Territory Expansion

However, this problem did not trouble Li Wei for long.

Under the bartender's watchful gaze, Li Wei forced himself to clamber awkwardly onto the horse. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the bartender nearly reaching out to help several times.

Yet the instant he successfully mounted, a familiar feeling surged through Li Wei.

It felt much like cooking.

Whenever Li Wei intended to act, the horse beneath him seemed to understand his thoughts. At the slightest shift of his mind, it immediately responded accordingly.

It was the system. The system was assisting with the controls!

Li Wei could tell that this assistance could still be interrupted at any time. He could control the horse with his actual skills if he wanted to, but he certainly would not be doing that now.

With the system's assistance, Li Wei immediately felt much more confident.

Early the next morning, he rode one horse while leading another to the farmer's home from before, picked up two chickens, loaded them into a cage, and set off.

This return journey did not take any less time than the trip there.

Although horses were faster than Li Wei, they still needed rest and fodder.

When Roadside Fortress came into view, Li Wei let out a sigh of relief.

There were no signs that the gate had been tampered with. It seemed things had remained peaceful during this time.

After temporarily settling the two horses and two chickens, Li Wei returned to the castle and sorted through his supplies.

First came smelting.

Li Wei tossed the large pile of gold items he had bought from William into the Anti-Smelter. His luck was fairly good; in the end, he obtained four gold ingots and one Gold Grain.

He immediately crafted two Golden Carrots.

Li Wei ran over to the horses and held a Golden Carrot by one horse's mouth.

The horse found the Golden Carrot somewhat novel, but did not bite into it immediately. It sniffed it first, then, after confirming that it seemed to be merely a somewhat differently colored carrot, bit down and began chewing.

Before long, several red hearts appeared above its head.

Li Wei did not waste a moment. He immediately took out the second Golden Carrot and fed it to the other horse.

The two horses unconsciously moved closer together.

Before long.

Achievement Unlocked: "Where Do I Come From?"

Description: Successfully breed a pair of animals.

When he looked again, a somewhat dazed-looking foal had already squeezed itself between the two adult horses.

One of the adult horses seemed to have been startled by the foal's sudden appearance. Its eyes widened as it backed away several steps.

Li Wei, however, was overjoyed.

His luck was not bad.

The foal's speed was a full 11 points, having inherited the genes of the fastest horse.

Its health, meanwhile, was 26 points.

While the two adult horses stared in astonishment at the child that had appeared out of nowhere, Li Wei brought out the two chickens and fed them wheat seeds.

Before long, a chick with eyes full of wisdom was born.

Looking at those wisdom-filled eyes, Li Wei could not help but sigh.

These foolish children all looked the same.

With a foal in his left hand and a chick in his right, Li Wei felt that the future was bright.

He did not even rest that day. He directly picked up a pickaxe and Cobblestone and began tearing down and rebuilding the walls.

In just one day, he expanded the Territory by more than double.

He also laid out new zones for agriculture and animal husbandry, along with a separate horse paddock and stable.

At this point, Roadside Fortress's Territory was already quite large, roughly tens of thousands of square meters. Anyone who saw it would think it was the home of some Great Lord.

While expanding, Li Wei did not forget to continue breeding animals. Once the number of bred animals reached two, he no longer needed the original two horses and two chickens.

After giving it some thought, Li Wei simply fenced off a separate plot to raise them in, keeping them apart from the animals bred later.

After finishing all that, Li Wei continued planning the agricultural area.

Pumpkins, wheat, potatoes, carrots, Corn, scallions, ginger, garlic...

Another day passed. Looking at the neatly divided plots before him, Li Wei felt deeply satisfied.

The crop seeds were growing vigorously. Though the pasture was somewhat empty now, it would be filled sooner or later as breeding continued. As for the horses, he had only bred two so far, and his gold was already insufficient, so he could only put that aside for now. Still, at least he had horses to use now—horses that could run endlessly without resting, consuming three blades of grass per hundred kilometers, and even those three blades were only symbolically nibbled once.

Overall, Roadside Fortress was flourishing.

