Chapter 243 : Speculating on Luoshui's Prime Real Estate

Chapter 243: Speculating on Luoshui's Prime Real Estate! Creating Brand-New Talents for His Subordinates!

At ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍the offline headquarters of the War God Hall Legion.

Because ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍his in-game body was still recovering, Ye Meng took the opportunity to handle important legion affairs.

He ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍successively met with representatives from several financial conglomerates and well-known investors.

Back ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍then, he had not hesitated to liquidate a large amount of high-quality assets, raise an enormous amount of capital, and even take out loans, all for the sake of investing in his in-game career.

For ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍a time, he had become the laughingstock of both his peers and former rivals.

After ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍the offline exchange conference in Magic City, the situation changed.

News and rumors regarding 《Weird Three Kingdoms》became increasingly exaggerated.

Although many of them sounded like absurd urban legends, the project's development potential and investment prospects had become more and more evident.

In less than half a day today, Ye Meng had already met with four major figures and representatives of financial conglomerates.

These influential people were a whole tier above him in status, and these conglomerates all possessed powerful backgrounds.

In the past, it would have been difficult for him to even establish contact with them.

Yet now, they were all waving enormous sums of money, trying to stuff them into his pocket.

However, Ye Meng remained extremely cautious about accepting investments.

First of all, he himself was already a tycoon worth several billion to nearly ten billion.

Moreover, among the War God Hall Legion's upper management were several individuals who were also immensely wealthy.

At present, the legion was not short on development funds.

Why should they accept outside investment?

After all, there was neither cash shop nor top-up system in Weird Three Kingdoms.

The only practical use of real-world money was purchasing resources from other players.

The War God Hall Legion was the largest and strongest of the Five Great Legions.

For the time being, Ye Meng had no need to seek outside investment.

Unless these investors offered exceptionally favorable equity terms, completely refrained from interfering in the legion's development, and could provide development resources beyond mere money.

That, obviously, would not be easy.

Of course, although Ye Meng rejected most investment offers, there was no need to completely shut the door.

If these major investors and financial conglomerates truly believed in the future of Weird Three Kingdoms, then even if they could not invest in the War God Hall Legion for now, they could still invest in smaller legions or promising individual players.

After this round of expansion, the Calamity Army would grow to fifteen thousand players.

Among them, there would surely be many exceptionally talented newcomers.

In the future, they could become rivals, partners, or allies.

“Old Ye!”

Just after Ye Meng saw off the final distinguished guest, his wife, Li Wen, walked into the office.

“Have you seen the latest announcement on the official website?”

Ye Meng immediately asked, “A new announcement? When? What's it about?”

Li Wen handed him a tablet.

Displayed on the screen was the official announcement.

She briefly explained, “The first batch of Main City real estate has officially gone up for auction!”

Ye Meng's eyes widened.

“So it's finally begun? This is huge!”

Whether it was the War God Hall Legion, Divine Feather Palace, or Wings of Freedom, every one of them had been eagerly awaiting this.

Other forces and players with business acumen had probably long since begun planning, or had even already taken action.

The territory was currently developing rapidly, and its population was increasing at an astonishing pace.

In the future, it might accommodate tens of millions of players or even more.

The core assets of every major city and key settlement would possess tremendous appreciation potential.

Luoshui Main City, in particular, was truly worth its weight in gold.

If one could secure assets during the city's early development, it would undoubtedly become a guaranteed long-term profit.

Without another word, Ye Meng declared, “Gather all representatives from the corporation and the legion in the conference hall!”

Twenty minutes later.

Inside the spacious conference hall, more than a hundred people began discussing the matter.

Over half of them were senior members or elite players of the War God Hall Legion, including Lone Boat the Ranger, Mad Blade Old Wang, Niu Shisan, Little Ma, Glorious Years, Graywood, Second Nie Xiaoqian, and others.

The rest consisted of offline executives, including Li Wen, as well as strategic partners brought in by Ye Meng.

“I believe everyone has already seen the announcement.”

Ye Meng said, “First, let President Li explain the basic situation.”

