Chu Cheng thought about it and didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "What do you think is rational?"

"I don't know." Ye Miao sighed briefly. "As a lord, I should prioritize the development of my territory. But to be fair, even though the territory is developing well now, I never seem to have truly prioritized its development."

Chu Cheng: "What do you mean?" He paused, then continued, "I thought that not blindly pursuing combat power was a decision you made after careful consideration."

"That was indeed my decision after careful consideration. I felt from the beginning that if we only focused on combat power, the situation would inevitably become unbalanced and unsuitable for long-term development." Ye Miao didn't deny this, adding, "But if that were the only approach, we wouldn't be adding members who are elderly, children, or those whose five skills and attributes are less than impressive. I have absolute control over the territory, and I can carefully select from all aspects. That way, the territory might not necessarily become more prosperous than it is now, but it will be even stronger."

"To put it more extreme, if I wanted to, I could also sacrifice players in Sandstorm mode in exchange for a large amount of gold to rapidly develop my territory."

Chu Cheng nodded, not denying the statement, but simply asked her, "Then what are you struggling with now?"

Ye Miao pursed her lips. "Now I'm thinking, if I didn't prioritize the development of the territory like before, I could have let in as many players as possible. But this is actually different from what happened before—there are too many of them. If they all flooded into the territory, it might seriously slow down the development process and disrupt the good atmosphere that has always existed. It's hard to predict."

Chu Cheng understood her thoughts after hearing this: "So you are struggling now because if you make the wrong choice, everyone might suffer."

"right."

Chu Cheng leaned against the backrest, crossed his arms and thought for a while, then smiled and said, "I have an idea. It may not sound good, but don't be angry."

Ye Miao: "You say."

Chu Cheng said: "In fact, there is no such thing as equal relationships in the end times, at least not yet."

Ye Miao frowned slightly but didn't interrupt him. Chu Cheng continued, "I know you've been doing your best to protect the rights of ordinary members while limiting your own expansion. But that's just your willingness. In reality, everyone can only obey the lord and doesn't have much choice."

"So, when you ask me what to do when something happens—" Chu Cheng smiled, "If there are two choices that are clearly good or bad, I will of course choose the good one. But when there are options like this with both pros and cons, I support you in pursuing your true heart."

Ye Miao remained silent.

When she spoke to Chu Cheng, she originally wanted to hear an opposing opinion because from the lord's perspective, blindly letting everyone in was too irrational.

As soon as this thought came to her mind, she knew it was not a good idea, but the problem was that before entering this world, she was not someone who had experienced many storms. When she suddenly entered the end of the world, she could still kill decisively and appropriately, but watching thousands or even tens of thousands of people die outside was a completely different kind of psychological pressure.

She couldn't bear that kind of guilt.

Looking at the entire map of T City, there are probably few people who can bear that kind of guilt.

So she wanted to find someone to refute her and suppress her unrealistic kindness, so that her guilt could be alleviated. But Chu Cheng actually asked her to pursue her true heart, and she suddenly didn't know what to do.

"What's more," Chu Cheng paused, his tone becoming brighter. "You're neither a bad person nor a saintly person. As a member of your territory, I believe that no matter what choice you make, the result will not be bad."

Ye Miao held her breath. She didn't know if it was because she had "other intentions" towards him recently, but she felt that his words sounded particularly touching.

"Don't worry about it." Chu Cheng picked up a steamed dumpling and dipped it in vinegar. "You asked me if it was rational. I think for someone like you, pursuing your true self is rational. You know right from wrong, good from evil, and what kind of bad consequences are acceptable and what are not. If you try to ignore the suffering outside, you will never get over it."

"...You're right." Ye Miao's heart skipped a beat after his secret was exposed. He nodded slowly, "I know what to do."

At noon that day, the Overnight Rich City issued a world announcement to recruit a new round of members by lottery. There were 1,000 places available every day. Those who passed the application had to join the territory within 1 hour. If they did not arrive on time, their place would be invalidated.

The daily limit of 1,000 people is intended to avoid chaos caused by a large influx of refugees as much as possible; the time limit of 1 hour is intended to ensure that the people coming in are already homeless and have places to stay in other territories, so there is no need to rush.

As for the lottery, it's about giving everyone hope. The locust plague is a devastating disaster, and amidst despair, some people inevitably commit suicide or collapse. But if there's a glimmer of hope hanging in the air, perhaps they can hold on for a few more days. If they can make it through this period, they might even survive.

When this message was sent out, there was jubilation outside the territory.

Ye Miao made lottery cards and distributed them as he did when recruiting new members before. The number of cards distributed each day was not fixed, but the number of winning places was always controlled at one thousand.

In addition, she also set up a relief station outside the territory. In order to avoid chaos, the relief station was guarded by Chu Cheng and four other high-level players. Absolute combat power is the most effective way to maintain order in the apocalypse.

[Item: Brown Rice Porridge]

【Quality: White】

[Description: After consumption, it can effectively relieve hunger and restore physical strength.]

[Item: Vegetable Dumpling]

【Quality: White】

[Description: After consumption, it can effectively relieve hunger and restore physical strength.]

