"Damn it!"
"There's a Gnome Warlock!"
"Everyone, let's go together and quickly take him down!"
The Adventurers, undeterred by their fallen comrades, rushed forward to attack the village chief. However, they were blocked by a defensive line of young Gnomes. Two more Adventurers were ignited and killed in the skirmish.
"Screw you!"
Violent Little Chicken hurled a stick, striking the old Gnome. It wasn't a fatal hit, but it interrupted his fireball casting.
"Good job, Little Chicken!" As the Adventurers held back the young Gnomes, Ethan Fields and the Lonely Swordsman seized the opportunity to confront the Gnome village chief. Lacking close combat abilities, the chief was quickly dispatched by the two working together.
The remaining Gnomes posed little threat. However, the sheer number of them meant that even the well-defended Anti-riot Zombies weren't invulnerable, and three more Adventurers fell in battle.
Ultimately, Miracle City achieved a great victory! All thirty-odd Gnomes were wiped out, with Miracle City losing a total of seven zombies. Not bad!
Jack observed the scene from behind the scenes. Losses were expected in battle, but eliminating over thirty Dark Kind was a significant gain for the territory.
"Hahaha!"
"What a thrilling battle!"
"We won! Dark Kind are nothing special. This kind of battle is also very satisfying!"
"Ordinary zombies are still too weak. If we could control Hunter zombies and Smoker zombies, we could definitely take down this Dark Kind camp without any losses!"
Amidst the excitement, the Adventurers searched the Gnome camp, finding a variety of supplies, including berries, herbs, and dried meat in more than a dozen straw huts. In addition, they discovered an inconspicuous altar in the middle of the village.
This altar, about a meter tall and resembling an ancient shrine, held a glowing stone. This stone was no ordinary artifact.
"It's a Divine Stone of Protection!"
Jack's spirits lifted at the sight.
**Ding, you have discovered the "Red Claw Village Divine Stone." Do you want to convert it immediately?**
In the Chaos World, Chaos energy envelops everything for half the day. During this period, movement is impossible; otherwise, the Chaos Tide will erode the mind and soul, leading to disastrous consequences.
Thus, all underground races require sanctuaries to survive. From large Underground Cities to small villages, all need a Divine Stone of Protection to form a protective domain.
Generally, the larger the stronghold and population, the more frequent the sacrifices to the Divine Stone of Protection, which enlarges the protection radius and increases the Lord's rewards upon occupation.
Jack could transform the Divine Stone of Protection into territory Divine Stones by consuming mental power. Each conversion yielded corresponding rewards.
Moreover, the territory Divine Stone could connect to the territory core, establishing a passage for personnel and material teleportation.
**You are activating the "Red Claw Village Divine Stone." This activation requires 150 mental power. Do you wish to continue?**
"Yes!"
Refining the Divine Stone required mental power, but the effort was worth it.
**Divine Stone activated successfully!**
**You have successfully occupied "Red Claw Village" and received "Chaos Treasure Chest (Grey)" × 1!**
**You can view the construction details, income, and population information of Red Claw Village through the Lord panel.**
Success! Red Claw Village became Miracle City's territory.
Jack understood the importance of seizing new territory. Beyond economic and military significance, establishing a teleportation point brought immense convenience. Future explorations in that direction wouldn't require departing from Miracle City. By consuming a small amount of soul crystal, one could teleport directly to Red Claw Village, saving about three hours of travel!
The Divine Stone was converted, and a God-given treasure chest obtained.
**You opened the "Chaos Treasure Chest" (Grey), and you obtained "soul crystal" + 200, "Blueprint: Trading Hall" + 1!**
"A blueprint appeared!"
Jack was overjoyed and immediately checked the details.
**Blueprint: Trading Hall**, a Tier 1 construction blueprint requiring 100 soul crystals, 50 mental power, and 30 portions of Tier 1 material essence.
