Chapter 424: Chapter 410: Urban Event System (2nd update, 4000 words~)

Server-wide announcement! So exhilarating!

The moment this series of announcements appeared, the world channel instantly blew up. Newbies worshiping veterans, old players who had no clue what was happening, and a swarm of players asking, “Is it too late to join the Cola Fanatic Guild now?” all popped up.

This is the first benefit that Jiang Qiao got after acquiring the City Creation Stone!

Fame.

Let’s not talk about the hierarchy of major clubs in China for now, and just talk about the standing of guilds within Holy Spirit World itself. If most ordinary players were asked to rank the guilds in Holy Spirit World,

Vibrant Nucleus would undoubtedly hold the first place, while Cola Fanatic, which is more like a tourism company than a major guild, would probably rank around third or fourth. Second place would go to Abyss Temple.

But right now Jiang Qiao couldn’t care less about popularity or guild rankings.

The moment the City Creation Stone disappeared from his hand, Jiang Qiao immediately summoned his mount, took the guild leaders from the other three guilds, including Mr. Silver, and galloped back to his own guild’s headquarters.

Upon entering the guild gate and dismounting… the players from Cola Fanatic also gathered around.

“Guild Leader Pighead! Where did you build the city?”

Mei the Coffee was the first to rush over to Jiang Qiao. She didn’t seem too excited…more curious than anything.

This was the same for the other players in Cola Fanatic, because the members didn’t know what the benefits of building a city were,

The construction content provided by the stronghold was already enough for the construction-oriented players of Cola Fanatic to enjoy, and the act of building a city was overly complicated.

If it were a game specifically about building cities, perhaps some players would try it, even become passionate about it.

But the essence of Holy Spirit World is still an MMORPG, and within this framework, constructing a city has a difficulty far greater than the pleasure it brings.

Therefore, most of the Cola Fanatic players were more curious about their leader building a city than expectant, and some even looked worried.

Stronghold construction is a feature present in most MMORPGs, but a bold system like city building is unprecedented in MMORPGs.

“Isn’t it right here?” Jiang Qiao was only concerned about where his City Creation Stone had gone,

He had thought that after choosing to build the city, the stone would vanish and the Cola Fanatic stronghold might receive an upgrade out of nowhere, sprouting a bunch of spectacular buildings and such.

But there was nothing…nothing at all!

“Here? Guild Leader Pighead, there have been no changes in the stronghold! Did you really choose the stronghold as the location for the city?” Mei the Coffee, pressed by Jiang Qiao’s questioning, also entered a state of confusion.

She had been in the stronghold the whole time since Jiang Qiao left and hadn’t left even when the system announcement was posted, but there were no changes to the stronghold at all!

“Wait…let me check.”

Jiang Qiao calmed himself down a bit and opened the Cola Fanatic stronghold’s panel, which displayed the materials stored in the stronghold and the stronghold’s construction range.

After thirteen upgrades, the Cola Fanatic stronghold had expanded from an initial construction range of 120 square meters to 700 square meters, but after the stronghold’s seed consumed a City Creation Stone…the construction range was still…700 square meters.

“What’s going on…there are no new options?” Jiang Qiao was baffled. He scrutinized the construction interface of the stronghold, but no new options had appeared. The only change was that the name of the stronghold had been changed from Cola Fanatic Stronghold to Holy Spirit City.

The words “Holy Spirit City” told Jiang Qiao that his City Creation Stone had indeed worked…it worked as a renaming card.

“Guild leader, did you accidentally choose the wrong location to establish the city?” A cautious builder from Cola Fanatic asked.

“There’s only one option to upgrade the stronghold, how could I have chosen wrong? Could it be… a BUG?”

Bubble was now so anxious that cold sweat almost broke out on his forehead, his brows knotted together.

This City-Building Stone was not just a personal matter for him; he didn’t care much about the opinions of the other three major guilds. The key was Silver… Bubble was very concerned about his cooperation with Silver this time.

Most importantly, he couldn’t lose face in front of Silver and give him a chance to mock him!

So, a long-absent pressure washed over Bubble.

This series of pressures made Bubble want to open the official website of Holy Spirit World and have a good… argument with the officials.

But before Bubble could open the official website of Holy Spirit World and write a lengthy essay of over a million words, a figure in a black robe and hood suddenly attracted the attention of everyone in the guild.

That figure approached the ancient tree at the entrance of the Cola Fanatic Guild’s stronghold, but what drew people’s attention was her ID, and the line of identification beneath it.

“Lost Fureya” — Having Fureya as a suffix in her name as an NPC was enough to draw attention. Underneath her name was a functional note indicating “Related to Holy Spirit City construction.”

“Holy Spirits, thank you for finding this lost Divine Fragment.”

Fureya pulled down the hood over her head, revealing her true appearance to the crowd from the Cola Fanatic Guild.

This Lost Fureya was both familiar and foreign to the players on Biland Island.

The reason for familiarity was that Fureya had appeared in the game’s CG, the one where she was rescued by Queen Mei. She would also issue a bunch of tasks to maintain Biland Island’s ecology.

