Only after returning to the Aether Laboratory did Ye Bai finally let out a sigh of relief.
Originally, this had just been a mission to gather information about the Chaotic Star Sea, and everything had gone smoothly—until an unexpected incident occurred at the end, leaving her with many thoughts.
Ye Bai could sense that the torrent of information contained an overwhelming amount of data, enough to answer all her current questions. Yet, precisely because it was so vast, she could only grasp a fraction of it.
Back when she was still at F-rank, communicating with C-rank Aurora had rely required a bit more ti to "decode" the information. Now, despite her B-rank ntal strength, she could only catch fleeting glimpses of the torrent, a testant to the sheer disparity in scale.
Moreover, Ye Bai had already sensed that attempting such a connection again wouldn't be possible in normal space—it required a special zone like the wormhole mission area.
Having confird her thoughts, she turned her attention to the newly acquired Darkmagnetic production technology obtained from the mission, peeling back the veil on this mysterious substance.
Surprisingly, the base material for Darkmagnetic wasn’t rare—it was silicon, an abundant elent in the universe. However, Darkmagnetic was ford under a unique atomic arrangent, compressed to its limits by imnse energy.
This special process rendered it "unrecognizable," and due to its unique properties, it was classified as a new and distinct material.
With a thought, the newly acquired technology crystallized into a tiny star, manifesting within the Aether Laboratory.
Though she now knew the production thod, Ye Bai couldn’t just conjure Darkmagnetic out of thin air—it required the facilities of the Aether Lab. But since she wasn’t short on funds, she set it aside for now.
Closing her eyes, Ye Bai connected to the Starnet.
Increasing her strength had beco her top priority.
She couldn’t ignore this sudden influx of information—her instincts told her it was critically important.
Don’t be discovered. Beware the stars. That familiar flash… If her ntal strength were higher—say, if she reached A-rank before attempting again—would she be able to comprehend more?
……
Logging into the Starnet, Ye Bai skimd through the latest cosmic news as usual.
And found herself famous once again.
[White Night City’s Territory Score Breaks 100,000]
Opening the trending headline, she was greeted with a "screenshot" of the Lord Rankings.
1st Place: White Night, Territory Score: 100,000, Occupied Resource Points: 2
2nd Place: Zeta, Territory Score: 43,428
3rd Place: Xi Mo, Territory Score: 42,973
4th Place…
The interstellar folks sure love their milestones… Ye Bai mused, knowing she’d never have the patience to ti a perfect integer screenshot.
The article also included in-depth analyses from cosmic scholars dissecting her territory’s secrets.
With several top-tier territories having upgraded to Level 6, the role of faction inclinations was no longer a mystery. Interdiate Libraries and Inventions were gradually becoming common knowledge among civilized factions, and resource points had been correctly deduced through various clues:
"Based on White Night City’s rapid increase in guardian levels, we speculate that it possesses a unique upgrade channel, possibly similar to the initial Void Gate, with a fixed cooldown. The acquisition of resource points is also highly likely tied to this chanism."
"However, the related technology might only be achievable at Level 7. In terms of knowledge acquisition and territorial education, White Night is far ahead—an estimated gap of at least four in-ga months."
"Perhaps the real question we should be asking is: How does White Night always seem to be on the right path?"
Because I have a guide… Ye Bai answered silently in her mind before logging into Infinite Worlds.
The mission outside hadn’t taken much ti—only a single in-ga day had passed in Infinite Worlds.
Walking along the smooth stone-paved roads of her territory, Ye Bai observed how White Night City had transford with the help of countless players.
The inner city’s frawork was now fully established—roads, residences, and infrastructure had all been upgraded, giving it the polished feel of an NPC capital while retaining the distinct flair of a player-run town. Remarkably, none of this had disrupted the territory’s normal production or daily life.
Under these conditions, the lords on the leaderboard finally witnessed the staggering leap White Night City made when combining NPC productivity with the "cheat code" of player labor. It wasn’t just a matter of adding wings to a tiger.
White Night’s production chain was impeccably balanced. With players handling the bulk of simple, repetitive tasks, NPCs focused on skilled work that boosted their profession mastery—resulting in astonishing efficiency under Policy Card bonuses.
Add to that inventions, dungeon clears, and resource point captures—feats no ordinary territory could yet replicate—and it was no surprise that White Night’s score had hit 100,000 half a month after becoming a city.
Once again, White Night’s score left its competitors trailing by an entire digit. The most frustrating part for many high-ranking lords with faction backing was that they knew why White Night had so much player support—yet couldn’t stop it.
The Blue Star server’s event wasn’t dominated by a single civilization in the Star Alliance, but by agents from countless factions. With internal competition among these civilizations, as long as one was willing to take White Night’s quests, the others would lose out by refusing.
