Seeing the change in Zhou Bai's expression, Zhou Zhengping raised his eyebrows, "Got good news?"
Zhou Bai nodded, "Yeah, the buildings rewarded to the territory yesterday are all about boosting the territory's strength. I've built them all! Just that money got spent a bit fast."
She was just full of fighting spirit, but looking at the sudden drop in her Gold Coins account, she felt a little heartache.
Also, she just noticed that previous buildings in the territory can be upgraded. She planned to upgrade them next, especially the fence—definitely need to increase Defense, she doesn't want to experience Demon Beasts invading her territory again.
Oh, right, and the architectural drawings and item blueprints she got last night by killing Demon Beasts—turning those into buildings and items costs money too!
When had she ever lacked money before?
Now it seems like money is short everywhere?
All because of this territory!
Just then, Zhou Bai received a notification from the system.
[Dear Host, your wealth is currently lower than 10 Gold Coins and may hit zero at any moment, making you unable to purchase materials. Please ensure your account funds are sufficient.]
Hearing that, Zhou Bai immediately checked her backpack.
Looking at it, she was completely stunned.
Her backpack was already stuffed full, almost at capacity.
Keep in mind, the initial backpack slots are 10, but same-type items in one slot max out at 999, and with level-ups, each level adds 1 slot. Previously, even as she was buying materials, she was consuming them so her backpack slots were temporarily free.
But now, she's Level 7, with 17 slots, and they suddenly got packed.
What happened?
She suddenly remembered what those residents had said last night about selling good stuff to the territory—it must really have happened, huh?
Looks like, as the population grows, the materials being bought also increase. Next time, if she unlocks buildings, she absolutely needs to unlock Warehouse first—her backpack can't hold much more.
Looking in the backpack, sure enough, there were all kinds of wood, stone resources, and drawings inside.
Luckily, the drawings aren't like wood, which can be repeatedly bought, or she'd already be "bankrupt."
"Mom, can you give me some more Gold Coins?" With savings running low, Zhou Bai could only turn to the rich lady for help.
"How much?" Ding Qiurou asked directly.
"Is 1,000 ok?" Since Zhou Bai decided to work hard, of course she wanted to prepare fully.
[Hope Village Resident Ding Qiurou has gifted you 1,000 Gold Coins, do you accept?]
Zhou Bai took it right away, and then began converting the blueprints in her backpack into actual buildings and items.
But Zhou Zhengping next to her was a bit surprised, "You need that much for territory upgrades?"
"There's other stuff to spend on." Zhou Bai explained her situation, "I want to give the territory an upgrade, so when someone challenges us we won't need to be afraid."
If it were yesterday, she probably wouldn't have spent so much money, and couldn't have either. But after yesterday, now that she can invest Gold Coins to build up the territory, she's definitely going to do it—especially since territory safety is tied to human lives now, including hers and her family's.
As for the money she's borrowing from Mom and Dad now, she'll pay it back once the territory has profits. Of course, she still believes that if the territory develops well, she'll be able to earn money from it in the future.
After hearing Zhou Bai, Zhou Zhengping's eyes showed a faint sigh.
Ever since the Doomsday Game began, after becoming Lord, Xiao Bai's growth is really visible by the naked eye!
Though he felt a little distressed by her transformation, Zhou Zhengping had to admit that the current Xiao Bai can live better in the Doomsday Game and bear the responsibility of a Lord.
"Just let me know if you need money. Anything that can be solved with money is no problem." Zhou Zhengping said directly.
Zhou Bai's eyes softened, and she nodded. If not for her parents' money power, running this territory wouldn't have gone so smoothly. Looking at the fresh 1,000 Gold Coins in her account, she continued operating.
First, she clicked the upgradeable buildings on the panel.
[Lord Mansion (Level 1) — Lord Mansion (Level 2)]
[Fence — Level 1 City Wall — Level 2 City Wall — Level 3 City Wall — Primary City Wall]
[Restaurant — add item]
[Level 1 House — Second-level Residence]
[Heroic Spirit Hall (Level 1) — Heroic Spirit Hall (Level 2)]
Zhou Bai upgraded everything she could without hesitation.
