Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World

[Ding!]

[All of A2 will now completely merge with A1, and all their regional resource points will go directly to the head of A1: Player 555.]

[Ding!]

[The newly merged Region Cluster has been officially assigned a new name: Region Cluster 513.]

[Since all towns are now under the absolute jurisdiction of Player 555, everyone’s Player ID will now change to reflect this. As the Region Leader of the cluster, he will retain his original ID. Others can formally request to retain their legacy IDs directly from Player 555.]

[Resource Points: 820 -> 5,932]

[Ding! You have not claimed today’s daily resource points yet. Would you like to claim them now?]

"Sure." Caelus nodded his head.

[Resource points: 5,932 -> 5,997]

It naturally increased by exactly 65.

[Ding! As the very first person to ever win a region-wide gamble in your cluster, you have obtained +20 Reputation Points.]

[Reputation Points: 95 -> 115]

"You got the reward as well, right Sylvia?" By now, a person had already materialized directly beside Caelus. It was Sylvia.

"Yep~" Sylvia nodded readily, a bright smile on her face. Now they both kind of had the exact same amount. She had 110, while he sat at 115. She had obtained a hefty amount of reputation points strictly from her own brutal Ascension Quest.

Then, he went ahead and opened the global chat.

[Vaelin: How is this even possible? Player 555, you are a blatant hacker! I am going to report you right now!!]

[Elara: Calm down, Vaelin. We all know he was definitely cheating.]

[Throne: Yeah! Such an insane jump in points! What sort of broken abilities does this dude have to get something like this so fast?]

[Player 555: Are you guys legally brain-dead, or do you just lack brains entirely?]

[Player 555: Since you so firmly think I am cheating, tell me a single instance where there was at least one mention of actual cheaters in the Domain. How would you even cheat in here? By falling on your knees and begging the Axiom Origin to give you free hacks?]

[Player 555: I honestly feel bad for your parents. To think they wasted resources nurturing people like you into adulthood. I would have legally disowned you people by now.]

[Vaelin: ...]

[Elara: ...]

[Throne: ...]

Vaelin, Elara, and Throne’s faces turned beet red from sheer, unfiltered embarrassment upon reading his retort.

[Sebastian: Do not think just because you have won this minor squabble you have achieved victory, Player 555! Wait until this region cluster forcefully merges with the cluster surrounding the Capital. I will personally sabotage you!!!]

[Player 555: Sigh... where exactly are you, Sebastian?]

[Sebastian: Why? Do you want to grovel, apologize, and get on my good side? It is far too late for that, Player 555. We are now mortal enemies. I will kill you for disrespecting my lineage!!]

[Player 555: Actually, never mind. You are also incredibly stupid. For now, I am permanently revoking your cabin access in my town. Good luck not dying out there.]

"???" Sebastian’s arrogant expression completely stiffened when he saw that system message flash.

It wouldn’t be long before the protective newbie phase officially ended. Meaning, if he died out here without a cabin to respawn in, he would die for real.

[Player 555: Alright. Vaelin and Throne, you both can choose now. I can see that you both were former town heads, but the town is now mine. You can either A: Listen to my advice and just obediently follow along, or B: Get killed by me and have your cabin status permanently revoked. What do you think?]

[Vaelin: I would rather die!]

[Elara: I will never submit to the likes of you, you commoner.]

[Throne: I am absolutely willing to submit, Boss 555. These two love-struck idiots clearly have something wrong with their heads. I will follow your words from now on.]

Seeing Throne quickly act up and submit, others in the chat also chimed in. There was now absolutely no logical need to make a deadly enemy out of Player 555. They were thoroughly awed by his terrifying powers and unyielding capabilities. It was only natural for them to follow the strongest.

The Domain would become incredibly dangerous soon. If they didn’t firmly cling onto the right golden leg, then their lives here would be entirely over.

A few tense minutes later, a system notification loudly rang out in the global chat.

[Vaelin has died.]

[Elara has died.]

[Throne: Damn....]

A cold chill ran down everyone’s spine when they saw this brutal confirmation.

Player 555 had actually killed them without hesitation!

[Player 555: Now, where exactly are you, Sebastian? Sebastian, when I finally find you, Sebastian.....]

[Sebastian: Hmph, I am already deep in the endless expanse. Fuck you, Player 555. You will never find me. I will seek elite assistance directly from the Divine Nations.]

[Player 555: ...]

[Player 555: Anyways. Now that A1 and A2 are fully merged, I only have one important thing to say to everyone: Do not make trouble for me if you do not expect your cabin status to be instantly revoked. And I do not plan on forcibly assimilating any of the outer towns; they will still be fully utilized and managed by you all. Especially those stationed at the very edge of our map. You guys will strictly stay there. When we inevitably merge with the other massive region clusters, you guys will act as our main defensive walls and our primary intelligence gatherers.]

[Player 555: Alright, it is finally time to upgrade to a Tier 2 town.]

[Player 555: The best part about this system mechanic is that it will not just be my central town upgrading; your towns will be directly affected too.]

Caelus and Sylvia stood tall on top of the fortified wall. By now, Kevin and Mia were also here, and surprisingly, Julian was with them.

