Ignoring the thoroughly defeated devil, Ye Bai led Autofis up the stairs to the office on the upper floor.
It was mid-morning, and sunlight stread through the windows of the mayor's office, casting warm patches of light across the room.
Autofis curiously observed the various furnishings in the building, occasionally leaning in to sniff them.
anwhile, Ye Bai made her rounds through the small offices of the diplomatic, financial, and security departnts upstairs. Finding no urgent matters to attend to, she finally descended to the first floor and pushed open the door to the mayor's office.
"Creak—"
At the sound of the door opening, nearby patrolling guards and passing residents halted in their tracks.
"It's the lord!"
"Has the lord returned?!"
After not seeing Ye Bai for so long, the townsfolk couldn't hide their excitent when they noticed the mayor's office opening.
However, the first thing to erge from the doorway was a gray-and-white… donkey's head.
This startled the approaching townspeople so much that they froze mid-step, rooted to the spot.
"Hee-haw?"
Seeing their reaction, the donkey's face twisted into an eerily human-like expression of confusion.
"What's wrong?"
The next mont, a familiar voice rang out—the voice of the beloved and respected lord of White Night Town. Ye Bai stepped out from behind the office door, one step behind Autofis.
The crowd collectively exhaled in relief before erupting into cheers and rushing forward to greet her.
Ye Bai took the opportunity to introduce her new mount, Autofis, to everyone.
Instantly, the townspeople regarded the donkey with newfound respect. Though it looked like an ordinary donkey, if the wise and mighty lord had chosen it as her steed, it must be anything but ordinary.
Besides, how many donkeys could make such expressive faces?
After exchanging greetings with the residents, Ye Bai noticed more and more people gathering and quickly urged them to disperse.
But as they scattered, so did the news—the lord had returned from her journey, bringing with her a miraculous donkey as her mount.
Further away, a few players active in White Night Town, unnoticed by the townsfolk, faded into transparency as they logged off to report Ye Bai's reappearance to their respective civilizations.
White Night had always been a peculiar anomaly in the world of Infinite Realms—a faction that never revealed its civilization affiliation yet consistently outpaced others in developnt. Even as other civilizations caught up, many still stationed spies to keep tabs on White Night.
In the past, Ye Bai had been elusive, but never to the extent of vanishing completely. There were always indirect rumors—about White Night Town or so mysterious powerhouse. Especially during this golden age of rapid expansion for other lords, it was hard to believe any player in Infinite Realms could disappear for an entire in-ga month.
However, among interstellar civilizations, whispers had begun circulating about unusual disturbances in the lawless Chaos Star Sea. So intelligence agencies even speculated that Ye Bai had been forced offline due to real-world circumstances.
This only fueled theories that she was so notorious outlaw from the Chaos Star Sea.
Blocking the Star Network wasn't sothing achievable through re physical isolation—it required affecting an individual's ntal state, such as through psionic inhibitors made of shadowsteel or severe physical or ntal trauma.
Just as these rumors started gaining traction, Ye Bai reappeared in White Night Town after a month-long absence.
Unsurprisingly, this news would send ripples through the intelligence networks of various civilizations.
Ye Bai knew that any activity linked to "White Night" in the territory would draw scrutiny. The more she tried to conceal it, the more speculation and probing it would invite. After a brief glance, she paid it no mind and instead approached the Tree of Genesis near the mayor's office.
By now, the area had been enclosed by walls and designated as a restricted zone, off-limits to players.
Additionally, the level-four Tree of Genesis was shielded by a 1,000-durability energy barrier that prevented any living being—except Ye Bai—from approaching.
Autofis, who had followed her, circled the tree with keen interest, while even the usually silent paper figurine couldn't help but exclaim in awe:
"What a wondrous creation… It resembles the Tree of Life, yet it's profoundly different."
Ye Bai smiled. In terms of sheer information density, the Tree of Genesis—which encompassed three technological branches and an entire infrastructure system—likely surpassed even the Tree of Life.
Passing effortlessly through the translucent barrier, Ye Bai reached out and touched the trunk.
Detailed territory information appeared before her:
[White Night Town]
Lord: White Night
Current Population: 342
…
Health: 94
Sanitation: 95
Entertainnt: 99
Luxury Demand: 100 (Sugar: t, Premium Alcohol: t, Furniture: t, Textiles: t, Artisan Goods: t)
Personal Hobby Fulfillnt: (4/16)
Happiness: 98
During Ye Bai's ti in the Divine Realm, a group of 124 refugees had arrived in White Night Town. Naturally, she had set the default to accept them—no lord in Infinite Realms would ever turn away refugees.
