Chapter 23 – Racing Against Time: The Whale Spender

Mu Yuan was a diligent, hardworking young man of the new era with lofty morals. However, to gather intelligence, he had to blend in and engage in casual banter here to integrate with the silly players on the forum.

Yes, all of this was for the sake of gathering intelligence.

“My range of activity in the game world is still very limited, and I’ve encountered very little. I must rely on the forum to broaden my horizons and see what progress other newbies are making.”

Mu Yuan glanced at his Evolution Points and evolved the tenth Skeleton Soldier, ‘Bone Ten’.

Currently, his dilapidated village possessed one Skeleton Warrior, nine Skeleton Soldiers, five Little Skeletons, one Falcon, and one Large Slime.

This was more than enough for night watch.

Mu Yuan had no intention of sending Deadbone out to hunt alone. He had earned a lot of Soul Sand today and should give Deadbone more time to cultivate, so he could advance to Rank 5 and 6 faster.

He had heard that some top-tier whales intentionally kept a few three-star troops at home, doing nothing but cultivating day and night. Other troops would go out to explore and fight monsters, while the players themselves purchased upgrade-assisting resources from reality. All of this was to build a few top-tier troops.

In comparison, although his Deadbone was rare-grade, he had no auxiliary materials and still had to go out hunting to earn money. His leveling progress was probably lagging behind the main forces of top-tier whales.

He was indeed still too weak.

Let’s take a look at other competitors.

“Damn damn damn! Only four of my ten starting troops are left! Where’s the official rescue team? Why aren’t they here yet? If they don’t come soon, I’m done for tonight!”

“They’re on their way, they’re on their way! We ran into a Wyvern on the road and got held up for a while before shaking it off. Our rescue team isn’t having it easy either, you know. Remember to give us a five-star rating, dear.”

“Damn, this crappy game makes no sense! Who but a whale can withstand wave after wave of monster attacks? It’s impossible to hold out!”

“It’s not just about holding out. I have to stare at the computer all day, too scared to even sleep. I feel like I’m getting depressed!”

“True. Last time I let my guard down for a second, my idiot troops charged in and got themselves killed… These starting troops are both weak and stupid. Probably only whales can defend their territories safely.”

“Indeed, whales have too big of an advantage. Even lucky players can’t compare. Like me, I started with three three-star Wood Elf Archers, but I’m still struggling. I’ve only managed to get three Random Remnant Souls so far, and only recruited two one-star troops and one two-star troop. It’s just too hard.”

“Lucky players, eat my spear!”

Mu Yuan thought about himself. After working hard all day, he had only managed to obtain a little over ten Remnant Souls in total. Indeed, it was too hard.

He replied under the post accordingly.

However, these posts had little nutritional value. After just an hour of browsing, Mu Yuan mustered his great willpower to move on and found more valuable posts.

“Mount Hua Sword Debate: Review of This Batch’s Outstanding Newcomers (Continuously Updated, Stop Asking)”

The poster was ‘Firsthand Intel Dealer’, that greasy old player who often lurked in the newcomer section.He listed some newcomers who had already made a name for themselves, most of whom were naturally whales, but there were differences even among whales.

Spending money and starting with a batch of three-star troops was just the beginning. How far they could develop afterward also depended on the whales’ own abilities… and whether they could continuously secure financial support.

“Newcomer ‘Luo Baiwan,’ with two and a half days in the game. Review reason: This afternoon, at the cost of sacrificing 19 three-star troops, he captured a Remnant Soul Projection Point and recruited a rare one-star troop ‘Ironclad Giant Scorpion.’ My evaluation: ‘Decisive in action, promising future.'”

Mu Yuan was quite clear about Remnant Soul Projection Points.

Some relatively powerful Remnant Souls, such as Rare Remnant Souls, were often not dropped by monsters but were instead nurtured by the world like Treasures, existing in the corners of the world.

At the same time, these powerful Remnant Souls would manifest unusual phenomena externally, such as forming a luminous projection of that troop type.

It was said that when even more top-tier General Souls or Heroic Souls appeared, they would emit radiant light shooting into the sky, much like the emergence of a supreme treasure.

…Most of the above were rumors spread by forum veterans boasting.

