Chapter 164: The Recipe

“Do you know who put it there?” Su You frowned. She genuinely had no idea why a recipe had suddenly appeared in the corner.

Could someone have placed it there?

But there weren’t many people with access to that room—not even Lyle and the others.

And if it was someone from their group, why go through all this trouble? Wouldn’t it be easier to just hand the recipe to Su You directly?

It wasn’t just Su You who was confused; Dolly shook her head as well. “I don’t know either, but it probably wasn’t anyone else. I asked them about it yesterday.”

Since no one knew who put it there, Su You decided not to dwell on it. After all, there were no surveillance cameras, and someone was just leaving something behind, not stealing anything. There was no need to overthink it.

“So, that stone—is it a spatial stone?” Su You was referring to the stone that had been weighing down the recipe.

If it was just the recipe, there’s no way Dolly could have made the bag. But since she managed to make it, that meant whoever left the recipe also left the stone.

Talk about going the extra mile…

“You mean the stone that was holding down the recipe? No, that’s just an ordinary rock,” Dolly replied.

Su You: …

“The spatial stone was found inside the box. It must have already been there.”

Su You: Huh?

How come she didn’t know there was a spatial stone in her box?

Dolly had originally planned to apologize to Su You for using materials from her box without permission, but when she saw Su You’s confused expression, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“You… didn’t know about this?” Dolly was, of course, referring to the spatial stone.

She never expected Su You to be unaware that there was such a stone in her box.

“Tell me in detail—which box did you take it from? What did the stone look like?” Maybe because she’d been so busy these past couple of days, Su You had left the sorting of the boxes to Dolly, and had forgotten exactly what was in them.

At best, she could only remember the general contents of each box. As for specifics—what items, how many—she really couldn’t recall.

“I think it was the box in the farthest corner. The stone was gray-brown, oval-shaped, and pretty smooth…” Dolly remembered it quite clearly. After all, she hadn’t expected to find a spatial stone in the box either.

At first, she’d planned to hand the recipe straight to Su You, but while organizing the boxes, she happened to spot a stone that looked almost exactly like the one described in the recipe…

“I remember you said the things in that box weren’t useful and I could take whatever I wanted, so I just took it out.” As for why she hadn’t mentioned it to Su You, partly it was because Su You had been so busy dealing with the dark creatures’ attack, and Dolly didn’t want to bother her with something so trivial. Partly, she wanted to give Su You a surprise.

And it really was a surprise—a pure, genuine surprise.

In fact, this surprise was even better than the thrill Su You had felt when opening treasure chests. After all, she never got anything as good as a spatial bag from those.

But, based on Dolly’s description, Su You vaguely remembered something. When she killed the Fire Demon Leader, hadn’t she received an “unknown stone”? Could it be that?

If that was the case, did it mean that killing boss-level monsters could drop spatial stones in the future?

With a spatial stone, you could make a spatial bag. If one day, every resident in the territory could have their own spatial bag, their ability to explore, gather, and fight would all improve dramatically!

Of course, these spatial bags couldn’t just be handed out to anyone. They’d have to go to NPCs with very high loyalty and favorability—both stats needed to be above 90. Otherwise, if someone ran off with a spatial bag or used it for something bad, that was the last thing Su You wanted to see.

“Milady?” Dolly had no idea Su You was already thinking so far ahead. She stood there awkwardly, arms aching from holding all the bags, not sure where to put them.

“Sorry, I spaced out.” Su You smiled at her, then started putting all the spatial bags into storage while asking Dolly more about them.

Dolly shook out her hands and answered earnestly.

“Um… The spatial stone is all used up. That one stone made eight level-one spatial bags, and they’re all here.”

“To upgrade them? I think you need another spatial stone, plus some other materials—like malachite and golden thread… But even with the materials, I’m not skilled enough yet. I can’t upgrade them for now.”

“I haven’t actually learned the recipe for the spatial bag. I just followed the steps written on it…”

Su You was surprised to hear the recipe was still intact. “You didn’t use the recipe?”

A recipe’s function is to directly unlock the item, allowing you to craft it with almost no chance of failure—unless you mess up on purpose.

But the downside is that a recipe can only be used once, like a skill book. Once it’s used, it’s gone.

Dolly, however, hadn’t used the recipe. She just treated it like an instruction manual and learned from it. The benefit is that the recipe is preserved. The downside is obvious: if the learner isn’t talented or perceptive, they might fail many times, and with high-level recipes, they might never succeed.

But Dolly had clearly succeeded, so there was no problem.

“Here’s the recipe.” Dolly pulled a few sheets of paper from her pocket.

Su You glanced at them—sure enough, it was the “Spatial Bag Recipe.”

The recipe listed materials for level-one through level-five spatial bags, but only provided crafting instructions for levels one through three. For levels four and five, there were no instructions; you’d have to figure those out yourself.

After thinking for a moment, Su You took the recipes for levels one, four, and five, and handed the level-two and level-three recipes back to Dolly.

“You keep these two. Once your sewing skill is high enough, just learn them.” Level-two and level-three spatial bags require intermediate sewing, but Dolly only had basic sewing. It would take her a long time to reach intermediate, but that was fine—level one was enough for now.

Of course, she could recruit an NPC with intermediate sewing and give them the recipes, but recipes were clearly more valuable than the bags themselves.

Su You would never give them to anyone she didn’t trust.

(End of chapter)"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of the provided Chinese text:

---

165. Doris

By the time their loyalty and favor had been raised, Doris had already leveled up.

As for the other three recipes, Doris had already learned the level-one recipe, so she didn’t need it. Su You could keep it for other uses. The level-four and level-five recipes didn’t have crafting processes yet, and those were things for far in the future anyway, so Su You kept those for herself as well.

Su You also took note of the materials needed for the level-two and level-three recipes. Other than the spatial stone, she recognized all the other ingredients and knew where to find them, so gathering them wouldn’t be difficult...

“For now, focus on making leather equipment. You can make some other things too, just follow your usual habits. There’s a good chance we’ll have visitors to the territory tomorrow...”

Doris: “Understood.”

After chatting with Doris about the tailoring shop, Su You suddenly seemed to remember something. She turned around and took out a gleaming golden chest.

Doris stared at the solid gold chest, her mouth slightly open in shock.

“This is...” It was her first time seeing a chest made of pure gold. This thing had to be worth at least several hundred gold coins, right?

Some people never earn that much in their entire lives...

Indeed, some people never see that much gold in a lifetime, but Su You wasn’t supporting just one person—she had a whole city to take care of.

If her luck hadn’t been so bad, she would never have considered the bizarre idea of “melting down the chest to make coins.” After all, things like building cards, recruitment cards, bounty cards, and other rare materials or recipes were almost impossible to buy—the only way to get them was from opening chests.

Her luck was bad? Fine!

She’d stop opening chests herself and find someone else to do it!

“Doris, come help me open this chest.”

Experience had shown that Doris’s luck was always pretty good—at least better than Su You’s. If Doris opened the chest and got something good, that would be ideal. If not, at least Su You could blame it on the chest.

“O-open the chest?” Doris was a little nervous, her hands trembling as she looked at the dazzling golden box... After all, to her, this wasn’t just a prop chest—it was a mountain of gold.

“Don’t worry, just open it however you like. No pressure.” Su You placed the chest directly into Doris’s hands.

Since Su You said so, Doris stared at the chest for a while, then took a deep breath. She held the chest with one hand and slowly unlocked the golden clasp with the other.

As soon as the lid cracked open, Su You caught a faint glimmer of gold from inside.

Just as she was wondering if this was some kind of “golden legend,” the glow faded, and Doris opened the chest fully, revealing everything inside.

[Beginner Sewing Skill Book x1]

[Magic Pattern Book x1]

[Spatial Stone x1]

[Phoenix Wood x1]

[Statue Remnant Soul x1]

...

There were only five items, but each one was more valuable than the last.

Doris didn’t know how valuable these things were. All she saw was that after opening the chest, the box worth hundreds of gold coins was gone, and in its place were two books, a stone identical to the spatial stone she’d used before, a cloudy light-blue gem, and a piece of deep red wood that didn’t look special except for its color.

No matter how she looked at it, these things didn’t seem worth hundreds of gold coins. Doris grew anxious, worried she’d ruined the chest, and looked up at Su You, a little lost.

“Miss Lord...”

Before she could say anything, Su You—who knew the true value of these items—hugged her tightly.

“I knew letting you open the chest was the right call!”

The first three items didn’t even need mentioning. The skill book was useless to her and could be sold. The magic pattern book could be kept or sold. The spatial stone could be used to upgrade her spatial bag or make more of them.

Phoenix Wood, a symbol of good fortune, was said in legends to be where phoenixes perched... Even if it was just a legend, in the game it naturally had special significance.

While not as rare as dragonbone, it was still a relatively rare material.

Most importantly, Phoenix Wood was a lightweight wood—perfect for making light bows!

“I’ll have Doya thank you properly later.” After explaining the use of the Phoenix Wood to Doris, Su You finally relaxed.

At least the wood wasn’t as worthless as she’d feared... That was a relief.

“What about this?” Doris pointed at the blue gem.

It was called a gem, but unlike most gems, it was cloudy and ugly, full of impurities.

“That’s a Statue Remnant Soul.”

A Statue Remnant Soul was one of the materials needed to build a statue—the same kind of statue card you could choose when first establishing your territory.

As Su You explained its use, she took the pale blue “gem” to see which “god” the remnant soul belonged to.

[Statue Remnant Soul: Doris]

Type: Special

Quality: Red

Description: This stone contains a fragment of the soul of Doris, Goddess of Life. Once a statue is built, place this inside and the statue will bestow Doris’s blessings upon those who worship her.

...

The Goddess of Life, Doris. Su You had never worshipped her before, but she’d heard her blessings were quite good.

Each statue’s blessing corresponded to its deity’s title, so the “Goddess of Life” naturally gave life-related blessings.

Doris could grant health and vitality to her followers, strengthening their bodies and increasing their stamina and endurance.

In game terms: “reduced chance of disease,” “faster HP recovery,” “increased max HP/defense,” “faster stamina recovery,” and so on.

All in all, a pretty decent remnant soul.

The materials needed to build the statue were [Stone x1000, Marble x500, Statue Remnant Soul x1]. She had enough stone, and now the remnant soul, so all she was missing was some marble.

Statues were the kind of thing where the sooner you built them, the sooner you benefited, so Su You decided to make it a priority.

Conveniently, when she went to mine marble later, she could also check out the area near the monster cage and set things up for tomorrow.

...

With the chest opened, Su You sorted through everything and took out two spatial bags.

“Keep one for yourself, and give the other to Doya. Make sure to teach her how to use it.”

Doris’s loyalty and favor had long since maxed out, so giving her a spatial bag was only natural—especially since she’d made them herself.

As for Doya, while not maxed out, her loyalty was at 90 and favor at 89, which was good enough.

With a spatial bag, hunting trips would be much more convenient.

“All right. Anything else, Miss Lord?” Doris had no objections to Su You’s arrangements.

“Go ahead and take care of your own things. And remember to rest.”

(End of chapter)"

"166. Vivian

After Dolly left, Su You headed to the tavern, planning to recruit some NPCs first.

Since it wasn’t mealtime, the tavern was empty—there wasn’t even any sign of Meck. Who knows where he’d gone or what he was up to.

Su You skillfully opened the recruitment panel. She barely glanced at it for a few seconds before directly selecting an NPC to recruit.

【Vivian】

Gender: Female

Age: Young

Loyalty: 65

Affection: 25

Talents: Medicine (85), Magic (70)

Skills: Novice Physician, Novice Healing Magic

Traits: Drug Sensitivity (increased success rate for medicine-related checks), Malicious Personality (takes pleasure in provoking strong emotions in others)

Profile: 【Vivian’s father comes from a long line of doctors, while her mother is the daughter of a famous performing troupe leader (including but not limited to: magic, acrobatics, theater, etc.).

Under her father’s influence, Vivian displayed an exceptional talent for medicine and studied the craft under him from a young age.

But this was just due to her natural talent—it didn’t really suit her personality.

Vivian was born with a mischievous, almost devilish temperament. Rather than quietly healing the sick, she much preferred playing pranks—not for the process, but for the outcome.

She also loved standing on stage, putting on jaw-dropping performances, and relished seeing all sorts of intense emotions on the faces of her audience—whether it was shock, tension, fear, or panic.

During one acrobatic performance, Vivian sneaked onto the stage and got injured, but was unexpectedly discovered by a magician in the audience, who noticed her magical talent. With the promise that she could perform on stage if she studied magic well, Vivian joined the Mage’s Guild.

Unfortunately, after Vivian “graduated” from the Mage’s Guild, her mother’s performing troupe disbanded for various reasons, and her dream of performing on stage was shattered...】

...

Even without considering Vivian’s personality, her two skill talents alone were enough for Su You to make a quick decision.

Although Yue could barely fill the role of a healer with her water magic, water mages have the weakest healing abilities. In terms of healing power, it goes: Healing Mage > Light Mage > Water Mage.

Yue’s healing magic could only close wounds, not restore health, so its effect was quite limited.

What’s more, Vivian also had physician skills. This made Su You, who had been debating whether to build a clinic in the territory due to the lack of a doctor, decide immediately.

And to be honest, Vivian’s negative trait wasn’t even that bad... She just enjoyed seeing people scared, right?

Su You not only had ways to satisfy this little quirk of hers, but could even use it as a reason for Vivian to stay.

After recruiting her, Su You left the tavern and gathered materials to build a clinic at the edge of the residential area.

The materials for the clinic were the usual trio—composite wood planks, composite stone slabs, and marble bricks.

Although Su You needed marble for the statue and probably shouldn’t be using it up, the amount on hand wasn’t enough for the statue anyway, and now there was a quarry... so it didn’t matter.

【Consume Composite Wood Plank x5, Composite Stone Slab x5, Marble Brick x5 to build a Clinic?】

【Construction in progress: Clinic. Estimated time: 300 minutes】

Besides the clinic, Su You also used some wood planks to repair a few houses, bringing the total number of residences up to ten. That way, there would be enough space for new recruits tomorrow.

Once the buildings were set up, Su You took the quarry construction card, two level-one storage pouches, and some materials and tools, and headed straight for the mines.

...

...

“Lord, this is...” Laike stared in surprise at the quarry building that had suddenly appeared before him, but didn’t seem to think a structure springing up out of nowhere was all that strange—just a bit surprising.

After Su You explained the quarry’s function, Laike immediately realized it was similar to the lumber mill.

“This is for you. Take good care of it. It works like a wooden cart, but can only store three types of items.” Su You handed him a storage pouch, then looked around as if searching for something.

“I’ll take good care of it,” Laike replied, understanding its use and nodding earnestly.

He didn’t ask where the pouch came from, simply slinging it over his shoulder.

“Where’s Lyle?” Logically, Lyle should be around here, but Su You didn’t see him anywhere.

“Are you looking for Lyle, my lord? He’s over by the stone gate ruins you sealed earlier... Said he wanted to keep an eye on the place in case something happened.” Although Laike thought this was unnecessary and rather dangerous, he couldn’t talk Lyle out of it, so he just let him be.

Anyway, since he was nearby, if anything happened over there, he’d hear it.

“Got it.” With that, Su You headed toward the monster spawn cage, reminding Laike before leaving to start mining marble.

The warehouse still needed about 120 more pieces of marble to build the statue. With Laike’s speed and the new quarry, Su You figured they’d gather enough marble soon.

Laike: “Understood, I’ll get right on it.”

...

Just as Laike said, Su You found Lyle by the monster spawn cage.

He was chopping wood while keeping a close eye on the cage, his expression complicated, as if lost in thought.

When he saw Su You approach, he stopped what he was doing.

“This is for you.” Su You handed him a storage pouch and repeated the explanation she’d given Laike, mentioning that Laike had one too.

Lyle was clearly much sharper than Laike. He immediately grasped the value of this seemingly ordinary pouch and understood the trust Su You was placing in them.

“This is really valuable.” As a player, Su You was used to having inventory space—twenty slots, no less—so she couldn’t fully appreciate how precious this pouch was to them.

For Lyle, this was an item on par with the “spatial magic” that only high-level mages in legends could use.

“It is, but you both deserve it.” Although the brothers’ loyalty and affection hadn’t maxed out at 100, the lowest was already 97. With numbers that high, it was only a matter of time before they reached full value, and it wouldn’t take long.

Besides, Su You wasn’t blind—she could see how much the brothers had contributed to the territory.

If it weren’t for them, Su You would have been exhausted just gathering materials on her own.

