Chapter 42 - 24: End of January - Global Lords: My Territory Heart Is a World Tree

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the month.

After a brutal struggle on the prosperity leaderboard, Qian Duoduo was currently sitting high in first place with 5 million prosperity. He was followed by Yun Qihao in second, with 4.12 million, while third place trailed far behind with only 2.5 million.

Lin Yu, meanwhile, was ranked 13th. Because he needed more resources, he hadn’t paused most of his resource buildings before completion, which added over 700,000 to his prosperity. Despite this, his rank had still dropped significantly. It just went to show how many whales were in this competition.

However, within Lin Yu’s territory, a large number of buildings were now just a hair’s breadth from completion. It would only take a few minutes to finish them and reap the prosperity points.

To put it in perspective, the area of the four Defensive Arrays alone covered 2,806.86 square kilometers.

Even if construction progress was less than ideal, planting defensive flora at a mere 1% density would still cover 28.0686 square kilometers.

Since each defensive plant was worth only 1 prosperity point, 28,068,600 plants would yield 28,068,600 prosperity points.

Twenty-eight million prosperity—enough to utterly crush every other lord on the leaderboard.

Of course, this 1% was Lin Yu’s own worst-case estimate; the actual completion rate was far higher.

For now, the outermost Wall-nuts and Earth Spikes had already formed a perimeter, and construction was underway in other areas as well.

The only problem was that the overall plan for his territory was simply too grand. Even though the World Tree’s involvement in construction saved a great deal of manual labor, the territory’s resource output still couldn’t keep pace with the speed of development.

[World Chat Channel (789654)]

Lin Yu: "Today’s batch of resources is ready! PM me if you need any. Bulk orders get a discount!!"

Lin Yu: "It’s the last day! Anyone making a final push for the rankings, buy now! This is your last chance!!"

After finishing breakfast, Lin Yu posted his usual ads in the chat channel.

He then opened the market, listed 2 million units of resources for Qian Duoduo, and sent him a quick message.

Lin Yu (Private Message): "Lord Qian, I’ve listed the resources for you. This is the last shipment, so our deal is complete. Hope to work with you again in the future!"

Qian Duoduo (Private Message): "Younger Brother Lin, a man of your word as always! Thanks to you, I’ve saved a considerable amount of funds. Please accept this small token of my appreciation. [1000 Gold Coin Red Packet]!"

Qian Duoduo (Private Message): "If you have anything else to sell in the future, remember to come to me first. Whether it’s treasures or rare blueprints, I’ll buy them at a premium."

Qian Duoduo (Private Message): "From the way you’re playing, it doesn’t look like you plan on making it past the second phase. If you get eliminated, you can come join our Qian Family. I’ll set you up with a good job, enough to live comfortably for the rest of your life."

Lin Yu (Private Message): "[Accepted Red Packet]! Thanks, Lord Qian, you’re too generous! I was just fulfilling our agreement."

Lin Yu (Private Message): "If I don’t make it past the second phase, I’ll be sure to take you up on that offer."

Qian Duoduo (Private Message): "Hahaha, don’t you worry. I’ve got to get busy now. You do your thing."

Lin Yu (Private Message): "You got it! I’ll let you get to it, Lord Qian!"

Meanwhile, the 8 million units of resources Lin Yu had listed on the market were snatched up in an instant. Even with his price set at 1,000 resource units for 3 points or 50 Gold Coins, everything was sold out in under an hour.

His extra income for the day amounted to 6,000 points and 300,000 Gold Coins.

When they saw the transaction records and discovered the insane prices Lin Yu was getting so early in the morning, many other lords took notice. Those who had given up hope of ranking, and those who simply wanted to make a quick buck, all began listing their spare resources on the market.

The merchants who had been hoarding resources also seized this final opportunity, frantically offloading their stock.

For a time, resource prices on the market began to fluctuate wildly.

None of this concerned Lin Yu, however. He was now casually chatting in a small group, betting with a few others on who would ultimately take first place.

Lin Yu: "I’m betting on Qian Duoduo for first place. Just look at how hard he’s pushing. He’s bought over 20 million units of resources from me these past few days, and he’s been buying up a ton in the public channels too. He definitely still has a huge stockpile."

Lin Yu: "Besides, I remember Qian Duoduo bought a ton of building blueprints. He must have a bunch of high-prosperity, slow-construction buildings ready to go."

Ding Dong: "I’m betting on ’Anonymous 1.’ Don’t mind that he’s lagging behind right now. My gut tells me he’s saving up for a huge final push."

Yun Qihao: "Hey guys, doesn’t anyone think I can take first?"

Ding Dong: "Aren’t you in second? You’re pretty far behind first place. How are you supposed to catch up to Qian Duoduo today?"

Yun Qihao: "Hey! How come ’Anonymous 1’ can catch up but I can’t? I’m the one who’s closest to first place right now!!!"

Zhang Lv: "Come on, Big Shot Yun. The Temple of the Goddess of Wisdom and War may have supported you with plenty of materials and blueprints, but you don’t have any trump cards left, do you? If this month’s ranking was based on military power, I’d say you’d have a fighting chance. But as things stand... you should probably save your resources. Don’t bet the farm on this."

Yun Qihao: "Brothers, I’m not just bragging, I really do have a trump card. Don’t mind that Qian Duoduo is 900,000 prosperity ahead of me right now. Just wait, I’ll overtake him soon."

Ji Wanjing: "But Brother Yun, who’s to say Qian Duoduo doesn’t have a trump card of his own?"

Lin Yu: "That’s right, Big Shot Yun. After Qian Duoduo got the 2 million units from me today, he turned around and bought almost 3 million more from my public listing—I saw it in my seller info. With a resource demand that high, he’s definitely planning one last big push."

Yun Qihao: "For real?"

Lin Yu: "Why would I lie? It’s a done deal. I just have no idea what kind of building would require that many resources."

Yun Qihao: "Sigh... If what you’re saying is true, then I probably have no hope of taking first place."

Yun Qihao: "Good thing this building I’m constructing isn’t just for show. It’s actually very useful for my territory."

Ding Dong: "Big Shot Yun, can you give us a hint? What’s this building that has you so confident?"

Yun Qihao: "Can’t say, can’t say! You’ll see it eventually, if you get the chance."

Ding Dong: "Alright then. Show us if we’re lucky enough to see it."

Ding Dong: "Alright, alright, place your bets, place your bets! Who’s going to take first place?"

Ding Dong: "I’ll put up 10,000 Gold Coins on ’Anonymous 1’ to take first!"

Lin Yu: "I’ll put up 1,000 Gold Coins on Qian Duoduo!"

Ding Dong: "Younger Brother Lin, didn’t you just make a killing? Why not bet a little more? Make it exciting for everyone."

Lin Yu: "My friend, you only see what I’m earning, not what I’m spending! My expenses are huge. I barely have any Gold Coins left."

Ding Dong: "Hehehe~~ You’re not being honest, my friend~~"

Ding Dong: "Alright, alright, moving on! Who else is in?"

Yun Qihao: "1,000 Gold Coins on ’Anonymous 1’."

Ji Wanjing: "10,000 Gold Coins on Qian Duoduo."

Zhang Lv: "I’ll also put up 10,000 Gold Coins for Qian Duoduo."

...