I have an Apocalypse City

Chapter 1634: Chapter 1635: Haidao City Chapter 1634: Chapter 1635: Haidao City A city must possess a strong defensive magic array; otherwise, it is no more than a city without defenses, offering no sense of security to allies and presenting no deterrence to enemies, allowing them to come and go as they please. A defensive magic array also represents the depth of a city’s foundation–the stronger the defensive magic array, the deeper the city’s roots, often earning respect from other cities.

Prior to this, the City of Hope had only one half-destroyed black mist protection array, a vestige of the city’s former abandonment. After Song Jian restored most of it, it was barely usable, but the black mist protection array could only defend against enemies on land. Those at the Legendary Realm could easily breach its defenses by flying.

Furthermore, the protection array was merely a maze, mostly relying on the earthen creatures within the array for defense. During the storyline where the Abyss invaded, many earthen creatures were destroyed by Abyssal creatures. In reality, the black mist protection array was now just a facade, its actual effectiveness less than ten percent.

Apart from the black mist protection array, the City of Hope had also obtained a light screen defense array, a basic type of city defense array that offered more comprehensive protection, including against aerial attacks. However, such a low level of defense hardly concerned those at the Legendary Realm. To them, it was like a piece of paper, easily broken through.

That was precisely why Wang Qi had paid a great price to acquire the “Shelter of the Sea God” magic array. The array alone had cost the lives of over a dozen players, in addition to consuming a massive amount of resources and the time and effort of many. In the end, they had finally completed a series of Legendary Level quests.

However, none of this was disclosed to Song Jian by Wang Qi. If he knew the price that had been paid, Song Jian might have stopped them.

“For a city to rise, its defense array is crucial. Without a strong defense array, it won’t be taken seriously by other cities!” Wang Qi muttered to himself as he watched Song Jian’s retreating figure, gritting his teeth.

Isn’t the reason why the NPC City Alliance is currently blockading the City of Hope’s economy because the City of Hope rose too rapidly and has too little depth?

Wang Qi gazed at the sky where Song Jian’s figure had shrunk to a mere dot, and couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

“Being a city lord is no easy task…” Wang Qi sighed.

As Song Jian’s strength continued to grow, naturally he brought many benefits to the City of Hope. One could say that the City of Hope’s independence, its resistance to being suppressed, was entirely Song Jian’s merit.

For Song Jian, the help provided by the City of Hope was becoming less and less significant. Conversely, the City of Hope’s dependence on Song Jian was growing.

“I must become stronger!” Wang Qi vowed silently.

…

At this time, Song Jian had already used the transmission array to travel to Haitao City after several leaps. The transportation alone cost him hundreds of thousands of Doomsday Coins, but for Song Jian, that currency had become nothing more than numbers. Even Purple Crystals were of little benefit to him now. Since advancing to the Demi-God Level, what Song Jian needed was divine power, a substantial amount of it. Whether it was upgrading equipment, skills, or transforming the Shattered Divine Realm, a vast amount of divine power was required.

Including the construction of his own divine botanical garden and cultivating divine plants, a tremendous amount of divine power was necessary. If Song Jian were a true God Level power with his own Divine Country, divine power and divinity would not pose much trouble for him; it would just be a matter of time before he acquired ample divine power and divinity.

But now, Song Jian could only acquire divinity by plundering!

Upon arriving in Haitao City, Song Jian immediately began searching for information about marine divine creatures. In fact, such information was not closely guarded in Haitao City, and one could easily gather it in places like taverns or the Mercenary Guild, astoundingly abundant to Song Jian’s surprise.

“A trace of divine creatures spotted fifty nautical miles from Haitao City, suspected to be the ‘Tiger Demon Shark.’ Passing players, please take caution and avoid!”

“Duke Windsor offers a bounty for one marine divine creature’s eyeball. The successful hunter will be granted the title of Baron of Haitao City, as well as a fifty-acre estate as a reward!”

“One hundred and fifty nautical miles from Haitao City, a giant marine whirlpool appears every full moon night, suspected to be the entrance to a Level 5 dungeon. Now inviting players around level 100 to form a team for exploration. Participants must have at least three pieces of Legendary Quality Equipment, defensive warriors must possess Legendary Quality shields, and DPS classes must wield Legendary Quality weapons!”

…

“There are so many marine divine creatures?” Song Jian casually inquired and received more than a dozen rumors about marine divine creatures. Although the authenticity of the messages was uncertain, it provided a direction for exploration.

“Hey, brother, interested in forming a team to explore the Whirlpool Gate?” a player approached and whispered.

Song Jian turned to look; the Whirlpool Gate he referred to was the one previously advertised at the city gate, seeking teammates to explore a suspected Level 5 dungeon entrance.

“The one that appears on the full moon night?” Song Jian asked.

“Yes, we have confirmed that it is indeed the entrance to a Level 5 dungeon!” the player observed Song Jian carefully, with a hint of excitement on his face, “I’m Yang Yang from the Beiyang Fleet Alliance. What’s your name, brother? You look unfamiliar, so you’re probably not from Haitao City, right?”

“Heh, just visiting,” Song Jian laughed, “My name is Song Jian. What about that Level 5 dungeon you mentioned? Are the monsters tough?”

“They’re incredibly tough!” Yang Yang immediately became animated, pulling Song Jian aside, “Let me tell you, the first guardian BOSS in that Level 5 dungeon is at the Legendary Realm, a Level 120 BOSS, which requires at least forty players over Level 100 to possibly defeat. We can’t beat the BOSS, but we can still gain plenty by killing the lesser creatures in the dungeon…”

While speaking, Yang Yang showed off his gauntlets and breastplate, both Dark Gold Quality Equipment of Level 100, boasting with pride, “These two are Dark Gold Quality, and they’re part of a set. How about it? They’re all drops from the dungeon’s lesser creatures…”

“When the time comes, we’ll distribute according to needs. Whatever you can use, we’ll assign directly to you, how does that sound?” Yang Yang said expectantly to Song Jian.

Song Jian smiled but didn’t respond; instead, he asked, “Are there many marine divine creatures around here? Have you seen any?”

A look of surprise flashed across Yang Yang’s face as he scrutinized Song Jian, “Brother, you’re not by any chance a monster hunter, are you? You’re actually considering hunting divine creatures?”

…