Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World

Blinding light flashed across Caelus’s vision, and he reappeared right back in the center of the town.

Right now, a massive number of players and NPCs were bustling about, going about their daily routines. The streets were completely packed.

On the far side, newly generated NPCs were mysteriously spawning in from the main gates of the town. These specific people were actually nomadic refugees or migrants from other destroyed towns across the map. Finding them out in the wild was a massive pain, but they naturally gravitated and spawned in the most highly trafficked towns.

That was also one of the core reasons why ambitious players sought to conquer rival towns. More NPCs would naturally spawn if the local population density and overall safety rating were high.

"But... this place is vastly bigger than the last time I saw it," Caelus’s lips twitched as he turned toward Prime, who had already materialized right next to him.

Their figures flickered in the next moment, seamlessly teleporting to the top of the defensive walls.

The wind softly fluttered through his white hair as he looked down at his sprawling territory.

There were at least fourteen thousand player cabins and NPC housing units lining the expanded streets.

[Town Population: 14,725]

[Players: 10,242]

[NPCs: 4,483]

"It looks like this is all your handiwork, Prime," he turned to his golden knight and said speechlessly.

Prime must have ruthlessly dealt with rival Town Leaders who tried to attack Server 513 while he was disconnected from reality.

Speaking of which, his Player ID was still exactly the same even after the massive server merging. So was Sylvia’s.

Players naturally retained their original IDs. Of course, if a highly desirable ID changed hands during server merges, a player could pay a massive sum of Origin Credits to the network to initiate a public bidding war to get it back. But most of the time, people never bothered fighting over generic IDs unless it was something prestigious like ’777’. The numbers ’777’ and ’666’ were the most highly sought-after IDs in the entire Domain, and currently, one of the most terrifyingly powerful beings in the Central Plains owned those exact tags.

"Oh? We have three dedicated Blacksmiths, two Potion Makers, two Engineers, and more than ten Herb Gatherers and twelve Miners?" Caelus was genuinely impressed after checking the Town Profession tab.

[Potion Makers: Sarah, Lily, Mark]

[Engineers: Elias, Marcus, John]

[Blacksmiths: Liam, Noah, Gideon]

He did not bother checking the specific names of the Herb Gatherers and Miners, as they were basic gathering professions. This list also excluded him and Sylvia.

"They are all currently at Tier 1: Iron I, but they are already halfway to reaching Iron II."

The server’s overall progress was not bad at all.

Thanks to these dedicated crafters, it looked like the town was finally generating a steady stream of passive income.

[Town Funds: 55,435 Origin Credits]

[Would you like to extract the Town Funds to your personal inventory?]

Caelus clicked his tongue in delight. Being a Town Leader truly had its massive perks, did it not?

The default tax rate was automatically set at 5 percent for both NPCs and players. The Town Ledger he had looted from Maple Town earlier also had that exact same baseline option.

Looking down from the walls, he could see many new storefronts erected across the city. The rescued NPCs from Maple Town had already begun their steady work, it seemed. He had previously authorized Prime to grant them official business sanctions. Prime was already incredibly strong, so enforcing the law was easy.

He could see several shops selling raw ores. It seemed like the other players had actively recruited these NPCs to run physical storefronts for them, especially the players who mained crafting professions.

He spotted a bustling "Yellow Garden Potions" store and several "Dawn Blacksmith" forges scattered across the main plaza. These must be the handy works of Lily, Sarah, Mark, Liam, Noah, and Gideon.

There were countless ways to make a fortune in the Domain, after all.

He then checked the Town Repository.

[Beast Materials: 143,083]

[Wood: 34,523]

[Ores: 52,509]

"They really outdid themselves," Caelus clicked his tongue in awe. All of this was accumulated in just one real world week!

He then checked the strict Manapunk Era progression conditions.

[All Personal Cabins in the town must be upgraded to Level 2. Checked]

[Successfully take over three rival towns. Checked]

[Obtain 1x Origin Merit Stone. Checked]

[System: The Town is ready for Era Ascension.]

"They did incredibly good," Caelus was full of smiles.

It was fantastic that he did not have to micro-manage every single detail by himself.

Then, he opened his inventory and equipped his newly forged Legendary Godmammoth Dagger.

[Combat Score: 2.0 > 8.0 (Iron II)]

His draconic muscles visibly bulked up under his clothes, surging with power before compressing back into their lean, original shape. This was truly a mystical game. Just from equipping a high-tier weapon, his physical limits drastically expanded.

Next, he forcefully fed a massive chunk of beast materials to Prime to push the knight’s level straight to 15.

[Beast Materials: 15,000]

[Beast Materials: 143,083 > 128,083]

---

[Name: Prime]

[Level: 15]

[Combat Score: 6.4 (Iron II)]

---

With his and Prime’s foundation secured, he swiftly drafted a global announcement.

[Ding!]

The entire town stirred as the loud, echoing chime rang out. Every single player and NPC’s attention was immediately caught by the glowing skybox message.

[Server Announcement (Player 555): Hello chat. It is me, your favorite Player 555. I know I was away from the Domain for a while. But while I was away, you guys did an absolutely fantastic job holding down the fort with Prime in my absence. Honestly, I have to say, I am very impressed. Our town even made an impressive amount of funds from the local taxes. As a kind Town Leader, I have decided to keep the taxes locked at 5 percent permanently. I will not increase them.]

[Anyways, I am highly satisfied with everyone’s performance. Hence, we will now officially begin the transition into the Manapunk Era!]

Across the bustling town, everyone recognized him immediately.

"It is the boss! He is finally back!"

