At this moment, Hope Village.
Night had fallen, and the territory was lit by bonfires; several watchtowers and the walls were lined with torches, turning the territory bright.
Zhou Bai had just returned from outside, and was a little surprised when she saw the torches on the walls—she, as the Territory Lord, really had no idea where those torches had come from.
Compared to other teams who walked in groups, Zhou Bai stood out on her own; as soon as she appeared, Feng Lezhi, who was on duty, recognized her instantly. "You're back?"
Everyone had witnessed Zhou Bai's bravery; plus, she was their captain Zhou Zhengping's daughter—hard not to know her.
"Those torches—what are they?" Zhou Bai immediately asked.
"A survivor called Meng Chengzhou who came last night made them. Each torch burns for four hours. He was selling them, so I bought some; they're perfect for the territory, use them as lights." Feng Lezhi said with a beaming smile.
"Thanks. Seeing the territory all lit up really puts me in a good mood." Zhou Bai said sincerely.
"The territory's my home, and it relies on everyone's care! Doing something for my own home really isn't a big deal." Feng Lezhi said directly, and thinking of the daily wage the territory gave him, this little bit of money truly wasn't much.
Besides, he felt the territory was powerful and mysterious; if he contributed, surely the territory would remember it, and it'd be easier to get promoted later.
Zhou Bai smiled. Whatever his motives, the important thing was that he did it.
After a few polite words, Zhou Bai entered the territory.
The open space inside the territory had already turned into a small marketplace.
Meng Chengzhou, the one who made the torches, had become the undisputed center. Others had tried to make torches, but what they produced were just ordinary fire sticks, burning out quickly. His, however, were different; they lasted four hours.
"How did you make these?"
"Heh, secret recipe."
"Can't you make them a bit cheaper?"
"Making these takes time and effort. Can't go cheaper. Today in the territory, I made 120—only about 60 left now, and when more people get back, they'll sell even faster."
"Alright then! I'll take one."
"Me too—can we use these torches to go hunting Demon Beasts later?"
"You still haven't had enough after being out half the day?"
"Not at all! There was loads of supplies outside today, gotta stock up while it's early. Everyone knows it's only going to get more dangerous out there."
"True, true."
"..."
Zhou Bai was about to push in to buy, but her mom grabbed her arm.
"No need, I already bought some." Ding Qiurou looked amusedly at her daughter; seeing it was getting dark, she'd come to the territory to wait for them.
Zhou Bai listened and didn't squeeze in. Looking around at the others, she found the territory had plenty of things for sale now.
"Bamboo tubes, fresh bamboo tubes, much lighter than stone bowls!"
"Honey—fine honey, just 5 copper coins a serving for sweet flavor!"
"Rattan mattresses—tired of your plank-bed being too hard? With these, you'll sleep soundly all night."
"Various herbs, come check—some heal wounds quickly!"
"..."
Seeing Zhou Bai's gaze fall on these people, Ding Qiurou continued, "Whatever they were hawking, if I could buy it, I did. They came back earlier than you guys and started making things to sell right away. Honestly, these are pretty useful. Wasn't today's supply outside especially rich?"
"Yeah, a lot of supply points showed up. If you collect enough, you even trigger the Identification Skill…" Zhou Bai briefly explained the situation outside.
"I triggered a skill too," Ding Qiurou jumped in, excited after Zhou Bai finished. "I got Basic Cooking—happened when I was cooking for you guys, just popped up suddenly. Later I heard some people making bamboo tubes triggered Basic Manufacturing, and that Meng Chengzhou triggered Basic Carpentry…"
Ding Qiurou knew all the skills people had picked up, clearly she'd worked hard at it.
"Thanks, Mom." Having her mom gather all this info saved Zhou Bai a ton of effort.
If she had to handle everything alone, she'd be overwhelmed—and always miss important opportunities.
"We're a team: you and your dad take care of earning money and feeding the family, I handle looking pretty and managing logistics."
