Chapter 517
Over the next few days, the trade routes continue to expand further into the desert in both directions.
The trading posts, inns, shops, and restaurants outside of the Crimson barrier grow as the construction teams use up all of the remaining supplies available.
An outer ring of the city is built for those that do not wish to stay and be under the Flame Emperor's protection.
Sixteen more small villages are connected to the trade route, and over 300 more links of loyalty are created through my rising emperor's domain, bringing the total in my interface beyond 500 now. They are all integrated into the town and fit into place exactly where they fit best.
Some open shops with foreign goods that they'd like to sell, others farm in the dungeons to collect materials for the guildhall, and some just want a change of pace and reassurance that they're safe.
Villages out in the middle of nowhere get raided and pillaged often, so they migrate and seek safer lands frequently. Many come to a larger city when given the option to seek a more stable lifestyle.
However, many like the traveling trader's life and just see the Crimson City as another stop on their journey through the Dark Continent.
There are an additional 2000 individual travelers that come by from the surrounding villages to trade.
The number of individuals farming the dungeons to make their own stands in the outer village to sell loot increases dramatically. Anything people can sell to the guildhall, they do. My prices to buy loot are far higher than anything any smart buyer would be looking to pay.
This is because I am directly crafting it into select items; the raw materials could be bought from traders out of the city for far cheaper and sold to the guildhall for profit. I don't care if residents game the system this way; everyone makes money, so it's a win-win.
The only hunters that have access to the canyon of dungeons are those that have sworn their loyalty to me; the entire canyon is inside the crimson barrier. So, any overflow being sold in the ring of shops outside the city is mostly money that is coming back into the city to cycle through the economy in many ways in the future.
There is still room inside the inner city's residential district for at least three times as many people to come, and empty land where more housing can be built.
The trade routes haven't even stretched outside of Sector 2 yet, so I foresee even more growth in the future.
I place a new 100 platinum order for materials in Vice City to make room for a population that could be 10-20 times what I have now.
This is the cost of nearly all the 135 platinum profit from the trade deals I'm about to receive. However, it will be worth it. There's no need to hold back in investing in myself.
Just from the growth numbers I've seen in the city so far, this will be even more profitable than I first predicted.
As more people flow into the village, and my order for materials is processed, I continue farming containment stones and training the Elemental Elites.
With less than five days left on the countdown timer on Ember's isolation pod remaining, meaning four more days have passed, during a training session, one of the squad leaders finally hits level 1000 and gets the opportunity to rank up.
Throughout this day, more and more people hit the level 1000 threshold, and by the end of the day, everyone faces the final boss on the 39th floor enough times to rank up.
Dozens of white flashing lights fill the air on this day, and many unique ranked-up buffs come out of it.
Many of them are spirit animal energy manifestations and ultimate attack or defense techniques. A few awaken energy forms, but it isn't nearly as common as I thought it would be.
I give them all a speech on this night, telling them that they have reached the peak of power that this labyrinth can grant them for now. I've given them this strength and ability so that they can protect themselves and fight on par with monsters from any dungeons or enemies they come across.
I want to awaken each of them with Qi cores of their own, but the supply is being used up entirely by myself to strengthen the Crimson barrier and continue the growth of my Soul Energy while Monk uses the remains to come up with a treatment for the Lich King's aftermath and continue my teammates' training.
"We will continue training together, but now you must get used to your new forms. You've all grown far quicker than is naturally possible for most hunters. The state you've reached in just over a month of training is one that only a handful of hunters ever achieve in their lifetimes. There will be another level to reach after this, but for now, I want you to hone your skills, spar, find your unique styles, and learn from each other. You are the Elemental Elites of the Flame Emperor's Army. The strongest fighting force in the entire Dark Continent. I'm sure you all witnessed me fight the Lich King, and my teammates fight the Dark Guards just one month ago. That is the level you'll need to get to next. So make sure you're ready when your time has come."
We continue to train as usual over the next two days, collecting MCP, and I watch them spar with each other to master their new ranked-up forms and abilities.
