Chapter 116: Should the Family Territory be expanded?

Accompanied by a brilliant white light, the token slowly rose into the air.

Like a protective shield, a circle of white light enveloped the entire nearby area, roughly the size of two soccer fields.

【Confirm Family Territory?】

Konan, who had activated the Family Token, could clearly feel that she could freely control the movement range of this area covered by the white light.

It could be shrunk or expanded.

Shrinking the territory range was free, but expanding it required consuming the same material as activating the Family Token: Sarina's heart.

Each heart could expand the Family Territory by a range of 20m x 20m.

【Waiting time: five hours】

"Take out all the Silver Hearts and trade them to me!"

After seeing the effects of the Silver Material clearly, Konan reacted quickly and shouted loudly at all the players of the Dawn Organization.

At the same time, she posted a message within the server.

【Paper Flower】: Buying 【Sarina's Heart】 at a high price of 40,000 Reward Points. Sellers, come to the Blood Wasteland to trade with the Dawn Organization players.

Inside the server, most of the content was idle chatter about forming teams.

The sudden appearance of text shimmering with an orange halo immediately attracted everyone's attention.

This was a hidden feature discovered by players.

Shouts costing 20 Reward Points per line could only display inconspicuous black text.

A shout costing 200 Reward Points could change the text color, making it dazzling and eye-catching, and it could remain floating in the most prominent pinned position for half an hour.

However, most players were reluctant to spend two hundred Reward Points to shout unless there was a truly urgent matter; the publishers were mostly leaders of various organizations.

For example, Paper Flower of the Dawn Organization, a mysterious Noble from the Land of Rain, had shown unfathomable and astonishing financial power in both auctions and equipment purchases, even managing to single-handedly build the Dawn Organization into a force capable of standing toe-to-toe with the Four Great Ninja Villages.

"Buying Silver Material at a high price—could it be that they want to create a family right now?"

Some players asked, but received no response.

Merchants, who spent most of their time in the Ninja Novice Village, stared at this newly posted message, restless and eager.

Currently, the market price of one Silver Heart was 30,000 Reward Points, with a maximum of 34,000 Reward Points.

Although the output of Silver Hearts was not high,

there were only four organizations with Family Tokens, so the demand was not great. Merchants wanted to ask for sky-high prices, while Kirigakure and Sunagakure wanted to drive hard bargains; they were all still locked in an intense price tug-of-war.

At this time, the Dawn Organization was suddenly buying Silver Material at a high price—could it be that they had a secret deal with the Alliance of Merchants?

Did they want to inflate the price of Silver Material and take Kirigakure and Sunagakure for a ride?

Many players held this thought, watching the subsequent developments.

Kirigakure,

Terumi Mei frowned and asked the elderly man beside her: "Yuan, I sent people to the Land of Rain to investigate the Dawn Organization. The intelligence gathered says that the Dawn Organization is a special organization that has suddenly emerged recently."

"They do not get involved in ninja battles."

"Some Dawn Organization players possess strength comparable to a Jonin, yet they take on low-level tasks like clearing stones, loosening soil, and digging canals, and they have the most contact with civilians."

Kirigakure also had tasks involving contact with civilians, all of which were D-Rank Missions, and most were assigned to Kirigakure Genin.

This was the norm.

No ninja village would send high-end combat power like a Jonin to plow fields or weed; that would be a complete waste of talent.

"Dawn Organization..."

Yuan, leaning on a snake-headed cane, had a hunched figure, yet possessed an aura that commanded respect without anger.

His head was shiny and hairless.

As an Elder who should have held the highest power in Kirigakure, his power had been completely taken over by Terumi Mei after the appearance of the Samsara Game.

Yuan was not annoyed, nor did he have any intention of opposing the Mizukage.

He had never been greedy for power; he had only opposed Karatachi Yagura everywhere in the past because he did not want to watch Kirigakure be driven to destruction.

The current Wudai Mizukage, Terumi Mei, completely surpassed all her predecessors in both intellect and strength.

