F*ck, another forced trade, it activated upon touch!
In Zhang Yang’s previous life, he had experienced a Territory Subjugation battle, but never a Battle for Terra Nulius1, so his knowledge on the latter was second-hand, obtained from numerous guides and forums online. Territory Subjugation Battle and Battle for Terra Nulius look similar but they were actually different in meaning and difficulties!
The [Territory Command Order] Zhang Yang triggered was a Battle for Terra Nulius for Thunderous Storm Castle. For tomorrow’s battle, Thunderous Storm Castle would become a completely neutral ground, and all the players in the China server would be allowed to participate in this battle. However, the players from the other seven major cities could only participate if they used [Destination Teleportation Scroll]s to teleport across cities, and these scrolls were extremely difficult to come across.
In the Battle for Terra Nulius, the territory itself would be neutral, and there will not be any defensive facilities, so players would be fighting each other uninterrupted. Finally, the one who held [Territory Command Order] at the end of the time limit, would become the owner of territory!
Territory Subjugation Battle were different! It would be the attempt to conquer a territory that has already been claimed by someone else!
To activate Territory Subjugation Battle, a [Territory Subjugation Order] must first be found before it could be used by a guild. After the usage has been registered, both sides had 12 hours for preparation, before battling it out for 3 hours.
If the attacking guild successfully seized the defending guild’s territory hall within the time limit, they would then be the new owners of the territory.
In Territory Subjugation Battle, a defending guild could use defensive facilities which would give them a massive edge! After all, in order to seize the territory of another guild, proper price should be paid, shouldn’t it?
Zhang Yang tore off [Teleportation Scroll] and thought in his mind, "If I solely rely on our own guild, it’ll be too difficult for us to hold on for 3 hours. I’ll have to seek for reinforcements!"
Zhang Yang gathered the gang and said, "I got the [Territory Command Order]!"
Zhang Yang thought there would be cheers among them, but he was only greeted with silence. Then Wei Yan Er said, "Ha ha, we knew it was you for sure. When the server announcement popped up, everyone started looking for you!"
Zhang Yang stared back at them awkwardly, these people had too much faith in him!
Zhang Yang asked, "Does anyone know the rules of Battle for Terra Nulius?"
"En!" Daffodil Daydream nodded and answered, "The side who owns [Territory Command Order] has an advantage since they can set up defensive positions before the battle. However, any players who die, regardless of their side, will be directly sent back to main city the main city, and they will be unable to participate any further!"
"Forget about the whole of China, White Jade Castle alone already has 6,000,000 players. Each of us will end up fighting three or four hundred people at once!" Hundred Shots interrupted.
"Not that many!" Han Ying Xue shook her head and said, "The Forest of Tanila is Level 60 map, even if Level 50 players come to this map, they will be hunted down by the monsters. Level 40 players will struggle to pass through the Frozen Sky Wasteland before even reaching Forest of Tanila! So tomorrow, we will be fighting against most Level 50 players, a small amount of Level 40 players, and if we estimate it, a total of 5,000,000 players in the whole of China fit that criteria!"
"That’s still an astonishing amount!" Endless Starlight lamented.
Zhang Yang nodded and said, "Currently, none of them knows that I have the [Territory Command Order] and they do not know the exact location of the new territory, so that’s our headstart! Tomorrow, we will gather all Level 50 and above guild members in the Forest of Tanila first. Then everyone will enter the exact location of the new territory half an hour before the battle starts. Since no one else knows the exact location of the new territory, we are safe, even if there are spies in our guild!"
Zhang Yang paused for a while and continued, "I will contact Crimson Rage, Sky High and Lost Paradise to help us, and since there will be more territories in the future, we can provide aid in return!"
After the discussion, Zhang Yang contacted Snow Seeker via voice chat.
"Guild master Zhan Yu, are you here to invite Crimson Rage to help you defend and protect your new territory?" Snow Seeker actually stunned Zhang Yang with her words.
Zhang Yang shook his head and asked, "The system did not mention the owner of the [Territory Command Order], why do you all assume that it is me?"
"He he", Snow Seeker gently smiled and said, "When the server announced that the new territory is in the Forest of Tanila, I checked the map and realized that it is a Level 60 map. Besides you, who else is Level 60?"
Zhang Yang was about to mention that level 50 players could very well travel in that map, but most of the Level 50 and above players would not do that!
"Alright, since you guessed it correctly, if I continue lying, it would be insulting your IQ!" Zhang Yang laughed and said, "That’s right, I am really going to invite Crimson Rage help us work together and protect against the enemy!"
"We are allied, I will definitely help you! But…" Snow Seeker’s demure tone changed and she smiled gently.
"Alright, what do you want?"
"Guild master Zhan Yu, don’t talk to me like I’m an opportunist!"
"Well, so Crimson Rage would actually help us without asking for anything in return. How generous, thank you very much!"
"Hey hey hey, you’re really bold! Alright, I’ll be straightforward with you. How about this. After winning the new territory, we, Crimson Rage will get 20% of your profits!" Snow Seeker proclaimed!
Damn, such a big appetite!
Zhang Yang quickly shook his head and said, "I can’t do that, I still need to invite Sky High and Lost Paradise, if they ask for the same thing, then I will be left with nothing! I should just tear the [Territory Command Order] up if it turns out like that!"
"Then, guild master Zhan Yu, what’s your offer?"
