The next day, after getting up in the morning, Ye Miao walked around the territory for most of the day. Looking at the flat streets and complete fortifications, he felt extremely satisfied.
When she passed the South Side Market, she turned into the market and planned to have a quick breakfast. Passing by a stall selling steamed dumplings, she saw Chu Cheng also buying breakfast, holding a Pixiu in his arms.
The Pixiu also noticed her and immediately struggled, whimpering and trying to run towards her. Chu Cheng noticed something strange and turned to look at it, smiling and saying, "Good morning."
"Good morning." Ye Miao walked over and naturally reached out to touch the Pixiu's head. The Pixiu narrowed its eyes in satisfaction. She made small talk: "Come for breakfast?"
"Um."
"That's perfect. I haven't eaten yet either." Ye Miao said easily. After that, he ordered a tray of buns and a bowl of soy milk, and sat at the small table next to him with Chu Cheng to wait for the meal.
The breakfast was eaten in silence, so silent that Ye Miao felt sullen.
She had obviously eaten with Chu Cheng many times before, but because she had no worries, she said whatever she wanted to say, and could talk about anything, whether it was business or trivial matters.
But now, she really wanted to talk to him, but her mind was confused and she didn't know what to say.
There were ten dumplings in a tray, and Ye Miao finished five of them in a row before she could think of anything to say. Someone called out from behind her, "Ye Miao!"
Ye Miao turned his head and looked through the crowded crowd who were busy buying breakfast, and saw that it was NPC Xiaomei who was walking quickly towards him.
Xiaomei walked up to her and said straight to the point, "There are a few people outside who want to see you. They say they're from the nearby Red Fox settlement. The leader is also here; his name is Huang Meng."
Ye Miao was stunned: "What's the matter?"
"I didn't ask." Xiaomei paused, "Do you want to ask?"
"No need." Ye Miao shook his head, thought for a while, and didn't want to sit here in silence with Chu Cheng, so he simply went to deal with the problem first.
But Chu Cheng followed her naturally, and she thought it was okay, so the two of them walked towards the gate of the territory together. As soon as she took a step outside, Ye Miao felt several eyes looking at her at the same time, and she seemed a little nervous.
"Welcome?" Ye Miao looked at them and said politely.
The seven or eight people on the other side exchanged glances, and then a girl in the middle walked towards her and extended her hand: "Hello, I am the leader of the Red Fox Settlement, Huang Meng."
"Hello." Ye Miao shook her hand and asked politely, "Is there anything you need from me?"
"...Yes." Huang Meng lowered her head, so nervous that she rubbed the edge of her clothes with her fingers. "We, we want to ask... Can we join the Overnight Rich City? The whole settlement..."
"?" Ye Miao was stunned for a moment and did not answer rashly.
Because she thought it was a bit strange.
Entire territories were increasingly joining her, with many even traveling across half of T City to join her. But the Red Fox Settlement was very close to her. A territory so close to her hadn't joined her during such difficult times, and now that peace was in sight, they suddenly decided to join her?
Ye Miao felt that there must be something hidden behind this matter.
Huang Meng rubbed the edge of the clothes harder with her fingers, staring at the ground, and stammered, "We...we know that our location hinders your expansion. So, um...it just so happens that it's difficult for our small territory to develop itself, so why not..."
"Wait a moment." Ye Miao interrupted Huang Meng.
Even a fool can understand the key point of this sentence. The first sentence is the real reason, and the second sentence is just an attempt to save face.
Ye Miao then said directly: "Who said you are hindering my expansion?"
Huang Meng was stunned for a moment, then said seriously, "As long as you want to expand southward, we will definitely hinder you..."
Ye Miao shook his head: "I can expand the area on the east side by two blocks to the south, and then one block to the west to bypass you."
Simply put, it means expanding the territory into a horizontally flipped "C" with a space in the middle.
Huang Meng was dumbfounded: "How ugly is that?!"
She felt that this was like when a road was being built and there was a stubborn house in the middle that was not demolished, so the road had to be built around it, which was very ugly.
Ye Miao retorted, "This is about expanding territory, not organizing bookshelves. Why do you have to make it so neat? Do you have obsessive-compulsive disorder?"
"I..." Huang Meng was speechless.
Ye Miao shook his head. "If you really want to join my territory, I welcome you. But if it's for this reason, then there's no need. I don't pursue perfection when it comes to expanding my territory. If I come across a small territory, I'll go around it."
After explaining his thoughts in one breath, Ye Miao paused and said kindly, "Since you're here, why don't you come in and sit down? I'll treat you to dinner."
Huang Meng waved her hands repeatedly: "No, no, no... no need to bother!"
"You're welcome." Ye Miao smiled. "You're already at the door. If I don't invite you in, I'd be inconsiderate. Please come in."
After hearing what she said, everyone had no choice but to follow her in. They all felt that they had made a huge mistake and were extremely embarrassed.
But the moment he walked into the gate of the territory, this embarrassment was instantly wiped out.