“According to the announcement, the Main City properties up for auction this time mainly consist of the operating rights to Shops No. 1 through No. 10 along Lord's Avenue, as well as ownership rights to one hundred residences in the western residential district.”

Using the projector, Li Wen displayed a map of Luoshui Main City on the wall.

The auctioned properties had already been clearly marked.

“As everyone can see, Luoshui Main City is divided into eastern and western sections.

“The eastern area, located on higher ground, contains the Lord's Fortress.

The western area, which is flatter and much larger, forms the Main Urban District.”

“The Lord's Fortress is not only the Lord's residence and the station of the Azure Dragon Guard, it also contains the Core Hall, Government Hall, Resurrection Plaza, Teleportation Plaza, and other essential facilities frequently used by both the Calamity Army and the territory's citizens.”

“After leaving the Resurrection and Teleportation Plaza in front of the Lord's Fortress and entering the Main Urban District, there is a broad avenue stretching across the entire city, perfectly dividing it into northern and southern sections.

“This is Lord's Avenue.”

“The southern district, located south of Lord's Avenue, is a functional zone centered around production, cultivation, and planting facilities.”

“The northern district, located north of Lord's Avenue, is the residential area centered around the Abyss Barracks.”

“This is the territory's current basic city layout!”

“It is not difficult to see that as the city's central thoroughfare, Lord's Avenue will undoubtedly become the busiest commercial district in the future.”

“Now, Shops No. 1 through No. 10 along Lord's Avenue have officially entered the auction phase.

For any force looking to invest in the Main City, their appeal is simply irresistible!”

“Especially Shop No. 1!”

“It is the closest to the Teleportation Plaza!”

“Even if you purchased it and did absolutely no business, simply having your legion's presence there would serve as a living advertisement, greatly increasing your legion's influence and bringing countless indirect benefits.”

……

Li Wen then proceeded to give the legion executives and senior managers a detailed analysis of each Main City property's value.

At this moment, one executive could not help saying, “We've already studied the territory's latest policies.

Although these shops are indeed extremely valuable, it seems ownership rights are not being sold.

We can only bid for operating rights.”

Ma Hong (Little Ma) also sighed regretfully.

“These shop operating rights last at most five years.

It's truly a pity that we can't purchase permanent ownership.

That means we'll have to carefully evaluate and submit prudent bids.”

That was indeed the case.

If purchasing a shop meant permanent ownership, then even if they had to sell everything they owned, they would seize as many shops as possible.

Even if they left them vacant, they could simply hold them for ten years or even longer.

As the Main City became increasingly prosperous, they could sell them to another buyer at dozens or even hundreds of times the original price.

Perhaps the Lord had anticipated exactly this sort of real estate speculation.

That was why commercial properties were restricted to operating rights only.

Every three to five years, they would be auctioned again.

As a result, because the lease period was relatively short, the shops could not simply be bought and resold.

This forced bidders to determine beforehand what type of business they intended to operate, and whether they could recover their total investment during the lease period.

Once a faction successfully acquired a shop, they could not afford to leave it idle even for a single moment.

They would immediately recruit NPCs and open for business as soon as possible, allowing the shop to begin generating returns.

From the perspective of territorial development, this was absolutely necessary.

It would greatly benefit both the prosperity of the Main City's commercial district and its long-term sustainable growth.

“Although we can't obtain permanent ownership, these shops still possess tremendous value.”

Ye Meng spoke at this moment.

“According to the announcement, all Shops No. 1 through No. 10 along Lord's Avenue are eligible to apply for partnerships with the First Alchemy Workshop, the First Artifact Refining Workshop, and Kiba Grand Hotel, becoming their exclusive retail channels for designated products.”

“What does that mean?”

Someone failed to grasp the implication immediately.

Ye Meng explained, “I believe that as the territory develops, facilities such as the Alchemy Workshop and Artifact Refining Workshop will eventually become pure production workshops.

The various products they manufacture will instead be distributed through outside sales channels.”

So that was it! Everyone immediately understood.

