My Apocalypse Territory

Thirty or so survivors had already started their pre-job training and would be staying in this production area for a considerable length of time.

As a key future construction area for the Territory, Tang Yu had also built a new canteen here to satisfy the daily needs of the survivors.

'The Territory is gradually expanding, perhaps, should I first repair the roads? And then come up with some convenient means of transportation?'

However, before that, there was the construction of the commercial area and getting the first batch of Rune Debuggers quickly in place.

It was a shortcut that would meet the early demands.

Only later, when creating more complex rune equipment, would apprentices and Rune Masters be needed.

Becoming a Rune Apprentice wasn't difficult; these thirty-four individuals had an advantage over ordinary people in terms of Rune Perception and prolonged exposure to the field, they would sooner or later become Rune Apprentices.

But a true Rune Master,

Just as he had told those people, crafting runes was extremely difficult.

Talent, effort, resources, no one could do without them.

Only people like him... um, Consuming Crystal players, could go from a rune novice to a true Rune Master in a mere ten days or so.

"Even those three with the highest talent can't become real Rune Masters without resources."

Being an Awakener constrained them.

For tuning runes and performing auxiliary work, using rune pens with limited power or that can adjust power through switches sufficed for the job requirements.

But to actually draw runes, it wouldn't work; one had to use an Awakener's own Source Power to guide the process, and even after becoming an Awakener, a certain control over one's Source Power was needed to do this.

He had thought about screening among Awakeners, but alas, a half Source Crystal daily salary held little allure for them. Raising their salaries was out of the question; they could forget about getting a raise in this lifetime unless their rune crafting skills improved.

"But recruiting ordinary people has its benefits. After showing a little of my hand, those survivors should be putting all their effort into learning now. For ordinary people, this might be their only hope."

He had also promised to conduct regular assessments for these people, and for the top three in Rune Studies progress, he would give certain rewards, such as Source Crystals and knowledge...

He believed that most people would understand that the opportunity to become a Rune Master was something they had to strive for themselves.

This reward system, including the punishment scheme, Tang Yu planned to promote on a large scale.

Similarly, for the Sanctuary's department staff, the work was very stable, but because it was so stable and the salaries weren't low, some people became lazy.

He had heard Chen Haiping complain about this several times, but those unreachable staff members were often old-timers of the Sanctuary, and out of sentimental regard, even Chen Haiping had no way to handle them.

Another part, those with ambition, again couldn't satisfy the enormous resource needs that becoming an Awakener required with just their salary.

"Get the Municipal Department to draft a specific scheme of rewards and punishments as soon as possible, and by the way... it can also cultivate a part of the talent for the Territory."

Before the apocalypse, talent was very important.

After the apocalypse... even more so.

As he reflected, Tang Yu came to the medicinal herb cultivation garden in the valley behind the mountain.

Looking around, the lush greenery was refreshing, and the windmill on the mill turned slowly.

With complicated rune patterns on the windmill spinning, an invisible ripple spread out, falling onto the fertile land and nourishing the young seedlings that were growing.

Tang Yu observed the growth of these medicinal herbs.

Thanks to the farm, these medicinal herbs did not require meticulous care; even people who didn't understand the properties of the herbs could manage without killing them through gross mishandling.

But identification, picking, selection, preparation, and other processes which affect the properties of the herbs weren't things that could be handled carelessly.

He squatted down and, following standard procedures, picked some of the medicinal herbs he needed and placed them in their respective boxes.

"We're still short of talent!"

Tang Yu clutched his head.

Rune Masters were in short supply, but Pharmacists were even scarcer.

In the Territory, there were at least two Rune Masters, but not a single Pharmacist!

Although the time Tang Yu spent learning Pharmacy wasn't much later than when he started with Rune Studies, he had Kevin's instruction for the latter, whereas for Pharmacy, he had to rely on self-study.

Fortunately, his textbook was the Rune Language Book. Despite stumbling along, he had learned quite a bit of knowledge; had it been an ordinary book, it would be hard to say whether he could even get started.

Now, frustrated by his insufficient grasp of potions, he wanted to train a group of Pharmacist apprentices within his Territory but found it impossible.

His research progressed slowly. He had long been yearning for a potion that could quickly heal injuries, but unfortunately, the chances of finding such a recipe in the market were too low. Even if he spent ten times the price to lock in the blueprint recipe category, the refreshes mostly turned up useless formulas.

Like those for treating hair loss, foot odor, enhancing kidney function... What kind of absurdities were these? As if he, Lord Tang, needed them! Needed them!

It was a joke, really.

But for making a potion that could heal injuries, Tang Yu didn't know where to start, he wasn't even sure if the current medicinal materials in his Territory would meet the research requirements.

Pharmacy was truly not user-friendly.

"If only the tavern could summon a Potion Master."

At first, he wanted a Combat Profession, but now he desired one that could make money, since he was a pacifist, after all.

Tang Yu surveyed his Territory.

After inquiring about the progress of the commercial district's construction, he headed straight to the Mutant Beast Breeding Farm.

The farm was located a certain distance from the holiday villa.

As he walked in, he saw the black towers that enclosed the farm.

An inner circle composed of twenty-meter-tall metal fences made of Transcendent Metal, with several three-meter-tall crystal pillars erected on the outside.

The pillars, designed by Kevin, emitted a special wave that limited the movement of the Mutant Beasts.

Of course, the effect was limited.

There was no such building as a breeding farm in the system architecture. Tang Yu, desiring to eat fresh Mutant Beast meat, had gone to great lengths to create this farm.

He walked in to see Eileen, holding a giant... egg, even bigger than a basketball, coming out of the breeding farm.

"Huang laid an egg today, Lord. Whatever you want for dinner, I'll make it right away."

Eileen tilted her head, a full smile on her face.

Tang Yu glanced at the egg in Eileen's arms. It seemed even larger than the last one.

Not a small portion.

"Then let's have tomato scrambled eggs, bitter melon scrambled eggs, egg custard, and some egg tarts. Oh, and I remember that a few bitter melons in the farm mutated the other day. Testing indicated they were benign and tasted better. Use the mutated bitter melons."

"Okay, Lord, come back early…"

Eileen carefully carried the mutated egg and vanished from sight.

Tang Yu touched his stomach, indeed feeling a bit hungry.

As he entered the breeding farm, he saw a large, golden-yellow beast, like a small mountain, snorting and gnawing at a huge chunk of metal ore.

This gold-swallowing beast, possessing a rather high level of intelligence and not being a carnivore, wasn't confined in a cage by Tang Yu... mainly because it couldn't be contained. So he let it roam freely within the limits of the farm.

At that moment, the farm staff stood by in the monitoring room, cautiously eyeing this formidable gold-swallowing beast.

It was the tyrant of the farm.

Nevertheless, when the gold-swallowing beast noticed Tang Yu approaching, its plump body shivered violently, recalling the fear of nearly having its behind poked.