This official announcement—
Was packed with substance.
New stages.New story gameplay.
The adventurers were left both astonished and deeply impressed.
Blackstone Hammer King exclaimed,"The lord is insane—in the best possible way!"
Pig King laughed,"My grandma's old mule isn't even half this hardworking!"
Lone Wolf shook his head,"We don't even have a clear strategy for Stage Two yet, and Stage Three plus story content are already done…"
Nekomi Momo stared wide-eyed,"Lord, do you seriously have no bottlenecks at all?"
Wind in Slumber sighed,"Fully clearing Apocalypse Frenzy is still a long road ahead."
"Haha."
"But I love it!"
"The more dungeon content, the better!"
"Even if it takes us ages to explore, the lord still needs to keep working. Three stages are nothing—give us thirty and we still won't complain!"
The younger adventurers were completely captivated by the new Apocalypse Frenzy content.
Meanwhile, veterans like White Crane Adept, Lonely Blade, and Lightseeker Traveler immediately noticed something even more critical.
Lightseeker Traveler frowned thoughtfully,"This much content must consume an enormous amount of materials. From just the first two stages alone, Miracle City's dungeon scale is already massive."
Lonely Blade hesitated,"Could it be…"
White Crane Adept nodded decisively,"No need to guess. No matter how efficient or refined Kanzaki Ren's inspiration materials are, a first-tier dungeon core simply cannot support this much content. This core has already broken through to Tier Two."
A Tier Two core itself wasn't rare.
Many dungeons in Blackstone Town operated at Tier Two.
The real issue was this—
Miracle City had existed for less than ten days, and had been formally operating for under a week.
Upgrading a dungeon core required enormous resources.
To reach Tier Two in such a short time was something White Crane Adept had never witnessed in his lifetime. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it was even possible.
A rising supernova was clearly forming.
After Kanzaki Ren finished announcing the updates and answering a few lingering questions, Miracle City entered its temporary closure countdown. At that moment, Raging Chick rushed forward anxiously.
"Lord! Lord! I heard someone got a Tank soul core. I want to apply for an immediate contract!"
"Relax. I didn't forget," Kanzaki Ren replied calmly. "I'll handle your contract right now."
He selected five adventurers and led them to the Soul Core Altar. They would become Miracle City's newest contracted adventurers, drawing envious gazes from everyone else.
"Xue…"
It took White Crane Adept a long moment to suppress the emotions surging in his chest.
As Miracle City's first contracted adventurer, Shirasawa Yukari would reap increasingly greater benefits as the territory grew. Surpassing his own peak was no longer a question of if—but when.
"What is it, Grandpa?" she asked gently.
White Crane Adept had countless things he wanted to say, but in the end, he swallowed them all and spoke weakly,"Do you have any spare contribution points or soul sand? Help me book a room at Miracle City's inn."
Shirasawa Yukari blinked, puzzled."Didn't you just recover two ordinary zombie soul cores today and turn them in?"
White Crane Adept coughed awkwardly."I traded most of the contribution points for Maotai… and the inn price went up to eight contribution points today. I don't have enough left, and I rushed out without bringing soul sand…"
Why stay at the inn?
Obviously—
With Miracle City's popularity, would he even be able to get inside tomorrow if he left today?
White Crane Adept was nearly broke.
"Grandpa, at your age, maybe drink a little less," Shirasawa Yukari teased, exasperated.
Still, she was secretly delighted. This retired veteran adventurer had clearly been won over by Miracle City's future.
This was settled.
"It's just a room," she said cheerfully. "No problem. I've got plenty of contribution points!"
White Crane Adept waved a hand."Miracle City's contribution points will only rise in value. Spend them carefully. If you have soul sand, use that instead."
Contribution points were directly tied to a dungeon's growth and potential.
In White Crane Adept's eyes, Miracle City's contribution points would only become more valuable, granting access to rare opportunities. Better to save them whenever possible—spending a little soul sand was nothing.
Twenty minutes later.
Kanzaki Ren completed the contracts.
The new contracted adventurers were:
Raging Chick
Lonely Blade
Nekomi Momo
White Fawn
Nan Mountain Wanderer
With that—
Miracle City now had ten contracted adventurers.
Among them, Shirasawa Yukari wielded the Witch soul core as her natal core, while Raging Chick bonded with the Tank soul core.
Either could reach five-star combat power at any moment, with an additional Tank unit available. Kanzaki Ren now controlled three high-end combat assets, further strengthening the territory's military power.
He still held over 170 soul cores in reserve.
Combat strength could be generated at any time.
Whether defending the territory—
Or expanding outward—
Miracle City now had true confidence.
Meanwhile—
Deep within Darkshade Valley.
An ancient city loomed in the shadows.
The capital of the Dark Goblin territory—
Darkshade City.
Darkshade City housed over five thousand inhabitants, though fewer than two thousand were true Darkkin. The remaining three thousand-plus were enslaved dwarves forced into labor.
Across the Chaos Continent, Darkshade City was merely a remote border settlement.
But within Darkshade Valley—
It was the absolute ruler.
At this very moment—
Goblin Lord Bloodthroat was in a fury.
"Blackbone was defeated?" he roared."Someone explain how a newly founded human territory managed to defeat Darkshade City's warriors!"
Under his rage, goblins lay prostrate, barely daring to breathe.
"My… my lord," a scar-faced goblin said cautiously,"That human territory must have an extraordinary background. They're probably backed by a powerful human faction!"
It was the only reasonable explanation.
Otherwise, how could a fledgling dungeon develop so rapidly?
"Hmph," Bloodthroat sneered."No matter how powerful the backing force is, the resources they can deploy to the Chaos Continent in such a short time are limited. I refuse to believe a territory founded less than half a month ago can threaten Darkshade City!"
Even so—
Bloodthroat did not recklessly launch an assault.
Human territories were protected by the laws of the Chaos World.
Even if an army reached the gates, they couldn't break through. A rash attack might lead to disaster.
After suppressing his anger, Bloodthroat issued a cold command,"Summon Maggot Eye."
Half an hour later—
A goblin arrived at Darkshade City.
His name was Maggot Eye, the general guarding Darkshade City's strategic passes. Among all goblin leaders, he was the strongest—second only to Bloodthroat himself.
His most striking feature was his missing eye.
Yet the single remaining eye only made his presence more oppressive.
"Maggot Eye," Bloodthroat commanded,"Take two hundred warriors. Reclaim Blackbone Camp, then seize Red Rock Mountain and Scarlet Claw Village when the opportunity arises. I want full intelligence on this human territory."
"Understood," Maggot Eye replied.
He assembled his troops immediately and marched out.
Half a day later, they reached Blackbone Camp.
Only three hours remained before the Chaos Tide surged.
Without hesitation, Maggot Eye launched the attack—
Only to find not a single soul inside.
Dark goblins reclaimed Blackbone Camp effortlessly.
"Boss," one subordinate asked,"Should we push straight to Red Rock Mountain?"
"No," Maggot Eye replied calmly.
Unlike his brutal appearance, he was far from reckless.
Time was tight. If fierce resistance delayed them until the Chaos Tide arrived, the entire force would be annihilated.
Moreover, the human territory's true strength was still unknown. Defeating Blackbone proved they weren't weak. Charging blindly would be repeating Blackbone's mistake.
Blackbone had fallen due to arrogance.
Maggot Eye, Darkshade City's greatest general, trusted his experience. As long as he advanced cautiously, avoided exposing weaknesses, and fought methodically—
There was no way he would lose to a mere newborn city.