Game of the World Tree-Chapter 562

【 MOUNTPEAK CITY 】

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True to their reputation, Moe Moe Committee had once again proven their unparalleled efficiency in construction to the extent that even if they humbly claimed to be “second place” in this aspect, not a single other guild in Elven Kingdom would have the confidence to claim first.

Once Little Salty Cat clearly explained her true plans, each guild member was immediately moved by her keen foresight…

Even the voices of skeptics fell silent a week later when Moe Moe successfully built a passage to the third designated city-building site.

Just as Little Salty Cat had said, although the layer of bedrock at this site was thick and prevented direct access to the Underground, there was an old tunnel dug by Rose that led straight to it.

And given that the tunnel was originally constructed to accommodate Rose’s considerable size during her golden-rank days, it was by no means narrow.

At the very least, it could easily accommodate two carriages driving side by side with room to spare and wide enough for four or five players to hop around without bumping into one another.

Good transportation infrastructure is a prerequisite for large-scale trade.

Although the tunnel was somewhat winding, that posed no major issue. At most, it would take players an hour on foot to reach the third site near the Underground. After that, they would just need to dig a passage to officially connect to the underground region.

Digging a passage wasn’t difficult either.

The bedrock separating the site from the Underground was thinner than anticipated, likely no more than 500 meters in thickness.

In fact, Rose’s tunnel already extended to a depth of 300 meters.

With the help of magic and crypt spiders, they only had to dig less than another 100 meters before they broke through and finally connect the passage into the Underground.

What surprised them was that the tunnel didn’t lead to Deep Cavern, where Blackrock City is located (as seen in Chapter 172), but instead one of the border city belonging to Hermetic Alliance (see Chapter 347).

This was a major development.

After all, the Hermetic Alliance had become the players’ most frequent trading partner in the Underground.

Deep Caverns was simply too small, and Blackrock City’s inhabitants were too few. They had long since been unable to meet the growing demand of the player economy.

So, ever since the player population surpassed 100,000, they had relied on Deep Caverns as a springboard to trade with allied member city-states of the Hermetic Alliance.

Under such circumstances, this direct trade route became especially crucial for Moe Moe Committee.

While Rivendell also had an entrance to the Underground region, it was far too remote.

At present, trade with the Hermetic Alliance either required navigating the convoluted lake systems of the Deep Caverns or using Blackrock City’s long-range teleportation array…

However, their array’s cargo capacity was limited.

While it was fine for transporting people in emergencies, it was far too costly to move large quantities of goods as the magic ore consumption needed to power it was enormous.

Moreover, putting goods into storage rings wasn’t a viable solution either, as it consumed more magic ores than transferring the goods directly…

This had to do with the spatial laws at play.

Therefore, establishing a direct trade route to the Hermetic Alliance was of critical importance.

At this point, no one in Moe Moe Committee questioned Little Salty Cat’s decision anymore as even just controlling the entrance fee on this passage they built could make them rich beyond belief. 𝙧ἁŊọ𝐁Е§

Sure, Heart of Nature was basking in glory thanks to their partnership with the dwarves…

But when it came to financial resources and funding capabilities, Moe Moe Committee was still the dominant force among all the guilds.

And now, if others wanted a more efficient trade route, they’d likely have no choice but to use this one.

In a way, Moe Moe Committee’s bright future was already assured.

Although their relationship with Heart of Nature was on friendly terms, there was always an undercurrent of competition.

Previously, they had completely outmaneuvered Heart of Nature thanks to their firm hold over the Chosen City’s real estate business. And now, with this trade route, they could once again take the upper hand. fгeewebnovёl.com

Whoever controls the trade route holds the power.

Realizing this, each Moe Moe Committee members became even more enthusiastic.

Even if the environment here couldn’t compare to the Elven Forest—and even if there was nothing here yet—their hearts were full of hope for the future.

Thus, shortly thereafter, large-scale city construction officially commenced, with the primary building materials consisting of stones excavated from the mountains blasted by Little Salty Cat.

Which was a perfect example of nothing going to waste.

And surprisingly, the results were excellent!

The Dark Mountains were named so because of their abundant obsidian deposits.

In the realm of Seigües, this obsidian—though it shares its name with its counterpart on Earth—is a highly valued material, prized for its applications in both construction and spellcraft.

Of course, the Seigües variant of obsidian differs significantly from its Earth counterpart. While both possess a black, glass-like appearance, the Seigües version is notably more durable.

With the assistance of magic, this obsidian functions both as an excellent construction material and can be directly forged into city walls.

When these walls are reinforced with divine defensive barriers, their durability is significantly increased.

Sandstorm City, located in the Desert of Death, exemplifies this application.

In truth, if the Dark Mountains weren’t so remote and not in such close proximity to Orc territory, some human nation would have already attempted mining in this region long ago.

After all, even the harshest environment has its value and one just have to know the right way to uncover them.

By this point, the members of Moe Moe Committee couldn’t help but sigh.

Those orcs really were sitting on a mountain of treasure all along without even realizing it.

And as if responding to that sentiment, another piece of good news arrived right after the passage to the underground region was opened…

A vein of magic ores and mithril was discovered at the third site!

As the future northern hub, he thought the name was fitting.

Meanwhile, the Scourge Knights, which was the fourth-largest guild, went with a distinctly Earth-inspired approach.

They chose traditional Chinese architecture and built a oriental garden-style city in the northwest region of the Elven Forest.

Of course, they also used plant animation to bring the wooden structures to life.

Their city was named Shangjing (Upper Capital).

Among all the city names, it was the one with the least Western fantasy flavor to it.

As for the remaining three guild alliances…

All-Star Alliance also chose elven architecture as their motif, naming their city Atlantis.

Azeroth Union on the other hand, opted for a classic Western fantasy style and named their city Lordaeron, which was a straightforward and blatant nod to World of Warcraft.

From top to bottom, everything about it screamed homage.

Finally, Long Live the Goddess alliance had a less uniform city design.

As the largest alliance with the most guild associates but also the weakest overall, they allowed each guild to construct its own district in the city after the general layout was decided. The result was a city that ended up feeling somewhat like a new Chosen City.

Their city was named Eden, a decision made through a popular vote.

It was… interesting, to say the least.

Strangely, while people often used wildly creative or bizarre naming schemes for their usernames and guild names, they became much more grounded when choosing the names of their cities.

This was largely because most city names were chosen by vote, which limited personal eccentricity. And probably another reason was that the players had begun to deeply immerse themselves within the game world.

Roleplaying had become increasingly prevalent amongst the playerbase, while instances of trolling and meme-based naming had significantly diminished.

Then again, it wouldn’t have mattered too much even if someone had picked a bizarre city name. To the natives of this world, all city names sounded like foreign words anyway.

Just like how Chinese people on earth wouldn’t know that the ancient meaning of “Manchester” was “breast-shaped hill”…

Thus, the establishment of these seven newly constructed player cities was, for the most part, successfully completed.

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