Qi Lake buried himself in work.
The Titanfall remake was already more than halfway finished. At this pace, it would definitely be completed on schedule.
Satisfied with the progress and efficiency, he decided to take a short break. He opened a bottle of cola to celebrate while also opening the Lord's Perspective to inspect his territory.
The Qi Lake Territory was already a Tier 2 territory—or more accurately, a quasi–Tier 3 territory.
At present, it mainly consisted of four Underground Cities: Miracle City, Gloomveil City, Green Marsh City, and Thunder City. In addition, there were thirty-two large and small outposts. Excluding Adventurers, the total population had already reached fifteen thousand.
Why had the population increased by several thousand?
Because after conquering Thunder City, a large number of enslaved Flower Fairies, Dwarves, and Kobolds had been rescued. These people naturally joined Miracle City and became citizens of the territory.
The larger a territory's population, the better.
This was because the effects of many special buildings, Heroic Destinies, and Lord skills were tied to the scale of the territory.
The size of a territory mainly depended on three factors: territory tier, construction progress, and population size. Therefore, the more people a territory had, the stronger its foundation would become.
The current territory formed an irregular rectangle.
There were seven or eight regions of varying sizes distributed around it.
Among them were Tier 1 and Tier 2 regions, but there were no adjacent Tier 3 regions.
The nearest Tier 3 region was over a hundred miles away.
What did this mean?
It meant Miracle City had tremendous expansion potential for the next stage. At the very least, there were two or three potential Tier 2 regions and four or five potential Tier 1 regions that could be conquered.
Every region had to contain an Underground City.
Although most were likely ruled by Dark Lords, the possibility of Human Lords could not be ruled out.
When a Human Lord and a Dark Species Lord encountered each other, it was almost always a fight to the death. Even when Human Lords met during expansion, war was still highly likely.
For Qi Lake, if these conquerable regions could be annexed into the territory, their Underground Cities could also be utilized. While they could not become main Secret Realms, they could still host secondary Secret Realms.
In other words—
With Miracle City's current strength, it could not yet conquer Tier 3 regions, but taking down several nearby Tier 1 and Tier 2 regions would be easy.
Of course, although it was theoretically possible to create several secondary Secret Realms in a short period of time, there were still practical concerns and difficulties.
One concern was that Qi Lake Territory had risen too quickly and had only recently annexed the Tier 2 Thunder Marsh region.
If another annexation war began immediately, surrounding forces would definitely feel threatened and might unite against him. It could even attract the attention of Tier 3 forces—or higher.
After all, in the Eternal Night Great Forest, Tier 1 and Tier 2 forces were merely small fry caught between larger powers.
The rise and fall of such minor factions did not significantly affect the overall ecology of the Eternal Night Great Forest.
Tier 3 forces and above, however, possessed real influence.
They were qualified to meet the Eternal Night Dragon King, and some were even direct subordinates of the Dragon King himself.
Therefore, when dealing with such forces, Qi Lake had to remain cautious.
Even with the protection of territory laws, high-tier forces could still pose a threat during special periods when those laws weakened, such as during the "Extreme Dark Night."
Because of this, Qi Lake was in no hurry to conquer nearby Tier 1 and Tier 2 Underground Cities immediately after annexing Thunder City.
It was better to continue developing for now.
There was another reason he was not rushing to occupy more Underground Cities:
There were not enough Secret Realm Cores.
Underground Cities that were not main cities would not automatically generate Secret Realm Cores.
Qi Lake would need to find or acquire secondary Secret Realm Cores himself in order to deploy Underground Cities like Green Marsh City.
This item was extremely rare.
It was not something that could simply be purchased whenever needed.
So even if he controlled ten or eight cities, it would still be impossible to create Secret Realms without the necessary cores.
Awakening materials, activation materials, and secondary Secret Realm Core materials were currently the strategic resources Qi Lake most urgently needed to collect.
In summary—
There was no need to rush expansion in the short term.
First, he needed to properly manage and develop the existing territory.
At present, the territory had more than thirty ordinary outposts requiring construction, as well as three cities needing development. The demand for basic resources remained extremely high.
However, places like Green Marsh City could be built slowly unless they occupied important strategic choke points.
