Chapter 2: What a Huge Territory

( ) left the bank, Town Ji led him to a room on the second floor and said: "This is the Floating Island Inn, you are His Majesty Claude's most honored guest, the tavern's beer is always free for you. In a moment, a land lottery ceremony will be held here."

"Hey, Huo Xing Nan, didn't you return to your Mars?" a school‑uniform girl waved at him from beside a nearby table.

Town Ji said, "Then please feel free to go first, because there is one more volunteer to attend to, so I can only stay here for now. After purchasing land, you can wander around; many necessities are available here, after all a ticket to the Floating Island is still very expensive."

Li Bucai said thank you, found a seat beside the school‑uniform girl, and a server brought a large mug of beer; the two chatted for a while. Soon after Town Ji ushered the last volunteer in, the Lord of the Floating Island—Emperor Claude appeared in the lobby surrounded by guards, holding a grand welcome ceremony. When the ceremony ended, the beautiful woman from the registration desk led a group carrying boxes inside, first handing each person a panoramic map of the continent. The map clearly showed mountains and rivers, with regions outlined in red lines and numbered; the three continents together comprised ten thousand Territories.

Then someone carrying a wooden box walked into the crowd, letting each volunteer draw a bamboo stick engraved with a number; receiving the number also granted the corresponding Territory on the map, after which a Lord's Token was presented.

Li Bucai casually picked one out; the number displayed was 9527, a piece of land in the continent's northeast corner. Afterwards, someone handed a Territory map that detailed the continent's overview.

Territory 9527 lies in the continent's northeast, bounded on the east by the White Horse River, extending west to Chaos Cliff Mountain, north to the midline of Shalanjiang, which is several times wider than the White Horse River, and south to Holy Spirit Snow Mountain. It measures 600 km north‑south and 300 km east‑west, covering a total area of 180,000 km², three‑quarters of which is mountainous. The climate is a northern temperate continental monsoon, with annual highs of 30 °C and lows of –25 °C.

Li Bucai couldn't help but exclaim, "Whoa, what a huge area—larger than many provinces. Too bad it's a bitter‑cold region, but luckily it's not winter now."

"8976… where is it…" the school‑uniform girl muttered, buried in searching for her own Territory.

Li Bucai took her bamboo stick and glanced, "Unfortunately, we become neighbors again."

The school‑uniform girl followed his finger, "Wow, it's a peninsula."

That Territory extends into the ocean, occupying the entire peninsula, surrounded on three sides by sea. A White Horse River flowing from beneath the perpetually snow‑capped Holy Spirit Snow Mountain at the southwest corner separates it from Territory 9527. To the north, Shalanjiang runs 20 km from the border line into the East Sea. Its area is slightly smaller, 160,000 km², with only half the land mountainous. Being coastal, the climate is much milder, with a low of –18 °C.

"You don't want to be my neighbor? Don't worry, I'll make you the first 'lucky one' I conquer."

"Can I conquer you right now?"

……

The biggest rule of the game is that there are no rules; you can build a manor in your Territory, hire a few servants to live carefree, or break out of your Territory to claim the Four Seas. But the prerequisite is that you must have the power to obtain the Four Seas.

After paying for the land, each person is left with only one gold coin. The Floating Island invites them here because it cannot sustain a large populace, so people are abundant, but food—Nature's most scarce resource—is lacking; no amount of money can buy it, though a small supply of seeds and various livestock chicks can be provided.

Li Bucai didn't understand why so many people starve from lack of farmland yet refuse to live on the continent below, preferring to stay hungry on the small island.

Productivity here is also backward; shops only sell primitive bronze tools.

The first floor houses eight shops: a bank, auction house, weapons forge, carpenter's shop, stables, livestock market, grain‑seed store, and a First-Class Ren Li Shi Chang. The second floor contains a tavern, armor shop, general store, apothecary, leather goods market, and a Second-Class Ren Li Shi Chang; the entire third floor is occupied solely by the library.

One must carefully consider the use of that single gold coin.

Human Resources here are relatively cheap; a servant for production costs only 5 silver, while a guard starts at 10 silver.

In the barren hills, the first priority is a stable dwelling; even at this early stage, at least a wooden fort must be built, requiring two to three extremely strong laborers for logging. Then comes food. On the Bureinam Continent, a harvest season takes only three months. It is currently spring, but labor is limited, preventing large‑scale land clearing, and upon first arriving at a Territory there is not a single grain seed. Distant water cannot quench nearby fire, so one might clear a small area, fish by the river, and gather wild vegetables…

Li Bucai wandered while calculating in his mind; as he was pondering, a flash of vivid beauty caught his eye and he blurted, "Whoa, where did all these beauties come from?"

