Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 104 - 99: Dramatic Changes in Terrain!

Chapter 104: Chapter 99: Dramatic Changes in Terrain!

The tremors hadn’t lasted very long; after a few minutes, the players were able to stand firm again.

Beichen returned to the City Lord Mansion.

The players were still a bit dazed, looking around somewhat blankly.

"Is that it?"

"Has the terrain changed? I don’t feel any different."

"Holy shit! We just spent over 800,000 construction points!"

Some players noticed the change in construction points on the bulletin board and felt a pang of pain.

So expensive!

Over 800,000 construction points could have actually been enough to build another bigger ring of stone walls around the outskirts of the old earthen city.

But there was no choice, the big shots had explained the importance of terrain, so this was an inevitable expense.

Compared to the spent construction points, the players were more concerned about what exactly the terrain around Return Order Fortress had transformed into.

Many players ran out of the county township to check.

But Li Weiyi didn’t run outside; he was much smarter and was the first to enter the City Lord Mansion.

Because inside the City Lord Mansion there was a large sand table where the new terrain was fully visible!

...

Soon, Li Weiyi saw the new terrain map on the sand table.

The original small county city was still clearly visible, and the entire district had not changed at all from before.

But the terrain surrounding it had drastically changed!

The entire city had moved to the top of a mountain, the summit was relatively flat overall, though it had some undulations, they were minor. The city occupied about one-third of the summit, with another area featuring a small lake in a mountain hollow, two streams flowing down to the foot of the mountain, and a lot of wasteland.

The whole summit was more diamond-shaped, with the east and west being the sharp points of the diamond, and the four sides of the diamond were mostly steep cliffs with slopes exceeding 70 degrees, some even reaching heights of thirty to forty meters; only the northwestern slope was somewhat gentler.

On the north and south sides, the bottoms of the steep cliffs almost directly connected with the water.

Originally, the historical segment did not have major rivers; the edges were chaotic time-space flows, but now, the original land had transformed into rivers, separating the mountain from the furthest time-space chaos.

Two great rivers flowed from the north and south respectively, and met in the west.

The meeting point of the rivers and the sole gentle slope in the northwest was a wide plain, one of the few flat terrains preserved in the entire historical segment.

To the east lay a more complex hilly terrain, also featuring a small lake and several mountain peaks.

With an excited expression, Li Weiyi scrutinized the entire sand table over and over. He clearly knew that this gamble had paid off.

These 800,000-plus construction points were so worth it!

Surrounded by water on three sides, high ground advantage, this terrain was definitely easy to defend and hard to attack, completely having the potential to be turned into an impregnable fortress!

Although the generation of the entire terrain had certain randomness, the current state was already quite perfect.

Moreover, the mountain top had water sources, arable land, minerals, stone, and timber; all these resources were also very good news.

Even though players had the enhancement of Return Order powers and didn’t need to eat or drink, these resources were directly related to side businesses, which could better build the city and also provide various buffs to both players and natives.

Moreover, this terrain was very similar to that of a historical city familiar to Li Weiyi.

Linyuan City, a city that could be called a miracle!

More importantly, the productivity the players possessed was much higher than historical productivity; this city could be continuously expanded, even constructing towering fortresses that had never appeared in history before!

A city that even demons would look up to and feel despair!

Li Weiyi was very excited because he knew that the coming period was his time to shine!

...

At the same time, many players came outside the city to observe the changes in the entire historical slice.

Their feelings could only be described in four words: earth-shattering!

The originally flat terrain had become complex, the bare ground was now covered with trees and weeds, and the areas outside the city such as mines, brick kilns, and quarries had also shifted in location.

Overall, however, the distribution of these key areas was still quite scientific, with most resources still located at the top of the mountains, making transportation no more difficult than before.

Surrounded by water to the north and south, with steep slopes on both sides, the east faced rolling hills and complex terrain, while only the west had a relatively gentle slope.

The players were all intrigued and went out of the city to explore, eager to familiarize themselves with the nearby terrain.

After a rough exploration, they discovered that on the steep slopes to the south and north, there were many naturally formed tunnels concealed by dense vegetation, hard to spot from a distance, but once their locations were memorized, they could come and go freely.

In short, this place could be summed up in four words: easy to defend, hard to attack!

And this was even before any city construction.

The previous small town had earth-built walls, but with the elevation of the terrain, those walls could only be considered part of the inner city, all located on the mountaintop; they weren’t really effective for defense.

If they could take advantage of the terrain to build multiple layers of city walls, connecting different areas with the walls to create a multidimensional defense line...

The defensive effect would definitely improve by several levels!

Soon, in the City Lord Mansion’s square, the players responsible for construction gathered again.

They began discussing specific plans for the city’s construction.

Most people agreed with Li Weiyi: the construction should be planned according to the approach used in Linyuan City!

Of course, they couldn’t completely copy everything; they needed to draw on a wide range of strengths, incorporating excellent designs from the fortresses and castles of both East and West, and build it in accordance with the actual conditions of the Return Order Space.

Soon, the group reached a preliminary consensus and then dispersed to survey the terrain.

Even though there was a sand table map inside the City Lord Mansion, many details still had to be confirmed on site.

As for the other players, they went back to their usual activities.

Mining, moving bricks, fighting bandits—everything as usual.

...

At this time, Meng Yuan was in the Return Order Space with Beichen, observing the situation of the Return Order Fortress.

Beichen in the fortress was actually an avatar created by Meng Yuan using the power of the Return Order, or more like an illusion, serving the role of an important NPC; he could also provide intelligent answers to players’ questions like the illusions of the natives.

Meng Yuan himself couldn’t possibly interact with the players one-on-one; it would be too exhausting and he wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Beichen, while continuously eating, commented curiously, "I really didn’t expect these players to be so reliable in terms of city building.

"I initially thought that since you allowed the players to freely vote and choose plans, they would pick some really trollish ones."

Meng Yuan gave a slight smile, "Players do sometimes choose relatively trollish options, but that only happens when it doesn’t affect their own interests.

"The construction of the Return Order Fortress is funded by their hard-earned money, and the fortress’s defensive effectiveness directly determines their future ability to resist demons. Most players are rational and won’t mess around."

Previously, in the proposal collection phase, some unreliable plan parameters did appear.

For example, turning 90% of the entire slice into rivers or seas, or transforming the whole slice into a huge valley and placing the Return Order Fortress at the bottom, accessible only by cable cars.

These suggestions clearly aimed more at creating spectacle than providing effective defense.

Some were even ludicrous enough to make themselves easy prey.

Ultimately, these trolling proposals received few votes.

In other games, players might choose trolling proposals since they do not affect their personal interests.

However, proposals for the Return Order Fortress were different; the easier it was to defend, the easier it was for players to withstand demon attacks. In other words, it also made killing demons and earning money easier.

Choosing a poor plan would mean bleeding more during battles, caused by negligence during the construction.

Moreover, if the city fell, it meant the risk of losing the hard-earned historical slice once again—a loss players couldn’t afford.

Thus, the players were quite clear-headed, and most of them voted for the proposals from professionals.