Chapter 111: Version Update, Alien Recruitment

【Challenger Notice (All Channels): The game is about to undergo a Version 1.7 update. The update content is as follows:】

Poster: Guide (Official)

Update Content 1: Add the Newbie Village - Colorful Mist Coast region.

Content Introduction: After the update concludes, the Colorful Mist Coast region will be incorporated into the Newbie Village scope. Players who die in the Colorful Mist Coast region can resurrect directly within the Colorful Mist Coast Newbie Village. After this update, the area of Di Zhao Village will shrink by one-third (the total area of the Newbie Village remains unchanged; players need to expand by containing Domain Nodes. After opening a new region Newbie Village, the area of the Di Zhao Village Newbie Village will shrink by the expansion area of the Colorful Mist Coast.)

Update Content 2: Initial Painful Painful Minghun selection fully opened.

Content Introduction: After new players enter the game, the selection changes from the initial Eagle-Head Demon, Black-Armored Snake, and Gargoyle Painful Painful Minghun to full selection of all contained Painful Painful Minghun.

Guide Notice: Fully opened Painful Painful Minghun are limited to the First Generation Meng Yuan Chu.

Update Content 3: Add Warband Team Mode.

Content Introduction: Based on the existing team formation, add Warband Team Mode. In this mode, there is no limit on the number of players, and all Warband players share hunting and kill rewards.

Guide Notice: Squad Mode can still be enabled under Warband Mode, opening the Squad Chat Channel.

Update Content 4: Add Wartime Statistics.

Content Introduction: In Team Mode (Squad, Warband), the Captain (Leader) can view the output values, damage taken values, and buff values of squad (Warband) members in real-time, among other displayed values, and can switch to view the percentage of member health and Spirit Power consumption values.

Accompanied by the update notice.

The space of Di Zhao Village trembled, and its area shrank inward at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At the same time, the Colorful Mist Coast region constructed a transparent barrier centered on the Spatial Teleportation Array, constantly expanding outward.

The two regions connected with each other during this period.

During this process, the Shou Shou Jili Pool beneath Di Zhao Village churned continuously, and a large amount of Shou Shou Jili was consumed during the transformation.

Through Beneath Di Zhao's Solid Self Origin, Qi Sheng, who was behind the scenes, manipulated the mutual fusion and docking of the two nodes.

After discovering that the development of the Di Zhao Mountain Range region was difficult to advance under the obstruction of the Insect Tide and Black Tide, Qi Sheng had the idea of opening up other development channels.

The Colorful Mist Coast was a very good development node.

It possessed abundant sea resources, a large number of native monsters, and many sea Meng Yuan Chu monsters and Sea Domain Nodes that could be contained.

From a development perspective, he chose to build the Colorful Mist Coast into a Newbie Village as well.

Doing this was also to give new players a better starting point.

In the battle with the Sky Fire Clan, the intensity of both the Black Tide and the Insect Tide had increased significantly.

New players found it impossible to move an inch in such a scene; apart from mining to obtain starting resources, there were no other better development choices.

The transformation continued, and soon 5 million Shou Shou Jili were burned to exhaustion.

During this process, the Colorful Mist Coast region became a branch node of Di Zhao Village and independently built a Resurrection Plaza connecting to Di Zhao Village.

But compared to Di Zhao Village, the space of the Colorful Mist Coast appeared very rudimentary.

There were no functional buildings such as the Testing Tower or Guild Hall; the ground of the entire space was composed of energy, and only the Resurrection Plaza and the Spatial Teleportation Point were usable functions.

Qi Sheng also had no immediate plans to build functional structures at the Colorful Mist Coast node.

In the envisioned future, Di Zhao Village would be the players' main city, then expanding outward to multiple branch nodes.

All important functional buildings would require players to return to Di Zhao Village to use.

This included the Armed Vehicle functional buildings to be launched subsequently.

As for the full opening of the First Generation Meng Yuan Chu in this update, it was to provide more assistance for the early development of new players.

Players entering the game in the future would have a development environment far inferior to that of veteran players.

For example, when the first batch of veteran players entered the game, the challenges they faced did not include the Black Tide or Insect Tide, only low-hunting-level Cursed Weapons under the light of the Waning Moon.

Most importantly, since the Shou Shou Jili consumption to replicate the First Generation Meng Yuan Chu is the same, it is better to open it fully.

To give new players more freedom of choice.

Rather than being forced at the start to conceive early-game build combinations centered on the three initial Meng Yuan Chu.

