Chapter 178
In the vast multiverse, Bai Ye had always been a unique presence, its territory and strength far ahead of others, even without exposing its civilizational power. Although other civilizations were gradually catching up to Bai Ye Town, many still kept a watchful eye, specifically monitoring its movements.
In the past, Bai Ye had maintained an air of mystery, but it had never completely "disappeared" like this. There would always be some side information about Bai Ye Town or certain mysterious powerhouses. Especially during this golden period when other lords were rapidly developing, it was hard to believe that any lord player in the multiverse could vanish for an entire month.
However, whispers began to circulate among the galaxy-level civilizations, suggesting that unusual activities were occurring in the Chaotic Star Sea, leading some intelligence departments to suspect that Bai Ye had "logged off" due to real-world circumstances.
This only seemed to confirm the possibility that Bai Ye was entangled with some outlaw in the Chaotic Star Sea.
Blocking the Star Network was not something that could be achieved through conventional physical means; it required an impact on an individual's mental strength. This could be done using a mental suppression device made from ghostly magnetism or through severe injuries to the body or spirit in reality.
Yet, just as this speculation began to spread, Bai Ye reappeared in Bai Ye Town after a month in the game.
One could only imagine the ripples this news would create in the intelligence circles of various civilizations.
Any activity by "Bai Ye" within its territory would attract the attention of other civilizations. Ye Bai knew that the more one tried to guard against it, the more it would provoke various speculations and investigations. She glanced around without paying much attention and made her way to the Creation Tree, located not far from the mayor's office.
The area was now surrounded by a wall and designated as a restricted zone, prohibiting players from approaching.
In addition, a level-four energy shield with a durability of one thousand points surrounded the Creation Tree, preventing all beings except Ye Bai from getting close.
Ottofis, who had come along, circled the Creation Tree, looking around. Even the usually silent paper figure couldn't help but exclaim for the first time:
"What a marvelous creation... It resembles a Tree of Life, yet is so different."
Ye Bai smiled at this. From the perspective of information, the Creation Tree, which encompassed three technological paths and covered the entire infrastructure system, was likely of a higher magnitude than the Tree of Life.
Ye Bai passed through the translucent shield unscathed and reached out to touch the trunk.
Detailed information about the territory appeared before her:
**[Bai Ye Town]**
**Lord:** Bai Ye
**Current Population:** 342
...
**Health:** 94
**Sanitation:** 95
**Entertainment:** 99
**Luxury Goods Demand:** 100 (sugar satisfied, high-grade alcohol satisfied, furniture satisfied, fabrics satisfied, crafts satisfied)
**Personal Hobby Demand:** (4/16)
**Happiness Level:** 98
During Ye Bai's journey to the Divine Realm, a new batch of refugees had arrived in Bai Ye Town, totaling 124 people. Naturally, she had set the default to accept them, as no lord in the multiverse would refuse the addition of refugees.
With Bai Ye Town's ample supplies and well-developed facilities, after more than ten days, the various metrics brought by the new arrivals had been fully absorbed by the territory, resulting in even higher values than before she left.
The value in the personal hobby demand section had just changed from 4 to 3 while Ye Bai was checking.
For players active in Bai Ye Town for various reasons, aside from selling equipment, their greatest contribution was fulfilling the personal hobby demands of the residents.
Surprisingly, some of these tasks were highly sought after by players.
Bai Ye Town was the wealthiest territory among all player towns, with facilities that even surpassed those of any self-developed NPC town.
With high productivity, the residents enjoyed a better quality of life. Tasks issued by Bai Ye Town's NPCs offered higher rewards than those from other towns, naturally attracting many players to take them on. Once completed, they could spend their rewards directly within the territory, making it a win-win situation.
One regret was that Ye Bai's extended stay in the Divine Realm caused her to miss the arrival of a traveling merchant. However, compared to the gains she had made in the Divine Realm, this loss was negligible.
