Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Now We Can Upgrade the Village
As soon as it was posted, the number of Skull Soldiers in the Territory quickly decreased by five thousand, while the number of farmers around increased. Before long, five thousand Skull Soldiers had turned into forty thousand farmers.
The sheer number made Fang Jie's scalp tingle.
"Damn, why is the loyalty declining? This won't do, we need to give them something to do." Fang Jie discovered that as the number of Skull Soldiers increased, the loyalty of these farmers actually started to drop continuously.
Once loyalty fell below 20 points, there could be a risk of them running away, so he couldn't let these farmers just stand by and watch any longer.
While ordering the Skull Soldiers outside to hurry back, Fang Jie arranged for these farmers to patrol the surroundings or do other things, trying to divert their attention.
Because he was certain that it was the presence of Skeletons that was causing the decline in loyalty.
"Everyone be aware, if the farmers spend too much time with these Undead, their loyalty will decrease. You have to placate them well."
Suddenly, someone in the discussion section posted a comment, alerting everyone to the hidden dangers brought by the Skeletons. But such risks were meaningless in the face of Combat Power.
Although farmers were almost as useful as wood, in many cases, they still followed the logic of normal people.
As long as they got used to the situation, naturally they wouldn't be scared anymore. Even if their loyalty might decrease due to disgust, it wouldn't keep plummeting endlessly.
Fang Jie slapped his forehead, realizing his own stupidity for not having considered this aspect, completely overlooking it.
"Boss, I can't afford Skull Soldiers. Could you give me some Skeleton Labor?"
"Sorry, all the Skeleton Labor has just been sold, but I'm currently making more. You can wait a bit." Fang Jie could only placate them for the time being.
You can't just discard these retail traders for the sake of major trades; after all, there might be more of them. Harvesting a large number of retail traders could even bring more benefits than trading with larger powers.
But what was troubling now was that there were simply too many farmers, and Fang Jie had no choice but to temporarily stop trading.
Looking at some newly manufactured Skeleton Labor, Fang Jie quickly commanded: "Go, build two more Skeleton Conversion Fields over there." The number of Transformation Fields he had was still too few, so he continued to increase the quantity.
Fortunately, the first batch of farmers had already been thrown into the Skeleton Conversion Field, and now they were merely materials inside, waiting to be produced one by one. If the farmers saw their own kind being thrown in there, by now they probably would have rebelled.
While waiting for the return of the Skull Soldiers, Fang Jie made new ones undergo Fission.
As the number of Skull Soldiers in his possession gradually increased, Fang Jie's mentality also began to stabilize.
"Fang Jie, big guy, I have a Hardwood synthesis blueprint. I want to trade it for a few Skull Soldiers."
Suddenly, a careful message caught Fang Jie's attention. The speaker's name was Qin Lan, a very feminine name. It seemed that in the face of survival, even women would give up comfort and aesthetics for something like Skeletons.
"A very nice blueprint. I'll give you three Skull Soldiers." The price was already higher than when he had traded at the Material Warehouse. However, with the increase in major trades, this price would slowly have to change.
"I want five." Another message came from the other side.
At that moment, Qin Lan stood still, abandoning the work in her hands, and intently watched the discussion on the panel. The farmers were still busy and had never stopped, but as Qin Lan watched the glowing eyes outside the Territory's protective circle, she felt waves of danger.
It was unclear whether those were wolves or something else, but certainly, they were no good.
The number was too great; once the protection circle disappeared, Qin Lan wasn't sure she could survive. Fortunately, she had a blueprint in her possession that had not been used yet, perhaps it could change the current situation.
Fang Jie didn't really care about the extra five Skull Soldiers anymore, and after thinking it over, he simply agreed.
"Fine, consider it my investment. You must survive, okay?" Surviving in this world was already hard enough, especially for a woman.
Of course, the blueprint was the most important aspect. Now, all Fang Jie needed was hardwood to upgrade his Territory. Maybe he could manage to raise the village several levels in one go.
He didn't know what the benefits of upgrading would be, but he was aware that if he wanted to produce certain buildings, he definitely needed a higher Level Territory. The graves he initially built required the village level.
Qin Lan sighed helplessly, once a proud woman, now reliant on someone else's pity.
From a young age, she was the darling of her peers, surrounded by a throng of admirers, from a well-off family, and academically successful. Qin Lan had never imagined her life would fall to such a degree, but now she had no choice but to accept someone else's pity.
"If you give me ten, I'll tell you where my blueprint comes from."
Qin Lan paused, then continued: "It didn't come from a Treasure Box."
Fang Jie was stunned; were there other ways to gain such advantages? Besides Treasure Boxes, Fang Jie only knew of very few location-specific rewards. But such rewards were not common.
Previous upgrades of the Lord's Cottage, including his own initial upgrade to a village.
Even upgrading to a level 2 village probably wouldn't come with such rewards.
"Alright then, ten." Fang Jie didn't mind the extra five; he had a bit too many Skull Soldiers at the moment.
Once the trade was complete, Qin Lan spoke directly: "When I obtained the Lord's Cottage, I saw it on the bed. These initial items are rare, but there should be other people who have them."
Fang Jie was taken aback. It seemed his acquisition of the Camp Conversion Order was not unique.
Other people also had initial items; it just wasn't clear what they were. Perhaps some people had even better luck than him, so this little achievement was truly not enough to satisfy him.
"Thanks, this intel is very useful. You can contact me if you need anything in the future."
"Just lower the trade price of Skull Soldiers a bit."
"Sure, I'll give you one Skull Soldier for five farmers." By reducing it by three, the price was quite good.
"Only for today, though, and you can't resell them to others."
"No problem." Qin Lan breathed a sigh of relief, finally seeing hope for her own rise. Next, those unknown wild beasts would become fodder for her ascent.
Watching the newly arrived Skull Soldiers, Qin Lan secretly apologized to the farmers and then pointed outside.
"Take out those animals outside and bring back their Corpses."
The loyalty-devoid Skull Soldiers didn't even hesitate, marching straight toward the outside, and soon the sounds of skirmishes echoed. Not long after, bodies were dragged back one by one.
These huge bodies were clearly not wolves but resembled some kind of feline animals.