Chapter 202 - Version 2.0 Is Starting Soon

William was back in Stormy Island. The backbone of the City of Dawn was finally back.

Nine months had commenced since the open beta of the game. William no longer ran around everywhere, and he stayed on Stormy Island. Every day, he recruited and organized manpower to develop resources in an orderly manner.

Soon, it was the 10th month since the open beta of the game.

In a valley 18 kilometers southeast of Stormy Town, ‘someone’ found a magical crystal ore vein. William turned it into a forbidden zone and didn’t allow any mining activities there.

At the same time, someone discovered an adamantine ore mine and a gold ore mine too!

The road connecting Stormy Town and the ore veins had been completed, and the mining began. Cute Orc miners picked up their pickaxes and shovels of excellent quality in a skillful manner, heading towards their mining job in high spirits.

Numerous players caught sight of the neat formation of Orc miners. They were dumbfounded.

However, when the leader of the mining team appeared.

The players shut up.

The leader was an Orc too!

They were all Advanced, Grandmaster Orc Bosses!

That was right. While William sent the Trolls to other places, he had also started to take in several Orcs that wanted to defect to him.

After all, it was the Gods’ continent, and all sorts of conceivable fantasies were valid there. The Orc race was the most savage, so it was the best strategy to use an Orc to guard their own kind.

The reasoning behind it was that the Orcs who have pledged allegiance to William would show more fierceness toward their own kind if they saw them slacking.

William was not afraid that this bunch would run away or go rogue. After all, they were only in charge of mining and weren’t allowed to go outside of the mine. Not to mention, usually, patrol teams had also been stationed nearby.

Meanwhile, William had formed a team called the (Blade Cavalry Legion).

He personally went to Storm Lake and asked the Horse King to summon his underlings so that the knights could conquer them one by one…

Among them, 1500 elves were light cavalry soldiers while the other 1500 humans formed the heavy cavalry unit.

It wasn’t that the heavy cavalry soldiers had more chances of dying.

It was just that a light cavalry unit made up of elves was better at kiting and more accurate in attacks. Whereas, the heavy cavalry unit was able to deal more damage.

Nonetheless, the equipment used by the heavy cavalry was definitely beyond one’s imagination. Those 1500 heavy cavalry soldiers all had Intermediate Gold equipment for both themselves and their horses.

Their mounts were Intermediate magical beasts. If they really used all their potential, it would result in an impact of incredible magnitude.

These 1500 people were one of a kind among all the legions in the City of Dawn. They possessed the most expensive equipment!

In general, the more expensive a legion’s equipment was, the more danger they faced. Their mortality rate would be higher too.

Soon, it was the 11th month since the open beta of the game.

In the four legions in Stormy Island, 1300 people had leveled up to become Intermediate professionals.

William led another four legions to Stormy Island!

The (Blade Cavalry Legion) was successful. Due to the help from Horse King’s coercion, a whopping 3000 Thunder Warhorses became mounts.

There were over 2000 Thunder Warhorses living on the grassland surrounding Storm Lake, but most of them were happy mares.

William was too lazy to bring the Horse King along with him. He released the Horse King and allowed it to continue being a happy stallion, so that it could breed more warhorses for him.

The fortification works at the cliff had been finished. Other than 5 roads that led directly to the City of Dawn, all other steep roads had been destroyed!

In the old district, which was the district that William lived in, a solid wall that stood at more than 0.5 meters tall was built at the edge of the cliff!

The Honor Legion, whose soldiers had stationed themselves at the orichalcum mine for a long time, retreated.

A new legion replaced it.

There was no time gap between Version 1.0 and Version 2.0.

At this moment, it was only one month before the Darkness invasion!

A disaster was coming!

Inside the picturesque City of Dawn,

Players gathered together. Some of them participated in 1v1 matches inside fighting arenas. They spent most of their day at the arena because of the God of War ranking.

After all, only the top 100 players were listed on the God of War ranking board.

In every tournament season, if one could make it to the top ten, one would receive equipment, materials, gems, and a temporary glory title that boosted one’s attributes.