Thinking about it, it made perfect sense.

Alchemy Workshops and Artifact Refining Workshops were, by nature, production facilities.

Their locations were relatively remote.

How could they compare with Lord's Avenue in terms of convenience?

Moreover, there were currently dozens, or even hundreds, of people lining up outside the workshops every day.

This not only disrupted operations, but also reduced efficiency.

If product sales and even certain services could be outsourced, the workshops would focus solely on research, development, and production, while goods would be sold through merchants operating shops throughout every city and settlement.

This would both improve production efficiency and provide greater convenience for players.

In the future, the territory would possess many Alchemy Workshops and Artifact Refining Workshops.

Each workshop, and even each cafeteria, would produce different products.

Among them, the First Alchemy Workshop and the First Artifact Refining Workshop were undoubtedly the strongest and highest-output facilities in the entire territory.

As long as these shops could obtain merchandise from them, they would at least guarantee a steady supply of products.

In the future, they could unlock even more commercial privileges and business opportunities.

Looking at the long-term, earning enormous profits would not be difficult.

That sounded excellent!

The War God Hall Legion's leadership immediately reached a unanimous decision.

This competition for Main City assets absolutely could not be missed!

Ye Meng asked, “How many Contribution Points can the entire legion currently mobilize?”

After Li Wen and the other executives made some calculations,

she replied,

“If we gather every Contribution Point that can currently circulate throughout the entire legion, we can probably raise 500 Territory Gold Coins that is, 5 million Contribution Points.”

Five million?

It certainly did not sound like a small amount.

In reality, it was indeed a considerable sum.

Yet somehow, it still felt far from enough.

“Our competitors are formidable.

Especially Divine Feather Palace, Immortal Dragon Soul, and Wings of Freedom!”

There was no need to mention Divine Feather Palace.

Behind Little Bell stood Li Songlin, one of the nation's greatest tycoons—

someone several tiers wealthier than even Ye Meng.

Divine Feather Palace had purchased almost as many Contribution Points as the War God Hall Legion.

Wings of Freedom was equally formidable.

Although Black Pupil Brother Rui and the others were not wealthy themselves, their legion was filled with elite experts.

They had also recently attracted a great deal of outside investment, providing them with abundant funds to purchase Contribution Points and resources.

As for Immortal Dragon Soul?

Raising a Cup to the Moon and his legion possessed an extremely mysterious background.

Ye Meng only knew that their financial resources and stockpiled assets were in no way inferior to the other major legions.

Although they had remained remarkably low-profile, they had secretly been purchasing large quantities of Contribution Points at premium prices.

Their hidden strength was not to be underestimated.

“This auction could have profound implications for the future development of every legion and the balance of power!”

“We absolutely cannot miss such an outstanding investment opportunity!”

“And we certainly cannot fall behind the other legions!”

“In the next two days, purchase as many Contribution Points as possible!”

Ye Meng made an immediate decision.

“In addition, I have decided to exchange every reserve of Magic Crystals, Magic Stones, and all non-essential material resources owned by the legion for Contribution Points.

That should allow us to prepare at least another 5 million Contribution Points!”

Everyone present unanimously agreed with the decision.

This Main City property auction would last approximately two days.

There would be no physical auction venue.

Every legion and every individual could submit bids directly through the event interface.

Everyone could also view the real-time bids for every property.

Forty-eight hours later, the auction would end precisely on schedule, and each asset would go to the highest bidder.

Although there was no traditional auction hall or paddle-raising process, this method was filled with even greater suspense, while thoroughly stimulating competition between players, between legions, and between factions.

At the same time, on the official forums, someone uploaded screenshots of the auction interface.

Cloud Players immediately erupted into heated discussions.

“My god! Luoshui City is auctioning real estate!”

“Shop No. 1's five-year operating rights have already been bid up to 1 million Contribution Points, and the largest residence in the best location has already exceeded 500,000 Contribution Points!”

“All hail the whales!”

“Where did they get so many Contribution Points? Those numbers are insane!”