I keep adding mana to the B-Grade dungeon, bringing it to level 940-950, making the boss room monsters reach up to level 980 sometimes. It's so close... yet so far...
It eats up over a hundred full containment stones per new rank now.
This dungeon is stronger than the 38th floor in the labyrinth.
It has enormous white birds that soar through high mountain peaks and wide open blue skies. It is similar to the 39th floor; one out of every 15 spawns has a bird with extreme wind magic, and the element stone it drops is strong enough to withstand a mythic-grade plunderer imbument.
This discovery lets me double my speed of containment stone and luminite farming, bringing the amount of fragments in my item storage above 100, but also clears out almost every rogue dungeon within a 600km radius of the Crimson City.
The only ones I leave be are those very close to villages, as it seems some rely on them for resources, and any of them that are above middle D-Grade, because it takes way too many stones to collapse them to be worth my time.
I've been stuck on this same B-Grade mountain dungeon for a while.
After dozens of stones, it hasn't even become unstable to hint that it'll reach the next stage, so I just start saving up containment stones instead of letting them loose in the dungeon. I want to do it all at once and not risk creating a break that would need more stones than I have available to satisfy and push to the next stage.
It isn't until two days later, exactly one day before Ember's pod will open, and the trade deals are due, that something very unexpected happens.
I feel memories of the surveillance body double that watches over the Crimson City send me an instant message.
___
It's midday, with the sun high in the sky, with over 1100 people below me. About 200 are in the Crimson City Inner village, 200 are outside around the outer barrier selling to the 600 travelers from nearby cities doing trade, while roughly 100 people are in the dungeons farming loot.
My double senses a very intense energy wave rippling out from the center of the Dark Continent.
It feels familiar, and it isn't until I see the light grey shockwave coming out from the abyss that I realize exactly what it is.
"It's been a while. That's... Another surge..."
Without my All-Seeing Eye, this wave is invisible, but the sheer size of the wave is impossible to stop; there's nothing I can do but watch.
The black wall of fog that is the abyss expands, moving forward about a full 2 kilometers before my eyes, then coming to a halt as the shockwave continues to travel toward the outer edges of the settlement.
The Abyss is nearby, but luckily far enough away that this kilometer of movement doesn't bring it too close to the city itself, but it is now fairly visible from the canyon of dungeons, when before it was just a black speck on the horizon.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
My double watches the invisible grey wave move through hundreds of unsuspecting people surrounding the city, but it doesn't affect them at all.
No one notices it, even as it collides with the Crimson Barrier.
I watch the red dome ripple, and my eyes widen as the grey shockwave moves through it, not slowing down at all.
It flows out the other side almost like nothing at all was in its way. ๐๐ซeewe๐ฏ๐ง๐ve๐ฅ.c๐๐
The surge travels far off way into the desert. I'm sure this same exact grey shockwave is headed toward the 8 great nations.
I wonder to myself if this is what happened in the past surges, and if whatever this is can possibly cause dungeons to break and so much panic to ensue.
However, before I can fully formulate this thought, my gaze falls down onto the Canyon of Dungeons, and I sense many irregular mana readings down below me.
Even my science experiment, the B-Grade dungeon is starting to fluctuate and show very odd readings after the grey pulse of energy passes through it.
My double dives down through the Crimson Barrier and into the dungeons to watch my other double that is usually standing watch in this canyon jump into a glowing red portal.
It scans through all of the dungeons in the area, and over 20 of them have started to break.
At this, the memories stop; this is when my double kills itself to send me the message.
________
I speak up, talking to all of the Elemental Elites that I'm training using my telepathy throughout the entire dungeon.
"We have a new mission to deal with. There is trouble in the city. I'm going to separate all of you into groups to make sure no monsters get out of the dungeons I leave you in. Whatever you do, do not kill the boss monster, and protect any hunters inside the dungeons if these monsters are out of their league. If they can handle them, let them fight; I don't want anyone to miss out on unique loot that is only available during breaks. This is a surge, usually a catastrophe, but we'll make it into a profitable and enjoyable event for all. Keep killing mutants, protecting the boss rooms from anyone trying to challenge them, and keep the public safe until I come by your selected dungeon with the means to stop the break, we do not have to destroy these dungeons just neutralize the threat."