Thanks to the town's abundant resources and well-developed facilities, the initial dip in statistics caused by the newcors had been fully mitigated within days. In fact, the current numbers were even better than before Ye Bai's departure.
As she watched, the Personal Hobby Fulfillnt count ticked down from 4 to 3.
In Ye Bai's eyes, the players who frequented White Night Town—aside from being walking equipnt vendors—served one crucial purpose: fulfilling the personal hobby requests of the townsfolk.
And surprisingly, these tasks were highly sought after.
White Night Town was the wealthiest player-controlled settlent, with infrastructure that even surpassed many NPC-developed cities.
Higher productivity ant higher living standards for residents. Consequently, quests issued by White Night's NPCs offered better rewards than those from other towns, making them irresistible to players. Completing them also ant they could spend their earnings right there in the town—a win-win.
The only regret was that Ye Bai's extended stay in the Divine Realm had caused her to miss a visit from the traveling rchant. But compared to the gains she had made in the Divine Realm, this loss was negligible.
anwhile, in the [Developnt Strategy] tab, a new notification had appeared:
The upgrade conditions for a fifth-tier territory are: 'Population reaches 320; possesses a finance departnt, security departnt, and foreign affairs departnt; and the territory must supply no fewer than three types of luxury goods.' Currently, Baiye Town has already t all these requirents.
Ye Bai opened the Lord Rankings again and raised her eyebrows in surprise.
As expected of a cosmic-level civilization—after neglecting it for an in-ga month, Ruilan Empire and the Kain Federation's territory scores had grown astonishingly. Ruilan Village's score was now 8,592, with Luofei Village close behind at 8,223.
Both civilizations had developed rapidly within an in-ga month, increasing their scores by nearly 7,000 points.
After a brief thought, Ye Bai realized that these two territories had likely opened all possible trade routes in their vicinity with the help of a large number of players.
—With the ability to command so many players, accomplishing this was even easier for them than it had been for Ye Bai.
With nurous players scouting the surrounding forces of their territories, dispatching two or three NPC villagers as transport teams, and then having players escort them, they could open multiple trade routes in very little ti, gaining corresponding productivity bonuses.
In comparison, Baiye Town's current score was 25,674. Despite the productivity growth under town-level developnt, the nurical increase was less than half of what the two cosmic civilizations had achieved. Judging by the scores, these two territories were likely close to upgrading to town-level status.
Ye Bai couldn't help but mutter, "Hmm... I need to speed up the developnt of my territory, or the gap with other territories might shrink to less than 10,000 points."
If Zeta and Xi Mo heard this, they’d probably curse.
Glancing up at the sky and seeing it was still early, Ye Bai decided to proceed with the upgrade.
From tier four to six, the territory level corresponds to towns. Each upgrade would trigger attacks by second-tier monsters—nothing beyond tier two, aning no bosses above level 60 would appear, though they would be stronger than the previous three-headed vultures.
At level 60, Ye Bai could handle second-tier monsters ranging from level 20 to 40 on her own, not to ntion the newly trained crossbown in the territory, now equipped with energy crossbows.
Of course, while second-tier bosses shouldn’t be underestimated, there was another undeniable reason for her confidence—after witnessing high-level monsters in the Divine Realm and even assisting Kraken in slaying an Infernal Lord, Ye Bai’s perspective had shifted sowhat.
Compared to the high-tier monsters in the Divine Realm, which were often level 50 or 60, the oversized wildlife bosses in the Myriad Realms could almost be considered docile and cute.
After confirming the upgrade, Ye Bai imdiately received a system notification about the incoming monster attack.
The warning bells rang out swiftly, giving the town’s residents ti to prepare.
But even faster than the bells was the news spreading through Baiye Town that the lord had returned. So when the alarm sounded, the residents only paused briefly in surprise before calmly continuing their tasks, albeit working a little faster than usual.
anwhile, in the military district where the barracks were being constructed, the new recruits erupted into excited cheers:
"Finally, we get to see real combat!"
"Long live Lord Ye Bai!"
Their enthusiasm drew amused scolding from the veteran soldiers and lord’s guards serving as instructors: "Don’t wet your pants when you actually see the monsters!"
