Chapter 32: The Beginning of Conquest
His luck was really good!
500 Abyssal Magic Crystals were definitely not a small amount!
It greatly alleviated the territory’s financial deficit!
In addition, there were also two decent Skill Stones and a Construction Blueprint!
Skill Stones were divine stones containing skills, capable of expanding the territory's skill library, thereby enhancing the foundation of the territory and improving the strength of both the Lord and the citizens!
Construction Blueprints were items used to build special structures; besides the buildings naturally provided by the racial territory, Lords could also collect various blueprints to acquire foreign or other special buildings.
Hang Yu took out the blueprint to check the information.
【Construction Blueprint: Small Spirit Field】, a Tier-One Blueprint, consuming 100 Abyssal Magic Crystals and 200 portions of Tier-One Material Essence, creating a 10×10 meter Spirit Field within the territory, allowing materials of no higher than white quality to grow at 100 times the normal speed.
"Good stuff!" Hang Yu's eyes lit up.
What was a Spirit Field?
Naturally, it referred to a field overflowing with spiritual energy!
Although it only covered one hundred square meters, about the size of a small vegetable patch, under the effect of one hundred times growth speed, crops that normally matured in a year could now be fully cultivated in just three days, enough to ensure a stable supply of precious medicinal herbs.
In a large-scale multiplayer online game, not only must there be a complete and systematic equipment system, but there must also be all kinds of consumables and supplies, which themselves served as a sharp sickle for harvesting players.
Hang Yu planned to construct an Alchemy Workshop soon.
Whether for the players’ personal strength or the overall combat capabilities of the army, a stable supply of medicine would certainly elevate them to a higher level, and the territory’s external expansion efficiency would also greatly improve.
Of course, the contribution points in players’ hands would become even more strained.
They could only work harder for the territory.
Hang Yu announced that this operation had ended successfully, granting every player who participated 50 to 100 contribution points, taking away most of the benefits of the operation while handing out only a few trifles.
The players not only did not complain but instead cheered joyfully.
They had not played much of a role and made little contribution, so getting any reward was already good.
Besides, compared to the task rewards, the gameplay experience was even more important; this kind of opportunity to follow the Lord to seize territory was so attractive that even if there were no benefits, many would still rush to sign up.
Don't ask why; participation was what mattered.
With such a group of players who were good at self-CPU, easily contented, and willing to labor, how could the territory not soar?
During the process of conquering Hexi Village, dozens of villagers were severely injured, but not a single villager lost their life, while more than a dozen players perished, allowing Hang Yu to harvest another 2150 Essence.
"Lord!"
"We have seized some supplies!"
Several players ran up to report.
Hexi Village was just a small place, with no particularly valuable resource reserves, only some ordinary herbs, food, wine, and livestock like chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep.
"This village is way too poor!"
Black-Eyed Rui Ge could not help but complain.
Hang Yu said, "Ordinary natives lack the ability to hunt Abyssal creatures, so they cannot gain spoils through killing, and can only obtain resources through normal means like farming, breeding, herb gathering, and hunting unpolluted animals, inevitably leading to material shortages and hard lives."
Was loot-dropping also considered a special ability?
In games, loot drops were naturally taken for granted.
Twisted Three Kingdoms seemed to have its own reasonable explanation for it.
Chimera Wraith and other players who valued storytelling were inwardly thrilled; just like Souls games excelled at fragmented storytelling, Twisted Three Kingdoms seemed to hide many important plots and information within inconspicuous settings.
There seemed to be so much to explore!
It was likely that before long, a field of "Twisted Studies" focused on deep lore mining would emerge!
Hang Yu then sent several players skilled in communication to negotiate with the surrendered villagers, letting them choose whether to stay or leave; the Lord permitted them to leave Hexi Village freely, but those who stayed had to swear loyalty.
It seemed like a choice.
But actually, there was no choice.
The villagers could only submit.
This broken world was filled with Abyssal Corruption everywhere.
There were countless kinds of Abyssal aberrations, impossible to completely eliminate.
Finding a new place to settle was easier said than done, and Hexi Village’s protection of fortune had already disappeared.
Now, if they were killed by Abyssal creatures or died in polluted areas outside, there was a high probability they would fall into the Abyss, endlessly resurrecting through nightmare cycles, becoming corrupted by the Abyssal Will, and undergoing horrific mutations, to the point where even death would be a luxury.
Their only hope was to surrender.
And accept the protection of a powerful Lord.
Only thus could they have a slim chance at survival.
Several resurrected players teleported over from the main base via the Lord Core.
"Awesome! The territory’s teleportation function is activated! The operational efficiency is simply top-notch!" Midnight Pig Slayer appeared in Hexi Village. "It’s just that the teleportation service charges 20 contribution points per trip."
Ye Li Meng said, "That's not expensive; after all, it saves a lot of time and risk, and you can quickly earn it back by working for materials!"
"Exactly, the monster levels around here aren’t low. In the future, farming monsters here for contribution points will be much faster."
"This place isn’t far from He Ting either; it can serve as a forward base for players."
"Having only Hexi Village isn’t enough; we need more teleportation points. In the future, traveling out will become more convenient, so we must work even harder to help the territory seize more lands to continue exploring a broader world!"
"……"
The villagers were shocked to see the players resurrect after death.
Could these players have fallen into the Abyssal Nightmare?
Otherwise, how could they revive after death?
But they had no Abyssal aura nor any signs of mutation or corruption!
"Hahaha, surprised? Unexpected?"
Midnight Pig Slayer swaggered up to Li Niu.
"Hey, I heard that you’ve already pledged loyalty to the Lord and become an NPC, so we’re comrades now! My name’s Midnight Pig Slayer. Make sure to prioritize me if you have any tasks in the future!"
What did that mean?
Li Niu did not quite understand.
Midnight Pig Slayer?
Why such a strange name?
The overall strength of Hexi Village’s people was not high, with only Wei Ji and Li Niu being relatively capable, holding considerable prestige in the village.
Hang Yu planned to let them continue managing the village, issuing a minimum amount of contribution points every month to guarantee Hexi Village’s development.
Additionally, contribution-based bonuses would be awarded based on performance, and they would be given NPC panels, enabling them to assign tasks.
The human resources of Hexi Village must not be wasted.
After all, as the territory’s land area expanded and the number of domains increased, the Lord’s summoned direct forces and troops would find it difficult to manage everything.
At that point, it would be necessary to build an auxiliary militia composed of natives.
In fact, for most high-ranking Lords,
The number of auxiliary forces they owned would far exceed their regular army.
Hang Yu planned to select twenty to thirty young and strong villagers from Hexi to form the Hexi Militia.
They would be granted the Stars Imprint, enabling them to hunt Abyssal creatures.
They could also serve as laborers for heavy work like repairing the territory.
Other villagers could be used too, not just for building and heavy labor, but also for farming, breeding, and services, completing various logistics tasks and enhancing the gameplay experience and quality.
In short, at this stage where labor was scarce,
The successful annexation of Hexi Village brought numerous benefits.
The Lord’s mission was to continuously expand, conquer, and occupy.
The more land and the larger the population they possessed, the greater the benefits and rewards they would reap.
This was only the beginning of Hang Yu’s conquest.