They all understand the assignment, and I dungeon walk groups of 1-2 into the canyon. They all fill their roles instantly, and get to work protecting the E-C grade dungeons that are breaking all throughout the canyon.
Many hunters are farming inside these already, and the Elemental Elites explain to them what is going on. Offering escorts to lower level breaks if they wish, or offer a hand in fighting these monsters if the hunters present have the skills to defeat them.
This is a chance for them to use the teachings I've given them and apply them to help others directly.
Once I teleport all of them out of the labyrinth and into dungeons, I dungeon walk to the B-Grade break down at the deepest point in the canyon.
Once I get inside, what I see is far more dangerous than I expected, but at the same time, very exciting.
Over double the normal amount of monsters are in this dungeon.
I instantly sense 31 pure white birds flying through the air.
They're all boss level rated or higher. The creatures range from level 980 to 990, and the best part is that every single one of them has extreme wind magic that ripples off them.
I grin and grip my Flame Emperor's blade while dungeon walking to each of them and slicing them in half.
Each time I do, an element stone drops into my storage, and almost instantly, another one spawns in its place on the far edge of the dungeon.
This surge has supercharged many dungeons, and has given me the opportunity to farm the exact resource that I need.
It takes time for the birds to dissolve, but hardly takes any for me to continuously dungeon walk to their new places and farm more stones from these near A-Grade mutants.
Roughly 30 stones can be farmed every 5 minutes, and it feels as if there's an endless stream.
I constantly check on the other dungeon breaks that are nearby being protected by the Elites, and find they're carrying out my orders perfectly.
Hunters have been moved to dungeons that are too powerful for them, and word has spread even outside that a surge is here but it is somehow under control. All off-duty hunters selling loot in the outer city that are able to cross the Crimson Barrier do so, and my body double vets them to enter certain dungeons.
These dungeons are breaking because of excess mana injected into them from the surge. My theory to turn them back to normal would be to take that excess energy out. An easy way would be to allow a plunderer imbued element stone loose inside one. The higher-grade dungeons may need more than one to do the trick.
However, I want to give the hunters in the surrounding area some time to capitalize on this gold mine. I even create another double to replace my surveillance double to go and farm some of the mutant monsters to get some of the unique loot for myself.
I'll let everyone get their fair share before doing my first test on a dungeon to neutralize it.
This gives me even more time to farm in the B-Grade break.
About an hour and a half passes, and I've farmed over 500 extreme grade wind magic stones, my double even manages to kill a mutant with a skill I don't have yet, transferring it to my main body and upgrading it too.
[Blink][Mythic Grade]
It's a very odd skill, similar to my stealth ability but with a twist. To activate, the monster has to make eye contact with their opponent, and from then on, it will be invisible to its enemy every time it closes its eyes.
There are some obvious limitations, like having to be a higher mana control than the opponent for it to work properly, however, it is an intriguing power of deception.
Many hunters have found the dungeons with the most unique loot, and gotten what they need while fighting to their limit and leaving the dungeons already to be the first to sell them to traders that aren't able to enter the Crimson Barrier.
During all of this, there were even 14 more links of loyalty formed. These were rogue hunters that on the spot declared their loyalty while looking at the opportunity in front of them and decided to join the inner city and put their trust in me just to get through the Crimson Barrier.
They reap the rewards, and are able to farm in the dungeons.
Others see this and think they can try it themselves. Those without pure intentions or full trust in me as their leader do not form a link with my ranked up buff, and are unable to pass through.
I have guildhall workers on standby at booths in the outer city ring that supply mythic grade regeneration potions to those that accidentally injure themselves trying to go through the barrier.
Once the traffic starts to settle down, I imbue a few of my new element stones with plunderer and create new containment stones with roughly the same 7-8 billion MP allowances. My double brings them to the E-Grade breaks first, and makes sure everyone clears out before letting the stones out of my storage.
