For interstellar players, this day was supposed to be utterly ordinary.
Nearly forty in-game days had passed since the official large-scale player influx began. The majority of players had reached Level 20, and many of the quicker ones had already completed their class advancements, venturing further into the myriad realms.
Aside from those who started in the wilderness, players aspiring to become lords also left the towns after their class advancements, immediately beginning their colonization efforts.
Most of these first-wave lords weren’t solo players but rather had backing from their respective civilizations. Their colonization efforts weren’t solitary endeavors either—they pooled resources accumulated before Level 20, brought subordinates from the real world, and directly participated in the construction of their territories.
Under the Night River Civilization, the government-coordinated Night River Village was welcoming a new day.
Huan Lu was the village chief of Night River Village and also the prime minister of the Night River Civilization.
Compared to other civilizations that had started in the wilderness, the Night River Civilization, being one of the first to discover the myriad realms on the Stellar Network, had a different perspective on the game world.
Rather than wasting research resources on wilderness starts to gain a slight head start in territory establishment, they chose a slow-but-steady approach. They outright abandoned the idea of competing for wilderness starts and instead followed the example of White Night, waiting until after Level 20 to establish their territory.
Thinking of this, Huan Lu opened the [Lord Rankings], visible only to lords.
Names of new territories were being added to the rankings every day. In just a day or two, the number of names had skyrocketed from a hundred to over a thousand, increasing by several per second.
The universe was vast. The Stellar Alliance alone encompassed millions of civilizations, and each civilization had multiple lords. Soon, the rankings would grow to an unimaginable length.
No one paid attention to the newly added lords at the bottom, but the names at the top always drew eyes—especially the one in first place.
**White Night / White Night Village / Territory Score: 14,976**
Huan Lu glanced at the two names below.
**Zeta / Ruilan Village / Territory Score: 345**
**Xi Mo / Luofei Village / Territory Score: 267**
Just what was going on with White Night Village? Why was its territory score so absurdly high? This had become one of the great mysteries of the interstellar community.
As players gradually reached Level 20 and gained real-world manpower, the scores of Ruilan Village and Luofei Village had begun skyrocketing like rockets—yet combined, they still hadn’t even reached a fraction of White Night Village’s four-digit lead. Specialized teams had even been formed to analyze the phenomenon, trying to uncover the secret.
The Night River Civilization had agents registered on Blue Star. After their class advancements, they had already begun scouring the wilderness for White Night Village’s location—and they weren’t the only civilization doing so.
As a result, the Blue Star region, which already had few interstellar players, now had no serious lord players left. The majority were adventure-type players, and most had some degree of backing from their civilizations. After all, if one wanted to properly manage a territory, they would naturally choose their home planet.
Huan Lu checked Night River Village’s score—it had now reached 85. They had established their territory just two in-game days ago but had already achieved what Zeta had only managed on the 20th day.
Of course, a significant portion of that score came from the first trade route bonus.
Beyond that, starting after class advancement was simply far faster than starting in the wilderness.
Long before their advancements, Night River Civilization’s departments had begun systematically gathering resources. Like how Ye Bai had once returned from Meiluo City, they led resources into the wilderness and secured suitable locations.
After territory establishment, most resource gathering and food hunting tasks weren’t handled by the villagers. The villagers only needed to use resources to construct buildings and work inside them—the more labor-intensive "grunt work" could be left to players.
Large numbers of obedient players were the cheat codes of interstellar civilizations. They represented extra productivity and extra resources. The only things limiting rapid territory upgrades were population and production capacity.
The number of players in a territory and their work efficiency didn’t count toward the territory’s population or tech tree productivity—only the resources they gathered could be placed in the territory’s warehouse.
At this rate, compared to the isolated White Night, other civilizations should quickly catch up and erase her lead. In the eyes of most civilizations in the Stellar Alliance, White Night might have some small backing from the Chaos Star Sea, but it couldn’t compare to the foundation of an entire civilization.