This sort of dazzling title was the most sought after necessity for players who wanted to show off.

Generally, the top players had reached level 40. They weren’t able to level up for the time being, as Version 2.0 was not launched yet.

However, astute observers knew that beta Version 2.0 would be launching soon. Many rich players rushed to blacksmith shops run by Dwarfs as soon as they could, and they ordered Intermediate Gold equipment for head to toe. Otherwise, they would place orders for several Gold equipment to act cool and show off.

As for the Grand Deity team, it was a basic requirement for them to be decked out in Gold equipment from head to toe. The weapons that they ordered were either of Dark-Gold or Epic quality.

They didn’t exchange their mercenary team contribution points for anything. They were saving it for when they became Intermediate professionals. Then, they would exchange their contribution points for Epic or even Legendary manuals.

However, this was the way the tycoons played.

The average players had their own method of playing the game. They also had some tips for similar players.

Firstly, one must complete all the daily missions published by one’s mercenary teams. One mustn’t forget the free weekly turns for both the small and large wheels of fortune. If one gets lucky, one might win Gold or Epic equipment!

Secondly, one must purchase the daily limited items, of which the double experience pellets should be given the most prominence. One could purchase other equipment and tools too if one still had enough money.

Thirdly, obtain two Instance Dungeon crystals that are only available two times a day.

One could sell darkness materials obtained from the Misty Valley to the NPC of the Palace of Darkness.

In the battle at the Fortress of the City of Dawn, there were many Blue equipment, materials, and even military supplies to be gained. These things could be sold for a good price.

If one could defeat the final Boss, there was a low chance that you could get Epic equipment, and a high chance that you could gain Gold equipment!

The explosion rate for equipment was very high in this Instance Dungeon, which was why players in the City of Dawn weren’t considered to be lacking in good quality equipment.

However, there was a higher chance that one would die in battle too.

But one’s rank wouldn’t drop even if he died in an Instance Dungeon!

The fourth tip would be to accumulate Dawn Mercenary Team contribution points. Most people exchanged the contribution points for two or three pieces of Silver equipment at the redemption area after they became an Intermediate professional. One could also exchange battle points from the Massacre Battlefield for Silver equipment.

Which was why!

As long as one put in the effort!

Once you became an Intermediate professional, it was really easy to obtain a set of Silver equipment.

As for embedding gems on your equipment? Enchanting your weapons?

Wasn’t that something that only rich players could do?

The average players would have to work really hard if they wanted to do that!

The players didn’t know what Version 2.0 would be like.

However, observant people had already noticed a few things.

For example, the City of Dawn was constantly expanding its legions. The 5 legions from before had turned into 12 regular legions and 6 reserve legions.

It could also be said,

Even though the 6 reserve legions weren’t very well-equipped, they were still professionals that were good enough to fight on the battlefield.

The entire City of Dawn was hard at work. All sorts of high-quality equipment were sent to the legions in batches. Numerous equipment used by the average players were cheapskate ones that the legions discarded!

Some areas in the district had been vacated.

Some of the infrastructures had been demolished.

It seemed as if chunky machinery was going to be placed in those vacated areas.

Originally, there were no city walls on the north side of the old district, but several defense systems had now been placed at a low altitude.

All this meant that the City of Dawn was preparing for war, and they were mainly focusing on their defense.

Some legion members were having a little gathering at the Glory Club.

Dozens of them had arrived at the old district. They were eating and drinking in a pavilion at the central plaza. Chu Liuqiu was also present among them, and he looked towards the direction of the north. “What is it that’s making the City of Dawn so anxious? Even if we only consider its location, it’s hard for people to climb up its steep terrain that has a height of 80 meters,” he said suddenly.

“Also, I have secretly observed from the base of the cliff that there seems to be some underground facility under my feet. There are various defense measures put in place on the cliff too. It can’t be that they went to such lengths just for the Black Lava Dukedom?”