Miracle City and Gloomveil City, on the other hand, needed to be developed with full effort in order to increase territory capacity and generate greater income.
Qi Lake specifically examined the situation in Gloomveil City.
The number of people inside the Secret Realm Lobby was quite large.
However, most of them were Adventurers from Blackstone Town who had traveled from Miracle City. Only a few dozen were native Adventurers from Aoyama City.
In fact, only a handful had entered at first, and the rest gradually followed after hearing from friends.
It could only be said that Miracle City was not yet well known in Aoyama City.
Qi Lake was not worried about this at all.
Because Miracle City would never lack popularity.
Aoyama City was an Adventurer town several times larger than Blackstone Town. It had abundant Adventurer resources, and it was only a matter of a day or two before Gloomveil City became overcrowded.
---
Ethan Rivers
Twenty-seven years old.
Adventurer Codename: Six-Eyed Flying Fish.
He was a veteran Tier 2 Adventurer from Aoyama City and a well-known genius among the younger generation there.
As soon as the city opened, he entered Silverglow City to continue his daily grinding.
He had lived this way for nearly six months.
Although Silverglow City was a Tier 4 Dungeon and ranked among the top five even within Aoyama City, the endless routine of grinding Secret Realms like factory work had become unbearably tedious.
He endured it all for the sake of obtaining a Tier 3 Soul.
After all, Six-Eyed Flying Fish's Tier 2 Spirit Soul Fusion had already reached 90%.
He was close to the peak of Tier 2 and urgently needed to prepare for a breakthrough. Although the chance of farming a Tier 3 Spirit Soul was low, it was not impossible. As long as he had enough patience, it would eventually drop.
But he hadn't expected it to be so difficult.
Nearly half a year had passed.
Not only had he failed to obtain a Tier 3 Spirit Soul, but his cultivation progress had also nearly stagnated. His Life Soul cultivation had not even increased by 1% over the past few months.
At one point, he even considered giving up.
Because he could no longer feel joy in adventuring.
If this continued, he feared he might develop "Adventurer burnout" at a young age. Even if he eventually obtained a Tier 3 Spirit Soul, he might still fail to break through.
At that moment, he received a private forum message from his cousin.
Ironmouth Wolf:
"Cousin Flying Fish, stop wasting your life in Silverglow City. I found a new Dungeon called Gloomveil City. It's insanely fun and absolutely mind-blowing. Hurry over!"
"If you come here and don't think this Dungeon is fun, I'll eat ten pounds of crap on the spot as an apology!"
"Urgent! Urgent! Urgent!"
Was it really that fun?
Six-Eyed Flying Fish was already tired of Silverglow City's Secret Realms.
Seeing his cousin so confident, he became interested.
So he returned to Aoyama City and teleported into Gloomveil City.
Although Gloomveil City had already undergone some construction and the most basic infrastructure had been completed, compared to veteran Underground Cities, its art style and content were still relatively simple.
"Don't underestimate this Dungeon!"
Ironmouth Wolf said confidently.
"I guarantee it'll explode in popularity within two days!"
The two met up and entered the hall.
Although the Dungeon had only just opened, there were already many people in the Secret Realm Lobby. Most of the Secret Realm crystals were active, and the scenes displayed inside immediately sparked Six-Eyed Flying Fish's curiosity.
"What is this thing?"
Ironmouth Wolf explained:
"That's an assault rifle. It should be some kind of mechanical weapon, and it's unique to Miracle City's Secret Realm!"
Six-Eyed Flying Fish had never seen such a weapon before.
The modern urban setting of the Doomsday Frenzy Secret Realm, along with all its unfamiliar elements, created an entirely fresh experience. Any Adventurer who saw it would naturally feel intense curiosity and a desire to explore.
"Miracle Territory currently has two Secret Realms," Ironmouth Wolf continued.
"One is called Doomsday Frenzy, and the other is Chronicles of the Foreign Lands. Both are incredibly rich in content, but newcomers like us can't access most of it yet."
"What we can currently experience are only the competitive mode and challenge mode of the Raging Tide Secret Realm, along with the Ashina Chapter of Chronicles of the Foreign Lands."
After learning more, Six-Eyed Flying Fish finally understood—
Nine out of ten Adventurers in the Gloomveil City Secret Realm Lobby were from Miracle City, the territory's core main city.
