Have at least 2,600 members (2,600/2,600);

·The post station is upgraded to Lv3 (2/3);

Have at least 4 shotgun turrets (0/4)

The total tax amount reaches 600,000 gold (600,000/600,000).

"After achieving all goals, you can upgrade [Get Rich Overnight Town] to [Get Rich Overnight City] by spending 1,000,000 gold coins."

“Upgrading to a city will give you a larger territory and more privileges.”

In the villa's bedroom, Ye Miao stared at the upgrade panel for a long time, cursing the system in his heart for being inhuman.

There were four tasks required to upgrade a town to a city, and she had already completed them. While the upgrade seemed easy, it actually cost 300,000 gold to upgrade the post station from level 2 to level 3, and another 300,000 gold to upgrade the mortar turret to a shotgun turret. This was a huge sum of money, and even if she confiscated several large boxes of gold from Wei Hua, it wouldn't be enough to cover the upgrade costs.

Ye Miao felt a little regretful for a moment about the extensive beautification of the territory he had previously done. Buying flower beds, setting up fences, and building fountains had all resulted in a lot of extra expenses. He had felt good about spending money at the time, but now he was upgrading the crematorium.

But on second thought, she shook her head again.

Forget it, the money's already spent, there's no point in regretting it. Besides, the landscaping has definitely improved the territory's environment. If it weren't so expensive, she'd like to have the entire territory tiled and have some kind of road built. While the current system-default ground surface doesn't cause the same dust problems as real life, it's still unsightly and bare. Her goal for her territory isn't just for everyone to "just survive," but to pursue a better life. So, within her ability, there's nothing wrong with doing something to improve quality of life at every stage. If she does nothing during the development process and leaves all the landscaping work to the end, the cost will be the same, and the system won't let her haggle just because she refuses to buy.

So it is better to take it step by step and don’t be too impatient about anything, whether it is beautification or upgrading.

After thinking about it, Ye Miao spent money to upgrade the level of the post station, because there was also a post station at the stronghold, but it was very deserted. It looked like it had to be built in order to upgrade the territory and complete the task, but no one actually used it.

The stronghold was different now. With the reputation of getting rich overnight and 80 merchants moving there, it was likely to attract a small group of merchants. Upgrading the post station in the main territory would also upgrade the post station in the stronghold, effectively spending money to benefit both sides.

After pressing the "Confirm Upgrade" button, the gold coins were deducted instantly. Although Ye Miao didn't have that much in her backpack, and the deduction didn't come from her bag, she could imagine that there must be a large empty box in the warehouse by now. The thought made her feel painful again.

"When will I be able to achieve true financial freedom..." Ye Miao muttered to himself, but the moment he thought about it, he knew it was impossible.

Economic freedom was a daunting task for even those who lived on their own, let alone the lord. Before she entered the game, she had lived in a relatively normal world. But apart from those war-torn places, even in the supposedly wealthy countries, she had never heard of any truly achieving the exaggerated concept of "economic freedom."

"Sigh." Ye Miao sighed lightly, turned off the panel, and prepared to save money to upgrade the turrets again. In addition to upgrading, he also had to build a few new ones. Because the territory is now larger and the border line is longer, the attack range of the previous ones is no longer enough to cover the entire edge area. If monsters like the Zerg or the Frost Giants that specifically attack the territory appear again, it will be a bit troublesome.

Wang Yong's business team returned to the territory before noon and went straight to Da Hu Restaurant for dinner. While chatting at the table about which store to go to for purchasing goods, they worked overtime to choose the route for the next business trip.

Miao Lin happened to pass by and noticed them, and said with a smile: "Are you going out again after dinner? Why are you business people also rolling up your sleeves?"

"Oh, let's work hard while we're still safe!" Zheng Sisi turned around while chewing on a red bean paste bun. "What if it gets extremely cold again? That would be so annoying. It would affect our efficiency and waste medicine. Let's make more money while we're safe. If we can't leave the house later, we can just rely on our savings to survive."

"That's right." Miao Lin nodded in understanding.

Judging by the current setup, merchant teams are essentially "spontaneous" workers. By comparison, even farming players like Sun Chen are less impressive. Because farming takes place within their territory, monster attacks and the like are completely inconsequential. Even in extreme weather, changes within the territory are delayed by several days. The farmland was affected somewhat during the recent particularly cold spell, and no reliable solution has been found. However, the harvests have been good, and the team members have accumulated considerable savings.

It’s different for the merchant teams. They are on the road, and almost every incident will have different degrees of impact on them. The only difference is whether they can cope with it or not, and whether people will die or not.

Therefore, the peaceful period is indeed precious to the business team, and it is wise for them to seize this opportunity to make more money.

