New stage, Monster Siege Event (5200)

Seeing the system notification, the chat channel was instantly in an uproar!

"So, after coming to this world for a few months, we only just finished the adaptation period?"

"Now that we have entered the development period, does that mean we don't have to worry about monsters or the Ice Nest threatening our territory like before?"

"Don't even think about it. Didn't you hear the system notification? It's only a temporary breathing space… A new expansion pack will be launching soon, and even the system said the difficulty is huge. I guess quite a few people are going to die…"

"Yeah… Even in the development period, it won't be as peaceful as we imagine. The frequency of various natural disasters will increase. We might not even be able to hold out."

In the chat channel, many people felt very pessimistic about the future.

Since arriving in this world, they have been in a state of high tension every day.

Survivors have to fight against extreme cold, find ways to deal with various natural disasters, and handle monsters.

You could say they haven't had a single good day.

Many people weren't even sure if they could survive until the next day.

At this moment, someone else said: "Alright brothers, stop sighing!"

"At least we have survived in this world until now, haven't we?"

"Everyone here is an elite who survived after billions were eliminated!"

"No matter how hard it is, it can't be harder than when we first descended into this world."

Hearing this, laughter also appeared in the chat channel.

"Yeah, back on the first day we came to this world, we were almost all going to freeze to death. Being able to live until now is already a win."

"I just started living a happy life as a lord, with women in my arms and a few maids serving me. I don't want to die so soon!"

"Brothers, let's go! We must live on. One day in the future, we will build a city that belongs to us, the people of Blue Star!"

Hearing the last sentence, everyone was filled with anticipation.

And at this moment, after reading the system notification, a thoughtful look appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"Passed the adaptation period, and now we have entered a new stage."

"Next, it is time for the Survivors to actively explore this world, make contact with the indigenous people of this world, and perhaps even integrate into their system."

As for the last system notification, the other Survivors didn't know what happened.

But Cao Xing was thoughtful.

"New enemies… does that refer to the Blood Legion?"

"Looking at it this way, the new expansion pack should also be related to the Blood Legion."

"And even the system warned that survival difficulty is extremely high. It seems the strength of the Blood Legion indeed exceeds imagination!"

However, Cao Xing was not that nervous. After all, in this Battle of the Oracle, his strength had also experienced a terrifying surge!

Even if the Blood Legion attacked, he had some self-preservation power.

And next, his territory would also welcome a state of rapid expansion.

Before the Blood Legion appears, he will possess even greater strength.

Just as Cao Xing was thinking about these things, the system notification appeared again.

[All Survivors, please note: In the upcoming development period, two small events will be launched, namely: 'Enhanced Ice Nest' and 'Monster Siege'.]

[Enhanced Ice Nest (Event): The influence of the dragon's power has returned to normal. Next, within each region, Ice Nests will appear from time to time. At the same time, the level of monsters in the Ice Nest will be greatly increased. Do not provoke them easily before you have sufficient strength.]

[Killing monsters born in the Ice Nest will grant a large amount of experience, and there is a small probability of dropping 'Dragon Blood Warrior Recruitment Scroll', 'Rare Materials', and other rewards.]

[Destroying 1 Enhanced Ice Nest will grant 10 gold points.]

[Monster Siege (Event): In the upcoming development period, a Monster Siege will occur every seven days.]

[Each Monster Siege is divided into 10 waves. The difficulty of each wave will increase, and the number of monsters will also increase. Survivor Lords can choose whether to challenge the next wave.]

[And a Monster Siege Ranking will be launched.]

[Territory rankings will be based on the number of successful challenge waves and the challenge time. The top 10,000 lords in each region will receive generous ranking rewards.]

Seeing these notifications, Cao Xing was stunned again.

"Two more new events?"

"They sound pretty good."

He analyzed it in his heart.

"The first event is very simple: it is about dealing with those Enhanced Ice Nest Monsters. Many monsters will appear inside, and these monsters will also give a lot of experience."

"This is to give the Survivor Lords a way to level up quickly."

