Chapter 5: Recruitment
The lift slowly ascended. After about half a minute, it gave a slight jolt, and the guard in front pulled open the metal barrier, indicating that Su Xiao could leave this place.
Following the upward steps, Su Xiao eventually walked out through the open door, with Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha following closely behind.
The sound of rushing water came through the thick pipe walls, and a damp, musty smell permeated the air. Looking around, ahead was a hundred-meter-wide drainage ditch, surrounded by dense, crisscrossing metal pipes covered in rust. At the bottom of a tall black water tower, a massive metal fan blade, its purpose unknown, slowly rotated.
Metal, heavy, massive—it felt like arriving in a land of giants. This was the first impression of beast clan architecture. Though it appeared rough and backward on the surface, it actually contained quite a bit of black technology, just not as flashy or ornate as the tech side—pure pragmatism.
A few beast clan children played on the high metal pipes. From their agile movements, comparable to little Spider-Men, one could imagine how talented the beast clan was in combat. Looking at the many slight dents on the huge water tower, they were likely caused by these brats in their daily antics.
After a loud shout from an administrator with goat horns, bottle-bottom glasses, and waders, the brats on the high pipes laughed and ran off.
Following a steel bridge, Su Xiao headed toward the central district. After leaving the remote westernmost area, he saw a public transit train on the street, along with passing beast clansmen. Interestingly, some beast clansmen were less than a meter tall, while others were over ten meters. On a high airship, a food advertisement was printed.
Su Xiao pulled a money pouch from the backpack on Amu’s back. Opening it, he found three types of coins. Compared to coins, paper currency was also widely circulated.
This beast clan-issued currency had value, but compared to Soul Coins, it fell short. In this world, whether it was the beast clan, sea clan, or tribal forces, even some small and medium factions, all welcomed Soul Coins as a method of transaction.
After waiting a moment at the transit train platform, a train stopped. Paying the fare and boarding, Su Xiao began observing the station map on the wall. He was currently in the beast clan’s main city, Eternal Ring City.
This main city was divided into over 190 districts, each vast. In fact, the scale of a single district would be on par with a royal capital in other worlds.
The sizzling sound of frying and a fragrant aroma drifted over. Su Xiao looked and saw a food counter at the front of the train, where a snack resembling fried meatballs was being cooked. Shortly after, Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha sat in a row on a bench by the window, each holding several skewers of fried meatballs, their chewing movements somewhat synchronized.
Su Xiao’s purpose this time was naturally not to sightsee in the main city. He was heading to the 70th district, where there was a teleportation tower that could take him directly from the main city to Iron Fortress City. Iron Fortress City was close to the war zone, and from there, he could reach the Ancient Ruins adjacent to the Main Battlefield. At this stage, the beast clan occupied the Ancient Ruins.
The main battlefield between the beast clan and sea clan bordered the Ancient Ruins to the west, the Crystal Forest to the east, White Hoof Port to the south, and the sea clan’s landmark, the Ancestral Lighthouse, to the north.
First, regarding the Ancient Ruins, its depths were still an abyss erosion zone. In other worlds, this area would have been sealed off long ago, but Wind Sea Continent was a Transcendent Primordial World, having experienced a “direct-level” influx of the abyss. Thus, it could still control this “residual-level” erosion zone.
The abyss erosion zone deep in the Ancient Ruins, roughly on a cycle of over a decade, could form or grow quite a few supernatural resources. Though not as valuable as Arcane Eternal Star’s Prosperous Star, the resource output was about one-tenth of it.
Not only the Ancient Ruins, but the east side of the Main Battlefield was also a resource treasure land. Both the beast clan and sea clan had technology using Living Crystal as energy. Thus, the crystal stalactites growing in the Crystal Forest, once harvested and their crystalline structure hardened, became natural energy sources.
Furthermore, some sea clan groups with mass-breeding capabilities could use this bio-energy characteristic crystal to accelerate the growth of lower-tier individuals. Such sea clan groups could be seen as simplified versions of the insect race.
At present, the beast clan occupied the Ancient Ruins, while the sea clan held the Crystal Forest. Clearly, the sea clan had the advantage, especially after recently receiving strong reinforcements from Arcane Eternal Star.
In Su Xiao’s view, with his strength alone, retaking the Crystal Forest was unlikely. Over 30 sea clan legions were stationed there. Based on the beast clan’s legion organization—one legion comprising 500,000 beast clan warriors—the sea clan’s defensive force at the Crystal Forest would be over ten million, not counting reinforcements from the Main Battlefield and White Hoof Port.
To even consider attacking the Crystal Forest, he would need at least a fiefdom. With beast clan warriors from that fief, he could form five legions and, with the War Lord title effect, have a certain chance of taking the Crystal Forest. Of course, if he succeeded, the faction reputation gained would be immense.
Everything is hard at the start. Su Xiao was in this situation, but he already had a plan. Since he had neither a fief nor a beast clan legion, he would take the elite route, relying on the Sun Lord title, which had been upgraded to eight stars.
[Sun Lord]
Origin: Reincarnation Paradise
Quality: ★★★★★★★★
Category: Title·Rare
Basic Effect: Due to the title wearer’s personal strength exceeding the upper limit (far surpassing elite-level units), this title will not provide you with any bonuses.
Title Effect: Sun’s Blessing (Passive) — When the number of elite units under the hunter’s command reaches 10, 20, 50, 80, and 100, the following bonus effects are triggered, and these effects can stack.