Your secret game is absolutely poisonous!

The period of extreme darkness lasted for one day and one night.

This is equivalent to Miracle City missing an open day.

This has made countless adventurers itchy and anxious, just like ants on a hot pan. Who can blame them when the Miracle Realm is so addictive? It's no exaggeration to say that not playing it for a day feels like missing three autumns!

Finally, Miracle City opened.

The main city was overcrowded in the blink of an eye.

Tens of thousands of adventurers flocked in.

There are also lord teams from various allied territories.

For example, Jiang Wentian led eight lords with whom he had a cooperative relationship out of the territory gate.

These eight lords' territories do not directly border Miracle City, and some of them do not even directly border the territory of Wentian City. They are allies of Jiang Wentian's allies, which shows that as Miracle City's products become more popular, its reputation spreads further and further.

Several powerful top lords, even after passing through several territories, insisted on personally coming to Miracle City to investigate.

Wentian City and Tianyun City quickly became highly sought-after strategic locations, and lords from all sides, needing to conduct business and exchanges with Miracle City, also tried their best to maintain and curry favor with them.

Jiang Wentian led eight lords to the main city via teleportation.

Meanwhile, Ran Tianyun appeared in Miracle City with ten lords.

"Lord Ran, what are you doing..." Jiang Wentian didn't expect Ran Tianyun to be even more ruthless than himself, actually winning over so many lords, two of whom were even fifth-rank.

Not only that!

Ran Tianyun's aura has changed drastically. It turns out that the fourth-tier underground city, Tianyun City, which he had been managing for many years, has recently broken through and become the lord of a fifth-tier territory!
Following the original development trajectory.

Ran Tianyun will not consider upgrading his territory for at least another ten years.

For a lord, a higher territorial rank means facing a stronger threat from enemies, and it is very dangerous to rashly advance in rank without being prepared.

Ran Tianyun is not worried at all now.

Our greatest source of confidence is Miracle City!
This is not only because Tianyun City has gained a lot of benefits from trade with Miracle City in the past few months, but also because its overall strength has improved by leaps and bounds.

Furthermore, since many territories now rely on trade between Tianyun City and Miracle City, the lords of these territories will not stand idly by if anything happens to Tianyun City.

Losing Tianyun City as a partner is a small matter.

Losing the opportunity to cooperate with Miracle City is an unbearable burden!
Therefore, even in order to continue doing business with Miracle City, these territories will do their best to help Skycloud City defend against threats.

This is why Ran Tianyun dared to break through to the fifth-tier dungeon ahead of schedule, and also why he actively sought to win over more peripheral allies.

These allies can enhance the market power of the Tianyun City-led faction, directly connecting with the immense advantages of Miracle City, thereby gaining a relative competitive advantage over the Tianyun City-led territory faction and seizing a larger share of Miracle City's goods.

Jiang Wentian couldn't help but think to himself.

This guy does have some tricks up his sleeve.

The two newly arrived lords greeted each other and got to know one another.

At this moment, Ren Wanxiong said, "I heard that Miracle City has seen another update to its secret realm!"

Lord Gaoyue nodded: "That's right, I've heard about it too. It's the second chapter of the Secret Realm of Disease."

Li Jianhan: "Is that so? Lord Qi Ji's speed in creating secret realms is simply outrageous!"

"The fifth secret realm, the Immortal Slaughtering Chapter, was only created a few days ago, and now there's another brand new secret realm update!"

"We'll deal with these hidden realms later. I'll continue exploring the borderlands!"

"I love the continent of Arad!"

"I'm more interested in the real-time strategy gameplay of Star Wars. Anyone want to try it out together?"

"No, I want to cultivate immortality, I want to continue cultivating immortality!"

"..."

Each lord has their favorite secret realm.

However, a new secret realm is still a new secret realm.

None of the Miracle City Secret Realms are ordinary, and the Disease Realm Secret Realm is the most unique and bizarre among the five secret realms.

Ran Tianyun was very curious about the new content of the secret realm.

Therefore, I made the decision to give it a try immediately.

When the Secret Realm Hall opened, tens of thousands of adventurers poured in from all directions, and by activating the Secret Realm Crystals, they quickly discovered new Secret Realm content.

The fourth secret realm, Nightmare Disease Realm, has been expanded from one chapter to two chapters.

Apart from the section on the French Ring.

There's an additional chapter about a dark town.

This "dark town" is the second chapter of the mystery of the disease world.

