Before making the purchase, Chu Fu called over several people.
“Jiaojiao, come here and help me take a look. What can you see in the goods the merchant has for sale on Tianheng?”
Chu Fu had placed a Plant Spirit beside each of her teammates. That way, she could summon them at any time if something happened.
She activated the Plant Channel, and Jiaojiao Bu Jiao walked over through the channel, appearing beside Chu Fu.
It was incredibly convenient.
Jiaojiao Bu Jiao’s eyes lit up.
“I’ve made quite a bit of money from blacksmithing lately. Let’s see if my luck is any good! Huh? The box went up in price? It’s 100 gold now?”
“Didn’t you see the village-and-town upgrade blueprints?” Chu Fu asked.
Jiaojiao Bu Jiao shook her head.
“No. And the Mysterious Merchant’s exchange page is different every time!”
Chu Fu naturally knew that.
She had only wanted to confirm it.
The goods sold by the Mysterious Merchant differed according to each customer’s wealth, strength, needs, and status.
Chu Fu was a town mayor, while Jiaojiao Bu Jiao was a deputy mayor.
That was why she had asked Jiaojiao Bu Jiao to check whether she could purchase the village-and-town upgrade blueprints.
If Jiaojiao Bu Jiao couldn’t see them, didn’t that mean Chu Fu could monopolize all one hundred?
Since no one else could see them, they were scarce goods.
That was why the Mysterious Merchant was so popular. Many people bought scarce items and resold them at several times the original price.
After confirming everything, Chu Fu mobilized twenty million gold coins from the Thorn Guild and Thorn Town to purchase twenty Wind and Harmony Town Passes.
She then withdrew another one million gold coins from her own dividends and bought all one hundred village-and-town upgrade blueprints.
Since Thorn Town had become a joint-stock town, Chu Fu naturally wasn’t going to pay out of her own pocket to upgrade it.
She posted a quest called “Build a Home.”
Quest: United We Stand—Build a Home!
Submit village-and-town upgrade blueprints to build a new home and receive a reward of 10,000 gold coins!
(Limited to twenty blueprints.)
She completed her own quest herself.
Chu Fu submitted twenty blueprints, fully upgrading Thorn Town to the current maximum level.
Two hundred thousand gold coins also landed in her backpack.
She then posted an advanced version of the “Build a Home” quest.
Quest: United We Stand—Build a Home!
Submit city upgrade blueprints to build a new home and receive a reward of one million gold coins!
The quest was approved, and the reward was issued!
Chu Fu submitted the required blueprints, and one million gold coins fell into her hands.
Half the money she had spent had come back to her.
Afterward, she listed the remaining eighty village-and-town upgrade blueprints anonymously on the Auction House, with a starting price of 100,000 gold coins and an instant-purchase price of 300,000.
The reason she set an instant-purchase price was that Chu Fu feared someone else might trigger the Mysterious Merchant’s shop and purchase village-and-town upgrade blueprints as well. If they started a price war, the value of the blueprints would never rise.
It was safest to get rid of them quickly.
Sure enough, the moment Chu Fu listed the blueprints, they sold at lightning speed.
The Auction House was open to the entire world.
Who wouldn’t want to become a town mayor?
Guilds wanted to profit.
Countries wanted more of their citizens to enter the game. A town-level settlement could accommodate up to one hundred thousand players.
At the very least, China’s official forces would take action.
And 300,000 gold coins wasn’t much for a large guild.
After all, when Shen Chi had used the Siphon Machine to drain the money from Jiang Yixing’s pockets, he had sucked out 30,000 gold coins.
The Star Alliance had only been a Level 2 guild at the time, yet it had already been capable of generating that much money. A Level 3 guild would have accumulated even greater wealth.
In just over twenty minutes, Chu Fu’s backpack had gained twenty-four million gold coins.
The Mysterious Merchant had made a huge profit, but Chu Fu hadn’t lost out either.
Moreover, she hadn’t actually paid for the Town Passes herself. The Thorn Guild had funded them as part of its talent-development program.
After those talents entered dungeons and fought bosses, the 20% share they contributed to the guild’s funds would serve as the return on that investment.
Someone like Eighteen Stabs, for example, was absolutely worth investing in. Who knew? He might one day become an excellent independent team leader.
After counting her gains, Chu Fu happily opened the mayor interface and selected the upgrade option.
The previous quest had only awarded her the blueprints; she hadn’t actually used them to upgrade the town. Now, Chu Fu upgraded it all at once.
By doing things this way, anyone who didn’t know the truth would think she had spent 300,000 gold coins per blueprint to purchase twenty village-and-town upgrade blueprints.
No one would suspect that the blueprints had been sold by Chu Fu herself.
She was making a fortune in silence.
As Chu Fu completed the upgrade, Thorn Town expanded once again, reaching the requirements for a city upgrade.
Chu Fu then used a city upgrade blueprint to upgrade Thorn Town.
From that moment on, Thorn Town became Thorn City.
System Announcement: Congratulations to the player “Who Wants to Be a Plant?” for using a “City Upgrade Blueprint” to elevate Thorn Town into Thorn City.
Player “Who Wants to Be a Plant?” has become a city lord. As the first player to establish a city, all attributes +500.
The reward was five times greater than the one for establishing a town.
Chu Fu happily accepted the attribute points.
The next moment, a new announcement suddenly appeared.
The Undead God of Death has sensed the prosperity of Thorn City and intends to destroy it.
All Thorn City players, prepare yourselves.
The siege battle will begin in one hour.
If the siege is successfully defended, Thorn City will be established. If the defense fails, the city will be destroyed.
All Level 30 players may travel to Thorn City to aid in its defense and receive generous contribution rewards.
Chu Fu’s mind went blank.
How had she not known that players had to face a siege battle after establishing a city?
Her brother was a lone-wolf player, and his way of playing was far too different from hers. As a result, Chu Fu’s information advantage had completely disappeared.
Thinking carefully through the storyline, Chu Fu couldn’t recall a single city established by a player.
That was right—even the future Level 10 guilds had all been established within major cities rather than building cities of their own.
The greatest difference between them was probably Perfect Town Defense.
The Contribution Shop available after an imperfect town defense was different from the one available after a perfect defense. It did not sell town upgrade scrolls.
Once Chu Fu understood everything, she became calm instead.
It was only a city defense battle.
It wasn’t a divine war.
Besides, Level 30 and above players could come help defend the city.
Their chances were still very good.
After all, Chu Fu could summon her guardian deity.
“Who Wants to Be a Plant?”: Brother, brother! What are you doing? Hurry over and help me defend the city!
“Lu Xing”: Add me to the party!
Chu Fu: We’re safe!
She quickly added Chu Feng to the party.
Then she rapidly gathered everyone together.
After reaching Level 30, although Level 30 dungeons could still only accommodate twenty people, a party could include fifty people as long as they weren’t inside a dungeon.
Chu Fu gathered everyone into one party, then added a group of people from the Thorn Guild who had the highest contributions and the greatest potential.
A high contribution score meant that these people frequently ran dungeons. Every time they ran one, 20% of the guild’s funds were converted into contribution points.
This group was therefore certain to be the hardest-working members—the people who contributed the most to the guild.
She rewarded them with +120 to all attributes!
At the same time, large numbers of Level 30 players poured into Thorn City.
There was even a group of fair-haired, blue-eyed players among them.
What made your scalp prickle was the blood-red glow above these players’ heads.
Their names were red, and the guild name was even more glaring: the Holy Wolf Club!