Hearing Su You’s words, Lyle was deeply moved.

(End of chapter)"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

167. Building a Divine Statue

Moved as he was, he didn’t bother with any overly polite words of thanks.

After spending this time together, Lyle knew that compared to easy words of gratitude, Su You much preferred seeing their real efforts and hard work.

“I noticed you kept looking at that door just now. Is there something wrong with it?” With their relationship this close, Su You didn’t bother with beating around the bush anymore. If she had a question or needed something, she just said it directly. They basically answered whatever she asked and did whatever she needed.

Lyle composed himself before replying, “There’s not really a problem, but I just have this feeling that it’s dangerous.” He knew it sounded like pointless nonsense, but that was honestly how he felt.

He’d been chopping trees here a few days ago and hadn’t sensed any danger, but today, this pile of ruins gave him a strong sense of oppression, as if hundreds of eyes were watching him at every moment.

But every time he looked over, there was nothing there—almost as if it was all in his imagination.

…Actually, it wasn’t “almost as if”—it really was just his imagination, because there really was nothing there.

“…That’s about it. Ever since I got here, I keep feeling like something is watching me.” Even though Lyle tried to reassure himself that nothing was there, that inexplicable feeling still sent chills down his spine.

“I think I know what’s going on.” After hearing Lyle’s words, Su You had a pretty good guess.

“Remember when I sealed up that monster spawner? Tomorrow morning, the seal will be lifted.” She figured the spawner was about to be unsealed, and the monsters inside could sense the weakening seal, so they were gathering at the exit, waiting for the seal to disappear so they could burst out all at once.

“Is… that it?” With a reasonable explanation, Lyle felt relieved… but the thought of the spawner being unsealed tomorrow still gave him a headache.

“I’m here to set things up so we’ll be ready for those monsters tomorrow.” As she spoke, Su You pulled out a pile of materials. “You go ahead with your work, don’t mind me.”

With that, she picked up a shovel and started digging a pit with practiced ease.

Lyle had no idea what she was up to, but since Su You didn’t ask for help, he didn’t bother her. After watching for a bit, he picked up his axe and went back to chopping trees.

Time ticked by. When Lyle finally got tired and decided to take a break, he turned around—and was startled by what he saw: a massive pit had appeared right next to him.

That’s right, another one of those familiar pits.

Su You had lost count of how many pits she’d dug in the past ten days. If digging pits had a skill level, she figured she’d at least have “Intermediate Pit Digging” by now.

This pit was centered on the monster spawner, and it was even deeper than the previous ones—at least five or six meters down.

The bottom was filled with dense, sharp spike traps, and the pit was surrounded by a solid stone wall.

Pit? Check. Traps? Check. Defensive structures? Check. Su You climbed out using a ladder she’d built inside, then took the ladder away and started building towers and arrow turrets behind the wall.

Lyle: …So what was he even worried about just now?

Looking at the setup, Lyle didn’t know whether he should be worried about how long the skeletons would survive, or about how they were supposed to earn any contribution points—since neither of them would be able to get close enough to fight the monsters in melee.

The day before the dark creatures’ attack, Su You had opened up the territory contribution system. For now, there was only one way to earn contribution: participate in team activities and get points based on your actual performance.

For example, during the two previous dark creature attacks, killing monsters earned contribution, and dealing damage also counted (for NPCs with area attacks who couldn’t “last-hit”). Su You could see all the data, which made calculating contribution much easier.

Besides the dark creature attacks, this “monster spawner raid” would almost certainly grant contribution as well.

Su You hadn’t said what contribution could be used for yet, but Lyle knew that as the territory developed, contribution would only become more and more important. If he didn’t rack up some points now, he’d be left with nothing when he needed them later.

“That’s about it. But tomorrow, there’ll probably be at least ninety ghostly skeletons, and this pit isn’t big enough—it can only hold sixty or seventy at most.” Space was limited, so the pit could only be so big. The extra skeletons would spawn outside the traps.

Su You looked at Lyle, and he immediately understood: “Got it. Any skeletons that spawn outside the traps are up to me and Lake.”

There were only two of them, but they’d fought a dozen ghostly skeletons at once before. Besides, unlike Su You, they could level up, had combat skills, and could equip gear.

With all the training lately and the experience from yesterday’s battle, they felt much stronger than before.

“Safety first, though. Remember to get a full set of reinforced beast hide armor from Dolly before tomorrow.” Doya had had good luck yesterday and caught quite a few small animals. There wasn’t much meat, but plenty of hides. Plus, Su You had opened a bunch of chests and gotten a ton more, so Dolly was now busier than ever.

She had to hurry and turn all those hides into equipment—some for the territory’s own use, and the rest for sale.

Besides the beast hide armor, Yue would also be coming tomorrow.

On one hand, it meant someone could help with healing in case anything happened. On the other, it was a chance for him to gain some real combat experience with his water magic.

Meck had said that while Yue didn’t have much talent, he worked hard—so even if he couldn’t make up for his lack of talent, his progress wasn’t any slower than an average apprentice mage.

At the very least, casting a few water bolts shouldn’t be a problem.

Of course, there was another, less obvious reason: to give him a chance to earn some contribution points. Otherwise, who knew how long it would take him to save up enough to exchange for a magic rune book.

…

After that, Su You took a pickaxe and went with Lake to the chain of mines to dig up marble. Once she’d gathered enough to build the statue, she returned to the territory.

【Consume 1000 stone, 500 marble, and 1 Statue Remnant Soul (Doris) to construct the Statue of Doris, Goddess of Life?】"

"168. Trading District

[Currently constructing the Statue of Doris, Goddess of Life. Estimated completion time: 24 hours.]

The statue was placed by Su You behind the City Heart Fire, close to the center of the territory. Although it was still under construction, Su You had already planned out how to arrange the area around it.

First, she would build a ring-shaped pond around the statue. Later, she could buy some ornamental aquatic creatures (like koi) to keep in it, and then plant a circle of beautiful flowers and plants around the pond.

Of course, not every statue needed to be decorated this way—she was doing it simply because this was the Goddess of Life.

When it came to worshipping a statue, what mattered most was “consistent sincerity” and “matching attributes.”

The former meant coming to the statue every day to pray and receive a blessing aura. The longer one persisted in worship, the stronger the aura would become.

The latter, matching attributes, meant that the Goddess of Life valued life itself, so the surrounding decorations should naturally be related to life.

Raising other animals would be inappropriate and troublesome, but keeping a few small fish and planting some flowers was simple enough.

This arrangement was not only simple and attractive, but also matched the attributes of the Goddess of Life, which could enhance the effects of worship.

……

With the appearance of the statue, all the basic buildings in the territory were now complete.

There were places to eat, sleep, and live, a clinic, a quest hall, the statue, a well, a training ground…

Su You looked at the territory sketch she had drawn, marking all the buildings that had already been constructed, and began planning the layout of other buildings and areas in the remaining space.

She had only posted the regional bounty today, so the earliest anyone would arrive was tomorrow. That meant she still had time today to arrange and improve the territory’s construction progress.

As the territory sketch gradually took shape, a nearly perfect territory layout was born under her pen.

Su You put away her quill and walked to a spot she had deliberately left open at the back left of the territory. On her map, she had designated this area as the Trading District.

Anyone—whether a resident or outsider—could set up a stall in the Trading District, though a certain booth fee would be charged.

The Trading District was the best way to stimulate the territory’s economic cycle early on, especially when there were still few shops and goods.

At this stage, the territory didn’t have much to offer, but by allowing outsiders to set up stalls, as long as there were visitors with needs, there would be transactions. Whether or not the territory itself had goods didn’t matter; what mattered was that trade was happening.

Su You also planned to set up a stall tomorrow—but not personally. Buying and selling was naturally something she’d leave to Buguo.

She had already decided what to sell: besides some common trinkets, the more valuable items included enhanced beast-hide equipment, a green-quality beast core dropped by the long-tailed crocodile she’d killed earlier, a beginner’s sewing skill book found in a chest, a magic pattern book, a level-one spatial pouch, and the recipe for making a level-one spatial pouch.

There weren’t many items, and aside from the spatial pouch and its recipe, nothing particularly rare or precious. But it was enough to showcase the territory’s strength.

The territory’s publicity was still very limited, so anyone who came probably wouldn’t be anyone important. Even if Su You put out good items, they wouldn’t be able to afford them.

Besides, for a small territory, displaying rare treasures without enough strength to back them up wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Su You searched through the building list and found an icon labeled “Trading District.”

[Would you like to designate the location of the Trading District?]

[Note: At the current territory level, only one Trading District is allowed. Its size is unlimited, but it cannot be canceled at will. Please choose carefully.]

Su You selected [Yes], and a marker tool appeared in her hand, similar to a piece of chalk.

Using the marker, she roughly outlined the area for the Trading District, then opened the building list again.

[Confirm this area as the Trading District?]

With this prompt, a flag appeared in Su You’s hand.

The flag was dark blue, with no pattern, just the simple words “Trading District” written on it.

As long as the flag was placed near the designated area, the Trading District would be officially established.

“I’ll put it… here.” Su You looked around, found a spot suitable as an entrance, and placed the flag representing the Trading District at the entrance.

[Trading District established. This area cannot be built upon, destroyed, or relocated… When anyone in the territory has trading needs, they will automatically come here to trade.]

The Trading District wasn’t a building, just an area, so Su You didn’t need to use any materials to construct it. Aside from the flag, the designated area was empty, looking just like any other open space.

Su You planned to make some tables for displaying goods and benches for stall owners to rest. For the early stage, these two things would be enough.

After a trip to the workshop, Su You set up some rectangular tables and brought out a pile of benches. Just then, Buguo happened to pass by.

“I’ll help you. Where should I put this?” Buguo hesitated for a moment, then trotted over to Su You and picked up a bench.

Because of malnutrition, Buguo looked small and thin; the long bench was almost half her size.

Su You felt a bit helpless. She wanted to refuse, but seeing how determined Buguo was, she didn’t insist on taking the bench back. Instead, she pointed to a spot.

“Just put it over there.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Buguo ran over with the bench.

Watching Buguo’s small figure, Su You felt a pang of guilt, as if she were exploiting child labor…

“All right, all right, that’s enough. By the way, this place is the Trading District. Tomorrow, I’ll need your help to run a stall here.” To keep Buguo from helping further, Su You quickly changed the subject.

Once Buguo was distracted by this, Su You continued, “I’ll give you the goods tonight, along with their prices. Same as last time—you can set the prices as you see fit, and you’ll get a share of any extra profit.”

“Okay.” Buguo nodded without hesitation. Though she only said one word, she was actually looking forward to it… She hoped tomorrow would come quickly.

After being used to a rough, wandering life, suddenly living in comfort—eating and dressing well every day—felt strange to Buguo.

Her eagerness to help was, in a way, a sign of insecurity. She was afraid that if she was useless, she would be abandoned."

"169. Practice

Su You could see this as well. So after assigning Bu Guo her tasks for the next day, she had her help watch over the workbenches synthesizing materials. Whenever a workbench stopped running, Bu Guo would add more materials.

It was an extremely boring and time-consuming job, but it suited Bu Guo perfectly—and she didn’t mind it at all.

“Can I use all the materials in those boxes?”

“Yes, you can use them all. If you run out of wood, add more wood. Same with stone and fiber.”

With Bu Guo successfully sent off, Su You arranged the remaining stools one by one… The trading area was now set up.

After that, Su You first checked her backpack, then went to the warehouse and took out beast tendons, string, refined magic ore, and all the wood she’d previously chopped for making bows and arrows.

Besides those, she also had the wutong wood in her backpack.

Carrying all these materials, Su You headed straight for the workshop. What she was about to do was obvious—she was going to use the wutong wood and black-striped tiger tendons to make a bow.

The wutong wood was too high-grade for the workbench to process, so she’d have to wait for an NPC with intermediate or advanced carpentry skills to give the wood to, or make it herself.

Clearly, she chose the latter.

In fact, her previous gaming experience gave her a huge “cheat” in this data-driven world—she knew all the recipes and crafting methods for every item in the game “Sunset Continent.”

Unlike the recipe manuals Duoli had discovered, Su You didn’t just know the crafting steps—she could actually make these things herself, with both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience.

After all, her old account had five maxed-out life skills; she’d crafted more items than she could count.

Back then, not to mention making a bow with wutong wood and black-striped tiger tendon—even using dragonbone and dragon tendon was no problem.

But things were different now. She had no skill levels at all—her account was a “blank slate.” Without any system assistance, she could only rely on her memory to slowly regain the feel for crafting.

That’s why she brought so many materials—she needed to practice.

First, Su You used string and ordinary wood to make a bunch of bows and arrows. Once she felt she’d gotten her touch back, she switched to the special bow wood and string… then swapped the string for beast tendon.

She didn’t have much beast tendon left. After giving one bow to Yun Li and another to Duoya, she only had eight tendons left from the original ten.

With each attempt, the number dwindled—from eight to seven… then six…

Who knows how much time passed before Su You finally managed to handcraft a perfect black-striped tiger tendon bow.

But that wasn’t enough. She needed to get even more skilled—after all, she only had one piece of wutong wood, and only one shot at this.

She still had five beast tendons left, so she could practice four more times—she needed to save one for the wutong wood bow.

…

After two more practice runs, it was nearly dusk. Su You’s stamina was running low, and her character was now moderately fatigued.

She didn’t keep practicing—after all, fatigue from overwork would affect the crafting process and results.

It was already dusk. She stepped outside for some fresh air. Watching the busy figures in the fields, she remembered the skill book in her backpack.

She walked over and saw crops everywhere.

Yousen greeted her. “My lord, are you here to check on the crops?”

He then shared some good news—corn, wheat, and rice had all ripened.

To be precise, the corn had actually ripened last night, but it was too late then, and there were other things going on, so Yousen hadn’t had a chance to mention it.

The crops had matured so quickly thanks to the growth fertilizer. The basic fertilizer reduced growth time by 10% per use, up to five times—a full 50% reduction.

But while the fertilizer was effective, it was used up quickly… And with this good news came a reminder that they were almost out.

Each field had four plots, each needing five packs of fertilizer—twenty packs per field. The ninety packs Su You had made earlier weren’t nearly enough.

So Yousen had to prioritize crops with longer growth cycles to maximize returns.

“You’ve done a great job.” Sure enough, having a professional made all the difference.

He managed ten fields all by himself, not only without help, but keeping them all in perfect order.

The harvest was a huge help… While having enough food was good, tomorrow was a special day—there was a good chance many people would visit the territory.

It wouldn’t do to serve only meat and berries, so the wheat and rice harvests would greatly enrich the menu, letting Meike put his skills to use.

As for the fertilizer shortage…

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll have plenty by tomorrow,” Su You said confidently.

After all, tomorrow the monster cage would be unlocked. With ninety ghostly skeletons, there’d be no shortage of bones for making fertilizer.

“Oh, here, take this and learn it.” Su You took out the intermediate planting skill book and handed it to Yousen, whose eyes filled with surprise and delight.

“My lord, is it really okay to just give this to me…?” Yousen knew Yue, since after joining the territory, Yue had moved into House 5 to live with him. So he was aware of how hard Yue had worked to earn contribution points for the magic inscription book.

But he himself hadn’t made any contributions, yet was being given an intermediate planting skill book for free… Was that really okay?

Of course, Yousen definitely wanted the skill book—who wouldn’t want to improve themselves, especially so easily?

“I know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t a free gift. From today on, I need you to start researching improved seeds. Once you succeed, the contribution you earn will pay for this skill book.”

Yue becoming a mage actually didn’t benefit the territory much—his talent was too low, and he was just an ordinary NPC with no special traits."

"Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

170. Upgrading the Tavern

But Yousen was different. He had great potential and was well worth investing in. Improving his skills would quickly yield tangible benefits.

Breeding improved seeds wasn’t an easy task. Basic skill levels were far from enough. The reason Yousen had succeeded before was partly due to his high talent and helpful traits, and partly just pure luck.

To help him develop better seeds faster, it was necessary to “loan” him resources and train him in advance.

“Improving seeds? That’s my specialty!” In fact, it was more than just a specialty. As soon as Su You mentioned she needed improved seeds, Yousen dashed back to his room and returned with a large pile of seeds.

Su You listened as he enthusiastically introduced each seed as if they were treasures. She hadn’t expected anything special, but to her surprise, she did find a few valuable improved seeds.

One was an improved Windgrass seed—Yousen had reduced its requirements for growing conditions. In other words, this seed could now be planted in basic farmland, without needing to upgrade to intermediate fields.