Miao Lin offered, "I have some extra ramen and stir-fries that you guys like to buy every day, so I'll bring them over. If you're planning on working non-stop for the next few days... Lao Hu and I will stock up."

"Thank you, we'll pay the deposit!" Wang Yong just took a sip of spicy soup and said with a smack of his lips.

Miao Lin smiled and said, "Okay, I'll tell you the bill later. You guys eat first, and someone can come to the kitchen to get something after you're done."

"Okay, I'll be there in a moment!" Li Han volunteered.

Wang Yong quickly finished the last two mouthfuls of noodles in the bowl, wiped his mouth, opened the map and continued planning his route.

In the past, they weren't in a rush when traveling for business, and they planned their routes to be as safe as possible, visiting only two or three territories each time. But now, taking advantage of the peace period and the fact that most places were considered safe, they focused their route planning on "visiting as many territories as possible."

Wang Yong roughly drew a line on the map. Zheng Sisi looked up and said, "Hey, since we're going through T City, why don't we stop by the stronghold on the way?"

"Why go to the stronghold?" Wang Yong scoffed. "The stronghold is the former Red Maple Village. We've been there before, but our spending power is too low. We can't afford anything. Let's not bother."

"It's a different time now," Zheng Sisi advised. "Now that it's our base, the environment must have improved. The boss transferred some vendors there yesterday. I think the market can be revitalized. Why don't we go take a look?"

"It's okay to just take a look." Wang Yong was easy to talk to. "We're already going to T City anyway, so it's just on the way. But if business is bad, we have to leave quickly. We still have several places to go."

"I know, I know!" Zheng Sisi nodded repeatedly.

Get rich overnight and set up a base.

Chu Cheng observed patiently for the whole morning. Seeing that everything was calm in the stronghold and there was no trouble in the market, he dared to temporarily hand over the matter to Li Chenqi who came with him. He went out and looked for traveling merchants in T City.

As a veteran of the "Get Rich Overnight Town," Chu Cheng knew exactly what had enabled the town to develop to this point. The so-called affordable prices and pleasant atmosphere were superficial; the deeper reason was that the "Get Rich Overnight Town" had a complete ecosystem.

Some people farm, some raise livestock, some gather, some engage in commerce, some fight... Each link has its own input and output, which is why it can operate healthily. If any one part is missing, at least a small-scale collapse is absolutely inevitable, and then the butterfly effect will take place, affecting everyone.

Therefore, Chu Cheng had sorted out the needs in detail before coming to the base, intending to gradually restore the lives of the members of the base to normal by checking for gaps and filling them in. The first step was to establish some farmland.

Back in the main territory, the farming team may have been relatively unknown, but in reality, it's already a vital team. On the one hand, the crops produced by the farmland are essential for both players and the territory's warehouses, and on the other hand, they also solve the "employment problem."

Before leaving, he took a look at the farmland. Sun Chen's team had gradually grown to nearly 100 people. For a territory with a total population of 3,000, anything that could sustain nearly 100 people for a long time was definitely worth doing.

So he patiently wandered around T City for most of the day, and finally found a traveling merchant. He spent money to buy 50 pieces of primary farmland and 50 pieces of intermediate farmland. As for the advanced farmland, he was not sure if there was anyone in the stronghold who could cultivate it, so he decided not to buy it for the time being.

According to the game settings, even if the player has purchased farmland and laid it out, he can return it to his backpack and move to another place later. So if the base is closed in the future and everyone moves back to the main territory, he can also collect the farmland and resell it to Sun Chen.

After returning to the base, Chu Cheng walked into the reception hall and issued two announcements.

[Chu Cheng] is recruiting players with "planting skills", commission is 50 gold coins/day, three meals are provided, please chat privately if you are interested.

This price is the same as Sun Chen’s farmland. It doesn’t seem high, but considering the three meals included, it is basically pure pocket money, which is very suitable for small players.

[Chu Cheng] is recruiting players with "animal taming skills", commission is 80 gold coins/day, three meals are provided, please chat privately if you are interested.

After the two announcements were sent out, the members who had been excited about the newly established market for a while were now excited again. "What? Recruiting players who specialize in farming and animal taming? Those two types of players have been doing the worst before. What's the new person in charge thinking?"

"I can plant, I can plant, I can plant! I want to sign up!!! But why does animal taming pay more than planting... I don't accept it!!!"

"Don't be offended. I've heard that animal taming is quite strenuous and often requires extra potions. Look, these two orders only say 'three meals included,' but don't mention potions. The extra 30 gold coins are probably a potion allowance."

"Is that so? Then I feel relieved!" The player with planting skills breathed a sigh of relief, immediately clicked on the stronghold member list, and added Chu Cheng as a friend.

