After securing three consecutive victories, Alex's global ranking soared to 28,902. With only five days remaining until the conclusion of the first Global Power Arena event, his performance had everyone in East Sea City talking.
Even though Alex's last two matches were over in a flash, many in the city managed to catch glimpses of his victories. As the last remaining contestant from East Sea City, people watched in awe as he effortlessly dispatched his enemies. Despite knowing how strong he was, watching him annihilate opponents so easily still felt surreal, almost like watching a movie. Alex's dominance made it seem like winning the entire tournament was well within his grasp.
No one could fathom Alex's upper limits, and some even began to believe that he could very well claim the championship. His overwhelming strength left others in the dust, making him a figure of admiration and reverence.
Back in reality, Alex stood examining the newly acquired golden bow from his most recent opponent, the fallen Belos monster.
[Falling Star Bow (SR Grade)]
Description: A powerful long-range weapon capable of devastating damage.
Effect 1: Inflicts six times normal damage, with a 100% chance of armor-piercing and a 10% chance of a piercing shot.
Effect 2: Starfall Feather: Consumes up to 5% energy per second, increasing range by 1,000 meters for each 1% of energy used. For every 10,000 meters traveled, damage is doubled.
The bow was undeniably an incredible piece of equipment, especially with the second effect. Theoretically, by expending 100% energy, Alex could fire an arrow with a range of 100,000 meters, and the damage would skyrocket to 512 times the base damage! It was essentially a guaranteed kill for any target. However, hitting something at such an immense distance seemed almost impossible—unless the target was absolutely massive. Even then, it was questionable whether 512 times the damage would be enough to kill something so gigantic.
In addition to the bow, Alex also collected another SR-grade Awakening Stone. He only needed eight more to attempt another "Second Awakening" and see if he could achieve an SSR-grade godhood.
By around 9 PM, Alex and his team had successfully completed their resource point capture missions and returned to East Sea City. Thanks to their hard work and the efforts of others in the city, the total number of resource points in East Sea had surged from 29 to 54 in a single day, an impressive increase of 25 new points.
Of those, Alex and his team of twenty had captured 18 points, while the rest of the city's inhabitants managed to secure seven. The overall performance was outstanding.
With 54 resource points, East Sea City advanced from a Level 3 to a Level 5 Novice City. Both city upgrade tasks rewarded every resident with 10,000 merit points and 10,000 credits.
In addition to the larger city area, several new large-scale buildings appeared with the Level 5 upgrade. The most notable addition was the "City Teleportation Array" located near the City Lord's Mansion.
The teleportation array resembled a massive altar, larger than several football fields, adorned with various giant stone gates of different sizes. These gates looked similar to those seen at resource points, though the materials differed. The larger gates were fewer in number, and most of them remained inactive, shrouded in a gray fog.
With the activation of the teleportation array, East Sea City would be able to establish a passageway to the capital city in five days. Additionally, it could now connect to the ten nearest cities with similar teleportation arrays. Two gates had already been lit, meaning at least two other cities nearby had reached Level 5 or higher.
This marked the end of East Sea City's isolation from the outside world.
However, teleportation wasn't cheap—each trip required a payment of 10,000 credits, a significant sum for ordinary people.
Alex speculated that one of the cities connected to the array was likely the second major city, Flower City. The other city was most likely Century New Town, a rapidly growing metropolis. Both cities had populations in the tens of millions, and it wasn't surprising they advanced so quickly, especially with Flower City being near the headquarters of the Yuezhou military district.
Although curious about these cities, Alex was too tired to investigate further that night. Returning to the city, he went straight to find Ethan. In addition to the new SR-grade equipment he'd acquired, Alex had several other items he needed to upgrade.
When he entered Ethan's shop, the shopkeeper jumped up from his chair, looking noticeably more respectful and even slightly fearful. Despite his nervousness, Ethan couldn't resist asking, "Lord Alex, about the 'Sky City'...?"
Alex scratched the back of his head awkwardly. After all, Ethan had been kind enough to warn them earlier, and yet Alex had gone ahead and destroyed Sky City anyway. He felt a bit guilty about it.
With a sheepish grin, Alex laughed, "Haha, well, you did warn us, but I couldn't resist my curiosity and went anyway. The monsters there were ridiculously strong, but for some reason, they ended up blowing up their own home."
Ethan's expression twitched as he struggled to hold back a comment, opting instead to nod and say, "Ah, I see... so that's what happened."
Eager to change the subject, Alex pulled out the golden blade he had recently acquired, feeling a bit nervous. "I found this new piece of equipment, but it's a 'Belos' exclusive. It needs to be converted before I can use it. Do you think you could help with that?"
Seeing the golden blade in Alex's hand, Ethan instinctively recoiled slightly, as if it brought back some unpleasant memories. After a moment of hesitation, he took the weapon and, examining it, muttered in awe, "Lord Alex, you really are too powerful…"
Alex raised an eyebrow, puzzled, until Ethan explained, "This is one of the legendary 'Behemoth' set pieces, specifically the 'Behemoth Fang.' It's considered a divine weapon by the Belos race—like how your 'Dragon God' and 'Holy Angel' sets are unique to humans. These 'race-exclusive' items cannot be obtained or purchased in other worlds and possess incredible growth potential."
Ethan continued, "However, these race-exclusive artifacts have a drawback. Though powerful, if you die while using them in another world, the chances of them dropping are extremely high. But once converted and used by another race, their attributes not only improve but also gain a double damage bonus against their original race."