Before leaving, Ye Bai had already assigned tasks—thirty of the newly arrived refugees were selected for training. Now, Baiye Town had a total of ninety crossbown, plus ten personal guards, making a neat hundred. The ratio of soldiers to civilians was quite high.
However, in this fantasy world with monsters, a higher ratio indicated greater territorial strength. Other NPC towns couldn’t support so many soldiers due to productivity limitations, while player-run towns of other civilizations might achieve similar ratios—but only by relying on real-world players for labor.
Baiye Town’s happiness levels were high, and consequently, cri rates were extrely low. Aside from keeping an eye on unruly players, security matters were minimal.
During Ye Bai’s absence, exploration and monster clearing around the territory had followed a cautious strategy. Daily activities mostly involved cleaning up the remaining beasts that players had already thinned out, leaving little challenge.
So when news broke of an impending monster siege, the soldiers in the barracks were practically overjoyed.
...
After handling these matters, Ye Bai checked the list of special talents among the refugees who had arrived in her absence. Then, leaving the Tree of Creation, she visited their posts to assess their attributes and reassign them to more suitable roles.
Along the way, news of her return had spread throughout the town. Residents she encountered greeted her with a mix of nervousness and excitent.
Autofis also received a wave of awed stares—"Is that the lord’s mount? So impressive!"
A 98% satisfaction rate was sothing even NPC capital cities couldn’t achieve. Ye Bai was truly beloved by the people of Baiye Town.
Of course, aside from the residents, Ye Bai also encountered several groups of players. However, with Blaze, the captain of her guards, instinctively following close by, the players—though burning with curiosity—only dared to take distant "snapshots" of the newly spotted Autofis.
Before long, news spread across the Star Network: "After her disappearance, Ye Bai seems to have returned with a donkey as her mount," sparking lively discussions.
After an in-ga month, the average player level was now around 30. The strongest and most resourceful few had reached level 40 but were stuck at the class advancent bottleneck, as levels in the Myriad Realms didn’t equate to absolute power.
Unlike Ye Bai, who could simply allocate points to learn skills, other players had to genuinely master their class abilities. So aside from leveling, they spent considerable ti improving their skill proficiency. Thus, the highest-level players were stuck at 40, needing to accumulate enough strength to pass their second-tier advancent quests.
At this stage, interstellar players had naturally encountered the mount system in the Myriad Realms. For instance, the horned horses bred in Ye Bai’s territory were considered excellent mounts.
However, buying mounts from NPCs wasn’t cheap, and upkeep was a gold sink. Before first-tier advancent, most players were too poor to afford them. Even after advancing, only a handful purchased mounts—though many found them more flashy than practical.
As for taming mounts themselves, finding high-quality ones was already a challenge. Ye Bai herself had raced against rchant guilds the mont she encountered a herd of horned horses.
To the surprise of interstellar gars, the big shot known as Bai Ye had been missing for an in-ga month. At least for now, the most noticeable change was the addition of a donkey mount… So, what’s so special about this donkey?
As they traveled, Autofis trotted along briskly, drawing curious glances from onlookers. The donkey itself seed just as curious, looking around without a hint of shyness.
By the ti Ye Bai had assigned the last special talent to their new post and arrived near the residential area’s bakery, the warm, sweet aroma of freshly baked bread—infused with fruitwood and cream—wafted through the air.
"Hee-haw!"
Autofis suddenly let out a delighted cry, its eyes sparkling with excitent. In a flash, it appeared at the bakery’s entrance and took a big bite out of a basket of freshly baked bread displayed in the window.
The plump baker inside imdiately furrowed his brows. "Whose—"
Mid-sentence, he spotted Ye Bai approaching and quickly broke into a smile. "Lord Ye Bai!"
"Ah, this is my mount. I’ll buy that basket of bread." Ye Bai took out a silver coin and purchased the entire batch of freshly baked butter bread.
"Oh! So this is Lord Ye Bai’s mount!" The baker suddenly recalled a rumor he’d heard and quickly waved off the paynt. "No need, no need…"
Ye Bai tossed the coin into the cashbox nearby. "I insist."
Food within the territory was rationed, and anything beyond that had to be purchased. So, unlike the initial communal kitchen, the bakery now operated with a semi-comrcial approach.
Seeing Ye Bai’s determination to pay, the baker didn’t dare refuse. Instead, he enthusiastically piled more bread into the basket, stacking it high until it could hold no more—only stopping at Ye Bai’s insistence. Autofis grinned widely in satisfaction.
