Chapter 483 - 453: Preventing the War from Starting
At 9 a.m., Da Fei took a cab back to his rental apartment. I have to say, the traffic in Shendong City was truly frustrating; you just couldn’t get out during rush hour. In any case, the more frustrating it was to go out, the more necessary it was to quickly handle the troubles in the game.
The moment Da Fei logged in, a string of system prompt messages popped up!
—System Prompt: Warning! Your city under construction, Radiant City, has entered full combat readiness! If the city falls into a critical state of defeat, your city-building mission, "Lake Fortress Construction," will fail, and the Kingdom will revoke your appointment as Lord!
Da Fei was shocked! Damn! The war really started!
No need to say more, time to die back quickly! Da Fei jumped into the lake, dove to the bottom, and then waited until his breath bar ran out, and everything went black!
—System Prompt: You have died; you lost Experience -230,000, and you lost Gold Coins -2,312. You will resurrect in the nearest city...
Then in the next scene, Da Fei resurrected at the Teleportation Array of Radiant City. He was back; this was the simple yet not so simple Town Recall Scroll that players carried!
"Lord! Lord is back!" As soon as Da Fei appeared, a group of advisors frantically surrounded him.
Hey, hey! If you guys are panicking, it makes me panic too! Da Fei urgently asked, "What’s the situation on the battlefield?"
The military advisor hurriedly said, "The battle hasn’t started yet. It was my dereliction of duty that I didn’t detect the Demons’ movements around the Pool of Radiance. Demons secretly gathered a large army and have already built a circle of walls at the edge of the Pool of Radiance to surround us. Their factories behind the walls are discharging pollution into the Pool of Radiance, and the entire pool has been polluted!"
Building a big circle of walls! Da Fei’s eyes narrowed with shock; damn it! Surely NPCs couldn’t have done this, right? There must be a player working against me, right? Could it be Dragon Slayer? Only Dragon Slayer could pull off something like this, right?
At this moment, a high-pitched, unfamiliar voice from behind the crowd coldly questioned, "Are you the City Lord of Radiant City?"
The advisory group immediately parted to make way, revealing an elf officer in a high-rank military uniform with a cold, arrogant expression. Da Fei was dumbstruck, "Who is this?"
The military advisor quickly introduced, "This is a Military Observer sent by the Kingdom Military Department. This lord will assess Lord City Lord’s war progress on the front lines; he has the power to directly dismiss you, um, to directly propose the dismissal of your position as City Lord!"
Directly dismiss!!! Directly propose dismissal???
Da Fei was flabbergasted! Although he didn’t know the difference between the two, and even though he knew he could be dismissed if he screwed up the mission, hearing the word "dismissal" before the battle even started was enough to make Da Fei furious!
Are you kidding me! I’ve painstakingly expanded and managed this city to its current size by running maritime trade, and you’re already talking about dismissing me before the battle even begins? During the public test, even if the city got trashed, as long as it was ultimately defended, the player would still be the City Lord!
Fine, since it’s a collaboration mode city-building, if we break up, we’ll have to split. The construction blueprints are private; if you dare to dismiss me, I’ll leave the project unfinished and take the blueprints with me. The Fishmen only recognize me, not your kingdom; I’ll take them all, too. You won’t take advantage of me! Oh, and there’s the Vine Demon Village; those beauties haven’t officially pledged allegiance to anyone, and I’ll use my god-like reputation among their tribe to win them over! As for the money invested, I’ll just consider it a donation! I can afford it, damn it!
While stunned, the Military Observer coldly said, "Lord City Lord, given your past merits, the Kingdom won’t pursue your dereliction of duty for now. The Demon Army is pressing in, and under the pollution and corrosion of Dark Energy, the World Tree is in a precarious state. Do you have any countermeasures?"
