NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: Chapter 003: Unlocking New Buildings
At this time, Zhou Bai and her two companions had already entered the Lord Mansion.
The Lord Mansion served as a sort of office hall, a simple single-story building of about forty square meters. At the far end were two separate cubicles with a window each. The window on the left bore the sign "Hope Village Residents Registration", on the desk lay an unrolled sheepskin scroll beside stacks and stacks of blank Tokens. On the right, a sign read "Territory Tasks", above which hung a bulletin board, empty of content.
Everything Zhou Bai saw before her eyes also appeared on her Lord Identity control panel's Lord Mansion building section, perfectly synchronized. Zhou Bai looked at this scene with some surprise.
As Zhou Zhengping and Ding Qiurou approached, two Tokens engraved with their names appeared at the left window.
The moment they received their Identity Tokens, a name appeared above their heads.
[Hope Village Resident]
"Dad, Mom, do you see the name above my head?" Zhou Bai's heart skipped a beat—could it be Lord of Hope Village?
"Yes, Lord of Hope Village," both of them frowned slightly.
Zhou Bai twitched the corners of her mouth, "Isn't this just asking for people to target me?"
That name was too high-profile! It really didn't suit her!
Subsequently, she glanced at the sheepskin scroll on the counter, had a thought, and then clicked on the sheepskin scroll on her control panel, adding her own name directly onto it.
As her registration went through, another name appeared on the scroll in the office, and an Identity Token materialized along with it.
Once the Token was in hand, the label above Zhou Bai's head swiftly changed.
Zhou Zhengping and Ding Qiurou's faces lit up with joy, "Now you've become a Resident."
"Then I can hide my Lord Identity!"
Although she didn't know how long she could keep it hidden, it would save her a lot of trouble before then.
"Can anyone else mess with this Residents' Register?" asked Zhou Zhengping as he tried to approach the counter, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier.
"Only the Lord can!" Zhou Bai confirmed. Everything here posed no defense against her as the Lord; besides the system, only she, the Lord herself, could operate it.
"Now that there's only one territory nearby, and since nobody knows the specifics, we can just say that the territory is controlled by the system. No one would suspect anything." Zhou Zhengping's last bit of concern disappeared.
Looking at his daughter again, his view of her changed—it was an unbelievable stroke of luck!
Having unexpectedly resolved the identity issue, Zhou Bai continued manipulating the panel with a light heart.
Fully understanding the Lord panel held great benefits for her.
She then directly checked the upgrade conditions.
[Population of 100 (Not Met)]
[4 Buildings in the Territory (Not Met)]
[Lord at lv.5 (Not Met)]
After noting down the conditions, Zhou Bai shifted her gaze to the unlockable buildings listed with optional *2, remembering that this was a reward from the system for establishing the territory. As long as they were unlocked, she would have four buildings, and the building condition would be achieved.
She clicked on it, and many Building Introductions popped up 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 offer a variety of 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 cottages,
Construction requires 5 Gold Coins and various materials and can be built repeatedly]
[Level 1 farmland: Can plant crops]
[…]
Maybe it was because the current level of the territory wasn't high, but the buildings that could be unlocked were essentially all Basic, and the number was limited. However, to Zhou Bai, they seemed dazzling.
"Dad, Mom, we can unlock two buildings right now," Zhou Bai discussed the various buildings and their features.
"What do you think we need the most right now?" Zhou Zhengping looked at Zhou Bai with a smile, not giving an answer but instead asking back.
Zhou Bai understood that Zhou Zhengping was encouraging her to think for herself and directly answered, "The Blacksmith Shop and the Restaurant! The former can provide weapons, and the latter food—two things that survivors currently need."
"Then let's do as you say."
Zhou Bai nodded and began to unlock buildings.
[Would you like to spend 10 Gold Coins, 1000 units of wood, 1000 units of stone, and 100 units of Iron Ore to unlock the Blacksmith Shop?]
"Yes."
[Materials insufficient, please purchase or collect]
Zhou Bai chose to purchase.
The System Store quickly popped up, displaying wood, stone, and Iron Ore.
[Item: Wood]
[Introduction: Construction material]
[Buying Price: 1 copper coin/unit]
[Selling Price: 2 copper coins/unit]
*
[Item: Stone]
[Introduction: Construction material]
[Buying Price: 2 copper coins/unit]
[Selling Price: 4 copper coins/unit]
*
[Item: Iron Ore]
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[Introduction: Building materials, Weapon materials, etc.]
