Chapter 268
The Extraordinary Laboratory belonged to the association's subsidiary buildings, capable of enhancing the level and success rate of inventions, as well as helping scholars break through their personal bottlenecks.
In addition to top-tier education, Ye Bai invested 10 points of productivity to upgrade the Military Academy, an advanced version of the Barracks, where all level 60 combat units could reclassify into corresponding high-tier troops.
Moreover, the Military Academy also possessed the nature of an institution, allowing for continuous research into new combat strategies and troop types, enhancing combat capabilities. As the lord, Ye Bai could make more detailed adjustments to the specific directions of this research.
Initially, she thought that would be the end of her military upgrades, but suddenly, her gaze landed on a newly available technology: the Advanced Beast Pen.
She immediately remembered that her backpack contained a griffon egg she had obtained in the past, so she quickly spent another 10 points of productivity to unlock this technology.
**Advanced Beast Pen**: Tame extraordinary beasts of tier three and below.
With her possession of Ottofis, even if the griffon egg hatched, it wouldn’t be of much use to her. However, it could serve as a mount for the warriors of her territory, especially for flying creatures. Once trained, they could produce a batch of aerial cavalry.
Aerial cavalry were the most mobile combat units in the multiverse, without exception, and there were few equivalent units that could counter them. Now, Felix's level had risen, allowing him to lead the team to capture resource points in Ye Bai's absence. To maximize efficiency and minimize combat losses, the process would be somewhat slower.
In dungeons, there was also a very small chance of dropping extraordinary beast eggs during battles, or perhaps she might get lucky and purchase one from a traveling merchant. In any case, building the pen would not be a loss.
Next came the infrastructure and economic aspects. Ye Bai first spent 10 points of productivity to upgrade the residential and decorative buildings to the highest level, enabling the construction of mansions, villas, sky gardens, and grand fountains, all of which would enhance comfort and the environment.
After this round of spending, only 27 points of productivity remained. Ye Bai decided to allocate 25 points to the final technology: the City Teleportation Array.
This was the teleportation array that every main city in the multiverse possessed. For player territories, it required upgrading to an eighth-level territory and having second-tier extraordinary knowledge from three major schools to unlock this technology.
With this technology, the trade volume and efficiency of Baiye City would experience a geometric leap, and the number of tourists would also increase significantly.
Everyone knew the convenience of teleportation arrays, but typically, caravans would still choose to transport goods for trade, mainly due to cost considerations.
For some basic trade goods that weren't highly valued, using teleportation would make the shipping costs exceed the product value, and no one would engage in such a losing deal. Trades conducted through the teleportation array would primarily involve small, high-value items.
However, let’s not forget that Baiye City’s biggest "specialty" was the Source Crystal.
Source Crystals were the energy that powered the teleportation arrays. The costs at the production and purchasing locations were, of course, different. At least for Baiye City, the threshold for transactions via the teleportation array was much lower compared to other conventional NPC main cities.
Moreover, the most important aspect was that the teleportation array had irreplaceable advantages in emergencies.
For instance, if Baiye City were to face another outbreak like the last time, the urgent issue of lacking herbs and food could be completely resolved through the teleportation array.
Ye Bai planned the teleportation array to be located near the military district of the inner city, making it convenient for defense and transportation in the industrial area.
Of course, as the lord who constructed the teleportation array in her territory, Ye Bai could set its parameters. For NPCs, it could function like the teleportation arrays in other main cities, allowing for two-way transport, but for players, it would only allow one-way transport.
Players could spend gold to teleport from Baiye City to other locations, but players from other main cities could not reach Baiye City by spending gold.
Although no lord in the current multiverse would foolishly initiate a territorial war against Baiye City, the game mechanics allowed for inter-territorial conflicts.
If a malicious lord were to spend a sum of money to teleport directly into the core area of a hostile territory for a surprise attack, it would be exceedingly unfair.
