I Become a Landlady in the Game World

"Which territory?" Viscount Lancelot asked curiously, "Have you already negotiated it?"

If it had already been negotiated, that would mean Zhou Bai had thought of it earlier than he had suggested, which was quite terrifying.

This wasn't him overthinking; it's just that seeing the current prosperity of Hope Village made him believe that Zhou Bai was no ordinary person.

Initially, he had recognized Hope Village's potential, but he had never imagined their potential would skyrocket so quickly.

Listening, Zhou Bai replied directly, "It's Ningshan Village. I haven't negotiated yet. I just feel that as long as there are benefits, the other party will not refuse to cooperate with our actions."

Ningshan Village? Viscount Lancelot went through his thoughts and finally pinpointed the existence of this new territory.

It ranked just behind Hope Village, adjacent to Wenxia Village; the combined strength of these two territories was not to be underestimated.

It was precisely because of Hope Village that Viscount Lancelot had specifically learned about many new territories, most of which turned out to be quite reliable.

Especially the ones who came to Hope Village as soon as it was opened and immediately utilized the platform of Hope Village to promote their own territories—each was not a simple presence.

Their development speed couldn't catch up with Hope Village at the moment, but they were all steadily advancing.

Thinking about this, Viscount Lancelot was really curious about what their original world was like; the people who came out of this world each had such unique, personalized thoughts.

"How will the benefits be distributed?" Viscount Lancelot continued, needing to pay attention since it involved a territory's resources.

Because his current savings were the capital for his future promotion to town level.

After a village is promoted to town, the best way to avoid being seen as an easy target is to quickly enhance one's territory ranking.

As long as there are enough levels in the town, other towns would have to think twice before attacking.

That's why he was considering Barnes Village.

Listening, Zhou Bai pondered for a moment and then said directly, "Initially, we will recruit and receive people, fully managed by us, and the people will also be under our territory's control. Since it's difficult to divide this part, we won't. So, for the later partitioning of territory resources, I can compromise and only take twenty percent, while Ningshan Village also takes twenty percent."

What Zhou Bai had always wanted was people.

As for resources, she could earn those herself.

Most importantly, the biggest risk in this matter indeed lay with Viscount Lancelot.

The Lord of Barnes Village, being pressured with no other options and facing Viscount Lancelot who came to offer "help," who knows what he might do.

At any rate, she wouldn't dare; she believed that if the Lord of Barnes Village stood before her and could, he would definitely find a way to deal with her.

A wise man does not stand under a collapsing wall.

Better to take it slow and stir things up from behind when she can!

Listening to Zhou Bai's proposed share distribution, Viscount Lancelot was completely taken aback.

It was too surprising for him.

The best he had hoped for was a fifty-fifty split, with the bottom line being forty percent for himself, yet Zhou Bai offered him sixty percent.

Such sincerity was enough.

This partner, reliable!

Immediately, a joyful smile appeared on his face, then realizing he might be smiling a bit too much, he awkwardly coughed and said, "The village chief's suggestion sounds good; let's do it that way! Rest assured! The task you've entrusted to me, I will handle well."

"I trust in your capability, Lord Viscount," Zhou Bai also spoke kindly.

Viscount Lancelot, listening, felt quite comfortable; the feeling of being trusted was quite nice!

However...

"Village chief, shouldn't we also consider the possibility of my failure, just to be prepared?" Viscount Lancelot felt that while he was prepared, the chance of failure was still relatively small, but to be on the safe side, it was best to prepare an additional layer.

"If you fail, then Ningshan Village will naturally continue to attack Barnes Village, and if successful, the distribution will change, with sixty percent for them and twenty percent for you," Zhou Bai responded promptly.

"Does Ningshan Village have the strength?" Viscount Lancelot asked subconsciously.

After all, Barnes Village was still a well-established level 3 village.

"Didn't I say, it ranks before Barnes Village," Zhou Bai said directly.

Listening to that, Viscount Lancelot paused for a moment and then offered a kind reminder, "Sometimes the ranking of a territory isn't completely accurate; territories can hide their strength, especially at the village level. Those that rank a bit lower are relatively safer. Even if they are targeted, they have some trump cards to turn defeat into victory. As for being promoted to town level, it's best not to hide too much. Moving to the front ranks quickly makes others weigh their options; then it's you choosing others, not others choosing you."

