Since Ye Miao already had some guesses in her mind, she was not surprised when she heard Fang Siyu say this.

She calmly forwarded the chat history to An Ruoying. An Ruoying's reply was not as irritable as in the past few days. It was just a short line: Damn it! Damn him! I'm ready!

[Ye Miao] Okay, I’ll call you when I’m ready.

In truth, there was nothing for her to prepare for. Having previously defeated both Fearless Village and Red Maple Village, they already had experience with territorial warfare. It was just that the current pattern was too brutal. While nighttime seemed safe, caution was advised if a war was to begin.

Otherwise, what if the noise was too loud and woke up the tentacle monster? Or, what if for some reason they got stuck in a tough fight and couldn't finish it before dawn? Should they retreat or not?

It's easy to be impulsive and stand up for justice, but as a lord, she must consider these risks.

Compared to being a hero, the safety of the members of one's own territory is the most important thing.

Ye Miao did not publicize the news for the time being, but told Chu Cheng privately that Tianju Town was sacrificing players, and she planned to take over Tianju Town after this mode ended.

Chu Cheng's reaction was similar to An Ruoying's: "Okay, call me anytime."

"...Aren't you going to ask something?" Ye Miao was a little surprised by this reaction. Chu Cheng was also surprised by her question: "What?"

Ye Miao: "Like, ask for details? Ask for specific examples? Otherwise, what if I'm lying to you?"

Chu Cheng sighed softly, "I think my lord can be trusted. If I'm deceived, I'll just take the blame."

"..." Ye Miao stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, then don't tell anyone about this for now."

"Okay." Chu Cheng smiled slightly. When she walked away, his smile deepened.

"Don't tell anyone yet", does that mean only he knows?

He is very happy.

Territory farmland.

Sun Chen had been nervous for days since the new mode arrived. In the previous high and low temperature modes, although the temperature in the territory shifted later than outside, crop yields were still affected. The soil erosion mode had an even greater impact. If Ye Miao hadn't discovered a solution in time, they would have been completely wiped out. He was terrified that the sandstorm would creep into the territory without warning, leading to a reduction in production.

But after four or five days, the farmland seemed to be unaffected, the plants were very healthy, and the decline in various values ​​was stable.

"It seems that the sandstorm does not affect the territory." Sun Chen said to himself.

An Yan, who was standing nearby, heard this and chimed in, "It makes sense that it has no impact. You see, the previous extreme cold and heat were all 'temperature fluctuations', so it's normal for the shield to not insulate. Soil erosion is a problem with the land, and the land is a whole area, so it doesn't make sense that the mechanics of the territory's farmland would be different. But this sandstorm... since the shield is supposed to block out things from the outside, it should be keeping the sand and dust out. It would be strange if it could seep in through the shield!"

"That's right." Sun Chen felt more at ease after hearing his words and breathed a sigh of relief. "The rice should be ripe tomorrow. Once it's ripe, we can quickly deliver it. You can take Feng Xiaohao with you."

"Okay, no problem!" An Yan agreed readily.

After Feng Xiaohao's mental state gradually recovered, he joined Sun Chen's farming team. He and An Yan were about the same age, and the two quickly became good brothers.

A sandstorm recently hit, accompanied by tentacle monsters that attacked players. Both combat and gathering players were afraid to leave their homes during the day, and even at night, they couldn't see anything. Only Sun Chen's farming team and Lu Weiwei and Su Xinran's breeding teams were working extra hard, working overtime and increasing their efforts every day just to get a quick harvest.

Because in the current territory, if we don’t count the inventory, the supply of supplies basically depends entirely on these two teams.

Sun Chen therefore further recruited team members. Of course, most of them were working hard in the fields, but An Yan, Feng Xiaohao and three other members were assigned to the "delivery team", responsible for delivering goods to various merchants and territory grocery stores.

At such times, the farming team and the breeding team naturally have a "monopoly position". If they want to increase the price several times, everyone can only grit their teeth and buy it.