"And the second Monster Siege event is equivalent to testing the overall strength of the territory."

"For these two events, the Ice Nest is available every day, and the Monster Siege is once a week."

"It seems that even in the development period, the system has filled the lords' schedules to the brim."

Cao Xing smiled.

He originally thought he could relax for a while after the Battle of the Oracle ended.

Looking at it this way, he would be busy again.

"And next, the things I have to do have become even more numerous…"

"First, I need to go to the Griffin Nest to tame griffins and complete the commission tasks for Count Winston and the master-level beast tamer."

"Then, wait for Francesca to refine enough holy water, then go to deal with that ancient battlefield, subdue all the undead, and find the Legendary shield inside."

"Then I also have to go to the Eternal Frost Main City to exchange for honor point rewards, and by the way, investigate the inheritance of that Legendary mage…"

"Besides that, there are the ruins that City Lord Oran mentioned before, to see if I can participate in some Champion's Trial."

"And visit the tribe where those ancient elves are located."

It can be said that Cao Xing has many things to do, and each one is quite important.

Besides that, there is an even more important matter.

That is, finding the location of the Church of Light headquarters!

Thinking of this, a slight chill appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

The Church of Light has always been his great enemy.

Once upon a time, he could only act cautiously, making sure not to be easily detected by this church.

Every time he took action against this force, he had to ensure as much as possible that he would not be discovered.

But now, unknowingly, he already possessed the capital to confront this massive power head-on!

If circumstances allow, Cao Xing would not hesitate to lead his troops over and overthrow this church directly!

Let that old guy, the God of Light, stay in the Abyssal Land and never come out.

Cao Xing's mouth curled into an arc. "I wonder… compared to my territory, who has more master-level powerhouses now, the Church of Light?"

He was even impatient to send people to find the Church of Light headquarters!

However, everyone is resting now.

Cao Xing promised to let these combat personnel rest for a day.

No matter how many things there are, they can wait until tomorrow.

He shook his head and temporarily shelved these things that could not be achieved immediately.

The current focus should still be on the territory.

Cao Xing continued to organize the subsequent development plan in his mind.

"Next, let's see how the progress of those staff members has been during the month I was away."

Cao Xing came to the center of the territory and shouted.

"All staff, assemble!"

Upon hearing the order.

Hundreds of staff members walked over in a swarm and gathered together.

They looked at their Lord with excitement.

Cao Xing smiled and said: "It is been a month. Now, report your work progress."

"Zelko, you first."

Hearing the voice.

This old village chief of Puten Village stepped forward excitedly: "Respected Lord, may a brand new day bring you wealth and glory."

"According to your instructions, this month I led all the villagers to fully cultivate the fertile land and set up greenhouses."

"Currently, our territory has a total of seventeen mu of fertile land."

"Among them, seven mu of fertile land were separated to plant Cold Dew Rice and Kulin Barley."

"Silver Dew Berries and Winter Grapes were planted in five mu each."

"The growth of these crops is very good. According to estimates, we can welcome the first batch of harvests in about two months."

After listening to the old village chief's series of reports, a smile appeared on the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

"Very good. Next, continue to cultivate more fertile land and plant more Cold Dew Rice and Barley."

"Now that the population of our territory is increasing, the daily food cost alone is an astronomical figure."

"Whether we can achieve self-sufficiency depends on you all."

Zelko straightened his body and said with an excited tone: "We will definitely do our best to ensure that all the warriors in the territory can eat healthy and delicious food!"

After speaking, he respectfully retreated into the crowd.

Cao Xing looked at the others.

"Cao Yi, it is your turn."

Villager Cao Yi stepped forward and said respectfully: "Respected Lord, this month, according to your instructions, we have basically been building city walls and Elemental Arrow Towers."

"Currently, all city walls have been built to the advanced level."

"Additionally, I have upgraded 45 Elemental Arrow Towers to expert-level, and all other Elemental Arrow Towers have been uniformly upgraded to advanced."

Cao Xing scanned his surroundings.

