As night began to fall and a bit of dusk lingered, Zhou Zhengping and Li Xingteng returned with their team.
Following the map provided by the system, they had walked all over the territory and roughly figured out what each area was.
It must be said, after walking through it, they were clearly more familiar with the surroundings of the territory.
They also started to understand why Bayer wanted them to make a round.
As soon as they arrived at the territory, they noticed things were different today.
There was a team of soldiers, about ten of them, standing guard at the gate and along the walls.
Zhou Zhengping and Li Xingteng instantly realized these were the twenty new soldiers recruited to the territory—already put to use?
This swift action—it was clearly Bayer's style.
Among them, Zhou Zhengping also spotted many familiar faces; they were the ones who'd been actively hunting outside the territory these days. It wasn't surprising they became the new soldiers.
There were a few who were clearly new arrivals today.
One of those was Cao Jingshan.
Seeing their attention fall on him, Cao Jingshan spoke, "I saw there was a recruitment for soldiers, so I signed up to try it out, didn't expect to be selected."
"That's your own ability. Keep it up, let's make our territory better together." Li Xingteng quickly encouraged him.
"Yeah, it's really nice here," Cao Jingshan said earnestly.
Not just because people from Hope Village go out to rescue them and punish the bad, but also because Hope Village gave them hope.
"After the territory posted the recruitment notice this afternoon, a lot of low-level people went to build roads. One of them lost an arm; he only joined to give it a try, but because he was strong, he was chosen. His whole spirit is different now."
"There are several women who lost their families. They were assigned to the cafeteria—those with cooking skills can be chefs, those without skills help manage kitchen hygiene. Everyone gets a wage, at least in the territory they can depend on themselves to survive now."
"You early residents are willing to take us out hunting and gathering. Everyone's saying after the rain ends, we can form our own teams and go out. If the place is closer to the territory and levels lower, we can go gathering too."
"Weapons, equipment, it's all here—and prices are really low."
"..."
Cao Jingshan told them everything he'd seen in Hope Village that afternoon. "Maybe all this seems normal to you, but in the territory where we lived before, survival was tough for everyone. You're really lucky to start off in a territory like this."
He didn't even care anymore if the territory had a Lord or not.
He just knew this territory was worth fighting for.
So, he stood here.
Most of those who arrived today had the same thoughts—after hardship, you know how to cherish things.
Everyone listened, a strange feeling stirring in their hearts.
After entering Hope Village, their journey had been tough, but now they realized others had it even harder. Suddenly, they felt pretty lucky.
Seeing their shifting expressions, Cao Jingshan quickly said, "Sorry, I'm rambling—just seeing you all reminded me of my experience earlier today. Back then, I didn't think this could ever be a place to settle down, but in an instant, everything changed."
"No worries," Li Xingteng and his group shook their heads. They were also happy to see the new survivors integrate so quickly into the territory, adding new strength.
"I won't hold you up. Hurry inside! Lord Bayer is waiting for you!" Cao Jingshan reminded them.
"Alright."
Without saying more, the group continued into the territory.
Once inside, they saw several new, striking stone paths across the formerly wide lawn. Each path led to one of the buildings. Stepping on them felt solid and reassuring.
The rain was still coming down, no longer silent but punctuated by the sound of drops hitting the stone, giving a special healing feeling.
And not far off, the cafeteria; even from a distance, it looked far livelier, with people constantly heading that way.
"Hurry up, if you're late you won't get stir-fried pork!"
"No stir-fried pork, there's other dishes. As long as it's decent food, that's good enough."
"Your standards are seriously low."
"When you eat bland roasted meat and soup every day, what more could you expect?"