Game: Civilization Paradise

"I was in poor health, but that was a long time ago. I'm in great shape now."

Long Ming chuckled and said to Xiaoqi and the others.

In fact, ever since injecting the Type I Genetic Potion and entering symbiosis with Hilic, Long Ming felt stronger than ever, nothing like his previous sickly self.

Moreover, Long Ming had a strong feeling that if he didn't have this genetic defect, he would probably be even stronger.

"Ah, really?"

Xiaoqi and the others asked, finding it hard to believe.

"Of course, it's true. From now on, I'll eat whatever you're eating. You don't need to make anything special for me."

Long Ming said as he picked up a bowl and chopsticks and sat down with them.

"Should I order a few more dishes?"

Xiaoqi asked hesitantly.

"No need. By the way, what was that about a subsidy you were just talking about?"

Long Ming asked, a little curious.

"The settlement subsidy. It's a subsidy the City Lord privately distributes to all the people of Mountain City Mountain. You know how hard it is to earn money in the Star Alliance. Even those of us with some skills can barely get by, let alone the ordinary people. So, the City Lord gives subsidies to all the lower-class citizens."

Xiaoqi briefly explained to Long Ming.

"I see. By the way, there's something I need to tell you guys."

Long Ming said to Xiaoqi and the others.

"What is it?"

Xiaoqi and the others looked at Long Ming in confusion.

"Are you free tomorrow? Run a dungeon with me."

Long Ming said with a smile to Xiaoqi and the others.

"We are! You're going to take us with you?"

Upon hearing this, Xiaoqi and the others were all overjoyed.

"Mhm."

"That's great!"

"I'm full. I'm heading back to rest."

Long Ming took a couple of quick bites and got ready to go upstairs.

"Okay!"

"See you in Starry City at eight tomorrow morning!"

After saying this to Xiaoqi and the others, Long Ming stood up and walked toward the stairs.

He soon returned to his room.

Long Ming raised his wristband to check which civilization world the five invitation letters in his possession were for.

He had to ensure that tomorrow's exploration would yield enough profit. Even if it didn't, he'd have to find a way to make some up so he could justifiably give some money to Xiaoqi and the others.

Soon, a message popped up on his wristband.

Kadamo Civilization Invitation Letter.

Civilization Level: 3.

Note: Using this civilization invitation letter allows for targeted travel to the Kadamo Civilization.

After reviewing the details, Long Ming opened the civilization forum to search for this Kadamo Civilization. Unexpectedly, he found no related posts.

'Strange, there are no guide posts. Could it be newly generated?'

Long Ming was also a little surprised. He had actually hit the jackpot.

Because the Star Alliance was enormous and incredibly powerful, most of the dungeon worlds had already been cleared by them.

There were even dedicated query posts on the civilization forum where you could see how many times each world had been cleared.

Generally, the more times a world had been cleared, the fewer resources it would produce.

If no relevant information could be found, it meant the invitation letter was newly generated, and there was a high probability of good drops.

Thinking of this, Long Ming closed the civilization forum and walked toward the bathroom.

...

「The next morning.」

Long Ming appeared in Starry City and raised his wristband to send a message to Xiaoqi and his friends, telling them to wait for him at a specific coordinate point.

He, meanwhile, headed for the western area of Starry City.

He soon arrived at the suiting-up area, where mechanical platforms were situated one after another.

Player after player was here, disassembling and assembling Mechanical Gods.

Because the V3 Mechanical God equipment they were currently using didn't have nano-ores added, they all required the assistance of mechanical arms for disassembly.

Of course, this service wasn't free, but it wasn't expensive either—1 Star Coin for one disassembly and assembly cycle.

Long Ming turned his head and scanned the area. He noticed that the players here were all using V3 Mechanical Gods. He didn't see any V4s, and even custom V3s were rare.

He then walked to the nearby payment counter, paid 1 Star Coin, and headed toward a mechanical platform.

...

At this moment, Xiaoqi, Cloud Fish, Tang Ye, and Johnny were gathered together, discussing happily.

"What kind of dungeon do you guys think Long Ming is taking us to?"

"I don't know. It should be a good one, but I wonder what level civilization it is!"

"Probably a Level 2 civilization!"

...

Just then, a sudden roar echoed from the sky.

Xiaoqi and the others looked up to see the Gale flying over from a distance.

"Whoa, it's a Mechanical God!"

"I wonder when we'll be able to wear gear like that."

"Stop dreaming. That stuff is ridiculously expensive."

Xiaoqi immediately threw cold water on Johnny's and the others' fantasies.

"Alright, but why isn't Long Ming here yet?"

Johnny looked around in confusion.

Just then, Long Ming descended straight from the sky, landing in front of Xiaoqi and the others.

THUD~

Xiaoqi and the others were startled, instinctively taking a few steps back as they stared in astonishment at the Mechanical God before them.

"It's me."

Long Ming said with a laugh.

Xiaoqi and the others were stunned for a moment before it dawned on them. They spoke in shock.

"Long Ming, you have a Mechanical God!"

"Where'd you get it!"

...

"Picked it up off the side of the road, of course."

Long Ming replied with a smile.

"We don't believe you."

Xiaoqi and his friends didn't believe that nonsense for a second.

"Haha, alright, no more joking around. Gear up!"

Long Ming raised his wristband and materialized four sets of second-generation exoskeletal mechanical armor, along with four MCW-02 model beam pistols.

"Second-generation gear? Is this for us?"

Xiaoqi and the others asked in pleasant surprise.

Although the Star Alliance was a fifth-level civilization, not everyone could afford second-generation exoskeletal gear. Usually, only the captains and elite members of large guilds could use it.

A Rat Group like Xiaoqi's could never even touch it.

"Of course. Hurry up and change!"

Long Ming said to Xiaoqi and his friends.

"Alright!"

Overjoyed, Xiaoqi and the others put on the exoskeletal mechanical armor and each picked up a beam pistol.

Long Ming then handed them the invitation letters.

"Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

Xiaoqi and the others all activated the invitation letters in their hands.

SWOOSH!

They transformed into streaks of white light and landed on teleportation platform number 5811100.

The entire platform was completely empty.

Seeing the empty platform, Xiaoqi and the others said to Long Ming in pleasant surprise.

"Long Ming, there's no one in this dungeon! It looks like it's just us!"

"Mhm!"

Long Ming nodded.

"Doesn't that mean we're going to be rich? We get a whole dungeon to ourselves."

Xiaoqi and the others were extremely excited.

"Were the dungeons you used to run crowded?"

Long Ming asked with a smile.

"The dungeons we used to run weren't just 'crowded'—they were packed to the gills."

"That's right. Last time Luoxue took us, we entered a Level 2 civilization dungeon, and it filled up with 1,000 people in less than five minutes."

"What's even crazier is that after entering the dungeon world, a new batch of players would come in less than every half hour. We didn't see a single monster in the entire city, just players everywhere."