My Apocalypse Territory

Green Shadow.

Nearly a year had passed since the apocalypse erupted, and both Awakeners and ordinary people had already adapted to the current way of life.

From a bird's-eye view, Green Shadow City, aside from its inner and outer walls, wasn't much different from a modern metropolis.

High-rises stood tall, and the former resort villa area became the business district of Green Shadow, with numerous magnificent office buildings erected. Post-apocalypse-founded trade associations, companies, and even adventure groups rented rooms within these buildings for their office areas.

Larger-scale adventure groups additionally had their own clerical and logistics staff. Whether it was handling commissions, receiving foreign guests, or compiling adventure group personnel data, a place to work was indispensable.

Well-known adventure groups of Green Shadow had even rented vast areas outside the city to build their own bases.

Beyond the original resort area were newly built residential communities.

Because the Floating Island was extremely safe, a large amount of land had been allocated on the outskirts for construction. The large area and ample space meant the specifications for high-end residential communities were very high.

With little bridges over flowing streams and bizarrely shaped stones amidst verdant surroundings, a few top-tier residential communities, exclusively for high-end Awakeners, even had Source-gathering Arrays installed underground, making the whole community seem like the Immortal Realm.

In contrast, other large-sized Sanctuaries could only build within the city walls where land was limited. Even for high-rise residential communities, it wasn't feasible to create a vast artificial lake—why would one waste a large plot of land just for scenic pleasure?

Only in Green Shadow.

For this reason, some wealthy individuals who weren't fixated on power moved from other Sanctuaries to Green Shadow for a better living environment, much to the chagrin of leaders from other Sanctuaries who were irate but helpless. After all, they still hoped Green Shadow would share more of its strategic weapons.

A mass influx of survivors into Green Shadow spurred the rapid development of the real estate industry.

Tang Yu had initially planned to monopolize all the real estate businesses, shearing a wave of profit, but as it turned out... the speed at which residential communities were built couldn't keep up with the rate at which survivors arrived.

Often, as soon as a new development was offered for presale, it would be snapped up in an instant. People queued at the property sales office, the line stretching from the hall to the gate, only lessening in the afternoon. However, at night, as a multitude of Awakeners returned from their hunts, the queue would grow staggeringly long again.

Unlike the property companies before the apocalypse employing people to join queues, there was no such padding now. Most people didn't dawdle, signing leasing or purchasing contracts as long as it felt right after a quick look.

There was a time when eight out of ten complaints received by the Municipal Department concerned difficulties in purchasing houses.

After consulting with Eileen, Chen Haiping, and others, Tang Yu decided to release some rights for commercial housing construction. The Green Shadow officials only took responsibility for high-end residential communities.

The profit margin of ordinary residential communities wasn't as high as that of the high-end ones. By delegating construction rights and imposing high taxes, the profits decreased, but things were much easier, and the economy of Green Shadow was further revitalized.

Following that period, real estate companies and other various businesses sprouted up like bamboo shoots after a rain.

Thinking it over, the high-end technology was all in his grasp, and Source Crystals flowed in from the outside. There was no reason to let them flow out of Green Shadow, so he no longer cared.

Company owners, big and small, earning Source Crystals would have to spend them, right? Would they not want to continue developing? That money would still be spent in Green Shadow City.

Today, the sales office of a top-tier residential community was officially opening for sales. People came in dribs and drabs to buy houses. The number of visitors might not compare to that of ordinary residential community sales offices, but those who could afford to buy here were all heavyweights.

Awakeners passing by, upon seeing the powerful auras converging here, would hurry past with pale faces. Even many of the staff inside the sales office were Awakeners, albeit of lower tiers.

"Sir, you see, this villa not only boasts a location by the mountain and water, but more importantly, there is a tier-three mini Source-gathering Array buried beneath it. The villa also comes with a Medicine Garden, the soil of which is fertile and contains various elements, rated as tier two. Purchasing a villa like this might cost a good number of Source Crystals, but it's definitely worth more than its price.

Moreover, villas of this caliber in the community are limited to only ten..."

The client across from the salesperson was a bald big man.

The bald man was the Commander of a large adventure group that might not be first-line in strength, but was of considerable size. In Green Shadow, where high-tier Awakeners were a dime a dozen and those below high-tier were worth less than dogs, he was still quite a significant figure.

The bald big man, who controlled at least one-third of his adventure group's wealth and was a heavyweight in Consuming Crystals, would usually shop for Equipment without any hesitation. However, looking at the villa's price tag, the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

The top-tier villa was only available for outright purchase, with no rental option.

Buy it, and it felt like being cleaned out.

Don't buy it, and the heartache of passing on the tier-three Source-gathering Array and a tier-two Medicine Garden was heavy. Who knew how long it would be before another chance came up?

What use were Source Crystals if not converted into strength?

The bald big man was torn. The salesperson beside him didn't rush him, standing by the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows of the lobby, looking out at the picturesque scenery in the distance.

Suddenly,

The bald big man raised his head and looked into the distance.

In the center of Green Shadow City, on the mountainside, he thought he saw the mirage of a giant tree that reached the heavens and pierced the earth.

When he blinked and looked again, all that remained was the blue sky and white clouds.

The bald big man began to doubt if he had experienced a hallucination.

Could it be that the prospect of emptying his wallet had left his spirit worn out?

The appearance of the mirage of the giant tree was fleeting.

An ordinary person, even if their gaze coincidentally fell upon the center of the city, would not see the mirage of the giant tree; only an Awakener with a superhuman perception could detect it.

It vanished in a flash, and most did not take it to heart.

Only a Transcendent could clearly perceive the fleeting, majestic power.

Luo Zhe, who was instructing training at the barracks, looked up with a smile on his face.

Yan Dingtian, who had been promoted to Special Level Tutor and was earning extra during a lecture, suddenly choked up in the middle of his speech, his mouth slightly agape.

Inside the Knowledge Tower, Oldington, who occasionally came to Green Shadow for academic exchanges, suddenly looked out the window and was so startled his beard nearly flew off.

Meanwhile,

on the back mountain,

a series of radiance fell, and the figures of Tang Yu and others appeared one after another.

[Ding! World Tree migration successful. Lord may check the status of the World Tree on the special panel.]

He looked up.

The roots of the World Tree had taken hold inside the mountain behind the castle.

At this moment, the World Tree, leveraging the power of the migration, had shed the parts that had been contaminated; it was no longer half black and half green.

The entire World Tree was lush and thriving, its trunk soaring high into the clouds.

It had been completely reborn.

However, as a result, the World Tree had lost a good amount of its power; it was only a few hundred meters tall, about one-tenth the size of its previous form in the Royal Capital.

It was essentially a miniaturized version.

Tang Yu didn't mind.

He was confident in nurturing the World Tree to grow fat... cough, tall and large, to become a true World Tree.

"Huh."

As his gaze swept over, he noticed something different about the World Tree.

There were several branches that surprisingly bore plump fruits.

Could the World Tree actually bear fruit?

Were they sweet?

Could they cause someone to ascend in broad daylight?

Tang Yu couldn't help but brainstorm one idea after another.

With another perception, he discovered that those fruits contained a deep world power and laws; it seemed as if... they each formed their own miniature worlds.