After planning and handling the upgrades, construction workers soon began transporting materials, and the construction commenced in earnest.
Ye Bai took a tour of her territory, briefed her trusted aides, and then found Ottofis at the bakery before returning to the lord's mansion.
“It’s time to set off.”
By the Source Well in the basement, Ye Bai’s figure shimmered, transforming into ethereal droplets as she plunged into the well.
…
Deep within Saint Lori Fortress, Kodos knelt before an ornate coffin, reporting, “Ancestral spirit, the strange phenomena in the sky have caused panic among the people in the territory…”
In the next moment, several clusters of light suddenly illuminated the cold tomb.
Even the light appeared dim and murky, unable to shake off the surrounding chill, creating a disorienting sense of confusion.
Under the light stood a withered figure holding a cage: “It’s not the people in the territory who are panicking, but those in the fortress, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Kodos’s pupils constricted, and he immediately bowed his head in acknowledgment.
After just a glance at that shadow, Kodos dared not look again. It was the first time he had seen the ancestral spirit leave the coffin since his birth, and combined with the strange phenomena outside, it filled him with an unprecedented sense of pressure.
“What’s there to panic about? It’s still just a projection; it hasn’t been drawn down yet.” After saying this, the withered figure turned its gaze back to the cage in its hand.
Inside the cage, which was inscribed with magical runes, curled a fist-sized humanoid shadow.
The withered figure, like someone feeding a bird, seemed to toss something into the cage.
The feeble shadow appeared to sense the aura of the object, trembling all over, quickly trying to evade. However, when it neared the edge of the cage, it hesitated, curling up into a ball and burying its head in its knees.
Seeing this, the withered figure shook its head slightly, regretfully withdrawing its hand, and sighed, “Oh, the poor creature, forsaken and cursed…”
In its hand was a book filled with dense knowledge.
The withered figure looked at Kodos, who seemed quite interested at the moment, and asked, “What are they called now?”
The creature in the cage was something Kodos had inadvertently captured over a decade ago when he had just come of age. After bringing it back to the fortress, he unexpectedly received a summons from the ancestral spirit, a glory his father had never achieved, but it had left Kodos in a state of constant fear ever since.
Kodos immediately replied, “They are called Gray Ones and Foolish Elves, as they always hide in dark corners, and some slow-witted fools are more likely to discover them.”
“Gray Ones? Foolish Elves?” The withered figure let out a strange laugh upon hearing these names: “Hehehe… how amusing. Long, long ago, before the Principality of Highvale fell apart, every citizen of the principalities took pride in winning the favor of the phantoms.”
“Phantoms, oh phantoms… once a symbol of wisdom, now they have become fearful of knowledge like it’s poison. Truly, the most vicious curse has been laid upon your kind…”
…
In the divine realm, as the mark of the droplets appeared, Ye Bai and Ottofis materialized, having traversed the divine realm for some time. Only two days remained until the final summoning was complete.
Just as she pondered what form the King of Gods’ treasure vault would take—perhaps a rift entrance resembling a dungeon—she looked up and was stunned.
“You call this… a treasure vault?”
At that moment, the once gloomy and gray sky of the divine realm was no longer empty.
A grand, colossal city stood quietly, leaning and towering, resembling a real city in the clouds, or perhaps a phantom hovering above the clouds. If one looked closely, they could see it continuously “enlarging,” as if some force were pulling this city, whose reality was uncertain, down to the ground.
Ye Bai never expected that the summoning described on the key was indeed a physical summoning…
**Chapter 184**
“You call this… a treasure vault?”
Looking at the enormous city gradually descending from the sky, Ye Bai glanced at the Life Branch in her hand, her mind filled with questions.
She hadn’t anticipated such a grand spectacle; the city in the sky resembled a kite, while the Life Branch in her hand felt like the other end of the kite string.
This scene was both fantastical and yet not fantastical enough; it was hard to describe how “fantastical” it truly was.
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