Chapter 67
Ye Bai understood the situation perfectly and decided to drop the pretense. He directly invited everyone in front of Dennis, saying, “From my perspective, what I hope most is for all of you to stay in my territory and become my direct combat team.”
As soon as he said this, the mercenaries present became visibly excited. The lord’s direct combat team was not the same as an ordinary combat team; it represented the lord’s recognition and importance.
Dennis, standing nearby, changed his expression, seemingly wanting to say something. Ye Bai quickly took a step back and smiled, “Of course, everyone is free to come and go as they please. What I want to say is…”
Ye Bai straightened his face, “My promise is always valid. You can come to collect your equipment at any time, and the gates of Bai Ye Village will always be open for you.”
With this statement, Ye Bai skillfully employed the essence of retreating to advance, firmly grasping the situation.
Blaize, who had been relatively calm, fell silent for a moment before decisively stepping forward.
“Bang bang!” The swordsman in his thirties slightly bowed to Ye Bai, tapping his hand over his heart, performing the standard gesture of allegiance recognized among warriors.
“Lord Bai Ye, I, swordsman Blaize, wish to follow you from now on and become the sword in your hand.”
【Mercenary ‘Blaize’ requests to join your territory. Do you agree?】
【Yes】
“It is my honor.”
Ye Bai also tapped his hand over his heart in response.
Once one person stepped forward, others followed suit, as if a signal had been sounded. The remaining mercenaries all expressed their desire to follow Ye Bai and join Bai Ye Village.
Even the mercenary who hadn’t participated in the battle at Crocodile Pond, staying behind to guard the antelope transport team, made the same choice as the others. After all, he had heard his companions speak of Ye Bai’s “glorious achievements” during the night, and the exaggerated retelling had transformed Ye Bai from a melee mage into a “dual-cultivation master of magic and martial arts.”
This scene caught Dennis off guard. “You, you all…”
This was absurd! Were they really not going back after coming here?!
Ye Bai looked at Dennis and said, “Mr. Dennis, don’t worry. If you need protection on your return journey, the warriors you hired will escort you back and then return.”
With ten first-tier warrior villagers suddenly added to his ranks, Ye Bai felt completely at ease.
They had all registered with the system, and their goodwill had transformed into loyalty and satisfaction. As long as they hadn’t fallen into a dangerous state, they wouldn’t run away.
In fact, Ye Bai was even hoping that Blaize and the others would earn Dennis more money. If they returned the same way, they wouldn’t encounter any battles, which would speed things up and not waste too much time.
By the time they returned, the tavern and other facilities in the territory would be completed, and they could spend their money there, which would ultimately flow back to Ye Bai.
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As Ye Bai spoke, Dennis was left speechless. After all, the antelope transport team was directly tied to the merchant guild, while the mercenaries were merely in a temporary cooperative relationship with them.
Moreover, as the platform party, the merchant guild would also take a cut of the mercenaries’ commissions, and many mercenaries had long been dissatisfied with the guild.
Now, regarding Ye Bai’s actions, Dennis couldn’t even say he was undermining the merchant guild.
“Well, that’s great.”
In the end, not all the mercenaries set off. Only four wanted to earn a bit more and accepted Dennis’s employment, while the other six chose to stay in Bai Ye Village to familiarize themselves with the territory and learn more about their new lord, Ye Bai.
After sending Dennis off, Blaize reminded Ye Bai, “My lord, he’s in a hurry to return because he wants to capture that herd of wild antelopes.”
“I know. Don’t worry; soon we’ll have our own antelopes in the village,” Ye Bai replied with a smile.
Blaize was momentarily taken aback, then his face lit up with surprise. This was actually part of the lord’s plan!
Antelopes were fast, strong, and had excellent endurance among land-mounted units. Their abilities were well-balanced; they could be trained for transport or as warhorses, making them a prized mount in large cities.
The wild antelope herd near the territory had long been seen as Ye Bai’s for the taking; he wouldn’t let the merchant guild benefit from them.
