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Chapter 529.5: Cooperation is not charity
Renovate the city?
Thorne was astonished by the Bay Territory's grand plans.
He had thought the walls being built outside were already the entire renovation project.
But from Elio's tone, it seemed that everything had only just begun.
Forcing himself to reveal no more emotions, Thorne could only smile and nod in agreement.
"No problem, we will absolutely follow the arrangements."
Elio politely said:
"During the renovation, we'll need to gather some professional advice to adjust the plans appropriately for the Catacan plane."
"For example, how to set up monitoring outposts outside the cityā¦"
"How to establish underground barriers to block fungal carpet invasionsā¦"
"How to create warehouses for uncontaminated materials storageā¦"
"ā¦"
Hearing Elio's list of issues, a word suddenly came to Thorne's mind.
Professional!
Thorne tried conversing with Elio and found that her character was actually quite agreeable, not as overbearing as he had imagined.
She took note of all the suggestions he offered, and after some thought, they discussed them further.
This attitude made Thorne feel very comfortable, and his initial worries gradually faded away.
Besides discussing city renovation.
What thrilled the Catacans the most was.
At the upcoming public assembly, teachers from the Professional Training Academy and instructors from the Bay Territory's military camp.
Explained to all the Catacans the existence of professionals and the prospects of power systems.
They fully acknowledged all the Catacans' talents and abilities and planned to guide and train them in the coming days.
Over the next week.
Besides expanding the castle, the Bay Territory's biggest task was training all the Catacans.
The adventurers weren't idle either; they accepted some guidance and training tasks.
They trained alongside Catacan soldiers and members of matching abilities.
During training, both sides intentionally engaged in exchanges and conversations.
The Catacan members gained a great deal, with most of them successfully embarking on the professional path.
Among them, 50% chose to become rangers better suited for jungle combat.
30% chose more delicate and intelligent combat styles, becoming highly flexible rogues.
15% became warriors who excelled in direct combat.
And 5% became shooters who wielded ranged weapons.
Their professional levels increased rapidly.
In one week, Thorne advanced to a Level 8 Warrior.
He set a shocking record of "one professional level per day."
All the other Catacan soldiers successfully attained their professions as well.
The average professional level reached Level 3.
The average challenge rating even reached 9+!
An entire force of elites!
What surprised Matthew was that even among the Catacan members with an Intelligence score of 10, not one possessed the talent to become a caster.
Among thousands, there wasn't a single one.
Indeed, you win some, you lose some!
The adventurers also gained much, learning more about the Catacan world, its information, and survival techniques.
After all, in the perilous Catacan jungle, the more knowledge one had, the greater the chance of staying alive.
Some adventurers accompanied Catacan hunters into the castle's surrounding jungle for exploration.
It turned out that the dangerous and terrifying Catacan world was truly life-threatening without thorough preparation.
After three unlucky souls met their end.
The rest of the adventurers obediently joined the "training."
Fortunately, as more information was gathered, the "teaching tools" the Catacans brought back increased.
The adventurers' ability to adapt to the Catacan jungle began to improve rapidly.
Soon, the gains of the pioneer professionals immediately boosted the previously uneasy adventurers' courage and confidence.
Working with Catacan guides, they captured over ten types of mutated plants in just a few hours and brought them back to the castle.
The Bay Territory, never stingy with rewards, bought these mutated plants at 100 gold coins each.
Additionally, they offered a 1,000 gold coin prize for a single aberrant plant.
Earning 2,000 gold coins in a few hoursādivided among 10 or so peopleāwas still a considerable sum.
The adventurers went "crazy."
Even some Catacan members joined in.
They were, after all, the experts in surviving and adventuring in this jungle.
With numerous mutated plants collected, much information about the flora of the Catacan demi-plane was decoded.
The Bay Territory identified three highly valuable mutated magical plants.
The first was the ubiquitous Catacan Hooked Poison Briar!
Besides brewing bitter liquor, its benefits for physical fortitude were immense.
According to research, short-term consumption of about two months can increase the user's constitution attribute by 1 point.
