Chapter 634.5: Openly Repairing the Road, Secretly Crossing Chencang
The adventurers received their new houses, sheltered from the twisted crimson moonlight, and enjoyed a free dinner provided by Bay Territory.
In fact, housing in Bay Territory wasn't expensive. A unit only cost 10 gold coins.
Even novice adventurers new to Bay Territory...
As long as you follow Bay Territory's task instructions and work hard for three months, you can afford one.
The key point is—
The value and return of these houses far exceed those 10 gold coins.
Take Bay City, for example.
Even though new houses are built every month for expansion, they never go to the adventurers.
Because they simply aren't for sale!
However, the opportunities that come from trying to build a future in Bay City far surpass those in other towns and camps.
Of course, all of this applies to non-Bay Territory residents.
For adventurers who have already joined Bay Territory—
These houses are more like honors and rewards.
They already have it all figured out.
In Bay Territory, what's truly valuable isn't fixed assets like houses and farmland.
It's your ever-improving abilities and steadily accumulating merit.
The first night passed smoothly.
There were no dangerous attacks.
Early the next morning—
The second batch of supplies and personnel arrived along the freshly built magical rail.
They were here to further strengthen and upgrade the newly established town.
Many of the arriving adventurers eagerly began exploring the nearby ruins.
The reason was simple—starting from the town, they only had to travel a few kilometers to reach the previously excavated ruins.
Some adventurers had dig sites located just behind this new town.
Watching the town grow rapidly right before their eyes—
Jifan, ready to go, once again led the pioneering unit to begin the next phase of advancement.
However, the second wave of progress was not as bold as the first.
The pioneering team only advanced for half a day.
Then Jifan gave the order to halt and find a suitable location to build the next exploration town.
They rested for two days.
After replenishing manpower and supplies, they began the third round of advancement.
This time, they spent about six hours exploring another 15 kilometers deeper into the Death Desert.
According to the original plan, they were supposed to go for eight hours.
The change happened because Laura's patrol team encountered a large number of soul wraith monsters.
Keeping a 2–3 km safety buffer, Jifan gave the order to build a new town.
A large number of adventurers and workers started hustling immediately.
Bay Territory's third advancement phase was thus temporarily concluded.
Compared to the other four directions, Jifan's team had actually gone the farthest.
"We've pushed 45 kilometers into the Death Desert, built three towns, and invested 4 million gold coins."
Doing the math, Jifan thought of the upcoming "nagging" from Steward Ralph and felt a headache coming.
Fortunately, the wealth of information and data uncovered along the way gave Jifan great confidence.
Over ten major ruins.
More than six magical creature nests.
At least tens of thousands of soul wraith monsters.
All of this was more valuable to Bay Territory than discovering several gold mines.
After all, as useful as gold is, it can't compete with resources like these.
Bay Territory agreed with Jifan's assessment—stop advancing for now and focus on reinforcing and building up the new towns.
Build taller and stronger walls.
Construct secure underground facilities.
Investigate and eliminate threats around the towns.
Begin soil transformation of the conquered areas.
Plant more greenery.
Tossing out gold like water, Bay Territory rapidly increased its control over these areas.
Adventurers made money and, with Bay Territory's help, grew stronger.
Naturally, they were more willing to spend on adventurer kits to explore ruins and hunt soul wraith monsters.
Adventurers of all ranks could find tasks suited to their skills and complete them smoothly.
Even the dangerous job of pioneering—
With Bay Territory's gear and excellent mission distribution system—
Adventuring teams suffered minimal casualties.
Even when fighting dangerous soul wraiths, adventurers used to Bay Territory's benefits could read danger and adapt.
The more adventurers profited, the more they spread the word.
With so many new arrivals, Bay Territory recouped its second round of 20 million gold expansion funds and earned massive profits.
To strengthen control over the Death Desert and thoroughly transform the occupied regions—
Bay Territory launched another pioneering operation.
But this time, instead of going deeper, they expanded laterally.
The five extended "fingers" were merged by building 20 new towns, forming a larger, stronger "fist."
As Bay Territory's desert transformation became more intense, the entire Northern Continent turned its eyes toward them.
Everyone wanted to see whether Bay Territory really had the strength and determination to pull this off!
Interestingly—
Druid groups from other kingdoms and regions, upon hearing of Bay Territory's efforts—
Voluntarily came to offer assistance.
Another group of high-level druids was welcomed and assigned to a newly built town, where they oversaw the planting and care of poplar seedlings.
Seeing hundreds more druids applying to join, Old Li, exasperated, eventually agreed to Steward Ralph's proposal:
"Provide everyone who joins with compensation based on their status, skills, and contributions."
At first, most druids refused the offer.
They preferred that Bay Territory use the rewards to buy more seedlings and fertilizer to breathe life into the barren desert.
Steward Ralph decisively changed the reward structure and created a new foundation called "Friends of Nature."
The purpose of this foundation was to give druids better development and resources.
Its income came from voluntary donations and profits from large-scale planting of economic crops.
