My Territory! (2-in-1)
After a day's march, Bai Xiaowen could already see the tall city walls of the new White Stone City.
The sheer size of White Stone City's walls is thanks to its previous lord, Maki, who commanded the tireless Plague Undead to work diligently, resulting in such a sturdy defense. Otherwise, the thinly constructed walls would have been difficult to hold against the Zombie horde spreading across the Northern Frontier.
"Halt! Who are you?"
The sentry on the city wall shouted loudly.
Kitz shouted, "It's the lord! Open the city gates immediately!"
The sentry ducked back inside, presumably to report the incident.
Bai Xiaowen said, "Let's take action first. Kill the Zombie near the city gate and clear out a safe area." He could see groups of three to five Zombie wandering around near the city gate.
A group of soldiers responded with a resounding roar.
However, just as Bai Xiaowen was advancing, the city gates suddenly opened, and a female general in white armor, her cloak fluttering, led a squad of crossbowmen out! At her command, the crossbowmen fired in unison, felling groups of Zombie to the ground.
The female general herself was incredibly powerful. She took off her longbow, shot arrows, and specifically targeted the tall, strong Elite Tier individuals in the Zombie horde. Almost every arrow pierced the head of Zombie Zombie.
The dozens of Zombie wandering around the city gate all fell to the ground in less than ten seconds.
"Put away the crossbows, switch to swords, and chop off the heads of these monsters!" The white-armored female general's voice was crisp and clear.
The crossbowmen drew their short swords from their waists and ran toward the Zombie that were lying on the ground, slowly recovering their Life Value. As long as they weren't attacked in the head, the Zombie wouldn't die even if their Life Value was depleted; they would only temporarily lose their ability to move.
However, after the crossbowmen chopped off the heads of the fallen Zombie, they were truly "dead."
"Cecilia." Bai Xiaowen nodded with a smile as he rode on his horse.
"Welcome back, Dio." The archer general was none other than the female lord Cecilia. She rode up on horseback, her face revealing undisguised joy.
"I originally intended to deal with them myself," Bai Xiaowen said. These are all Psionic Points, after all.
Cecilia had no idea what Bai Xiaowen was thinking. She chuckled softly, "It's alright. These days, I'll lead the troops out to sweep through every now and then. Consider it training. Look, these crossbowmen were originally ordinary people, but now they can be considered usable soldiers."
Bai Xiaowen nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work... Also, I'm sorry, your territory can never be returned to now."
"No, I should thank you instead," Cecilia said solemnly. "It is because of you that I was able to save some of my people, and the medicine provided by your subordinates gave them a second life... Dio, I hope you don't blame yourself for the Umbrella Plan. If it weren't for you, everyone in the Northern Frontier would have become Plague Undead sooner or later, and I would have lost my territory as well."
After a pause, Cecilia said with a smile, "Now, I've at least saved part of my people and have a place to stay. Dio, you won't kick us out, will you?"
"Of course not. White Stone City will always be your home, Cecilia," Bai Xiaowen stated. "Besides, I can't stay in the Northern Frontier ... or rather, in this world for much longer. I need to ask you to help me manage this territory... I wonder if you would be willing?"
Cecilia had received hints from Bai Xiaowen beforehand and knew about his extradimensional identity. Hearing Bai Xiaowen say this, she wasn't too surprised, but said with some sadness, "I do."
Spirit Realm Rules Message:
"Lord Cecilia has joined your territory."
"You possess White Stone Fief Permanent Enfeoffment Decree issued by the Crown Prince of the Gorseflower Empire."
"You have a level 2 city: Redleaf City, and you are located in Redleaf City."
"Would you like to make Redleaf City your main city?"
Bai Xiaowen led his army into the city alongside Cecilia, silently reciting, "Yes, I want to change the name of Redleaf City to White Stone City."
Spirit Realm Rules:
"Modification approved."
Your temporary Lord Panel has been upgraded to Lord Console.
"You can issue orders regarding city construction, personnel appointments and dismissals, resource allocation, and military operations to White Stone Fief through the Lord Console. This power originates from the Permanent Fief Deed Contract of the Gorseflower Empire and remains in effect until the demise of the Gorseflower Empire."