"The art style of the Nightmare Disease Realm is the most bizarre. Although compared to the other secret realms, this world feels somewhat niche and obscure, it is exactly the type I like the most!"

"The new Secret Realm chapter is said to have some extremely daring, original Miracle City gameplay features. I'm definitely going to try it out today!"

"go!"

"Let's start with one round!"

"..."

at the same time.

Ran Tianyun also chose this secret realm.

This "Dark Town" is adapted from the classic Cthulhu-themed game "Darkest Dungeon".

Qi Ji had planned to release this chapter long ago, but in the past half month, he updated Naruto and Jade Dynasty, so the progress of this secret realm was delayed.

Ran Tianyun entered the secret realm chapter out of curiosity.

First, there's a cutscene. Most of the secret realms in Miracle City have a cutscene before the start, which quickly introduces the world and story, and allows explorers to get into the game more quickly. It can be said to be a classic feature of Miracle City.

In this opening scene.

An old man appeared before them, bathed in the dim candlelight.

As he wrote the letter, he narrated through a voiceover: "Our family has declined..."

The old nobleman was writing a letter to one of his descendants, hoping that the descendant would return to the family lands to inherit the family business.

According to his own account, this ancestor spent his entire life in an old family mansion shrouded in rumors.

When he had enjoyed a life of luxury and decadence, he began to tire of the glitz and glamour.

Just then, a strange and unsettling rumor piqued his interest: this ancestral family fiefdom might be hiding a path to some indescribable place filled with incredible power.

The patriarch then devoted himself to excavating and restoring the ancient ruins. He spent every penny of the family's wealth on the dark-skinned workers and sturdy shovels. Finally, deep within the foundation, in the salt-soaked rock layers, they unearthed a portal and disturbed the ancient evil, plunging the territory into a realm of death and madness.

In the end, only the patriarch escaped alone.

He wrote this letter when he was on his deathbed.

They requested that this estranged descendant return to inherit the family business, so as to reclaim everything from the shadow of greed that was devouring the family's glory and revitalize the territory.

And so the story begins!

Ran Tianyun immediately understood the role he would play in the Dark Town chapter.

If nothing unexpected happens, I am the junior who received the letter, and the character in this story is someone who returns to the family's ancestral land to clean up the mess left by the ancestor and rebuild the territory.

"But what kind of mess could a small town possibly have?"

Ran Tianyun couldn't help but have this thought, after all, he was a great lord himself, ruling over a territory with a population of one million, and recently he was planning to continue expanding, its scale was already comparable to a kingdom.

Suddenly, I'm playing the role of a small-town lord.

It's hard not to feel that their status is a bit petty.

Then a burst of exciting, tense, and stimulating music, yet also filled with a sense of oppression, began to play.

Qi Ji incorporated some classic scenes from the Dark Dungeon into the opening cutscene, presenting them to Ran Tianyun and the adventurers in a rapid flashback.

Ancient ruins.

A bloody den of beasts.

A terrifying bay.

A bizarre farm.
……

Each scene is filled with bizarre, twisted, and indescribable elements.

Take the small farm shown in the picture, for example. It was originally an ordinary farm, but now, under the stars and the darkness, it is dilapidated and has many unbelievable mutations.

The farmland had been abandoned for a long time and was covered with strange green crystal clusters. The large windmill in the center was mostly shattered by something, and the fragments did not fall or scatter, but floated in mid-air.

The entire farm was bathed in green light.

The light made the broken windmills and starry sky look even more eerie.

Adventurers could now clearly see that in the farms, fields, and beyond, all sorts of monsters covered in crystal clusters were everywhere, some human and some wild beasts, each looking ferocious and bizarre.

Each scene presents a completely different style and a bizarre feel.

This town of Hamlet, which doesn't seem very large, hides a twisted and insane nature that is completely beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, making one wonder what the ancestor dug up that could cause such a catastrophe.

Don't think too much.

The scene quickly passed.

Then a speeding carriage appears in the scene, rolling over the ancient cobblestone road and moving rapidly in a certain direction.

You will follow the old road to... through a series of corrupted villages, surrounded by an unsettling and chillingly cruel atmosphere... to a place that is perhaps even more terrifying and gloomy...

The camera then zooms out, revealing a dense forest near the winding, old road.

A group of filthy, menacing robbers were lying in ambush.

The carriage was suddenly tripped by something.

The butler and groom screamed in panic.