In less than five minutes, Chu Cheng discovered that the registration was much more enthusiastic than he had imagined. He immediately gathered everyone in the reception hall for a detailed discussion.

Half an hour later, both farming and livestock breeding had basically been settled. Chu Cheng announced the adjournment of the meeting and then walked out of the hall, intending to pave the farmland, but found that the square was crowded with people again.

Chu Cheng was surprised for a moment, and after looking carefully, he found that it was Wang Yong's business team that had arrived.

In the square, the merchant team was completely surrounded. Although the stronghold had 80 new vendors, the merchandise was still nowhere near the main territory. The merchants brought exactly what they didn't have, especially the food, which was so dazzling that it was dizzying.

The players crowded around the stalls were practically going crazy over the merchandise. Someone yelled, "Oh my god! There are so many goodies in the main territory! What else do you have? Bring them out and let us see!"

Zheng Sisi, who was busy putting things out, said: "Don't worry, I'll take my time."

"This is too extravagant!" the person next to him said, "I want to go to the main territory! We are all from Red Maple Village, why are we the only ones being thrown here?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Yong immediately defended Ye Miao: "Don't be angry, don't be angry. The lord doesn't want to leave you here, but the number of places in the main territory is limited. She really can't accommodate everyone. After the city is upgraded, she will definitely let everyone go. As for the supplies..."

Wang Yong's mind raced, and he quickly devised a new business idea: "I can create a group for everyone and start a purchasing service. If anyone in the main territory needs anything, I'll buy it for them. The commission is 5%-10%, is that okay?"

"Great!!!" The idea quickly became popular.

Wang Yong had actually thought about the purchasing agency business before, but he was afraid that the turnover of people in other territories would be high and the business would be troublesome, so he thought the "purchase-sell" route was the simplest.

But purchasing for a stronghold is different. On the one hand, the stronghold is now considered "one of ours", with the lord and the person in charge watching over it, so there is no need to worry about problems like defaulting on payments. On the other hand, the atmosphere in the "Pure Land" is friendly, and the mobility of players is not high. As long as nothing unexpected happens, everyone is willing to stay here, and problems like delivery can be avoided. To put it bluntly, he is just running errands.

Wang Yong knew all this before he dared to launch the new business directly. Seeing that everyone responded, he asked Zheng Sisi to set up a table nearby. Players who had paid for their purchases could go to her place to queue up and be grouped together, providing a one-stop service.

That night, the core members of Tianju Village came out in full force and easily broke through a settlement-level territory.

There are no shelters on the current map, and there are very few camps and settlements. The remaining ones are either struggling on the line between life and death, or are too lazy to upgrade. However, they can easily become prey of large territories, and once a fight breaks out, they will be unable to fight back.

Within minutes, the territory was filled with screams. The few capable players who charged forward were the first to be killed. The weaker ones who remained tried to escape, but the enemy clearly had no intention of leaving any alive. Arrows and spells pursued them, killing everyone, young and old, regardless of gender.

Soon, Lord Zhou Xian received a system prompt:

"You have successfully conquered the [Rose Settlement]. Would you like to annex the territory as a base, or give it up?"

"(If you choose 'Give Up Territory', the territory ruins will appear on the map for three days and then disappear after three days)."

The options below are: [Annex territory] [Give up territory].

A mere settlement, with a maximum population of only 100, was useless as a stronghold. Furthermore, Zhou Xian wanted to keep a low profile, so he calmly pressed the "Give Up Territory" button.

"Collect the supplies and check if there are any survivors. We will go back in an hour!" Zhou Xian gave the order, and the core members responded with an "OK" and got busy.

A few days after unilaterally announcing the alliance with the town that got rich overnight, this was already the second small territory Zhou Xian had conquered.

Although the capture of territories had always been a common occurrence, most lords were hesitant to go too far, fearing the enmity of other larger territories. But now, the "Pure Land" declaration had given Zhou Xianxian an advantage. If questioned after conquering a territory, he could simply claim it was to overthrow slavery. He wouldn't have to worry about his lies being exposed, as he left no one alive, leaving no player to expose him.

Not only that, Zhou Xian also made a detailed plan.

He marked all the few settlements and camps on the map of T City, as well as a few underdeveloped villages, and randomly selected half of them as targets. These targets were scattered throughout T City, and a considerable number were far from Tianju Village. If he was aiming for resources, most people would have thought he didn't need to go so far.

If all went well, he would then defeat these targets one by one. Of course, it was faster and more satisfying to rob others of their supplies than to wait for one's own members to hand them over. Several of the now-well-developed territories actually gained their foothold this way in the early stages, and Tianju Village itself was one of them.

A town that got rich overnight.

The lord, who became impoverished overnight due to the task of upgrading his territory, only wanted to make money and was busy making the Pixiu spit out gold coins early in the morning.