[Purchase Price: 100 copper coins/unit]
[Sell Price: 200 copper coins/unit]
After checking the difference between the purchase and sell price, Zhou Bai paused with a realization.
What a profiteer!
Grumbling to himself, Zhou Bai still spent 2 gold coins and 60 silver coins to unlock the Blacksmith Shop.
Compared to that, the 60 silver coins to unlock the restaurant were nothing.
[Dear Host, you have reached 4 buildings in your territory, meeting Upgrade Condition 2.]
[Basic Blacksmith Shop and restaurant have been unlocked, please arrange for placement.]
With the notification, two recommended placement spots appeared on the territory map, and Zhou Bai directly chose to confirm.
But that wasn't the end.
[Blacksmith Shop construction complete, currently no blacksmith available, self-service mode initiated, system has selected Iron Axe (Bronze Level) as the product, begin crafting?]
[Restaurant construction complete, currently no chef available, autonomous mode initiated, system has selected steamed buns as the product, begin crafting?]
"…Yes."
[Iron Axe crafting requires 1 blueprint, 10 Iron Ore, 10 units of Wood, materials insufficient, please make a purchase.]
[Steamed bun crafting requires flour, materials insufficient, please make a purchase.]
*
[Item: Iron Axe Blueprint]
[Introduction: Essential for crafting Iron Axes]
[Purchase Price: 50 silver coins]
[Sell Price: 1 gold coin]
[Note: Reusable]
*
[Item: Flour]
[Introduction: Material for food preparation]
[Purchase Price: 1 copper coin]
[Sell Price: 2 copper coins]
Looking at the prices, especially the Iron Axe blueprint, Zhou Bai's heart skipped a beat, but having no materials on hand, he could only succumb to buying.
After making the purchases, Zhou Bai crafted and put on display 10 Iron Axes and 20 steamed buns.
Having confirmed the start of operations for the Blacksmith Shop and restaurant, Zhou Bai took a deep breath in relief.
Finally done!
She strongly suspected this was a money-draining game, constantly prompting the Lord to invest more funds, which would be impossible to unlock without a cushion of money.
It seemed impossible to keep relying on the System Store for purchases; even with money, this wasn't how to spend it.
Every penny spent pained her; before the apocalypse, her bank account only increased, never decreased.
The next moment, Zhou Bai's attention turned to the territory mission notice board beside her; she now understood what it was for.
[Purchasing wood, 1 unit/1.1 copper coins]
[Purchasing stone, 1 unit/2.2 copper coins]
[Purchasing Iron Ore, 1 unit/101 copper coins]
[Purchasing all kinds of blueprints, 1 gold coin]
[…]
The tasks were posted one by one, and Zhou Zhengping and Ding Qiurou, who were waiting, quickly noticed this as their panels received the notifications too; they were synchronized!
"What's this…"
"Just now the newly unlocked buildings needed materials, and the selling price is twice the purchase price, which made me spend quite a bit more money. I think future buildings will also need these, so it's better to buy in advance, at least then I won't lose out," Zhou Bai explained.
"In that case, it seems the system's intention is to prevent you from relying too much on the mall? It allows you to obtain materials on your own or through the residents within the territory, which is more cost-effective than buying from the mall, encouraging exploration outside," Zhou Zhengping thought aloud.
"…Seems like it." In any case, she was just trying to save money, but it ended up serving the same purpose!
"Then let's wait for others to arrive, get some more information from them, and only then venture outside. We didn't face any danger on our way here, but we also missed the chance to learn more."
"Pah, rather than facing danger, I'd prefer you found out later," Ding Qiurou interjected quickly, glancing sideways at Zhou Zhengping and couldn't help but twist his arm, what was he saying!
"Just talking," Zhou Zhengping hastily pleaded for mercy.
Zhou Bai watched this scene, the corners of her mouth unconsciously curling upwards.
She felt fortunate to have such a territory to shelter her family.
It was at this moment that a reminder popped up on Zhou Bai's control panel.
[Lord of Hope Village, there are refugees entering the borders of Hope Village, please prepare to receive them as soon as possible.]
At the same time as the notification, Zhou Bai's map began to show scattered green and red dots.
Green dots were survivors, red dots were Demon Beasts?
Thinking this, Zhou Bai quickly said to the two, "Survivors are coming soon! There might be Demon Beasts following them."
The two instantly focused, "Let's go have a look."
The family of three headed straight for the entrance of the village, each purchasing an Iron Axe from the Blacksmith Shop on their way.
Meanwhile, a group of people arrived outside Hope Village one after another, and the sight of the stone pillar ignited a glimmer of hope in their eyes.
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