The relief station only provided these two types of food, and they were supplied on a rotating basis. Ye Miao had carefully calculated that this would ensure that the territory would still have enough food and clothing after the influx of newcomers, and the loss of money would not be too great.

That evening, the 1,000 lucky winners from the first round of lottery successfully joined the territory. Meanwhile, thanks to the presence of the relief station, the mood of the large number of refugees outside the territory has stabilized. Occasionally, members would go out, and while they would inevitably be stopped and begged, there had been no robberies. However, for safety reasons, Ye Miao had Xiaomei and her team increase the number of personnel and patrols.

At the same time, the lords’ group was chatting animatedly.

Everyone had seen the announcement Ye Miao had made, and many lords agreed, believing it was a good way to save lives without destroying their own territories. Those familiar with Ye Miao, such as An Ruoying, Hua Yao, and Guo Li, joined in directly, contributing as much as they could based on their abilities.

But there were also many people who opposed it. Seeing that everyone was chatting enthusiastically in the group, someone said impatiently: "Whoever wants to do good things should do it. Don't use morality to blackmail others."

"It's the end of the world now. I don't deserve to be the Holy Mother. Whoever wants to be the Holy Mother can do it."

"That's right. Besides, as lords, the safety of our territory members is our most important thing, right? I don't agree with putting our own people in danger just to save outsiders."

Those who agreed with the statement immediately retorted, "Are you being a saint? Brother, this is the life and death of tens of thousands of people! If you don't want to help, just shut up and stop being so hypocritical."

"Who is in power and who is in power? How can you speak like that?"

There was a small quarrel in the group over this and it ended in a bad mood.

On the fourth day of the locust plague, Ye Miao expanded his territory again. The first thing he did after the expansion was to build ion turrets to resist the locusts, and then continue the lottery.

In no time, the lords' group had split into two factions. The lords who supported her formed a separate group to discuss how to overcome the current difficulties together.

Someone asked, "What kind of food do your relief centers provide? I had some fried diced meat made yesterday, but the cost is so high! I can't afford it!"

"You're really spending all your money on aid. All I have here is brown rice porridge."

"I'm almost there too. If you really can't stand it, just add some oil to the porridge and cook it together. Don't make it too exaggerated!"

Someone else asked, "How many disaster victims do you accept per day? I set the quota based on getting rich overnight at 1,000, but it feels a bit overwhelming..."

"I only make 500 a day here. Everyone should work within their capabilities, okay? Don't push yourself to death!"

"I only have 100. I'm definitely not strong enough. Just do what you can. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

The group here became lively, and the original large group quickly cooled down. Ye Miao guessed that the remaining people should have also created a separate group, but since they didn't plan to do anything, the purpose of that group was probably just to complain about them.

Ye Miao's plan proceeded in an orderly manner. In the next few days, the atmosphere in the territory was indeed a bit chaotic. There were rare disputes such as quarrels in the market. But overall, it was much better than what Ye Miao had worried about before he decided to do this.

Then it seemed like just a blink of an eye, and the locust plague mode had reached the 15th day. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief thinking that this crappy mode would end tomorrow.

Ye Miao got up early and ran to the warehouse to happily count the inventory. He gathered together the ingredients with the largest inventory, and outsourced them to a few restaurants, asking them to cook two decent dishes. He then made a large pot of vegetable porridge as the food provided by the relief station today.

By tomorrow, those who haven't joined a territory yet can find another way out! With the locust plague over, everyone can take a break. Territories that were on the brink of failure during the locust plague and didn't dare to recruit will also begin recruiting new members.

Outside the territory, the victims also looked expectant.

As everyone prepared to move, they talked about how they had survived the past few days. They were all grateful for the pure land in front of them, but they felt a pity that they were unlucky and had not been able to join after so many days of drawing lots.

That night, everyone in and outside the territory slept soundly. Even as Ye Miao fell asleep, his mind was still pounding, as he pondered how to plan the territory next.

This model forced her to expand the territory by two times within a few days, so the residential area must be added, and the original four communities cannot be expanded indefinitely.

She also thought that the barrier stone could be removed and no longer used.

In fact, when she was fighting in the territory war before, she realized that the barrier stone was no longer very effective for high-level territories. Although each attack only cost 1 point of blood, the enemy would definitely attack in groups when the weapons were clashing, and it would only take a few minutes to remove the protective shield.

If you really want to do a good job of defense, you still have to rely on the player's combat power and defensive turrets.

If she no longer used the barrier stone, she could open more gates. The territory wall didn't actually have a limit on the number of gates, but the barrier only had one by default, which couldn't be modified.

Opening more city gates would make it easier for people to travel, and businesses like commerce would flourish. This way, her territory might gradually become a major commercial hub...

Ye Miao seemed to be still thinking about this matter even in his dreams, and his ideals became more and more full.

But the harsh reality is: on the 16th day, the locust plague mode did not end.

The author has something to say:

Ye Miao: grass.

I'll give out red envelopes to 50 random comments on this chapter.