These words from Viscount Lancelot were heartfelt; after all, such secrets also took some time to discover.

As for Zhou Bai, although fate had already disclosed a lot to her before, she still accepted his goodwill.

"Thank you, I understand," Zhou Bai nodded, "Even if Barnes Village has hidden strengths, I believe Ningshan Village can handle it."

She was aware of the environment in Ningshan Village, where they were absolutely belligerent.

Compared to Hope Village quietly focusing on infrastructure and business, Ningshan Village had always been striving to improve its combat power.

The soldiers in the soldier team not only leveled up within their own territory but also formed various mercenary squads through the Task Center to undertake missions in other territories, engaging in life-threatening work, which made each soldier exceptionally strong.

Besides the soldiers, their Professionals similarly followed suit and ventured out on missions. Despite the high casualty rate among the mercenaries, their territory managed to survive.

In this regard, Zhou Bai also admired Jin Jingshan and his brother.

She also clearly understood that these battle-hardened professionals were the ones truly capable of standing their ground in this world.

With Hope Village now interacting more with Ningshan Village and other territories, they were indeed influencing each other.

Thus, the professionals from Hope Village had started to take up external missions to hone their skills.

It just got even more competitive!

Even she was somewhat influenced.

She thought that after the territory's promotion, she might change her attitude towards Territory Wars and become more proactive.

Back to the main topic.

Anyway, she had great faith in the strength of Ningshan Village.

The current ranking of Hope Village, she felt, owed much to its bustling business.

In terms of genuine combat power, Hope Village might still be no match for Ningshan Village!

Seeing such confidence in Hope Village, Viscount Lancelot also thought of the distinguishing feature of Ningshan Village, the Mercenary Team, and no longer harbored any doubts.

After all, not every village-level territory had several hundred mercenary teams.

The two discussed and finalized various details.

During the conversation, Viscount Lancelot's admiration for Zhou Bai only grew.

Eventually, he even broached a new topic.

"Relations between territories are not solely competitive. If we can cooperate sincerely, we might well manage a region effectively," Viscount Lancelot was actually quite willing to form an alliance with Hope Village.

He could see that Hope Village was not developing through military conquest but through economic and trade relations with other territories. Forming an alliance with such a territory meant there was no worry of betrayal and could even lead to being boosted by the alliance.

The downside might be living perpetually in the shadow of the other, with other powers seeing only Hope Village.

But what of it? He never harbored ambitions of dominance, and if he did, it would be impossible anyway with Bengala Town stationed nearby!

Nevertheless, Earl Orkot of Bengala Town never paid much heed to these smaller territories.

Instead, it was they who cultivated many talents who would then move on to greater places, with Bengala Town being the prime destination, resulting in significant population drift from them.

So when he heard that people from Bengala Town were moving to Hope Village, he felt a malicious pleasure.

In any case, he was well aware that being together with a territory like Hope Village meant not only getting soup but also meat.

Hearing Viscount Lancelot's words, Zhou Bai was somewhat surprised.

Although there had been cooperation before, this was the first time she saw him being so formal!

Zhou Bai also weighed her options.

So far, cooperation with Glasgow Village had been favorable, and they had reminded her multiple times, keeping the business ties strong, which indeed could help in peaceful development.

Hope Village itself was an object of envy, and most importantly, like a giant mountain, Bengala Town loomed nearby!

If there could be a reliable "partner," the path of Hope Village would become much smoother.

Since both parties were already cooperating, it now just added a layer of security to that cooperation.

For both parties, it was a beneficial arrangement.

The decision then wasn't hard to make.

The next moment, Zhou Bai smiled at Viscount Lancelot, "I think so too."

Viscount Lancelot, hearing this, immediately smiled and then extended his hand, "Pleasure to cooperate."

"Pleasure to cooperate!"

Zhou Bai breathed a deep sigh of relief in her heart.

In this Stan Continent, within this Human Clan Kingdom, Hope Village had just made its first "partner"!