He could rest assured entrusting Kirigakure to her.

Therefore, he had voluntarily abdicated to let the virtuous take over, only offering targeted advice based on his many years of experience during critical decisions.

"The Land of Rain has heavy rain all year round; the soil is not suitable for farming, and it is a battleground for the four wars, making it impossible to develop normally."

"In such a barren land, even the Nobles do not live comfortably."

"I heard there is a terrorist organization that stirs up wars everywhere, with its lair in the Land of Rain. I originally suspected that the Dawn Organization had ties to that terrorist organization, but now it seems that one stirs up war while the other buries its head in helping civilians. These two different philosophies cannot be reconciled; the two should not have much of a connection."

Yuan opened his eyes slightly and said: "If that is the case, the Dawn Organization's ability to rise in the game in such a short time is likely due to the secret support of the Alliance of Merchants."

It was to coordinate a performance to manipulate the market prices of various materials; this was a small trick the Alliance of Merchants often used during this period.

After a moment of contemplation, Terumi Mei summoned Chojuro and instructed: "Take a piece of Silver Material, go to the Blood Wasteland, and find the people from the Dawn Organization to trade. See if they accept it."

If they did not accept, it could be concluded that the Dawn Organization was a force pushed to the forefront by the Alliance of Merchants.

If they accepted the trade, she would cancel it at the very last moment of agreement, and she would not lose the Silver Material.

"Yuan."

Terumi Mei leaned on the desk, spread out a highly detailed map, and said: "This is the game map of the Death Soul Mountain Range surveyed by hiring some players at a high price. If Kirigakure wants to create a family, where would be the best place to set the territory?"

All parties wanting to create a family were very tacitly and cautiously choosing their family locations.

This was the same as when the Five Great Ninja Villages were founded;

the First Generation Shadows would conduct meticulous research and eventually build the ninja village in an area that could guarantee the greatest advantage.

Like Kirigakure, the Shodai Byakuren was skilled in Water Release Ninjutsu, and his subordinates were all Water Release experts, so they built the ninja village on the sea in the Land of Water.

The other ninja villages were the same.

"In the northwest corner of the Death Soul Mountain Range, there is a lava pool rich in nether energy. Set the family territory near that lava pool."

Moving to the conference room,

after a unanimous discussion between Terumi Mei and the Ninja Clans, the location of the Family Territory was finally determined.

She quickly logged into the game and led the players of the Mist Alliance to the vicinity of the lava pool,

Explosive Flame Ring.

Terumi Mei waved her purple staff, and a giant ring of flames, resembling a finger ring, imprisoned dozens of lava ghosts before suddenly tightening.

Being of the same fire attribute, the lava ghosts didn't even have room to resist or struggle before they were scorched by the explosive flames into dark red stones.

"Don't waste them, pick them up."

"The Lava Stone dropped by lava ghosts can be used to forge level five white weapons, which come with Fire Attribute Damage."

One does not know the cost of firewood and rice until one manages a household;

the number of Mist Alliance players had already exceeded seven hundred, and with that came a huge logistical burden that the funds from the real-world Kirigakure alone could not support.

Fortunately, by raiding Konoha, they had recovered some resources.

Otherwise, she, a dignified Mizukage, would be so poor she would have to sell herself to a game merchant as a slave.

The cleanup of the Pollution Monster was finished.

A Family Token slowly rose into the air, erupting with brilliant light.

Terumi Mei's expression changed abruptly, anxiety appearing in her exquisite eyes, and she hurriedly said: "All Mist Alliance players, quickly contact the freelance players you are familiar with and purchase Silver Material!"

At the same time, a message was quickly posted in the channel, also at the highest specification of two hundred Reward Points.

【Light of the Mist】: High-price purchase of 【Sarina's Heart】 for forty-one thousand Reward Points; those selling, come to the lava pool in the Death Soul Mountain Range and find Mist Alliance players to trade.

(End of chapter)