In the emptied breaks, these stones drain the excess mana away, and bring them back down to their natural state in a single stone.
Many hunters go back in after the neutralizing is complete to witness the massive hole in the dungeon's center, but I make sure to tell the Elemental Elites what to say, and they reassure regular hunters that the dungeons will naturally regenerate given enough time.
My double continues to neutralize the dungeons one by one with the containment stones as my main body continues to farm for more in the B-Grade break over the next hour and a half straight.
I leave the most popular breaks for last, so that hunters can get all the resources they want.
The D-Grade dungeons take up to 5-10 stones to neutralize, and some of the mid-level and high-grade C-Grade dungeons even take 30-50.
I've farmed over a thousand windstones, so this is perfect.
By the time every break is neutralized, and all of the dungeons are back to their normal state, I have 600 new full containment stones in my inventory, and just under 500 raw element stones still waiting to be imbued.
The massive wind element birds in the B-Grade dungeon divebomb toward the glowing red exit portal every time they respawn.
If I was not in here constantly farming them, they would escape out into the real world and cause havoc.
The stones in this dungeon are a valuable resource, but this is a dangerous dungeon to keep so close to the city at this unstable state.
I need to stabilize it before something unpredictable happens.
Outside, the crowds of traders and hunters celebrate their loot and harvest while my double tells the Elemental Elites they've earned a night off after all the hard work.
My main body stays in the B-Grade dungeon break for another six hours until I'm satisfied with the number of stones I've farmed.
Over 2500 fresh element stones are farmed, while 600 are still full to the brim with 7-8 billion MP each.
I task my body double to go out to C-Grade dungeons in the desert that I passed on collapsing in the past and give them newly crafted containment stones from these 2500 to fill with mana.
As the sun goes down on the final day before Ember is scheduled to wake up in the morning, my doubles fill almost every single stone they can.
About 700 are left uncrafted in their natural element state, while 1800 more are turned into full containment stones, adding to the 600 total and making 2400 full stones ready to release over 18 trillion MP.
I whisper to myself.
"I guess it's now or never... This should be enough."
Once I have these ready, I begin releasing their mana into the B-Grade dungeon.
After about 300 stones, the monster type changes again, making the birds disappear and a new level Elite scorpion-like monster form in a new dungeon. Some are level 950-965 in their base state, but others reach up to level 995 in their mutant form.
I use the exit portal to walk outside, expecting for it to be stable after the new rank up, but to my surprise, the spinning portal is still bright red. I jump back in and start defending the exit from dozens of massive creatures that are programmed to leave this dungeon by any means necessary.
"Not good..."
I decide to release even more full containment stones into the dungeon to try and bring it up in rank again to stabilize it further.
Over 2 hours pass.
I set off chain reactions of dozens of stones at a time, protecting myself within a soul energy shielding barrier at the far edges of the dungeon near the exit to release more mana inside.
It takes another 500 stones to make the dungeon move up in rank again.
The creatures are all aquatic, with long bodies and sharp teeth, with their base forms ranging from level 970-985. Some mutants hit level 999.
However, they're all aggressively hard wired to leave the dungeon too. The portal is still bright red.
I don't dare challenge the boss room because I'm almost positive it would destroy the whole dungeon once defeated.
My plan is to continue charging this dungeon higher. I'm so close to my goal of level 1000 monsters, I might as well use the rest of the stones to try and reach it.
If this dungeon actually stays unstable forever, I'll have a double stand by and farm it while standing guard. However, if it is really a lost cause and seems too dangerous to keep in the canyon, I'll take out the boss and end things here.
I have a feeling there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm almost there.
It takes another 4 hours and 1100 stones before the dungeon finally hits its new rank.
As I watch the mutant sea creatures fade away and a new dungeon begin to form, the outer edges of my perception begin to shrink in toward me.
The dungeon itself feels like it's getting smaller, and the coloring and artificial sky and floor start to fade away until I'm only left floating in a small sphere of white and blue pure system energy.
A single blue text box hovers in front of my eyes.
[Create a Labyrinth]
[YES][NO]
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