Another was an improved Red Grass seed, which now yielded slightly more than before.

There were also some seeds Su You hadn’t collected yet, like tomatoes, watermelons, and chili peppers. For these three, the improvement was a shorter growing period.

“I’m willing to contribute all these seeds to the territory.” In fact, Yousen had been hesitating about whether to hand them over, but Su You gifting him a skill book gave him the perfect opportunity to do so.

Su You didn’t stand on ceremony. She immediately had Yousen plant the improved Windgrass seeds in the newly cleared fields.

Three and a half plots had been freed up: one for Windgrass, one for wheat, one for rice, and the remaining half for something with a similar maturation time to the potatoes already planted. That way, they could be harvested together, and she could eventually unify that plot with a single crop to trigger the Harmony I effect.

“All right, once you’re done planting, go study the skill book.” Although these seeds were pretty good, they still fell short of Su You’s standards for improved crops.

This wasn’t the kind of improved crop she was aiming for.

Yousen understood that his so-called improved seeds were just minor tweaks, so after accepting the skill book, he promised Su You that he would work hard to level up and cultivate even better crops.

“What about these crops…” Yousen pointed at the piles of wheat, rice, and corn on the ground, asking if he should deliver them to Meike as before.

“You’re busy, I’ll take them to Meike.” She could also tally up the harvest at the same time.

From two wheat fields, she’d harvested nearly five hundred stalks of wheat, which would become five hundred portions of flour once sent to the mill.

There was only one plot of rice, so she got just over two hundred stalks, which would yield over two hundred portions of rice after milling.

Corn had been planted alongside potatoes, so the yield was low—just over eighty ears.

Except for wheat and rice, which could be stacked up to one hundred per slot, most other crops had a stacking limit of fifty. Fruits had even lower limits—twenty or thirty, with only a few reaching fifty.

This batch of crops took up half her backpack space due to the large quantity.

As Su You walked toward the tavern, she considered whether to upgrade it. Not only would the upgraded tavern have more space, but more importantly, it would come with its own internal storage.

This storage would be the same size and stacking limit as a level-one warehouse and could hold any kind of item.

If food with an expiration date was stored inside, its shelf life would be extended—better than a regular warehouse.

By the time she reached the tavern, Su You had made up her mind. She didn’t take anything out of her backpack right away, but instead opened the tavern’s info panel and checked the upgrade materials—

[Tavern] Upgrade Available

Required: Composite Plank x10, Composite Stone Slab x10, Glass x20

Upgrade Time: 60 minutes

...

Perfect, she had all the materials.

Not only did she have them, but they were conveniently all in her backpack. So Su You decisively chose to upgrade.

Seeing she still had materials left, she went to Post Station 1 and upgraded that as well.

During upgrades, some buildings would be closed and inaccessible. If anyone was inside, the system would automatically eject them.

For example, Meike was kicked out.

Seeing him suddenly appear outside the tavern, Su You cleared her throat, wanting to pretend she hadn’t seen anything, but…

“Did you do something? Why was I kicked out?” Meike seemed a bit annoyed, but that was already pretty mild—he’d only been resting.

If he’d been cooking and got kicked out, he might have gone ballistic.

“It’s nothing, just upgrading the tavern,” Su You replied matter-of-factly.

Before Meike could ask, “Why upgrade now of all times?” Su You quickly added, “It’s for you, so you’ll have another storage for ingredients. This one even extends food shelf life.”

Meike glanced at her but said nothing, and his expression softened.

“I’ve got a fresh batch of ingredients for you to handle… I’ve got recipes.” As she spoke, Su You produced a stalk of wheat, a stalk of rice, and an ear of corn.

Meike’s mood instantly brightened.

Meike: “Where are the recipes?”

Recipes… She hadn’t written them yet!

Su You handed him a pen and paper. “You write them down yourself.”

Her hands were still sore from making bows and arrows, and if she tried to write now, it would just be a mess of scribbles.

When it came to recording recipes, Meike was quite patient.

Su You dictated while he wrote, and soon the pages were filled with incomprehensible symbols.

Looking at the worm-like writing, Su You was silent for a moment before asking, “Can you read that?”

Meike confidently replied, “Why wouldn’t I be able to?”

“Oh, as long as you can read it.” After all, the recipes weren’t for her—so long as he could use them, that was fine.

Since the tavern was still upgrading and Meike had nowhere to go, he started roasting corn with his fire magic to pass the time.

Su You didn’t want to watch him roast corn, so she went to the workshop to check on the cloth fruit, then gathered another batch of materials to build another well and warehouse, and made some more octagonal lanterns, stone lamps, benches, and other decorations.

---"

"171. Visitors Arrive

Well 3 was built behind the blacksmith shop, while Warehouse 3 was constructed behind Residential House 2.

As for the other items, the octagonal lantern was hung on the new building, the bench was placed at the entrance of the trading area, and the stone lantern was set inside the trading area, illuminating places that would otherwise be completely dark.

...

[Tavern upgrade complete.]

As soon as she received the news, Su You immediately went over and dumped half a backpack’s worth of ingredients into the tavern’s storage.

Before she arrived, Meike, who had been guarding the tavern entrance, had already come in once. He had stuffed all the previous ingredients and finished products into the storage, then used some stone to build two grinders near the storage.

It was mealtime, and the tavern’s fire was lit, sending delicious aromas wafting everywhere.

While everyone was having dinner, Su You told them about the monster spawner unsealing tomorrow morning.

In fact, everyone already knew about this; this was just to coordinate tomorrow’s departure time and make arrangements for the territory. Aside from Dory, Yousen, and Buguo—who had no combat ability—everyone else would be heading out in the morning.

“While I’m gone, if any travelers or wanderers visit, you can let them look around the territory.” Since there would be no combatants left behind, Su You also gave Dory the authority to use the arrow towers and traps in the territory, so they’d have some means of self-defense.

Previously, to defend against the dark creatures, the arrow towers had been set up very densely—almost everywhere you went, you’d see one. If any ordinary person tried to cause trouble in the territory, they’d only be asking for trouble themselves.

Still, to avoid any accidents, Su You planned for everyone to leave early and return early.

Since there would be fighting tomorrow, everyone went to bed early that night.

...

...

The next morning, Su You led Duoya and the others out.

They had just arrived near the monster spawner when they saw the ruined stone gate suddenly light up.

Then, they witnessed a repeat of the “dumpling drop” scene, version 2.0.

The difference was, last time the dark creatures had fallen into the pit because they weren’t on guard—it was partly their own carelessness, so they couldn’t really blame anyone else.

But this time, the ghostly skeletons had it worse. They were teleported directly above the pit and dropped in one by one, with no chance to react or escape.

And as if falling in wasn’t bad enough, there were traps inside the pit, and soon the wails and howls of the ghostly skeletons echoed through the air.

The skeletons in the pit were dealt with by Duoya and the arrow towers. The ones that spawned outside were lured by Su You using mini-bombs to a certain spot, where Meike used up most of his mana to cast a spell called “Flame Cage,” trapping all the skeletons inside.

Inside the flame cage, the skeletons were constantly burned. Their health didn’t drop quickly, but it was steadily decreasing. As long as the cage held, it was only a matter of time before they died.

As for the ones left outside, not caught in the cage, Lyle and Lake quickly finished them off.

Once the stragglers were dealt with, they turned their attention to the monsters inside the cage.

Yue, who’d been brought along to “farm contribution,” did his best to attack, but his water bullets were too weak. By the time all the skeletons were dead, he hadn’t managed to kill many.

With the last skeleton’s death, this monster spawner raid came to an end.

Dealing with these ninety ghostly skeletons turned out to be easier than expected. In less than an hour, they were all reduced to piles of loot on the ground.

“Yue, heal those two,” Su You instructed, having Yue tend to Lyle and Lake’s more serious wounds, while she and Duoya began gathering up the loot.

As for Meike, after casting Flame Cage, he’d left—Su You had asked him to return and hold down the fort.

Once Yue had patched up Lyle and Lake’s worst injuries, they helped pick up the loot as well.

But there were only a few skeletons outside the trap; most had died at the bottom of the pit. Standing above and looking down, they could see the ground below was densely covered with drops.

Su You set up a ladder, and everyone went down together to collect everything.

Once they’d finished, they all headed back to the territory.

...

...

As they neared the territory, Su You saw quite a few people scattered around. Some had already entered, while others lingered outside, as if waiting for something.

But since they’d come all this way, they must have wanted to check out the territory—otherwise, there’d be no reason to make the trip. So after some hesitation, many of them gradually entered.

Su You’s group was also returning from outside, so the travelers and wanderers naturally assumed they were also here to visit Sunset Territory.

A few people even came over, seemingly wanting to ask if they’d also heard the rumors about this territory and come to check it out. But when they found out that Lyle and the others were actually residents, everyone’s expressions changed—though all of them showed a strong curiosity and desire to ask questions.

“I saw on the bounty board that your territory is recruiting. Is that true?”

“What are the requirements? Do you have to pay?”

“I heard there’s a mage in your territory. Is that real?”

...

Before they could get surrounded, Su You and Duoya quickly distanced themselves from Lyle and the others, pretending not to know them, and hurried back into the territory.

There were a lot of people outside, and quite a few inside as well. Su You saw at least a dozen people on the main street. Since most of the shops were closed, after wandering around, many of the visitors looked a bit disappointed.

“As expected of a newly established territory—not many people, not much to see.”

“But I have to say, the basic infrastructure is pretty complete. There just aren’t many open shops.”

“That’s to be expected. I thought there’d be nothing here at all. Being short on people isn’t a big deal—there are plenty of wanderers in this world. What matters most is the lord’s management skills.”

“You’re right. I don’t know how long this territory has been developing, but if it really is new, this is pretty good progress.”

“Still, it’s a bit disappointing. After all, we—”

Maybe sensing Su You’s gaze, the person who was about to speak suddenly fell silent and turned to look."

"172. Stirring Up Trouble 1

Su You nodded to them without saying much, then headed straight for the tavern.

“That person… she seems pretty familiar with this place, doesn’t she?”

“Maybe she’s a local? Should we go ask her about this territory?”

“…Forget it. This is such a tiny territory. No matter how well it’s planned, it can’t compare to the others. Are you really thinking of settling down here? Weren’t you saying you wanted to join xx territory?”

“…”

…

Su You, already walking away, didn’t hear the three of them chatting—nor did she care what they were saying.

Right now, what she was most concerned about was where that guy Meike had run off to… When she entered the tavern and saw the lively scene inside, and the person “showing off” in the very center, Su You finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Naturally, the one showing off was Meike, and what he was showing off was using magic to cook food.

But honestly, it only looked like Meike was showing off to outsiders. Everyone in the territory knew that Meike wasn’t deliberately flaunting his magic, nor did he care much about being a mage. He just did it because he enjoyed it.

In fact, in Meike’s eyes, cooking was far more important than magic, so using magic to cook was perfectly normal for him.

There were only about a dozen people out on the street before, but inside the tavern there were twenty or thirty people. All of them had been drawn in by Meike—mainly because the mage’s robe he wore when returning to the territory was just too eye-catching.

So when Meike entered the tavern, these people naturally followed, which explained the crowd.

“I can’t believe the rumors were true—there really is a mage in this territory who cooks with magic!”

“I wonder how food cooked with magic tastes compared to regular food… I have to buy some and try it!”

“Me too!”

…

As a large piece of roast meat finished cooking, Meike skillfully took out a knife and sliced it up for plating.

Since the meat had just come off the fire, it was still sizzling with fat, and the aroma of the meat filled the small space, tempting everyone’s taste buds.

“Berry roast, today’s special—one silver coin per serving.” He called it a special, but both Meike and Su You knew that this price was much higher than what they’d charged the merchant caravan before.

But that didn’t matter. Whether the price was high or not wasn’t up to them—it depended on whether anyone would buy it.

As long as someone bought it, even selling it for a gold coin wouldn’t be too expensive.

There were over twenty people in the tavern, and they’d already been dazzled by Meike’s flashy cooking. At this point, who cared if the dish in front of them was just an ordinary berry roast?

In their eyes, this was food cooked with magic!

Is one silver coin expensive?

Not at all!

An adult could earn a silver coin in just two or three days of hard work. Spending two or three days’ wages on a serving of magical roast meat—and having a story to brag about later—was totally worth it!

That’s what most people thought, so the three servings Meike prepared were quickly snatched up by the three quickest people at the front.

Those who missed out were a bit disappointed, but when they saw flames appear in Meike’s hands again, the tavern erupted in cheers.

…

After confirming that everything in the tavern was running smoothly and completely under Meike’s control, Su You left.

Next, she planned to check on Dory at the tailor shop.

She hadn’t even reached the shop when she saw five or six people gathered outside. After all, aside from the tavern and the inn, this was the only shop open, so it wasn’t surprising to see a crowd.

“Boss, isn’t this beast-hide gear a bit expensive?”

“Yeah, who sells a single piece of clothing for ten silver coins? I’ve seen them go for five at most elsewhere!”

“The other beast-hide gear is pricey too—twice the market rate!”

…

Previously, Su You had bought beast hides from the merchant caravan for fifty copper coins each. A beast-hide coat used five hides and some thread, so selling it for five silver coins was already double the cost.

But Dory wasn’t selling ordinary beast-hide coats—these were enhanced versions, which used about twice the materials of a regular one. So selling them for ten silver coins wasn’t expensive at all; in fact, it was cheap, considering the difficulty of making them.

But maybe these people didn’t know that, so they kept arguing about the price.

Su You saw Dory begin to explain.

“Ordinary beast-hide coats do cost five silver coins outside, but mine are made with a special technique and use twice the materials, so the price is doubled,” Dory said, standing up from her chair and explaining patiently.

To convince them, she grabbed a half-finished, unenhanced set of beast-hide gear from the side and compared it with her finished product.

Anyone with eyes could see the difference between the two.

The unfinished gear wasn’t as sturdy or thick, the details were lacking, and some areas weren’t fully protected…

None of these flaws were present in the enhanced product, which was, after all, an improved version of the unfinished one—hence the higher price.

Dory thought she’d explained it clearly, and she could see curiosity in the eyes of the onlookers. But the two burly men who’d been complaining about the price still wouldn’t let it go.

“You say it’s a special technique, but how can you prove it?”

“Yeah! Why should we pay double just because you say so? Are you trying to scam us?!”

“Don’t think you can fool us with a few fancy words—the two sets look pretty much the same to me!”

…

If their attitude before was understandable, now they were clearly just looking for trouble.

They obviously saw that the beast-hide gear was special, or they wouldn’t waste time arguing here.

The reason they dared to cause trouble was simple: they saw that Dory was just a young woman with no strength to fight back, and this was a newly established territory with lax management, so they thought they could take advantage.

Dory frowned, clearly recognizing their bad intentions, but she didn’t panic or look worried. Instead, she calmly said, “If you really think the two sets are the same, then I’ll sell you this one.”"

"173. Causing Trouble 2

The “set of equipment” Dolly mentioned obviously wasn’t the upgraded beast hide gear, but the earlier semi-finished version.

Anyway, that’s what those two said themselves—if they claim the two sets are about the same, then what difference does it make which one they buy?

Selling the upgraded beast hide gear for ten silver coins was just to build a reputation. After today, Dolly planned to raise the price. If they were willing to pay five silver coins for the regular beast hide gear, that was fine too—the cost-effectiveness of the materials was about the same.

But since these two had come to stir up trouble, there was no way they’d settle for semi-finished gear. After all, what they really wanted was the finished beast hide equipment Dolly was selling.

So, when they heard Dolly’s words, they started making a fuss again.

“What’s with this shop? The prices are too high, and when we point it out, the owner gets upset. Now they want customers to buy unfinished products!”

“And you have the nerve to sell this junk? We’re already doing you a favor by buying it, and you still want to charge so much? Are you trying to scam us?”

“This place is probably just a scam to lure people in…” As one of them was ranting, he suddenly felt something sharp pressing against the back of his head.

The intense sense of danger made him instantly clam up, unable to say another word.

“What did you say about scamming people?”

Hearing the cold voice behind him, the first thug couldn’t help but shiver.

He tried to turn his head, trembling, but the sharp object pressed even harder against the back of his skull.

He wasn’t hurt, there was no blood, and it didn’t even hurt that much—but the fear of the unknown made every nerve in his body scream in terror.

Everyone present was stunned by this scene, so much so that no one moved to stop Doya.

That’s right—the one who’d spoken was Doya, and the thing pressed against the man’s head was one of the arrows she always carried.

The arrowhead was razor-sharp, able to pierce through things like tiger hide—so going through a human skull would be no problem at all.

