, he wielded a green-quality two-handed greatsword. Both the black-gold armor and the sword shimmered faintly, and each piece of equipment had a reinforcement level of at least +4.
He himself had reached level 11—
A genuine Tier-Two powerhouse.
Toasting the Moon quickly recalled Niu Shisan’s background in his mind.
In the real world, his name was Niu Jian, a retired boxing athlete who had now become a full-time Player of Twisted Three Kingdoms.
He had performed quite well within the Calamity Legion and had a good relationship with the top-tier Warlock Player, Artist General. Perhaps they could be considered for recruitment into the Special Task Force’s ranks.
“We're all here!”
“Let's move out!”
The group teleported to Shangyang Hamlet and entered Wo Niu Mountain. Then, they rode their Spirit Horses at full speed for more than three hours and finally arrived at their destination.
“Everyone be careful. According to intel, although there are only fifteen Dragon-Lizard Soldiers here, most of them are level 9 or 10. They’re still quite dangerous to deal with!”
“But the real problem is that there are hundreds of villagers under their control. If we charge straight into the village, we might accidentally harm civilians during the battle.”
“It’s best to think of a way to lure the Dragon-Lizard Soldiers out!”
Niu Shisan said, “Anyone got a good idea?”
“Let me do it.”
Toasting the Moon stepped forward.
Niu Shisan was familiar with Moon’s background.
After all, even Rui Ge and Ye Li Meng had once received considerable help from him. During the battle for Shansang Ancient City, Toasting the Moon had provided them with substantial assistance.
Niu Shisan was delighted.
He immediately handed over command to him.
Toasting the Moon didn’t stand on ceremony and began arranging for the Players to take action. He divided the hundred Players into multiple combat teams and had them lie in ambush within the nearby forest.
Then, he personally led a few Rangers deep into enemy territory to draw attention and used a series of tactics to lure the Dragon-Lizard Soldiers out.
Throughout the entire process,
There were no mishaps.
All the Dragon-Lizard Soldiers’ reactions were within Toasting the Moon’s expectations. Even when unexpected deviations occurred, Toasting the Moon had contingency plans ready and responded swiftly.
After a futile and unrewarding resistance,
The fifteen Dragon-Lizard Soldiers, despite inflicting over twenty casualties on the Calamity Legion, were inevitably forced into a desperate situation.
“Die!”
Niu Shisan took a direct hit from a level 10 Dragon-Lizard Warrior’s skill. With his max-level Iron Armor Technique and black-gold breastplate, he successfully blocked the attack, then raised his two-handed greatsword and unleashed a rapid Qi-Slash in a sweeping motion.
A Qi-blade several zhang long—
Pierced through the body of the Dragon-Lizard Soldier.
He severely wounded the Dragon-Lizard Warrior on the spot.
Seeing the enemy still had a breath left, Niu Shisan let out a roar, raised his greatsword, and brought it down in a heavy chop, cleanly slicing him in half.
The battle was over.
Other Players were busy collecting the spoils.
“Hahaha, Brother Moon, your contribution this time definitely ranks in the top three!”
Niu Shisan laughed and said, “If it weren’t for your successful leadership in assassinating a Priest and a Warlock, and your entire series of tactical arrangements, even if we completed the mission, we’d have paid a steep price!”
Toasting the Moon: “You flatter me!”
Niu Shisan said, “Let’s go, activate the Blessing Point first. We’ll talk about the quest objectives after that!”
“Alright!”
The Calamity Legion entered this place called Peach Grove Village. They saw that five hundred villagers remained here, enslaved by the Dragon-Lizard People and forced to farm herbs, cut wood, and quarry stone.
“Peach Grove Hamlet originally had three villages and at least five to six hundred households. Now, there are only this many people left!”
After learning the situation,
Niu Shisan said indignantly, “Damn those lizard freaks!”
It was only then that the survivors of Peach Grove Hamlet snapped out of their joy and hurriedly knelt before the Calamity Legion soldiers in gratitude.
“There’s no need to thank us.”
“We are merely soldiers under the command of the Lord.”
“The one who truly rescued you is the great Lord of the Stars, Hang Yu!”
After the Calamity Legion Players revealed their background and explained the Lord’s identity to the villagers, they quickly found the Blessing Point located in Peach Grove Hamlet.
【Capturing Blessing Point: 1%...100%!】
【Blessing Point captured successfully!】
When Niu Shisan personally activated the Blessing Point, a notification rang out in the ears of all Players participating in this operation.
【Ding!】
【Quest completed!】
【Your team has received 10,000 Essence and 20,000 Contribution Points as a reward!】
It was done.