According to the system settings, the Pixiu can spit out gold coins three times a day, with the amount ranging from 1 to 10,000. Ye Miao's luck was not very good most of the time, usually only making a little over 10,000 a day from the Pixiu, but today, the Pixiu actually spit out 9,000+ gold coins twice out of three times, making her hug the Pixiu and cheer.

Although 9000+ is just a drop in the bucket compared to the arduous upgrade task and expensive upgrade fee, mentally, Ye Miao still feels that this is a timely help!

"Hmph." The Pixiu struggled in her arms, showing that it was very dissatisfied with her greedy and servile attitude.

“Beep, beep, beep.”

Just as Ye Miao was about to pick up the Pixiu and give it a kiss, the message bar rang. He clicked it and saw that it was An Ruoying.

[An Ruoying] Miaomiao, have you heard that the Rose Village was captured last night!

Ye Miao shuddered unexpectedly when he saw the news, not because his territory had been captured, but because... Miaomiao?

She calmed down and replied, "Now I've heard about it, what's the matter? It's quite common for territories to be conquered."

[An Ruoying] is quite common, but this is a territory near me, so I think it's a bit strange.

【Ye Miao】Why is it strange?

[An Ruoying] Our members often stop by when they're out doing business. It's close enough, so it's easy. So, after a few visits, we've become quite familiar with each other. But this time, when the Rose Settlement was breached, not a single member applied to join my territory. Isn't that unusual?

Ye Miao frowned as he looked at the message, and for a moment he thought that An Ruoying was too sensitive. Maybe the Rose Settlement had become the stronghold of the invaders, so the members didn't leave at all?

But then she dismissed this thought. She opened the map and saw that the name of the Rose Settlement hadn't changed, only the icon had turned gray, indicating that the invaders hadn't occupied the area and had simply left.

If that's the case, it's a bit strange. The world today is no longer suitable for players to survive alone. If a territory is conquered, everyone should immediately look for the next territory, and nearby territories must be prioritized.

Of course, some players would directly join in the attack on their territory, but it would never be 100%. People are sentimental, and there will inevitably be some who are unwilling to follow the "enemy", especially those who have a good relationship with the former lord.

She was silent for a moment, and then An Ruoying's next message came crashing down: "Not only that, I also sent messages to several nearby lords to ask, and they also said that no one from the Rose Settlement had applied to join today. Although I don't have a good relationship with everyone... but there's no need to lie to me about this. This thought is even more frightening."

Then another one: Miaomiao, are you saying that some territories are massacring the city? After conquering other people's territories, they kill everyone without leaving a single person alive?

"It's possible..." Ye Miao replied first.

He took a deep breath and said calmly, "That's not necessarily the case. Don't overthink it. If you're really worried, why don't we send someone out to investigate?"

[An Ruoying] Hey, I actually already asked about this before I contacted you! I'll share it with you right away!

"Pfft..." Ye Miao laughed.

Early in the morning, An Ruoying analyzed everything and kept things in suspense in front of her. Was she deliberately keeping things in suspense to take credit?

[An Ruoying] My people found a player in another nearby territory who went on a long trip yesterday and came back late. He said that on his way back, he passed by people from the Tianju Village at a fork in the road. That fork in the road happened to be the only way to the Rose Settlement.

[Ye Miao] Tianju Village?! It's so far away from you!

[An Ruoying] Yes, I also suspected at the beginning that he might have seen it wrong, so I directly searched for the lord of Tianju Village, added him as a friend and tricked him!

Um?

Ye Miao admitted cowardly that he was indeed hooked by An Ruoying's way of keeping things in suspense.

Seeing that the other party did not continue to speak, she had no choice but to ask cooperatively: "How did you trick him?"

[An Ruoying] Hey, let me show you!

Then a few screenshots were posted, which were obviously storytelling props prepared in advance.

Ye Miao ignored the greetings and went straight to the point:

[An Ruoying] My men saw you break through the Rose Village last night. What happened?

He said it with confidence, as if it were true.

[Zhou Xian] I agree with the declaration of the town that got rich overnight. I heard that the lord of the Rose Settlement was also involved in slavery, so I sent troops.

Ye Miao's brows were deeply furrowed.

[An Ruoying] What about their people? Did you take them all away?

[Zhou Xian] Yes, the Rose Settlement is so extreme. If I save people, of course I will take them all away. Otherwise, will I leave them to fend for themselves?

Further down, there are some trivial conversations.

Ye Miao took a breath, turned off the screenshot, and said directly to An Ruoying: He is lying.

An Ruoying sent another message with a cheerful tone: How did you find out?

The author has something to say:

I can't continue to pay off my debts, ah ah ah ah ah I cry

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