The Great Thief

In fact, Lu Li also had another strong sapling – the seeds of the World Tree.

It was a pity that those seeds hadn’t been fed well enough. They had eaten countless tree vine seeds, but they still looked dead. Lu Li had no choice but to give the Seeds of the Ancient of Lore the priority. The Ancient of Lore was also enough to ensure the safety of the Grey Valley Stronghold.

A lot of gold coins had been used. The Stronghold, which initially looked like a ruin, had changed dramatically.

Of course, it was impossible for this to happen in reality. Even if there was an intelligent robot-builder in real life, it would take at least half a month of construction. Even the best materials needed to be pre-processed before they were used.

However, that was not necessary in the game. The most time-consuming process was actually the design process.

After the design session, the players acquired enough building materials before paying the System. The next day, Lu Li saw that the commercial street was almost exactly as he expected.

The buildings like the houses, administrative halls and the like were all there.

Just like that, the first player-controlled Stronghold was established and it was soon filled with players.

Everyone was experiencing the liveliness of the place. After all, this was the first Stronghold.

The launch of the Strongholds marked new time when the players had officially established a foothold in Dawn. They could start building their own strength and developing their own economies within the player base.

Now, Dawn was truly a second world.

Several clubs that had purchased stores also seized the opportunity. There were many people pouring in excitedly to see the special discounts that were available. The names of the stores soon spread among the players.

A store that sold clothing launched a free dyeing service; they had a rare Tailor that had the ability to dye equipment. These Tailors were often monopolised by large groups, so ordinary players usually didn’t have the opportunity for such a service. But now, they could pay for his services.

A weapons store launched a draw where people could pay a gold coin to win an Epic item. Although only one or two players could win the Epic time, people would occasionally draw a Dark Gold item. This further contributed to the atmosphere.

There was even a Potions store that was selling potions at almost cost price. Ordinary potions were sold at a discount and higher-end potions also appeared on the count. How could the players with cash to spare pass up this opportunity?

They had hired beautiful women to work at the bar, and the players who enjoyed this started to view the Stronghold as the land of dreams.

The stores that purchased Rare Materials burned a lot of money as the purchase price here was much higher than other places. In particular, Ruling Sword had set up several stores to purchase Rare Materials and Square Root 3 had put in thousands of gold to fill the loss.

After the gimmicks at yesterday’s auction, Ruling Sword’s Auction House was already famous.

After all, there were few clubs that could sell their Epic equipment and many other players came to the auction house to sell their equipment.

The transaction fee was very low, as Ruling Sword had basically given up on the plan to make money.

These were all strategies to keep the people around.

Despite how full the Stronghold was today, it wouldn’t take long before these people would leave the Stronghold behind. It was only by taking certain measures to leave a lasting impression of Ruling Sword that they could entice them to become regular customers. Only then would it be possible for them to create wealth for the Stronghold.

Lu Li only paid attention for a while before leaving it be.

Square Root 3 was an expert in this respect. Wandering’s grasp of the human heart was better than Lu Li’s. Cat Dad was well-informed and always gave good advice, so Lu Li’s personal role was quite limited.

What Lu Li needed to do now was to take down the Black Sea Coast with a team.

When bidding for the land, Lu Li dropped 20,000 gold coins and successfully occupied one of the eight spots. The lowest spot was taken for 10,000 gold. The Black Sea Coast was a relatively remote place, but it was just behind where Ruling Sword had occupied. This meant that anyone occupying this land would have to face relentless attacks from Ruling Sword.

In fact, Lu Li could have bid a lower amount like 12,000 gold, but there was a risk associated

with that. If they didn’t get a spot, then that would be the worst outcome.

“One Revive Point and 20 Chariots,” Lu Li said as he handed money over the city warfare administrator.

“Surely that’s too little. Are you sure you only want to buy 20 chariots?” Wandering questioned, feeling that Lu Li was underestimating. “The people we’re up against aren’t rookies this time. Blood Red War Flag and Azure Guard have sent their main forces.”

Because there were several pieces of land to fight over, the major clubs had to make some choices.

The Black Sea Coast was a less competitive Stronghold, but there were still four or five clubs going for it. Blood Red War Flag and Azure Guard were the main competitors. They didn’t want to fight Ruling Sword, but they had no choice unless they wanted to lag behind the other clubs.

There were just a few pieces of land, so there were always going to be strong competitors.

“Relax, leave it to me. I have a trick up my sleave,” Lu Li said with a mysterious smile. He didn’t think that 20 chariots were too few. This was already the most he was willing to buy. If it weren’t for the fact that there were so many tycoons, he would be able to take down a Stronghold without a chariot.

As someone who had experienced Rebirth, he knew that if it was just a competition of financial resources, then there was no chance.

Wandering was only half convinced, but Lu Li had always been reliable, so he kept his opinions to himself. He thought that even if they failed, they could try again next week.

“You can have this ring and these potions. We will be relying on you to quickly build the Stronghold today,” Lu Li said as he traded some items to Sesame Rice Ball after he entered the Black Sea Coast Stronghold Map.

It was one ring and two potions.

Quick String Ring (Epic): 64-82, Agility +120, Strength +80, Attack Speed +30%, 2 slots. Special Effect 1: Hitting a critical location has a chance to result in a Piercing Effect. Special Effect 2: Instant Cast. Hit a target three times in the same location which deals Piercing Damage. 6 minute cooldown. Special Effect 3: Shift. Instant Cast. Select a target within 40 yards and swap positions with them. 6 hour cooldown. Equipment Requirements: Level 60. Durability 360/360.

The two potions were a limited invulnerability potion and a strong invisibility potion.

The towers were easy enough. After all, they had 20 chariots. However, in terms of efficiency, it was impossible to compare with those that had 35 chariots. Ruling Sword could fall behind by more than one and a half points in this process.

“They should have started to attack the walls by now,” Wandering said calmly.

Right now, Ruling Sword hadn’t lost any money. If they conquered the Black Sea Coast, they could make back the money they had spent, but if they failed, then the money they spent on the 20 chariots would be lost.