“Bidding has only just begun! I can already smell blood in the air!”

“Latest news! The purchase price of Contribution Points has doubled! Right now, each Contribution Point is already selling for one hundred yuan!”

“Holy crap! Has everyone gone insane? I remember when the game first launched, wealthy players were only buying Contribution Points for a few dozen yuan each. Logically speaking, shouldn't a game's currency become less valuable due to inflation as time goes on?”

“Exactly! Judging from the circulation alone, there weren't many Contribution Points issued when the territory first started. By now, there should be tens of millions of Contribution Points in circulation!”

“Tens of millions? It's far more than that! Just the Contribution Points distributed during each recent large-scale event amounted to at least tens of millions!”

“Then why hasn't the price of Contribution Points dropped? Why is it rising instead?”

“This is only the beginning! Once the big shots start fighting to the bitter end, the value of Contribution Points will probably double again! All the veteran players in the game are about to make a fortune!”

“This is awesome! Absolutely awesome!”

“I can't believe in-game currency can be worth this much!”

“Doesn't that mean you can earn hundreds or even thousands of yuan just by casually killing a monster?”

“So jealous! If I were a player, I'd spend all twenty-four hours a day grinding monsters and doing quests. I'd become rich overnight!”

“One Contribution Point is worth one hundred yuan? Then that property that was bid up to one million Contribution Points has a market value of one hundred million yuan? Am I the crazy one, or has the whole world gone mad? Is someone really willing to spend one hundred million real yuan to buy a house in a game?”

“What do you people know? Haven't there been game items worth ten or twenty million yuan before? And could those games even compare to a single hair of Weird Three Kingdoms? What's so strange about one hundred million?”

“Exactly! Main City properties are extremely scarce. Even an ordinary residence there won't lose out to housing in a first-tier city in the real world!”

“Luoshui City is still in its early stages of development. No matter where you buy a house now, it'll be prime inner-city property in the future. Is spending one hundred million yuan to buy a courtyard house inside the Second Ring Road expensive? If I had the money, I'd buy one too. It'll definitely appreciate in value!”

“That may be true... but it's still just a game!”

“This has probably broken the record for virtual assets!”

“This is going to make global headlines!”

“Weird Three Kingdoms is incredible!”

“……”

The fact that Weird Three Kingdoms was selling real estate inside the game was an unbelievably eye-catching headline.

How could the various self-media outlets chasing internet traffic possibly miss it?

In no time at all, the news spread everywhere.

It could be said that the Weird Three Kingdoms developers had pulled off an absolutely legendary move!

Although the topic had little to do with the game's content or storyline, it created an even greater shock among ordinary people.

A single house in Luoshui City was worth tens of millions of yuan.

Not only did the wealthy players not think it was expensive, they were scrambling to buy them.

Even purchasing a luxury home in a first-tier city was hardly more outrageous.

Housing prices had always been the kind of topic that easily sparked discussion and struck a chord with the public.

This instantly created a massive sensation across the internet.

Had speculating on real estate in the real world already become insufficient for these wealthy elites?

Now, they were actually speculating on property inside a game!

For a time, waves of admiration, shock, skepticism, criticism, and condemnation filled the internet.

Because the territory had begun auctioning high-quality real estate, the purchase price of Contribution Points skyrocketed.

The closed beta players worked like they had been injected with stimulants, frantically grinding, earning enormous profits.

However, despite the tsunami of public opinion, the relevant authorities remained surprisingly calm.

That was because the government itself was also one of the main culprits behind driving up Contribution Point prices.

At a meeting, Zhou Zhengming deliberately stated, “We have orders from above!

No matter the cost!

No matter the price!

Immortal Dragon Soul must secure Lord's Avenue Shop No. 1!”

“But Director Zhou...”

“The current price is already outrageous!”

“Shop No. 1 has already been bid up to 3 million by Divine Feather Palace and the War God Hall!”

“We aren't lacking funds, but the amount of Contribution Points we possess is limited.

No matter how much money we have, we can't magically create Contribution Points!”

“Exactly!