"Boss, did you get sick or something in reality?"

"Wait, can Awakened players even get sick?"

"The personal cabins in the Domain actively clear all negative status effects. Hence, if you catch a fever in the real world, just log into the Domain and it will immediately be cured. So yes, the answer is no."

Ignoring the lively chatter, Caelus firmly clicked the glowing Era Ascension button.

Then, a new prompt appeared on his screen.

[System: Would you like to purchase Manapunk Era architectural blueprints and implement them before finalizing the Era Change?]

"Ah, right. I almost forgot about that."

Since they were actively transitioning and had a massive surplus of Origin Credits, he decided to completely deck out the town.

[You have purchased: Manapunk Era Building Blueprints]

[You have purchased: Pneumatic Mana-Tube Network]

[You have purchased: Manapunk Era Streetlamps]

[You have purchased: Mana-Clockwork Scavenger Automaton Blueprints]

[You have purchased: High-Pressure Mana-Steam Forge]

[You have purchased: Alchemical Mana Condenser Silos]

[You have purchased: Kinetic-Pressure Paving Plating]

[You have purchased: Manapunk Aesthetic Gardens]

The Pneumatic Mana-Tube Network, paired directly with the Manapunk buildings, created a system of transparent tubes that ran across the entire town. It was used for lightning-fast item delivery. It utilized advanced rune engravings to lock onto a specific target coordinate and instantly shoot packages there. It was incredibly convenient for commerce.

The Manapunk streetlamps were strictly for nighttime visibility, functioning directly off the massive Mana Core Connector that would soon become the beating heart of the city.

The Clockwork Scavengers were deployed strictly for keeping the streets pristine. A tidy town was a prosperous town. The Alchemical Mana Condenser Silos passively absorbed ambient mana in the atmosphere and synthesized highly concentrated Mana Water. Mana Water generation was actually a crucial mechanic. He fully planned on selling the bottles for Origin Credits. The liquid also had powerful effects, like increasing max stamina, granting random temporary buffs, and instantly curing wild status ailments.

The Kinetic-Pressure Paving Plating was even simpler but arguably the most vital. It passively generated mana every single time a citizen walked over the streets. It not only restored the pedestrians’ personal mana pools but also funneled excess power directly back into the Town’s Mana Core Connector, effectively powering the entire city grid for free.

As for the aesthetic gardens, they were pretty self-explanatory. High morale equaled higher productivity.

Caelus pulled up the holographic 3D map of the town and began making rapid architectural adjustments.

Immediately, the very foundations of the entire town began to violently shift!

Boom!

A blinding light erupted in everyone’s vision.

The old cobblestone roads and aging Victorian-era brickwork aggressively fractured. They transformed rapidly, replaced entirely with interlocking black metallic plating. All across the town, the Kinetic-Pressure paving took form. Faint blue circuits flared to life beneath the streets, webbing across the ground like glowing veins.

All around the stunned players, the buildings violently expanded and physically reinforced themselves. The faded wood and crumbling stone were seamlessly replaced with pristine white metallic paneling and sharp black trim.

A colossal, glowing blue stone, the Mana Connector, took shape in the exact dead center of the town plaza. In the following instant, the white metallic structures of every single building glowed with resonant blue energy. The grid connected to all the personal cabins. The hidden rune engravings that Grey had previously deployed activated in unison.

transparent glass-like mana-tubes shot out from the central plaza, snaking their way along the rooftops and building facades like glowing mechanical arteries.

Mana-Clockwork Automatons formed out of thin air and immediately began patrolling. Towering Condenser Silos rose from the ground, locking into the ongoing architecture. Finally, aesthetically pleasing, glowing plants, trees, and exotic flowers bloomed beautifully across the newly formed garden districts.

When the blinding white light finally vanished, the players opened their eyes to see a masterfully crafted, futuristic metropolis standing proudly in front of them.

They all took a collective, deep breath at the majestic sight.

It was breathtaking.

"Our boss really outdid himself," one of the veteran players whispered excitedly.

"Look, everyone! The Leader from Town 633 just uploaded a picture of their own Manapunk Era town to the global chat!"

They all quickly opened their interfaces to check the server feed.

[Kaiser shared an image attachment.]

[Kaiser: We just successfully upgraded to the Manapunk Era! It is not too shabby, if I do say so myself.]

However, compared to the sprawling glory of Town 513, Kaiser’s town looked incredibly shabby. There was barely any aesthetic cohesion, the buildings were basic blocky structures, and there was not even a central Mana Connector established yet.

[Varon: It is still better than nothing, Captain. Who else in our merged region has reached the Manapunk Era aside from us? Once we grind enough funds to get our hands on a Mana Connector Core, the town will be fully complete.]

[Kaiser: Yeah, the core is just a bit too expensive right now.]

[Kaiser: We only had exactly 15,000 Origin Credits as our total funds for architectural development, after all. I also had to burn a bit of my personal Reputation points to get the aesthetics to this state.]

[Fredrick: Man, I am so jealous. I still have not found the stupid Origin Merit Stone yet! I will have to wait for a while before we get that, and our town funds are still embarrassingly below 5,000 Origin Credits.]

[Godwin: Same here. We’ve been searching for it for a while, but no luck yet.]

[Kaiser: You guys can always abandon your settlements and join our town if you would like! Lol.]

[Fredrick: No thanks. The official title as a Town Leader has far too many perks for me to just give up on.]

[Player 555 shared an image attachment.]

[Player 555: Check out our town’s layout. It is not too shabby either.]

The exact second the high-definition image of the sprawling town loaded into the chat. The entire global server fell completely dead silent.