After hearing what Chu Liuqiu said, the other legion members fell silent. Ever since the prince disappeared for a month, he hadn’t shown his face much after he returned to Stormy Town.

He had been busy all day.

Some Advanced Bosses had vanished into thin air too.

However, after some investigation, several players discovered that many Advanced NPCs were training on Stormy Island. They were seemingly preparing to level up!

The Advanced Bosses in the City of Dawn had been confirmed to be William, Lautner, Burned Cinder, and Odom.

Two Legendary and two Epic experts!

What incredible combat power!

Even then, the City of Dawn hadn’t let their guard down at all.

“All those measures probably aren’t for defending the Black Lava Dukedom. Did you guys notice? Something seems amiss in the grass plains? Many people have often seen dark creatures lurking around when they were competing to reach the high vantage point.”

“The NPC legions that were near the Massacre Battlefield have started to retreat their defenses too. It seems like they don’t intend to continue fighting.”

Changli Jiuge nodded. “I would have forgotten if you didn’t mention this. Dark creatures, huh, I remember that the prince once assigned me a mission regarding an abandoned Devil’s Den. That place is where the Misty Valley Instance Dungeon is, it used to have thousands of dark creatures.

Also, I was looking at the forum recently, and it appears that an adventure team has discovered a new Devil’s Den in the grass plains.”

“You’re right. Not only is it a new Devil’s Den, but there’s also something more to it.” Xiao Ayin squinted her big eyes and continued. “Have you guys heard of the Grand Deity team?”

“That bunch of rich players?” Chu Liuqiu’s lips twitched.

“That bunch of idiots who treat money as a joke. Previously, they went deep into the grass plains to explore, hoping to find a Hidden Mission. In the end, guess what they found?

“Many small mermen tribes had been massacred, and numerous dark creature corpses were found on the ground!

“In addition, many small mermen tribes have started migrating towards western grass plains. And it is not only small mermen, but Vhouls and Orcs are also doing this. Anyway, all the intelligent races living on the eastern side of the Massacre Steppe, including magical beasts and wild beasts, have migrated to western grass plains.”

“Oh, there were a few days where no entry was allowed to the Massacre Battlefield. It was to give those guys a chance to relocate?” Changli Jiuge nodded, coming to a sudden realization. He was a militant who liked to enter battlefields to kill and rob others’ equipment usually.

When he went there happily that day, he was stopped by an NPC who gave him a stern warning. If he entered the Massacre Battlefield hastily and was killed, the City of Dawn wouldn’t take responsibility.

Changli Jiuge wasn’t interested enough to enter that battlefield, so he didn’t know about the migration.

There were many forbidden zones in the City of Dawn, and those places were heavily guarded by NPCs. Some fearless players went in, but the consequences weren’t as simple as just being killed. Regardless of whether you managed to discover any secret, your level in the game would drop to level 10 directly!

Have you seen an NPC stalking revival points and killing players?

If you were killed in a forbidden zone, you would be resurrected in the city. However, there would already be a bunch of angelic ladies waiting for you with 40-meter swords!

Doesn’t it sound scary?

Especially since the NPCs in the City of Dawn had done this more than once!

However, no one could serve justice to those punished players. After all, they went against the rules even after they had been warned, so it was no wonder that there were consequences.

Since they wanted to spy on secrets, they had to have the ability to not be caught too!

“Dark creatures? An increase in the number of Devil’s Dens? Retreating the line of defense at the Massacre Battlefield? The City of Dawn increasing its fortifications and recruiting soldiers?” Chu Liuqiu linked all these things together!

His eyes lit up!

“I know!”

“What?” The legion members looked at their team leader with their eyes wide open. Chu Liuqiu was their team leader indeed, and he was so witty. Did something come to his mind?

“We must become the national champion in the official global tournament at the end of the month!” Chu Liuqiu stood up and raised his wine glass.

“…” Everyone was speechless. He wanted to be the national champion in a global tournament? What a lofty aspiration.

“Ahem, Version 2.0 is launching soon. Let’s just wait for it then, no hurry.” Chu Liuqiu laughed awkwardly.