From a purely financial standpoint, instead of competing for the five-year operating rights to Lord's Avenue Shop No. 1, wouldn't it make more sense to purchase more high-quality residences?

Residential property will definitely continue appreciating!”

“……”

Zhou Zhengming replied,

“The value of Lord's Avenue Shop No. 1 extends far beyond economic returns.

Even if we don't lose money or even if we're guaranteed to lose everything we still have to obtain it.

This is a direct order from above!”

“Yes, sir!”

“We need more Contribution Points!”

“Exchange every resource and every Magic Crystal that can be turned in!”

“In addition, the higher-ups have approved another one billion yuan in special funding for the Immortal Dragon Soul Legion.

Buy as many Contribution Points as possible.

I don't care if they're only worth one hundred yuan now.

Even if they rise to two hundred, three hundred, or even five hundred yuan, buy them all!”

“Money is just numbers!”

“These core assets are priceless!”

“……”

The Five Great Legions, along with every wealthy player, were now as excited as if they had all been injected with stimulants.

Playing a game to this extent was unprecedented.

If this were truly just a game, sending every participant to a psychiatric hospital wouldn't have been unreasonable.

Yet Zhou Zhengming knew perfectly well what he was doing.

This was the highest-return investment imaginable—

one that even concerned the rise or decline of the nation.

………………

Luoshui City. Core Hall.

Hang Yu had already completed a round of talent enhancement for Zhou Cang, Wen Ping, and Zhang Zhongjing.

He first used five Luck Spirit Orb Fragments to strengthen Zhang Zhongjing's green Luck Talent, "Light of Merit."

Because Zhang Zhongjing's Light of Merit was already very close to advancing to blue quality, the five Spirit Orb Fragments were just enough to complete the breakthrough.

As a result, Zhang Zhongjing obtained a blue-quality Luck Talent.

【Light of Merit】, Luck Talent (Blue): Alchemy success rate +10%, all skill consumption -10%, recovery speed +10%, all beneficial effects received by self +30%, all harmful effects received by self -30%.

The talent's attributes were not the main point.

The key was the Luck Skill derived from the Luck Talent.

When Light of Merit was still green, it could already derive a blue Luck Skill.

Now that the Luck Talent had advanced to blue quality, although its derived Luck Skill remained blue, its effects had become stronger.

【Halo of Merit】, Luck Skill. Passive Effect: Within the territory, all spiritual plants grow 10% faster, and all production and crafting failure rates are reduced by 5%. By consuming 300 Mana, all allied territory units within a 500-meter radius receive +30% beneficial effect potency and -30% harmful effect potency for 1 hour. Cooldown: 1 hour.

Hang Yu's eyes lit up.

As expected, a strengthened Luck Skill was truly powerful!

The Luck Skill, "Light of the Medicine Sage," derived from Zhang Zhongjing's purple Luck Talent, "Sage of Medicine," already greatly reduced Alchemy failure rates by 25%.

In addition, it significantly improved pill quality and increased the growth speed of spiritual plants by 20%.

Now, Halo of Merit's passive effect added another 10% growth speed while reducing production failure rates by another 5%.

When the two effects stacked together, their effectiveness rose to an entirely new level.

The territory's productivity and industrial competitiveness became even stronger!

The already priceless Zhang Zhongjing had become even more valuable!

As for Zhou Cang and Wen Ping, they also received Talent improvements during this round of enhancement.

Hang Yu used seven Aptitude Spirit Orb Fragments to upgrade Zhou Cang's Aptitude Talent, "Advanced Commander Template," into "Overlord Template!"

The growth attributes of Advanced Commander were as follows.

【Advanced Commander Template】, Aptitude Talent (Green): At the current level, each level grants 300 Health and 30 points to each of the four core attributes.

The growth attributes under Overlord Template were as follows.

【Overlord Template】, Aptitude Talent (Blue): At the current level, each level grants 400 Health and 40 points to each of the four core attributes.

Compared with Advanced Commander, the Overlord Template granted an additional 100 Health and 10 points to each of the four attributes per level.

