CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 49: SUDDEN WEALTH

Chasing Light City, Crystal Race Abandoned Area.

"Brother Hou Fei, a planting base of the White Feather Gang was obliterated by a mysterious force, five apprentice-level experts and more than forty members, not a single one escaped." A tall Crystal Race woman, with a ruby embedded on her forehead, walked in somewhat hurriedly, almost bumping into the resting Hou Fei.

Originally, Hou Fei wanted to speak to the Crystal Race woman before him, but upon hearing the news, he stood up abruptly.

"What did you say? A planting base of the White Feather Gang was obliterated, and no one escaped?" Hou Fei was full of disbelief, "That was a planting base of the White Feather Gang, how could it be that not a single person escaped?"

As for the White Feather Gang, Hou Fei was quite familiar, having interacted the most in the wild, frequently facing friction.

Due to the constant friction, Hou Fei knew very well the strength of the defense at a planting base of the White Feather Gang, normally there would be at least one intermediate apprentice stationed, who could wrestle in a short time with an advanced apprentice without armor.

With such an expert stationed, once an attack by advanced apprentices is detected, even with signal jamming, the first choice would be to retreat, and in a situation where forty or more people disperse and flee, it’s very difficult to capture all of them.

Even an extremely fast advanced apprentice would be lucky to catch four or five fleeing people, trying to capture all forty-plus would require the attackers to have either numerous personnel, having surrounded the base in advance.

Or there would have to be a collaboration of over ten apprentice-level experts and dozens of quasi-apprentices to completely clear out everyone in the White Feather Gang base.

And either scenario would be extraordinarily alarming news.

"Hmm, now people from the White Feather Gang have come, informing us they are willing to reward a hundred kilograms of monster meat and a million bits for any reliable clue!" The Crystal Race woman nodded heavily, quite pleased, "Brother Hou Fei, if we can find out which faction did it, you might be a martial artist soon!"

"It’s not as simple as you think. The fact that the faction could silently obliterate a base of the White Feather Gang indicates their force is similarly formidable. Revealing precise intel to the White Feather Gang would mean offending that force." Hou Fei shook his head but instructed, "However, you should still let everyone be cautious when venturing outside, and even if they obtain any intel, don’t rush to claim the reward."

"Yes." The Crystal Race woman promptly walked out of the room.

"Another faction aiming to rise in the wilds?" Hou Fei watched her leave, his gaze growing heavy.

The pie in the wilds is only so big; every time a wild faction rises, it implies another falls, and certainly, other wild factions won’t just stand by—they’ll surely involve themselves, making the wilds more perilous.

Abandoned Area, outside the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.

"Xiao Lin, be careful these days, the wilds probably won’t be peaceful anymore." Qin Mu looked at Lin Qi and said earnestly, "This time, the White Feather Gang likely means business, with a hundred kilograms of monster meat and a million bits. Even major gangs from the city suburbs will be tempted and thoroughly investigate this matter; it won’t be long before the force that wiped out the White Feather Gang base is found out. That mysterious faction is quite powerful, so there will certainly be a major battle in the wilds. Make sure you don’t get involved without reason."

"Rest assured, Brother Qin, we will be cautious." Lin Qi nodded, smiling, "We’re just a small group, certainly not participating in the wild faction competition."

"Good that you understand." Qin Mu was quite pleased, his gaze swept over the now completely transformed Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, along with the medium transport vehicle, three large tricycles parked inside the hall, and the dozens of players continuously moving items. He couldn’t help but sigh, "Can’t believe it, in just a few days, your base has become so well-organized, and even the scale has expanded so quickly, almost comparable to some ordinary wild factions."

Qin Mu remembered, just days ago, the entire Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was rundown, without even a complete wall, the hall itself was drafty everywhere, with personnel numbering around ten.

Now, not only had the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s walls been repaired entirely, but even the hall walls had been restored five or six-fold, making it fairly luxurious within the abandoned area filled with dilapidated buildings. Even some major wild faction bases were mere equals.

But more astonishing was the personnel and equipment at the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall; the scale now reached thirty people, not to mention the medium transport vehicle and three large tricycles, these assets were already comparable to those of ordinary wild factions.

"Had some good luck, caught some big deals, so we just hired several more transport vehicles." Lin Qi replied with a smile.

The income for wild factions, apart from planting Blood Qi Rice in the wilds, they also do transportation runs, as many raw materials are in the wilds, and numerous companies and city-edge factions need some fearless vagabonds to complete these menial jobs, so wild factions have become the best choice.

With some strength, not fearing death, perfectly suited to completing all sorts of dirty and strenuous tasks, this income is a significant amount for wild factions.

Someone like Qin Mu, an extreme apprentice, would typically take on some transport escort jobs; however, the level of transported goods is high, commissioned by some major city-edge factions, ordinary wild factions aren’t eligible for such tasks.

"Keep it up!" Qin Mu patted Lin Qi’s shoulder, "Once you guys have enough strength, I can introduce you to many good jobs over here."