The entire transformation process lasted more than half an hour, consuming a total of 6.39 million Shou Shou Jili.

As soon as the transformation was completed, resurrected players began to emerge at the respawn point in the Colorful Mist Coast region.

The forum also launched a heated discussion regarding this update content.

Official Update Post Comment Section:

Screwed-Up Adventure: What the hell is "Initial Painful Painful Minghun Fully Opened"? Are you bullying us veteran players? Giving such huge benefits at the start? I protest! I strongly demand the official issue 10,000 points of Shou Shou Jili compensation to every player. Are you just targeting veteran players? Shameless Moon Eclipse Clan!

Frenzied Chick replied to Screwed-Up Adventure: Are you just ranting for the sake of ranting? Why don't you consider the starting environment for new players? Leaving the house means facing the Black Tide and Insect Tide, two overpowered dogs. The start is like a Souls-like mode; a single small monster might counter-kill you even in a team... But, I have to say "but," your idea of compensation is not wrong. I strongly agree, and I hope the compensation is changed to 30,000 points of Shou Shou Jili per player, distributed via mail.

Slacking Expert: Fishing party players are overjoyed. Sea fishing will be more convenient in the future. I love the Colorful Mist Coast region so much. Now that it has become a branch of the Newbie Village, every death saves 5 points of teleportation fee.

Throw a Fit at the Drop of a Hat: The Warband Mode in this update is the essence. As a Berserker in the Di Zhao Mountain Range region, I am either fighting evil spirits or on the road to fighting the Insect Tide every day. I always have to split into several teams, and communication can only happen through the Guild Chat Channel. The newly launched Warband Mode is simply perfect.

God King: Good review for Statistics and Warband Mode. Although the Eagle-Head Demon's perception allows me to observe every player's situation in great detail, as the team size constantly increases, there are sometimes situations I cannot pay attention to. This Statistics feature allows me to view the status of players in different teams in real-time; who is slacking off is clear at a glance. This update is truly a nightmare for players who slack off.

Just as the forum players were discussing the update content, Qi Sheng also began a new round of recruitment plans.

This recruitment target included not only Human players but also the Alien players selected long ago.

Fishing Port City.

This is an Alien city embraced by the azure sea.

Under the afterglow of the setting sun, the sea breeze, carrying a slightly salty scent, gently brushed over the well-arranged fishing houses and colorful sailboats. The city's silhouette appeared exceptionally soft under the sunset, with the rosy clouds and the shimmering sea surface reflecting each other.

In the center of the city stands a towering lighthouse. It is not only a guiding light for navigators but also a symbol of Fishing Port City.

Beneath the lighthouse is a bustling fish market, filled with all kinds of seafood, including non-native sea creatures farmed by Aliens.

Vendors shouted loudly, buyers picked carefully, and the air was filled with the fishy smell of seafood.

Pushing along the winding coastline, several piers leading into the sea were neatly arranged.

Many Alien lives entered the sea via the piers to begin their day's busy work.

The core ethnic groups of this city are the Gilled Fish Clan and the Abyssal Fish Clan; they both possess humanoid forms, so they are also called Gilled Fish People or Abyssal Fish People.

In appearance, Gilled Fish People have pale blue skin close to the color of seawater, with three gill markings on each side of their cheeks; their upper bodies are exceptionally burly, while their lower limbs are relatively short.

Abyssal Fish People also have humanoid bodies, slender in build, covered in dark blue scales, with long, narrow gill slits growing at their temples.

These gill slits open and close with breathing; webbed membranes connect their fingers and toes, increasing contact area with water to help them swim more efficiently and provide extra propulsion.

As forces that arrived on Earth in later times, the Gilled Fish People and Abyssal Fish People face a difficult survival situation.

Although they also joined the Earth Alliance, they received no special treatment, accepting only partial technical support from the Eclipse Clan and a small coastal city gifted by the Human Race.

The combined total of both clans is under 800,000 people, making them two of the least influential factions in the Earth Alliance.

When they first arrived, the Earth environment also seemed extremely harsh to the two major clans.

In their original homeland world, the air was rich in energy substances, and the seas held abundant food resources.

After arriving on Earth, the taste of marine creatures became unbearable to them.

The poor air quality even caused their life structures to show signs of degeneration.

Without the Eclipse Clan's ability to construct independent spaces on the Moon, they could not find suitable living grounds here.

But being able to come to Earth was already a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

After two generations of change, both clans have gradually adapted to life on Earth.

But for the new generation, the rich seas and delicious seafood described by the elders exist only in history books; they have never experienced or tasted them.

