548 Leased Territory (1/2)

”The Crisis of Eternal Kingdom, is the Changan City Guild rebelling?”

That was the headline of the newspaper on the second day.

The Winterfell newspapers were selling like hotcakes. To the residents of Winterfell, Eternal Kingdom was very popular. Any news that was related to Eternal Kingdom or Lord Sherlock would sell very well.

The Winterfell residents weren't the only ones to purchase newspapers. Even the warriors of Eternal Kingdom had copies of the newspapers.

”The content is a teaser. Can the NPCs report on the gamers?” Sylvanas said in disdain as she put down the newspaper. Everyone knew that the news about Changan City wasn't a compliment but a criticism from the game officials.

In the update announcement, it was stated in detail that the gamers had to obtain approval from Lord Sherlock or Queen Victoria when they created their territory and recruited their employees. Then Lord Sherlock and Queen Victoria would help them recruit the employees. The salary of the employees would be paid by the gamers, in addition to the fees that were to be paid to the Dungeon Lords.

Either the Changan City Guild wanted to save the money, or they were unhappy with the employee list provided by Eternal Kingdom. So, they bypassed Lord Sherlock and contacted Patrick Star to publish a recruitment advertisement.

If it were other online games, it would be impossible as rules were rules. However, in this new generation game, the gamers were able to bypass the rules and break the regulations to achieve their goals.

It was a futile attempt by the Guild, and they were labeled as rebels by Lord Sherlock. When the members of Changan City encountered Lord Sherlock, he wouldn't speak to them. He would even look at them with disdain.

There were no actual losses, and the members of the Guild continued to do their Daily Missions and receive their rewards. However, it was unbearable to receive such treatment from Lord Sherlock, especially when he was the Dungeon Lord.

”They're quite creative. I didn't think of publishing advertisements in the newspaper.”

BurningChestHair nodded as he admired the management of Changan City. Arthur pondered and said, ”This could be a good idea. We won't advertise for recruitment but for the purchasing of territory.”

”The purchasing of territory? Wait, Arthur, are you intending to buy other territories? Didn't we decide to build our territory at the Sighing Wilderness?” NotWearingPants asked in surprise.

Previously, the Strongholds of the Guilds inside Eternal Kingdom or outside Victoria City weren't considered territories. They were just shelters for the members to stay temporarily. With the new Territory System, gamers could create their own Kingdoms, laws, and even choose their own residents like a country.

It was a country that the gamers wanted. The gamers only had to pay taxes to Eternal Kingdom or Victoria City. There were no other disadvantages.

It was quite incredible that the gamers could achieve that in a game. Arthur was the top rich gamer, and he was in charge of the Pioneer Alliance, which was the top Guild in terms of power and finance. He wouldn't allow the Pioneer Alliance to stay within Eternal Kingdom. As the Chairman of the top Guild, he had to create a large Kingdom.

They had to apply for approval to create a Kingdom.

The gamers couldn't just designate any land to become their territory. Otherwise, the gamers would create havoc in Winterfell. They had to apply to Lord Sherlock or Queen Victoria for approval.

The application criteria were stringent. The Guild had to have 5,000 members before applying. Secondly, the Guild had to pay a large sum of Magic Stones. The detailed sum would depend on each Guild, the size of the territory, the employees, and the recruited NPCs. Arthur had tried to apply once. According to his calculation, a Blacksmith, Enchanter, Mana Engineer, and Lich would cost a shocking 100,000 Magic Stones.

Who could afford such a sum? Most of the Guild members were new gamers who didn't even have bronze coins. If the sum was shared equally among all of the members, each of them had to fork out 20 Magic Stones.

Even Arthur couldn't afford to pay 100,000 Magic Stones.

Perhaps if they obtained the territory through other means, it would save them some money. The system announcement only said that they couldn't employ NPCs themselves, mentioning nothing about territory. If they could obtain territory from other sources, it wouldn't break the rules of Lord Sherlock.

Arthur lifted his head and looked at his Guild members. He said, ”Let's go and find Patrick Star!”

…