Bai Xiaowen multitasked by opening the Lord Console.
A somewhat ethereal map of White Stone Fief appeared before Bai Xiaowen's eyes. However, the map was covered with large swaths of black mist, and only parts of White Stone City and the former White Stone Town territory were visible.
Within the visible area of the map, there are various icons: a castle icon representing White Stone City, a village icon representing White Stone Town, an iron ore icon representing the Cliffside Iron Mine, and a small icon representing the White Stone Town silver mine...
Bai Xiaowen clicked on the castle icon of White Stone City, and the console interface instantly switched to a bird's-eye view of White Stone City, with a row of options next to it: personnel appointments and dismissals, city buildings, resource allocation, military operations...
Bai Xiaowen opened the appointment and dismissal options and found that only the city magistrate of White Stone City was available for dismissal. He tried to appoint one, and then a list of "Available Appointees" popped up, with ten character portraits, including Bai Xiaowen himself.
It's worth mentioning that Kitz and Zombie Doctor are both available as free options for the city lord. Besides them, there's Cecilia and several knights under her command.
"Li Shuyi and I won't choose... We can only stay for a few days, and we won't be here for most of the time. Let's appoint Cecilia then."
Bai Xiaowen made a dot on Cecilia's portrait.
"Do you wish to appoint Viscount Cecilia as the White Stone City? Note: After leaving the Kane Plane, all your daily management instructions for White Stone City will need to be carried out through the Lord. Please choose carefully."
Bai Xiaowen chose yes.
"You have appointed Viscount Cecilia as the White Stone City. Please announce this appointment before the people of White Stone City, signifying that you are relinquishing the power to govern White Stone City granted to you by the contract to Viscount Cecilia."
"You can now issue territorial management commands to Viscount Cecilia by reciting them silently, whether you are in the Spirit Realm Plane or on Earth."
Cecilia, who was chatting with Li Shuyi, suddenly looked over with an "Ah!" She felt a strange Psychic Sensing being established between her and Bai Xiaowen.
Bai Xiaowen smiled at her.
Then there are building options. This section contains more information.
Mill (Level 1): Produces food [Rye Bread].
"Is this... the combat food for Awakened Ones, that kind of Rye Bread?" Bai Xiaowen was startled and quickly asked. After receiving a definite answer from the Spirit Realm Rules, he was even more delighted.
"However, after I leave the Kane Plane, how will I get the Rye Bread produced by the Mill?" Bai Xiaowen had a new question.
The Spirit Realm Rules notification reads, "You can view the resources in your 'Warehouse' through the 'Resource Allocation' option in the Lord Console, and choose to transfer them to your private Storage Space. Note: Transferring resources will consume a certain amount of Psionic Points."
"How many Psionic Points it cost?" Bai Xiaowen gradually calmed down. If too many Psionic Points are consumed, this function is actually quite useless.
"The tax will be levied based on the assessed value of the goods themselves, with a tax rate between 10% and 30%."
"Very good." Bai Xiaowen felt certain; this ratio wasn't high!
Although all the resources produced within the White Stone Fief belong to Lord Bai Xiaowen, transferring them to his private Storage Space requires an extra fee, which is somewhat unpleasant, it's important to remember that this is a cross-dimensional transfer!
Is charging such a small shipping fee excessive? Not at all.
Bai Xiaowen instantly imagined that this was only a level 1 Mill, but once the building was upgraded to level 2, 3, or even higher, it would definitely produce more than just Rye Bread, right? The high-level foods he saw at the Blackrock Fortress quartermaster, and the foods that could increase buffs after being eaten, should also appear one after another.
Besides the Mill, White Stone City has other buildings that can produce other psionic items. These items can be transferred to Bai Xiaowen's Storage Space for 10% to 30% of their appraised value.
Tradeable items, such as food, are practically free money when traded. Moreover, the Spirit Realm Rules tend to be conservative in their valuation of items, and the actual selling price is generally higher than the estimated price.
With his possession of a territory, Bai Xiaowen already possesses the potential to become a wealthy individual among the Awakened!
As things develop in the future, the benefits this territory can bring him will only increase.
These thoughts flashed through Bai Xiaowen's Super Brain in an instant. 0.1 seconds later, he began to look down at the other buildings to confirm his guess.