The main income of the two major clans comes from exporting shallow-sea farmed marine creatures.

But income in this area is declining, due to ocean pollution causing demand for marine products among all clans to continuously drop.

In recent years, the new generation of the two major clans has begun expanding income in new fields.

That is the Star Network.

Since the Star Network interconnection era arrived, the two major clans can learn about the outside world through the Star Network, suffered significant cultural shock, learned how to use internet slang, and simultaneously began trying to earn extra income through the Star Network.

Live-streaming content such as beach combing, underwater adventures, and sea farming has become a popular option for the new generation to earn income.

But compared to live streaming, income from games is far more substantial.

By grinding in games and providing services to other races, they earn foreign exchange income.

The two major clans have no currency of their own; scarcity of population and land makes it difficult to form a complete supply and demand market internally, requiring frequent resource imports from outside, so they adopted Earth Coins as their primary currency very early on.

Two months ago, the official launch of the Dark Lands made the two major clans realize a new era's opportunity had appeared.

For this, the two major clans prepared in advance, planning to start buying slots the day game access was released to enter the game and develop first.

But reality dealt them a heavy blow.

First, in pricing: every game qualification costs 100 Earth Coins to purchase, which converts to 100,000 Credit Points in the Earth Alliance's dominant faction, the Human Race's currency.

Their internal pricing must be at least 100 Earth Coins or more.

This is a price ordinary members of the two major clans cannot afford.

More importantly, the Eclipse Clan's first round of game qualification distribution was given only to the Ten Great Strong Clans of the Earth Alliance.

The Gilled Fish People and Abyssal Fish People do not even have the qualification to apply for the game.

This caused wailing throughout the clans.

Many new-generation clan members were waiting for the era's opportunity to arrive, but never expected the Eclipse Clan wouldn't even issue basic game access qualifications to them; it was simply racial discrimination.

But they had no way to solve this problem.

Diplomatic communication with the Eclipse Clan was useless; the entire Eclipse Clan operates according to requirements set by the Star Network.

In the eyes of the Star Network, the importance of the Gilled Fish People and Abyssal Fish People is far less than that of alien factions like the Human Race, and the level of support is also far less than for these races.

To wait for qualification distribution, perhaps one must wait until the needs of other clans are met.

This made the Gilled Fish Clan people and Abyssal Fish Clan people feel indignant, yet powerless.

Their clan strength is weak; they cannot even raise a loud voice to fight for their interests.

At this moment, on the Star Network forum of Fishing Port City:

Howl Howl Great Shark: Brothers, selling a set of Fierce Armor from "Land of Sin" at 30% off; brothers who need it, contact me privately. Recently, the daily active users of this broken game are dropping lower and lower. I don't understand: how many game qualifications has the Dark Lands released, yet why has the game's popularity dropped so severely?

Deep Blue Explorer: Top-tier tycoons from other clans are all waiting to grab Dark Lands qualifications, so naturally enthusiasm for Land of Sin has dropped. In-game currency has recently depreciated severely; equipment prices generally need a 30% discount. The situation will get worse and worse; by then, everyone will have to live on sea breeze.

Fishing Port Racing First: Income has plummeted straight down. If it keeps dropping like this, I'm preparing to start live-streaming underwater exploration. My whole family is waiting for me to support them (wiping tears. jpg).

Sea Monster Hunter: Originally planned to save money to take my mother to the Eclipse Clan for treatment. Following this trend, forget saving money; next we'll have to start eating into savings. Brothers, does anyone know ways to make money?

Coral Guardian: My cousin was arranged by the clan to work for the Human Race, responsible for managing a farm. The income is not bad, but slots are very few; they were secured by clan elders through diplomatic efforts with the Human Race. I want to go too, but I'd rather go to the Eclipse Clan. I heard medical care there is completely free, food and drink are no worry. So envious.

Underwater Adventure Great Sea Monster: Sigh, who made us born in this era? Elders in the clan say Gilled Fish People of the past owned a vast sea area with inexhaustible resources, food so abundant they could eat one bite and throw the rest away. Look at our lives now; tragic.

Sea Overlord: We Abyssal Fish People are no different. Comparing the glory in history books with our current situation, the gap is too huge to accept. Now we just hope Land of Sin and Conquest can last a bit longer. Best if they can last until Dark Lands qualifications are fully distributed; then we can smoothly switch to the Dark Lands.