Looking up at the sign on the doorway, he realized it was the Second-Class Ren Li Shi Chang. A quick glance revealed at least a thousand people within sight; none appeared to be over twenty, none under eighty percent, and none with poor physiques. He felt dizzy, discarding all prior thoughts, and thought nothing was more important than having a few more beauties nearby.

"Hey, this is so unfair—only beauties, no handsome men. Are you going in or not? You're stupidly standing there blocking my view."

The school‑uniform girl appeared behind him at an unknown moment; after they split upon entering the Territory, when he saw her again she seemed a different person. She had shed her school uniform for a purple dress, a yellow copper light armor over it, a copper crown, and two long pheasant feathers. A flowing cape billowed behind her, making her look both majestic and charming. In an instant she transformed from a naïve student into a dashing female commander.

Behind her stood an orderly squad: two girls on each side, and beside the girls, thirteen tall, handsome youths.

If it weren't for that familiar voice, Li Bucai would have almost failed to recognize her.

"How about it?" the school‑uniform girl asked smugly, hand on hip.

"120 points."

"Out of a thousand?"

"No, percent scale. Since you're about to become my principal wife, I'll add 0.01 points for you."

"Die! A playboy like you—my handsome guys are already wiped out, and you're not getting any."

Li Bucai thought inwardly, "Whoa, not even old, his playboy level rivals mine."

……

Because the Second-Class Ren Li Shi Chang does not admit First-Class personnel, only the two of them entered one after the other.

The market is divided into two zones: one for youths, all lined up on the left, out of sight from the entrance; the other for girls aged 18–20, together numbering ten thousand, with all sorts of handsome men and beautiful women, enough to make any newly arrived lord feel dizzy.

The market manager stood at the entrance, a robust man in flamboyant attire. Seeing new lords arrive, he beamed and bowed to the two, saying, "I am Zheng Zheng, honored to serve you. These are all our elites; you may choose freely."

He then gave a brief overview: the personnel are divided into three grades and four categories—Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Intelligence. Grade 1 costs 10 silver and can be trained up to elite soldier level; Grade 2 can become deputy commanders, priced much higher, starting at 1 gold; Grade 3 can be trained into a regional general, and with luck, a single person could become a nation‑founding commander, though the price is steep, starting at 100 gold.

These prices are only transaction costs; after acquiring the talent, you must pay monthly wages, which are not fixed and can be negotiated when hiring. The amount depends on the lord's charisma. If wages are not paid on time at month‑end, morale drops sharply; a second missed payment will cause them to leave.

Due to limited space and the early stage, there are currently no personnel above Grade 2; separate zones will be allocated later.

The school‑uniform girl, already impatient, went alone into the male section to choose.

Zheng Zheng said, "That's basically the situation here. Um… forgive my presumption, I have a matter, and if the lord isn't too busy, could you…?"

Before Zheng Zheng could finish, the school‑uniform girl shouted, "Hey, Huo Xing Nan, come help me strategize."

Li Bucai replied, "Coming." He wanted to hear the rest: "What's the matter?"

"My matter is trivial. Since that lord is eager to find you, I, Zheng Zheng, dare not disturb. After you're done, if you still have time and don't mind, I would then trouble you."

"Alright."

Li Bucai stepped aside from Zheng Zheng and went to the school‑uniform girl.

"You said… which of these three should I pick?" he gestured at the three people before him.

Looking at their appearances: one is the majestic type, holding a wooden shield in one hand and a copper axe in the other; another is the cute type, wielding a bow; the third is the dashing type, cradling a Short Sword.

"Do you want appearance or ability?" Li Bucai asked. In fact, all three looked quite good.

"Both."

"So that means all three are the type you like?"

"Hmm… compared to you, I guess…"

"Whoa, I'm at least your temporary adviser now; you've even made a loyal minister think of rebellion. If you like them all, given my temperament… just hire all three, right?"

You think I don't want to, and you've seen those people outside me—how could there be any spare money to recruit so many?

"In that case… looking at your gear, you're basically a tiger ready to charge the battlefield…"

The school‑uniform girl gave him a withering glance and kicked him hard.

Li Bucai pointed at the one holding a shield and said, "This one's good."

"Why?"

"Shield Guard summons monsters, so my dear won't get hurt," he still uses that online‑game trope.

The school‑uniform girl narrowed her eyes and glanced at him, thinking to herself: "You still claim she's your official wife, yet you help the dear you mentioned pick a handsome man." Irritated, she said, "Fine, that's it, thanks for picking someone for me to use against you; now you can disappear."

……