None of them had ever seen such a large territory. The area alone was over a hundred times larger than their small settlement. But upon closer inspection, the area seemed only a minor advantage. The streets before them were smooth, and the various houses were beautifully arranged in an orderly fashion. Since the entrance to the territory was located in the southern residential area, they saw beautiful houses as soon as they entered. Several players were walking out of the residential area while eating breakfast. Seeing Ye Miao, they all greeted her, "Good morning, boss!"
"Good morning!" Ye Miao responded to them.
Whether it was the lord or the members, their tone was very relaxed.
This kind of ease was not found in the Red Fox Colony, or even in any other small territory. Because resources were scarce in the small territory, everyone lived a very hard life, and the pressure of survival was always there, making it impossible for anyone to relax.
Several people were dizzy from the shock of this scene.
They originally thought that more people meant more trouble, and their small territory was a paradise. Although life was a little poor, everyone could live in peace and live like a family, which was great.
But now, everyone has begun to doubt this long-held idea, including Huang Meng himself.
Ye Miao, of course, had no idea what they were thinking. As he led them to the largest market on the west side, he asked, "What do you want to eat? We have hot pot, barbecue, and Western restaurants. You can choose whatever you want."
"Hotpot?!" Hu Yu blurted out in surprise. Ye Miao was about to agree when Huang Meng glanced at him and then smiled at Ye Miao: "Anything is fine...you decide on the arrangements! I'm really sorry to bother you!"
Hu Yu scratched her head awkwardly. She'd just been so surprised; she hadn't imagined someone in the apocalypse could make something like hot pot. Only when she saw Huang Meng waiting for her did she realize how unworldly she looked.
Ye Miao seemed not to notice the change in Huang Meng's expression and smiled: "Then let's have hot pot. Can everyone handle spicy food?"
"Yes." "No." "As long as it's not too spicy." Several people answered at the same time, but their answers were different.
Ye Miao: "I see. Let's go inside. There's a hot pot restaurant in the back that can make four-grid dishes. We can order a few more flavors."
Everyone's eyes were stunned, and they thought it was outrageous.
Chu Cheng, who had been following Ye Miao, thought for a moment and said, "The hot pot at that place is delicious, but they don't have any drinks. I'll go get some cold drinks to go with the hot pot."
"Okay!" Ye Miao nodded heavily, "I want orange soda!"
"Got it." Chu Cheng smiled and walked away to find a shop selling orange soda. Ye Miao led everyone deeper into the market, to the hot pot restaurant.
A few days later, the peaceful period arrived on its fifteenth day. The Red Fox Settlement, enjoying the final peace, joined the Overnight Rich City with their families. Since they had dined together before, Ye Miao personally went to greet them upon their arrival. From a distance, he could hear Huang Meng excitedly saying to everyone, "Come on, everyone, hurry up and get your room in the reception hall and settle in! Then we'll go eat! I'll treat you all to hot pot! That hot pot place is delicious! They have a four-grid base! Hu Yu, go get some iced orange soda so you can drink it while you eat!"
On the sixteenth day, the peaceful period should be over. Ye Miao got up in the morning and looked around as usual. He found nothing unusual in the territory. The temperature and humidity were normal.
The members of the territory had basically just woken up, either busy eating breakfast or sending their children to school. Although some people were discussing the new model, no one was in a hurry because they hadn't felt anything yet.
At eight o'clock, the members who had just walked to the door of the territory protection shield heard a "bang" sound. The sound was not loud, just like a small stone hitting the shield.
The member took a look subconsciously and saw a large locust falling to the ground.
She didn't think much of it and went out to kill monsters with her friends as usual. But after only three minutes, the whole group stumbled back.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!" Everyone ran back cursing. After rushing into the gate of the territory, some people were frantically dusting off their clothes and hair, picking off locusts one after another.
There were still quite a few players near the gate, some about to leave, others just taking a few steps out before turning back to watch. "What's going on? Is this a new mode?"
"Yes!!!" The leading female player was clearly frightened, her face horrified. "The new mode is a locust plague! There's a swarm of them everywhere. The rice paddies and forests near us have been practically eaten up. And they're even attacking people! Even though the damage is minimal, it's so disgusting!"
A guy in his early twenties next to her had an even uglier expression on his face. "They suddenly pounced on me just now. I wasn't prepared at all. One of them went straight into my mouth."
Onlookers: “…”
The boy cried out: "Then I got nervous... I bit it."
"Hah——" Everyone started to retch. Some people with overly active imaginations imagined the effect of explosion, and their whole bodies were in disarray.
"Looks like another mode that tests your inventory?" one of the onlookers mused. "Let's go tell the lord first. Tsk... But if you ask me, this mode is pretty boring. It's completely repetitive with several of the previous modes. Our territory is so rich in resources, it's practically no challenge at all!"
This made everyone laugh: "What's wrong with you? Isn't it better to keep it simple? Are you still looking forward to danger?"
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