At this time, Zhou Bai and the other two had already entered the Lord Mansion.
The Lord Mansion was like an office hall, a simple single-story building of about forty square meters. At the far end, there were two compartments, each with a window. The window on the left was labeled "Resident Registration Office," and there was an open sheepskin scroll on the table, with piles of blank tokens next to it. The right side was labeled "Territory Missions," with an empty bulletin board above it.
Everything in front of Zhou Bai's eyes appeared on the Lord Mansion building on the territory panel, in perfect sync. Zhou Bai looked at this scene with some curiosity.
When Zhou Zhengping and Ding Qiurou stepped forward, two tokens engraved with their names were handed over from the left window.
The moment they received their Identity Tokens, a name appeared above their heads.
[Hope Village Resident]
"Dad, Mom, do you see a name above my head?" Zhou Bai's heart skipped a beat. Could it be the Lord of Hope Village?
"Yes, Lord of Hope Village." The two frowned slightly.
Zhou Bai twitched her mouth. "Isn't this making me a target?"
This title was too high-profile! It really didn't suit her!
Then, she glanced at the sheepskin scroll on the counter, her mind stirred, and she clicked on the sheepskin scroll on the control panel, directly adding her own name to it.
When registering, another name appeared on the scene's sheepskin scroll, and an Identity Token followed.
With the token in hand, the label above Zhou Bai's head instantly changed.
Zhou Zhengping and Ding Qiurou were delighted. "It turned into a resident."
"Then I can hide my Lord Identity!"
Although she didn't know how long she could conceal it, it would save a lot of trouble until then.
"Can anyone else manipulate this resident registration book?" Zhou Zhengping asked, trying to walk into the counter, only to be blocked by an unseen barrier.
"Only the Lord can do it!" Zhou Bai confirmed. Everything here was not protected against her as the Lord, except for the system; she had to operate it personally.
"Right now, there's only this one territory nearby. Everyone doesn't know the specifics, so we can completely say this territory is system-controlled, and no one will suspect." Zhou Zhengping's last worry faded away.
Looking at his daughter's gaze, it changed again. This luck, unbelievable!
Zhou Bai, who unexpectedly solved the identity problem, continued to operate the panel with a cheerful heart.
Fully understanding the Lord's section had great benefits for her.
Then she directly checked the upgrade conditions.
[Population reaches 100 people (not met)]
[Territory buildings reach 4 (not met)]
[Lord reaches lv.5 (not met)]
After noting the conditions, Zhou Bai's gaze moved to the selectable *2 following the buildings to be unlocked. She remembered that this was a reward from the system when the territory was established. Once unlocked, there would be four buildings, allowing the building conditions to be met.
She clicked, and many building introductions appeared on the screen.
[Basic Tailor Shop: Can make simple clothing, construction requires 10 Gold Coins and various materials]
[Basic Blacksmith Shop: Can forge simple weapons and tools, construction requires 10 Gold Coins and various materials]
[Primary Grocery Store: Can provide various goods, construction requires 10 Gold Coins and various materials]
[Restaurant: Can provide various foods, construction requires 10 Gold Coins and various materials]
[Level 1 Warehouse: Can store various items, construction requires 10 Gold Coins and various materials]
[Level 1 House: 30 square meter small house, construction requires 5 Gold Coins and various materials, can be built repeatedly]
[Level 1 farmland: Can be used for planting crops]
[...]
Perhaps because the current territory level wasn't high, the unlockable buildings were mostly basic and limited in number, but they dazzled Zhou Bai.
"Dad, Mom, we can unlock two buildings now." Zhou Bai discussed several buildings and their characteristics.
"What do you think is most needed now?" Zhou Zhengping smiled at Zhou Bai, not providing an answer but directly asking back.
Zhou Bai understood Zhou Zhengping's intention to train her and straightforwardly said, "A Blacksmith Shop and a Restaurant! The former can provide weapons, and the latter can provide food, which is what the survivors need now."
"Then let's do as you said."
Zhou Bai nodded and began unlocking buildings.
[Do you want to spend 10 Gold Coins, 1000 units of wood, 1000 units of stone material, and 100 units of iron ore to unlock a Blacksmith Shop?]
"Yes."
[Insufficient materials, please purchase or collect]
Zhou Bai chose to purchase.
The system store popped up quickly, with the page showing wood, stone material, and iron ore.
[Item: Wood]
[Introduction: Building material]
[Acquisition price: 1 copper coin per unit]
[Selling price: 2 copper coins per unit]
*
[Item: Stone]
[Introduction: Building material]
[Acquisition price: 2 copper coins per unit]
[Selling price: 4 copper coins per unit]
*
[Item: Iron Ore]
[Introduction, building materials, weapon materials, etc.]