Because Miracle City had become too crowded, many Adventurers were willing to spend contribution points just to teleport to Gloomveil City and challenge Secret Realms there.
Most of them were enthusiasts of the multiplayer mode in the Raging Tide Secret Realm.
Either team competition.
Or cooperative team challenges.
"This Secret Realm really does look interesting."
"I'm going to try it."
A few minutes later, Six-Eyed Flying Fish officially appeared on the rooftop of a zombie-infested apocalypse city in the form of a muscular Black man.
"This… this… this is…"
Like most first-time Adventurers entering Miracle City's Secret Realms, he was completely stunned by the grotesque yet dazzling modern cityscape.
For a moment—
He felt tears welling up in his eyes.
A passion for adventure and exploration that had been buried for months erupted once again.
Six-Eyed Flying Fish had once feared he was suffering from premature Adventurer burnout.
But now he realized that wasn't the case at all.
When faced with a truly interesting Secret Realm, he could still reignite his passion.
Even his nearly stagnant cultivation suddenly began loosening again.
He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Six-Eyed Flying Fish picked up a pistol from the workbench.
Relying on the body's instinctive muscle memory, he skillfully chambered a round.
An immediate sense of security filled him.
"This weapon is incredible!"
After admiring the exquisitely crafted firearm for a while, he officially began his adventure.
At first, he was startled by a smiling Zombie in the hallway, but he reacted quickly and shot it in the head.
"Is this some kind of undead corpse?"
"Bro, you fired too early! That's going to attract every Zombie nearby!"
At that moment, four or five bloody, grotesque Zombies suddenly rushed out from the corridor ahead.
"Damn it! Why didn't you say that sooner?!"
Although Six-Eyed Flying Fish reacted quickly, had excellent aim, and moved agilely, he still ran out of ammunition too early and suffered injuries, greatly increasing the difficulty of the following encounters.
Because it was his first attempt, he also lacked experience.
In the end, before he could even escape the building, he was overwhelmed and torn apart by a swarm of Zombies.
"Interesting!"
After exiting the Secret Realm, Six-Eyed Flying Fish was pleasantly surprised.
"This Secret Realm is truly unique. The monsters are low rank, but their numbers are ridiculously huge. I have no idea how the Lord created this!"
After only one run, he was already hooked.
With his skills and experience, once he adapted to the Zombies' attack patterns and memorized their spawn locations and patrol routes, he successfully cleared the beginner level on his second attempt.
Next, Six-Eyed Flying Fish teamed up with Ironmouth Wolf.
Together, they challenged the first level of Doomsday Frenzy.
This stage was similar to the beginner level but included various Special Infected.
The two cousins suffered terribly and died several times in a row.
But despite being constantly abused—
It felt amazing.
They became more addicted with every attempt.
Especially the sensation of shooting apart flesh and blood—it was unbelievably satisfying.
Very few Secret Realms in Aoyama City could provide such intense excitement.
Even some hack-and-slash Secret Realms felt satisfying, but none possessed the novelty of Doomsday Frenzy.
These weapons called firearms and these undead creatures called Zombies were simply a perfect combination.
Six-Eyed Flying Fish immediately decided—
Tonight, he would return and make a massive forum post in Aoyama City promoting Miracle Territory's Gloomveil City.
Finally, under the guidance of the Miracle City Adventurer Wool Warrior, they bypassed the terrifying Tank Zombies and Witch Zombies and successfully cleared the first stage.
"Hahaha!"
"You can actually bypass them!"
"The Lord's design isn't strict enough!"
"This Secret Realm is way too fun, and the difficulty doesn't even seem that high!"
Hearing this, Wool Warrior immediately became angry.
"This is nothing! Don't underestimate Old Thief Lake! The real challenge starts in Stage Two!"
Six-Eyed Flying Fish asked,
"How about we team up and challenge Stage Two together?"
Ironmouth Wolf nodded eagerly.
"Exactly! There's strength in numbers! With Brother Yang's experience, we'll definitely win!"
Wool Warrior also happened to want to farm Stage Two.
He wanted the Nemesis Spirit Soul.
That thing was worth a fortune.
"Three people aren't enough," Wool Warrior said seriously.
"We need one more teammate. Otherwise, we won't stand a chance against the Nemesis in Stage Two."
