Chapter 81 Reactions from All Sides - Reputation Points Soar

Inside the mayor's office in Chixia Town, through the tightly closed windows, one could faintly hear the panicked shouts and running around of the townspeople. They were all trying to move the acid rain that had fallen in out and prevent it from corroding them; the scene was chaotic.

Beside the long table, Hu Wei rested his forehead on one hand, his thick eyebrows tightly furrowed. In front of him lay a game map that had been repeatedly painted over and modified, and around him sat several of the town's most skilled players.

"The barrier must be protected as a priority. I suggest that most of the cash should be used for its maintenance."

"But the current barrier is no match for acid rain. We should organize a suicide squad to risk their lives to collect corrosion-resistant materials!"

"No, it's too risky to go out hunting demons in this weather. We didn't know it would rain acid, and we didn't collect any monsters that drop anti-corrosion materials. We have to start all over again."

"What can we do? We can't just sit here and wait to die, can we?"

The group argued endlessly, but could not come up with a feasible solution.

Hu Ba sat beside his brother, his gaze never leaving Hu Wei's furrowed brows. He recalled the words his brother had said after returning from the Star Territory, and his heart pounded.

Just as he was staring absentmindedly at his brother, he suddenly looked up, his gaze fixed on a point in mid-air. His face first showed confusion, then turned into unbelievable surprise.

His unusual behavior naturally attracted everyone's attention. Under the watchful eyes of everyone in the room, Hu Wei stretched out his finger and gently tapped the air.

A soft glow rippled through the center of the office, and the next second, several exquisitely crafted bamboo hats and raincoats appeared out of thin air and piled up on the floor with a clatter.

"What is that?"

"It looks like a bamboo product from the Star Territory."

Hu Wei didn't have time to explain to everyone. He bent down, picked up a bamboo hat that had rolled to his feet, and shoved it into his younger brother's hands without hesitation, saying firmly, "Put it on and go out for a soaking."

"Mayor, what are you doing? There's acid rain outside that can corrode even iron armor!" someone tried to stop them.

Hu Ba looked down at the finely woven bamboo hat in his hand, then looked up at his brother's trusting eyes.

Without uttering a word, he deftly put the straw hat on his head, took a deep breath, turned around, and resolutely rushed out, disappearing into the dense rain outside the barrier amidst the worried gazes of the crowd.

A moment later, he returned unharmed, covered in acid mist, his voice excited and incredibly loud: "Brother, this bamboo hat is actually immune to acid rain corrosion!"

Hu Wei stared at the undamaged bamboo hat, his tiger eyes wide open, and slammed his fist on the table: "Good! Good for Lin Nanxing! A timely help in need, that's generous!"

He immediately looked at the other players surrounding him: "Gentlemen, thanks to the Star Territory, we are saved! Quickly gather everyone and distribute these bamboo umbrellas and bamboo clothing, and organize the residents to head to the train barrier!"

Meanwhile, in his office on the top floor of the Dongling City Hall, Mayor Qi Changkong was gazing out the window at the city shrouded in acid rain.

Although the acid rain came suddenly, the city's rich heritage meant that the management reacted quickly, using a large amount of reserve anti-corrosion minerals to reinforce the protective barrier, thus preventing large-scale unrest.

However, the current stability is maintained by massive consumption. If this continues, the inventory may not last more than half a month. Therefore, Qi Changkong still frowned.

Just then, a system notification popped up in front of him, visible only to him: [Star Territory has sent you a package. Do you want to receive it?]

"Star Territory?" Qi Changkong's gaze sharpened as he recalled the report his sister Qi Ruiyi had brought back and the highly effective bamboo armor samples. Without hesitation, he tapped the [Receive] option in the void.

A faint light flashed, and hundreds of bamboo hats and raincoats, exuding a fresh bamboo scent, appeared out of thin air in the open space of the office.

The secretary standing nearby exclaimed in surprise, "Mayor, where did this come from? Is it some kind of latest technology from another city that can teleport things out of thin air?"

After her initial surprise, the secretary noticed what had appeared out of nowhere and exclaimed with delight, "These things look just like the samples Captain Qi brought back! Mayor, have you found another source of supply?"

Qi Changkong did not answer. He strode forward, picked up a bamboo raincoat, and carefully stroked it, his eyes gleaming.

As the first safe zone to establish trade relations with the Star Territory in bamboo products, East Ling City already had a much larger stock of bamboo products than other territories. Naturally, it was when the acid rain arrived that the amazing anti-corrosion properties of these bamboo woven items were discovered.

Besides the initial batch of bamboo products brought back by their sister, they subsequently purchased a considerable amount from the Star Territory. However, facing the needs of nearly 100,000 people, this inventory was merely a drop in the ocean, and the situation remained dire.

They were just worried about not having enough stock when Star Territory actually sent another batch over a long distance.

Compared to the secretary's pleasant surprise at the increased inventory, Qi Changkong had another consideration: the Star Realm had made a new technological breakthrough, enabling teleportation out of thin air.

A thought flashed through his mind like lightning, and he immediately turned around and said in a deep voice, "Come with me to the teleportation array hall."

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in Xijiang City, the scene was quite different.

Compared to safe zones like Chixia Town or Dongling City, which had contact with the Star Territory, they readily accepted Lin Nanxing's gift. However, not all safe zones held a friendly attitude towards the Star Territory.

