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nUnder the deep discussion of these top guilds and their superiors.

nThey decided to invest 10 million people to help Maximus build the stronghold.

nIn return, Maximus needed to pay these people the above-standard labor price.

nMore importantly, Maximus needed to surrender the place to them without any payment after he left.

nThe condition is quite normal, so Maximus quickly agreed to it.

nPaying for manpower is required in everything.

nEven his guild members needed to be paid, so how could he default payment on outside help?

nAs for the standard payment?

nIt was only a little above the salary given by their respective guilds, which is not even comparable to the salary of his guild members.

nMaximus was even willing to pay double if they invested more manpower.

nUnfortunately, these top guilds were also short of personnel.

nAs for giving the place to them for free, it was not that important.

nAlthough he legally owned the place, sooner or later he would leave it.

nThey just specifically added it to the contract fearing Maximus would build another stronghold here after all their investment.

nAfter all, the place is easy to defend, without needing too much manpower, which is simply a money-making paradise.

nSoon after settling all the miscellaneous things in the guild.

nMaximus came back to Purgatory City and tended to his shop.

n…

nA week later.

nAt the Shadow Hunter Outpost, teleportation array.

nMillions of people came out one after another, swarming the place.

nFortunately, they were quite disciplined, so there was no chaos.

nAmong the crowd was Felipe, a vagrant who was hastily recruited by some guild to provide manpower here.

n“So this is where we will build the stronghold, huh?” Felipe thought as he surveyed the dilapidated place.

nBefore coming here, they were already informed that they were here to help build the stronghold.

nNot knowing what to do, he stayed in place like the others.

nSoon, all the ten million backup manpower sent by the top guild arrived.

n“Please observe discipline and receive the magic bracelet given to you by the puppets,” Andrew started, waving his hand.

nHundreds of thousands of puppets began distributing the bracelets.

nReceiving the bracelet, Filipe quickly bound it with his mana signature as a panel popped up.

nTemporary Guild Worker: No. 1010

nMission (Click to Expand)

nRewards (Click to Expand)

nStronghold Guideline (Click to Expand)

nStronghold Progress (Click to Expand)

n…

nIt was all kinds of tabs iterating their missions, rewards, progress, guidelines, and many more.

nClicking on the mission tab, he quickly saw a myriad of missions about the stronghold.

nFrom putting the smallest screw, carving lanes, drawing runes, etc.

n“It seems that this guild is quite detailed in what they do,” Filipe muttered.

nHe was quite amazed that there was already a complete blueprint of the stronghold, from the smallest details to miscellaneous designs.

nWhat they needed to do was just click the mission and work; no need to ask, no need to follow anyone.

n“I wonder if they’re still recruiting people,” Filipe thought longingly.

nHe was only a temporary member of some guild he didn’t even remember.

nBasically, he was here for the pay.

nIf the one building the stronghold is recruiting, he would be the first to sign up.

nAfter receiving and choosing a mission, they began to work.

nAs the minutes pass the stronghold began to change like magic.

nUnder the sufficient supply of resources and manpower, the progress of the stronghold proceeded at lightning speed.

nBased on the analysis of Eternal Voyager, who was already integrated into the stronghold’s core and overseeing the project.

nIt would only take a few decades before the stronghold is complete.

nBuilding a fully mobile stronghold with a few million kilometers in size, in a few decades is relatively fast.

n…

nSoon, a year passed.

nWith the power of ten million powerful workers, the surface of the stronghold was roughly built.

nLooking at their work, they couldn’t help but smile.

n“Boss, how about the rest day we mentioned? Is it approved?” A man asked Andrew flatteringly.

n“My guild leader heard your plea!”

n“As a reward for your hard work in the past year, you can rest today with a feast!” Andrew announced.

n“Hooray!! To the mighty guild leader!”

n“Hahaha, I can finally rest!”

n“There is also a feast! What a conscientious guild!”

nThe crowd celebrated hearing what Andrew announced.

nIn the stands, Filipe also smiled widely, hearing that they could finally rest.

nIn the past year, they were more tired than puppets due to continuous work.

nSecond after second, they were working.

nIt’s not that they were forced to do it, but because of the inhuman reward system Maximus had set.

nThe mission reward system stated that if you finished a mission ahead of time, there was a 10 percent bonus.

nDon’t just look at it as ten percent; with their reward for each mission, they could earn a significant amount with every percentage.

nThis wasn’t the most evil part.

nThe worst part was the stronghold daily contribution percentage quota.