"It is you," Caelus recognized him instantly.

"Hello, Caelus," Julian replied formally.

"Oh? You mean about my identity?" Caelus looked at Kevin with a dark, questioning expression.

"I didn’t tell him anything, boss! He figured it out completely by himself," Kevin quickly defended.

"I first knew about it when you fought the Null players in the dungeon while we went in for those initial raids," Julian explained calmly. "I was half awake at that time, and my specialized appraisal skill can permanently retain the specific information related to skills used. Looking at you right now, you have the exact same skill signatures as Caelus."

"That is exactly how I found out you were Player 555," Julian concluded.

"Hm." Caelus nodded. "I had a lingering inkling that you were awake back then. It seems like my hunch was true."

He then casually activated his own appraisal. "Hm? Iron II. Not bad," Caelus nodded approvingly. Both he and Kevin had managed to hit Iron II.

"Very well. It is time to ascend our central town, or rather, our entire region."

They had successfully met all the stringent requirements. His people had also tirelessly found the necessary Origin Merit Tokens, precisely 10 tokens, and he soon began the official ascension process.

A blinding white light shone radiantly across all the linked towns, and soon, system notifications began to rapidly cascade down his screen.

[Ding!]

[The region has successfully ascended to Tier 2.]

[All players have obtained a permanent +5 Combat Score buff due to the region reaching Tier 2.]

[Ding!]

[Due to there being two Rookie Gods residing within, the base combat score amount will significantly increase.]

[As long as one is safely anchored to the region, they will keep obtaining the +5 Combat Score buff across all future ranks.]

[New strategic blueprints are now available.]

[Cabins can now be officially leveled up to Level 4.]

[New technological eras are now available for research.]

[More and more high-tier mining deposits have started spawning in. The first area and second area directly around the region have massively expanded. Much rarer herbs can now be gathered from these new locations.]

[Town repository capacity has massively increased. You can now securely add in more items to the repository, and there is now an active option to refine lower-grade materials into higher-grade ones using a 3-to-1 conversion ratio.]

[The Animus Spirit can now be leveled up to the Bronze level.]

[Teleport Waypoints have been placed across all towns in the region. Now players and Non-Players can freely travel between this region cluster.]

[The Region Leader can now create artificial status windows for players.]

"As expected. Reaching Tier 2 with an entire region directly under your control is infinitely better than doing it with just a single town," Caelus smiled in deep satisfaction.

This was common, strategic knowledge. If it was just a solitary town, then the mining deposits and the massive expansion of the newbie areas, which would inevitably be converted into the main region grounds once the newbie phase was over, would not have expanded at all.

The new blueprints that were finally available were heavily related to advanced weaponry and heavy town defense.

There was now an official option to purchase and build cannons, heavy mortars, and hidden Thunderbolt Towers strategically inside the town perimeter. Most importantly, they could now elevate the levels of the individual cabins.

Right now, the global chat was going absolutely insane with the sudden influx of buffs.

[Player 555: We are officially Tier 2. I will now start giving everyone dedicated quests. So please make absolutely sure to start aggressively gathering the heavy resources required for the cannons, mortars, hidden towers, and other newly unlocked buildings.]

[Player 555: Defense is our absolute main priority right now. Also, I will make it a competitive challenge: those who contribute the most, I will personally give them a high-tier reward. Each quest completed and more items built heavily means more Contribution Points for you. So good luck.]

Caelus then turned his attention to the others gathered on the wall.

"Alright, what are your immediate plans?"

"I am going to the Divine Kingdom of Water," Mia spoke up first. "I have established a solid connection there. I want to observe the place much more closely. That place is riddled with ancient mysteries, and since everyone there possesses a soul, I can drastically advance forward in my personal investigations."

"Hm? Alright," Caelus nodded. "What about you guys?"

"We will ruthlessly hunt down beasts in the Endless Expanse," Kevin and Julian said in unison. "We are lagging behind the curve. We absolutely need to complete our Ascension Quests."

Caelus nodded his approval.

"Oh yeah, speaking of which, what happened to that official meeting arranged by the City Lord?" Caelus turned to Mia and asked.

"It went through flawlessly. Since you were unconscious, he did not bother calling you or Miss Sylvia," Mia said with an indifferent shrug.

"Oh, alright." Caelus nodded.

Soon, they all set off on their respective tasks. Sylvia and Caelus remained standing on top of the fortified walls, overlooking their domain.

"What do you think, Sylvia? Do you think it is time to manually ascend everyone to Bronze? We can technically do that now."

"I firmly believe we should wait," Sylvia spoke softly, standing very close to Caelus with her hands gently resting over his arm. "It is far too early to decide anything major. We simply do not know who is truly worthy of that power and who isn’t yet."

"There are still a lot of hidden snakes waiting in our region. The contribution point system you just made should clearly help us understand their true motives," Sylvia said. "Those who did not actively contribute... let’s just exclude them entirely."

"That sounds like a solid plan," Caelus said with an approving smile. "Then, let us head out to the Divine Region of Fire. Let’s look around the actual kingdom first for a bit. There should be high-level challenges there that can give us a lot of raw levels."

"Let’s go," Sylvia replied with a pleasant smile.