The other thug was startled at first, but when he turned and saw that the person confronting them was just a young woman about the same age as the seamstress shop owner, his fear turned to contempt.

“Who are you? We’re teaching this greedy merchant a lesson—what’s it to you?!” he said, reaching out to grab the arrow from Doya’s hand.

But he was no match for Doya’s agility—especially since she’d been watching them closely the whole time. The moment he moved to attack, Doya dodged back a few steps and, with practiced ease, drew her bow and aimed.

Now that the sharp object was gone, the first thug spun around—only to see Doya aiming her bow straight at him.

For a moment, the relief he’d felt when the danger passed vanished, and his limbs went weak again at the sight of the arrowhead.

Both men swallowed nervously. It was clear that this short-haired woman was not someone to mess with. Her stance was professional—she wasn’t bluffing.

Very few people could hold a drawn bow for so long without their hands shaking, but she did it effortlessly. That could only mean she was a highly experienced archer.

“What do you want?!” Realizing they couldn’t win by force, the two tried to talk their way out.

But before they could say anything, Doya released her grip, sending an arrow flying straight to the ground at one man’s feet, where it lodged itself in the crack between two stone tiles.

That was enough to make both men’s legs tremble. The one who’d nearly been hit almost collapsed in fright.

No one thought Doya had missed on purpose—they could all tell she’d meant to do it.

She didn’t want to actually hurt them. If she did, the bystanders who didn’t know the truth might side with the two men, and things could spiral out of control.

But a little intimidation was necessary.

Because of the commotion, more and more people gathered around. But since they didn’t know what was going on—and didn’t want to get involved—they just stood around gossiping, not taking any action.

The few who did know the truth blended into the crowd, not wanting to get into trouble.

“Sunset Territory doesn’t welcome troublemakers. Are you going to leave on your own, or should I help you out?” Doya kept her bow at the ready, her other hand hovering near her quiver, ready to draw another arrow at any moment.

Because of her words, the onlookers started to piece together what was happening… This woman must be a resident of the territory, and these two men were here to cause trouble, so she was teaching them a lesson.

Seeing it that way, it was a matter between the territory and the two men—nothing to do with them. So the crowd just watched, gossiping, but no one tried to intervene.

It was just like when the two thugs had been pestering Dolly earlier. There had been others at the shop entrance, but no one wanted to get involved. Even though they knew Dolly was probably right, and that the two men were clearly causing trouble, they didn’t speak up for her.

Seeking benefit and avoiding harm—that’s human nature.

They thought the matter would end there, but the two men, still stung by Doya’s earlier intimidation, grew indignant. Figuring Doya wouldn’t dare do anything in front of so many people, they grew bolder and started shouting again.

“What kind of lousy Sunset Territory is this? You don’t welcome us? We don’t even want to be here!”

“Everyone, come see for yourselves! This shop is charging double the market price for their gear. We said it was too expensive, and the owner tried to trick us!”

“It’s a crooked shop in a crooked territory! They won’t let us speak out—try to say something and they get violent. Real tough, huh?”

“Fine, we’ll leave… But the rest of you better watch out, or don’t blame us if you get forced to buy something!”

…

The two of them kept up their act, talking fast and loud.

But Doya had no patience for this. She drew two more arrows from her quiver and aimed them at the pair.

“You two had better shut up.” Even though they didn’t believe Doya would really shoot, the moment those sharp arrowheads were aimed at their heads, they fell silent.

Then Doya looked past them.

“You explain,” she said to Dolly, who was now anxiously waiting inside the shop."

"174. Causing Trouble 3

Dolly was momentarily stunned, then immediately repeated the explanation she had just given to the two troublemakers.

The onlookers weren’t fools. They didn’t know this territory, nor did they know the two people causing a scene, so they had no reason to be biased. With Dolly’s calm and reasonable explanation, compared to the two who could only shout without any evidence and whose words were full of holes, the crowd was naturally more inclined to believe Dolly.

“Well, what’s going on here?” Lyle’s voice came from outside the crowd.

Hearing his voice, Doya put down her bow and arrow. Lyle, Laike, and Yue—who had also been surrounded earlier—squeezed in from outside.

“These two are causing trouble,” Doya said simply. The two brothers immediately rolled up their sleeves and strode toward the troublemakers.

They didn’t know exactly what had happened, but they were well aware of Doya’s character—she wasn’t someone who joked around. If she said these two were troublemakers, then that’s what they were.

Dealing with troublemakers, they couldn’t just beat them up in front of so many people, especially since today was a special day. But they weren’t about to swallow their anger either. Politely “inviting” these two out of the territory was already being very generous.

“What? You think you can bully us just because our territory is small and we don’t have many people?” Lyle said with a smile, but anyone who saw that smile couldn’t help but feel a chill.

“Today is the first open day for our territory. We’d rather not use force, but if you don’t cooperate, don’t blame us for what happens next.” As he spoke, Laike was already putting on his knuckle dusters.

These two were the classic bullies who preyed on the weak and feared the strong. They had hoped to rile up the crowd and stir up public anger, but whether they overestimated their own charisma or underestimated everyone else’s intelligence, they failed spectacularly.

Doya was angry, but she kept her cool. She forced herself to swallow her anger, told the two troublemakers to shut up, and then had Dolly explain the situation again, exposing their hypocrisy in front of everyone.

This might not have been the best way to handle things, but it was certainly the most appropriate at the moment.

In the end, under the watchful eyes of Lyle and Laike, the two troublemakers slunk out of the territory, tails between their legs.

Just before they left, Yue couldn’t resist the itch in his hands. Muttering something under his breath, a huge ball of water appeared above the two troublemakers’ heads.

As he withdrew his magic, the water ball burst, drenching the two of them like drowned rats.

Although there weren’t many people nearby when Yue acted, a few still noticed his strange movements. When they saw the two troublemakers, now soaking wet and too angry to protest, it wasn’t hard to guess who was responsible.

After all, only a mage could pull off something like that.

People were surprised that this unremarkable young man was actually a mage. They were even more shocked and confused—wasn’t there supposed to be only one mage in this territory, the fire mage who cooked with magic?

Now there was a water mage too? Just how many mages did this little territory have?

Why would two mages choose to stay in such a seemingly ordinary, unremarkable place?

……

……

After the commotion died down, Dolly finally breathed a sigh of relief. She unclenched her fists and wanted to check if Doya had been hurt during the incident.

But before she could step out of the shop, a few more people crowded around her.

“Boss, I want a beast hide jacket.” Before he finished speaking, ten silver coins were slapped down on the counter.

Dolly was taken aback, but then Doya’s voice sounded in her ear: “Go ahead and take care of business. I’ll keep watch here.”

True to her word, Doya pulled up a stool and sat nearby, taking a cloth from her pocket to start cleaning her bow.

With Doya there, Dolly felt much more confident.

These new customers were different from the troublemakers—they weren’t here to cause trouble. Seeing Doya sitting nearby, they only glanced at her before focusing on the merchandise.

They crowded around the equipment rack, carefully examining the gear. At first, they’d thought the boss was just exaggerating, that maybe the equipment was a bit different from the usual, but nothing too special.

But after a closer look, they realized the craftsmanship really was unique—none of them had ever seen anything like it before.

“Hey, boss, your technique is pretty special.”

“I thought you were just boasting, but I guess I was the one who was ignorant. I’ve lived a long time and never seen this kind of craftsmanship before.”

……

Actually, it was normal that they hadn’t seen it before. Dolly’s technique combined her skills as a repairer.

A repairer could not only fix broken items, but also improve and perfect intact ones—pursuing excellence.

It was a process that required personal skill and exploration. Not exactly difficult, but definitely not simple.

Very few people possessed both tailoring skills and the talent of a repairer, and even fewer could perfectly combine the two.

Even if someone did, they might not think to merge the two abilities. So when Dolly said her craftsmanship was “special,” she wasn’t exaggerating.

“I’ll take a set too—a full set. Boss, how much?” Seeing there were other pieces besides the jacket, and not lacking money, one customer decided to buy a whole set.

A full set included four pieces: hat, jacket, pants, and shoes, totaling twenty-five silver coins. The jacket used the most material, so it was the most expensive—almost half the total price.

With someone taking the lead, others who had been tempted also came forward.

In no time, the tailor shop was packed.

Su You, who had watched the whole scene, glanced thoughtfully at Doya.

When the trouble started, Su You had considered stepping in herself, but once Doya appeared, she decided to see how Doya would handle it.

The result was clear—Doya handled it very well, even better than Su You had expected. She’d thought Doya might just use force, given her personality."

"Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

**175. Recruiting for Sunset Territory**

Having someone who not only possesses combat ability but also doesn’t just rely on brute force to handle emergencies made Su You feel truly fortunate.

...

“Lord... what are you doing here?” After sending away the two troublemakers, Lyle and the others returned.

Now that the situation had been resolved, the crowd dispersed, and they immediately spotted Su You, who had previously been obscured by the crowd.

To avoid exposing Su You’s identity, Lyle managed to stop himself from blurting out “Lord.”

“I was just taking a look,” Su You replied honestly—she really was just observing.

“Buguo should be setting up her stall now. You two go over and keep an eye on things.” Since someone had already caused trouble at Dolly’s place, and Buguo was just a child—plus, the goods she was selling were even more valuable than those at the tailor shop—Su You was worried.

If anyone tried to cause trouble, Buguo wouldn’t be able to handle it, so Su You sent Lyle and Lake to help her out.

“Alright, we’ll head over now.” With Doya helping out at Dolly’s, and after what had just happened, it was unlikely anyone would stir up trouble again, so there was no need for them to stay.

As for Yue, Su You didn’t let him idle either. With so many newcomers to the territory, they were short-handed, so she assigned Yue to the inn to handle registrations and collect payments.

Su You herself didn’t get to rest, either.

She took a piece of paper and wrote something on it, then casually stuck it onto the notice board. Next, she set up a table and chair beside the board.

Anyone passing by could immediately see the words at the top of the notice board: “Sunset Territory Recruiting.”

Under those five words, Su You had drawn an arrow pointing directly to where she was sitting.

Su You sat there for the entire morning.

During that time, nine people came to inquire about joining Sunset Territory.

Of those nine, seven were similar to Yue—ordinary NPCs... or perhaps even less so, since they had no special traits or talents at all. Yue, at least, had a (low) talent.

While these NPCs didn’t have much room for growth, the territory’s development still depended on the addition of ordinary people. They might not have any special abilities, but they were still a valuable labor force, so Su You welcomed anyone who wanted to join.

As long as someone expressed a desire to join and their initial loyalty wasn’t too low, Su You would accept them.

In the end, four of the seven chose to join, and Su You approved them all.

Su You said, “While joining the territory is free, you’ll need to pay for your own housing.”

She had already explained this when they first inquired.

Anyone could join the territory for free, as long as they passed her screening, but only those with a skill would be assigned housing. Ordinary NPCs without skills would have to buy their own homes.

Here, “housing” referred to residential dwellings.

Buying the right to live in a house cost fifty silver coins. If someone wanted to have a house all to themselves, it would cost a gold coin.

If they couldn’t afford a house at first, they could stay at the inn. Of course, the inn also charged a fee.

For territory members, the inn’s price was slightly discounted—ten copper coins per day, or two hundred fifty copper coins for a month. If they paid for eleven months up front, they’d get an extra month free.

No one objected to these rules—if they did, they wouldn’t have chosen to join. The three who didn’t join were precisely those who disagreed.

Resident A: “So who do we talk to about housing?”

Su You pointed toward the inn. “There’s someone named Yue inside. Just tell him you’ve joined the territory and ask him to arrange your housing. You’ll also pay him.”

Before sending Yue to the inn, Su You had already explained the arrangements for new residents, so she wasn’t worried he’d be confused.

“If you’re short on money, you can check the bounty board for tasks to earn some.”

After settling these newcomers and explaining how they could earn money, Su You turned her attention to the other two, who were a bit less ordinary.

They weren’t quite as special as Doya or Meike, who had been recruited from the tavern—otherwise, the tavern wouldn’t be necessary.

The first was a young man with only a “Mediocre” trait, just like Yue.

However, he had a basic fishing skill, and his talent was also fishing, though it was only 75 points—not high, but not low either.

While fishing wasn’t particularly useful early on, at higher levels, there was a chance to catch rare fish, which, when cooked, could grant special attributes or auras.

Once the skill reached master level, fishing wasn’t just about fish anymore—he could also reel in rare materials.

The odds were low, but it was one of the easiest ways to obtain rare materials.

It might not make much sense, but that didn’t matter—this world wasn’t exactly normal to begin with.

Su You actually hoped this person would join, since at least he had a skill. However... he seemed to have high standards.

After learning about Sunset Territory, his expression changed—he tried to hide it, but Su You could tell he was feeling a bit disdainful.

Su You didn’t take offense; she knew the territory wasn’t in great shape compared to others, so it was normal for some people to look down on it.

But since he didn’t think much of her territory, there was no need to accept him. People like this would never be truly loyal.

Ability was important, but loyalty was even more so.

“You said earlier that skilled people get free housing, right?” The young man with the fishing skill raised his chin, his tone tinged with arrogance.

Su You nodded calmly, ignoring his rudeness.

“Alright, I’ll join your territory,” he said, glancing critically at the residential area. After sizing it up, he continued, his tone a bit reluctant—"

"176. Refusing to Join

“Although the environment is a bit rough, it’s not unlivable… Anyway, I want to pick my own room, and I want a place to myself. I’m not used to living with others.” The young man spoke with a hint of disdain still in his eyes.

He probably realized that badmouthing someone else’s territory in front of them wasn’t exactly appropriate, so he deliberately lowered his voice when he said the first part.

But even so, Su You still caught a few of his words. Combined with his attitude, she could pretty much guess what he was saying.

The young man was wary of Su You, but not of the other person standing nearby. So while Su You didn’t catch everything, the other person heard his words loud and clear.

That person seemed like she wanted to say something, but when she saw Su You’s indifferent expression, the words died on her lips.

A few seconds later, the young man, who had been talking to himself the whole time, suddenly realized that Su You hadn’t responded to him at all since he started speaking. He immediately turned his head to glare at her.

“Did you hear what I just said? Don’t just stand there in silence.”

Su You lifted her eyelids and, as he wished, finally spoke: “Are you finished?”

The young man nodded, then said self-righteously, “My demands are already pretty low. After all, you know the situation in your territory better than anyone. Being able to attract someone with real skills is already quite an achievement.”

“Mm, you’re right,” Su You nodded in agreement. But just as the young man was feeling smug, she said something that left him stunned—

“So you can leave now. You don’t meet the requirements for joining our territory.”

Before the young man could say anything, Su You turned to the woman who had been waiting patiently. “Tell me about yourself.”

The woman was momentarily taken aback, clearly not expecting things to turn out this way. But she quickly composed herself and poured out everything she’d been rehearsing in her mind.

“My name is Cang Lan. I studied blacksmithing for a while with the village smith…” As Cang Lan introduced herself, the amount of information Su You could access gradually increased.

Ever since her territory had been upgraded to an advanced camp, Su You no longer had to wait for unfamiliar NPCs to formally apply before she could check their information.

As long as she could get the other person to willingly share enough about themselves, once the information reached a certain threshold, their info panel would unlock automatically.

Just like now—she could already see Cang Lan’s full profile.

As she’d said, Cang Lan had studied blacksmithing and had already reached the beginner level. That didn’t quite match her claim of “just knowing a little,” but Su You could tell she was just being modest, not deliberately hiding anything.

Cang Lan’s blacksmithing talent wasn’t particularly high—like the young man, she only had 75 points. But she did have a rare trait that matched her skill: “Great Strength.”

Lake had this trait too. Its effect was “possesses strength beyond the average person.” Maybe that’s why she’d chosen to learn blacksmithing—after all, forging required a lot of muscle to swing the hammer and pound the metal.

Where there’s a positive trait, there’s usually a negative one too.

Cang Lan’s negative trait was “Low Self-Esteem,” which meant “the owner has a chance to fall into a state of self-doubt.” When in that state, all actions become less efficient and less likely to succeed.

Because Cang Lan had only shared the basics and not her past experiences, Su You didn’t know the root cause of her self-esteem issues.

But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“You remember the rules I mentioned earlier, right? Any objections?” Su You was referring to the housing and other territory regulations.

Cang Lan nodded. “No objections. I’m willing to accept the territory’s arrangements.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Su You received a notification that Cang Lan had applied to join the territory.

After approving her application, Su You stood up. “Come on, I’ll show you your new home.”