Sure enough, below the Mill, there were blacksmith shops, jewelry stores, stables, research institutes... and many other buildings!
Blacksmith Shop (Level 2): Produces low-quality Gray Equipment (substandard products), standard blank equipment used by low-level Awakened. Currently, it can produce blank hand crossbows, short swords, and leather armor.
Jewelry Shop (Level 1): Produces low-quality or unremarkable jewelry and accessories. Currently, it can produce unremarkable rings and decorative earrings.
Stable (Level 2): Produces ordinary horses and ordinary military horses.
Research Institute (Level 3): Produces various potions.
There's something special about this research institute: several types of medicines are available, such as the Plague Bane series, WD-03 Disguise Fluid, and WD-03 induction solution. However, the latter two are out of stock, and only Plague Bane is on the shelves.
Clicking on the research institute reveals a human (?) avatar – Zombie Doctor's large head. Once you choose to remove Zombie Doctor from the institute, it immediately drops to level 1, and all the special potions it produces disappear, leaving only a "small life potion," with effects similar to the "Silverlight Potion" found in Earth's pharmacies.
"I understand... These special buildings require people with corresponding secondary professions to work on them in order to upgrade their building level!"
When Bai Xiaowen attacked the city and fought against the three Boss Tier of the Plague Undead, many residents of Redleaf City chose to flee with their valuables.
Residents who are able to move around easily, who don't worry about starving on the road or losing their livelihood in a new environment, are mostly skilled workers or "secondary professionals." Those who stay with trepidation are mostly ordinary residents without any special talents.
Thinking of this, Bai Xiaowen felt a pang of heartache. Why did you run away with your valuables? Now you've all turned into Zombie! Stay here, and this lord can heal you!
Therefore, White Stone City is currently in a state of poor prosperity, and the level of its special buildings is not high. Fortunately, Cecilia brought a group of people, some of whom should be skilled in secondary professions, to fill some gaps, such as blacksmith shops and stables.
Moreover, given the current situation in Northern Frontier, it's unlikely that they can attract any outside talent in secondary professions in the short term. They can only rely on the local talent to hone their skills and improve their secondary profession levels.
Further along, there are medicinal herb gardens, mines, logging camps, barracks, taverns, and other buildings.
Lumberyards and mines are structures that provide building materials for the territory, so they don't require any specialized personnel.
Barracks (Level 3): A special building for recruiting and training soldiers. Currently, Cecilia, the city lord, serves as the barracks lord, and can train the following soldiers: archers, crossbowmen, and Light Cavalry. However, Cecilia's abilities are clearly not limited to these. Above these two troop types, there are also "strong archers," "heavy crossbowmen," and "heavy cavalry," but these cannot be trained at the moment due to the level of the blacksmith shop.
Herb Garden (Level 1): Can grow some common psionic herbs from the Northern Frontier. Currently producing: Coldroot Grass and Silverthread Flower, both low-level herbs.
What's particularly interesting is the tavern, a place designed to attract adventurers. You can recruit adventurers to join White Stone Fief or issue quest contracts for adventurers to complete.
However, as I said before, given the current state of the Northern Frontier, virtually no adventurers will come. Only two types of people can afford to visit the White Stone City Tavern: lucky fools or highly skilled experts. The proportion of these two types is... far too small compared to the entire adventurer population.
In addition to the buildings mentioned above, there are also some grayed-out building options on the top-down map of White Stone City. These are special buildings that have not yet met the construction requirements.
For example, an inscription shop is used to make magic scrolls, but it requires at least one systematically educated magic apprentice to be built—that's the official statement, which translates to needing someone with an inscription secondary profession.
Bai Xiaowen summarized that this territory could be described as having a "bright future," but it was currently in a stage of rebuilding. Fortunately, with Cecilia, an experienced and highly skilled female lord, the territory could develop normally, and there was no need to worry about anything going wrong after she left.
Bai Xiaowen summoned the army and the people, publicly displayed the Permanent Fief Deed, and announced the appointment of Cecilia as the lord of White Stone City, granting her the power to make decisions on all matters, large and small, within the White Stone Fief, second only to the lord himself.