But Sun Chen didn't do that. After careful calculation, he raised the prices of the vendors by 10% to cover the cost of hiring more people. As for the Territory Grocery Store, he continued to give Ye Miao a share of the profits, but would sell the remaining goods at the original price. After all, the food sold at the Territory Grocery Store was already very cheap, and a quick calculation would reveal that it wasn't profitable at all, and was simply a way to ensure the survival of the small players.

As a lord, Ye Miao actually didn't have to do this. The reason she did this was because she was a good person. So how could he take advantage of her now?

Lu Weiwei and Su Xinran had similar ideas. Recently, to increase production, everyone had been working overtime and hiring extra people. To cover these costs, they could just give vendors slightly higher prices without ripping off the territory.

In the villa in the residential area, although Ye Miao reacted quickly after seeing the sandstorm mode and asked Sister Jin to increase the supply of the three minimum meals on the first day, from 500 servings per meal to 1,500 servings, he did not take care of the issue of purchasing.

The NPCs in the game were very intelligent, so she simply handed all of this over to Da Zhuang, who was good at math, and let him take care of it. If the cost price rose too much, Da Zhuang would come and tell her.

Therefore, it was not until Da Zhuang showed her the accounts of the past ten days that Ye Miao realized that although the total cost had increased without a doubt, when averaged out to each person, there was no increase at all.

"Neither the farming team nor the breeding team raised the price?" She asked carefully, and after getting a positive answer, Ye Miao was very relieved.

She had actually made two plans for the price increase. On the one hand, a price increase at this time was understandable. Her psychological expectation was that if the increase did not exceed 30%, she would be fine with it and would buy what she wanted, and it would be okay for Sun Chen and his friends to take advantage of the opportunity to make a small fortune. On the other hand, if the price increase exceeded her psychological expectations, she actually had enough food in her warehouse to use, enough to keep everyone well-fed and well-clothed for the next 15 days.

But right now, it would be best if prices didn't rise! That way, she only needed to take out some of the things the farming and breeding teams couldn't produce from their inventory to meet market demand. She could keep the grain and meat stocks in case there was an even more dangerous model in the future.

In the southern part of T City, Leiming Village.

On the fourth day of the sandstorm mode, since both the gathering players and the combat players were unable to go out to collect supplies, and there were only 300 pieces of primary farmland in the territory, everyone naturally felt a sense of crisis. Everyone began to panic buy in order to survive, and everything from rice, flour, oil, grain to meat, eggs and milk became hot items.

The farmland in Leiming Village is contracted out. Players who want to farm must sign a contract with the lord. The lord only collects contract fees, not grain.

This practice was not a problem before. When environmental changes caused farmland production to decrease, the territory could collect stable rental fees.

But now, the shortcomings are exposed.

First, everyone knew the territory hadn't specifically harvested grain, so the current stockpile was definitely low. Second, while there were many farmers who, like Sun Chen, wanted to be good people, with so many people, there were inevitably disagreements. Soon, someone decided to take advantage of the opportunity to make a quick buck and started raising the price of their grain.

Once this thing started, it was unstoppable. Initially, it was just one or two players who raised the price, but those who couldn't get the food gritted their teeth and bought it, and many other farming players couldn't help but be tempted, and the price immediately began to climb.

From noon on the fourth day of the sandstorm to the morning of the sixth, the price of grain in Leiming Village had increased nearly sevenfold. Lord Xie Lei wanted to stop it, but he was powerless and could only watch the market descend into chaos.

By the seventh day, many small players could no longer survive.

In the still spacious stone house, Ding Kefu spent most of the day calculating at the table. He repeatedly reduced the food consumption for each meal on the skill panel, and finally came to a conclusion: "Three days, at most, we can only hold out for three days. After three days, we will run out of ammunition and food. But the current food prices in the territory are so high that we can't even afford a single serving of rice."