In fact, Su You had already explained the rules earlier: while those with a skill could get free housing, the housing was assigned by the territory, not chosen by the individual.

And there was no way anyone would get a whole house to themselves for free. If they wanted to live alone, they’d have to pay for it.

Since they already had the right to half a house for free, they’d only need to pay fifty silver coins to have a whole house to themselves.

Su You had made this very clear, and Cang Lan remembered it all and had no objections.

But the young man, who still hadn’t left, probably hadn’t been paying attention when Su You explained the rules—or maybe he heard them, but just didn’t care.

He seemed to think that just because he had a skill, he could do whatever he wanted. That’s why he’d made such a ridiculous demand to pick his own room and live alone.

Being completely ignored by Su You and Cang Lan, the young man’s pride wouldn’t let him just walk away. Su You didn’t know what he had to be so proud of—there were plenty of people in her territory who were more skilled than him, and none of them acted like this… She could only conclude that this data-driven world was just too realistic, successfully simulating the diversity of personalities and giving her an incredibly immersive gaming experience.

Dissatisfied, the young man shouted at them as Su You prepared to take Cang Lan to her new home.

“What’s your problem? Who do you think you are? Are you even in charge here? Get your lord over here! I want to show your lord how you’re running things!”

His voice grew louder and louder, to the point where even the people nearby frowned in annoyance at the noise.

“First of all, I’ve made myself very clear: you don’t meet our territory’s requirements, so I’m rejecting your application to join. Second, it doesn’t matter who I am—you just need to know that I’m the one in charge.”

“You’re welcome to keep touring the territory, but if you’re harboring any bad intentions, I suggest you drop them now. Otherwise, you won’t like the consequences.” With that, Su You led Cang Lan away.

The young man wanted to say more, but as they walked off into the distance, no one was left to listen."

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

177. Canglan

At this moment, quite a few people were casting strange looks in this direction because of what had just happened. He felt like a clown under a spotlight.

The young man had always had a short temper, so when he noticed the odd looks from those around him, he was instantly furious.

“Pah! Who’d want to join this lousy territory anyway!” he spat angrily, venting his frustration before storming off.

On the other side, Su You led Canglan to the door of one of the residential houses and pointed at the door of Residence 7. “Although this place can house two people, there’s no one else living here at the moment, so for now, you’ll have the place to yourself.”

Canglan nodded and thanked Su You, but a worried look appeared on her face.

“Even though that guy just now was… well, but won’t what you did cause you trouble?” To be honest, Canglan disliked that person too, but she had to admit he’d made a fair point: in a territory, only the lord has the final say—no matter how much power anyone else has, they’re not the lord.

Yet Su You had flatly rejected the man’s request to join the territory, and hadn’t exactly been polite about it either… Of course, Canglan didn’t think someone like that deserved politeness—if it had been her, she might not have held back from punching him.

Still, she was worried that Su You’s actions might anger the territory’s lord.

Although she’d only just met Su You, Canglan felt an inexplicable fondness for her. She didn’t want Su You to be punished by the lord over someone like that.

Su You hadn’t expected Canglan to worry about this. She smiled and pointed in the direction of the lord’s manor. “Did you know I’m the one who lives there?”

For a moment, Canglan didn’t understand what Su You meant, but when she followed Su You’s finger and saw the building…

“You—you mean, you’re the…”

Su You made a shushing gesture, and Canglan immediately fell silent.

“As long as you know. For today, just rest here. If you’re hungry, you can buy food at the tavern. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be in charge of running the blacksmith shop.” Assigning Canglan to the blacksmith shop was a decision Su You had made after careful consideration.

Just as those people had said earlier, Sunset Territory was short on people. Even though the buildings were all there, they couldn’t actually function without staff. A building that can’t operate is no different from one that hasn’t been built at all.

Canglan’s arrival was perfect timing.

She happened to have basic blacksmithing skills. While she couldn’t handle anything too advanced, forging basic tools and weapons to keep the shop running wouldn’t be a problem.

Su You had also recently gotten a lot of ore from treasure chests and had been worrying about not having a skilled NPC to use up those materials—then, as luck would have it, Canglan showed up.

“I’ll be running the blacksmith shop by myself?” Canglan looked a little hesitant.

It wasn’t that she was unwilling. On the contrary, unless someone was completely unambitious, anyone would want a chance to prove and improve themselves.

But like Dolly at the start, she didn’t believe she could do a good job.

“Yes, you’ll be running it alone. I’ll give you a beginner’s recipe book for forging basic items.” Calling it a “book” was a bit much—it was really just a collection of recipes Su You remembered, written out by hand.

Seeing how much Su You trusted her, Canglan felt embarrassed to refuse.

“Alright, you can count on me. I’ll do my best.”

Su You nodded, thinking about the intermediate blacksmith skill book she’d gotten from a chest. In the end, she decided not to take it out just yet.

Although Canglan seemed pretty decent so far—she’d tried to speak up for Su You earlier, and was now worrying on her behalf—it was still her first day here. Giving her an intermediate skill book right away was risky; better safe than sorry. If Canglan turned out to have bad intentions, it would be a huge loss.

Su You decided to wait and see. She’d let Canglan run the blacksmith shop for a while, and if everything went well, she could find an opportunity to sell her the skill book later.

Speaking of “selling,” Su You began discussing wages with Canglan.

Generally, for someone in Canglan’s situation, there were two ways to pay wages: one was a fixed daily wage, provided she completed the tasks Su You assigned; the other was piecework pay plus a commission on sales.

Since Su You was providing the raw materials and Canglan’s skill level wasn’t high, Canglan would earn a set amount for each item she forged. The amount wasn’t much—usually 15–20% of the net profit after deducting material costs.

But since Canglan would also be running the shop, she’d get a commission on each sale as well, about 10%. Together, that added up to nearly 30% of the profits—essentially a 30/70 split between Canglan and the territory.

Canglan got 30%, the territory 70%.

Some might think it’s pointless to pay NPCs to make things—you could just use the workbench to craft gear and sell it in the shop, with only the cost of materials and the time spent.

That’s not wrong, but it’s also completely mistaken.

Items made at the workbench are all the same, like products from an assembly line—no variation, no “soul.”

But items made by NPCs can vary in quality, attributes, and effects, depending on the maker’s skill.

For example, a high-level blacksmith could forge a bronze sword with stats equal to—or even better than—a silver sword made at the workbench.

“No need to answer right away. Think it over. If you have any questions, you can ask the people living in the row ahead… though they’re probably all busy today.” Su You then gave Canglan a detailed introduction to Dolly, since the blacksmith shop was right next to the tailor shop—they’d be neighbors, and Dolly could help her out.

“Alright, I understand.”

With that, Su You had said and done everything she needed to. She didn’t want to get in Canglan’s way as she settled in, so she headed off to check on Bu Guo in the trading area.

On the way, Su You took out some bread that Meike had baked the day before from her inventory."

"178. So Bad It’s Explosive

This bread was made by Meck last night, after the tavern’s upgrade, using freshly milled flour.

The bread looked incredibly soft and fluffy, about the size of an adult’s fist—basically a delicious little snack that could be finished in two or three bites. But Su You regretted it after just one bite.

Because she realized she’d made a serious mistake—she’d forgotten just how detailed the skill system was on the Sunset Continent.

Meck did have a high-level Cooking skill, but bread-making wasn’t covered by Cooking; it fell under the Baking skill. So his advanced Cooking skill was useless when it came to this bread.

That said, in most cases, Cooking and Baking are both food-making skills, so if you’re highly skilled in one, you can usually muddle through the other, even if you have no formal training. In other words, someone with a high-level Cooking skill, even if they don’t have Baking on their info panel, should at least be able to make bread at a beginner baker’s level.

But Meck wasn’t a normal person.

He was a man with the Dark Cuisine trait.

The advanced Cooking skill book could only save his cooking when it came to prepared dishes—it couldn’t fundamentally change the fact that he was hopeless at anything food-related.

After all that explanation, Su You’s point was simple—this bread was awful!

And not just your average awful—it was explosively bad!

It was a shame, really, because it looked so soft and cute on the outside. But one bite… Su You never wanted to experience that taste again.

The only silver lining was that, maybe thanks to the advanced Cooking skill, no matter how bad this bread tasted, it was still just an ordinary bread. It didn’t inflict any negative status effects or attributes, and it even restored fullness.

That’s why Su You was fooled—because the bread’s appearance and info were exactly the same as normal bread. You’d never know the difference unless you actually tasted it.

And she believed it—so tragedy struck.

In the end, faced with the choice between not wasting food and protecting her taste buds, Su You chose the latter.

Please don’t blame her—unless you’ve personally tasted one of Meck’s dark little breads, you can’t possibly understand.

Worried that Meck might keep ruining the rest of the flour, Su You grabbed a random new resident who’d just applied to join the territory and asked him to pass a message to Meck: please, spare the flour.

The random resident didn’t understand why, but as a typical NPC, his AI didn’t allow for too much independent thought. Plus, Su You was the lord—even if he didn’t know her exact identity, there was something intangible that made him obey her orders.

Watching the resident walk away, Su You gave up on the bread and lost her appetite altogether.

So, Su You headed to the trading area—only to find a scene quite different from what she’d expected.

First, there were a lot of people in the trading area, which was no surprise. The territory wasn’t big, there weren’t many open buildings, and the only places to visit or interact with were the tavern, the tailor shop, the trading area, the bulletin board, and the bounty board.

But she’d assumed the crowd was there because they were drawn to the goods at Buguo’s stall, and that they’d be bidding against each other for her wares.

But what did she see?

She saw the ground in the trading area covered with all sorts of items: weapons and equipment, special tools, various materials, food, books… you name it, it was there.

Curious about what was going on, Su You pretended to be interested and casually asked someone nearby.

“Oh, these people? They all want to buy something but don’t have enough money, so they’re setting up stalls to trade on the spot and save up for what they want,” the girl Su You approached smiled and explained gently.

Su You: “So what are they all saving up to buy? Is it that expensive?”

Based on what the girl said, Su You could already guess what everyone was trying to buy, but she kept up the act and asked anyway.

The girl was patient—Su You asked, she answered, never showing the slightest annoyance.

“See over there? That stall in the back, where the little girl is sitting,” the girl pointed to Buguo’s stall, her tone tinged with a hard-to-describe emotion. “She doesn’t have a lot of stuff, but every item is top-notch… like a Longtail Croc beast core, skill books… I even heard she has a magical backpack!”

When it came to the magical backpack, the girl got excited all on her own, without Su You even needing to ask.

“According to everyone, that backpack supposedly contains a high-level mage’s spatial magic. It’s amazing! You can fit so much stuff in it!”

Su You: “……” What on earth had Buguo been saying to people?

Having seen Buguo haggle before, Su You could pretty much guess how she’d been marketing the spatial bag.

The so-called “contains a high-level mage’s spatial magic” was probably just a sales pitch to make the bag sound more impressive and fetch a better price.

As for whether anyone would see through it… spatial bags were so rare, they might even be unique in this world. Rather than worry about being exposed, it was better to focus on choosing your words carefully so no one could pick up on any inconsistencies.

And “smooth talker” was exactly what Buguo excelled at—which was why Su You had her handling this job.

“Thirty-seven gold coins!” A man, having just sold the last valuable item at his stall, didn’t even bother to pack up the rest of his goods before rushing over to Buguo, clutching a fistful of coins.

Buguo glanced at the gold in his hand and shook her head slightly.

“Sorry, someone already offered forty gold coins.” In other words, he was too late.

“Damn it!” Whether it was because someone beat him to it or because the other offer was out of his reach, the man’s expression turned agitated.

Lyle and Lake, standing on either side like guardian statues, stepped forward slightly, like two knights protecting their princess, dutifully performing their roles.

The angry man didn’t notice at first, but when he did, he quickly apologized and backed away, afraid they’d throw him out like they did with those two burly men before.

He’d actually witnessed the commotion in front of the tailor shop, so he recognized Lyle and Lake."

"Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

179. Checking the Gold Coins

To avoid any misunderstanding, he quickly took two steps back, signaling his apology and goodwill.

“Sorry, I really didn’t mean to… Little miss, I hope I didn’t scare you just now?” As the saying goes, “business may fail, but friendship remains.” The man had only been upset because he couldn’t buy what he wanted—he hadn’t intended to do anything bad.

Besides, even if he did want to try something, it wouldn’t be possible in such a public place. After all, aside from Lyle and Lake, the dozen or so people nearby all wanted to buy the spatial pouch—there was no way they’d let him get away with anything.

That said, Lyle and Lake showed no intention of stepping back.

The man sighed and left the stall. But before he’d gone more than a couple of steps, another person arrived, carrying a handful of gold coins, and approached Bu Guo.

“Forty-one gold coins.” The newcomer was a well-dressed middle-aged man. He took out forty-one gold coins and placed them boldly in front of the stall.

Everyone around started speculating about his identity. While forty-one gold coins might not be much to some wealthy folks, it was clear to everyone that this wasn’t the extent of the man’s wealth.

He still held a heavy-looking coin pouch, and the forty-one coins had just come from there.

“Forty-two gold coins.” This time, it was the person who’d previously bid thirty-seven coins, only to be outbid. Seeing the middle-aged man’s move, he simply took out forty-two gold coins and placed them on the stall as well.

After doing this, he looked up at the middle-aged man, his gaze carrying a hint of provocation.

Bu Guo was a smooth talker, but after years of wandering, she’d also become quite skilled at reading people. At the very least, she could tell these two seemed to know each other.

Not just acquaintances—most likely, they had a grudge.

Otherwise, even if two strangers were competing for something, it wouldn’t get this personal.

“Forty-three gold coins.”

“Forty-four.”

“Forty-five.”

…

Just as Bu Guo suspected, these two really did seem to know each other—and had a score to settle. They were locked in a bidding war, each raising the price by one coin at a time, refusing to back down.

Their aggressive bidding quickly pushed the price past sixty gold coins, startling the other would-be bidders.

Some people started to back off—they simply couldn’t afford that much.

Bu Guo frowned, sensing that something was off. While spatial pouches were indeed valuable—selling for hundreds or even thousands of gold coins wouldn’t be outrageous—the problem was that none of these people could actually afford that much.

That’s why Su You had set the starting price at thirty gold coins. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to sell for more, but rather that these people just didn’t have that kind of money.

But now, with someone suddenly able to put up so much, Bu Guo felt uneasy, though she couldn’t quite say why.

“Is something wrong?” Lake noticed Bu Guo’s expression and quietly asked her.

“I…” Bu Guo started to reply, but got stuck.

Because she didn’t know what was wrong either. In other words, she wasn’t sure if there was even a problem.

Just then, someone suddenly appeared behind the stall.

“Lyle, check the gold coins.” Almost as soon as the voice spoke, Lyle moved to carry out the order.

Lake and Bu Guo were puzzled, but didn’t object.

They all recognized the voice—it was their lord.

“Excuse me.” Lyle walked up to the two men whose bidding had grown so heated. Once he had their attention, he smiled and said, “May I check your gold coins, please…”

Before Lyle could finish, the middle-aged man glared at him angrily. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Not only was the middle-aged man furious, the young man bidding against him also looked quite upset.

“You think we’re cheating?”

If Lyle had only suspected before, now he was almost certain—the coins were fake.

People under stress often reveal things unconsciously. For example, the young man had said, “You think we’re cheating?” instead of “You think I’m cheating?”

The difference is, by saying “we,” he’d tacitly admitted the two of them were in it together.

They might know each other, but it was clear they weren’t close. In such a situation, the young man would never include the other in “we”—unless… their rivalry was just an act.

The bidding war was all for show.

“It’s not that I suspect you, but as people of this territory, it’s our duty to serve our lord and do our jobs properly,” Lyle said politely, even as he reached for the gold coins on the stall.

The owners’ faces changed. One of them immediately reached out to snatch the coins back, trying to act calm while shouting, “Are you trying to steal our money?!”

“I think I’ve made myself clear—I just want to check your coins.”

“Rather than accusing me of stealing, I’m more curious why you’re so afraid to let me check them. Unless…”

With all eyes on Lyle, no one noticed Lake. While Lyle was stalling the two men, Lake casually picked up one of the “gold coins” from the ground and scraped it with the fang dagger Lyle had given him.

As the golden surface was scraped away, a black core was revealed.

It was a fake gold coin!

Realizing this, Lake immediately held up the coin for everyone to see, making it clear that their suspicions weren’t baseless—the two men were con artists.

They were using fake coins to pretend to bid.

Exposed, the middle-aged man and the young man exchanged glances, then bolted.