The reason for foreignness was the players’ puzzlement… ‘Whose Fureya is this?’

Ever since this Lost Fureya appeared on Biland Island, this discussion had never ceased on the Holy Spirit World forum. Isn’t anyone panicking about their Fureya going missing?

Now, when the people of Cola Fanatic Guild saw this Fureya… appearing as a city construction consultant at the stronghold, everyone had an accurate guess in their minds.

It was very likely… the developers’ Fureya, or rather, the official prototype for Fureya.

“Before you use this Divine Fragment, I have something to say,” Fureya from Jiang Qiao stood calmly in front of everyone.

But Bubble was anything but calm!

“There’s more tutorial? Skip, skip!”

Bubble was so anxious that his only thought was to understand how the city-building system worked. When the dialogue box from Fureya popped up in front of him, his first instinct was to press the skip button.

But as he extended his hand to click the skip dialogue button, Silver next to him reached out to grab Bubble’s arm. Unfortunately, Silver was too far away and a bit clunky, failing to catch him in time.

On the other hand, Xue Bi, who noticed this, clenched her left hand, and at the instant the cold air overflowed from her hand, it froze Bubble’s arm trying to click the skip button.

“Xue Bi, what are you doing?” Bubble was a bit stunned when the alert ‘You have been attacked by player Xue Bi, you may defend yourself within the allowed time’ popped up in front of him.

This wasn’t the first time Bubble had been PVPed by Xue Bi in private, so he was already accustomed to it.

“President Bubble, we have plenty of time. We can listen to her finish,” Silver explained before Xue Bi, turning to the other presidents and the crowd who came to watch. “Aren’t you all very curious about how the city-building system is played and what benefits it has? Now let’s listen to what Miss… Lost Fureya has to say.”

Fureya from Jiang Qiao played the role of a guidebot perfectly, and in her hands appeared the dim City-Building Stone that Bubble had been holding before.

“Holy Spirits, what you have found is a broken Divine Fragment. Within the fragment lies a city that has lost its vitality. It is your duty to usher in a new life for this city. To revitalize this city, you need to enable more divine beings to take residence within it.”

Fureya stopped here when the Divine NPC that every player receives as the initial SR card upon drawing, the Lake God, came online.

She walked timidly into the Cola Fanatic Guild’s stronghold; this performance was arranged by Jiang Qiao. The Lake God had enough leverage in her hands to be controlled by Jiang Qiao, and besides, living with Jiang Qiao didn’t seem to have any downsides.

So, under the watchful eyes of everyone in the Cola Fanatic Guild, the Lake God tiptoed to touch the broken Divine Fragment in Fureya’s hand.

“The Lake God has become a resident of Holy Spirit City.”

“Holy Spirit City’s population +10000, water resources +5000, Holy Lake can be constructed, Fragrant Fountain can be constructed, the Lake God will soon build a Divine Fishing Ground within the city…”

When these two prompts popped up in front of all the players in the Cola Fanatic Guild’s stronghold, the vast majority of players instantly understood the gameplay of the city-building system!

The core gameplay was actually the same as the stronghold construction, equivalent to an expansion of the stronghold system’s content by double, or you could say a super-sized DLC.

However, NPCs residing in Holy Spirit City… such as the gods, could unlock special terrain constructions for the players, as well as increase population and various resource generations.

If collecting various mineral resources spawned from the mother crystals was what players needed to do when building a stronghold, then building a city might involve gathering gods from all over, as well as divine creatures.

“Fixing the Divine Fragment requires more Divine Power than I had imagined,” said the silver executive as she looked at the public data of Holy Spirit City, with the population figure clearly marked as a necessary index for city upgrades.

“Fixing?” Bubble was a bit puzzled, listening on the side. Logically, shouldn’t it be about upgrading the city level?

“No, nothing, Bubble… Ask Fureya… if there are any other methods to recruit gods,” the silver executive said.

There were still too few gods on Biland Island’s City of the Gods, and convincing gods to settle in Holy Spirit City would take a long time. The silver executive wondered if there were any additional methods to acquire Divine NPC.

The silver executive’s question was also one of the preset options in Fureya’s dialogue, so Bubble didn’t even need to think much, just clicked that preset option right away.

“Holy Spirit, this is the most crucial part, as your city’s establishment will officially announce your presence to the millions of worlds, which will attract many lifeforms. Some may visit out of admiration for your power, while others may hold animosity towards you. As the City Lord, are you willing to take this risk?” Fureya asked.

“Willing… Willing!” Bubble didn’t quite catch what Fureya was saying.

But he understood the key content, that the city would attract new NPCs, just like NPCs refreshed in the talent recruitment market.

These NPCs were tourists in the city, with a portion being neutral NPCs and the other part being hostile NPCs, specifically coming to trouble the Holy Spirit.

Whether they were neutral or hostile NPCs, Bubble was welcoming; he could consider recruiting the neutral ones, and directly slay the hostile ones as BOSSes.