nEach day you finished this quota, you would have a percentage multiplying your income.

nMeaning, that throughout the year they were working here, their income was already three times the usual amount.

nAs for the consequence of not finishing the quota, all your cumulative income multiplier would disappear.

nThis crazy rule of throwing money brought tears and cheers at the same time.

nThey were happy that they could earn more than they could imagine.

nYet in tears because of the inhuman workload they needed to finish every day.

nNow, hearing that they could rest without the cumulative income disappearing.

nThe smiles on their faces couldn’t be suppressed.

n…

nOn top of a building.action

nMaximus, who was watching the people celebrate, couldn’t help but smile wryly.

n“It looks like I overworked them a little,” Maximus muttered apologetically.

nAndrew on the side could only sigh at his guild leader’s willfulness.

nEven he, who was overseeing the stronghold construction, was tired as a dog, let alone those helpless people.

n“By the way, how is the progress poaching them?” Maximus asked.

n“It is progressing well; we have already persuaded over a hundred thousand people to join our guild after the stronghold finished the construction.”

n“Hmm, that’s good.”

nA year ago, Maximus gave Andrew and the guild a secret mission to poach these people.

nAlthough it was unilaterally tearing face with these top guilds, Maximus didn’t care.

nThese top guilds were unlike the Etherium Chamber of Commerce and the like.

nAlthough they are also called top guilds, their foundation isn’t enough for him to back down.

nPoaching huge manpower was a must before going to the purgatory layer.

nAfter all, a few thousand people were even not enough to properly operate the stronghold.

nAs for recruiting people who had not yet joined the guild, Maximus also tried it.

nUnfortunately, there was not much result.

nAlmost all the people in the abyss realm already belonged to a certain guild or organization.

nThe remaining ones didn’t have much value and were simply cannon fodder.

nTaking these people to the purgatory layer, or even the source layer, is simply suicide.

n…

nTwo years later.

nMaximus and Skye looked around the stronghold.

n“Is this the previous stronghold?” Skye asked as she marveled.

nThe surface of the stronghold—all the supporting facilities, entertainment, storage, supply, residence, etc., were basically complete.

nLooking at the bustling scene, Skye would never imagine that this was a desolate place a few years ago.

n“This is the nonstop work of ten million people and endless investment of material resources,” Maximus said confidently.

n“Tsk, tsk, so rich!” Skye clicked her tongue, imagining how much Maximus spent here.

nAs they walked around on their last tour before returning to the Etherium Realm.

nThe people in the stronghold looked at them curiously but hurriedly came to work, fearing that they would not complete today’s quota.

nThere were already over ten times the culminative income multiplying.

nIf it disappeared because of their curiosity they wouldn’t even know where to cry.

nAfter touring around, they came to the stronghold’s underground basement.

n“Guild leader, you’re here,” Andrew greeted.

n“Is the coordinate array finished?”

n“It’s finished, guild leader,” Andrew said, showing the coordinate array engraved on the ground.

n“That’s good.”

n“I should be away for at least 30 years; you should know what to do.”

n“I know what to do, guild leader,” Andrew answered.

nYears ago, he was already informed by his guild leader that he would come back to the Etherium Realm.

nAt first, he was shocked, but thinking of his omnipotent guild leader, there was not much surprise.

nlightsΝοvεl ƈοm “Then I trust you to take care of everything.” Maximus smiled.

n“I will!”

nNodding, Maximus took Skye’s hand as he mobilized the large accumulation of mana in his dimensional storage.

nClosing his eyes, he activated the relay of the coordinate array he set up in the Etherium realm.

n“Are you ready?” Maximus asked Skye.

n“I am!” Skye said excitedly, thinking that she could finally go back.

nSoon, a large concentrated mana, invisible to the naked eye, began to impact the abyss realm barrier.

nLike the most tenacious glass, it didn’t budge even after a few hits.

nFortunately, all of this was already in his calculation.

nLike a patient hunter, he hit the abyss realm barrier in multiple different weak spots until it created a fragile spot for him to take advantage of.

n“Now!”

nA massive amount of mana suddenly came out from his hand, hitting the created weak spot.

nMaximus looked intently as the dimensional barrier slowly collapsed.

nCrack~

nCrack~

nCrack!

nUnder the relentless rain of dimensional barrier-breaking mana, a crack finally appeared.

nMobilizing his domain, he quickly took Skye with him and flew toward it.

n“I hope nothing happens…”

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