Chapter 651: The Updated Dominion

Half an hour later, Dominion’s official website released Skynet’s update notes exactly on schedule. Amber was among the first to open the announcement.

Whatever else could be said about Dragonfly Corp, there was no denying the strength of its network technology. Nearly a billion players around the world were probably trying to access the website at the same time, yet the page loaded as smoothly as ever, without a hint of lag or even the slightest delay.

Everyone immediately began reading through the details.

Update One: To ensure fair balance across all regions and protect the interests of players worldwide, all foreign servers previously controlled remotely by Skynet had been decommissioned. The new centralized servers were now housed within Dragonfly Corp’s newly completed Dragonfly Tower in the United States, with all game data to be managed directly by Skynet.

Skynet itself would be jointly monitored and maintained by representatives from the major member nations. In addition, according to the original licensing agreements, because Dominion’s overseas player count had far exceeded the projected threshold, the annual licensing fee for foreign markets would increase from 20% to 50%.

When foreign companies had first approached Dragonfly Corp about licensing Dominion, the original fee had been set at 50%. Many of them had hesitated at the price, considering the risk too high. Dragonfly Corp had therefore offered a compromise: if a region failed to reach a certain player threshold, its annual fee would remain at 20%, but if the threshold was exceeded, the fee would return to the original 50%.

As it turned out, Dominion’s quality and popularity had completely obliterated the threshold.

Now, Dragonfly Corp could collect the full amount from the overseas market, and there was something undeniably satisfying about that outcome. The companies that had once hesitated over the price had ultimately found themselves paying even more because Dominion had become far more successful than anyone had anticipated.

Update Two: Since in-game gold could be directly exchanged for real-world currency, the gold system would now be subject to stricter and more standardized regulations under the supervision of the governments of various countries.

This would ensure that the game’s economic system remained stable and that players’ interests were properly protected.

Update Three: After three days of integration, Skynet had successfully incorporated cloning and genetic technology into Dominion. The game’s immersion rate had now reached 99%.

The world would feel more realistic than ever. Storylines and quests had been further refined, monsters had become more varied, and even ordinary daily life within the game would now more closely resemble reality.

The biggest change, however, concerned the NPCs.

Their intelligence had been significantly enhanced. They could now display far more complex emotions and possessed their own thoughts, judgment, concepts of good and evil, and the ability to experience emotions such as happiness and anger. They were no longer simply programs that followed predetermined patterns. To players, they would feel increasingly like actual people, making it possible to interact with them on a much deeper level.

Of course, the increased immersion had its limits. Negative physical sensations such as bleeding and pain would not be reproduced, and the system would not allow players to engage in virtual crime or other forms of depravity.

Update Four: With NPCs becoming increasingly intelligent and human-like, a previously hidden attribute had now been unlocked: Charm.

Charm would affect how NPCs responded to players. The higher a player’s Charm, the easier it would be to interact with intelligent NPCs, trigger special quests, and advance certain storylines.

Charm was directly connected to Luck. A player’s Charm value would be equal to half of their Luck.

Update Five: More powerful guild functions had been unlocked.

Within a guild’s territory, the Guild Master would effectively possess the authority of its lord. They could establish tax rates, construct and sell properties, and manage the resources within their domain as they saw fit.

The system would also introduce guild life-or-death wars and nation-building functions.

A life-or-death guild war was fundamentally different from an ordinary guild battle. A regular guild battle was little more than a confrontation between players, with the outcome having no permanent effect on the existence of either guild. A life-or-death war, however, meant attacking another guild with the intention of destroying it completely.

The losing guild would be permanently disbanded, and its territory would be absorbed by the victorious guild.

Furthermore, if a guild developed its territory into an advanced city, it could declare independence. After surviving three suppression campaigns launched by the Dragon Dynasty, the guild could officially establish itself as an independent power, allowing its Guild Master to become the ruler and gain complete ownership over certain territories and resources.

The implications were enormous.

Guilds were no longer merely organizations for players to gather together. With enough strength, resources, and ambition, they could eventually develop into genuine powers within Dominion.

Update Six: Several existing systems had been revised.

PK zones had been redefined to reduce the ability of large guilds to bully individual players. At the same time, Dreamland Gems had received a significant enhancement.

Equipment upgraded to +7 would now receive an additional 10% attribute bonus, while equipment upgraded to +10 would receive an additional 30%.

For example, Marcus’s Blackflame Ice Flower Sword was already upgraded to +7. After the update, its attack power would immediately receive an additional 10% increase.

That alone made Dreamland Gems considerably more valuable than before.

Update Seven: Several new features had been unlocked.

The seals imprisoning the Blood Clan and Savage Tribe had begun to crack, allowing low-level members of both races to randomly appear across the Dreamland Continent. Players above level 50 could form parties to hunt them.

At the same time, experts from the Nine Great Sects were beginning to emerge.

If players managed to fulfill certain hidden conditions, they could change classes and become disciples of one of the Nine Great Sects, thereby unlocking powerful hidden classes.

Foreign regions had similar systems of their own.

