After ArrowHeart's squad turned in the Ruin Guard loot,
they immediately resumed their big-spender sweep, buying every possible material and class-related item at outrageous premiums.
And because true whales had entered the ecosystem—
the entire in-game economy detonated.
A stack of 99 wood?
Originally 50 credits.
Now? 150 credits, tripled overnight.
And even at that price?
ArrowHeart's squad would buy every single unit.
They weren't buying materials.
They were buying EXP packets.
Instant-level scrolls.
Have materials? They'll buy them.
Have more? They'll buy more.
With whales arriving, the entire playerbase instantly entered—
THE GREAT BRICK-FARMING ERA.
Ninety percent of players went full no-life mode,
working 24 hours a day gathering anything that could be turned in for quest progress.
Player condition?
"As long as the HP bar still has 0.1%, I ain't logging out!"
Pain?
Fatigue?
Just turn down the "Sensory Intensity" slider.
Afraid of pain? Set it to 0.
Afraid of tiredness? Set it to 0.
Problem solved.
Of course… this also birthed tragedies.
Some geniuses lowered their sensory setting to zero,
forgot to monitor their character state,
and due to the Overexhaustion debuff…
They dropped dead on the spot.
But:
[100% Immersive New Game] + [Can Make Real Money]
These two tags alone already made Genshin: Initiate explode in popularity.
Add top streamer ChickenWaterBubble broadcasting it live—
And on his version of Earth,
the game had already gone nuclear.
Liang Chuan opened the "Game Backend."
The game had been online for two days.
Over 8,000,000 people had applied for account access.
"System, with so many applicants,
if I set specific criteria for new players,
do I still have to wait?"
System:
[Among current applicants, all professions are represented.
The Host may filter however he wishes.]
"Perfect."
Liang Chuan thought for a moment.
"Consume 4000 bio-energy.
Recruit 400 new players—
and make it an even 1000 total."
Then he added:
"And these 400 new players must be EXCLUSIVELY life-support classes:
Architect
Farmer
Chef
Craftsman
Tailor
Blacksmith
No combat classes at all.
We don't need more fighters yet.
Before we wage war, we need:
Food. Housing. Infrastructure. Logistics.
Once logistics are stable—
THEN we spawn the army."
System:
[Please select their spawn locations.]
"Split evenly.
Half to Featherplume Haven.
Half to Ember-Mist Tribe."
They can freely teleport between bases anyway.
Wherever needs them—they'll go.
When the 4000 bio-energy was consumed,
both bases' Bio-Energy Terminals began spitting out people continuously.
Players realized instantly:
"NEW ACCOUNT WAVE!!!"
But something felt off.
"This batch is huge… how come I didn't hit the lottery?"
"Same!Hundreds of accounts and still none are mine—this luck is rotten!"
"Wait wait—
my aunt just messaged me—SHE got in!
She applied ONE minute ago! How?!"
"What does she do?"
"She runs a tailor shop… makes cosplay costumes."
"…"
Another player shouted:
"My uncle got in too!
He's an old blacksmith!"
Slowly…
Everyone understood:
This entire wave—
was made ONLY of life-profession people.
Real-life experience required.
No faking it.
No scammers getting in.
The devs' intentions were obvious.
With 400 new life-profession players entering the world,
both bases transformed instantly.
Before, combat players had to spend part of their time building.
Now?
Full-time professionals handled it.
Development speed skyrocketed.
"Good. Productivity is secured.
Time to prepare for the THIRD base."
Liang Chuan opened the Bio-Energy Terminal interface.
Level 3 upgrade requirements:
Bio-energy converted: 10,000 / 10,000 (achieved)
Wood ×500 (done)
Stone ×500 (done)
Metal ×500 (done)
Chaos Device ×100 (still missing 75)
"If each Ruin Guard drops this many parts,
we only need to farm three more."
He opened the Global Map to monitor player actions.
Because one Ruin Guard had sold for 1,000,000 credits,
any player with combat ability had rushed into the wild…
All hunting for "million-credit monsters."
And indeed—
Some players found machines.
But not Ruin Guards.
They found…
Ruin Graders.
Fifty players charged them.
Fifty players were instantly annihilated.
Not. A. Single. Survivor.
Liang Chuan facepalmed.
He understood wanting money.
But this level of suicide?
"If you don't have the strength,
why hunt high-tier machinery?!
Go farm Hilichurls for bio-energy, you idiots!"
Right now, only two teams could reliably kill automata:
SteelRealMan's veteran squad
ArrowHeart's whale squad
SteelRealMan's team was resting after their big payday.
ArrowHeart's ten-man whale team, however…
was wandering around Ember-Mist.
They ignored Hilichurls, ignored Slimes—
they didn't even swat mobs on sight.
"What the heck are they doing?"
Liang Chuan muttered.
Soon, the answer became clear.
Using their Seeker's Tracking ability…
They found a hidden Fatui camp.
Through player vision,
Liang Chuan saw a familiar figure standing there.
His pupils shrank.
"The Captain?!
He wasn't caught by Mavuika?!"
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