Just as his subject Cao Yi had said, the entire perimeter of his territory was now enclosed by a towering city wall.

It stood over ten meters high and reached four meters in width.

Under the light of dawn, the frost-white wall appeared imposing and substantial.

Like a solid barrier, it stood guard over this land.

Cao Xing couldn't help but marvel in his heart.

"Now, my territory is one step closer to those Giant Cities."

"Next, I need to figure out how to get an expert-level city wall blueprint to upgrade the walls again."

"Once the walls reach a certain width, I'll find a way to acquire defensive installations, such as Goblin Cannons, catapults, and so on, to place on top of them."

"This will help me handle the upcoming monster siege event."

After pondering these things, Cao Xing looked over at Da Zhuang, the Arctic Person holding a hammer nearby.

"Da Zhuang."

The Arctic Person immediately stepped forward and said loudly, "Lord, for this past month, I have been leading the goblins in mining that grotto."

"We used transport carts to bring back large quantities of ore for sorting."

"So far, we have sorted out 31,785 Frost-White Crystals and a total of 3,633 primary and intermediate Magic Energy Crystals."

"Additionally, there are some metals like copper and iron, totaling over a hundred thousand!"

Hearing this figure, a look of appreciation appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

Frost-White Crystal is a material with a wide range of uses.

Not only can it be used to repair the Legendary weapon Magdale, but it's also needed for crafting advanced machinery later on, as well as repairing mechs.

The other Magic Energy Crystals are equally important, as they will be used on a large scale when the territory enters its next phase.

"Very good, keep it up."

"Our territory needs more resources to expand."

"Understood, respected Lord!" Da Zhuang respectfully took his leave.

Cao Xing looked at the other Arctic Person.

"Du An, how is the progress on your end?"

Du An also reported respectfully, "Respected Lord!"

"As you instructed, we have been focusing all our efforts on upgrading the Furnace and the Lords Manor this past month."

"Currently, your Furnace has been upgraded to level 21 and has successfully transformed into an Energy Station."

"The Lords Manor has also reached level 11 and has become a Lords Castle."

Du An's tone was very steady, as if he were reporting a mundane matter.

But Cao Xing was extremely excited!

Because the Furnace and the Lords Manor were the two most important buildings in the territory!

Only when these two buildings reached a certain level could Cao Xing's territory enter a new stage of development.

Come to think of it, he had long noticed the changes in these two buildings in his territory.

The current Furnace had transformed from its original five-meter-tall, two-meter-diameter cylindrical shape into an eight-meter-tall, three-tiered, prism-shaped building with a metallic sheen.

It looked like an energy tower, containing surging energy within!

However, when you got close, you couldn't feel the high heat radiating from inside.

It was providing heat to the entire territory in a different way.

He glanced at its attributes.

[Energy Station: Level 21]

[Effect: Can increase the temperature of a 5-kilometer diameter area by 15°C ~ 40°C]

[Extra Effect: High-Energy State (After activating High-Energy State, it can provide an additional 25°C ~ 35°C of heating to the territory, but the hourly consumption will increase by 3 times)]

[Consumption: 1 hour / 1 Primary Energy Crystal]

[Materials Required for Next Level: Refined Iron * 50,000, Copper * 30,000, Mithril * 10,000, master-level elemental crystal * 500]

(Description: An Energy Station capable of providing massive heat to the territory; even when a blizzard approaches, you can rely on it to survive safely…)

…Compared to the previous Furnace that could only generate heat locally, where the temperature was higher the closer you got to the Furnace area.

The Energy Station provided heat in a much more advanced way, capable of supplying heat stably and evenly.

It was like a powerful heat source center, keeping the temperature of the entire territory at a suitable level.

Besides that, the level 21 Energy Station also added a [High-Energy State] function, which could increase the territory's temperature by consuming more energy.

"This High-Energy State is quite good; even in blizzard weather, the territory's temperature won't drop much."

"It's fortunate that Da Zhuang mined a large amount of Energy Crystals in that grotto, which will be enough for a long time of consumption."