That was the general outline of the update. The announcement provided the major changes along with a few examples, but, true to Dominion’s style, it ended with a familiar message:

This update was completed automatically by Skynet. Beyond the information and examples provided above, the full effects of the changes, adjusted settings, and newly unlocked features are left for players to discover for themselves.

’Classic Dominion.’

The developers had never intended to place every secret in front of players. They wanted people to explore the world themselves, uncover hidden opportunities, and discover things that others had yet to find.

And judging from these update notes, Dominion was about to become even more compelling.

"Let’s log in."

Marcus and the women climbed into their game pods. A flash of light passed before their eyes, and the next moment, they materialized inside his residence in Dragon’s Roar Town.

The difference was immediately obvious.

Everything felt more substantial than before. The textures, the atmosphere, even the subtle sensations of standing inside the house had become so realistic that it took only a moment for them to settle naturally into the virtual world. Reality seemed to recede around the edges, and for a brief moment, it felt as though they had always lived here.

Of course, simply standing inside a house was not enough to truly appreciate the changes.

The real difference would become apparent once they began fighting, exploring, and interacting with the world.

"Stone! This is insane! Everyone’s going crazy over the update! More than ninety percent of the players are saying they love it. Dominion is going to explode in popularity again!"

Five minutes later, Drunkard and the others arrived from outside. Boss Blaze and Drunkard, who had teleported over from Dragon’s Peak Citadel, were practically shouting with excitement.

"Yeah."

Marcus nodded, equally pleased.

An update of this scale meant far more than an improved gaming experience. It also opened up countless new business opportunities, so everyone immediately began discussing how they should adjust their plans for Dragon’s Roar Town to take advantage of the new systems.

The fifth update was particularly important.

With the expansion of the guild functions, Marcus, as the lord of Dragon’s Roar Town, effectively possessed at least the authority of a Guild Master, along with the additional privileges granted by his position as lord.

That meant the update would give him considerably more freedom in developing his territory.

It did not take them long to discover one particularly important change.

The system had removed the previous restriction that limited construction to Dragon’s Roar Town itself.

From now on, Marcus could construct buildings anywhere within his territory, which meant the entirety of Twin Wing Island was now available for development. He could also rent properties to players as he pleased.

The moment they realized that, everyone exchanged knowing looks.

Renting houses.

Twin Wing Island’s scenery and unique environment made it exceptionally attractive as a recreational destination for players. The monster-infested islands naturally could not be developed, but Dragon’s Roar Island was different. It was enormous, free of monsters, and had more than enough space for large-scale construction.

Marcus stood before the window and looked out across the vast island.

His residence was already the tallest and most luxurious building in Dragon’s Roar Town, and special Light Mirror Gems had been installed throughout it. Through them, he could see almost the entire territory from the comfort of his own home.

The view alone was breathtaking.

Blue skies stretched over golden beaches and clear ocean water, while the tropical scenery of the island blended strangely but beautifully with the towering snow-covered peaks in the distance.

Drunkard looked out at the scenery and could not help rubbing his hands together.

"Stone, what do you think about building villas all over Dragon’s Roar Island and renting them out to players? With scenery like this, that business has to be profitable."

"Ha!"

Marcus laughed.

’Obviously.’

But Drunkard was not finished.

"I’m thinking we shouldn’t flood the market, though. Keep the number of properties limited and target wealthy players and powerful figures. If everyone can buy one, they’ll lose their value. Scarcity is what drives the price up."

"Right."

Invincible Strong immediately picked up the idea.

"One wealthy player can easily be worth several ordinary players. If we turn Dragon’s Roar Island into the place where the rich and powerful come to relax, socialize, and show off in Dominion, the profits will be enormous."

"Mm."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

As for deciding who actually qualified as rich and powerful, that could be left to Path to Heaven, Drunkard, and Invincible Strong. They had plenty of experience dealing with people and business matters, so Marcus had no reason to interfere.

The group continued examining the new systems, trying to find every possible advantage hidden within the update.

Through the Light Mirror Gems, Marcus slowly surveyed Dragon’s Roar Town. Aside from the residents and workers hired directly by the system, representatives from various companies had already begun logging into the game and setting up their advertisements.

Things were progressing nicely.

After the Nightmare Auction House had broadcast footage of Dragon’s Roar Island, those companies had immediately approached Path to Heaven, Drunkard, and Invincible Strong. They had paid generously for the advertising space, helping cover the enormous maintenance expenses of Dragon’s Roar Town while also fulfilling their agreement to contribute to the island’s development and beautification.

Looking at the town now, Marcus could not help feeling satisfied.

Medieval architecture blended seamlessly with modern conveniences, creating a place that was both visually distinctive and genuinely comfortable to live in. Dragon’s Roar Town was no longer merely a territory waiting to be developed. It was becoming a complete entertainment and leisure destination.

’Perfect.’

Now it was time to put Twin Wing Island to work.

For the next few days, there was no need to waste time grinding monsters or rushing through quests. They could leave that to everyone else.

Their priority was Dragon’s Roar Town.

More specifically, they needed to establish the rules for Dragon’s Roar Island, develop it without destroying what made it special, and find the best way to turn the enormous flow of players into a steady stream of gold.