He sighed tiredly. His wife, Huo Jiawen, a seamstress, paused sewing the soft armor she was working on, looked up at him, and said calmly and firmly, "Then let's go."

"Let's go?" Ding Ke turned his head.

Huo Jiawen nodded. "Everyone says it's safe at night. I'm not sure if it's the same everywhere, but let's give it a try."

Huo Jiawen put down her soft armor and walked over to Ding Ke's desk. She leaned against it and thought, "From the current situation, it seems that the tentacle monsters are spawning at the entrance of the territory. So T City, which has a small territory, should be relatively safe. We can go to T City and reach the Pure Land base around midnight. Let's see if they want us. If not, we can go north. I heard that there is no place left in the main territory of the Pure Land, but there is a small town called Tianju in the large territory over there. It was recently upgraded, so we can definitely enter it."

Ding Ke's face was gloomy: "But what if we encounter any danger along the way..."

Huo Jiawen said softly, "If we encounter any danger, it's our bad luck, but if we don't, we still have a way to survive."

But there's no way to survive here. Times have changed. People now have very little food, making it difficult for anyone to share their reserves. Once their food reserves are depleted, their stamina will only decrease, not increase. The game doesn't consider "survival instinct" or bodily functions; it relies solely on numerical judgment. In just 36-48 hours, they'll all starve to death.

Ding Ke struggled a bit more, but with no other choice, he nodded. "Okay, then let's sell what we can't take with us and set off tonight after dark. We'll go to the Pure Land base first. If we can't join them after we get there, we'll calculate the time. If we can reach Tianju before dawn, we'll continue on our way. If not, we'll stay at the base's inn for the night."

"Okay." Huo Jiawen responded and immediately started packing up her belongings, not even bothering to continue working on the unfinished soft armor.

T City, the stronghold of a small town that became rich overnight.

Before going to bed, Li Chenqi received the application to join from Ding Ke and Huo Jiawen. He looked outside the door and knew that they had not arrived yet, but he still pressed the pass button so that they could come in immediately after arriving at the base to avoid danger.

In the past, it was not so easy to join the Get Rich Overnight Town, but the current mode is too cruel, so Li Chenqi let in all players with similar stats, and Ye Miao also agreed with his plan.

The couple arrived at the base after midnight and only breathed a sigh of relief after entering the gate: "We're safe... Great! Great!"

Ding Ke was breathing heavily, a look of joy etched in his tiredness.

Before long, two members who were assigned by Li Chenqi to work the night shift came over to greet them. "New here? Come with me. I'll arrange some temporary accommodation for you. After you've had a good rest tomorrow, we'll consider buying a house for ourselves."

...Is there anyone to receive me?

Both husband and wife were stunned for a moment, and then followed each other.

In the past, there was actually no need for people to work night shifts in the territory, because the protective shield had 10,000 health points, and no matter how powerful the monster was, it could not be broken in one second. The territory members had enough time to react, and it was still in time to get up if they found something wrong.

But things are different now. The latest mode has caused the players' survival difficulty to increase sharply. Many small territories can't hold on. Some have begun to form groups to join the big territories, while others, like Ding Ke and Huo Jiawen, are looking for a way out on their own. Among them, it is inevitable that some people do not have a clear goal when leaving their original territory. They decide to join when they pass by the big territory at night, and submit their application only when they reach the door.

At this time, it would be very dangerous if everyone in the territory was asleep. Most of the residential areas in the territory were not close to the gate, and shouting might not be heard. Applicants could only stay in the inn or wait outside in fear, praying that someone would wake up before dawn to help them, otherwise they would be swept away by the tentacle monster.

Li Chenqi therefore specially arranged staff to not only receive new members who had to travel overnight, but also to call him when there were temporary applicants and let them in in time.

Now that they had someone on night duty, it was easy to find temporary accommodation for the new member. Maple Village originally occupied a technology park, which had many houses. Li Chenqi simply used a basketball court, dismantling desks and partitions from the technology park offices to create a partition wall. He then found a player skilled in construction to make some beds; it was just for one night, after all.