Cao Xing nodded in satisfaction and looked at his Lords Manor again.

No, it was no longer called the Lords Manor, but should be referred to as the Lords Castle.

This magnificent castle was over twelve meters tall, and its footprint had more than doubled.

The overall exterior was built from sturdy gray stones, with towering corner turrets and flags fluttering atop the towers.

The huge gate was made of heavy timber and sturdy metal, carved with exquisite patterns.

"Truly impressive!" Cao Xing exclaimed.

Then he checked its attributes.

[Lords Castle: Level 11]

[Height: 12 meters]

[Footprint: 832 square meters]

[Armor: 1200]

[Durability: 300,000]

[Current Population Capacity: 2954 / 6019]

[Aura Effect: Abundance Aura (When resources collected by workers are returned to the territory, an additional 20% is added)]

[Next Level Requirements: Level 22 Energy Station, Wood * 100,000, Stone * 50,000, Refined Iron * 30,000, Mithril * 10,000, master-level elemental crystal * 300]

[Upgrade Time Required: 452 hours 67 minutes]

[Simultaneous Workers: 0 / 4]

"Not bad, not bad, the population of the level 11 Lords Castle has increased significantly!"

"Next, I can start mass-producing troops again!"

Although the Zhuo Mas Claw point shop had ended, and there was no longer a source for a large number of recruitment scrolls.

But that didn't matter.

Because from now on, population could also be obtained from those indigenous people.

After entering the development phase this time, the system was pushing Survivors to have more contact with the indigenous people.

Even if they were just a large number of civilians, Cao Xing could train them into Ascalon Warriors, Frost Archers, or Shadow Assassins through the training barracks.

With the strength of Cao Xing's territory, he could quickly raise their levels.

Besides that, there was another troop production mode related to Mechanics.

Of course, that would have to wait until later.

The Arctic Person Du An continued his report, "Lord, besides the Energy Station and the Lords Castle, the other two buildings you ordered, the Teleportation Array and the statue, have also been built."

"They are right there."

Cao Xing listened, then cast his gaze over again, and sure enough, on an open space in the second ring area of the territory, he saw a glowing Teleportation Array.

As well as a tall, majestic statue holding a forging hammer standing near the territory square.

Cao Xing checked the attributes of these two buildings.

[Large Spatial Teleportation Array]

[Footprint: 314 square meters]

[Maximum Teleportation Distance: 3000 kilometers]

[Simultaneous Teleportation Capacity: 300 people]

[Teleportation Cooldown: 6 hours]

[Currently Recorded Teleportation Beacons: None]

[Statue of the God of Craftsmen (Orange)]

[Quality: Epic]

[Footprint: 317 square meters]

[Building Height: 28 meters]

[Equipment Crafting Speed Bonus: 30%]

[Success Rate Bonus: Green Equipment + 35%, Blue Equipment + 25%, Purple Equipment + 20%, Gold Equipment + 15%, Epic Equipment + 10%]

(Note: A statue with faint divine power; besides increasing success rates, it might have unexpected effects on the blacksmiths in the territory.)

A smile appeared on Cao Xing's face again.

These two Epic-quality buildings had also been successfully constructed.

Especially the Teleportation Array, which was extremely important to Cao Xing.

"Very good, next I can go to the Eternal Frost Main City, then find a way to get the teleportation permissions for the main city, and then I can teleport freely."

Of course, this might be a bit difficult.

As mentioned before, the Eternal Frost Main City wouldn't just open their teleportation permissions to a Chosen Lord.

But Cao Xing had some connections in the Eternal Frost Main City, so it should be fine.

If that really doesn't work, he could think of other ways.

Thinking of this, Cao Xing stopped worrying about this issue.

He continued, "Alright, I know all about your work progress."

"Now, everyone go back to work."

"Understood, Lord!"

Everyone dispersed.

And Cao Xing was thinking about what he needed to do next.

The Battle of the Oracle this past month had yielded a lot.

There were still many things in his backpack that needed to be processed.

For example, those Hearts of Strength, as well as the expert-level emblems, and so on.