Chapter 139: The Butterfly Effect

In the days that followed, a new Tree of Life rose in New Newton. Fiona, who had been spared, was utilized by Guo Lang to command the living corpses to evacuate the city. The remnants of the four major military districts joined the Night Elves, leading to an unprecedented surge in Guo Lang’s manpower and population. High-level archers from Orchid Island and Thomas’s crew were brought in to begin the development of the new territory.

With the obstruction of the undead removed, the Night Elves’ superior construction speed became immediately apparent. The roots of the Tree of Life systematically dismantled useless structures, while countless wisps, directed by those skilled in construction, decomposed and categorized the materials. The entire city began to pulse with life once again.

High walls and Ancient Protectors were rapidly established around the city's perimeter. It took less than a week to encircle the massive city with walls—a construction feat that, among the ten races, only the Night Elves and the Nature faction could achieve in the early stages. In truth, while most Night Elf followers struggle to eliminate their opponents early on, once the obstacles are cleared, their rate of expansion is terrifying. Whether on a modern or feudal plane, they are capable of establishing a civilized planet in no time.

Fiona was now under Guo Lang’s control. After two days of effort, Jiang Liuying had managed to remove the soul imprint on Fiona’s back and replace it with a new one; as a professional alchemist, she could eventually crack such things given enough time.

At the time, however, Guo Lang had been anxious because Ian was still alive. Damn it, the Shadow had gone off to watch some sunset instead of pursuing him, and Guo Lang had been frantic while watching from the shadow world! Yet, the system later notified him that he had become the dominant follower of this plane. Guo Lang hadn’t understood it then, especially since Cang Mingyue had returned with a grim expression, telling him that Ian had escaped—vanishing right before her eyes and leaving no trace to follow.

Just as Guo Lang was falling into despair, the system had declared him the dominant follower. This meant the plane now belonged to the Night Elf faction; other gods could no longer use teleportation to bring in more followers. To gain a foothold, they would have to resort to interstellar warfare. In short, the plane was his.

It was utterly absurd. What on earth had happened? Guo Lang felt completely dazed.

Then came a flurry of rewards. Xiao Tao, who had been absent for a long time, popped up with a grin: "Congratulations to follower Guo Lang for becoming the first to conquer a plane among all followers. You have successfully secured glory for the Night, and you shall receive the favor of the Lord of the Silver Moon!"

The rewards included: 500,000 energy points, the unlocking of the second stage of the Tree of Life, ten Night Moon Wells, and all technologies for the second form—unlocked without the need for energy points. Additionally, he was granted a Night Elf Armory, 1,000 bottles of medium-grade inferior potions, 3,000 bottles of low-grade inferior potions, and various seeds of living wood.

Guo Lang’s heart nearly leapt into his throat at the sight of these, but when he read further, he was almost scared out of his wits!

The rewards also included a set of the exclusive Shadowalker family armor and a set of the Nightstalker family armor—both at the Silver tier. Guo Lang was left reeling.

Silver-tier armor! What did that mean? Even the gold-ranked powerhouses of his past life weren't guaranteed to possess such equipment. And these weren't just ordinary sets; they were the finest royal craftsmanship, not products of the artisans in newly established bases, but rare relics forged by the true master craftsmen of the ancient Night Elves. They were one-of-a-kind treasures.

Guo Lang couldn't wait to check the attributes of the equipment, but the system prompted that he had insufficient authority, as he had not yet reached the Silver tier. He felt like he’d been cheated by fate!

Then, the system prompted: "You have secured glory for the Lord of the Silver Moon. Would you like to announce this to the entire server?"

Announce it? As if! This wasn't just a game; if he were that high-profile, he’d be swarmed by enemies. Guo Lang was speechless and immediately rejected the proposal. In his mind, low-profile development was the only way to go; showing off and courting death usually meant... well, actually dying.

"Master!" Xiao Tao said with a solemn expression, "If you do not cooperate, you may incur the dissatisfaction of the Lord of the Silver Moon. This is a morale-boosting announcement that promotes the strength of our Night civilization, allowing the Lord to summon more followers. I hope you will cooperate..."

"And if... what if I don't cooperate?" Guo Lang asked, swallowing hard.

"You might have some rewards reclaimed!"

"How much is 'some'?"

"Um, those two armor sets!"

Guo Lang was speechless. "Then why the hell are you asking me? Why not just announce it to Planet D and be done with it? Why pretend to ask?"

"Oh, so you agree?" Xiao Tao said excitedly. "Then repeat after the contract: I, July Shadowalker, am willing to dedicate everything to the Night, to secure all glory for the Night, and to obey the arrangements of the Lord of the Silver Moon!"

"What a humiliating script!" Guo Lang rolled his eyes.

At the same time, the artificial intelligence of every follower of the various gods received the message: "Night Elf follower, July Shadowalker, has become the first follower to conquer a plane!"

This news forced the data analysts of the various nations on Planet D to re-evaluate the potential of the Night Elf race. In Guo Lang’s previous life, major administrative centers on Planet D had adopted fixed strategies after investing heavily in the game. To avoid internal division, high-level politicians decided on a unified strategy: while they might recruit a few folk experts, the military’s direction was unified behind a single race.

In the previous life, the Central Asian region had lagged behind because of the lack of cooperation from major families, leading to prolonged internal strife. By the time they reacted, other regions had already made significant investments. In that past life, the Central Asian region had chosen the Nature race.

This life was different. Because of Guo Lang, the leader, Mr. Liang, had known the role of the game pods ahead of time. He was the first leader to commit his military, gaining a massive head start and triggering a significant butterfly effect.

Due to intelligence leaks, foreign reactions were not as sluggish as in the previous life. With the game pod event exposed early, major regions immediately convened top leaders to discuss military deployment. These were matters of national importance, and a single wrong step in such a grand transition could lead to total ruin. Everyone moved with extreme caution, quickly realizing the issue of racial competition.

Nations gathered information from returning players and began analyzing the pros and cons of each race. Every country hired the most professional data analysis teams to scrutinize the incomplete information available.

Initially, the Night Elves and the Nature race were the least favored. In the previous life, no major administrative center had chosen the Night Elves, and the Central Asian region had chosen the Nature race—rumored to be due to significant backroom dealings where the Lord of Nature had promised certain benefits.

But in this life, because of Guo Lang, the race that had been relegated to the bottom of the list by data analysts in every region was being re-analyzed with extreme seriousness. In particular, the Central Asian region, under Mr. Liang, began to view the Night Elves with great favor.

Guo Lang, the butterfly, had finally begun to flap his wings.