That 10,000+ score, though… As long as everyone worked hard, they’d catch up eventually!
Looking at the thriving territory, Huan Lu thought to himself.
And then, right at that moment—a server-wide announcement rang out.
The entire interstellar community exploded again, especially the thousand-plus new lords who had just claimed their territories.
**—What the hell is a Master-level?! No territory even has Novice-level professionals yet! How did White Night train one?!**
Before this, there had only been three server-wide announcements—for the top three lord players, granting them titles that boosted population attraction and the chance of special talents appearing. Now, the fourth announcement was here, and it was about White Night again.
Shocked lord players all opened the Lord Rankings in unison:
**White Night / White Night Village / Territory Score: 19,056**
A sudden jump of over 4,000 points instantly made every lord understand the weight of a "Master-level professional."
Only a little over ten in-game days had passed since White Night’s last appearance. The news hadn’t even fully cooled down, and now headlines about her were once again dominating the cosmic charts.
**[What exactly is a Master-level professional, and what rank does it represent in a profession?]**
**[Does White Night possess a unique method for training talents?]**
…
**[The Ancient Cause Civilization offers White Night a fortune for her strategy.]**
If this flood of attention could be monetized, Ye Bai would probably be richer than entire stars by now.
While other lords were still reeling in shock, confusion, speculation, and disbelief, Zeta and Xi Mo were oddly calm…
After all, they had seen the Lord Rankings earlier and were already "well-seasoned" by now.
When White Night Village’s score mysteriously surged by 10,000 points over ten in-game days ago, they had already had their meltdown.
A mere 4,000 points now? They were used to it.
…
"Though I've grasped the key techniques, the art of weaving is vast and profound—I haven't mastered it entirely yet. Besides, your tailor shop's rank is too low, and many tools are missing. Once you upgrade it to an advanced-level shop, I’ll consider working there."
Having decided to settle permanently in Baiye Village, Dilina began making demands to Ye Bai:
"Let’s be clear upfront—when the time comes, my wages and a share of the shop’s profits are non-negotiable."
"Heh… Of course, no problem!" Ye Bai agreed without hesitation. The achievement Dilina had unlocked for the territory’s upgrade alone was worth the effort of this quest, let alone the fact that she was a master tailor, the pinnacle of her profession. In other territories, her mere presence would command a hefty fee, and each commission would come with an extra charge.
Now, by asking for wages and a share of profits, Dilina—like Lucy and other villagers who had been nurtured from scratch—wasn’t just paying taxes or running a shop in Baiye Village. Instead, she was working directly for Ye Bai, the lord.
"Oh, right!" Ye Bai pulled out the **[Night Raider Garb Blueprint]** from his backpack. "I plan to mass-produce this in the territory soon. Could you offer some guidance?"
The "guidance" wasn’t about Dilina personally crafting the Night Raider Garb—that would be a waste of her talents. Instead, it was about leveraging her master-level expertise to provide a comprehensive boost to the tailor shop’s other workers, enhancing production speed, success rates, and overall quality.
Combined with the territory’s existing titles, the textile industry chain was about to skyrocket.
Dilina took the blueprint, skimmed it, and nodded. "It’s not complicated. Now that Calvin has become a professional, he should be able to craft up to Rare-tier quality."
Ye Bai beamed. "Then I’ll leave it to you!"
Blue Rare-tier equipment was a full grade above Green Fine-tier, and its selling price could easily triple that of green gear.
Under Dilina’s guidance, production progressed swiftly. Before long, Ye Bai received two sets of Night Raider Garb fresh from the tailor shop:
**[Night Raider Garb]**
Grade: Rare
Defense: 20
Resistance: 20
Speed: 10
Requirement: Speed 20
Effect - Night Raid: At night, grants +20% damage and +15% movement speed.
Effect - Concealment: At night, reduces enemy detection range by 5m.