At this moment, the bandits who were lying in ambush in the dense forest swarmed forward and surrounded the carriage in an instant. Their purpose was very clear: to ambush and kill the new lord who was about to arrive in the territory.

And just then.

Ran Tianyun received a message.

[You have triggered a battle and are entering the battlefield!]

When Ran Tianyun came to his senses again, he found himself in a place similar to the battlefield of the Arad Continent dungeon. The enemy had more than a dozen bandits, while his side only had two guards.

The information he had gathered in his mind indicated that these two guards were the mercenaries he had recruited.

One of them was the Crusader Leonard, and the other was Dimas, a former bandit.

Ran Tianyun was surprised to find that he was watching the battlefield from a holistic perspective. Leonard and Dimas were fighting against the bandits on their own, and he could control their actions according to his consciousness, providing strategic or skill guidance at critical moments.

Qi Ji's Dark Town is actually a dynamic battlefield gameplay that combines strategy and turn-based elements.

This gameplay is somewhat similar to real-time strategy games, but it allows for more detailed influence on characters and offers greater control, such as incorporating elements like timely dodging, defense, and skill timing from games like "Light and Shadow: Expedition 33".

Because the battlefield is dynamic.

This requires adventurers to have very keen observation and judgment skills.

Only in this way can we not miss any opportunity to dodge, defend, or use skills, thereby dealing extra damage to the enemy and increasing the efficiency and chance of winning the battle.

If the entire team is wiped out.

The default is one failure.

Ran Tianyun had never seen such a secret realm mechanism before. He could not only take overall control and issue orders to perform micro-operations, but also integrate his consciousness into a certain unit, thereby controlling that body to fight personally.

The manipulation process.

Their strength will increase.

It's easy to achieve high damage output.
This is similar to turn-based games.

It's the turn when this character gets to deal damage.

Of course, the amount of time each body can directly control is limited.

Therefore, the adventurer's consciousness can repeatedly control back and forth between several bodies, and such rapid jumping around in battle requires extremely strong adaptability and combat skills, making it undoubtedly very difficult.

"interesting!"

"It's a little challenging, but I like it!"

Ran Tianyun found this way of simultaneously controlling and playing multiple characters in battle very interesting.

of course.

The first battle wasn't difficult.

The combat is basically a tutorial level.

These filthy, festering, and brutal bandits were actually quite ordinary in strength, while Cross Leonard and former bandit Dimas were both battle-hardened and experienced warriors.

Under Ran Tianyun's command and control.

The two quickly wiped out all the bandits.

Once this tutorial level ends, you will officially enter Hamlet Town, where adventurers can choose between management mode and tour mode.

Under this management model, adventurers' consciousness will be detached from reality. They will look down on the entire Hamlet town from a god-like perspective, while issuing various orders like a manager.

These include establishing territories or sending mercenaries into the ruins to conduct investigations.

in this process.

If you build on the territory.

So as long as you have enough materials.

All construction will be completed instantly and will not consume any time.

If adventurers choose the exploration mode, their consciousness will appear in the town lord they are playing, and they will appear in the town from a normal person's perspective, freely moving around and visiting within the town.

After some trial and error...

Ran Tianyun quickly mastered how to play Dark Town.

Despite its unique and creative features, this secret realm is actually not complicated in terms of gameplay mechanics.
The adventurers' main quest is to play as the lord of Hamlet Town, rebuilding their territory and eliminating pollution and enemies within a limited time.

He needs to spend money to recruit passing heroes from the post station to become mercenaries. Under the lord's will and orders, the mercenaries will enter the territory and the surrounding areas that need to be explored, eliminate the monsters that inhabit them, and plunder the treasures left behind.

The process of eliminating monsters and looting ruins.

It can enable the territory to obtain various resources and treasures.

These resources can be used to repair territory, while treasures and equipment can be used to equip mercenaries, giving them greater power to explore deeper and more dangerous places.

"It seems very simple!"

Ran Tianyun checked the current resources and territory status.

The territory is currently in dire need of rebuilding, and resources are scarce. Therefore, it is imperative to send a team into the ruins as soon as possible to find the various resources needed by the territory.

Ran Tianyun currently only has two heroes.

He then used the money he had left to recruit two more people from the post station: a nun named Madley and a plague doctor named Ackerman.

Ran Tianyun discovered it.

These are the heroes who appeared in the territory.

Their clothing, customs, culture, and language are quite different, suggesting they don't come from the same place, or even the same era.