After assigning new residences to the mercenaries and Di Linna in the village, Ye Bai finally had time to approach the Tree of Creation.
Touching the trunk, the detailed information about Bai Ye Village appeared in his consciousness.
【Bai Ye Village】
Lord: Bai Ye
Current Population: 68
Population Attraction: 20% base attraction + 22% environmental attraction + 15% title bonus
Buildings: Compost Factory x1, Residential Houses x62, Blacksmith x1, Warehouse x2, Cellar x2, Well x4, Market x1, Tailor Shop x1, Smelting Workshop x1, Sawmill x1, Smoking House x1, Herbalist x1
Health: 85
Sanitation: 85
Happiness: 75
The third batch of refugees had brought 30 people, and with the 10 newly joined mercenaries, the population of the territory had reached 60. With enough professional buildings, the conditions for upgrading to a level 2 territory were already met.
However, Ye Bai certainly didn’t upgrade immediately; he planned to focus on further development of the territory.
Tomorrow marked the 30th day since the territory was established, and the fourth batch of refugees was about to arrive. Given the current population attraction, bringing in 50 people was no problem. At that point, they would meet the population requirements for upgrading to a level 3 territory, and as long as the other building conditions were satisfied, they could directly upgrade two levels.
Of course, with such a rapid upgrade, the number of monster attacks attracted to the territory that night would also be the sum of the two upgrade levels.
Ye Bai wasn’t worried about this. First, she still had several powerful magic scrolls left. Second, she had cleared the Crocodile Pond while establishing trade routes, which had already dealt with a significant threat from one direction. There was a high possibility that the Crocodile Pond was the strongest monster nest near Bai Ye Village.
The basic rule for territory upgrades was that the surrounding monster groups would attack. The next time, it might just be a few big cats or small cats.
However, one thing was certain: the antelope herd would definitely come.
Dennis would need at least two game days for his return trip, and then to organize a capture team to head to that grassland would take at least another three or four days for a round trip. This time was more than enough for Ye Bai to upgrade the territory.
Then, Ye Bai opened the long-awaited 【Territory Development】 page, and the familiar tech tree appeared before her eyes.
During Ye Bai’s absence, the territory had naturally accumulated 4 points of productivity. Combined with the 8 points gained from opening the trade route, she now had a total of 12 points of productivity to “spend,” which was quite abundant.
However, this time she didn’t invest in too many technologies. She spent 2 points each to unlock the new tech branches of level 2 territory: 【Basic Defense Construction】 and 【Animal Husbandry】. The brewing tech needed for the tavern would only appear at level 2 territory.
【Basic Defense Construction】 unlocks the 【Wooden Spike Fence】 building; unlocks the 【Arrow Tower I】 building.
【Animal Husbandry】 allows villagers to master basic breeding techniques; unlocks the 【Pasture】 building; unlocks the 【Feed Factory】 building.
After unlocking these two technologies, Ye Bai immediately began planning the buildings. In the northeastern to northwestern area of the territory, she marked out a square area formed by double-layered wooden spike fences.
This area, aside from the square blank space in the northeast, also included a long corridor-shaped rectangular area connecting to the northwestern region, which was the location where she had previously entered the city with her trade caravan. If the antelopes were to attack, they would come from this direction in a straight line.
After opening the trade route, the map visibility had expanded, and while the areas outside the trade route were still shrouded in fog, a mostly straight, slightly curved trade route had been illuminated.
The terrain surrounding the trade route was slightly “lit up,” allowing Ye Bai to easily locate the grassland where the antelopes were, and thus determine from which direction they would come if the territory were upgraded.
Next, Ye Bai planned two arrow towers along the dirt road, one on each side.
With that, a trap for the antelopes was set.
Afterward, Ye Bai didn’t immediately build the pasture because the antelopes were too high in level. To contain them, a higher-level 【Advanced Pasture】 was required. Instead, she planned a 【Feed Factory】 in an area of the agricultural zone.
Now that the territory had an unprecedented abundance of human resources, once Ye Bai completed the planning, villagers immediately set off to begin construction.
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