Chapter 416: Under Invasion

Trees were also configured.

Zhao Chi configured trees a total of 77 times, totaling 7,700 trees of varying sizes.

About 6,000 remain now.

It looks like a sizable number, but trees get consumed quickly.

Whether for construction or burning, wood is needed.

Zhao Chi has no way to replenish this yet; he'll need to think of a solution later.

Iron ore originally had around 5,400 units, but quite a bit has been mined.

This iron ore isn't all that much.

But after all, Zhao Chi's territory is only 10 square kilometers — the smallest tier of territory.

Having over 5,000 iron ore is already decent.

After all, his territory has a bonus; other lords by default have at most 3,000 units.

If it's plains terrain, it's even less.

The remaining iron ore in Zhao Chi's territory can forge about 200 sets of iron armor, shields included.

After all, iron armor uses a lot of material.

Helmet, war boots, cuirass, leg guards, gauntlets, shield.

Six pieces in total, each requiring a considerable amount of iron ingots to forge.

So the iron ore in the territory is only enough for about 200 full sets of armor.

If weapons are made instead, the number would be much higher.

One-handed weapons could produce 3,000–5,000 pieces.

And two-handed weapons could also produce about 1,000–2,000 pieces.

There's no good way to replenish iron ore for now either; they can only wait for the slow natural generation in the territory.

There's quite a bit of stone ore.

But Zhao Chi hasn't mined it for now.

After all, stone ore can only be used for building construction.

Given Zhao Chi's current situation, it's not a high priority.

However, stone is indeed indispensable.

After all, stone walls and wooden walls are not the same concept, and stone defense towers are far sturdier than wooden ones.

Stone can also be used to make stone-paved roads, which increase movement speed.

But building walls and roads has always been a major project — not something that can be done right now.

All of that is for later.

Not touching it for now.

Besides, these 18,000 units of stone aren't that much either; at most it'd be used up building a village-level wall.

Although Zhao Chi's territory has a bonus, it's still too small.

Once the territory is expanded later and new resources are acquired, the bonus can be applied to the new resources again.

But in any case, expansion is still necessary.

There's also some coal ore.

Coal ore has great uses.

It can be used for cooking, heating, smelting metal ingots, and so on.

And coal is an essential material for making steel.

These 3,600 units of coal ore in the territory are being stockpiled for now; mine them when needed.

Qi Yue reported earnestly.

She answered Zhao Chi's questions very seriously as well.

After the report, both fell silent.

Zhao Chi didn't want to leave her with a negative impression, so he took the initiative to apologize.

"Sorry, Qi Yue, I didn't do it on purpose just now. I was mainly listening to you speak so attentively that my mind was thinking, so my hands moved on their own subconsciously. There was absolutely no disrespect toward you."

What Zhao Chi said was the truth.

Sometimes when the mind is thinking, the hands move on their own subconsciously.

This is especially obvious during phone calls.

The same had just happened to Zhao Chi.

His hands naturally reached up and kneaded.

Qi Yue pressed her lips together and nodded.

"It's alright, my lord. I understand, and I don't mind. If you want to… you can continue; I can endure it."

Zhao Chi shook his head and said: "It's fine, you don't need to endure. You're perfect, but I don't want to take advantage of you, nor do I want to use my status to pressure you. Rest assured, until you're willing of your own accord, I won't make any more excessive moves."

Qi Yue's eyes blinked.

She picked up on two layers of meaning.

The first was that Zhao Chi held her in very high regard, using the word "perfect."

The second was that Zhao Chi also wanted to, but out of respect, didn't want to take advantage of her.

Qi Yue smiled.

She said softly: "My lord, I'm willing. I'm doing this of my own free will. Don't feel pressured."

【Your subordinate Qi Yue's sincerity level already increased to 8: Wholeheartedly Devoted】

【Qiyue's "Favorability" has been unlocked, current level: "Heart Flutter"】

She unlocked favorability too?

Good news.

Is it because he just touched her himself, so it unlocked?

Probably not.

Then it should be because of what he said.

It seems respecting them really does bring rewards.

If he had really listened to Qiyue just now and kept touching her, who knows whether it would have unlocked.

Qiyue stepped half a pace closer.

The two of them had not been far apart in the hot spring to begin with, and now they were even closer.

"My lord, you should have received my feelings by now, right? If you want to, you really may continue."

Zhao Chi actually felt a sense of being pressured.

Why does this kind of thing give him this feeling?

It seems he absolutely has to do it once more today, or Qiyue will be displeased, won't she?

It was Zhao Chi's first time feeling such a pressuring, alluring scene.

So he had no choice but to reach out again.

A gentle squeeze.

Qiyue pressed her lips together and smiled.

She lowered her head to look at Zhao Chi's hand.

"My lord, how does it feel? I don't have the great figure that Sister Gu Qing has — would you look down on me?"

Perfect, a freebie question.

Zhao Chi answered almost without thinking.

"How could I? Your kind of figure is the most perfect — everything is just right, all of it is just right, what I like most is your kind of figure."

Qiyue believed him.

It was the first time Zhao Chi saw her cover her mouth and laugh.

After a light laugh for a while, she drew even closer to Zhao Chi.

She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"My lord, if you want to in the future, just come find me anytime — I'll always be ready for you."