It submitted trade "requests" to Bay Territory, which would then supply materials and seedlings based on regional needs.
It also offered free training and guidance to intelligent beings starting down the druid path.
Even more surprisingly, the foundation received the blessing of the Earth Mother.
The delighted druids finally accepted the aid and resources provided by the Friends of Nature Foundation.
Bay Territory not only warmly welcomed these noble, high-minded individuals—it also strove to create better conditions for them.
To help them realize their ideals and achieve wider-ranging contributions.
News outlets spanning the entire Northern Continent heavily reported on Bay Territory's desert transformation.
This overwhelming publicity inevitably drew attention to the newly built towns and the tenacious poplar trees.
Most people viewed Bay Territory's desert efforts as a spectacle worth watching.
Even the Cole Elf Kingdom focused its attention on Bay Territory's newest towns.
Naturally, they assumed that something secret and important must be hidden nearby.
In truth, Bay Territory's real operations were already moving deep into the ruins with the adventuring teams.
Outside Town #6—
At a depth of 235 meters underground—
A regular adventuring team entered the ruins like always.
They greeted acquaintances, handed things off to their partners from the Alice Adventuring Group, then descended into the next layer of the goblin ruins.
They'd been here eight or nine times. Most runs turned a profit, with occasional minor losses.
Compared to other teams, they were progressing quite well.
But this time, instead of heading to their usual dig spot, they quietly moved to a deeper area.
They entered a pitch-black tunnel, faces turning serious and focused.
After descending about 300 meters, they reached a dark corridor entrance.
An identical adventuring team noticed their arrival.
The latter, experienced and unfazed, smoothly handed over the position and began returning upward.
Judging by their actions, this wasn't their first time doing such a "mission."
They didn't drop their disguise. Instead, they quickly sealed the tunnel entrance and set various traps.
Then, the 20-plus person squad continued deeper into the tunnel.
After traveling another 200 meters—
They reached a cramped, shattered area filled with debris, rubble, and metal fragments.
They seemed very familiar with the place.
First, they placed several disruptors around.
These devices helped them avoid being traced by time-reversal detection spells.
Then they cleaned up the surrounding garbage.
And cleared out a broken teleportation pedestal.
One of them stepped forward to inspect its condition.
He expertly replaced over a dozen parts and somehow repaired the broken teleportation array.
Matthew sensed a familiar fluctuation, checked the array once more, then silently gestured for everyone to approach.
Teleportation activated!
With a familiar squeezing sensation, Matthew calmly opened his eyes.
What he saw was a vast pool of crystal-clear water.
A terrifying, enormous creature floated silently in the depths.
Its head had three eyes, currently half-open.
It didn't look like a fish, but rather slithered like a serpent.
Its 12-meter-long body created a powerful sense of visual and psychological pressure.
Especially its half-opened mouth—which, when feeding, could stretch wide enough to engulf its entire head.
Anyone unlucky enough to get swallowed would see thousands of teeth chewing at once.
Its gray-brown mucous-covered skin blended perfectly with its surroundings. In the darkness, it seemed to vanish.
But its four massive tentacles drifted instinctively around, searching for prey.
Each tentacle was lined with suction cups—small ones the size of fists, large ones as wide as basins. The tentacles themselves were over a meter thick.
The suction cups pulsed rhythmically, twisting like eyes in every direction.
Its thick, round tail swayed steadily, propelling the creature through the still waters.
Matthew recognized the beast and remembered all its attributes.
Adult Abyssal Demonfish.
Extraordinary magical creature.
Class: Level 16 Psion.
Type: Large amphibious mind-beast.
Weight: 7.45 tons.
Challenge Rating: 20+ (Leader)
Talents:
Extraordinary Bloodline - Perfect Memory LV3: Inherits memories and knowledge through genes and bloodline; memory becomes richer over time.
Extraordinary Bloodline - Psionic Hacker LV2: Greatly enhances psionic power. +50% psionic energy cap, +20% effect.
Feats:
Extraordinary Feat - Mind Control LV3: Stronger control over targets. +6 max controlled targets.
Extraordinary Feat - Emotional Perception LV1: +20% chance to sense emotions/desires.
Extraordinary Feat - Savage Growth LV3: Near-limitless size growth. Each evolution: +30% size, +10% STR/CON, +50% consumption.
Extraordinary Feat - Mind Drain LV2: Absorbs soul power from 2 enslaved targets to recover HP.
Advanced Feat - Grapple LV3.
...
Skills:
Psion abilities:
Enslave, Psychic Powers, Shapeshift.
Skills:
Hypnotic Sigils, Illusory Wall, Mirage, Persistent Illusion, Premade Illusion, Projection, Fog of Confusion...
...
Attributes:
Strength: 27
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 20
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 17
Charisma: 17
Luck: -4 (Doomstar active)
Evaluation: Guard Fish!
Remembering the "friends" who had died in its maw, Matthew shed his disguise, revealed his lightning-charged Thunder Magic Armor, and pointed at the now-awakened Abyssal Demonfish:
"Kill it! Dismember it!"