The military advisor immediately said, "Observer Sir, in my view, the Demons do not have the capability to siege underwater; they built the walls because they fear our counterattack, so their main tactic is pollution. As you can see, the City Lord had a plan in mind: the Holy Vine planted on the walls, the sewers we are building, and the Leviathan’s Egg placed by the City Lord are all purifying and absorbing the Dark Energy in the pollutants. The Demons won’t succeed so easily, especially once the Leviathan hatches, they will have no chance of attacking underwater..."
Da Fei’s eyebrows twitched. He knew Leviathan could absorb Dark Energy, and the sewers had purification functions too, but he didn’t expect the Holy Vine could absorb Dark Energy as well. Wouldn’t that make it a Demon Vine? It makes sense since the Holy Vine’s attribute description says it can grow anywhere except for lava and icy places, which means it can absorb Dark Energy! Not bad, truly a parasitic plant that’s not picky! But then, what will happen to the Flying ship that’s fused with the Holy Vine?
The Military Observer waved a hand to stop the military advisor’s rambling, "I want to hear the City Lord’s opinion."
Damn it! The advisor already said everything I knew and didn’t know; what more can I say?
Da Fei quickly laughed and placated, "Observer Sir, please rest assured, the Pool of Radiance, which the Demons couldn’t take in the past, they won’t take now, and they will never take it in the future!"
The Observer impatiently retorted, "I’m not thinking about that! Lord City Lord, you should understand your predicament. This was a war that could have been prevented, but due to your oversight in defense, it has developed into such a serious situation. What does it mean if the Kingdom joins the war? It means Lord City Lord is incapable of managing the situation, which means the Kingdom will pay a huge price—if the war goes on brutally, all the grievances and distrust will focus on you. Even as an Observer, it will become extremely difficult for me to objectively evaluate your military achievements in the war!"
Da Fei suddenly understood! In the end, it was because he was a human, a grain of sand in the eyes of the always proud and xenophobic Elf Clan!
Da Fei immediately said, "Observer Sir, what if I can control the situation so this war doesn’t even happen?"
The Observer blandly replied, "You finally understand! The World Tree is in a dormant state; the Kingdom is neither willing nor capable of fighting a large-scale war deep underground! But the war machine has been set in motion, and the military forces from all over the Kingdom will gather here in 3 days, 3 days! You have only 3 days; if you can’t control the situation within 3 days, the war will inevitably erupt, and then the achievements of your position as City Lord can only depend on the people’s judgment! That’s all, I am returning to the Military Department to report on the situation. I hope Lord City Lord can renew the glory of past accomplishments!"
With that, he headed straight for the Teleportation Gate and disappeared.
Oh my god! So you want me to prevent the war from happening? I’ll see if Dragon Slayer’s Boss Ma has anything to say! Damn it! What am I even talking about! Let’s not even discuss whether players can influence the situation at this point; at the very least, with those massive walls they built, why would they stop? Maybe they are targeting me because I’m the City Lord here! Large guilds don’t care about personal friendships once they start moving, and let’s be real, my relationship with Hemorrhoid Ointment is just business, not a deep friendship.
The military advisor hastily said, "Lord City Lord, our only strategy now is to control the pollution situation in 3 days. As long as the Lord continues to plant Holy Vines and mass cultivate Slime Monsters, we may not necessarily lose. After all, refining this new type of Dark Matter is extremely costly to them, and once they can’t sustain it, we will naturally gain the upper hand!"
Da Fei replied seriously, "Makes sense!"
Da Fei quickly opened the city panel to assess the current situation:
—Radiant City: Level 27 city. (Each time a city building is constructed or upgraded, the city level increases by 1. The higher the city level, the more it attracts population and talent growth.)
—Territory radiation range: Entire Pool of Radiance.
—City Population: 3,539 Flower Demons, 36 Fishmen, 3 Elves.
—City Military: 200 Forest Goddess, 50 Druids, 3,539 Flower Demons, 44 Artillery Emperor, 131 Banshees, 1,105 Slime Monsters.
