106: Hall of Stars
After Lin Ye understood the situation, he decided to take on this job.
Other industries seemed to have poor profits.
For example, working as a miner or security guard for a development company, while stable and low-risk, didn't offer high returns.
And joining a hunting squad, it was the same principle; relying on himself to hunt, it would take forever to gather enough star cores.
Therefore, taking on these development tasks was most suitable for him.
Development tasks also varied.
Some involved directly establishing a company, relying on strength in numbers to occupy strongholds.
Others, leveraging their formidable strength, formed a small squad to occupy strongholds.
These were the primary recipients of development tasks.
As for individuals, there were practically none.
Did he really plan to single-handedly contend against the whole world?
Putting aside other things, if there weren't enough people, how could they protect the development unit's personnel while establishing the project?
Lin Ye naturally wouldn't be so stubborn as to go solo.
However, he was only a seventh-tier, and others didn't know his true strength, so it was likely few would be willing to cooperate.
What a headache.
He'd better go to the Hall of Stars first.
The Hall of Stars existed in every city and was the main gathering place for ability users operating in the Star Realm.
Here, one could sell ability seeds, exotic beast materials, maintain equipment, post missions, and so on.
Basically, it covered all the needs of ability users.
Lin Ye had been to the Hall of Stars in White Stone City; White Stone City was resource-poor, and the Hall of Stars there didn't have many profitable projects, so he only went there to sell some materials.
The Hall of Stars in White Mist City clearly had more to offer, which warranted a good exploration.
The Hall of Stars wasn't a single grand hall, but a bustling street covering countless large and small buildings.
The Mercenary Guild, Mage Hall, Equipment Forging, Mission Hall, and more were all available.
People came and went in an endless stream.
"Have you heard? Someone else occupied a resource point."
"General Manager Li's company offers such good terms, maybe we should work for him."
"This time was really unlucky; we actually ran into a tough ninth-tier opponent."
"Old Liu, what's wrong with your company? Why is the recycling price so low?"
"Today, I need to choose a suitable spell; otherwise, if my strength is too weak, no good opportunities will come our way."
...
The noisy street made Lin Ye feel like he was back in a commercial street from his previous Life.
This was a scene that the technologically advanced Blue Star would never see.
Technological prosperity led to a reduction in human interaction.
Food? Robot delivery.
Shopping? Online shopping, with virtual try-ons available.
Entertainment? Virtual entertainment, far surpassing all physical forms.
So, until now, the most bustling place Lin Ye had seen was the training room, but back then, everyone practiced on their own and there wasn't much interaction.
He hadn't expected to experience this kind of atmosphere upon arriving at the Hall of Stars.
It was a pity that the omnipresent White Mist somewhat spoiled the atmosphere.
The lively atmosphere made Lin Ye's heart involuntarily become more active.
However, he didn't forget his main purpose.
He arrived at the Mission Hall.
The Mission Hall had several sections.
Lin Ye naturally went to the development area.
Huge rune projections stood in the development area, and many ability users were checking related information.
Rune projections were considered relatively successful runic-tech equipment, but due to their high cost, many small places couldn't afford them.
Lin Ye checked the information on each projection screen.
He also gained a general understanding of the situation.
Selling resource point information, based on the completeness of the information and the richness of the resource point, would yield different rewards.
The sold information would be displayed in the hall as a mission, to be sold to those with confidence.
After occupying a resource point, one could come here to post development missions, for development units to compete for.
After complete occupation, guardian missions and the like would also be posted here.
It was truly a one-stop service from discovery to development.
Lin Ye's main focus was naturally on information about resource points, as this was the most profitable.
Selling resource point information, while profitable, didn't earn much; even with complete information, it was only a few hundred thousand gold coins.
After all, there were too many resource points near White Mist City.
Resource points were divided into one to five stars based on resource richness and difficulty.
The lowest-tier one-star required a team of five to ten eighth-tier individuals to occupy.
The highest five-star required a complete Star Level squad to occupy.
However, it seemed there were no five-star missions yet.
Currently, the highest was a four-star mission—the Life Forest mission, which roughly required one Star Level individual cooperating with dozens of ninth-tiers to occupy.
Currently, three squads had taken on this mission.
Having understood the basic situation, Lin Ye decided it was best to find a team to join for now.
Even the lowest-tier one-star missions couldn't be completed by a single person.
No matter how strong one person was, he couldn't hold multiple positions, fighting while also guarding the development.
There was also a dedicated place for finding teams.
The Mercenary Guild.
Though called the Mercenary Guild, it was actually more like a human resources department, responsible for recruitment matters.
It was completely different from the mercenary guilds Lin Ye understood, which posted mercenary missions.
He checked it out.
Currently, there seemed to be few teams recruiting that needed seventh-tiers.
That made sense; even the lowest-tier missions required eighth-tiers working together.
Seventh-tiers here seemed to be more involved in guarding development missions or hunting.
Lin Ye felt he needed to rely on his reputation to find a team.
He targeted ninth-tier teams and posted his information.
It was a boilerplate introduction, presenting himself as a genius; anyone who knew him should be aware of his ability to fight above his tier.
Whether they believed him or not was up to them.
Although Lin Ye could guarantee he had the ability to defeat an average ninth-tier, others wouldn't believe him.
It was indeed too astonishing.
After the seventh-tier, each advancement meant a difference of five times or more.
Moreover, those who could reach this level had high proficiency in skills and abilities; each of them was a genius.
Since everyone was a genius, the difference between them was naturally not as great as it was at lower tiers, and fighting above one's tier also became slightly harder.
Could Lin Ye still fight above his tier against these geniuses?
Anyway, few of the team leaders in charge of recruitment believed him, but two teams still gave him an interview opportunity.
Wolf Fang, a seven-person squad, lacked physical output and reconnaissance.
Lotus, a six-person squad, lacked physical output.
Both squads sent members to interview him.
A burly man and a muscular 'King Kong Barbie' with a fierce face.
Lin Ye bowed, "Hello, both of you, I am Lin Ye."
"You're Lin Ye? You're already seventh-tier now; I'm Brother Xiong from the Wolf Fang squad."
"I'm Ily from the Lotus Squad. Lin Ye, right? You are indeed very talented, but our team doesn't believe you can achieve ninth-tier combat power."
The two spoke directly, just as many people wouldn't believe an elementary school student could teach math to a postgraduate student. Lin Ye, a seventh-tier, being comparable to a ninth-tier, was indeed too astonishing.
Lin Ye didn't mind, saying confidently, "We'll know if we try."
(This team is just a transition; the protagonist will start going solo later.)