At this moment, Zhou Bai looked at the shrinking red dots and then at the over eighty sign-up forms, unable to help raising her eyebrows. She'd thought the Guard Team would attract attention, but she didn't expect it to be this popular.
Right now, she was even more grateful that she had hidden her Lord Identity, and firmly decided to keep it hidden.
If she had revealed she was the lord, recruiting guards would have met with hesitation, but using the name of the territory, everyone was willing to rush forward.
Thinking this, Zhou Bai started reading the profiles of the registrants.
Actually, as lord, after someone became a Hope Village Resident, Zhou Bai could see their personal attributes.
Before, Zhou Bai hadn't paid much attention, but now selecting guards, she wanted to investigate properly. She didn't expect that after she posted the recruitment task, the Lord panel would neatly arrange everyone's information, letting her see it all at a glance.
And at first glance, two names at the top caught her eye.
[Name: Zhou Zhengping]
[Race: Human Race]
[Level: lv.2]
[Identity: Hope Village Resident]
[Life Value: 90/100]
[Attributes: Constitution (9/10), Intelligence (7/10), agility (8/10), Defense (8/10)]
[Talent: Combat]
*
[Name: Li Xingteng]
[Race: Human Race]
[Level: lv.3]
[Identity: Hope Village Resident]
[Life Value: 90/100]
[Attributes: Constitution (7/10), Intelligence (7/10), agility (7/10), Defense (7/10)]
[Talent: Leadership]
Scanning a bit lower and comparing, Zhou Bai immediately saw that her dad and Li Xingteng's stats were way ahead of the other residents—almost blindingly impressive.
Though the others' physical stats weren't as good, they showed different talents, some of them quite special. For example, her mom's talent was "management"—no wonder she could handle both inside and outside flawlessly.
Unable to resist, Zhou Bai spoke to Zhou Zhengping, "Dad, you should join the Guard Team! I'm directly appointing you as Guard Team Captain."
No need for shortcuts—her dad totally had the qualifications.
Plus, every territory's armed force should include their own folks. If nothing unexpected happens, she'd set up a full military camp later. With her dad in front, their days would get easier, and her mom could openly enjoy life, too.
To keep her Lord Identity hidden, they did need to keep a low profile, but she couldn't let her parents sacrifice for her forever. She really hoped their days here would be comfortable.
Zhou Zhengping saw Zhou Bai's excitement and asked in surprise, "What's up?"
Zhou Bai briefly explained about the stats.
Zhou Zhengping focused immediately on Li Xingteng's stats, thought about his probing last night, and after a bit of consideration, agreed. He looked at Ding Qiurou next to him, frowned, "What about you and your mom?"
If he joined the Guard Team, he'd have less free time; he couldn't rest easy with them going out alone.
"I'll just level up with Xiao Bai, I can do it," Ding Qiurou said quickly.
Zhou Bai glanced at Ding Qiurou and declared, "Mom should just stay in the territory! I've got the Lord Map, plus my level is high and my HP thick, so I can go out alone!"
Ding Qiurou frowned, instinctively wanting to refuse.
But Zhou Bai stopped her in advance, "Mom, your physical attributes are on the lower side—yesterday gathering and fighting Demon Beasts was tough for you. If it wasn't for leveling you up, Dad and I wouldn't want you suffering. Now that we have a new direction, you're great in the territory. Plus, you can keep an eye on the territory for me, manage our home base, and when Dad is off duty, then we'll bring you out to level up."
Looking at the stats, Zhou Bai realized the territory didn't need all residents to be warriors. People with different physical conditions could take different paths.
Zhou Zhengping felt Zhou Bai made perfect sense—yesterday, Ding Qiurou's hands had gotten several blisters, and when helping to sort them, he'd felt so sorry for her. She wasn't used to this kind of hardship!
He quickly agreed, "Let's go with Xiao Bai's plan! It's a solid arrangement, and it won't slow down our upgrade either."
Seeing their insistence, Ding Qiurou didn't refuse anymore. "Alright, I'll guard the home front of the territory."
