This awakening produced four high-quality Inspiration Crystals.
Except for Call of Duty, the other three—Titanfall, StarCraft, and Star Wars—were all pure sci-fi properties.
Among them, the Call of Duty series was an eternal classic in the FPS genre. There were nearly twenty mainline titles alone, not counting spin-offs.
This Inspiration Crystal held tremendous value.
It could provide Julian Kane with an enormous amount of modern military material.
Although similar weapons existed in Left 4 Dead and Resident Evil, their scope and specialization were nowhere near as rich.
Missiles.
Tanks.
Submarines.
Warships.
Aircraft carriers.
Fighter jets.
Bombers.
Drones.
Robotics.
The sheer depth of military assets alone made it worthwhile.
And the story content wasn't weak either. The Call of Duty franchise featured intense battlefield immersion along with memorable characters and cinematic storytelling—comparable to blockbuster films.
If Julian wanted to implement Call of Duty, he wouldn't even need a new Secret Realm core.
Its physics and setting were compatible with Raging Tide.
He could simply create a special "Modern Warfare" category within the Tidal Secret Realm.
---
The Sci-Fi Giants
As for Titanfall, StarCraft, and Star Wars—
Although technically compatible with Raging Tide, they would create varying degrees of thematic conflict.
Their worldviews were vast and stylistically different. Their volume of content was enormous.
It would be better to merge them into a dedicated sci-fi Secret Realm.
From a quality standpoint, these three were absolutely top-tier.
Take Star Wars for example.
It had multiple films, including spin-offs like Rogue One and Solo, plus series like The Mandalorian. Add to that comics, novels, and countless games.
The material richness was staggering.
If realized properly, it would become a magnificent space opera.
Lightsabers.
The Death Star.
Interstellar fleets.
The scale and spectacle alone would shatter Adventurers' imagination.
But that scale was precisely the problem.
Creating such an immense worldview would be an enormous challenge.
A sci-fi Secret Realm would definitely be built one day—
But compared to giants like Star Wars, perhaps Titanfall would be a better opening act.
Like Sekiro, Titanfall wasn't massive in scope, but its content was intense, fast-paced, and conceptually strong.
So which should he activate?
---
Nine Choices
Julian now possessed:
Call of Duty
Titanfall
StarCraft
Star Wars
Hot-Blooded Legend
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
Prototype
Tale of Wuxia
Dungeon & Fighter
Nine choices.
Any one of them could form a powerful Secret Realm.
But he lacked activation opportunities.
"I have plenty of Inspiration Crystals," Julian thought, "but too few chances to activate them."
As awakenings increased, his reserve of Crystals would only grow.
Compared to awakening more often, finding ways to activate existing Crystals was now the bigger priority.
Back to selection.
No matter how strong a property was, it was meaningless if it couldn't be implemented.
Star Wars and Dungeon & Fighter were temporarily impossible. He lacked both mental power and appropriate cores.
From a compatibility standpoint, only three were viable right now:
Call of Duty (merge into Raging Tide)
Prototype (merge into Raging Tide)
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (merge into Foreign Lands Chronicle)
Julian excluded Wo Long immediately.
The Three Kingdoms arc of Foreign Lands Chronicle was a grand project. Wo Long alone wasn't enough. He intended to accumulate more Three Kingdoms material before launching that chapter.
That left two.
After brief consideration—
He chose Prototype.
Its dark urban apocalypse tone matched Raging Tide perfectly.
And Prototype's overpowered protagonist would completely redefine Adventurers' understanding of high-performance combat.
Once launched, it would elevate the Tidal Secret Realm to an entirely new level.
Activation complete.
As for the remaining Crystals, there was no rush.
Julian also needed to prepare for advancement.
From Tier 3 to Tier 4 required 24,000 mental power.
At Miracle City's current income rate, that could be accumulated within three days.
And thanks to World Tree's Blessing, each advancement from Tier 3 onward granted an extra awakening opportunity.
In the near future—
Two guaranteed awakenings awaited him.
---
World Tree's Blessing
Julian returned his focus to the present.
Miracle City's first territory hero—Nancilia—had officially been born.
Her luck effect:
[World Tree's Blessing]
Epic-grade luck
-30% mental power cost for all Secret Realm materials
+1 awakening opportunity for each tier advancement from Tier 3 onward
Not only did it grant extra awakenings—
It reduced production costs by 30%.
And because this reduction applied directly to materials themselves, it effectively lowered core occupancy.
Given Miracle City's massive Secret Realm volume, this was extraordinarily valuable.
More efficiency.
More expansion room.
More scalability.
Additionally, as a Hero Unit, Nancilia gained:
Tenfold cultivation speed for Miracle City soul essence
Plug-and-play use of all Miracle City soul essence
Continuous enhancement as the territory advanced
The stronger Miracle City became—
The stronger she would become.
---
A Meeting Request
"My Lord," Ethan Gale reported, "Ryan Skycloud wishes to meet you. My sister helped arrange it."
Julian raised an eyebrow.
Skycloud City was currently the only Tier 4 Underground City in Blackstone Town.
Why would its Lord request a meeting?
But the answer was obvious.
Miracle City lacked strong market channels.
Cooperating with a mature city like Skycloud City would be mutually beneficial.
He agreed.
---
The Negotiation
Using a Mirror Stone, Julian projected himself into Blackstone Town, anchored to Ethan Gale.
It was his first visit to the Adventurer world.
Frankly, it was barren and unimpressive.
At the Netherworld Mercenary Group headquarters, Julian and Ryan Skycloud met formally.
Pleasantries were exchanged.
Then negotiations began.
Miracle City's bargaining chips included:
High-quality soul essence
Firearms
Vehicles
Skill stones
Rare items like Undying Severance
Even ordinary items—cigarettes, liquor, cola—had commercial potential if properly marketed.
Ryan quickly realized:
Miracle City was a gold mine.
Julian stated his needs clearly:
1. Secondary Secret Realm cores
2. Items that awaken the Sea of Inspiration
3. Items that activate Inspiration Crystals
4. Construction blueprints
5. Material essence
A secondary core was especially important.
Unlike main city cores, secondary cores allowed smaller territories to manually install Secret Realm functions.
Julian's long-term vision:
Main City Secret Realms → flagship large-scale worlds
Secondary Secret Realms → smaller, casual or experimental worlds
Examples of small-scale projects:
Don't Starve
It Takes Two
Need for Speed
Temple Run
Plants vs. Zombies
A Secret Realm cluster.
That was the goal.
Ryan was shocked.
Most low-tier Lords gained only one Inspiration Crystal per awakening.
Julian, however, clearly had surplus Crystals.
A once-in-a-million genius.
Ryan offered a Tier 1 secondary core as a "meeting gift."
Worth over one million soul crystals—and nearly impossible to purchase.
Julian refused it for free.
Instead, he exchanged 1,000 ordinary zombie soul essences.
Both sides were satisfied.
Further agreements:
Skycloud City would purchase 300 firearms weekly
Payment in material essence
Assistance collecting blueprints
Inquiry into awakening-related items
The cooperation was smooth.
Mutually beneficial.
Each took what they needed.
---
Preparation Begins
Returning to Miracle City, Julian checked the time.
A few hours remained before opening.
He immediately began preparing the prologue for Prototype—
So Adventurers could experience a new shock when the gates reopened.
The next evolution of Raging Tide—
Was about to begin.
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