By level 30, this amounted to an additional 3,000 Health and 1,200 attribute points!

The improvement was immediate!

Zhou Cang also possessed the Abyss Physique, Azure Demonic Flame Bones, which further enhanced his attributes.

At this moment, even without Luck Skills or territory buffs, Zhou Cang's strength had already reached the threshold of an Overlord-class unit.

He was now at least qualified to fight someone like Skeleton Gan Ning.

The territory had gained another mighty general!

As for Wen Ping?

Hang Yu only had three Aptitude Spirit Orb Fragments remaining.

That was obviously not enough to evolve his Aptitude Talent.

Therefore, he used the complete Aptitude Spirit Orb, Precision Bow, on Wen Ping, directly granting him a brand-new Talent.

【Precision Bow】, Aptitude Talent (Green): Each level grants an additional 10 Agility. Bow skill effectiveness +15%.

Wen Ping was a general who excelled at defense.

However, his mobility and offensive ability were major weaknesses.

Although Precision Bow wasn't an exceptionally powerful Talent, it was still a green-quality Talent.

It increased his Agility, improved his mobility, and significantly enhanced his archery abilities.

There were many archery skills available for study in New Wan.

As long as Wen Ping mastered them, he would become not only an indestructible shield, but also a far more dangerous attacker.

While maintaining an impregnable defensive line, he would also be able to eliminate enemies from a distance with his bow.

“Thank you, Lord!”

Zhou Cang, Wen Ping, and Zhang Zhongjing all knelt to express their gratitude.

Although they had long known their Lord possessed heaven-defying abilities, none of them had imagined he could even modify and improve their innate talents.

Hang Yu's status within their hearts became even more mysterious and awe-inspiring.

The Lord's boundless generosity also greatly strengthened their loyalty to the territory.

Hang Yu ordered Zhou Cang to continue garrisoning Shansang City, Wen Ping to continue defending Huangmei Hamlet in preparation for the coming counteroffensive against the Corpse Lich Territory, while Zhang Zhongjing returned to researching new medicinal pills.

Nine new trading markets had just been added.

The territory needed much greater production output.

At the same time, Hang Yu was surprised to discover that although only half a day had passed since announcing the Main City real estate auction, these territorial assets had already been bid up to astonishing prices!

Not only that!

His other objective had also been perfectly achieved!

Hang Yu had deliberately chosen to hold the auction while the Calamity Army was resting.

Another reason was that large quantities of Magic Crystals and resources had accumulated in the players' hands.

He wanted to stimulate them into turning all those resources over.

Judging from the results, the strategy had been a complete success!

In order to gather more Contribution Points, the major legions and top players stopped holding back.

They immediately turned in every Magic Crystal and every resource they could.

In just half a day, the territory received a staggering 350,000 Magic Crystals.

Even for Hang Yu, that was an enormous number.

The privately circulating Magic Crystals and Magic Stones throughout the territory had been almost completely swept clean.

Furthermore, huge quantities of equipment, gems, and Forging Stones flooded into the territory warehouse, greatly enriching its inventory.

“This is incredible!”

Hang Yu had expected Main City assets to be highly attractive to players, but he had never imagined they would become this frenzied!

Excellent!

Outstanding!

Yet another new method of exploiting the Calamity Army!

In reality, constructing these ordinary facilities cost almost nothing.

What was currently being auctioned was only a tiny fraction.

The future potential of territorial real estate was enormous, and the higher the prices were driven, the better.

If players wanted to own a house in the Main City, they would naturally work even harder to complete missions, grind monsters, and level up.

As for all the Magic Crystals that had been collected?

They arrived at exactly the right moment!

At this very moment, Hang Yu was purchasing blueprints and supplies across all ten Human Lord Markets.

Whether farmland blueprints or various building blueprints, his purchasing efficiency had become ten times greater than before.

His chances of discovering rare blueprints had also increased severalfold.

As long as he had enough Magic Crystals, the territory's farmland and facilities throughout every region would soon be completed, greatly accelerating this new round of territorial construction and development.