Though the "Trading Hall" is a common Tier 1 special building, it holds significant value for territory development. Special buildings have higher construction costs, requiring blueprints, soul crystals, mental power, and material essence.
Before this operation, Jack had 340 mental power and 732 soul crystals. After using 90 soul crystals and mental power to create mercenaries and consuming 150 mental power to refine the Divine Stone, he had 100 mental power and 572 soul crystals remaining. With the additional 200 soul crystals from the treasure chest, the total was now 772. Other resources were not an issue, but material essence was lacking.
Jack activated the teleportation and descended from Miracle City to Red Claw Village. The Adventurers had already cleaned up the battlefield, with thirty-odd gray Gnome corpses piled together and fifteen captured Dwarves.
"Lord Jack!"
"How did it go?"
"You weren't disappointed, were you?!"
The Adventurers were proud and pleased. Their first reconnaissance mission had successfully taken down a Dark Kind stronghold.
What they didn't know was that this encounter was part of Jack's plan, and everything was within his expectations!
However, the Adventurers performed well, so Jack doubled their contribution points. The common materials found in the Gnome camp, like wild fruits and dried meat, were not particularly useful for the territory. A small portion was kept, and the rest rewarded to the Adventurers.
Resources are scarce in the surface world, making this a considerable income. Every Adventurer beamed with joy.
**You have recovered "zombie soul essence" × 11!**
After Jack recovered the soul essence, the Adventurers' mercenary status was lifted. Unable to stay overnight in the Underground City, they were automatically teleported to the surface to rest and recover their energy, ready to return to Miracle City and challenge the secret realm when the city gates opened tomorrow.
This battle also yielded fifteen Dwarf captives, both male and female, who looked sallow and emaciated. Kneeling before Jack with anxious faces, they babbled a lot.
"#%*…%!"
The language was incomprehensible, completely unintelligible. However, it wasn't a big problem.
**Ding, 15 Dwarf people beg for protection and pledge their loyalty to you. Do you accept? Yes/No!**
The Dwarves, though weak, were inherently kind and gentle. Miracle City needed helpers, and Red Claw Village required labor, so Jack accepted their allegiance without hesitation.
**Mental power - 5!**
Converting territory citizens consumed some mental power. However, the number was small, and they were weak, so the loss was minimal.
Once the conversion was complete, the Dwarves showed surprise and joy, gaining the ability to speak human language as citizens protected by the Underground City.
"Thank you, great Lord of the Underground City!"
"It is you who liberated us from the tyrannical Dark Kind. We are willing to become the most loyal citizens of Lord Jack!"
Lord Jack's citizens + 15!
There is no upper limit to the number of territory citizens. As long as you can support them, you can accept as many as you want.
Humans, existing only on the surface and underground, share the Chaos World with countless bizarre and diverse Aliens, any of whom can become citizens as long as they aren't Dark Kind.
These Underground City citizens play a vital role in territory development. Different races have various abilities, contributing to the territory's standing army or being re-classed as Adventurers. Alien Adventurers are exclusive to the Underground City and cannot leave.
Of course, Alien Adventurers have a higher threshold, and only a few can be successfully converted.
Jack's gaze swept over the fifteen Dwarf citizens, noticing a freckled girl with bright, clear eyes. It was her!
She was indeed hiding here!
Jack remained outwardly calm but was inwardly excited. The freckled girl wasn't a simple Dwarf; she was disguised. Nancy Lilia, the last descendant of the Wood Elf King on this Chaos Continent, originally hailed from Holy Tree City in the Eternal Night Great Forest. After the Black Dragon King's invasion and the Dark Elf rebellion destroyed Holy Tree City, she fled, hiding her identity.
Her current transformation into a Dwarf and blending in with the community was to conceal her identity.
A significant reason Jack organized the mercenaries for exploration so quickly was because of her. She was the only top-tier hidden character with a chance to be recruited early in the game!