ch54- Lost Grounds

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"Uh, where are we? Is this still East Sea City?" Luke asked, staring at the desolate ruins before him, completely dumbfounded.

Luke wasn't the only one in shock. Alex and the others were equally baffled. In front of them lay a vast wasteland of twisted steel and crumbling concrete, scattered with the remains of flooded, broken-down cars. The scenery was so unfamiliar that no one could recognize their location.

The night before, after the outpost had merged with several others to form the new beginner city, no one had ventured outside to inspect the surroundings. So, when they stepped through the city gates that morning, they were met with this confusing sight.

The level-one beginner city was impressive. It resembled a small town, divided into several zones around its eight resource points, though the architecture was rather plain. Encircling the city was a towering wall, likely over three stories tall and more than two meters thick. While its defensive capabilities were still unknown, it was certainly better than the open, vulnerable outposts they had previously relied on.

However, with the expansion of the city's borders, the protective invisibility crystals they once used to hide from monsters had now become ineffective. Outside the city walls, monsters could easily spot the settlement and launch attacks at any time.

Because of this, early that morning, Quinn and several other guides had organized a "City Guard" recruitment effort. The task was to station teams along the walls to fend off potential monster assaults, and participants would be paid for their services.

That morning also marked the opening of the guides' shops. Products made from the resources they had gathered—like the Brown Bear Fruits from the Brown Bear Mountain and the Life Fruits from the Life Tree—were now being sold. Brown Bear Fruit was a source of nourishment and would become a staple food for the city's population since regular human food no longer satisfied the hunger of the empowered individuals. Life Fruits, on the other hand, were used to restore health and could be made into potions.

The demand for these resources was high. With a daily yield that could sustain thousands, the income generated easily surpassed a million points each day. Alex's 10% share from both resource points would provide him with a steady and substantial income going forward.

Apart from the City Guard recruitment, the guides' shops were also hiring staff. For instance, Zaira's shop, **Zaira's Boutique**, sold clothing made from the colorful cotton harvested at the Cotton Garden. These garments, while not capable of defending against attacks just yet, were far more durable than ordinary clothes.

To produce items on a large scale, the guides couldn't manage alone, hence the need for additional workers. Thus, the first signs of **life skills** within this game world began to emerge. Those who were either too afraid or too unskilled in combat could now find jobs within the city, where they could learn crafting and other non-combat skills, improving their standard of living.

Still, with the game being only a few days old, many hadn't yet given up on the idea of fighting. The existence of the city and the revival pool provided motivation. People were drawn to the possibility of becoming stronger through hard work.

But as they stepped beyond the gates that morning, they were met with a strange new reality: the construction of the beginner city seemed to have relocated them to a different part of the world. Many people, including Alex's group, were utterly lost the moment they left the city.

"Well, since we don't have phones, computers, or the internet anymore, let's just rely on the map," Sarah, a native of East Sea City, suggested after failing to recognize the area. She pulled out her map in resignation.

Compared to before, the establishment of the beginner city had expanded their map's visibility significantly. Now, aside from the large white triangle representing their location, they could also see several red, white, and green dots.

The red dots represented monster zones. However, unlike before, there were now triangular red icons as well, which Alex's group guessed indicated monster nests formed after resource points had been captured. The white dots marked other human settlements, with over a dozen white dots visible around the city. Lastly, the green dots marked resource points, though there were only seven of these around the city.

Since the beginner city had been successfully established, Alex and his team didn't feel the need to rally large crowds this time. Even so, more than a thousand people chose to follow them outside. Their motives were simple: they wanted to tag along, hoping Alex would easily clear another resource point, allowing them to collect the scraps left behind from low-level monsters.

Some were self-aware, knowing their meager strength was no match for the stronger creatures. Others were simply die-hard fans of Alex.

In addition to Alex's group, four other teams had also formed within the city, each aiming to capture different resource points. These groups had a certain level of ambition, knowing that following Alex would mean fewer rewards for themselves, so they set off on their own. 

In total, there were five teams. Surprisingly, Alex's group had the fewest members, while the other teams boasted over 2,000 members each, with the largest group nearing 5,000. For these other teams, without Alex's ability to effortlessly defeat high-level monsters—even bosses—they had no choice but to rely on sheer numbers to stand a chance.

The sight of tens of thousands marching out of the city gates was breathtaking. It was far more impressive than anything one would see in a movie battle scene.

Aside from those focused on capturing resource points, countless others had chosen to remain around East Sea City to train. This included the recently revived players, many of whom had never killed a single monster, while others had experienced significant level reductions and needed to grind for experience.

Outside the city, Alex and his team wandered through the ruins, the desolation stirring mixed emotions. Yesterday morning, as the resource points emerged, many of the city's buildings had crumbled during the ensuing earthquakes. At the time, there had still been enough landmarks to recognize. But now, with everything reduced to indistinguishable rubble, they were left feeling both nostalgic and melancholic.

These ruins were, after all, the remnants of human civilization—once a symbol of their achievements.

With Alex's strength leading the way, the team's progress was steady, and the mood was light. Still, considering how the Life Tree resource point had nearly 5,000 monsters to contend with the day before, Alex decided it was wise to gather more people in case their next challenge proved too overwhelming.

Their current destination was a white-colored human settlement about 5 kilometers away. Not only would it allow them to increase their numbers, but they might also gain some insight into where exactly they had been relocated.