There was still half a day until the Chaos Tide receded, and the Adventurers looked crestfallen and unsatisfied. Having exhausted their Adventuring energy early, today's operations were declared over ahead of schedule.
Black Stone Hammer King exclaimed, "What's going on today? There's still almost half the city-opening time left, and everyone's already used up all their energy?!"
Ethan Fields added, "That's a bit outrageous!"
Pig King lamented, "Ahhh, I haven't had enough fun at all. I still want to chop zombies, even watching others play would be fine!"
Wool Warrior chimed in, "Yeah, every second feels like a year. How am I supposed to get through this? I feel like I'm already experiencing withdrawal symptoms!"
Daitou E agreed, "Me too, it's too addicting. I've never felt this way before."
White Little Deer remarked, "This Miracle City's secret realm is definitely addictive!"
These Adventurers were seriously hooked on Miracle City. Once the internet addiction kicked in, they felt uncomfortable if they didn't play for even a moment!
It was right for Jack not to immediately increase the secret realm crystals; Miracle City's current daily reception limit was 160 people, and it was already full as soon as it opened today. Even if these Adventurers called for more people after their energy was exhausted, it would be useless.
Soon after, these Adventurers, suffering from game addiction but with nowhere to vent, finally turned their complaints towards Boss Jack.
Mandy said, "Personally, I feel that Lord Jack's speed in constructing the Underground City is too slow. With such limited reception capacity, does he still want to make a fortune? Does he still want to become a great Lord?"
"Exactly!"
"How can only 160 people be enough?"
"I think it should be at least 1,600 people!"
Black Stone Hammer King added, "I heard that powerful Underground Cities not only have large scales but also have facilities to help Adventurers recover energy. Is it reasonable for this place to have no supporting facilities whatsoever?!"
The Adventurers prepared to form a group to question the Lord.
Ethan Fields then said, "Everyone, calm down. Miracle City was only established a week ago and officially opened just four days ago. To have this scale already is quite remarkable."
"What?"
"Four days?!"
Several Adventurers who had entered Miracle City for the first time and were not yet familiar with this Underground City were greatly surprised.
Sarah added, "To develop like this in four days is very impressive. Mandy, you guys shouldn't make things difficult for the Lord."
Lonely Swordsman nodded, "I believe this Underground City will rise quickly, and all kinds of supporting facilities will be built as soon as possible."
To prevent a few troublemakers from causing problems, several Adventurers stepped forward to speak up for the Lord. They planned to develop in Miracle City long-term, so they couldn't upset Lord Jack over such a small matter.
Adventurers speaking up for the Lord was actually quite rare. After all, most Adventurers were free to come and go. Their relationship with the Lord was more like that of gamblers and a banker, always openly and secretly competing, mutually suspicious and wary, and even engaging in various tricks and deceptions, so their relationship was not good.
Black Stone Hammer King said, "I was just complaining."
"Yeah, as one of the earliest Adventurers, how could we not know this city's development potential?"
Mandy added, "Isn't this also to spur Lord Jack on, lest he become passive and lax just because he's recently made a small fortune?"
"Selling drinks, chocolates, instant noodles, and all kinds of Miracle City supplies. If you want to sell, come find me quickly."
"I dropped a Huazi today!"
"What? Huazi! That's a good item! Brother, you made a fortune!"
"Are you selling?"
After the Adventurers cheered for a while, they didn't leave the Underground City but instead used the hall as a trading market to buy and sell supplies.
It must be said, all sorts of seemingly ordinary supplies were one of Miracle City's biggest competitive advantages. From cola, instant noodles, and chocolate, to beer, Maotai, and Huazi, the quality of these supplies was more than a cut above other Underground Cities. Even if they didn't want to use them themselves, they could sell them to a few big spenders to supplement their household income.
"These guys, they don't go back even after playing. They're all crowded here making a fuss." Jack looked on, somewhat exasperated.
There was nothing he could do about the Adventurers lingering in Miracle City. After all, the closing time hadn't arrived yet, so he couldn't forcibly drive them away, could he? It was necessary to continue expanding the scale and accelerate the improvement of various basic facilities so that Adventurers would have other things to do after challenging the secret realm and ideally continue to create value.
Jack had Nancy Lilia deal with the Adventurers. He opened the trading market and found Lord 0340.