But they hadn’t gone more than a couple of steps before they ran straight into a young lady dressed in elaborate, ornate clothing.

“Oh my, you two got my dress dirty,” the girl pouted, her expression both petulant and adorable."

"Certainly! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

### 180. A Devilish Young Girl

Lyle and Lake, who had been chasing after from behind, hadn’t even figured out what was happening when they saw the two people who’d been fleeing in panic suddenly fall flat on their faces.

Not only were the two of them stunned, but everyone else present was also left dumbfounded.

“You dirtied my skirt and want to just run away without even apologizing?” As soon as these words were spoken, it became clear why the two were now sprawled on the ground.

Could it be that this girl did something to them?

Before anyone could think further, the girl did something—no one could tell exactly what—and the two people on the ground suddenly began howling in pain, rolling around as if in agony.

Strangely, though, no one could see anything wrong with them.

There were no marks, no wounds, nothing unusual at all… If it weren’t for their genuine cries and writhing, everyone would have suspected they were just putting on an act.

“Heh heh…”

But that wasn’t the scariest part. The truly terrifying thing was that, while normal people would at least feel a bit of sympathy or be frightened by such a scene, this girl was different. While everyone else was scared, she was smiling—smiling with genuine delight. This sent chills down the spines of those who had just been worried she might have been hurt by those two.

This girl was like a devil incarnate. She didn’t need anyone’s concern—in fact, people started to worry whether they themselves might become her next target, just for being there.

A few seconds later, the two people rolling on the ground suddenly convulsed and then went completely still.

Now everyone took three big steps back.

Were they… dead?

“How boring.” The girl gave them a little kick, sighed in disappointment, then glanced at the others who had backed away. There was no sign of displeasure on her face; instead, she looked thoughtful.

“Excuse me, are they…?” Lyle hesitated, but finally stepped forward to ask about the two on the ground.

Even though what happened to these two had nothing to do with him or the territory, it had happened on their land, so Lyle was genuinely concerned about whether their deaths might cause trouble for the territory.

Luckily—

“They’re not dead, just passed out, I guess.” The girl’s words made everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

Even though no one knew the two on the ground, and their fate had nothing to do with the others, there’s a big difference between someone dying in front of you and someone just fainting.

“Do you still need to teach them a lesson?” Lake was tempted to just throw the two out—after all, they were blocking the entrance to the trading area.

“Do as you like. I’m done playing.” The girl waved her hand dismissively, her relaxed, casual tone making everyone’s skin crawl.

What did she mean, she was “done playing”?

So she thought what she just did was just a game?

Lyle was left speechless, and even the usually talkative Lake was at a loss for words.

“I’ll take care of these two. You stay here.” With that, Lyle hoisted the two men, one on each shoulder. Thanks to his natural strength, he made carrying two grown men look effortless.

“Impressive,” the girl said with a bright smile.

If it had been anyone else, or if Lake hadn’t just witnessed the girl’s strange behavior, he might have felt a little proud at the compliment. But now, knowing what she was capable of, he just found her voice terrifying.

So Lake hurried his steps, eager to get away, afraid he might become her next plaything.

Once Lake left and the show was over, Bu Guo finished gathering up the fake gold coins from the ground and piled them in a corner.

“The previous two bids are invalid,” Bu Guo announced, turning to the man who had just offered thirty-seven gold coins. “Sir, do you still stand by your offer of thirty-seven gold coins?”

The man snapped out of his daze and nodded quickly.

“Thirty-seven gold coins, I’ll take it!”

Even though there had just been a commotion, it didn’t affect the price of the spatial pouch itself.

The man placed thirty-seven gold coins on the stall and turned to Lyle. “Would you like to check them?”

Given what had just happened, no one would blame Lyle for wanting to inspect the coins—after all, the last person who tried to cheat with fake gold was now unconscious and being carried out.

“Thank you for your cooperation.” Lyle smiled and used the dagger Lake had returned to him to check each of the thirty-seven coins one by one.

Lyle: “The offer is valid.”

As soon as he said this, someone in the crowd gritted his teeth, took out his purse, and dumped out all his coins.

“Forty gold coins!” Judging by his expression, these forty coins were probably all he had.

His purse was now completely empty.

“Forty gold coins, valid.” Lyle checked them one by one and nodded, then looked at the others.

For a moment, the scene was at a stalemate.

Although the price of the item hadn’t changed because of the earlier incident, the commotion had clearly affected everyone’s mood. Even though several people had wanted to buy the spatial pouch before, now only two had actually made offers.

Bu Guo was a bit upset—this could be considered her Waterloo.

Although Su You’s reserve price was thirty gold coins, Bu Guo had been so confident after learning about the pouch’s function that she’d sworn to Su You she could sell it for at least fifty.

And the result?

She was ten gold coins short!

Thinking of this, Bu Guo instinctively turned to look for the lord, who hadn’t made a sound since asking Lyle to check the coins… Huh?

Where was the lord?!

When did she leave?

Bu Guo was stunned. She wanted to look for Su You, but knew she was now the center of attention, so she suppressed the urge to stand up and focused on figuring out how to drive the price of the spatial pouch even higher.

---"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

181. The Large Caravan

But just at that moment, as Bu Guo was deep in thought, a commotion erupted near the entrance of the trading area. Everyone instinctively turned to look, only to see a horse-drawn carriage gradually coming to a stop.

In front of the carriage were dozens of packhorses loaded with goods—a caravan!

And it was definitely a large caravan!

If it were just a small caravan, they probably couldn’t even afford a few good horses, let alone a carriage!

Bu Guo’s eyes lit up when she saw the caravan, because it reminded her of the last time—the very first time she helped Su You with a trade.

That time, the trading partner had also been a caravan.

Compared to ordinary people, caravans definitely have more funds. After all, due to the nature of their work, they can make much better use of spatial pouches.

For example, they can use them to store money, or to keep extremely valuable goods.

This way, even if they run into trouble while traveling, as long as they survive and the spatial pouch is preserved, their losses can be kept to a minimum.

Of course, for Bu Guo, the most important thing was that caravans have money!

Caravans have a lot of money!

If she could sell a spatial pouch to a caravan—and this was a large one—then forget fifty gold coins, Bu Guo thought even a hundred gold coins wasn’t out of the question.

But what puzzled Bu Guo and the others was that, although the caravan’s carriage and horses had stopped at the entrance to the trading area, no one came inside. It was as if they didn’t even know this place existed.

After a while, the carriage left, along with all the packhorses carrying goods...

Bu Guo: ...

“The caravan outside is being entertained by the lord. They won’t be coming in.” At some point, Laike had quietly appeared in the trading area and came over to Bu Guo and Lyle, quietly explaining the situation outside.

In short, a large caravan had arrived, passing through and wanting to rest and resupply here. At that moment, Su You was outside entertaining the caravan, and after throwing out the two troublemakers, had sent Laike back in to fetch something from Bu Guo.

“The lord asked me to come get the recipe.” Here, “recipe” referred, of course, to the formula for the Tier 1 spatial pouch.

The value of this recipe was far greater than that of a spatial pouch itself, and it was likely that even if everyone present pooled all their money, they still wouldn’t be able to afford it.

The main reason Su You wanted Bu Guo to bring out the recipe wasn’t to sell it, but to let everyone know that Sunset Territory had something like this.

Once these people left, they would naturally spread the word, and then Su You could just sit back and wait for people to come knocking, eager to buy.

But as luck would have it, a caravan had shown up at just this moment... In the end, it didn’t matter who she sold it to. If the caravan could offer a good price, Su You would certainly prefer to sell it early, get a large sum of money, and maybe even buy up some goods from the caravan.

“Oh, here’s the recipe.” Bu Guo replied, a little glumly, as she handed the recipe to Laike.

Laike said, “The lord also said you should wrap things up here quickly, and then come help negotiate with the caravan.”

Bu Guo: “!”

Bu Guo: “Okay, I’ll be right there!”

Bu Guo, who had been feeling a bit down, immediately brightened up at Laike’s words, her gloomy expression replaced by a smile.

...

...

“So this is the spatial pouch Lord Su mentioned?” The speaker was Tang Lu, the deputy leader of the large caravan that had just made a splash in the trading area.

As for the leader, he wasn’t with this particular team.

Large caravans usually travel in more than one group. There’s only one leader, but there can be many deputy leaders, each leading their own team.

At that moment, Tang Lu was holding a pouch about the size of two palms, which looked like it was made of soft cloth or perhaps leather—this was the spatial pouch.

“Would you like me to demonstrate it for you, Captain Tang?” Su You asked, observing Tang Lu’s expression.

Tang Lu had examined the pouch for a while but couldn’t see anything special about it. To her, it looked just like any ordinary pouch, except she couldn’t quite identify the material. It didn’t seem nearly as magical as Su You claimed.

Even though she couldn’t see anything unusual, she couldn’t figure out why Su You would tell such an easily exposed lie...

After thinking for a moment, Tang Lu said, “One moment.”

Then she turned to the people behind her. “Go settle everyone in.”

“Yes.”

After a brief exchange, the person she spoke to led everyone else out of the room.

A minute later, only Tang Lu and Su You remained.

Su You took back the spatial pouch and, right in front of Tang Lu, began putting things from the room into it and taking them out again, like a magic trick. She showed Tang Lu from every angle, and after a few rounds, Tang Lu was completely convinced of the pouch’s capabilities.

“Three hundred gold coins.” Once she was sure the item was genuine, Tang Lu immediately named a price.

Su You shook her head, clearly dissatisfied with the offer.

Tang Lu knew her offer was a bit low, but that’s how negotiations work. You can’t start with your highest price, or there’s no room to bargain.

“Please wait a moment, Captain Tang.”

“Is Lord Su waiting for someone?” Tang Lu had actually been wondering from the start—if this was such an important transaction, why wasn’t there a negotiator with Su You?

At first, she thought Su You was like her—a negotiator herself—but it turned out the real negotiator hadn’t arrived yet.

“Yes, sorry to keep you waiting. I’ll make sure to send you a small gift later to make up for it.”

Tang Lu waved it off. “No problem. I don’t have anything else to do anyway. I can wait.”

In the end, the wait wasn’t long—just five minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

Bu Guo: “Lord, it’s Bu Guo.”

“Come in.”

Hearing the slightly childish voice, Tang Lu’s curiosity was piqued. She hadn’t expected the person outside to actually be a child who looked only about ten years old. She’d thought it was just someone with a naturally youthful voice, but when she saw Bu Guo, Tang Lu’s expression froze.

“And this is...?” Tang Lu stared at the little girl who was barely taller than the table, completely bewildered."

"Here’s a natural, fluent English translation of your text:

---

182. Collection of Ghost Stories

She never could have imagined that the owner of the voice she’d just heard—the one that sounded like a child—was actually just a child!

“This is Buguo, Captain Tang. She’s the one I’ve been waiting for.” With these words, Su You directly confirmed the suspicion Tang Lu had been unable to settle in her heart.

Buguo smiled politely at Tang Lu and greeted her.

“Hello, Captain Tang. I’m Buguo.”

“…Hello, Buguo.” Tang Lu opened her mouth, and after a moment of difficulty, finally managed to squeeze out these few words.

But after all, Tang Lu was the vice-captain of a major trade caravan—someone who had seen her share of storms. So even though she was shocked, she quickly composed herself, not letting her emotions affect the negotiations to come.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to talk.”

Although Su You could have stayed—she was the lord, after all, and Buguo was just a child—she still had other matters to attend to.

……

……

After leaving the inn, Su You immediately spotted a girl in a dress sitting on a bench by the roadside.

“Hey, you’re so slow! I’ve been waiting forever.” Seeing Su You come out of the inn, the girl blinked, then stood up and walked over to her.

To anyone who didn’t know her, this scene would look like nothing more than a spoiled little sister pouting and complaining to someone she knew.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Looking at the lively, charming girl before her, Su You smiled and led her into the clinic.

The girl—or rather, Vivian—didn’t show it on her face, but once inside, she carefully observed the clinic’s layout.

“So this is the clinic you mentioned? Looks pretty basic.”

Maybe it was her appearance, or maybe it was the tone she used, but even though Vivian’s words were almost identical to those of the young man with the fishing skill earlier, when he said it, it sounded annoying.

But when Vivian said it, she was simply stating a fact—there was no mockery or disdain in her voice. So even though her words weren’t exactly pleasant, they didn’t come off as offensive.

“Yep, this is the clinic. Soon, this place will be all yours… Come here.” Su You led Vivian to a side room next to the clinic. “You can decorate this however you like.”

“Really? However I want?” Vivian’s eyes widened slightly, her pale green eyes making her look almost like an elf… if only she weren’t such a mischievous dark elf at heart.

Vivian’s idea of “decorating” was, of course, related to her love of pranks. She wanted to turn this side room into a haunted house, so that whenever she was in a bad mood, she could close the main entrance and force people to come in through the side—giving them a good scare.

Of course, Vivian knew her limits. Most of the time, she’d keep the main entrance open—otherwise, Su You would never allow her to mess around.

“Of course, decorate it however you like. And if you decide to stay, I’ll even build a special amusement park here in the territory.” In just a few words, Su You vividly described a haunted house and a theater—Vivian’s favorite things.

It was as if these weren’t just future plans, but already existed: a haunted house that could terrify visitors, and a theater that could bring out all sorts of expressions on people’s faces.

“Hmm…” Vivian hesitated.

Su You had really hit her weak spot.

Whether it was the theater—an unfulfilled dream of hers—or the haunted house, which she’d never heard of before but sounded like something she’d love, Su You’s descriptions were irresistible.

Just imagining herself scaring people in the haunted house, dressed up as all kinds of creatures and making them scream, made Vivian feel delighted.

Seeing her hesitate, Su You added a few more words, and Vivian finally seemed to make up her mind. She flashed a perfect smile.

“All right, since you put it that way, Lord Su, I’d be happy to join the territory and help everyone build it up—make it bigger and stronger.”

[Novice Healing Mage Vivian has requested to join your territory. Please check and process the application.]

Su You immediately approved Vivian’s application. Under her expectant gaze, Su You took a small booklet out of her bag.

“Careful—don’t scare yourself.” Su You had noticed from Vivian’s profile that she enjoyed thrills and provoking emotional reactions in others.

But enjoying thrills didn’t have to be just for others—she could enjoy them herself, too.

So Su You had stayed up late compiling a collection of ghost stories. She wasn’t sure if Vivian would like it, but it couldn’t hurt to be prepared.

And it turned out she’d guessed Vivian’s tastes perfectly. After reading just one or two stories, Vivian became deeply interested in ghost stories.

Vivian immediately sat down in the clinic and began reading the collection.

At this point, Su You had no idea what kind of impact this ghost story collection would have on Vivian… It gave the already mischievous Vivian a new way to prank people, and she became especially fond of using it on patients who came for treatment.

Of course, that’s a story for another time. Even if Su You found out, as long as Vivian didn’t actually harm anyone, all she could do was quietly light a candle for the poor victims.

……

[Sunset Territory]

Lord: Su You

Territory Level: Advanced Camp (Can be upgraded to Small Village when population reaches 50 and Prosperity reaches 500)

Territory Status: Open (Open territories attract all kinds of visitors)

Public Security: 80

Social Connections: None

Happiness: Average (From worst to best: Terrible → Poor → Average → Good → Satisfied → Excellent)

Prosperity: 124

Reputation: 30

Population: 15/21

Territory Aura: [Renowned I]

Territory Events:

I: [They have sensed the strength here. Fear of power has made them retreat. The victories of this place will intimidate them for now, and they will not disturb you again for a while. But they will never give up. Next time, they will return even stronger…]"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

183. Gurgle Gurgle

II: [The plants are uneasy, the beasts are restless, and the entire forest is shrouded in an inexplicable, gloomy, and eerie atmosphere. Every night, a mysterious energy radiates from the top of a tall tower, and the areas covered by this energy seem to be affected in some way...]

III: [Gurgle gurgle—something seems to be rising and falling?]

...

After leaving the clinic, Su You glanced at her territory’s information panel.

Because so many people had arrived, the territory’s public order had plummeted from 98 straight down to 80—and this was only the first day, not even a full day at that. At this rate, it was hard to imagine what a mess the territory would become once the “Renowned I” aura wore off.

Su You had to do her best to strengthen the territory, or improve public order by constructing certain buildings and assigning specific personnel.

On the bright side, both the territory’s prosperity and reputation had clearly increased, which was a good thing.

As for population, there had originally been eleven people, but after Wang Yi and Wang Er left, it dropped back to nine. Today, with the addition of Cang Lan, Vivian, and four other unknown ordinary NPCs, the population had risen to fifteen.