Lord Mansion Level 2 meant the area got a bit bigger, plus an extra floor.
The restaurant added plain porridge to its menu.
Upgrading Level 1 House to Second-level Residence meant now, when building new residences, you could choose either level, though the existing Level 1 Houses wouldn't change.
As for the fence, it could jump up three levels—seeing that, Zhou Bai was already determined, no matter what, it has to go to maximum.
[Spend 10 Gold Coins and 10,000 units of stone to upgrade the fence to Level 1 City Wall?]
[Spend 20 Gold Coins and 20,000 units of stone to upgrade Level 1 City Wall to Level 2 City Wall?]
[Spend 40 Gold Coins and 40,000 units of stone to upgrade Level 2 City Wall to Level 3 City Wall?]
[Spend 80 Gold Coins, 80,000 units of stone, and 10,000 units of iron ore to upgrade Level 3 City Wall to Primary City Wall?]
Each prompt, Zhou Bai chose "Yes" without hesitation.
The money was dropping fast, but just thinking about getting a fully secure city wall made it feel worthwhile!
After upgrading to Primary City Wall, the stats popped up.
[Building: Primary City Wall]
[Introduction: Forms a protective shield, defends the territory from Demon Beasts. In attack mode, Defense is consumed and needs timely repairs.]
[Defense: 80,000]
Seeing Defense jump up by 80 times, Zhou Bai was truly satisfied.
Then, Zhou Bai turned her attention to the blueprints.
The only architectural drawing was the grocery store gained from killing a Level 5 Dark Demon Wolf, so naturally she built it without hesitation.
[Spend 10 Gold Coins, 1,000 units of stone, 1,000 units of wood to unlock Primary Grocery Store?]
"Yes."
[Grocery store completed. No merchant available, opening self-service mode. System will select idle items from Host's backpack to refresh at intervals. Confirm?]
"Yes."
Next up were item blueprints: the anti-black backpack blueprint, anti-black hat blueprint, and night vision glasses blueprint bought from territory residents. After crafting, Basic Tailor Shop now had three new items.
[Item: Anti-black backpack (green)]
[Introduction: Increases anti-dark effect, adds 2 slots]
[Durability: 100/100 (when below 20%, repair at tailor shop)]
[Price: 50 silver coins]
*
[Item: Anti-black hat (green)]
[Introduction: Increases anti-dark effect, allows stealth in darkness for 2 minutes]
[Durability: 100/100 (when below 20%, repair at tailor shop)]
[Price: 20 silver coins]
*
[Item: Night Vision Glasses (green)]
[Introduction: Increases anti-dark effect, visible within 2 meters]
[Durability: 100/100 (when below 20%, repair at tailor shop)]
[Price: 30 silver coins]
*
[Note: Having the complete anti-dark three-piece set lets you walk freely at night. Duration 2 hours, cooldown 2 hours.]
...
After executing and planning all the operations, Zhou Bai hit confirm. At that moment, she let out a long breath.
Finally done!
Burned through hundreds of Gold Coins in one shot, but compared to the results, she was truly happy.
Infrastructure is hard, but if you've got money, maybe it's not.
"I'm going out to see how the territory looks now." Operating on the Lord Map and seeing it in person are definitely different—Zhou Bai was a bit impatient now.
"Eat first. You've been so busy you haven't eaten." Ding Qiurou said from the side, then gave Zhou Bai a bowl of chicken soup, "I cooked it with the mushrooms I traded for. It's really tasty."
Zhou Bai took it, sipped, and nodded, "Delicious."
"If it's good, eat and drink more." Ding Qiurou said warmly. She knew her daughter had changed after last night. She couldn't do the things her daughter needed to do, so she'd just take care of her well.
She hoped not to see her daughter in that state again like last night.
Now things are much better! Ding Qiurou was already considering giving her daughter another sum in a couple of days to spend as she liked.
"Mm." Zhou Bai nodded.
Zhou Zhengping, watching all this, quickly said, "Honey, I want some too."
Ding Qiurou shot him a sidelong glance—this guy's just looking for attention!
But she still scooped him a bowl herself.
Seeing it all, Zhou Bai's lips curled up.
Why did she choose to change? It was so moments like this could keep happening!