Before setting off, Su Tao welcomed the coastal fleet, this cash cow.

The team leader was Gu Mingchi's man. He called the space-ability user over and went with Su Tao to meet Lin Fangzhi.

After a round of exchanges between the two, the pile of crystal cores went into Lin Fangzhi's pocket.

The captain of the Tongsi team brought the bill to Su Tao for confirmation.

Su Tao simply ignored the long list of supplies and the corresponding selling prices, and skipped to the end, where he saw the number 8,560.

She calmed herself down, nodded calmly to the team leader, and then symbolically called Qian Rongrong to check the detailed accounts.

I ran to the side and jumped up and down for a minute.

Eight thousand crystal cores ahhhhhhhh.

Even if the entire East District is included, there is still more than half left.

The remaining crystal core can not only completely encompass the entire Dongyang under her wings, but also leave some left to expand Taoyang!

The most important thing is that this is just one trip. If the fleet makes a few more trips, after collecting the goods along the coast, they can go further abroad.

The big picture that Gu Mingchi had painted for her was completely realized.

Why worry about not having enough crystal cores to spend in the future?

After she finished dancing, Qian Rongrong's uncontrollable cry came from not far away:

"Ahhh—let me take a look, Captain, please wait!"

After checking, Su Tao politely invited everyone in the team to have dinner in Taoyang and served all the delicious food in Taoyang.

These are all great contributors and must be treated well.

The men in the team really had a hard time. They traveled back and forth day and night. On the way to sell goods, they killed zombies, beat up robbers, caught thieves, faced cold and strange weather, and even had several cars frozen and damaged. They had to walk more than 30 kilometers.

Some people even died, but the team leader didn't want to tell her, saying that it was his boss's instruction. Boss Su, you only need to know how many crystal cores were earned.

Su Tao also saw that some team members had injuries and were in plaster casts.

But this does not affect their eating. Even those who are on crutches have to get their own rice and dishes with their strong will.

Su Tao thought for a moment and decided to give a portion of the crystal core to Gu Mingchi.

Gu Mingchi was shocked when he saw it was her calling.

She actually took the initiative to call him.

He deliberately waited a while longer, and only answered when the call was about to be automatically hung up:

"What's going on? I just heard it."

Su Tao didn't bother with him about answering the phone late, and said sincerely:

"Boss Gu, thank you so much. Without the fleet helping Taoyang sell this batch of supplies, we really wouldn't be able to earn so many crystal cores in such a short time."

At that time, Taoyang had no people and no cars, and it had a mountain of gold and silver but could not transport it out.

If it weren't for Gu Mingchi, they would have to wait for Changjing to support them with talents before they could form their own fleet and go to the coast.

"So I thought, Taoyang can't take advantage of your trip for free, this batch of crystal cores—"

Gu Mingchi interrupted her directly: "No need, you need to take over the East District immediately and build the protective shield. Is one hour enough?"

Su Tao choked on the spot.

She has already gotten in the car and is ready to go to Shou'an.

"Not enough? How long will it take you?"

Su Tao said the day after tomorrow.

She won't be able to reach Shouan until tomorrow morning.

Gu Mingchi narrowed his eyes:

"Does it take that long? I remember that it would only take you one afternoon at most to complete the West Third District. Do you have something else on your plate right now?"

Su Tao, who was about to make up an excuse, choked again.

This old thief really cares about her and Taoyang so much that he even knows the details of how long it takes her to cover the area.

Fearing that he would ask more questions, Su Tao had to set out later and asked Lin Fangzhi to take over the East District first, and then spend a huge amount of money to build a protective shield.

The eastern district instantly appeared on the main map of Taoyang.

Su Tao thought that she had finally finished her work. Just as she was about to close the system interface, a mechanical voice that she hadn't heard in a long time suddenly rang in her mind:

[The Landlady System has met the hidden conditions for upgrading to the highest level, lv8: the controlled area has exceeded 1 square kilometer. Would the host like to spend 50 million federal coins to upgrade the system?]

Su Tao was stunned.

The hidden upgrade conditions were actually reached.

No wonder when she upgraded to level 7, the system did not prompt her what conditions were required to upgrade to the next level.

But she had vaguely guessed that level 8 was a hurdle, but she didn't expect that she would break through it so unintentionally.

She still has to thank that old thief Gu Mingchi for forcing her to take it all today.

Su Tao clicked "Yes" without hesitation.

Total assets - 50,000,000 federal coins.

[Congratulations to the host, the landlady system has been upgraded to the highest level of 1v8, and a free rental model has been developed. The host can decide the house specifications, number of people in the house, and house rental pricing.]

[The free area selection function has been unlocked. You can click on the map to select an area to view.]

[The absolute regional control function has been unlocked. Click on the map to select an area to view.]

Su Tao's mouth slowly opened. This was the first time that the system suddenly prompted that so many functions were unlocked.

It really is a high-level benefit.

Su Tao first opened the construction mode and casually built a "matchbox" with no doors, no bed, and no furniture. But when she clicked to rent it out, the system did not have any restrictions and directly popped up to let her set the rental price and the number of people living there.

She fills in a monthly rent of one million and the system approves it.

In other words, upgrading to level 8 system gave her greater freedom, unlike at the beginning, where a single room required a bed, a shower, toilet, etc., and the price was fixed.

Su Tao repeatedly thought about the system's intention of giving her the freedom, and vaguely felt that it was not for her to charge exorbitant rents to make money.

Instead, it was to make her give up some of her interests.

This is just like what Grandpa Gu said to her in class: before the end of the world, the country will have many public welfare buildings, or non-profit infrastructure that does not make money.

For example, although the subway charges a fee, compared with its construction and operating costs, the ticket money paid by passengers can only barely maintain a balance between income and expenditure, and in some places the government even has to subsidize it.

Once the subway is run for profit, the cost of travel for passengers will increase significantly, and the transportation costs of workers may have to be balanced with rent or living expenses.

Another thing is that if you want to get rich, you want to build roads, but the tolls are expensive and no one uses them, so you still can’t get rich.

Su Tao figured this out, and felt more and more that the emergence of the system might really be a hand behind the scenes helping mankind overcome the difficulties of the end of the world.

And she is the one who pushes those hands forward.

Su Tao took a deep breath and silently took on the burden.

She checked the second unlocked function and after clicking into the map interface, she was stunned.

All areas on the map can be controlled by consuming crystal cores!

She was a little skeptical, and she kept zooming in and out on the map, but she still saw a green area prompting her to consume crystal cores to control it, even including their neighbor Shou'an Base, the farther Wutai Base, Zhuoercheng's new capital, the farther coastal islands, and even Changjing!

Su Tao's breathing became rapid.