But that was still far from enough. After all, upgrading required fifty people, and Su You also needed more labor to help gather resources.

Besides that, she still hadn’t dealt with the monster spawn cage.

This morning, she had only led people over to clear out all the monsters that had accumulated over the past few days—the spawn cage itself was still untouched.

But that was intentional, for safety’s sake.

Originally, she had planned to take everyone straight into the spawn cage dungeon after dealing with the ghost skeletons that had spawned—but that would have been too rushed.

They had just finished clearing ninety monsters, and to immediately jump into another tough battle without any recovery was hardly ideal. More importantly, time was tight today.

So Su You decided against it, letting everyone return to rest for a day, and to wait for the newly recruited healer—Vivian.

With two healers, and if you counted You Ai, two and a half mages, plus Duoya and Laierlaike, as long as the dungeon’s difficulty was normal—like the spawn cage dungeons from the first ten days—there was no way they couldn’t clear it.

Su You read through the territory information from top to bottom, and finally her gaze landed on the third territory event—what was this?

She didn’t recall ever seeing such a... bizarre territory event before.

“Could it be a locked event that hasn’t been triggered?” There were many types of territory events, and some required the player to trigger them—these were called “locked events.”

Although they needed to be triggered, the fact that it had already appeared in the event list meant that the world had already generated the event.

After reading the event description several times, Su You wasn’t sure what to make of it, so she simply closed the panel.

She took a few steps, then remembered Bu Guo, so she turned and walked into the nearby inn.

The caravan led by Tang Lu was staying in Inn 1, which was also the inn Su You had upgraded when she upgraded the tavern.

After the upgrade, the inn was much larger, with a kitchen, a dedicated hot water room, and even an extra floor—what had been a three-story inn was now four stories tall.

The first floor was still the dining area, but since there was no cook in the small kitchen, everyone had to buy food from the tavern for now.

The second floor was still double rooms, but the number had increased from eight to ten, enough for twenty people.

The third floor had originally been all single rooms, but after the upgrade, six of the original ten single rooms were converted into doubles, so now it could house sixteen people.

The fourth floor, perhaps to make up for the reduction in single rooms on the third floor, was now all single rooms—twelve in total.

But unlike the old third floor, the fourth floor’s single rooms were divided into three grades—basically, the classic “Room No. 1” and so on.

Here, though, the inn simply divided the rooms into upper, middle, and lower classes.

Upper-class rooms were large, well-furnished, and comfortable—four in total.

Mid-class rooms were average in size, with all the necessary amenities—eight in total.

As for the so-called lower class, these were actually the four rooms squeezed onto the third floor. Because they were crammed in with the double rooms, they were small and noisy.

All told, the level-2 inn could now accommodate forty-eight people—double the capacity of a level-1 inn.

It sounded like a lot, but with the arrival of the large caravan, it still wasn’t enough.

Tang Lu’s caravan had forty-five people, which nearly filled the entire inn, so just like Yun Li before, she booked the whole place.

Fortunately, Su You had upgraded the inn when she upgraded the tavern—otherwise, the caravan wouldn’t have fit in a single inn, and some people would have had to stay elsewhere, which would have been inconvenient. Plus, other travelers or wanderers would have had nowhere to stay.

...

Su You entered the inn and went up to the fourth floor. She was about to knock when, just as she reached the last step, the door to the room where Tang Lu and Bu Guo were staying opened.

“Lord Su.”

“Lord Su.”

The two—one tall, one small—greeted Su You as she appeared. Bu Guo ran straight over, tugging on her sleeve and whispering a stream of chatter.

Tang Lu didn’t mind, idly fiddling with the spatial pouch she’d just bought, her thoughts already far away.

With this... their caravan could finally take on that mission...

“Captain Tang,” Su You gently called her back to the present. “I wonder if Captain Tang is interested in the spatial pouch itself?”

Tang Lu froze for a moment, and when she understood what Su You meant, she gripped the pouch tighter.

“Lord Su, do you mean... the recipe?” Tang Lu could hardly believe Su You would be willing to sell something like that. After all, having the recipe meant unlimited spatial pouches.

It was no exaggeration to say that with the value of these pouches, Sunset Territory could soon become the richest territory in the world.

But once the recipe was sold, it was like giving away the goose that laid the golden eggs. Even if Su You could breed more of these “geese,” as their numbers increased, sooner or later, both the eggs and the geese would become worthless.

(End of chapter)"

"Here is a fluent and natural English translation of your text:

---

184. Selling the Recipe

""That's right, it's a recipe—and one you can learn directly."" In the NPC's understanding, there are different kinds of recipes. Some are handwritten, and those are just ordinary recipes, no different from instruction manuals or cookbooks from the past.

These kinds of recipes aren't particularly valuable. They only list the materials, and the better ones might include the production process, but you still have to figure things out yourself, which wastes a lot of time.

But the recipe Su You was talking about was different—it could be learned directly. Once you learned it, it was as if you instantly mastered the skill, like the method was directly uploaded into your brain. As long as you had the materials, you could make the item right away, with almost no chance of failure.

""Shall we go inside and talk?"" Since she had the chance to buy such a recipe, Tang Lu naturally wasn't going to let the opportunity slip by.

As the vice-captain of a large merchant caravan, Tang Lu was well aware of the value of a spatial pouch... After all, even high-level mages couldn't easily make such things!

Spatial magic was an extremely mana-intensive skill, and few high-level mages could use it without restraint—let alone apply it to an object, giving that object the effects of spatial magic.

Although there had been rumors in the distant past of people making items similar to spatial pouches—items that could ignore volume and store things—most of those were just rumors. Until now, no one knew if spatial pouches truly existed.

""Alright."" Once inside the room, Su You took out the recipe directly.

Tang Lu suppressed her curiosity about the recipe and asked Su You why she was selling it.

Normally, in a transaction, you just pay and get the goods—people don't usually ask too many questions, since it's the seller's private business.

But this recipe was special. If she really wanted to buy it, she'd have to pay a hefty price, so Tang Lu had to be cautious.

""To be honest, Captain Tang, the materials needed to make a spatial pouch aren't many—fewer than five, actually—but one of them is extremely hard to obtain..."" Su You didn't specify what the material was, but she wasn't lying. She simply gave a straightforward explanation of the situation regarding spatial pouches.

""If the materials are hard to get, then naturally there won't be many finished products. As the lord of a small territory, rather than sitting on a treasure I can't unlock, I'd rather trade it for something with real, practical value... Don't you agree, Captain Tang?""

While Su You was speaking, Tang Lu carefully observed her expression, but didn't notice anything suspicious.

And what Su You said made sense; she didn't seem to be lying.

""Does Lord Su have two copies of the recipe?"" Tang Lu asked because Su You had already produced a finished spatial pouch.

If there was a finished product, that meant someone had already made one, so Tang Lu wondered if Su You had kept one recipe for her own people and was selling the other.

If others also had the recipe for making spatial pouches, then the value of this recipe wouldn't be as high as if it were truly unique.

""No, there's only this one recipe for a level-one spatial pouch,"" Su You replied honestly. There really was only this one recipe for a level-one spatial pouch.

She did have other recipes, but those were for higher-level spatial pouches... So she wasn't exactly lying—just playing with words a bit.

Tang Lu frowned and took out the spatial pouch she had.

""So where did the spatial pouch you're selling come from, Lord Su?""

Faced with Tang Lu's suspicion, Su You calmly replied, ""It was stored together with the recipe. I saw it and brought it back as well.""

Lying wasn't ideal, but sometimes it was necessary.

Su You didn't want to reveal that someone in her territory could make spatial pouches, as that would be unsafe for Dory and would also lower the value of the recipe itself.

Whether Tang Lu believed her or not was her own business.

""Name your price, Lord Su."" Tang Lu couldn't be sure whether Su You was lying, but she felt that some of what Su You said was probably true.

For example, the fact that this was a recipe you could learn directly—meaning they could have a trusted person learn it, or even learn it themselves.

That alone made the recipe extremely valuable.

Secondly, Su You said the materials were hard to find, which was probably true as well.

If the materials weren't rare, Su You would have kept the recipe for herself. Even if someone in her territory could already make the item, she'd want to keep the recipe unique to avoid competition.

""The spatial pouch just sold for 370 gold coins, so I'll set the price for the recipe at ten times that. Of course, I know that's a lot of money to come up with all at once, so Captain Tang, you can reserve it first if you like.""

Ten times 370 was 3,700 gold coins—a huge sum!

Most small families didn't even have 3,000 gold coins in total liquid assets. Even as the vice-captain of a large merchant caravan, Tang Lu definitely didn't have the authority to take out that much money at once.

And she didn't have that much on her, either.

Before buying the spatial pouch, the caravan's current liquid funds were just over 1,000 gold coins. After buying the pouch, that dropped by a third, leaving only a little over 600.

Tang Lu did the math, then said, ""3,700 won't work—it's too expensive. My maximum authority in the caravan is 2,500 gold coins.""

This ""authority"" meant the amount Tang Lu could withdraw from the caravan's account after returning to headquarters, without needing approval from other vice-captains or the captain.

Different people had different limits. Because of her abilities, Tang Lu's was the highest besides the captain himself, but even so, it was still only about half of Su You's asking price!

""No rush,"" Su You said. ""Captain Tang, you can discuss it with others if you like."" She really wasn't in a hurry—she'd just received 370 gold coins, plus a few dozen more from Bu Guo's sales in the trading area, plus stall fees and today's territory income. Su You now had nearly 500 gold coins on hand.

That was already enough to buy a lot of things from the caravan.

""If the deal goes well, I can also tell you how to obtain the rarest material needed for the recipe.""

(End of chapter)"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

185. High-Quality Bronze Longsword

The rarest material, of course, is spatial stone.

Obtaining spatial stone requires killing boss-level creatures. For ordinary people, this is an extremely difficult and dangerous task. But for a large merchant caravan like Tang Lu’s, which can easily and unconditionally produce 2,500 gold coins at a moment’s notice, it’s really nothing special.

A merchant caravan doesn’t just have money and merchants—they have their own fighting force as well.

“Is that really true?” Tang Lu’s expression shifted slightly, her gaze fixed intently on Su You.

“It’s absolutely true,” Su You nodded with certainty.

Tang Lu actually knew that even at ten times the price, it wasn’t unreasonable. Her real hesitation was the worry of buying a useless recipe.

A so-called useless recipe is one that can’t be made, for example, because the materials are unavailable.

But if what Su You said was true, and she could provide a way to obtain the materials listed in the recipe, then the price was still negotiable.

“Lord Su, please give me some time—I need to go back and discuss this with my captain.” Based on her understanding of the captain, Tang Lu knew that if she explained it this way, the captain would probably just hand her the money and let her handle it as she saw fit—because she trusted Tang Lu.

But Tang Lu couldn’t betray that trust. In a big merchant caravan like theirs, there was no shortage of intrigue. There were plenty of people who disliked her, or who were just waiting for her to make a mistake so they could use it as an excuse to pull the captain from her position.

Three thousand gold coins wasn’t an impossible sum for their caravan, and even if they lost it, it wouldn’t be a fatal blow. But if they paid out and got nothing in return, it would definitely cause a lot of trouble.

So she still had to go back and discuss it with everyone. That way, at least, it would be a collective decision and the responsibility would be shared.

“Of course. Captain Tang, how many days do you need?” Su You also understood that the other party couldn’t just produce that much money on the spot, so she simply asked how long Tang Lu needed to discuss it.

After all, now that the territory was open, theirs wasn’t the only merchant caravan coming and going. Su You couldn’t hold the recipe for her forever.

“Seven days at most. I’ll bring you an answer by then, Lord Su.” It would take at least two or three days to travel from Sunset Territory to the caravan’s headquarters, so a round trip would be six days, with one day for discussion.

Seven days—that was already the absolute minimum Tang Lu could manage.

“Seven days, then.” Su You put away the recipe. “Will you be leaving today, Captain Tang?”

“I’ll take a few people and head back. The rest of the caravan will stay here and rest for a few days.” If the whole caravan moved, with all their goods, even seven days might not be enough for a round trip. So Tang Lu decided to travel light with just a few people, while the caravan stayed here to rest.

Tang Lu was extremely efficient. After finishing her conversation with Su You, she immediately left with three or four people on horseback.

The rest of the caravan, as she said, remained in Sunset Territory to rest. This worked out well—Su You could take this opportunity to bring some money and go shopping at the caravan.

Bu Guo went with her, and their shopping spree lasted from noon until evening.

Su You bought up nearly all the basic materials—clay, sand, animal hides, cloth, cotton, and so on—buying thousands or even tens of thousands of each. Despite the large quantities, since they were all basic materials, the total price didn’t even reach ten gold coins.

Then there were ores. Su You bought out the entire stock of copper ore—one thousand pieces at fifty copper coins each. There was less iron ore, only six or seven hundred pieces, but she bought all of that too.

After buying all this, both Su You’s backpack and her warehouse were packed to the brim.

Because of this, Su You had to step away for a bit, using the newly bought materials to upgrade all her warehouses to level two, and even built two more warehouses elsewhere.

A level-one warehouse had fifty slots; level two had one hundred, with the stacking limit unchanged at one hundred per slot.

Upgrading warehouses took some time, so after buying all the basic materials, Su You paused her shopping, planning to wait until the upgrades were done before continuing.

This also gave her time to organize the materials.

All the cotton, cloth, and animal hides were sent to the tailor shop, and Su You also crafted a loom there.

The loom was a workbench—it could operate automatically, producing sewing-related items faster than a standard workbench, or it could be used as a tool by someone with sewing skills.

The ores, naturally, were sent to the blacksmith shop.

When Su You arrived with the materials, she happened to catch Cang Lan, who hadn’t chosen to rest, but was instead forging a longsword.

“My lord,” Cang Lan was startled when she saw Su You, nearly dropping her forging hammer.

“I’m just here to deliver materials. Focus on your work, don’t mind me.” With that, Su You set down several boxes in the blacksmith shop and dumped all the copper and iron ore inside.

By the time she finished, Cang Lan had already finished forging the bronze sword.

After asking Cang Lan, Su You picked up the sword to inspect it.

[High-Quality Bronze Longsword]

Category: Equipment

Quality: Green

Durability: 150/150

Attributes: Attack (20+2), Armor Penetration (2%), Critical Hit (1.5%)

Description: A finely crafted bronze longsword with moderate attack power and speed, and a certain amount of armor penetration and critical hit chance.

A bronze longsword with 22 attack power was a pretty good weapon—after all, Lyle’s Fang Dagger only had 30 attack power.

It seemed Cang Lan’s blacksmithing talent was truly impressive.

“This longsword is excellent—you’re very skilled,” Su You praised Cang Lan, then asked about the decision she hadn’t answered that morning: “So, have you made up your mind?”

Cang Lan was still basking in Su You’s praise, and it took her a moment to realize what Su You was referring to.

“Yes, I’ve decided. I want to earn money based on my actual abilities.” In other words, she wanted to be paid by commission.

Su You nodded, then set Cang Lan as an employee of the blacksmith shop and configured her pay.

“As a junior blacksmith, you’ll earn 10% of the net market profit for each item you forge, and an additional 10% for each item successfully sold.”

“Thank you, my lord.” Cang Lan’s eyes lit up, and her gratitude was genuine, without any flattery or pretense.

(End of chapter)"

"Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

186. Blessing of Life I

As mentioned before, the profit share for finished forged goods is usually between 10% and 15%. The 10% that Su You offered is just the minimum, and only shops with relatively fair treatment would set it up this way.

No matter what world you’re in, there are always some unspoken rules that can’t be openly discussed.

For example, here there’s also a “probation period” or “internship,” though it’s called something else: “apprenticeship.”

Unless you’re truly skilled, if you only have basic abilities, you’ll have to work as an apprentice for at least a few months before you can become a full-fledged blacksmith.

And an apprentice’s pay is only half that of an official blacksmith. So, in this light, Su You’s arrangement is already quite generous.

Cang Lan knew her own situation well: no matter where she went, if she chose to earn money based on her actual skills, getting even a 15% profit share would already be pretty good. Getting a full 20% was extremely rare—maybe one in ten people could manage that.

“There’s no need to thank me. After all, you’re choosing to earn money with your own abilities.”

Su You had previously read the background and historical stories about Sunset Continent released by the game company, covering everything from ancient historical events to folk tales and trivial matters. So, while she wasn’t deeply familiar with these unspoken rules, she had at least heard of them.

She understood these kinds of rules, because they exist everywhere, no matter where you go. Even if she didn’t understand, it wouldn’t matter.