Jack directly sent a message, "Friend, the zombie soul essence you wanted has been sorted out."
After waiting for about two and a half hours, Lord 0340 finally replied and explained, "Sorry, I was busy fighting with these locusts in my territory during the opening hours, so I just saw your message. I can proceed with the transaction immediately."
Without wasting time, Jack completed the transaction. He exchanged 85 ordinary zombie soul essences for 1 Adventurer's Inn blueprint.
The Adventurer's Inn was a good item, increasing the reception limit by 100 at once and allowing a batch of Adventurers to stay overnight in the territory. However, the construction cost was not low. It required 300 soul crystals, 150 mental power, and 150 first-tier material essences.
Soul crystals and mental power were not a problem, but the material reserves were insufficient. Jack didn't want to keep this blueprint overnight, as the population growth brought by buildings would only take effect on the second day of opening. Building the inn one day earlier meant the territory's income could increase for one more day.
Currently, there were at least two methods. The first was to purchase material essences or first-tier materials from the trading market, then gather the 150 units required for construction. The second was to pull together a squad after the Miracle City secret realm closed and go outside to gather materials.
The former would cost a lot of soul crystals! Miracle City's current financial situation was not very abundant. The territory still had many construction needs that had not been completed, such as upgrading the core, city walls, building warehouses, arrow towers, and other basic facilities. Therefore, it was necessary to find as many incremental resources as possible and conserve existing resources as much as possible.
Jack was familiar with the map and understood the surrounding environment; 150 units of material essence, while not a small number, would certainly not pose a problem.
Currently, he had dozens of ordinary zombie soul essences and one each of Hunter, Smoker, Exploder, Jockey, and Tank.
Jack planned to recruit 25 Anti-riot Zombie temporary workers, as well as one Hunter and one Smoker temporary worker each, to form an exploration team. Of course, this time's objective was trickier than Red Claw Village. These combat powers were not enough! He had to use the Tank Zombie Soul!
This soul was quite valuable, and Jack did not intend to use it as a temporary worker. Instead, he planned to put it into the monster camp to create a formal combat unit.
**You are summoning a "Tank Zombie". This summoning requires the consumption of "Mental Power" x 100, "soul crystal" x 50, "Tank Zombie Soul" x 1. Do you wish to continue? Yes / No!**
"Summon!"
Thump, thump, thump! A series of dull footsteps sounded. The Adventurers suddenly heard a violent and familiar roar. A humanoid monster, two and a half meters tall, with muscles like heavy armor, walked out of the monster camp and stood in front of the hall, leaving everyone dumbfounded and speechless.
"Tank!"
"It's a Tank!"
"Lord Jack directly summoned a Tank!"
Monsters directly summoned from the Underground City building "Monster Barracks" were a type of regular soldier in the territory. Unlike disposable temporary workers, they could be permanently stationed in the territory. Although the consumption was high, as long as it didn't die, it could be used indefinitely.
If Jack built corresponding structures, he could also modify, strengthen, and upgrade it. The more of these regular troops there were and the stronger they were, the greater the boost to the Lord's personal ability in the future. They were one of the important foundations of the territory and the Lord!
Walking out of the mansion, Jack stood beside the Tank. Only to see this violent behemoth now as docile as a small dog. All summoned creatures in the Underground City had no intelligence, or more accurately, no self-will. They were absolutely loyal to the Lord and absolutely obedient to commands!
Violent Little Chicken's eyes lit up, "Awesome! Too awesome! Too damn awesome!"
Black Stone Hammer King asked, "Lord, why did you let the big muscle guy out? Are you planning to go fight again tonight?!"
"That's right!" Boss Jack didn't play coy. He directly announced to everyone:
"I've received intelligence that there's a goblin mine not far from Red Claw Village. This Lord plans to take it down. This Tank will be the main force in this battle. In addition, I need to recruit 27 mercenaries. Everyone is welcome to sign up and contribute to the territory!"
At the same time, all Adventurers received a quest prompt.
— — — —
**Quest Name: Mercenary Action!**
**Quest Content: Miracle City plans to recruit 27 mercenaries, including 25 zombies, 1 Hunter, and 1 Smoker!**
**Quest Reward: 5 Contribution Points!**
**Special Note: Adventurers playing as Hunters or Smokers in this operation will not receive any rewards if they die.**