On the **[Development Strategy]** page, a prompt had already lit up:
The upgrade conditions for a level-five territory are "population reaches 320; possesses a finance department, a public security department, and a foreign affairs department; luxury goods supply is no less than three types." Bai Ye Town now met all these requirements.
Ye Bai then opened the lord leaderboard and raised her eyebrows in surprise.
As expected of a cosmic-level civilization, after a month without attention, the territory scores of the Ruylan Empire and the Kaien Federation had grown astonishingly. Currently, Ruylan Village's score was 8592, closely followed by Lofei Village at 8223.
Both civilizations had rapidly developed during the month, increasing their scores by nearly seven thousand.
After a moment of thought, Ye Bai realized that these two territories had likely opened all possible trade routes with the assistance of numerous players.
—With the ability to command a large number of players, they could accomplish this even more easily than Ye Bai.
Once players had thoroughly explored the surrounding forces, they could set out from their own territories with two or three NPC villagers as a transport team, escorted by many players, completing the opening of multiple trade routes in a short time and gaining corresponding productivity boosts.
In contrast, Bai Ye Town's current score was 25674. Under the town-level productivity development, its growth value was not even half of that of the two cosmic-level civilizations. In fact, from the score, it seemed that the hardware conditions of those two territories were close to upgrading to town level.
Ye Bai couldn't help but murmur, "Hmm... I need to speed up the development of the territory; otherwise, the gap with other territories will shrink to below ten thousand."
If Zeta and Ximo heard this, who knows what they would say.
Looking up at the still early sky, Ye Bai decided to upgrade immediately.
Upgrading from level four to level six was at the town level, and the monsters encountered during each upgrade corresponded to the second tier. Since it was not a leap from town to city, although the monsters would be stronger than the previous three-headed griffon, they wouldn't feature any bosses above level 60.
With Ye Bai's current level of 60, she could handle second-tier monsters ranging from level 20 to 40 all by herself, not to mention the newly trained crossbowmen equipped with energy crossbows in her territory.
Of course, while second-tier bosses were not to be underestimated, there was another undeniable reason: after seeing so many high-level monsters in the Divine Realm and assisting Kraken in defeating a Hell Lord, Ye Bai's perspective had somewhat changed.
Compared to the high-level monsters in the Divine Realm, which often ranged from level 50 to 60, the bosses in the multiverse could be considered quite docile and charming, resembling oversized wild animals.
After confirming the upgrade, Ye Bai immediately received a system notification about a monster attack.
The alarm bells rang quickly, preparing the town's residents for the impending threat.
Even faster than the alarm was the news of the lord's return spreading throughout Bai Ye Town. Thus, even after hearing the bells, the residents were only momentarily surprised before continuing their tasks, albeit with slightly quicker movements.
In the military zone, where barracks were being constructed, the new recruits erupted in excited cheers:
"Finally, we can hit the battlefield!"
"Long live the lord!"
This enthusiasm drew laughter and teasing from the lord's guards and veteran soldiers nearby: "Just don’t wet your pants when you see the monsters!"
When Ye Bai left, she had already assigned tasks, selecting thirty of the new refugees for training. Now, Bai Ye Town had a total of ninety crossbowmen, plus ten guards, making a hundred in total—a high military-to-civilian ratio.
In this fantastical world filled with monsters, a higher ratio represented a stronger territory. Other NPC towns couldn't support so many soldiers due to their productivity limitations. While other civilizations' player towns might reach this ratio, it came at the cost of real-world player labor.
Bai Ye Town enjoyed a high happiness level, which correspondingly meant a very low crime rate. In terms of public security, aside from keeping an eye on unruly players, there was little to worry about.
When Ye Bai left, she maintained a cautious strategy regarding exploration and monster elimination around the territory, usually just clearing out the nearby beasts that players had mostly dealt with, which lacked challenge.
Now, upon learning about the monsters attacking tonight, the soldiers in the barracks were instead filled with joy.
Table of Contents
