Chapter 26
The villagers processed the corpses, honing their skinning skills, and those working at the Hunter's Lodge received additional bonuses to their proficiency.
Ye Bai entrusted all the beasts to the prepared hunter, Sean, starting with the lowest-level wolves, moving on to wild boars, and finally tackling the brown bears. This single wave of work could boost his skinning skill by several levels!
Any resources that could enhance the skills of the territory's workers were prioritized by Ye Bai.
Her own stamina was limited; even with maximum effort, she could only effectively push one or two skills to a higher proficiency. However, by nurturing the right villagers, she could cultivate a diverse array of talents.
After all, the skills of the villagers were the skills of the lord, and Ye Bai wanted them all!
...
On a similar game morning, Zeta had just completed her first night in the territory.
Under her guidance, the villagers began to work diligently on the territory's construction. At this point, Ruylan Village had built a well, a bonfire, and a dwelling, while materials for the blacksmith shop were still being gathered—Zeta had quickly recognized the importance of production tools.
Looking at the completed buildings, Zeta opened the Territory Leaderboard.
Her name, Zeta of Ruylan Village, was ranked second, followed by a comprehensive score for the territory.
When she had first established the territory yesterday, she had paid attention to this score. At that time, the territory was empty, and the score was 0.
When the villagers arrived, the score jumped from 0 to 5. After building the bonfire, it rose to 6; after constructing the well, it reached 10; and finally, after the dwelling was completed, it soared to 14.
Clearly, this score was linked to the state of the territory's construction. Population growth would increase the score, and different buildings contributed varying amounts.
Upon seeing the territory score, Zeta immediately began planning further construction, trying to calculate the conditions for score increases, and thus roughly assess the situation in Baiye Territory.
At that moment, Zeta glanced at her territory's score of '14' and then looked up at Baiye Village's outrageous score of '2516'.
“…”
The candidate for the Ruylan Empire throne fell into deep thought.
---
Ye Bai, of course, was unaware of Zeta's mental musings. Just one Source Crystal Mine had added 2000 to the territory score, while Kali, the high-level professional, contributed around 200 points. The remaining 300 points were the result of her efforts over the past ten days.
Naturally, these 300 points would be unattainable for any lord who had established their territory for just ten days.
The Source Crystal Mine, four policy slots, and the effects of the title of First Lord, combined with favorable circumstances, had allowed her to upgrade to a level 1 territory on the tenth day of establishment.
However, there was no server-wide announcement; improvements between 'villages' did not yield achievement rewards. Only the first to upgrade to 'town' level would receive such recognition.
A level 1 territory not only expanded its boundaries but also unlocked technologies exclusive to level 1 territories, along with four additional productivity bonuses.
This was also the effect of the highest-level Creation Tree; each upgrade would grant productivity equal to the territory level multiplied by four. Upon reaching level 2, she would receive an 8-point productivity bonus, but the requirements for unlocking technologies would also increase.
Ye Bai opened the territory's Development Direction page and, without hesitation, allocated the four points of productivity to Weaving, Mining - Exploration, Adventure - Basic Armament, and Planting - Herbs.
Weaving unlocked the techniques for making baskets and straw sandals from reeds; it also unlocked the building of a Tailor's Shop and the methods for producing linen, cotton fabric, and clothing.
Exploration unlocked the surveying of iron, copper, and coal mines, as well as the construction of Mines.
Basic Armament unlocked all crafting methods for Standard Weapons I at the blacksmith shop; it also unlocked the building of a Basic Training Ground, where villagers equipped with standard weapons could train to become Militia.
Herbs allowed villagers to identify a greater variety of wild herbs; fields could be used to plant herbs; and it unlocked the building of an Herbalist's Hut.
With the territory now at level 1, villagers began to have needs for warmth, making clothing an essential item. The initial clothing that villagers brought would wear out, necessitating the production of new garments before the old ones completely deteriorated.
Previously, Lucy had reported that the first batch of crops planted in the fields included cotton, and if they started planting now, the harvest would coincide perfectly with the need for replacement clothing.
Otherwise, they would have to resort to making leather clothing for the villagers, which would be costly—leather was also a vital resource that, once tanned, could be crafted into more useful combat gear, such as Leather Armor.
This phase of construction primarily focused on strengthening the territory's military capabilities, requiring a significant amount of time—not only for defense against potential dangers but also to prepare for future trade routes.
Next, Ye Bai opened the Development Strategy page.
The upgrade conditions for a level 2 territory appeared: 30 dwellings, 4 professional buildings, a market, and a population of 60.
At this point, the two policy slots that could reduce basic needs—"Bumpy Roads" and "Flourishing"—had disappeared, leaving two slots vacant, replaced by new policies exclusive to level 1 territories.
"Anything Goes" increased territory health by 50% and reduced the infection rate of plagues by 80%.
"Traveling Merchant" would attract traveling merchants to the territory's market at regular intervals.
"Reward System I" increased the speed of advancement for primary professionals in the territory by 25%.
"Military Training I" increased the speed of advancement for primary combat professionals in the territory by 25%.
Ye Bai chose "Traveling Merchant" and "Reward System I" for the two empty slots without hesitation. The other two, "Hardworking" and "Pioneer," could not be swapped out before they disappeared; the former was an early-game artifact that alleviated many demands, while the latter, if replaced, would cause Kali, the high-level professional, to leave the territory.
While the effects of "Anything Goes" were appealing, Ye Bai could soon establish the Herbalist's Hut, allowing her to cultivate Lucy from a Herbalist to an Alchemist through healing, thus resolving the territory's medical issues. As for "Military Training I," it could wait until they had time to produce a batch of equipment, which could be done when they reached level 2.
The reason for choosing "Reward System I" was self-evident, while "Traveling Merchant" was a somewhat advanced card for a level 1 territory.
Its effect was as described: once a market was built in the territory, a progress bar would appear, and when the time was up, a traveling merchant would arrive with goods for trade.
This was the only way to trade with the outside world before establishing trade routes and external trade stations.
In addition to currency, the traveling merchant accepted barter, bringing a variety of items, including supplies, seeds, animals, as well as equipment, weapons, and tools. Sometimes, with a bit of luck, rare blueprints could be encountered. However, early lords often had little of value to trade, relying instead on large quantities of basic resources, which was not very cost-effective. Normally, this policy card would be reserved for levels 2 or 3.
But Ye Bai was different; she not only had the 10 gold coins obtained from defeating the Nightmare Dungeon boss but, more importantly, Baiye Village had the 'special product' Source Crystal.
This high-level resource was highly valuable, and after accumulating for a while, it would be enough to clear out the traveling merchant's inventory.
Just as she finished with the technologies and policy cards, a villager approached Ye Bai.
“Lord, we have enough resources to build the market, but we still need 5 gold coins.”
“Not a problem.” Ye Bai waved her hand and took out 5 gold coins from her backpack.
The market, a special functional building, required 5 gold coins worth of materials for construction.
There were two ways to obtain currency in the wild: one was from boss drops in dungeons, corresponding to 1, 3, 5, or 10 gold coins based on level; the other was through taxing the territory's residents and buildings.
After reaching level 1, the lord would automatically receive taxes from the territory's residents each month, with the amount determined by the residents' housing levels and the territory's tax policies.
Currently, the dwellings in the territory were all at the most basic level, and Ye Bai had set the tax rate to the lowest, allowing her to collect only 2 copper coins from a single resident each month.
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