Because the number of participants was too many,
The quest rewards divided among everyone weren’t much.
But the Players hadn’t come all this way to attack this village just for the rewards. Their main goal was to take control of Wo Niu Mountain as quickly as possible to push the storyline forward.
Besides,
Even if quest rewards were few,
The experience gained from killing Dragon-Lizard People was substantial!
Those fifteen Dragon-Lizard People brought the team over sixty thousand Essence. Adding the 10,000 Essence from the quest, even for such a large team, this was no small sum.
Moreover,
Aside from the Essence rewards,
Everyone also earned a considerable amount of loot.
This operation pushed the storyline forward and yielded great gains. Everyone, including Niu Shisan, was very satisfied.
After distributing the Essence,
Toasting the Moon successfully leveled up from level 7 to level 8.
…………
Luoshui Base Camp.
Inside the Lord’s Office.
When Hang Yu opened the information panel, he saw the stream of capture notifications from the Will of the Stars had been continuously updating for the past dozen or so hours.
【You have captured the "Xi Village" region. 59 hours 52 minutes and 54 seconds remain until full occupation!】
【You have captured the "Da Shi Hamlet" region. 62 hours 35 minutes and 53 seconds remain until full occupation!】
【……】
【You have captured the "Peach Grove Hamlet" region. 64 hours 21 minutes and 25 seconds remain until full occupation!】
These territories were different from the ones Hang Yu had previously taken.
His earlier captures, such as Shansang Ancient City, He Ting Village, and Hexi Village, were all territories activated and occupied from an unclaimed state.
Now, however, these areas had already been activated by a Dragon-Lizard Lord. Hang Yu was essentially seizing them from another Lord of the Stars.
During the Lord Wars, it was very common for two Lords to wrestle territories back and forth, so full ownership required holding the region for a set duration.
No rush.
Hang Yu opened the Lord Panel.
He quickly checked the details of the newly acquired territories.
【Xi Village】, White-Quality Area. Upon full occupation, increases Abyss Barracks construction limit by +1. Generates 100 Abyssal Magic Crystals monthly for the territory... Description: A large village in the Wo Niu Mountain region. Current permanent population: 994.
【Da Shi Village】, White-Quality Area. Upon full occupation, increases Abyss Barracks construction limit by +1. Generates 80 Abyssal Magic Crystals monthly for the territory... Description: A village in the Wo Niu Mountain region. Current permanent population: 751.
【Huang Keng Village】, White-Quality Area. Upon full occupation, increases Abyss Barracks construction limit by +1. Generates 60 Abyssal Magic Crystals monthly for the territory... Description: A village in the Wo Niu Mountain region. Current permanent population: 562.
【……】
Hang Yu made a quick estimate.
Excluding Shansang Ancient City, the Wo Niu Mountain region had a total of fourteen Blessing Points, though some had already been completely abandoned like He Ting Village in the Luoshui Region.
These abandoned Blessing Points could no longer provide financial or population growth. They would only serve as teleportation nodes for the Calamity Legion, making it convenient for Player activity and monster hunting.
Of course, there were still many displaced civilians and enslaved laborers in resource camps hiding across the Wo Niu Mountain region.
Hang Yu could next consider reconstructing some villages by relocating refugees and the displaced population.
This round of conquest would likely yield at least nine valid territories, not only significantly increasing the fiscal scale of the territory but also granting Hang Yu a substantial attribute boost.
Moreover,
Abyss Barracks construction limit +9!
This meant Hang Yu could recruit 900 soldiers in the coming days, pushing the territory’s population past the 2,000 mark!
The benefits brought by victory in the Lord Wars did not end there.
Seeing that the full occupation of all Wo Niu Mountain territories was imminent, Hang Yu drafted a brand-new quest.
【Quest Title: Dragon-Lizard Base Camp!】
【Quest Description: The Wo Niu Mountain region is on the verge of complete liberation. Calamity Legion warriors, press forward and strike the Dragon-Lizard People’s base camp!】
【Quest Objective: Capture the Dragon-Lizard Base Camp!】
【Quest Rewards: 200,000 Essence, 200,000 Contribution Points, to be distributed among all participating members and teams!】
The Lord was already dead.
The base camp was under-defended.
Although its various defensive structures might still pose great danger, the Calamity Legion warriors were the last people to fear charging through with their bodies.
Once they seized the base camp, Hang Yu would officially command three full regions—becoming a Lord of Three Maps. His domain and foundations would undergo unprecedented expansion.
Once this was complete—
Hang Yu could then fully focus on addressing the threat suspected to be sealed deep within Wo Niu Mountain by Zhou Cang.