—City Diplomacy: Habbit Village (Warm), Lumang Tribe (Military Alliance).
—City Supplies: 1,316 units of food, 72 units of Concentrated Mercury, 51 units of Refined Crystal Gem...
—City Facilities: Level 10 city outer wall, Level 10 fortress, Level 2 Military Teleportation Array, Level 1 administrative hall, Level 1 supply warehouse, Level 1 clinic, Level 1 school, Level 1 hospital. 124 Flower Demon Barracks (Outside city structure).
—City In-Construction Facilities: Netherworld Treasury, Death Bell Tower, Sewer system.
—City Officials: 13 part-time advisors (Resource collecting advisor stationed outside).
—City Employees: 3 Elf circus teachers, 36 circus class Fishman students, 100 medical class Flower Demon students.
—City Sanitation Rating: 51 points. (Harsh environment, please note the negative effects of the Necromancer Calamity, please recruit more medical staff.)
—City Safety Rating: 0 points. (Warning: Large numbers of enemies are present outside the territory, the territory has entered full combat readiness.)
—City Culture Rating: -36 points. (Warning: More cultural facilities need to be built, or cultural literacy of the Fishmen needs to be improved.)
...
The Netherworld Treasury and Death Bell Tower were still under construction; the hospital and school were already built and operational. Of course, now was not the time to focus on these. The key point was that in just one night, more than 1,100 Slime Monsters had appeared! What a staggering production rate! Sure enough, the heavier the pollution, the higher the production? Even so, the city’s environmental situation remained grim.
Accompanied by the advisors, Da Fei climbed the city wall to look around. Apart from a small ring of water near Radiant City that was a relatively clear grayish-black, everything else as far as the eye could see was pitch black! What an exaggerated undertaking, and it’s no wonder the Elf Kingdom was scared out of its wits!
Where the Leviathan’s Egg was placed outside the city, there was a massive black vortex forming with a strange, impressive momentum—was it about to hatch? In such conditions, would the egg hatch as an ordinary level 8 Leviathan? Or an elite-level Leviathan? Alright, now wasn’t the time to be amazed at the Leviathan.
The first step now was to stabilize the city’s footing! Da Fei sighed and said, "The city’s sanitation rating is severe; we must remove the Necromancer Calamity."
The military advisor quickly said, "Lord, you cannot. Slime Monsters are also casting creatures, and benefit from the 20% increase in casting creature production due to the Necromancer Calamity. With the urgency of managing the pollution, we need to prioritize Slime Monster production!"
Da Fei was taken aback; Slime Monsters count as casting creatures? Da Fei asked the sanitation advisor, "What’s your opinion?"
The sanitation advisor said solemnly, "Everything for the greater good; once there’s an outbreak of an epidemic, I’ll do my utmost to treat it!"
Da Fei chuckled bitterly, "It’s rare that everyone is in agreement."
The military advisor sighed, "Our fates are tied to the success of the Lord; if Radiant City falls, we will be deemed to have failed as advisors and likely won’t be entrusted with any significant roles, only managing small tasks or running shops."
Everyone sighed in unison.
So that’s how it is! Even NPCs know how to fight for survival; what reason do I have not to fight? Since even the Necromancer Calamity enhances Slime Monsters, I should indeed fully develop them! The current 1,000 weak Slime Monsters barely suffice for self-defense, and can’t be relied upon to fully remediate pollution in 3 days. I need Slime Monsters on par with the boss-level one I encountered during the tournament, and these require an Alchemy Divine Artifact at their core, so I must obtain such an artifact!
Where can I find an Alchemy Divine Artifact? Makar! As a God-level Mage, he must also be an excellent Alchemist! Great Duke Mentor, you must fully assist your student this time; if the student falls, your grand ambition for controlling the mines will come to nothing!
(Seeking monthly tickets, recommendation votes!)(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian.com to vote, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)