For a moment, they had no idea where to find another player.
So they opened matchmaking.
A few seconds later—
["Ignis" has joined the team!]
Six-Eyed Flying Fish, Ironmouth Wolf, and Wool Warrior all froze.
None of them recognized the codename.
Wool Warrior felt it sounded vaguely familiar but couldn't remember where he had heard it before.
He assumed Ignis was just another Adventurer from Aoyama City, while the other two thought he was from Blackstone Town.
In reality—
None of them knew that this person was from neither city.
Wool Warrior had indeed heard the name Ignis before.
After all, Ignis was the chief hero of Skycloud City.
But he would never have imagined that such a legendary Territory Hero would personally come to Miracle City and even queue with him for Secret Realm runs.
A few minutes later, the four entered Stage Two of Raging Tide.
Ignis, Six-Eyed Flying Fish, and Ironmouth Wolf unanimously chose Wool Warrior as the team leader.
Wool Warrior accepted without hesitation.
"The biggest challenge in this stage is the Nemesis. First, we need to gather enough weapons—especially anti-tank rocket launchers. Only then will we stand a chance."
As one of Miracle City's earliest Adventurers, Wool Warrior was already extremely familiar with the Raging Tide stages.
Although the other three were newcomers, they were highly skilled, so gathering equipment went smoothly.
Along the way, they slaughtered Zombies nonstop, leaving all of them exhilarated.
Finally—
Everything was prepared.
It was time to challenge the Nemesis.
Wool Warrior explained:
"If a Flame Thrower Tracker comes out of the carriage, we use Plan One."
"If the Nemesis is carrying a rocket launcher, we use Plan Two."
"Understood!"
"No problem!"
The four took their positions and initiated the encounter.
A massive Nemesis stepped out from the train carriage.
The moment they saw the weapon in its hands, all four challengers froze.
Ignis frowned.
"What's going on? That's clearly not a rocket launcher, and it's also different from the Flame Thrower you described."
Wool Warrior's face immediately darkened.
"We're screwed. That's a Gatling Nemesis."
"The chance of this thing spawning is less than 5%. I can't tell whether we're lucky or cursed."
The next second—
The Gatling Nemesis opened fire.
The six-barreled Gatling gun unleashed blazing streams of bullets.
Its terrifying rate of fire—thousands of rounds per minute—formed a metal storm that completely engulfed the Adventurers, leaving them utterly unable to fight back.
Terrifying.
Absolutely terrifying.
In the end, the challenge failed.
But despite the failure, Six-Eyed Flying Fish and Ironmouth Wolf were both incredibly excited.
Ironmouth Wolf loudly declared:
"I never expected Miracle Territory to have such a terrifying Tier 2 monster! I swear I'll obtain the Gatling Nemesis Spirit Soul and make it my Tier 2 Life Soul!"
---
At the same time—
Miracle City Secret Realm Lobby.
Ignis exited the Secret Realm crystal.
He was deeply shocked by the overwhelming firepower of the Gatling Nemesis, and even more amazed by the quality of Miracle City's monsters and Secret Realms.
He had come to Miracle City alongside Lord Ryan Skyfall.
As a Territory Hero, Ignis had personally experienced the Secret Realm as an Adventurer.
Although he had only explored part of Doomsday Frenzy, there was no doubt—
With Doomsday Frenzy alone, Miracle City's future achievements would far surpass Skycloud City.
Not only that—
The rewards from Miracle City's Secret Realms were astonishingly abundant.
Whether it was ordinary firearms, unique equipment, or special skills, all of them possessed immense market value.
Even more shocking was that Qi Lake had clearly set the drop rates extremely high, causing daily production to reach unbelievable levels.
And yet—
In most cases, Adventurers willingly handed over their loot to the territory, rapidly enriching Miracle City.
No wonder Lord Ryan valued cooperation with Miracle City so highly.
Even Ignis himself was already becoming addicted to the Secret Realms.
Still, he suppressed the urge to continue playing and returned to Ryan Skyfall.
"No rush," Ryan Skyfall said.
"There's no need to report yet. Bihua is about to arrive at the River God Cave and challenge the Thousand-Year Flood Serpent Spirit."
"Let's watch how this battle unfolds first."
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