Why would it appear in territory?

Each one seems to be full of stories!
This world is indeed full of strange things!
Although Ran Tianyun was very curious, now was not the time to find out. He opened the territory map and selected a ruins area from among the many areas, and within the ruins area were five different sub-areas.

Each exploration requires approximately one week of dungeon time, plus a small amount of adventurer stamina.

Without hesitation, Ran Tianyun entered the ruins. After the four-person team entered the ruins, what appeared before them was an RPG game interface, where he could control the team to move around in this simplified area.

As we passed through ancient ruins and relics.

During this process, time will pass quickly, and as time goes by, the pressure felt by the character will also increase rapidly, especially in a dark environment without any light.

Fortunately, before setting off...

There is a step involving the preparation of supplies.

Ran Tianyun prepared enough torches for the team.

As for combat? All combat in this secret realm is triggered automatically.

The enemies in this ruin are mainly a group of fanatical cultists. These cultists are not only irrational but also quite powerful in combat. Moreover, their bodies have been deformed, and the attacks and fighting methods they use are extremely bizarre.

Ran Tianyun is in charge of the team.

We haven't even explored half of the mission area yet.

Although many resources were found in the process, including treasure chests and ruins.

But he gradually discovered that the team's condition was abnormal. When they wandered in the dark ruins for a long time, they were surrounded by all kinds of indescribable and omnipresent whispers, and they also faced completely distorted and insane cultists several times.

The pressure on the four mercenaries is rapidly increasing.

They started saying discouraging things to each other, and even complaining and insulting each other. It was clear that as the pressure increased, both their condition and morale were declining rapidly.

"We haven't even explored half of it yet."

"Is there a problem with this team's mentality?"

Ran Tianyun faced a choice at this moment. He could order the team to retreat as soon as possible, or he could order the team to continue exploring. However, if they retreated now, they would have to start all over again next time, which would be a waste of both energy and time.

Just as I was hesitating.

They suddenly set out to fight again.

Ran Tianyun entered the battlefield environment and saw magnificent ruins all around. One after another, hideous and rotting skeletons crawled out of the ruins, each holding a longsword or shield.

When facing a dense horde of skeletons.

The four heroes were clearly even more disoriented.

Dimas roared, "It's over! We're surrounded! We can't handle so many skeletons!"

Crusader Leonard: "Coming here to explore was definitely a mistake... Damn it, my head hurts so much, and those evil whispers are constantly ringing in my ears, and now they seem to be getting stronger!"

Sister Madley: "What's the use of saying all this now? Let's drive them away!"

A fierce battle broke out.

But when faced with wave after wave of spawning skeleton soldiers.

The ever-deepening spiritual erosion and pollution.

Eventually, one of the heroes couldn't take it anymore and suffered a mental breakdown on the spot.

"Dead! Die! Die!"

"We will all die! This is where we will all perish!"

"Ah, I have seen it! The great and ancient being is right before me. It is so beautiful and indescribable, and you heinous scoundrels dare to disturb it!"

"..."

While talking.

They no longer attack skeletons.

Instead, they turned around and launched a fierce attack on their comrades who were fighting alongside them.

Ran Tianyun found that he could no longer control this character and could only manipulate other characters to deal with the situation in a mess, but soon another person fell into collapse and madness in the face of despair.

"Oh no! The madness is contagious!"

He quickly issued a retreat order.

This would bring an end to this doomed adventure.

Although three people eventually returned alive, one of them went completely insane, and the other two were under too much pressure and refused to participate in similar operations again.

Ran Tianyun's situation is still considered relatively good.

Many adventurers sent in four people, and five of them went mad.

The extra one is undoubtedly the adventurer himself, because he can only watch helplessly as his characters kill each other in front of him, ultimately resulting in the collective annihilation of the entire group, and he can do nothing about it.

How can this not drive someone crazy?
It was only at this moment that the adventurers realized just how terrifying the town was.

These unexplored areas are clearly rife with spiritual pollution!
No matter how strong a person's will is, as long as they stay in it for a period of time, their mind and thoughts will inevitably be affected. At best, they will fall into madness; at worst, they will directly become monsters!

The gameplay of Dark Town is undoubtedly unique. Adventurers can play different roles. They can either enter the body of the lord and control the lord, or enter the body of any hero in the battlefield dungeon.

It features unique settings for stress and mental pollution.

This makes exploration extremely difficult, requiring not only courage and strength, but also strategy! (End of Chapter)