Liam had already expected this reply from the fairy. How could it be so easy to teleport everyone and run away to another safe location? If such a thing was possible, wouldn't someone have done it in his previous life and saved everyone?
This was also why he did not count on her and started searching for the world seed.
However, what the fairy next said was something that he did not see coming.
"Wait. Hear me out. I have an alternate suggestion for you." Tilia opened up a system interface panel and quickly shared it with Liam, displaying a whole new set of options.
"Town building?" Liam knitted his brows as he hurriedly scanned through the details.
"Yes, town building," Tilia explained. "Just like guild registration and guild base set up, there is also an option in the magic shop for a town building and city building."
"It is just that we don't usually present this option for a tra- ahem lower realm. I was not able to get the teleporting option sanctioned for you but with my ability, I was able to get the town module available."
"Wait. Before you ask me how this is going to help you now. Let me tell you. With a town structure, there is an availability of a 6-month long safety zone option."
"This type of thing is usually used when another world is invading. An entire town can be made into a safe town where the opposite forces would not be allowed to enter."
"It also preserves the condition of the town, thereby temporarily halting the nether corruption and preventing any further destruction. It's a powerful defensive measure that can buy you time and provide a safe haven for you and your allies."
Liam's eyes widened as he absorbed the information. 6 months was not a long time but if all else fails, that was at least enough time to come up with something else. "How does it work? What are the requirements and limitations?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtTilia continued. "To establish a safe town, you'll need to gather resources and construct the necessary infrastructure. The town module provides blueprints for buildings, defenses, and various facilities. You'll have to allocate resources strategically and manage the town's development."
She paused briefly before continuing, "The safety zone lasts for six months. During this time, the town will be shielded from external threats. However, the safety zone has a limited range, so it won't protect the entire realm. It will be centered around the town itself."
"Also…" Tilia paused.
"Tell me. What is the catch?" Liam smiled bitterly. Nothing good was going to come for free.
"That… all of this is going to cost a lot." Tilia sighed. "Even though I have made this option available, I still cannot hand it over to you without some sort of payment or at least assurance."
"How much is all of this going to cost?"
"Umm… let's not talk about that. It is impossible for… let's put that aside for now. What I wanted to know was whether you had any more of the dungeon crystals left?"
"Hmmm?"
"One of the blueprints for the town structures is of a training dungeon. It can be set up, provided you have the dungeon crystal for it."
"If you can just do this, then the entire training dungeon would essentially become a money-making machine, essentially converting the mana around into mana cores."
"Oh?" Liam now understood. "So you will be able to issue the town development using this as an assurance?"
"Yes." Tilia nodded. "I don't know if you have any more of the dungeon crystals but if you don't we can always rescind some of the guild upgrades and I can try to use one of the crystals you previously gave me. It might be a bit tricky but-"
"No need. I have another one." Liam fished out a dungeon crystal.
"Of course." Tilia smiled. She knew that she should not have expected anything less from this guy. Only him in the whole myriad realms would be able to throw out dungeon cores like mana cores.
After receiving the dungeon core, the fairy quickly set up everything in motion while Liam continued to select a few options for the town.
The first thing he did was make sure that the size of the town was the biggest that he could select. If everyone was going to be holed up in there for 6 months, then they needed a lot of space, at least as much as they could get.
The fairy said that he needed to select at least five structures and one of them had to be an auction house because of which the whole protection existed in the first place.
Liam, in fact, couldn't believe what he was seeing. An auction house? A freaking auction house! Could they actually purchase something rare and valuable from this auction house?
So the worlds that were richer in resources, the so-called higher realms, and the middle realms were able to afford such structures and pay for their resources.
For them, these waves of apocalypse were probably nothing. The rich simply became richer and stronger and only these strong individuals survived.
Liam clenched his fists in anger as he made his final selection. Including the magic shop and the auction house, he selected beast stables, a training dungeon, and lastly a mine.
"Huh? A mine?" Tilia raised her brow. Sure, a mine was extremely lucrative.
In some ways, it was even more lucrative when compared to a dungeon because normal civilians were able to access the mine and dig out mana crystals which can be processed into mana cores.
But in dungeons, only people who were willing to fight would enter and defeat the summons to obtain the same mana cores.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmIf a settlement had more civilians than combat-oriented people which was the case in most settlements, the mine would eventually be more lucrative. However, setting up a mine was not that simple.
"I am sorry. But this requires a mana vein. It's not poss-" Before the fairy could finish her words, Liam stopped her. "I have a mana vein."
The fairy was visibly surprised but then again she knew that she should have expected this answer. Mentally slapping herself, she continued with the setup. She was also very relieved because now there wouldn't be any trouble.
Since there was going to be a mine as well as a dungeon, her efforts to unlock the town aspect for Liam would not stand out at all. This was just a logical move for anyone who chose to man a magic shop.
Seeing that everything was sorted out, the fairy quickly got to work and began setting up the town.
Meanwhile, Liam did not plan to wait around and watch while it all happened. He gave a nod to the fairy and once again proceeded to the chamber with the teleportation portals.
"Liam!" The draconian princess called after him. "Where are you going?"
"Where else?" Liam did not stop and continued walking.
"Damn it. Don't you have more time now? Why do you have to go just this very instant? You have to recover first! Or are you planning to fully destroy yourself?!!!"
Hearing the woman's exasperated words, Liam could only smile.
"Heh. Do I really have more time?"
Yes, the town had a safe zone and it would be protected but everything was temporary. One cannot put a bandaid on a bullet wound. It was only going to fester and get infected.
When the safe zone period ended, everything would still be waiting for them. The array would become complete and the entire world would be consumed by nether, sucking all the remaining life as well.
Perhaps something might appear in the auction house that could help them, but it was not a guarantee. Even if it appears, they might not be able to afford it. It would be foolish to count on something like that.
It was also impossible for Liam to recover his full strength when he was cooped up in this small safety zone. While he was wasting away on the inside, everything around him was only going to become stronger. He would simply stagnate and no problem would be solved.
Instead of waiting for everything to worsen, Liam decided to take action now. There were still two more fragments left for the world seed and he needed to find them asap!