To upgrade the Level 1 Village to Level 2, 1000 units of wood, fiber, and clay were required.
At present, the wood and fiber resources had already been secured, and with the acquisition of 1400 units of clay, the clay reserves had also reached 1616 units, fulfilling the upgrade requirements.
Aside from resources, the village also needed to accumulate 100 Prosperity Points to advance to Level 2, but there was no need to worry about that.
The territory's prosperity had already surpassed the required amount, standing at 735 points, more than sufficient to proceed to Level 2.
He opened the territory panel and started to level up.
With that, each of the three resources lost 1000 units.
The words 'Level 1 Village' had also become 'Level 2 Village'.
There weren't any special effects, just a normal refresh.
The original 100×100 territory area became 200×200, completely covering the wild coffee trees.
Now, the territory was only a few meters away from the northern river, and the southern edge was already touching the sea.
The construction of the previously impossible simple dock due to the limited size of the territory could now commence.
At this moment, the system notification finally arrived.
"Ding ~ Your territory has leveled up successfully (Level 1 Village → Level 2 Village)."
"Ding ~ The territory ranking board has been opened. You can check it in the menu bar."
Rankings?
Ji Chen opened the menu curiously.
The territory ranking options lit up.
[Territory Rankings]
[Checking your ranking ...]
[62876. Ji Chen ... Level 2 Village (735 Prosperity)]
The player ranking of over 60,000 may not be considered high.
However, there were more than a billion players!
"Your ranking has surpassed 99.9937124% of players!"
However, what puzzles him is that despite occupying three resource points, having the people's support, and having a strong army with a blue excellent-grade hero, he only has 735 Prosperity Points.
Meanwhile, those territories ranked higher with over a thousand Prosperity Points, how did they achieve it?
Did they have abundant resources or powerful troops?
This doubt drove him to open the forum channel.
He searched for the keyword "how to obtain prosperity points."
A large number of posts came up, and the ones with high likes were at the top.
He carefully read through all of them, and suddenly realized something.
The calculation of prosperity was based on the population, construction, military situation, and other factors.
Heroic units could increase prosperity by a considerable amount, and ordinary residents could also increase prosperity by a certain amount.
The biggest problem was the number of residents.
He only had a few dozen residents, while the players had hundreds or even thousands of residents.
Even if a resident only provided 1 point of prosperity, he could use the number of people to pile up the prosperity and win by quantity.
Upon reading this, his mood became somewhat complicated.
There was nothing he could do about being born on an island, which put him at a disadvantage in terms of prosperity points calculation.
In addition, some players resorted to some unconventional methods to boost their prosperity points.
For instance, some players constructed hundreds of simple huts that only required minimal resources but provided three prosperity points each. This method allowed players with abundant wood and fiber resources to easily accumulate prosperity points.
Moreover, some players traded for a large number of recruitment cores for tier-one one-star undead or necrotic units, which allowed them to amass a large army with minimal resources. Even the weakest unit, such as a small skeleton, contributed a small amount of prosperity points, and the points quickly added up when there were a large number of units.
These unconventional methods were just a few examples of the players' creativity and ingenuity.
It was truly amazing to see players' brainstorming ideas, similar to Kennedy's open-mindedness and willingness to break from convention.
It seems that his loss was not due to lack of strength, but rather due to clever tricks and strategies.
However, Ji Chen had no intention of replicating these sneaky tactics.
There were no rewards for reaching the top of the leaderboard, and it would only draw unwanted attention.
Only a fool would risk everything to climb the leaderboard.
Besides, as his territory developed, his ranking would naturally improve.
He would just let things happen naturally.
He knew very well that survival was about persistence.
But seeing those valuable and comprehensive posts on the forum still made him sigh with admiration.
Players were truly a group of creative and imaginative beings, capable of finding safe and useful paths and effective methods even in this world of crisis.
Especially those selfless players who contributed their own strategies and methods on the forum, sharing what they had learned from their own experience, meant that they would reduce their own benefits.
It was truly a selfless dedication.
Ji Chen knew that he could not do that.
But he had gained useful information several times from the forum, which made him feel somewhat motivated.
Why not contribute to everyone with useful posts as well?
He immediately made up his mind.
"Create forum anonymous name: Islander."
"Create new post: Research on the current level and potential division of heroes."
After writing the post quickly, Ji Chen was satisfied and posted it on the forum.
He did not care if anyone replied and closed the forum.
After upgrading the territory level, there was no urgent matter at hand.
But as the saying goes, "Eat, sleep, and hunt monsters."
Ji Chen, who had nothing better to do, once again led the Murlocs, Nagas, and Alice into the forest.
Relying on the power of the Omniscient Crown, he once again swept through the nearby forest.
Some beasts and monsters who secretly returned to the jungle, feeling that it had become somewhat safer, were once again met with a deadly fate.
On this day, the wails and screams of these creatures once again lingered over the jungle.
Those who survived were finally scared out of their wits and fled to even farther places with their tails between their legs.
.....
On the other side of the island.
In a cluster of straw houses, inside the largest one.
"Chief! The hunting team led by 'Eagle' has returned. They said that recently, many beasts have run out from the southern jungle, including powerful beasts like Sabertooth Tigers and Panthers."
"Uh-huh? So do they know the reason?" the elderly chief sitting in the first seat asked.
"It's not clear yet, but 'Eagle' said that those beasts seem to be in a panic as if they are being chased by something even more powerful."
"Something more powerful? Could it be those filthy Goblins?" the elderly chief pondered for a moment. "That jungle is our hunting ground. In any case, we must figure out what happened there."
"Let 'Panther' investigate. He is the fastest and most experienced warrior in our tribe. Even if there is danger, he can sense it. Let him go and see what happened there."
"Yes! But... what if it's the Goblins?"
The elderly chief fell silent for a moment. "If it's the Goblins, we can only temporarily avoid them. Many of our warriors were injured or killed in the last battle in the valley, and the next generation of warriors has not yet grown up."
"Dragon's wisdom tells me that temporary tolerance is the right choice for survival."
"I understand. I'll go now."