In this scenario, it was better to collectively reclaim their equipnt, minimize losses, and at least monitor White Night’s progress in real ti.
This was Ye Bai’s open stratagem—and she knew the Star Alliance couldn’t refuse.
Arriving at the Tree of Genesis, Ye Bai spent three productivity points to unlock the [Industrialization] technology. Its effect was to consolidate qualified production activities into specialized industries, further boosting efficiency and reducing costs.
After unlocking it, she imdiately established [Equipnt] and [Luxury Goods] industries. The forr encompassed production from both the Blacksmith and Tailor shops, while the latter combined select outputs from Tailoring, Jewelry, and Handicrafts.
Currently, White Night’s monthly fiscal balance hovered around 50-60 gold coins in surplus—a figure still climbing with population growth and tourism revenue. The reason it hadn’t broken 100 was due to recent spikes in military expenses.
With industrialization upgrades, Ye Bai projected this inco would multiply several tis over.
After all, once Blue Star players leveled up, there’d be a whole new market for her territory’s surplus equipnt.
Currently, the only place for Ye Bai to quickly enhance her strength was the Divine Realm. However, since each exploration of the Divine Realm took considerable ti, she didn’t imdiately use the Well of Origin to leave, just in case of unexpected situations.
Ye Bai busied herself with the daily affairs of her territory, led the NPCs in two rounds of Void Captures, and even found ti to establish five new trade routes.
By now, including the previous two batches of "experience babies," White Night City had a total of 200 combat units with levels ranging from 55 to 60. This number of military forces would be considered substantial even in a main city.
Of course, compared to a main city, White Night City still lacked high-tier combat power after the third advancent, which depended on accumulated knowledge.
But for the players of the Blue Star server, who were still struggling to reach the second advancent, these defensive forces were more than sufficient.
After giving instructions to her trusted subordinates, Ye Bai finally took Autofis and the Paper Man with her and returned to the Well of Origin.
Seeing the mysterious and familiar semi-illusory well, Ye Bai felt slightly reassured.
Truthfully, she wasn’t entirely confident about raising her ntal strength to A-rank. In her mories, the level cap during the open beta was 80, and the Demigod stage beyond that was only unlocked after the Divine Realm expansion was released.
But since she had obtained the blueprint for the Well of Origin and the Divine Realm indeed existed, perhaps this version of the Multiverse was different from the open beta she rembered.
"Drip…"
The Well of Origin had long been fully charged. The illusory currents carried Ye Bai through the familiar journey.
After her third advancent, her increased strength allowed her to remain conscious for longer during the crossing. Though she still felt dizzy, she could now endure it completely.
After a brief disorientation, the Divine Realm—always shrouded in an indescribable desolation—appeared before Ye Bai once more.
"Ah-uh!"
Back in the familiar Divine Realm, Autofis let out a cry and trotted around excitedly.
"Naless, can you tell where we are?"
Ye Bai looked around. They stood in a barren wasteland with hard, dark-brown ground. Aside from a few scattered, naless weeds in the distance, there was almost no sign of plants or animals, let alone buildings or people.
When Kraken had sent her back from the Abyss to the surface, it was impossible for Ye Bai to return the sa way. After all, her initial arrival in the Abyss had been due to the Paper Man reversing the summoning ritual of an Abyssal cultist, resulting in a reverse summoning.
At the ti, Ye Bai had only confird the area was safe before returning, so she still had no idea where this place was.
Hearing her question, the Paper Man replied, "There’s no information on the conceptual level. However, since our destination is the Erald Forest, there’s a simpler thod."
"A simpler thod… You an the Branch of the World Tree?" Ye Bai imdiately understood and glanced at the accessory hanging at her waist.
Aside from being a quest item and a high-stat accessory, it was, in essence, a sacred relic of the elves—a branch from the World Tree itself.
"Correct," the Paper Man affird. "The Erald Forest is a magical forest created by the life force of the World Tree. By using the key’s connection to the World Tree’s main body, we can locate the Erald Forest. All you need to do now is channel your psychic energy to activate the branch."
Ye Bai nodded and unhooked the accessory from her waist.
Channeling psychic energy was essentially channeling ntal strength.
The next mont, the unusually fresh and vibrant green branch glowed faintly in her hand.
Simultaneously, a directional guide—similar to the one that appeared when establishing trade routes—manifested in Ye Bai’s consciousness.
However, when she saw the direction indicated, she froze.
Noticing her reaction, the Paper Man quickly asked, "What’s wrong?"
With a strange expression, Ye Bai said, "If the guidance isn’t mistaken… we’re already standing in the Erald Forest."
Reviews
All reviews (0)