"Thank you, Brother Qin." Lin Qi was delighted to hear this.

Originally, he was worried about how to increase the income of the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall in the future, as the underground planting earnings fell short in comparison to the needs of increasingly resource-hungry players; the money from underground planting and ore mining wasn’t even enough to fill the gaps between teeth.

After Lin Qi sent off Qin Mu, he immediately instructed the players to quickly transport the captured items from the vehicle.

This kept Lin Qi busy until the early hours of the morning before he could finally tally up the gains from this operation, and the rewards for all the players.

"The White Feather Gang is truly wealthy, no wonder they can easily offer a million bits," Lin Qi thought, looking at the inventory on his notebook, feeling a myriad of emotions.

This time’s haul, not to mention all sorts of items, the cash alone exceeded two hundred thousand bits. It’s unclear what the White Feather Gang intended to use this money for by storing it in a safe, but now it all belongs to him.

With this money added to the cash he already had, the total amount has reached six hundred thousand, which should be barely enough to repair the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.

In addition, the greatest gain was the three vehicles, among which the medium-sized vintage transport vehicle was the most valuable. Even a second-hand one is worth over three hundred thousand on the market. While it’s useless against the monsters outside, it can withstand attacks from Apprentice Level experts.

Luo Qi had already thoroughly inspected all three vehicles; there were no issues, and they could be used at will.

After all, there are so many vintage cars like this in the wild. The various gangs either snatch from you or you from them, making them practically communal. There’s no need to install a tracker; if you’re capable, just seize one.

Apart from the three vehicles, the next most valuable items were the twenty weapons and twenty sets of armor previously crafted by the Cyan Sparrow Gang.

The Cyan Sparrow Gang had spent a considerable amount of money getting Luo Qi to craft these A5-level weapons and A4-level armor for their gang leader, with a total value exceeding three hundred thousand. Unfortunately, all these A5-level weapons were long spears, with no other types of weapons. However, the A4-level armor saved Lin Qi a significant amount of money.

On the market, armor of the same level is much more expensive than weapons.

A4-level armor can be considered the standard armor for an Intermediate Apprentice, normally capable of withstanding attacks from Intermediate Apprentices.

Even though A4-level armor seemed useless against Luo Wushang and others’ Black Steel Arrows, if the White Feather Gang’s leaders didn’t have A4-level armor, they wouldn’t be able to suppress Luo Wushang and Zhang Qingwei together. Often, armor can transform a fatal wound into a serious or even mild injury, allowing for more freedom in battle.

Along with the weapons and equipment seized from White Feather Gang members, the number of long spears exceeded sixty, compound bows over thirty, over three hundred arrows, and more than thirty sets of A4-level armor, enough to fully arm all the players.

However, compared to these vehicles and weapons, Lin Qi’s eyes were on the food and electricity equipment listed in his notebook.

"Truly worthy of the White Feather Gang’s plantation base, with three large generators. As long as there’s enough energy ore mined underground, it’s enough to supply electricity to three martial arts halls, with a stockpile of 454.8 kilograms of matured Blood Grain Rice, 3522.5 kilograms of immature Blood Grain Rice, and 23549 Blood Grain Rice seeds."

"With this haul, the matured Blood Grain Rice can be sold off, while the immature can be sold to players for consumption to accelerate their physical enhancement. In addition, I won’t need to buy Blood Grain Rice seeds for quite some time in the future, saving me quite a bit of hassle."

Looking at the resources in his notebook, Lin Qi suddenly realized that not only did he no longer need to buy food for the players, but he could also make a significant profit from them, while accelerating their physical enhancement—a win-win scenario.

While immature Blood Grain Rice indeed falls short in providing Blood Qi compared to matured Blood Grain Rice, it is far superior to synthetic food.

Of course, the immature Blood Grain Rice sold to players would be much cheaper than what he would buy from them. Ten grams of immature Blood Grain Rice would cost 10 points.

However, considering that players might consume the Blood Grain Rice privately, in the future when acquiring Blood Grain Rice, it would not only be exchanged for points but also contribution rewards, so that players, recognizing the value of contributions, will still sell their matured Blood Grain Rice to him.

"It seems that I need to implement a certain grading system for contributions in the future, allowing players with high contributions to have more statuses, such as Inner Sect Disciple status and Elite Disciple status, enabling them to enjoy higher privileges within the martial arts hall, like discounts of 5% and 10% off future contribution expenditures." Lin Qi pondered over it, thinking this is a great way to extract value from players.

It will not only motivate players to earn contributions more actively, but also give them a sense of achievement, killing two birds with one stone.

Identity and status!

What player can resist such things?

"Hmm, Martial Artist Level Palm Technique?"

Lin Qi glanced at the securely wrapped heavy book within the White Feather Gang’s safe, and when he saw the five large characters "Martial Artist Level Palm Technique" on the cover, he was utterly astonished.

He completely didn’t expect that a White Feather Gang would possess a Martial Artist Level Martial Arts technique, which is extremely rare even among the major families in Chasing Light City.