Elsewhere, above a peak on the Endless Continent, Han Yan led dozens of level 10 black dragons and stood in front of the corpse of an intelligent level 10 monster.
He had obtained a water element, which he used to upgrade his castle to a level one city-state.
At the same time, his level-up information was updated on the [World Update Announcement]!
[Congratulations, Black Dragon Castle has upgraded to a level one city-state! ]
[Castle Lord: Han Yan! ]
[City-State Element: Water]
[Underground passage will open soon!]
[After the underground passage between the city-states is opened, three options will be given: attack, peace, and surrender!]
[Please make your decision, Castle Lords. You may also forfeit the chance to choose.]
Moments later, a continuous underground tunnel that connected the two city-states had appeared on the Endless Continent.
The new update caused a huge commotion.
All the busybody castle lords posted their opinions on the [World Chat Channel]!
[Whoa! Han Yan upgraded to a city-state too! I guess it's not too difficult to achieve a city-state!]
[That's right. Things were so difficult before the invasion of darkness, but now I feel as if everything is pretty doable. Now that Han Yan has upgraded, any of us might be the next one to upgrade!]
[Goodness! What do you think you're doing? You're all missing the point! Didn't you realize that the underground tunnel will open as soon as we upgrade to a city-state?]
[Damn, I just realized that this could be a battle! Is Han Yan's opponent Su Hao?]
[No way! Now I'm scared to upgrade my castle to a city-state!]
[It doesn't have to be a battle. Three options have been provided, right?]
[The other city-state is probably Big Shot Su Hao!]
[I'm guessing Han Yan wouldn't dare to attack Su Hao and they'll probably choose to co-exist peacefully.]
[That's not necessarily the case. Perhaps Han Yan decided to choose the path less taken? He might just challenge him!]
[What's the latter with you guys? Han Yan might be second place, but he won't necessarily lose if they enter into a fight!]
As the lords started discussing among themselves, three buttons appeared in Han Yan's field of vision.
[Congratulations, your upgrade was successful!]
[As you are the second castle lord on the continent to upgrade to a city-state, the system will automatically connect your city-state to the first lord's city-state.]
[The following three buttons are your choices. ]
[The red button represents conquest, the blue button represents surrender, and the green button in the middle represents peace.]
[You can choose any one of the buttons, or you can also automatically reserve the opportunity to choose at a later time.]
[Once you press the button, you have to complete the action.]
A cold glint flashed in Han Yan's eyes when he saw that.
He understood that his Black Dragon Castle was connected to Su Hao's Holy Light Castle.
By virtue of his current strength, he was not confident that he could conquer it. However, he did not have any thoughts of surrendering, and peace was an even more absurd idea in his opinion.
After all, he knew that his ambition did not stop there.
Having more subjects in his city-state would be conducive to his reputation and ability, which made it quite natural that his thoughts were inclined to attack.
Although his ambitions were nothing noble, there was one thing he could not accept—he did not want to be second!
…
He looked at the messages on the chat channel and his brows furrowed even more.
Su Hao would steal his limelight all the time, and almost no one would remember his name!
His dozen or so Black Dragons had leveled up several times under his command during the invasion of darkness. He also obtained many resources as a result!
With more than 800 energy stones, 300 mutant crystals, and two million gold coins, his resources were—in his opinion—more than enough to give him the right to lead all the other lords!
'Do you think I'm still second, Su Hao?!'
As he thought of this, his hand touched the red button as his eyes flashed with rage and jealousy.
At that exact moment, he saw Su Hao's offer in the trading channel.
1,700 energy stones, 700 mutant crystals, five million stacks of wood and stone...
Han Yan's pupils trembled when he read that, and he instantly halted himself from touching the red button!
He could not believe what he saw!
The amount of resources Su Hao offered to sell was three times more than what he had!
Furthermore, the resources that were being sold were already twice as many as the resources that he had obtained after resisting the invasion of darkness.
That was including the resources he stored in his city-state's warehouse for his own use ...
Then, he retracted his hand.
He could not let his anger place him in a passive and weak position.
If he acted rashly on the opportunity to attack, he would only be jumping into the fire!
He needed to bolster his strength before he could prove himself, and only when he was able to defeat Su Hao would he consider whether to attack or not. That was the one and only right move at that moment.
Back in the Holy Light Castle, three buttons also appeared in Su Hao's vision.
Su Hao, who had just finished his meal, took a piece of tissue and wiped his mouth. He did not even bother to think and pressed the red button right away.
[Are you sure you want to attack the Black Dragon Castle? ]
"No."
Su Hao did not want to take advantage of that situation to become the bad guy.
His wish was not to expand the city-state, and he always had a clear mind when it came to his ultimate goal—he wanted to be strong enough to fight against the Eternal Night.
He felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart to see that there were other castle lords who were almost on par with him and might even surpass him if they worked harder. If everyone could become stronger and stronger, the possibility of fighting against Eternal Night together would become greater and greater.
As a result, he did not plan to attack any city-states for the time being.
Over on the other end, Han Yan was ready to set off for the deeper and more dangerous darkness.
He had to improve himself further in order to have a chance against Su Hao.
At the same time, he also believed that Su Hao would have some reorganizing to do after the invasion of darkness had just passed. Han Yan was not that low a person to attack Su Hao's city-state at that critical moment.
Having strengthened his resolve, he brought his dozen level ten Black Dragons toward his city-state entrance