The baker laughed heartily. "Seems like it really enjoys my bread!"
"Hee-haw!" Autofis promptly responded in agreent.
What a scene—like kindred spirits eting at last…
Ye Bai’s lips twitched slightly, but she resisted the urge to tell the baker that this donkey was the "otherworldly VIP" she’d once ntioned.
Leaving the bakery, Autofis pranced along happily, clearly pleased.
Ye Bai could understand. Previously, Autofis had only eaten cold bread, so the warm, freshly baked loaves must have been far more fragrant.
Catching the aroma, Ye Bai picked up a piece herself. Just as she was about to take a bite, she paused.
Previously, under the influence of the [Kraken Keeper] title’s lingering aura, she had developed a habit of frequently checking her stamina bar and eating to replenish it.
But now, sothing felt off.
At this point, her stamina should have been around 50 to 60 at most, yet when she checked, it was at 123.
Then, right before her eyes, the number ticked up to 124—it wasn’t decreasing but increasing instead.
Autofis noticed Ye Bai stopping and gave her a questioning look, while the paper figure on the World Tree branch also asked, "What’s wrong?"
Realizing sothing, Ye Bai opened her title list and found [Kraken Keeper]. The description had changed slightly:
You are tainted by the Kraken’s aura, gaining ‘Sustained Devouring.’
The core remained the sa—still the influence of Kraken’s aura—but the previous "Eternal Hunger" had transford into "Sustained Devouring."
The pet system had appeared out of nowhere, and Ye Bai could only see Kraken’s status when directly observing her. She had assud tracking her condition would be difficult, but now it seed the title reflected it.
From the description, Kraken was currently feasting on the massive energy core of the Abyss—a bottomless battery.
Relieved yet bemused, Ye Bai muttered:
"It seems… I won’t feel hungry anymore."
She had expected to consu vast amounts of food, but Kraken’s aura adapted to her actions. Now that Kraken was absorbing the Abyss core’s endless energy, instead of sharing experience from kills, it fed back to Ye Bai in another form.
Not only would she never go hungry, but she also no longer needed sleep to recover stamina in-ga—freeing up ti to accomplish more than before.
Even better, this energy was slowly but automatically converting into experience points.
Previously, under Kraken’s influence, Ye Bai had been able to "get stronger by eating." Now, it had escalated to "getting stronger just by breathing."
How was this any different from cheating?
Well… not much.
——
For her final stop, Ye Bai headed to the industrial district’s blacksmith shop, where she found Felix hard at work.
The red-haired boy with special bloodline stood closest to the furnace. Unlike the other blacksmiths, who were drenched in sweat, Felix showed no signs of exertion—his face even looked a little pale.
Ye Bai checked the blacksmith shop’s level and status, surprised to find that, aside from Felix, the other blacksmiths’ skill progression was faster than expected.
Despite the tailor shop’s title buff, the blacksmiths’ growth rate wasn’t far behind.
Then she noticed the unusually intense furnace flas—Felix, the literal "sunshine boy," seed to be the reason.
When Ye Bai arrived, the blacksmiths all paused their work. She quickly motioned for them to continue before calling over the slightly nervous Felix, and together they went to Lucy’s herbal workshop.
The half-step divine-tier Snake Demon Lord Kedar had left nothing behind after Kraken’s feast—except for a crystal containing a profession template. Ye Bai wasn’t sure if this would fulfill Felix’s personal quest.
She handed the crystal to Lucy, who took Felix inside for so preparation.
Not long after, Lucy erged.
"That was quick—did the potion work?" Ye Bai asked curiously.
Lucy nodded. "He drank it. Should be fine."
"Boom—"
Monts later, a surge of energy erupted from the workshop, carrying the scorching heat of molten rock. For a fleeting mont, Ye Bai even glimpsed the phantom of the Snake Demon Lord flickering in the air.
Ye Bai couldn't help but click his tongue in surprise. He turned to Lucy and saw the sa unprepared expression on her face, prompting him to ask, "Are you… sure this is alright?"
"Of course! It’s sothing you, our lord, brought—how could there be any problem?" Lucy affird confidently.
Hearing this, Ye Bai felt sothing was off. "You didn’t turn it into a potion?"
Lucy shook her head. "The crystal’s structure was already intact—it couldn’t be altered further. I just added a lubricating agent to help Felix swallow it."
Ye Bai: "…"
So, sotis having subjects with unwavering loyalty could have its downsides.
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