The three of them were stunned at the sight.

"Establish a stronghold? What does that mean?"

Immediately, they all stopped what they were doing and peered over.

"【Activity Introduction: Channels will no longer be merged. Some are exceptionally talented and ambitious, already at the forefront of their journey, while others may have been forced to proceed. This activity will give everyone a chance to choose again.】"

"【Third Week Activity: Nobody or World-Renowned?】"

"【Stronghold Creation: Jointly funded and built by all Survivors in this channel, create a super city capable of accommodating everyone simultaneously. Within this city, only two identities will exist: Settler and Traveler.】"

"【Settler: After abandoning your train, you will no longer be able to advance, but you will gain permanent residency in the Stronghold City, and most system functions will still be retained.】"

"【Traveler: If the journey is too tiring, why not rest well at the stronghold? Changing direction at any time will not affect your current progress.】"

"【Hint: The Stronghold City is not invincible. It can also be attacked by monsters or other Survivors, so please protect your home!】"

"【Now, please choose your identity: Settler or Traveler?】"

"【Hint: leaders will automatically assume the role ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ of Stronghold City Lord. You cannot become a Settler!】"

Bai Cheng didn't pay attention to the last hint, as she had no intention of stopping her journey.

However, this activity indeed surprised her. Leng Ningxue and Yu Nian were equally shocked.

"This time, we can directly change our identities?!"

"Does that mean if we become Settlers, we'll become native residents of this Stronghold City? What about employees?" Yu Nian couldn't help but ask.

Leng Ningxue, who was beside her, pondered, "Remember the Infinite City? When we fought our way there, we didn't see any employees around those Infinite Marauders. They didn't have trains either."

Her words enlightened the other two, but Bai Cheng thought of an even more terrifying possibility.

"You guys, what if, after Survivors choose to become Settlers, one day in the future, they will also be treated as Infinite Marauders by other new Survivors and attacked?"

The two were stunned by her words. Whether it was Pioneers or Infinite Marauders, everyone was essentially just a Survivor in this world.

They suddenly realized that the shift in identity among Survivors might just be a cycle.

Compared to the surprise of Bai Cheng and the other two, the Survivors who received the activity notification at this moment were clearly even more shocked.

Immediately, the entire channel erupted, messages flying by so fast they became blurs. Compared to previous major events in the channel, this impact on everyone was undoubtedly unprecedented.

"Settlers? Holy crap, doesn't this mean we won't have to wander in the wilderness anymore and can settle down and live like ordinary people?"

"Exactly, exactly! Everyone working together can rebuild a home!"

"This is awesome! Abandoning the train is considered a cost? Who would want to keep wandering?!"

"By the way, how do we raise funds to build the stronghold? Why isn't my activity page responding?"

"Only leaders can activate it. Didn't anyone notice? Oh, right, come on, a JK twin-tailed loli to live with me, CP request!"

Bai Cheng's side instantly accumulated over 999 unread messages, all of them, without exception, were Survivors urging her to start the stronghold construction.

But it wasn't that she was deliberately delaying; she had only just now discovered a new function on her train's screen.

"【Stronghold】?" Bai Cheng curiously clicked on it.

"【Do you want to start the construction of the Stronghold City?】"

"Yes!"

"【Stronghold City: Unnamed】"

"【Stronghold Location: Not yet selected】"

"【Materials required for Basic Stronghold Construction: 100 million wood, 50M stone, 50M iron ore, 10M unlimited coins】"

"【Contribution Ranking...】"

The amount of materials required was exaggeratedly large, but with ten million Survivors in the entire channel, the actual amount of materials each person needed to contribute was not much.

And fortunately, there was also a contribution ranking, which prevented some Survivors from slacking off and not contributing materials.

The moment Bai Cheng initiated the stronghold construction, the four types of required materials surged at a visible, rapid speed, completing one-third in the blink of an eye.

It must be said that, apart from people like Bai Cheng herself who had certain strength but no power to choose, almost all other Survivors were full of longing for this stronghold, so they were not stingy.

"But this stronghold seems to have a level limit?" Leng Ningxue wondered, "If most people become Settlers, how will they get the materials needed for subsequent upgrades?"

At this point, relying on the few Travelers to contribute materials would obviously not be realistic.

Bai Cheng also clearly realized this, but the stronghold had not yet been built. Even if someone chose to become a Settler, the train would not immediately disband, at least not until they arrived there.

Bai Cheng thought without speaking, apparently, they weren't the only ones who realized this.

Soon, all the materials were collected, and many people also reported this issue to Bai Cheng.

At this point, she looked at the prompt on the screen and understood.

"【Stronghold Location: Not yet selected】"

"【Materials required for Intermediate Stronghold Construction: 1B wood, 500M stone, 50M silver ore, 50M bronze ore, 100M iron ore, 10M unlimited coins】"

Clearly, this was just a material collection phase. As the City Lord, as long as Bai Cheng didn't select a location for the stronghold, the city would remain in an unbuilt state.

She spoke in the channel: "After raising the stronghold to the highest level, I will set its location in the Dark Forest."

Bai Cheng's message was in golden font and floated at the top of the chat box, like a channel announcement in a game. This made it difficult for ordinary Survivors not to notice a leader's message.

She already had prestige in Channel #2; no one refuted her view, and almost everyone expressed agreement.

As for choosing the Dark Forest, the reason was simple: although the lush green grasslands had more pleasant scenery, they would also be the choice of most channels. This way, they could avoid them.

The second and most important reason was that in the Dark Forest, besides obtaining iron ore, killing monsters could also drop magic crystals.

Given everyone's current strength, the Dark Forest, apart from being a bit gloomy, was completely a beginner's map.

Everyone was in high spirits, and materials were collected quickly.

Two and a half hours later, the stronghold level had directly reached the highest level after the advanced level.

"【Stronghold City: Unnamed】"

"【Stronghold Location: Not yet selected】"

"【Highest Level Stronghold!】"

"【Your Stronghold City has reached its maximum level, with complete facilities, and can accommodate all Survivors in this channel!】"

"A city that can accommodate up to ten million people?" Bai Cheng's eyes narrowed. She couldn't even imagine the scale of such a city.

"Everyone can enter at the same time, will it be too crowded? Will it be too exaggerated?" Yu Nian had already imagined the congestion.

At this moment, Bai Cheng had already set the stronghold's location in the Dark Forest, and the identity selection began for everyone.

At the same time, a prompt popped up on the screen.

"【Congratulations on successfully establishing a stronghold. Would you like to proceed immediately?】"

"【Note: It will not affect your current journey, and during the journey to the stronghold, the train speed will increase to 200%, with no fuel consumption required.】"

At this time, their three trains had already stopped on the sea, and not far away stood the giant triangular curtain quietly in the darkness.

Yu Nian looked very excited: "Xiao Cheng, you are the City Lord, and also the leader. Let's go and see it too!"

"Yes, at least we'll have an idea. The newly built city's facilities are definitely not perfect, and we won't stay for too long either." Leng Ningxue also suggested.

Bai Cheng nodded: "Alright then."

With that, she decisively started the train, her mood also a bit excited.

"I never thought I'd return to the Dark Forest again."