The elderly mayor of Xijiang City stared at the system notification that suddenly popped up, his gray eyebrows furrowing in dismay. "Star Territory? That little place that got lucky and discovered water resources?"

He coldly waved away the light screen, letting the confirmation box gradually dissipate into the air.

"What's wrong, Mayor?" Someone nearby noticed his actions and asked with concern.

"It's nothing, it's just that attention-grabbing safe zone again, taking advantage of the game's turmoil to attract attention."

Seeing the mayor's disdainful look, the people below, though unsure of what he had seen, knew that the mayor was always headstrong and couldn't stand seeing other safe zones doing too well, so they didn't take the matter to heart.

The most important thing right now is to resist acid rain. Xijiang City has insufficient mineral reserves, and the barrier does not have anti-corrosion properties. Many houses in the city have already been damaged.

Undelivered packages are automatically returned. Lin Nanxing wasn't surprised to receive a package returned to Xijiang City, since it wasn't the first safe zone to receive such a package. Since they didn't accept her good intentions, she naturally wouldn't insist.

However, doing good deeds does indeed bring rewards. After Lin Nanxing finished using the three bottles of plant differentiation agent, his reputation points on the system began to rise rapidly.

The newly sprouted bamboo spirits swayed merrily in the acid rain, and the emerald green bamboo sea expanded outward at a visible speed, almost encircling the entire territory.

When the bamboo groves surrounded the territory, the lord had enough for two five-draws in one go.

Perhaps because the upgrade was maxed out, this time the gacha pulls yielded mostly various weapons.

"A fine iron longsword, enchanted arrows, a runic shield..."

Lin Nanxing tallied his loot, his tone slightly disappointed, "How come all I got this time were weapons? They're not bad, but there don't seem to be any rare items."

When Lin Nanxing opened the gashapon capsule, Shu Yi was standing next to him. He took the last gashapon capsule that hadn't been opened yet, and a palm-sized crystal compass appeared in his hand. "This seems to be a special item."

Upon hearing this, Lin Nanxing took the compass, and a prompt immediately popped up on the system interface: [Weather Forecaster: Predicts weather changes for the next month; data is directly synchronized to the system information bar]

Without hesitation, she clicked to use it, but after checking the weather forecast, she gasped: "This rain is going to last for a month?!"

Lin Nanxing looked at the continuous rain outside the barrier. This rain actually had little impact on the Star Territory. At most, it would reduce the number of times people went out for a month. The territory's resource reserves were sufficient to cope, but what about the other towns?

However, at present, the bamboo spirits are growing bamboo vigorously, and Zhou Qisheng has also mobilized a large number of people to produce bamboo armor. She has done all she can, and the rest is up to the other towns to decide their own fate.

Lin Nanxing had been busy all morning dealing with acid rain, and hadn't even had time for breakfast. Now that it was past mealtime, as soon as her tense nerves relaxed, hunger surged up, and her stomach rumbled loudly.

Shu Yi, who was standing nearby, chuckled upon hearing this and naturally took her hand: "Are you hungry? I made sweet and sour pork ribs and stir-fried bamboo shoots today. Let's go home and eat first."

Just as she nodded in agreement and was about to turn around, a system notification suddenly sounded, and a screen of light unfolded before her eyes.

[A teleportation request has been initiated from Dongling City; coordinates have been locked.]

[Transmitted by: Qi Changkong, Mayor of Dongling City, and four others]

[Accept this teleport?]

On the other side, when Qi Changkong stood in front of the teleportation array that had not been used for a long time, his guess was confirmed.

The array, which originally had only five flashing points of light, now had a vibrant emerald green point of light, its coordinates pointing towards the distant Star Territory.

"If I'm not mistaken, this Star Territory should currently be a city-level safe zone, or even a level higher than ours," Qi Changkong muttered to himself.

The secretary overheard this and exclaimed in shock, "How is this possible?! In ten years of the game, only five cities have emerged in this world. This Star Territory has been established for less than a year. How could it possibly become a city?"

"The level of a safe zone is not determined by the time it was established, but by the system. Since this star territory can form a light spot on the teleportation array, it means that it is a city-level safe zone. Do I really need to remind you of this basic information?"

The game world has teleportation arrays not only in the five major cities, but only cities can form specific coordinates on the teleportation arrays.

"But...."

"No buts." Qi Changkong raised his hand, stopping his secretary from continuing, his gaze fixed on the newborn speck of light, seemingly lost in thought.

A moment later, he decisively ordered, "Immediately prepare a batch of ore needed for the teleportation. Send word that I will personally go to this star territory and meet with the person in charge there."

The secretary was shocked: "We know almost nothing about that star territory. It's too reckless to send you there in person. At least send an advance team first."

Seeing his secretary's startled reaction, Qi Changkong's tense nerves suddenly relaxed a bit. He chuckled and said, "Secretary Zhou, you seem to have lost your mind because of the acid rain. Why are you making these routine mistakes all the time? Have you forgotten that Ruiyi has already led a team to this territory once, and she spoke highly of it?"

"A neighbor who is able to take the lead in developing acid rain-resistant equipment, possesses unknown teleportation technology, and is willing to lend a helping hand in times of crisis is worth my personal efforts to build a friendship with, rather than sitting at home guessing. Let's get ready."