That night, the pumpkin stem ripened with Bone Meal grew its first square pumpkin.

Li Wei placed it atop Iron Blocks and summoned the Territory's first Iron Golem.

Clang!

The instant the Iron Blocks and pumpkin touched, they fused together, transforming into a more than three-meter-tall, long-armed Iron Giant covered in moss and vines.

Unlike the blocky version in the game, this Iron Golem had a more realistic appearance and looked somewhat rounder, though its dumbfounded expression had not changed.

As soon as it was summoned, the Iron Golem began wandering around the Territory and patrolling it.

The Iron Golem's way of identifying targets was simple.

Those with malicious intent, attack. Those without it, leave alone.

A day later, there were twenty Iron Golems in the castle.

With so many Iron Golems guarding the place, they could easily deal with a squad of fewer than a hundred men. Even if several hundred Orcs came, they would not be unable to fight them.

It could be said that the Territory's security now had its initial guarantee.

Another week passed like this.

The crops in the Territory had already been harvested once. Seeing several stacks of vegetables in the warehouse, Li Wei felt the heartfelt joy of a bountiful harvest.

That evening, he pulled a few scallions and made stir-fried beef with scallions.

It was delicious.

This life was practically heavenly.

That day, Li Wei went out to mine as usual when he suddenly spotted three Wild Bulls drinking by the lake.

He immediately changed course and quietly approached the lakeshore. This time, rather than rushing in with his sword swinging, he exerted tremendous effort to pen one in, knock it unconscious, and invite it back to the castle.

21/30

Wild Bulls really were different. Their health was absurdly high.

The next day, Li Wei continued lying in wait by the lake, and at last another wild bull appeared.

As before, he knocked it unconscious and dragged it back.

Just like that, the two wild bulls had company in the pasture. Li Wei, meanwhile, gained an infinite supply of milk and also bred two wild bull calves with wheat, securing his future meat supply as well.

This wave could be called a win-win—Li Wei won twice.

After the Wild Bulls, Li Wei discovered that Wild Boars had begun appearing nearby.

So he used the same method again.

Lie in wait, slowly approach, pen it in, knock it unconscious, drag it back.

After settling the Wild Boars, Li Wei took some time to make a simple egg-collecting device.

It was really just a few hoppers placed beneath the chicken coop, connected to a chest below.

That way, he would not have to pick up eggs himself in the future.

For half a month straight after returning from Bree, Li Wei's days had been exceptionally fulfilling. Not a moment went idle; he was either mining or tending to the crops and animals in the Territory.

As a result, although he used iron every day, his stockpile only grew rather than shrank.

And the Iron Vein showed no sign of being exhausted at all. It seemed to still contain abundant iron ore.

Seeing that everything was orderly and developing smoothly, with supplies also quite plentiful.

Two more days passed, and Li Wei prepared to head east.

Early in the morning, Li Wei put a saddle on the faster of the two horses and equipped it with Iron Horse Armor. Just as he was about to set out.

An unexpected visitor arrived.

Falrodan.

"Hello!"

Li Wei, fully equipped, called out from a distance. "How have you been lately?"

"Fair enough."

Falrodan glanced over Roadside Fortress with a look of surprise. "I feel like this place has become different. It seems much bigger, and..."

He looked toward the farms and pastures inside the walls again. "I remember these weren't here when I came last time..."

"Oh, I planted those a few days ago."

A few days ago?

That Corn looked as though it had been growing for two months!

Forget it. This fellow could not be judged by common sense.

This Ranger had gradually learned to get used to Li Wei. Looking at the neatly dressed Li Wei, who was also leading a horse that did not seem particularly intelligent, he asked, "It seems I came at a bad time. Are you heading out?"

"Yes, I plan to go take a look at Rivendell."

"Rivendell..." Falrodan gave Li Wei a glance.

"I know the place. There is a small path through the wilderness that leads there. I hope you won't get lost."

The experienced Ranger spoke of a shortcut leading to Rivendell.

Thanks to Ye Wu Ming Guang Wu An for the two monthly tickets, and thanks to Xiao Xin Shi Jian for the 100-point donation. Thank you for the support!