But Rare Remnant Souls could indeed often be spotted from afar. At the same time, powerful monsters would gather around these Remnant Souls that had produced luminous projections.

However,

“Is it worth sacrificing a full 19 three-star troops just to recruit one rare troop?”

“A single rare troop couldn’t possibly defeat that many three-star troops. Logically, this is already a loss in combat power, with the cost outweighing the gain.”

Even the Undead Emperor, in a direct confrontation, would absolutely not be a match for nineteen Bone Twos and Bone Threes, let alone a conventional rare-tier troop.

He scrolled down.

Sure enough, he didn’t need to voice his confusion, as curious passerby players had already asked similar questions.

“How many three-star troops can a rare troop handle? Even if rare-tier troops have skills, how many times can they use them? They might exhaust themselves after just one use.”

An experienced player commented below, “Rare troops aren’t so weak as to exhaust themselves after one use, but most rare troops can’t use their skills at all at low levels. It’s not easy for Apprentice Tier troops to fully execute skills.”

“Rare troops also need continuous practice to master the skills imprinted in their souls. This training process might take ten days to half a month. Of course, as the troop’s Rank increases and they grow stronger, this time can be shortened, but it still takes at least five, six, or seven days of practice.”

After the veteran player’s explanation, other newcomers were even more confused.

If rare troops couldn’t use their skills, weren’t they just oversized three-star troops? They’d be hard-pressed to take on two at once.

Mu Yuan was also puzzled.

It wasn’t surprising that rare troops needed practice to use their skills, but for a proper rare troop to require such a long training period to truly master their skills seemed rather pathetic.

He didn’t even compare it to the Undead Emperor. His own silly Bone Two, a mere three-star troop, had managed to use Cleave in combat after less than two days of practice. In the recent battle to conquer the Goblin Camp, Bone Two had even unleashed three consecutive Cleaves in a short time, completely draining itself.

Could it be that Bone Two wasn’t actually silly, but somewhat intelligent?

But considering how Bone Two could “whiff” its Cleave, Mu Yuan really couldn’t associate intelligence with Bone Two.When this veteran player put it that way, rare units seemed even more underwhelming. Was paying the price of numerous three-star units really not worth it?

“But the calculation isn’t that simple.”

“First, ‘Luo Baiwan’ is a top-tier whale, backed by an experienced Lord. He doesn’t lack three-star units, but obtaining a rare unit that completely obeys his commands isn’t easy.”

“Second, Luo Baiwan clearly aims to rank on the Lord trial leaderboard to receive heavenly rewards. The treasures he could gain then far outweigh this cost—he’s racing against time.”

A knowledgeable veteran player explained, “The gap between rare and common units is actually quite large, but this gap only becomes apparent as their Rank increases. Especially when units reach Professional Tier and begin learning to wield energy, the difference between rare units with skills and completely blank three-star commons becomes massive.

“New players only have one month to prepare for the Lord trial. Luo Baiwan could indeed wait until later when his three-star units are higher level to challenge this Remnant Soul Projection Point. By then, losses could be greatly reduced, and it might even be possible to clear it without casualties, but…

“By that time, ten days to half a month of the new player preparation period might have already passed. How high could he possibly train a newly recruited rare unit before the trial arrives?

“They’re racing against time, trying to train their ace units to Professional Tier or higher before the trial begins, so they can be decisive in battle.

“That’s why the veteran gave the evaluation ‘decisive action, promising future.’ You newcomers should learn from this.”

Learn what? Learn how to whale?

To be fair, are us newbies really indecisive? No, we’re just broke!

Countless newbies on the forum shed tears of envy.

Mu Yuan’s evaluation was, “Not as good as evolution.”

He would soon evolve all his Little Skeletons into Skeleton Soldiers. Next, he might evolve one or two more Skeleton Warriors, or continue training his ace to help Deadbone advance to the next class.

“The Xuan Nation truly has hidden dragons and crouching tigers. As a mature unit, Deadbone, it’s time you learned to shoulder the territory’s burdens.”

3/3, please keep reading and support with various data metrics

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Thanks to ‘Brewing Wine Under the Moon’ for the 1500 coin tip~

(End of chapter)