Ding Qiurou was already plotting what to do next in her mind.
With that settled, Zhou Bai began picking Guard Team members.
The system simply sorted by combat power, but the Guard Team needed more than just fighters.
Zhou Bai picked candidates, discussed choices with Zhou Zhengping, and set the team together, also making sure Zhou Zhengping got teammates he wanted. She decided to split them into two squads, rotating for duty—while one guarded, the other could do other tasks.
Once decided, Zhou Bai made the selections on the control panel.
After she finished, a new notification popped up.
[Dear Host, you have selected Guard Team personnel. Please provide exclusive uniforms and weapons for your guard team. Would you like to purchase them?]
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Bai selected "yes". These are future combatants, so they deserved a little benefit.
The mall promptly opened on her screen, loud and clear.
[Item: Leather Armor Three-piece Set Diagram]
[Introduction: Essential for crafting leather armor three-piece set (shirt, trousers, boots)]
[Buy Price: 10 silver coin]
[Sell Price: 20 silver coin]
[Note: Can be reused]
*
[Item: Long Spear Diagram]
[Introduction: Essential for crafting Long Spear]
[Buy Price: 50 silver coin]
[Sell Price: 1 Gold Coin]
[Note: Can be reused]
*
[Dear Host, in appreciation for your care for the Guard Team, the system rewards new items: Leather Armor Three-piece Set (green) and Long Spear (bronze). After purchasing materials, they can be produced at the tailor shop and Blacksmith Shop. Once made, these can be added to mall inventory.]
[Crafting Leather Armor Three-piece Set requires: Leather Armor Three-piece Set Diagram*1, Iron Ore*1, Beast Skin*10, linen*2.]
[Crafting Long Spear requires: Iron Ore*10, wood*20.]
Zhou Bai didn't expect that, by chance, she could add two new items to the territory. Of course, she bought them right away, no hesitation.
In these past couple of days, she really felt the perks that goods circulation brought.
She spent a lot, but as long as stuff sold, she earned; she'd also discovered the fun of running the territory this way.
With this principle, it was worth it to invest some early funds.
Plus, after two days of purchases, she'd collected a good stash of wood and beast skin—she didn't need to buy those from the system, saving a ton. She bought even more freely.
After buying materials, the Blacksmith Shop and tailor shop each had a new item.
Zhou Bai bought 20 sets first, then put another 10 on the shelves.
After packing those items into the Guard Team gift pack, the system immediately sent job offer notices to the selected members.
Zhou Zhengping got the notification first.
[Congratulations, after selection, you have become a member of the Guard Team and are appointed as Guard Team Captain. Please assemble your teammates quickly. Roster: Feng Lezhi, Quan Ziqiang…]
[Congratulations, you have received Guard Team Gift Pack "Leather Armor Three-piece Set (green)", "Long Spear (bronze)".]
After reading it, Zhou Zhengping raised his brows at Zhou Bai, "You really spare no expense!"
He no longer looked distressed over spending as before—he hadn't even noticed it himself.
He'd really improved!
Of course, bearing the burden of a territory is stressful, but with a lord's territory, if run well, the lord would fare much better in this Doomsday Game than anyone else.
It seemed that, as the territory developed, his daughter was learning to balance between the territory and herself.
Not bad!
Getting Zhou Zhengping's meaningful gaze, Zhou Bai smiled confidently. She knew her little schemes were transparent to her dad, but so what—can't a person have a unique hobby?
Zhou Zhengping couldn't resist rubbing Zhou Bai's hair again, "Once they get their notifications, they'll come find me. I better get busy."
"Mm, Mom and I will wander around the territory," Zhou Bai replied.
Then Zhou Zhengping walked off toward where the people were.
After Zhou Zhengping left, Ding Qiurou also couldn't resist ruffling Xiao Bai's hair. Xiao Bai was so cute!
Zhou Bai: "..."
—Did her lordly dignity even matter anymore???
But to be honest, she really was getting used to being a lord.