Zhou Bai's family stepped outside early in the morning to see this scene.
Looking at everyone's enthusiastic fighting spirit, her mood was inevitably affected as well.
At that moment, Zhou Bai finally understood the meaning of the existence of her territory.
If there were no territory, would these people adapt to the environment so quickly? Definitely not!
Always a bit lazy, she silently added a bit more sense of responsibility to herself.
Then, Zhou Bai immediately started checking the Lord module of the control panel.
And at first glance, Zhou Bai noticed the territory map.
Because there were obviously more little red dots than yesterday, some even appearing as small groups of Magic Beasts.
Zhou Bai quickly said to her parents beside her, "We were right, the number of Demon Beasts has increased, and they seem to be approaching our territory with a purpose."
Zhou Zhengping and Ding Qiurou listened, their expressions becoming more serious.
Although they'd anticipated it, it really wasn't good news for them.
This Doomsday Game was truly pushing them into combat, forcing them to strive to get stronger.
The more it did so, the harsher the future environment would likely become.
"Should we remind the others?" Ding Qiurou whispered. Seeing the setup in the territory, she could tell many teams had gone out. If they encountered a large number of Demon Beasts, it'd be trouble.
"Not suitable!" Zhou Zhengping rejected directly. If they warned everyone, how would they explain where the information came from?
Ding Qiurou immediately caught on, quickly closing her mouth. Compared to others, her daughter was more important right now.
Zhou Bai's eyes flickered, and she said, "Actually, I do have a way to warn people without revealing ourselves."
Both of their eyes immediately turned to her.
"You probably forgot I'm the Lord—I can issue quests and notifications. Within the territory, all residents receive them." Zhou Bai explained, "I just need to recruit some Guard Team members to protect the territory, and anyone with half a brain will figure out the reason. Besides, the territory needs to establish its own guard force anyway. It's killing two birds with one stone."
She'd thought of this the moment she saw the increase in Demon Beasts. Everyone was focused on going out collecting and hunting, leaving the territory like an empty shell. If Demon Beasts attacked, she'd suffer big losses.
More importantly, she had never forgotten that one remark on the Lord panel.
[Territory can only be conquered by the Lord.]
In her opinion, this meant there might be fights between territories in the future.
This made the strength of the territory all the more crucial.
Even if she was wrong, having a stronger territory wouldn't hurt.
Zhou Zhengping nodded in agreement as he listened, then couldn't help but reach out to pat her head. "Do as you think best!"
She really had grown up!
Or maybe it was only after facing challenges that he realized how reliable his daughter truly was.
After that, Zhou Bai opened the Lord Mansion building and began posting notifications on the bulletin board.
[Recruiting Guard Team members: 20 people, 100 copper coins a day, personal ownership of any loot dropped.]
[Rescue Survivor Task: rescue one person, reward 1 copper coin.]
[Purchasing linen: 2.2 copper coins per unit.]
[Purchasing...]
As soon as the notifications went out, the residents all received them. Seeing it, they were stunned. Before, they'd only received purchase tasks—never expected there'd be a recruitment task today.
"If it's a Guard Team, they must be guarding the territory. Is there some danger in the territory?"
"Loot drops belong to individuals—maybe it'll be like yesterday with Demon Beast attacks? The Guard Team's job is to deal with Demon Beasts?"
"Doesn't the territory have a shield?"
"But maybe the shield has conditions? It might be unusable after a certain point?"
"If that's the case, the territory isn't absolutely safe after all?"
"Where is absolute safety? Honestly, things are already pretty good."
"Are you going to sign up then?"
"Of course! The terms are already great, plus it's working for the territory."
"By the way, was this recruitment task automatically posted by the territory or controlled by someone?"
"No idea. Anyway, no one's stepped out to admit Lord Identity; let's just assume the territory doesn't have an owner for now!"
"If there is, it's better they're hidden. I don't want the territory getting chaotic over power struggles."
"..."
For a while, the entire territory was lively. Quite a few people signed up, some timid ones dropped their original plans to go out. Previously, many teams had already left. They'd wait until those returned and reported back before deciding whether to go out themselves—after all, there's no rush.
As for those confident in their ability, they still led teams out as planned.
Outside, the teams who began collecting and hunting near the territory had also received the notification.
Li Xingteng was leading a team, and when he saw the notice, his eyes couldn't help but flicker.
After they headed out today, it was obvious there were more Demon Beasts around. But with eight or nine people in his team, whenever they came across a Demon Beast, they swarmed it, and with Iron Axes, it only took a few moves to take it down.
Today, they'd really harvested a lot.
But correspondingly, the more Demon Beasts they killed, the faster their physical strength was spent. At the moment, they were resting on a cleared patch of ground.
"Brother Li, the Demon Beasts really are more numerous today, and we even saw higher-level ones. Seems the territory's noticed it too—that's why they posted a recruitment notice!" someone said, approaching Li Xingteng.
He started it off, and the others couldn't hold back from joining in.
"But the daily pay for guards is a bit low!"
"Brother Li, are you going to sign up as a guard?"
"..."
The others all came up to Li Xingteng, chattering away.
They'd originally entered the territory with Li Xingteng, and thanks to his guidance, managed to get into Hope Village. Afterward, naturally, they formed a team around him as their leader.
After a couple days' effort, the lowest among them was already at Level 2. As for their harvests, the more they worked, the more they gained.
So they really respected their boss.
That's why they wanted to see what Li Xingteng would do next.
Li Xingteng looked at their anxious gazes and said directly, "I plan to join the Guard Team."
"What about our team, then?"
"If you're interested, you can all sign up with me. Who says Guards have to stay inside the territory all the time? With the size of the territory now, ten people would be enough, but they're recruiting twenty, so maybe they'll split into two teams—one stays, one goes out. The territory probably wants to raise the Guard Team's level," Li Xingteng analyzed. "If you're not picked, you can still form your own hunting teams and wait for next time. Right now there are twenty spots, but as the territory upgrades, it'll need more."
By then, those who get in first and have skill can lead teams.
From how the territory's developing, everything's heading in a good direction.
So as long as this territory has potential, he's determined to stick with it.
Relying on the territory beats going solo any day!
Everyone listened, their eyes lighting up. With Li Xingteng's analysis, they realized the advantages of the Guard Team and immediately signed up.
After resting, the group went off again in search of Demon Beasts nearby.
No matter what criteria the Guard Team uses, having a higher level always increased their chances.
There were quite a few teams thinking like Li Xingteng, so Zhou Bai could clearly see that, after the Guard Team recruitment announcement went out, the number of Demon Beasts around the territory steadily decreased.