Ding Ke and Huo Jiawen were led into the basketball court by a receptionist and into a cubicle. The receptionist pointed to the floor beside the bed and told them, "This is a double room, suitable for you and your wife. There's some simple food in that bag. It's not much, but if you're running low on energy, it should be enough to last you until tomorrow afternoon. If you have some spare money, you can go to the grocery store early tomorrow morning to buy food. If not, go to the reception hall first; there are interest-free loans available."

"And they offer interest-free loans?!" Huo Jiawen was actually shocked to see this makeshift reception point. Even with its simple conditions, it was a very rare service in the apocalypse. And they actually offered interest-free loans?!

The member who received them smiled and said, "It's an old tradition in the main territory. It's been synchronized since we became a stronghold here." He paused, and seeing that the couple was still in shock, he said, "You should get some rest early. I won't disturb you anymore."

"Okay..." Ding Kelian's reaction was a little slow. He slowly came to his senses after the other party left. He walked to the bed and opened the bag to see that there were two lunch boxes inside. Each one contained a dish and a portion of rice, but the two dishes were different. If they ate together, they would have different flavors.

In addition, there are two small breads filled with red bean paste and two bottles of berry juice, which are of blue quality like the lunch boxes. If they were placed in other territories, they would definitely be high-quality food.

"Just...providing this to us like this?" Huo Jiawen stared at Ding Ke in disbelief. "I don't think they even mentioned asking for money?"

At around three o'clock in the morning, Wang Mu finally arrived at Tianju Town.

He was also a player from the Thunder Village, but because he subconsciously believed that the Get Rich Overnight Town must be difficult to enter, he didn't even try to go to the base, and went straight through T City to the Sweet Orange Town.

His application was also submitted in advance and had already been approved. After arriving in Tianju Town, he went straight into the gate and was also greeted by the on-duty member: "Welcome, thank you for your hard work." The other party said in a friendly manner.

"Hello." Wang Mu smiled and shook hands with the other person. The other person explained, "Everyone is asleep at this time. I'll have to trouble you to wait for a while."

"Okay, okay, it's okay." Wang Mu understood this deeply. It was good enough to have someone on duty here in the middle of the night.

He looked around and said, "Excuse me, where is the grocery store? I want to buy something."

But the other party said, "Let's wait until daybreak. We need to register all the new members here, and we can't do it until the assistant next to the boss wakes up. If you leave now and don't come back, we won't be able to find you."

"I will come back..." Wang Mu blurted out to make a promise, but he stopped himself halfway through.

He noticed that besides him, there were dozens of other players waiting in an open space not far away. It looked like a small territory had collectively fled to Sweet Orange Town. Since everyone was obeying the rules and waiting obediently, he didn't want to make any special requests, so as not to give everyone a bad first impression.

At seven o'clock, the members of Tianju Village woke up one after another. The newcomers who had been sitting in the open space for most of the night noticed that some people were walking towards this side in groups. They all showed joy and stood up at the same time.

"Please line up here!" a clear female voice called out.

The newcomers who had heard about the registration earlier did not suspect anything and followed her to the door to form a long line. Their fatigue reduced their usual sharpness a lot, so they did not notice that the other members who had arrived had unknowingly surrounded them, with one person every few steps, encircling them in the middle.

A female assassin was the first in line. Just as she was about to ask how to register, the burly man next to her suddenly grabbed her shoulders and pushed her hard out the door!

The attack was so swift, and their position was so far from the main entrance, that the female assassin had no time to react and fell out. The next second, a gust of wind suddenly rose in front of her. She turned her head in shock as several tentacles rushed towards her like lightning, engulfing her and disappearing without a trace.

A few seconds later, a pile of gold coins appeared silently inside the gate of the territory.