[Purchase price, 100 copper coin/unit]
[Selling price, 200 copper coin/unit]
After looking at the difference between purchase and selling prices, Zhou Bai paused.
A profiteer, indeed!
Grumbling, Zhou Bai still spent 2 gold coins and 60 silver coins to unlock the Blacksmith Shop.
After unlocking the Blacksmith Shop, spending 60 silver coins to unlock the restaurant was nothing.
[Dear Host, your territory buildings have reached 4, meeting upgrade condition 2.]
[Basic Blacksmith Shop and restaurant unlocked, please designate.]
With the notification, the territory map showed two recommended placement spots, and Zhou Bai directly chose to confirm.
But this was far from over.
[The Blacksmith Shop has been completed, currently without a Blacksmith, initiating self-service mode, system selecting product Iron Axe (Bronze Level), proceed to craft?]
[The restaurant has been completed, currently without a chef, initiating autonomous mode, system selecting product steamed bun, proceed to craft?]
"...Yes."
[Crafting Iron Axe requires blueprint*1, iron ore*10, wood*10, insufficient materials, please purchase.]
[Crafting steamed bun requires flour, insufficient materials, please purchase.]
*
[Item, Iron Axe blueprint]
[Introduction, necessary for crafting Iron Axe]
[Purchase price, 50 silver coins]
[Selling price, 1 gold coin]
[Remark, reusable]
*
[Item, flour]
[Introduction, food material]
[Purchase price, 1 copper coin]
[Selling price, 2 copper coins]
Looking at the prices above, especially the Iron Axe blueprint, Zhou Bai's heart trembled a bit, but currently, she had no materials on hand, so could only buy, buy, buy.
After completing the purchase, Zhou Bai crafted and listed 10 Iron Axes and 20 steamed buns.
Once the Blacksmith Shop and restaurant started operating, Zhou Bai let out a long sigh of relief.
Finally finished!
She strongly suspected this was a pay-to-win game, always making the Lord spend money; if funds were not abundant, it might be impossible to unlock.
It seemed she couldn't rely too much on the System Store; money wasn't meant to be spent like this.
Every penny spent caused her heartache; before the end times, her account only increased, never decreased.
Next, Zhou Bai's attention fell on the territory task announcement board; she knew what it was for now.
[Purchase wood, 1 unit/1.1 copper coins]
[Purchase stone, 1 unit/2.2 copper coins]
[Purchase iron ore, 1 unit/101 copper coins]
[Purchase various blueprints, 1 gold coin]
[...]
Tasks were being posted one by one, and Zhou Zhengping and Ding Qiurou soon noticed, because apart from the notification board, their panels also received notifications, both were synchronized!
"This is..."
"Building just unlocked needed materials, selling price is double the purchase price, made me spend quite a bit; I think future unlocks will require materials, so purchasing early to stockpile won't lose out." Zhou Bai explained.
"With that said, it seems the system's aim is not to make you rely too much on the mall? You can obtain them yourself, or through the territory's residents, both are more cost-effective than buying from the mall, encouraging folks to venture out?" Zhou Zhengping pondered aloud.
"...Seems so." She was merely trying to save money, though the path is the same!
"Then let's wait for others to arrive; after gathering more information from them, we will venture out; we didn't encounter danger initially, but indeed lost some opportunities to understand."
"Oh, please, I'd rather you learn late than face danger." Ding Qiurou hurriedly added, glancing sideways at Zhou Zhengping, her hand couldn't resist twisting his arm. What kind of talk is this!
"Just saying," Zhou Zhengping quickly pleaded.
Zhou Bai watched this scene, her mouth curled up unwittingly.
She was very grateful to have such a territory to protect her family.
At this moment, a reminder popped up on Zhou Bai's control panel.
[Lord of Hope Village, refugees have entered the Hope Village territory range, please make preparations for reception.]
With the notification, Zhou Bai's map started showing scattered green dots and red dots.
Green dots are survivors, are red dots demon beasts?
Thinking about it, Zhou Bai hurriedly said to the two: "Survivors are approaching! Demon beasts might have followed along."
Their attention instantly returned, "Let's go check it out."
The family of three headed directly towards the village entrance, buying an Iron Axe each when passing by the Blacksmith Shop.
Meanwhile, a group of people arrived outside Hope Village; upon seeing the stone tablet, their eyes emitted a hopeful glow.