For the players, having a BOSS to kill… sometimes might be more exciting than having neutral characters to recruit.

“First City Lord of Holy Spirit City, please accept these three sets of Legendary building blueprints as a gift,” Fureya said after finishing her scripted scene, handing over three sets of Legendary blueprints to Bubble.

Bubble obtained the blueprints and immediately shared their attributes in the current channel.

The three blueprints were for “City Hall,” “Monument of the Gods,” and “Starmap Nexus.”

There wasn’t much to say about the City Hall, one of the important buildings of the city, where you could spend population to… buy land?

Well… what caught Bubble’s attention the most was that the City Hall needed to be built within about three hundred meters from the stronghold’s Ancient Tree, practically next to Fureya’s room.

This indicated that even if the stronghold was upgraded to a city, Fureya and the others were still at the core. After all, beneath the stronghold… or rather, the city’s Ancient Tree, lay the stone of the city.

The Monument of the Gods was just a decorative building, where the number and names of the gods residing in the city could be displayed.

Lastly, and most importantly, the Starmap Nexus! The key building used to connect to various planes of the starmap.

“Damn it all!” Bubble, holding these three blueprints, didn’t even think twice before rallying the players from his own guild to start working.

President Silver didn’t think to stop the enthusiastic atmosphere; after all, buildings could always be demolished and rebuilt later.

Building houses with the city construction system is much simpler than with outposts. First off, the system has preset house designs for players to choose from. All players need to do is collect enough materials, and they can just click and watch as buildings are constructed, much like in real-time strategy games.

Of course, some top-tier players can build on their own. The Cola Fanatic Guild’s three buildings were made by the construction experts from various guilds. They didn’t stick to the preset designs from the system. After meeting the minimal requirements of the blueprints, they began customizing the structures.

The construction of the City Hall took some time, but the Star Chart Hub was completed fairly quickly. The architectural style of the Star Chart Hub, at least from the outside, had a sort of… colosseum vibe.

That was the only way President Silver could describe it. Little Feather was in charge of constructing the Star Chart Hub, and ever since the battle at Black Tide Island, she had adopted ‘must withstand a beating and hold up under assault!’ as her building standard.

Whatever she built had to stand up to the standards of a defensive fortress.

The Star Chart Hub might encounter dangerous monsters, so Little Feather straight up built it as a miniature colosseum, with defensive facilities so perfect it could double as a small instance.

“Should we… activate the teleport beacon first?”

Members of the Cola Fanatic Guild and chiefs of the other major guilds gathered at the center of the Star Chart Hub. There was a round table in the center, projecting dim constellations, which was the core of the Star Chart Hub.

The Teleport Beacon.

“I’ll do it!”

Bubble had been looking forward to this day for a long time! He placed his hands on the side of the round table, and instantly an option appeared before him.

‘Please select the current city event!

Event Description: The city event will determine the tendencies of the outsiders visiting your city. A Level 1 city can hold three events at once.’

Another new system. Bubble swiped and saw several city events listed.

‘1. Hunting the Eternal*Thorne (Legendary Level): Thorne is a wanted criminal in the Star Chart. You have learned about Thorne’s whereabouts and can broadcast this information. Bounty hunters on the Star Chart who want to capture Thorne will swarm to your city. Requirements: The whereabouts of the Eternal Thorne, two hundred Divine Power Crystals or ten Lord-level cores.’

‘2. Devouring God’s Hidden Treasure (Legendary Level): The creations of the Devouring God are extremely sought-after treasures on the Star Chart, but only high-quality ones. If you select this event, you must use a large number of legendary weapons as bait to attract treasure hunters to your city. Requirements: Legendary equipment x25, two hundred Divine Power Crystals or ten Lord-level cores.’

‘3. None (Common Level): Not every city can experience events every day. Today is an ordinary day, which holds no lure for the life forms of the Star Chart. Requirements: Two hundred Divine Power Crystals or ten Lord-level cores.’

‘4. Reach the Summit! The Big Fish Contest! (Rare Level): Your city is home to the Lake God, whose fishing grounds may attract some fishing enthusiasts from the Star Chart. Requirements: Holy Fishing Grounds, two hundred Divine Power Crystals or ten Lord-level cores.’

‘5. Card Battle of the Mighty (Rare Level): Holy Spirit World’s entertainment is also rare on the Star Chart, with various card games among them. Maybe you can attract a group of outsiders who enjoy fighting landlords or Mahjong? Requirements: Small gaming tables x10, two hundred Divine Power Crystals or ten Lord-level cores.’

‘6. The Fastest Legend of Biland Island! Mount Sprinting Race: …’

‘7. No One Escapes My Aim! Shooting Showdown: …’

…

There were a bunch of events listed in the event options. If expanded in detail, there were many instructions on how to host these events.

Bubble could consider these events as activities he could hold for the NPCs on the Star Chart. What he needed to do was to make these activities boisterous enough to attract many talents to settle in his city.

Now the question was… which events should he choose first?