Underwater Great Beast: Star Network income dropping is one thing, but fish catches are hard to sell too; the clan's trade surplus with outsiders keeps dropping. The only thing to be thankful for is that game pods are a support project of the Eclipse Clan; every clan member aged 15 or older can apply to get one, so that expense is saved. But other expenses like buying nutrient solution, medical services, underwater city infrastructure projects, purification and circulation systems, etc., are getting higher and higher. If this continues, I suspect Fishing Port City will introduce population optimization policies, urging everyone to have fewer children and better children to avoid excessive resource consumption.

On the Star Network forum of Fishing Port City, the two clans launched heated discussions on the economy and environmental changes.

Just then, a message with a link address popped up and was automatically pinned to the top.

Welfare Officer: I have a download link for the cracked version of the Dark Lands here, which can connect to the official game network. Friends who need it, download directly to get it: (Link Address: *****).

After completing the task, the guide responsible for sending the link returned directly to Emperor's Tomb Village.

Meanwhile, the forum chat channel launched heated discussion about this link.

Underwater Great Beast: Holy crap, cracked version link! We're rich! I'm downloading right now... downloading a Sea Shark. This link looks fake at first glance. I suspect it's a scam link posted by those beasts from the Broken Clan. Everyone, absolutely do not click.

Deep Blue Explorer: Already downloaded and experienced the game content. It's real. The game is very fun; after playing, I want to play more (Human Race decadent smoking. jpg).

Sea Monster Hunter: Brother who posted the link, stop messing around, okay? Don't you see everyone's mood is very low? If this link can actually download the Dark Lands, I will definitely kneel on the ground and bang my head three loud times for you, then call you father.

Coral Guardian: Hahaha, if it really can download the cracked version, count me in for the head-banging; I'll bang four times.

Sea Overlord: Then I'll bang five times. So, is there any bored idiot out there to click the link and see what's inside?

Fishing Port Speedrun First: Just bored, I'll go download and try it. I don't believe scammers dare operate under Star Network surveillance; they must at least go through a transfer process. In this era, no scam transfers money just because you click a link. Those who get scammed actively transfer money during subsequent communication with the scammer. So trying it carries no risk whatsoever.

One hour later.

Fishing Port Speedrun First: Holy crap, I actually downloaded Dark Lands from this link.

Frenzy Little Fish replied to Fishing Port Speedrun First: Yes, yes, yes. I see you're truly bored. Posting nonsense. Forum experience +3. Get lost.

Sea God Abyss Fish replied to Fishing Port Speedrun First: Knowing that no screenshots or videos of Dark Lands have leaked, so next you'll tell us you can't take screenshots or record videos, so you can't provide solid evidence, and ask us to click the link and download it ourselves, then watch the human race's ancient cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants with you, right?

Fishing Port Speedrun First: Believe it or not. I'm just kindly reminding you. I'm going into the game to fight. Dark Lands, here I come!

Coral Guardian: Forget it, I'll download and try too. SpongeBob SquarePants is actually quite good. It counts as the first human cartoon we imported. I watched 20 episodes, but then those damn humans demanded we watch ads forcibly to continue, so I decisively gave up. If this is the complete, completely free SpongeBob SquarePants collection, that would be nice.

From initial firm skepticism to more and more clan members speaking up later.

The Ren De Xiang Fa of Goby clan members and Abyss Fish clan members in the forum chat channel wavered slightly. Many clicked the link with doubt and downloaded the content.

Then they discovered the link could actually download Dark Lands.

Soon, the 5,000 slots distributed by Qi Sheng were snatched up completely.

Afterwards, various wails on the forum rose and fell, everyone regretting they hadn't acted first to download the game qualification.

This was free Dark Lands, saving downloaders a huge expense while also giving them a channel to earn profits standing at the wind's mouth of the era.

This benefit, before this, couldn't be bought even with money.

But when forum netizens wanted to find the "benefit officer" who distributed the qualifications, they discovered the benefit officer was long gone.

After learning the situation, the two-clan forum administrators used their permissions to search, but were shocked to find no registration information for the benefit officer who distributed the link in the forum.

This meant they had completely lost the possibility of obtaining qualifications through further communication with the benefit officer.

The only hope was the prompt that popped up after clicking the link:

【Prompt: This round of qualifications has been distributed. The next round of qualification distribution has not been opened.】

But when exactly the next round of qualifications would be distributed was completely unknown.

This sudden benefit plunged players who failed to snatch the game download qualification into despair. They wailed and cried in the chat channel, hoping the benefit officer, father, would return to pull up the starving, poor brothers.

(End of this chapter)