All the newcomers were frightened by this sudden change. The atmosphere was cold for a while, until the burly man went to grab another one, and then someone screamed: "What are you doing!"

Others reacted more quickly: "It's a trap! They want to sacrifice us for money!!!"

The crowd suddenly exploded, and all the players rushed in all directions at the same time, crashing into the core members who were blocking their way.

However, this struggle was completely meaningless, because Zhou Xian had already given these core members the authority to cast skills within the territory, so they could suppress them in terms of combat power at any time.

A flurry of spells began immediately, then ended just minutes later. All the players were left with only a sliver of life, controlled by the spells and thrown out the gate one by one.

7,000, 8,000, 5,000, 12,000... The gold coins in the territory gate increased one by one, and soon accumulated into a huge sum of money.

Wang Mu was no longer able to struggle at the last moment when he was swept away by the tentacles. He could only think that life was so ironic. They just wanted to survive but could not find a way to live, while these people who took human lives lightly were all living well.

The town of Tiaodeng.

It had been three or four days since Little Red Riding Hood had taken refuge here. After much deliberation, Chen Siwen finally went to find An Ruoying and told her as soon as they met, "You should take back the authority of the deputy lord!"

"What?" An Ruoying looked at her. "Our two territories are merging. It's only natural that I give you the title of deputy lord. Any problem?"

Chen Siwen's mouth twitched. "Your town has a maximum population of 3,000, while my settlement has a maximum population of 100. The actual number of people is only a few dozen. Bringing a few dozen people here, I'm going to become a deputy lord. Do I have any shame? There's no way to take advantage of someone like that!"

"Tsk, don't think too much." An Ruoying smiled, "He's just a deputy lord. In fact, he just works for me. I won't suffer any loss."

Chen Siwen: “…” Do you have to be so straightforward?

"Besides, I think you're a good person. If you lack the ability, you can practice slowly. The position of deputy lord is suitable for you. Do your best."

"Then..." Chen Siwen stiffened her neck, "Then I'll try. If it doesn't work out, just leave. Don't be polite!!!"

"Don't be too stressed, you can do it!" An Ruoying encouraged.

She actually didn't want to force the issue, but according to the territory's next development plan, she did need more help.

Because her plan is to upgrade the territory to a city as soon as possible.

When the town was upgraded to a city, the population suddenly increased to 10,000. It was conceivable that the difficulty of management would increase all of a sudden. Not to mention that she herself would definitely not be able to handle it, even the core members around her would definitely be too busy.

So apart from being furious at the scumbag Zhou Xian for his incompetence, An Ruoying has recently put all her energy into selecting helpers. Even if Chen Siwen's previous territory was not well developed, she had been a lord before, so she could use her.

In the town far to the north that became rich overnight, Ye Miao breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that there was a problem in Tianju Town. The annoyance caused by the unresolved issue ended, and she was able to continue to make plans for the territory upgrade with peace of mind.

But unlike An Ruoying's idea of ​​selecting helpers first, Ye Miao took into consideration that the number of people would increase dramatically after the upgrade, so he prepared to plan more "territory functions" in advance, using another way to avoid chaos due to the increase in the number of people.

First, once the total number of staff reaches 10,000, the "Public Security, Procuratorate and Courts" can definitely be established. The legal team has already recruited staff, and there is room for further recruitment and expansion.

Secondly, she also wants to build a school. Because although the current lifestyle is completely different and everyone has become a gamer, there are still some necessary things that must be learned. Not to mention the difficulty, children still need to recognize words and skills, right?

Besides that, she could immediately think of a manager to maintain order in the market. As for the residential area, if 10,000 people lived together, it would be too large. It could be divided into several communities, each with its own property management to handle miscellaneous matters.

The author has something to say:

Alas, although it is a light-hearted and brainless article, I felt quite complicated while writing this unit.

Some territories are still worried about food, while others are already planning to build schools, public security, procuratorates, courts, property management, and neighborhood committees...

Um……

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