If consumed over the long term (5 years) after processing, the Catacan Hooked Poison Briar can potentially increase constitution by 2 to 4 points.
The reason Catacan soldiers are so formidable.
Is closely tied to their frequent drinking of the bitter wine brewed from Catacan Hooked Poison Briar.
This unique strengthening effect has made the Catacan Hooked Poison Briar extremely popular.
This jungle predatory plant that is everywhere probably never imagined.
That it would one day become such a sought-after delicacy.
The Bay Territory offered a price of 10 gold coins per kilogram.
Comparable to top-tier mid-grade magical plants.
Matthew purchased a large amount of Catacan Hooked Poison Briar for potion experiments and research.
This special plant that can increase attribute points might lead to the development of magical potions that directly enhance strength attributes.
Of course, even if the experiments fail, it wouldn't be a big deal.
If large quantities of Catacan Hooked Poison Briar could be used as food for Bay Territory soldiers and children, it would greatly enhance their strength and potential.
This could become a strategic resource!
Just by relying on this one item, the nearly one million gold coins spent on the demi-plane exploration by the Bay Territory would be recouped, with substantial profit.
Not to mention, adventurers and soldiersāwho never stop striving to improve their strengthāwould eagerly buy some Catacan Hooked Poison Briar for consumption.
The second plant is the Whipping Grass.
It is a subspecies of the Catacan Hooked Poison Briar and is also very common.
It usually disguises itself as a bush, but when prey passes by, it suddenly opens a huge maw and shoots out a strong and flexible tongue.
The tongue is not only highly flexible but also covered in paralyzing toxins.
Once ensnared by its tongue, one quickly loses the ability to resist and struggle.
One can only watch helplessly as they are dragged into the maw lined with sharp teeth, becoming its nourishment.
Unlike the Catacan Hooked Poison Briar, it doesn't have high practical value.
However, its freely extendable tongue, with great toughness and strength, caught Victor's attention and was successfully developed into a crucial bowstring for dragon-hunting crossbows.
Not only did this reduce the cost of dragon-hunting crossbows by 3,000 gold coins, but it also significantly accelerated production efficiency.
The reason is simple: while Whipping Grass isn't as ubiquitous as Catacan Hooked Poison Briar, it's always found within fifty meters of jungle terrain.
Whipping Grass offers more than just this.
When its outer skin is cut, it secretes a large amount of viscous liquid.
After processing and separation by Matthew, two materials that delighted him were obtained.
Strong glue and rubber.
These two materials, both highly significant in weapon and industrial production, were serendipitously discovered by Matthew.
An excited Matthew immediately gave the order.
"Capturing one Whipping Grass earns an 80 gold coin bounty (equivalent to 1.6 trolls)!"
The third plant is the "Brain Leaf Worm" encountered by the Alice Adventurer Team.
Although these creatures are dangerous, they produce extremely unique secretions.
After treatment and purification, these secretions become the main ingredient for high-level meditation potions.
High-level meditation potions increase meditation efficiency by 300% and have a small chance of an epiphany breakthrough.
Market price: 10,000 gold coins per bottle.
It's important to know that producing high-level meditation potions is particularly difficult.
Especially the main ingredientāLife Spark.
Beyond the rare production in certain grand arcanists' alchemical labs, it has gone extinct elsewhere.
As a result, while this potion is excellent, it rarely circulates on the market.
Many casters, arcanists, and even high-level artisans are willing to pay 20,000 gold coins or more for a chance at an "epiphany" breakthrough.
One "Brain Leaf Worm" equates to a main ingredient worth 5,000 gold coins.
The Bay Territory offers adventurers 500 gold coins plus 800 merit points per Brain Leaf Worm.
The reason for emphasizing the latter reward is to facilitate adventurers.
So they can enjoy the benefits of high-level meditation potions sooner.
Generally, when the Bay Territory discovers valuable resources, it never monopolizes them.
In addition to these three plants, the Bay Territory identified various other mutated plants and offered generous bounties for each.
