Apocalypse Gachapon - Chapter 1924: Prize (2)

Ye Zhongming was entirely in the dark about this. What was a planetary hunting ground?

Cheng Liujin pointed outside and said slowly, “Actually, this place was once a planetary hunting ground.”

Ye Zhongming’s heart moved. His expression changed from confusion to seriousness.

“Generally speaking, or looking at all previous Novice battlefields, the solo ranking, that is, the Novice number one position, has a not-so-small chance of surprises.”

Perhaps feeling thirsty from talking, Cheng Liujin stood up, went outside, called someone to bring two glasses of wine, took them, and personally handed one to Ye Zhongming.

Although the Cloud Peak King didn’t feel shocked, he still felt a good impression of Cheng Liujin for this gesture.

Sitting back down, the Gold Order Leader continued, “But those few super major clans and the next tier of major clans basically maintain the first place in total rankings. I think you can understand that even if the people sent down by those major clans aren’t extraordinarily brilliant, their overall quality is still better than that of other races. They also understand coordination better, possess more information, and even… know a little bit of beneficial things in advance, so it’s not at all unexpected for them to occupy first place.”

“Basically, they monopolize it. In the last one hundred cosmic years, there were only two surprises. The most recent one was probably fifty years ago.”

Cheng Liujin drank his wine very slowly, sipping bit by bit, but the frequency was fast. Almost every sentence, he would drink a little. Raising and putting down the glass was incredibly smooth and seamless, not affecting his speech at all.

In Ye Zhongming’s view, this already had a certain aesthetic appeal.

“Speaking of this, I need to tell you another concept.”

Cheng Liujin looked around as if checking for anything else. He directly pinched off a corner of the stone table beside him, breaking it into seven pieces of various sizes.

Arranging these stones on the remaining tabletop, he pointed at them and said to Ye Zhongming, “Look, these seven are the Survivor Fortresses. Their approximate distance ratio is like this.”

Ye Zhongming leaned over, looked, and nodded.

Then, Cheng Liujin drew some lines between these fortresses with his finger, then put both hands together and gestured in a certain area.

“This area is called the Public Star Domain by the cosmic races. It’s the star domain between the seven fortresses.”

Cheng Liujin removed the seven Survivor Fortresses and used these stones to outline the approximate shape of this star domain.

“This area looks small, but it’s actually very large. Within this area, there are quite a few planets.”

“Some of them are not suitable for intelligent life, but many have mines or plants that everyone needs, so they are called resource stars. Others have life; some have no higher life forms, while others have produced higher life forms.”

Ye Zhongming listened quietly.

“Let’s not talk about resource stars. Even if the things on them are good, only the major clans’ spacecraft periodically go to mine them. Minor clans wanting to get involved face, first, helplessness against the hidden rules, and second, costs that not just anyone can afford. If they need something, they can just buy it.”

“As for the ones with life, those without higher life forms—some major clans might pick those with better locations, meaning those that won’t temporarily leave the Public Star Domain even if the Slave Races change positions, and use them as ‘breeding stars,’ doing planting and breeding on them.”

Ye Zhongming nodded. He knew this kind of planting and breeding wasn’t like growing crops and raising poultry on Earth, but rather truly cultivating precious plants, parasites, and mutated life forms.

“This is a major investment, similarly not something minor clans can get involved in. This is almost one of the most important sources of wealth for several super major clans.”

There was indescribable envy in Cheng Liujin’s tone.

Currently, there are fewer than ten such breeding stars, all occupied by super major clans from the three major factions, like Reina Star, Huo’er Star, and the Su Clan. The output from them is enough to sustain the daily consumption of the major clans; all other industries generate pure profit.

This actually creates a phenomenon where the wealthy become even wealthier.

Minor clans, even medium and large races, can only watch enviously. It’s not that they aren’t given opportunities, but they don’t have the strength to invest in and operate such breeding stars.

In the past, some medium and large races have partnered to try out such breeding stars. However, the investment, consumption, and surprises were truly something these races, each with their own agendas, could not afford. Any single issue could directly downgrade them from their current position—a major race becoming a medium race, a medium race becoming a minor race, or even being eliminated.

Why are super major clans called super major clans? Because they can afford losses. They can withstand the loss of one or two breeding stars. Other races cannot; they dare not take the risk.

“The remaining types are those that originally produced higher life forms but were ravaged by the Slave Races.”

Cheng Liujin said, “Don’t think these planets have been destroyed and have little planetary life left; they might still have several hundred cosmic years or even nearly a thousand years.”

Hearing several hundred or a thousand years sounds like a lot, but for planets whose lifespan is measured in billions, it’s just a blink of an eye.

“For these planets, do you know what the cosmic races call them?” Cheng Liujin posed a small question, then said, “They call them fifty-percent breeding stars, meaning these planets are half-developed breeding stars. Even going directly, you can obtain large amounts of materials, magic crystals, and parasites from them.”

“It means another kind of resource star.” Cheng Liujin slightly clenched his fist. Even he coveted such planets greatly.

“Of course, compared to the first type of resource star, these planets have a very high danger index. There are always some exceptionally powerful natives, even mutated life forms and parasites on them, threatening the lives of the cosmic race warriors who land.”

“However, behind this risk is a huge gain. The cosmic races naturally wouldn’t let them go. And other races, with resource stars and breeding stars already occupied by super major clans, couldn’t possibly give up such planets. So, these planets are jointly developed by the cosmic races.”

“But here comes the problem.”

Cheng Liujin’s voice raised slightly.

“If everyone developed without any constraints, the stronger races would definitely gain more benefits. Then it wouldn’t be much different from letting the supermajor clans develop alone. So, after a long discussion, a decision was made: these few planets would be one of the rewards for the top-ranked in the Novice Battlefield. The race that obtains first place has the right to choose one such planet to become a hunting ground for the cosmic races.”

“That’s not the key point. The key is the profit distribution issue after these already scarce planets become hunting grounds.”

Cheng Liujin messed up the stones again, took out one of the larger ones, and said, “Forty percent of the profits is used to cover the costs of crafting and maintaining the Novice planet.”

Then, he took out another one and said, “Twenty percent serves as public gains, distributed according to the total score ranking in the Novice battlefield.”