**[Night Raider Garb]**
Grade: Fine
Defense: 15
Resistance: 15
Speed: 5
Requirement: Speed 15
Effect - Night Raid: At night, grants +15% damage and +10% movement speed.
Compared to the Fine-tier version, the Rare-tier Night Raider Garb boasted an additional Concealment effect and superior stat bonuses.
Under Dilina’s supervision, Calvin—now a professional—crafted the Rare-tier version, while another tailor still mastering the craft produced the Fine-tier one.
Holding the freshly made Fine-tier Night Raider Garb, Ye Bai headed to the Merchant Guild in the territory.
"Greetings, Lord!"
Luca, the guild’s current administrator, immediately stepped forward to welcome him.
The Level 1 Merchant Guild was a simple warehouse-like space with only Luca on duty. It was nearly empty, its most prominent feature being a central two-meter-wide, one-meter-tall blackboard, flanked by weighing scales and a few handcarts.
Ye Bai glanced around before asking Luca, "Any merchant visits recently?"
Luca shook his head regretfully. "None."
Focusing on the blackboard, Ye Bai willed a trade interface into view.
The blackboard was a magical artifact provided by the Merchant Guild, allowing territories to list goods for purchase or sale, along with prices and quantities. If a guild-affiliated merchant was interested, they’d bring the goods for trade.
Before leaving, Ye Bai had set up listings for food and basic tools at market prices. Unsurprisingly, without premium offers, no caravans had come.
The bigger issue, though, was the lack of attractive goods in the "for sale" section. Without something worthwhile, merchants had little incentive to make the trip.
After all, trade caravans operated on round trips. Selling goods without buying anything in return severely cut into their profits.
Moreover, trade goods differed from retail items—they were bulk commodities meant for wholesale.
Previously, the only trade-worthy goods Ye Bai’s territory could offer were food and raw resources, but these were earmarked for territorial development. Selling them without discounts wouldn’t attract merchants. The other viable option was Origin Crystals, but the newly constructed Well of Origin had left the territory short on supply.
Origin Crystals were also a high-profile strategic resource, and Ye Bai wasn’t keen on drawing attention through the Merchant Guild just yet.
But now, with Night Raider Garb in production, things were different.
Ye Bai listed the Fine-tier Night Raider Garb on the guild’s sales board at 1 Silver and 50 Copper per piece—a discounted wholesale rate. Normally, these would sell for 1 Silver 70 to 80 Copper, with retail prices reaching 2 Silver.
His goal was to attract merchants for bulk clearance. Currently, Fine-tier gear was the baseline output of the tailor shop. With the buffs, Calvin was already producing Blue-tier equipment.
Besides Calvin, four other tailors were rapidly gaining proficiency. Once they all became professionals, stable Blue-tier production would be possible.
For now, Ye Bai saw the Fine-tier Night Raider Garb as fodder for skill leveling—selling them cheaply to recoup funds and prepare for the territory’s next upgrade to town status.
As for the Rare-tier? That was obvious—
Retail them at premium prices to players!
Ye Bai checked the timeline. Player levels should now average around 20, and soon, those from the Blue Star server would discover Baiye Village.
……
Ye Bai’s estimation proved accurate. On the second in-game day, a party of five players from Meiluo City ventured into the wilderness.
After crossing a grassy plain and scaling a hill, they spotted a meticulously organized, thriving village spanning over a kilometer in diameter.
"A town? Perfect for restocking supplies—maybe buy some food."
The settlement was so well-developed that, at first glance, the five agent-background players didn’t even consider it might be a player-owned territory.
However, soon after they stepped onto the village's dirt road, a system notification chimed.
【You have entered the territory of ‘White Night Village.’ Current faction reputation: Neutral (0)】
"What?!"
The five players froze in unison, exchanging glances filled with shock, exhilaration, and excitement—words were unnecessary.
—They'd struck gold!