Numerous adventurer teams in the two fortresses.
Driven by the lure of gold coins, delved into jungles full of strange and dangerous plants.
As long as they survived.
They typically captured seven or eight dangerous plants, earning about 500 gold coins in profits.
They avoided eating or staying overnight in the jungle.
However, since the jungle was close to the two fortresses controlled by the Bay Territory.
They could return to the fortress to rest before embarking on a second expedition.
Soon, the fortress saw the first "successful pioneers" among the adventurer teams.
The impressive profits naturally attracted a wave of eager adventurers.
Learning of this, the Catacan members no longer ventured alone as they had before.
They began joining adventurer teams.
This not only earned them a share of the rewards but also brought more success to the teams.
The adventurers welcomed their inclusion.
The Catacans greatly reduced casualties and helped amass more wealth.
Both sides were very satisfied with their collaboration.
This further promoted integration between the Bay Territory and the Catacan members.
Notably, the Bay Territory never made proactive efforts toward "integration."
Instead, it passively influenced the Catacan members' views subtly and imperceptibly.
The effect was excellent.
In less than half a month, the majority of Catacan members, including Thorne, began identifying as part of the "Bay Territory tribe."
They even invited a new Catacan tribe to join them.
Matthew settled them in another fortress constructed by the Bay Territory.
Over time, the development of the Catacan demi-plane grew increasingly fervent.
Various rare plants were delivered back to the Bay Territory by adventurers.
There, they were processed into a wide array of valuable potions.
Thirty percent of these potions were purchased by Magus Duncan and his team.
Another fifty percent were acquired by Matthew as part of the Bay Territory's strategic reserves.
Meanwhile, Matthew sold the remaining twenty percent through the "Lynch Trading Company," Adam Smith's "Thorn Trading Company," and the store in Sevendon Blood Moon City.
As soon as they hit the market, these potions were snatched up, adored by many high-level casters.
As a result, the entire Netheril Empire soon knew that the Bay Territory was developing the Catacan demi-plane.
This boosted the reputation of "Bay Territory production" and drew numerous elite adventurers.
It also enhanced the Bay Territory's accumulation and acquisition of high-level resources.
These premium resources were not simply sold for gold coins.
Instead, the rare potions produced by the Bay Territory encouraged major lords and casters to willingly part with them.
Apart from rare magical plants.
If the Bay Territory could exchange them for scarce magical materials and knowledge, it wasn't picky.
As more adventurers entered the Catacan demi-plane, a steady flow of magical materials returned to the Bay Territory.
The Bay Territory's production facilities hummed to life.
Not only did they easily consume the vast influx of resources, but they also generated significant profits that fueled further development.
According to Elio's calculations.
Deploying 20,000 adventurers should satisfy the needs for expansion and resource collection for the two fortresses.
As for Phyllis's proposal to build a new city, it was rejected by Thorne and other Catacan members.
If the number of humans and fortresses in a given area increased too much in a short time.
It could very likely trigger an early outbreak of the "green tide!"
On this matter, Matthew chose to trust Thorne's judgment.
Similar incidents had happened to the players before.
Matthew even suspected that the unrestricted influx of players was what led to the "Catacan Disaster."
This might also explain why, despite the Catacan members' strength in combat, their population numbers remained stagnant.
Living in a world filled with hostility brings a deep sense of despair.
However, this didn't mean that the Bay Territory would give up "expanding" its surroundings.
Through Thorne and his network, the Bay Territory established contact with other Catacan tribes.
By trading with them, the Bay Territory could also obtain some mutant plant resources.
In exchange, the tribes received much-needed food, weapons, and armor.
According to Butler Ralph's calculations.
When the development of the two cities reached its peak.
The Bay Territory could generate more than four million gold coins in monthly profits.
This didn't even account for the over three million gold coins spent monthly on hiring adventurers, training Catacan members, and expanding the two fortresses.
Overall, the Bay Territory's cautious exploration of the Catacan demi-plane brought substantial returns.
However, Matthew's attention had already started shifting to the Eastern Coast.