Now that Ding Qiurou knew territory life didn't have to depend solely on combat, she wasn't so hung up on growing stronger through fighting anymore—collecting info on the territory, she found the days passed quickly.
She'd figured it out: the strength of a territory was just like city-building back home—every part needed people so the whole territory could run smoothly.
Like combatants, who went out to hunt Demon Beasts; absolutely no time to make household tools. Now, dedicated manufacturers could make gear, and the fighters just spent money to buy what they need—a win-win for everyone.
"Alright." Zhou Bai replied.
Just then, someone else arrived back from outside, bursting into the territory and shouting, "Hahaha, I got condiments today! Food is finally going to taste good!"
With condiments, competition was fierce—everyone rushed over to surround him instantly.
"What kind of condiment?"
"Hehe, salt blocks."
"Damn, sell me some! Where'd you get it?"
"Chaotic Stone Forest—not many Demon Beasts, so I hung around there, killed some Demon Wolves, got some meat. Saw all those stones and thought, 'Why not take some?' Collecting stone, suddenly salt blocks dropped; the drop rate is really low though."
"Low is fine—as long as it exists!"
"How much salt you got? Sell us some first."
"Only a little."
"That's fine."
"..."
Zhou Bai and Ding Qiurou exchanged a look and squeezed into the crowd.
As more and more people returned, the territory got even livelier, and material exchanges increased.
Likewise, the news about skills spread everywhere.
So even knowing it wasn't easy to level up to Level 10, nobody was overly disappointed, because they'd gotten skills—the real foundation for surviving this world.
When Zhou Zhengping and Li Xingteng returned, the atmosphere in the territory reached a new peak—most of them got Combat System skills, and with some bragging and boasting, plenty of eyes were shining bright.
"Tomorrow I'm not guarding the gate—I'm heading out to hunt Demon Beasts, too." Feng Lezhi's eyes were practically "red" hearing his teammates' skill gains.
"Remember, after you accumulate 100 times you get a Basic Skill, although it just gives a temporary boost. Must work hard to master intermediate—though who knows how many times it'll take."
"Got it."
The whole scene was buzzing—everyone showing off their skills to each other.
**
Not far away, Diana and Harrison—who'd come out to investigate the excitement in the territory—listened to everyone talk about Basic Skills, their expressions varied.
Harrison was full of disdain. "I thought something big had happened, but it's just triggering Basic Skills; in my old territory, six-year-olds had them. Has humanity really fallen this far?"
Listening to Harrison, Diana shook her head. "This territory is different."
"What's different about it?"
"They've migrated from somewhere. This territory has only been built for three days. They didn't even know about the Beast Tide trial that comes with their first territory upgrade. They upgraded with just over a hundred people, and their territory got invaded by a Level 5 Demon Beast—yet in the end, they won, passed the trial. Today is officially their first day as an established territory." Diana explained, "To get this far on the first day is impressive."
"How? From their ages they shouldn't be…" So ignorant, especially the Lord; aren't all Lords in the Human Clan Kingdom nobility?
"That's why their origins are a mystery—seems like they're not natives of Stan Continent." Diana said sharply. "But now that they're on Stan Continent, they're part of it, and their territory will be one of Stan Continent's. And we're relying on this territory."
Harrison: "..."
"I know the Dwarf Clan's territories are super strong, but you're not in the Dwarf Clan's territory anymore. You're not even a Dwarf Clan resident now—you're Undead Clan." Diana said pointedly.
Harrison caught the warning in Diana's words and answered grumpily, "I know!"
Diana noticed Harrison's attitude, her expression softened, and she looked at Zhou Bai's family in the distance with a gentle smile. "I just think these unique Humans might lead this territory down an unusual path."
Maybe even change Humanity's awkward status here on Stan Continent.
Who knows how many Human Territories are hanging on now; if even they can't make it, in the end, humanity will become vassals to other races. As a former Human, she didn't want to see that happen.
Harrison saw the hope in Diana's eyes, snorted coldly—let's see what gives these Humans the right to fill Diana with so much hope.