"If we win, guild members of Crimson Rage and Lone Desert Smoke can use teleportation portals within the new territory without any charges!"
"Guild master Zhan Yu, you are so stingy!"
"Guild master Snow Seeker, do the counting. Five gold coins are required each time when using the teleportation portal, and you have 20,000 guild members. Every day your guild members would use it at least once. I’m wavering the teleportation fees for your entire guild. After a month, damn, you would save up millions! Besides, wherever the portal takes you would be bound to earn you even more gold!"
"Why don’t you just open up a business? You have the potential!"
"Hah, so guild master Snow Seeker agrees with me, right?"
"We are allies, right?" Snow Seeker intentionally let out of a sigh, Zhang Yang was just too tricky for her.
Zhang Yang laughed and said, "Okay, 5.00 pm, tomorrow, please bring your people to the Forest of Tanila. Half an hour before the battle starts, I will tell you the exact location!"
"… You are really being cautious!"
"Ha ha, one can never be too cautious!"
Afterwads, Zhang Yang also contacted Sky Shaman and Crimson Fire. Both of them also supported Zhang Yang and his strength instantly skyrocketed!
Other than Lost Paradise, Sky High, Crimson Rage and Lone Desert Smoke were all currently top guilds in White Jade Castle. The Dominators had taken a great hit, so they had be ousted from the list, barely able to still be regarded as a strong guild.
Zhang Yang spent 100 gold coins to identify his [Flawless Defense Cape] and its attributes were enhanced.
[Flawless Defense Cape] (Yellow-Gold, Cape)
HP: +120
Vitality: +30
Equipment: Absorbs 58 damage points each time you receive attacks.
Level Requirement: 60
After making some potions, Zhang Yang checked his Little Merchandize Shop’s account, and was satisfied. Although [Solid Iron Bar]s were sold out, Resistance Potion was the hot-selling item now. It was only garnering him a daily profit of 300,000 gold coins, but it was a fresh item that would be bound to gain more regulars in Little Merchandize Shop, so the daily profit could rise up to 800,000 coins. Although this could not be compared with the previous [Solid Iron Bar] sales, Zhang Yang realized that profits of Little Merchandize Shop had still increased a little!
Long lasting, stable income was the long-term solution!
Since the server had announced the discovery of a new territory, a large amount of players have started searching around in Forest of Tanila, hoping that they could find the exact location in advance and gain the advantages over everyone else! However, those players who did the searching were depending on a very combustible factor -- luck. Most of the strong guilds instead focused on preparing themselves sufficiently -- a more stable determinant -- before heading for Forest of Tanila.
It was the first territory, a lot of people hoped to win it for themselves, for glory of being the first, if not for the profits that it implicated!
The next afternoon, all the guilds in the eight main cities of China server were moving in large forces and gathered in the Forest of Tanila. Although Forest of Tanila was a Level 60 map, the monsters in that map could not fight so many players. Hundreds of Level 50 and above players wildly slashed at the monsters, wiping the monsters out via sheer numbers!
Half an hour before the battle started, Zhang Yang posted the coordinates of Thunderous Storm Castle in guild channel and then informed his allies, and immediately gathered all guild members of the four guilds.
Because the system did not announce the exact coordinates of the territory or the current holder of the [Territory Command Order], several of them hung back, waiting for the final announcement. However, if Snow Seeker and some others could guess that Zhang Yang was holding [Territory Command Order] there were others who certainly had the same thoughts. Many guilds tagged along the Lone Desert Smoke envoy as they headed to the castle.
20 Minutes left before the battle started.
Zhang Yang started to set up his defenders. Thunderous Storm Castle’s defensive facilities could not be used but Zhang Yang could still make use of the terrain, the moat in front of castle gate, "narrow" doors, and streets.
It would be impossible for 60,000 players to defend against 6,000,000 players in a wide and spacious zone! But, fighting in a castle with such complex architecture, a miracle was possible!
Finally, the bell rang, it was 7.00 pm!
‘Server Announcement: The first new territory’s coordinate is XXXXX,YYYYY, the name of the territory is Thunderous Storm Castle! Battle for Terra Nulius will last for 3 hours, the final player who holds [Territory Command Order] will become the owner of Thunderous Storm Castle! Starting from now on, Forest of Tanila will be set as special battlefield, all players will unable to access it! The players who die, will be sent back to White Jade Castle!’
‘Server Announcement: The current player who holds [Territory Command Order] is Zhan Yu! The player who holds [Territory Command Order] will be marked on the map and will be unable to leave the area of territory!’
‘Server Announcement: Battle for Terra Nulius starts now, counting down!’
Each player in the Forest of Tanila could see the text of a timer -- "2: 59: 59" counting down at the upper left corner of their HUD!
ED Note:
1. Terra Nulius - Probably best if the term is Googled for more details. Basically means unclaimed land, or land where prior owner has relinquished claim. The literal translations of Territory Subjugation Battle and Battle for Terra Nulius were Battle for Territory Snatching and Battle for Territory. It would have been rather half-*ssed if a game coined the latter term as Battle for Unclaimed Land, or Battle for Nobody’s Land, and as much as I dislike the use of terms/words/jargons that cause hiccoughs in the flow of a reader, I decided to settle on "Terra Nulius". Anyone with World History/World War knowledge here? There may or may not have been a simpler, more accurate term. Thoughts welcome in the comments section.