C.3537 - 611 – Second-Tier Star Lake City

Chapter 611 – Second-Tier Star Lake City

When the semi-translucent screen above the city displayed a countdown timer, Star Lake City’s residents revealed expressions of joy and excitement. Many had even dropped what they were doing to stare at the sky, waiting for the countdown to end.

The moment the timer reached zero, a layer of white mist rose from the center of Star Lake City, rising to an altitude of 6,000 meters before dispersing to the surroundings.

Meanwhile, following the dispersal of this mist, everyone in Star Lake City experienced a comfortable feeling. At the same time, their minds and bodies felt much lighter and more invigorated than before.

“Is this a second-tier city’s environment? It’s incredible! Even if I don’t consume any Meditation or Life Potions, I feel that it’s only a matter of time before I can become a three-star master! If I have the aid of some Meditation or Life Potions, it might even be possible for me to become a mental strength grandmaster!”

“A second-tier mobile city! Our city has finally been promoted into a second-tier mobile city!”

“Amazing! This is simply amazing! I never thought I would get to become a second-tier city’s resident within my lifetime! If my friends living in other third-tier cities are to learn of this, they’ll probably die from envy!”

“Hurray for the City Lord! Hurray for the Commander! Hurray for Zero Wing!”

Star Lake City’s residents grew ecstatic when they experienced the effects of Star Lake City’s promotion. Although everyone had already known that Star Lake City would become a second-tier city following the conclusion of the city battle, they still couldn’t help their excitement after personally experiencing Star Lake City’s astonishing transformation.

Apart from status, mental strength also played a significant role in determining a person’s lifespan in the Greater World.

For example, mental strength masters living in a third-tier city could expect to live up to 500 years old easily, while mental strength grandmasters could expect to live past 800 years old. However, becoming a mental strength grandmaster was a nigh-impossible feat for the average person. Not only did the process require an astronomical amount of resources, but a sufficiently good environment would also be necessary. If a person couldn’t fulfill these two requirements, their chances of becoming a grandmaster would decrease drastically.

In third-tier mobile cities, only those who had joined the city legion would have a relatively easy time becoming a one-star grandmaster. As for the civilians living in third-tier cities, most of them would hover around the two-star or three-star master standard, and their chances of becoming a mental strength grandmaster were less than 0.01%.

On the other hand, in second-tier mobile cities, the average civilian had close to a 0.1% chance of becoming a mental strength grandmaster. This was a massive increase in probability. Not to mention, second-tier cities had access to more and better resources than third-tier cities.

As for the fifteen cities surrounding Star Lake City, they all remained in a silent state. As for the fifteen cities’ residents, they couldn’t help but look at Star Lake City with envious gazes.

Normally, if a person wasn’t born in a second-tier city, they would have to become a mental strength grandmaster to secure a residential slot in a second-tier city. Either that, or they could purchase a residential slot from a local power at an astronomical price. There was also the possibility that a second-tier city’s local power would offer a person a residential slot for free, but that privilege would only be limited to those with talent.

Hence, Star Lake City’s civilian residents were in an incredibly fortunate and enviable position. Although they would still be at risk of losing their residential status should Star Lake City need to make room for geniuses and paragons in the future, they were still in an enviable position nonetheless.

After all, most civilians living in third-tier cities would never get to live in a second-tier city.

…

Star Lake City, Zero Wing Training Center:

Although Star Lake City’s Singular Energy is still inferior to veteran second-tier cities, its status as a second-tier city alone should make it much easier for Zero Wing to recruit fifth-floor experts as internal members, Shi Feng thought when he felt the sudden increase in Singular Energy within the city.

In the Greater World, the God’s Domain Association would recognize any Guild as a major power so long as said Guild could successfully establish itself in a third-tier city. After all, many parallel worlds were connected with the Greater World, and more were getting connected by the day.

In comparison, the number of third-tier cities in the Greater World grew at a much slower rate. This disparity led to more than 90% of the powers operating in the Greater World having no choice but to develop in towns with inferior environments. Hence, any power capable of establishing itself in a third-tier city definitely deserved to be considered a major power.

Unfortunately, that was only the God’s Domain Association’s opinion. In the eyes of the Greater God’s Domain’s true experts, they only considered Guilds established in second-tier cities as major powers. Many fifth-floor experts have also set second-tier cities as their baseline living standards.

Due to this situation, unless a Guild could establish itself in a second-tier city, no matter how lucrative of an offer it made, most fifth-floor experts would never agree to become an internal member of the Guild and live long-term in the Guild’s headquarters in the Greater World. At most, they would become outer members that could withdraw from the Guild whenever they wanted.

Firstly, these fifth-floor experts were doing so for the sake of their future. Any expert capable of reaching the fifth-floor standard in God’s Domain was bound to have excellent mental strength. Some of them might even be three-star grandmasters. For individuals of such caliber, unless they were allowed to live in the City Lord’s Mansion, which housed the densest Singular Energy in a third-tier city, and supplemented with a large amount of resources, their mental strength would regress over time and reduce their lifespans.

This was also why so few three-star grandmasters operated in third-tier mobile cities.

Secondly, it was because of resources. While the God’s Domain Association had a branch in all third-tier cities, the Association placed a heavier emphasis on second-tier cities and above. Because of this, the resources and commissions available to third-tier cities were very limited. Not to mention, when most third-tier cities came across precious resources out in the wilds, they would typically bring these resources to trade for what they needed in second-tier cities.

At this time, Gentle Snow suddenly entered Shi Feng’s office and said, “Elder Mu and co are here, Guild Leader. They say they wish to revisit the partnership matter you’ve previously discussed.”

“They’re finally here?” Shi Feng smiled when he heard Gentle Snow’s report. “Sure, bring them here.”

Mu Huangwu was an expert at nurturing mental strength grandmasters. If Zero Wing’s members could receive Mu Huangwu’s training, Zero Wing’s progression into a Class 2 Guild could be accelerated significantly. At that time, Zero Wing could achieve a qualitative transformation in scale in the Crystal City of Secret, and it would no longer have to worry about its secrets getting out. Zero Wing also wouldn’t have to worry about lacking manpower, and it would only be a matter of time before it became one of the Crystal City’s dominant powers.