But even though she understood, she wouldn’t set things up that way herself. It wasn’t out of kindness; to put it bluntly, it was to build goodwill and loyalty.

Rather than nitpicking over that extra 5% or 10% profit, Su You felt it was far more important to quickly build up a group of absolutely loyal residents.

“If you really want to thank me, then do a good job... I need at least two sets of copper armor. Can you manage that?”

Maybe because Su You’s actions just now had indeed earned her some goodwill, Cang Lan replied almost without hesitation, “I can, my lord. When do you need them?”

Cang Lan had practiced at the village smithy before, so she wasn’t just someone with theoretical knowledge—she had plenty of hands-on experience too.

Although she hadn’t forged armor before—most of her previous work was on weapons, tools, and other small or medium items—Cang Lan was confident she could handle making armor.

“By tomorrow.” These copper armors were being prepared for Lyle and the others.

The reason for preparing a full set of equipment was mainly to completely resolve the monster cage situation.

Tomorrow was the last day of the aura. Su You didn’t want to waste it, so she planned to stay in the territory to handle recruitment and construction. That meant the monster cage would have to wait until the fourteenth day.

Cang Lan said, “Alright, my lord. I’ll have the two sets of copper armor ready by tomorrow.”

“Good, I’ll be waiting for your good news.” Seeing that Cang Lan didn’t seem ready to leave, Su You reminded her, “It’s already late. Get some rest.”

Cang Lan smiled at Su You’s concern. “It’s fine. I just want to sketch out some blueprints—it’ll make the forging easier tomorrow.”

“Arrange your time as you see fit, but remember to rest and pace yourself.”

…

After leaving the smithy, Su You’s attention shifted to the statue, which was only a few minutes away from completion.

Watching the countdown tick down, she found a place to sit and wait.

[Doris, Statue of Life, construction complete.]

As these words appeared, the statue—previously shrouded in mist—gradually became clear.

Gentle, kind, dignified, solemn, commanding respect without anger... Many words, even contradictory ones, couldn’t fully capture the feeling this statue gave.

Su You didn’t stare at the statue. For ordinary people, that would be rude—let alone for a statue of a god.

So she just glanced at it briefly, then walked straight up to the statue.

“Sunset Territory requests the blessing of the Goddess of Life.” She placed her left hand on her right shoulder, her right hand at her lower back, closed her eyes, and bowed slightly.

A few seconds later, Su You suddenly felt a lightness come over her.

[Congratulations! Sunset Territory has received the blessing of the Goddess of Life: Blessing of Life I.]

[Blessing of Life I]: All territory residents gain enhanced constitution (max HP +20), improved physical fitness (slightly reduced chance of illness, slightly faster stamina recovery), and the Goddess of Life watches over you. (Duration: Permanent)

Su You straightened up and placed the bouquet of flowers she’d prepared earlier at the foot of the statue.

After arranging the flowers, she stepped back to her original spot.

“Thank you, Goddess of Life.” She repeated the earlier gesture, but this time only bowed briefly.

Su You then stepped out of the statue’s area and opened the territory information panel—

There are two types of statue blessings. One is a territory blessing (aura), which requires the lord to personally request it, and usually only needs to be requested once.

Territory blessings have no time limit and cover all residents. As long as the statue stands, the blessing is permanent.

The second type is a regular blessing, which each resident can receive daily. At first, these last only an hour or two, but as the number of offerings increases, the effect and duration also increase.

Even though it was almost time to rest—and the blessing wouldn’t be much use—Su You still made an offering, so she received the blessing as well.

[Blessing of the Statue of Life]: Your recovery ability is slightly improved. (Duration: 59 minutes 59 seconds)

Although it didn’t specify exactly how much recovery was improved, early blessings are always weak, so it didn’t matter much—better than nothing.

After confirming she’d received the blessing, Su You breathed a sigh of relief, yawned, and slowly made her way back to her manor.

…

…

On the thirteenth day of the digitized world, thanks to the aura, the territory was still bustling.

The tavern was packed at all hours, not because people wanted food, but because they were there for the mage, Meck.

There was also a crowd in front of the tailor shop. Thanks to word of mouth, news of Dory’s unique skills had spread.

Whether or not people bought anything, curiosity always brought them to take a look—after all, looking was free.

(End of chapter)"

"Patrol Squad and Gate Guards

Then there was the blacksmith shop... No one knew how late Canglan worked last night, but in any case, the blacksmith shop officially opened for business today.

Although there weren’t many items in stock, there was indeed merchandise on the shelves for people to choose from. Even if it was just ordinary copper equipment, as long as there were enough people, there would always be someone who needed it.

The clinic also opened today, but since clinics are a bit special—people without illness or pain don’t go—compared to the bustling crowds at the other shops, it seemed rather deserted.

If you had to name the most frequently visited buildings each day, it would definitely be the bulletin board and the bounty board.

The former posted recruitment information for the territory, attracting countless onlookers; the latter provided a way to earn money, with a wide variety and large number of tasks. So anyone short on cash, as long as they weren’t lazy, would pick up a few tasks.

Because of this, Su You specifically made a large batch of tools and put them in the warehouse linked to the bounty board, just in case someone accepted a task but couldn’t complete it for lack of tools.

After all, NPCs aren’t players—they don’t have backpacks, and it’s rare for anyone to carry axes or pickaxes around with them.

Quite a few people, perhaps drawn by the low prices in the small territory, even rented a long-term room at the inn, planning to make a living in Sunset Territory by doing bounty tasks.

For a while, the quantities of the materials and items listed on the bounty board skyrocketed.

Fortunately, the new warehouse had already been built, and the old one had been upgraded, greatly increasing the territory’s storage capacity—so there was no worry about having nowhere to put all these materials.

Su You sat on a small bench next to the bulletin board, recruiting people while also sorting materials and upgrading the territory’s buildings.

The first thing she did was increase the number of residential houses, but only up to fifteen. Once she reached fifteen, she stopped building more.

Although upgrading the territory required fifty people, which would mean twenty-five houses, fifteen houses could only accommodate thirty people—clearly not enough.

But in reality, there wasn’t enough space to build that many houses right now, so Su You upgraded all the existing ones.

Upgrading a house to level two required [Composite Plank x5, Composite Stone Slab x5, Glass x10]. The upgraded level-two houses had two floors and could accommodate four people, with each floor even having its own small balcony.

While the environment improved, the most important thing was that the increased interior space made much better use of the territory’s limited area.

Once all fifteen houses were upgraded to level two, the territory’s population cap would reach sixty.

Thanks to her earlier bulk purchases and the influx of materials from people completing bounty tasks these past two days, Su You had enough resources to upgrade all the houses.

The territory’s population went from 15/21 to 23/51 in less than a morning... Every building had to be constructed before it could be upgraded, so at the moment, there were ten level-two houses and five level-one houses.

Once the five level-one houses were finished, Su You upgraded them all to level two as well.

Besides houses, Su You also added more wells—now, basically, there was one well in the middle of every row of houses.

Wells didn’t take up much space or require many materials to build, but they increased the territory’s backup water supply and made life more convenient for residents. As one of the most basic daily-use buildings, it was definitely worth building more of them.

With plenty of materials on hand, Su You also added other amenities, like bathhouses, public toilets, and trash bins.

Although these buildings didn’t generate income—and even required Su You to spend money to post extra tasks for people to clean them regularly—they did increase the residents’ happiness.

The boost in happiness from these buildings was especially noticeable in the early stages. The happiness level, which had dropped to “average” due to the recent influx of new residents, rose to “good” after these facilities were built.

With happiness sorted out, Su You turned to public security.

Security could be improved by constructing buildings—like arrow towers, walls, and other defensive or offensive structures.

However, the effectiveness of these buildings diminished with each additional one built; the more you had, the less impact each new one made, though the effect would never go negative.

To fundamentally improve security, one approach was to quickly raise residents’ loyalty. As their loyalty increased, the likelihood of trouble decreased, and security naturally improved.

In addition, Su You could establish a “patrol squad” and “gate guards” to further boost security.

The patrol squad functioned much like the police in her previous world. Whether it was the two burly men causing trouble outside the tailor shop, or the man using fake gold coins to scam people in the market, if there were a patrol squad, Su You wouldn’t have to personally decide how to deal with them—they would be punished according to the territory’s regulations she had set.

Gate guards, on the other hand, would perform simple checks on people entering and leaving the territory. This could greatly reduce the chances of troublemakers getting in and also allow Su You to learn some basic information about newcomers in advance.

The problem was, while gate guards were feasible—since they didn’t require particularly high abilities—she couldn’t set up a patrol squad just yet. There simply weren’t enough people in the territory, and even fewer who were qualified to serve as patrol members. Looking over the resident list, aside from Lyle and Lake, only three others met the requirements for the patrol squad.

But just meeting the ability requirements wasn’t enough—the patrol squad also needed high loyalty to the territory. And... these people had only just joined within the last two days; how much loyalty could Su You really expect from them?

...After thinking it over, Su You decided to add more defensive structures and focus on selecting suitable candidates for gate guards.

“Ex-excuse me... Is, is this... the place for... recru...?” A very soft voice sounded.

Because the voice was so quiet, and the street was noisy and crowded, Su You only heard someone speaking, but couldn’t make out what was being said.

Still immersed in the building menu, Su You paused, closed the interface, and looked up—"

"Certainly! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

188. Beast Tamer

“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. Could you say it again?”

As she spoke, Su You took the opportunity to size up the person in front of her.

Standing before her was a woman with a very distinctive style. Her clothes were covered in animal patterns, and the materials all seemed to be animal-related—like the necklace of animal teeth around her neck, the beaded bracelet on her wrist, and the hairpin made from the bones and teeth of some unknown creature.

Her appearance was so unique that people tended to overlook her actual looks at first glance.

But in reality, this woman, despite her wild attire, looked quite delicate and frail—like a gentle breeze could knock her over. The impression she gave was completely at odds with her clothes. The embarrassed and shy expression on her face also suggested she was the introverted, timid type. This stark contrast made people all the more curious about what her true personality was really like.

—Of course, that was assuming she wasn’t just putting on an act.

“S-sorry, what I meant to ask was, is this the recruitment point for the territory?” The woman’s voice was a little louder than before, but still softer than most people’s, making it a bit hard to hear.

Whether she was acting or not, Su You had no intention of making things difficult for her. After understanding her question, she repeated the same explanation she’d given to everyone else.

“Yes, this is the recruitment point. If you want to join the territory, you’ll need to pass an assessment first... If you have any special skills, you can be assigned a specialized residence...” Su You had said these words so many times that she was now extremely fluent, finishing the whole explanation in just a few minutes.

Although the woman seemed very shy and timid at first, she listened intently as Su You spoke.

When Su You finished, the woman opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but just then, Su You noticed that something seemed to be tugging at the woman’s pants.

“Sorry, please wait a moment...” The woman apologized to Su You, then suddenly crouched down. “Xiao Hui, be good, okay? I have something to do right now. I’ll play with you later, alright?”

Su You paused and turned her head to look. That’s when she noticed—because it was too short to be seen above the table—a little gray... dog?

Watching the little gray dog rolling around and acting spoiled at the woman’s feet, and considering her outfit, Su You felt she could guess this woman’s identity—or at least her profession.

On the Sunset Continent, there was a certain profession. Its members might not be strong fighters themselves, but they could command beasts to do their bidding.

—Beast Tamer.

Su You suspected the woman was a Beast Tamer.

“Sorry to take up your time.” After calming the little gray dog, the woman stood up and slowly gave her information.

As she spoke, Su You gradually pieced together her details.

【Lilith】

Gender: Female

Age: Young Adult

Loyalty: 70

Favorability: 25

Talent: Beast Tamer (90)

Skill: Junior Beast Tamer (Bottleneck)

Traits: Affinity (special affinity has unique effects on small animals and plants), Timid (may become unable to act when facing fierce enemies), Introverted (will not initiate social contact unless necessary)

...

Her initial loyalty was very high, her talent was exceptional, and her skill had reached a bottleneck. Although she only had one positive trait and two negative ones, the negatives weren’t particularly bad, so this Lilith was still an outstanding Beast Tamer.

Su You would keep even NPCs with no skills or talents, let alone someone like Lilith.

“Alright, I’ve basically got all your information. You’ve passed the assessment. Miss Lilith, would you like to join Sunset Territory?” Su You could clearly see that as she spoke, Lilith’s face first lit up with joy, then turned nervous and uneasy, with a hint of embarrassment.

“Of course I want to join! B-but, um, I wanted to ask... if I want to buy a whole house, but I don’t have enough money...” Lilith’s voice grew quieter and her face redder as she spoke.

Seeing how nervous she was, Su You found herself feeling a bit anxious as well.

Su You asked, “Can you tell me why you need a whole house to yourself?”

Lilith looked a little troubled, her gaze dropping to the little gray dog on the ground.

Seeing this, Su You thought, “Just as I suspected.”

Lilith really did want to live alone because of this little gray dog!

Lilith said, “Xiao Hui doesn’t really like strangers and has a bit of a bad temper. If I lived with others, I’d worry about him hurting someone.”

It was a reasonable explanation, but... this little puppy was barely bigger than a newborn baby—what harm could it possibly do?

Su You found it a bit odd, but since she and Lilith had just met and weren’t familiar, and Lilith hadn’t officially joined the territory yet, it wouldn’t be appropriate to ask more. That might affect her favorability.

“There are plenty of empty rooms in the territory right now. I can arrange for you to stay somewhere without any other residents, but you’ll need to save up to buy your own place soon.” Rules couldn’t be broken, but as long as there was a reasonable explanation, there was room for negotiation.

After all, they’d just upgraded a bunch of residential houses, so there were plenty of empty rooms. Giving out one more wouldn’t hurt.

Of course, getting it for free was out of the question—rules were rules.

“Really?” Lilith’s eyes lit up, her mood suddenly elated.

The little gray dog, sensing its owner’s happiness, barked excitedly as well, even if it didn’t know why.

“Yes, but you need to save up as soon as possible.” Room for negotiation didn’t mean making exceptions. Without rules, things would fall into chaos.

“No problem! I’ll save up as quickly as I can... I—I can pay half the deposit now!” As she spoke, Lilith took out twenty-five silver coins from her pocket.

At the same time, Su You received Lilith’s application to join the territory.

【Wanderer ‘Lilith’ requests to join Sunset Territory. Accept?】

Su You accepted Lilith’s money and led her to the most secluded residence, House 15.

It had just been built, so there was no one else living nearby, making it very quiet and isolated."

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of the provided Chinese text:

---

**189. Coldwind Valley**

Ordinary people would never choose to live in a place like this—it was simply too desolate, and most humans are, after all, social creatures.

But Lilith was perfectly suited to this place, and she liked it here very much.

“These two rooms are both unoccupied. You can have the whole set to yourself. Once you’ve saved up enough money, this place will be entirely yours… both of yours.”

As she spoke, Su You glanced at Little Ash, who, from beginning to end, had eyes only for Lilith.

Su You asked, “Lilith, what kind of creature is your companion? It doesn’t quite look like an ordinary dog to me.”

At Su You’s question, a beautiful smile suddenly appeared on Lilith’s face. If Su You could have seen Lilith’s info panel at that moment, she would have noticed a significant jump in Lilith’s favorability rating.

Lilith replied, “No, you’re wrong. Little Ash isn’t a dog—he’s a wolf.”

Although Su You had already suspected as much from Little Ash’s howl, she still put on a look of sudden realization.

“I see! Sorry about that,” Su You said, a little embarrassed, as if she genuinely minded having mistaken a wolf pup for a dog.

Lilith shook her head, and her attitude toward Su You subtly shifted.

“It’s fine. Little Ash really doesn’t look much like a wolf. Lots of people get it wrong…” Lilith didn’t mind, nor did she find Su You’s mistake strange. In fact, out of the dozen or so people who had seen Little Ash, not a single one had recognized him as a wolf cub.

“Settle in for now. If you need anything, you can find someone up ahead named Doya. She’s a hunter and often brings back fresh meat.” Most people who keep wild beasts as pets will try to tame their ferocity, feeding them cooked meat to prevent them from ever turning on their owners.

But beast tamers are different. They have their own unique methods, and wild beasts are their most loyal partners.

What’s more, beast tamers usually raise animals for combat, so they need to preserve the beasts’ wild nature. That’s why they feed them raw meat, and sometimes even provide live prey to simulate hunting.

Pets are one thing; partners are another. The way beasts are treated makes all the difference in the outcome.

This was also why Lilith’s favorability toward Su You had risen—no beast tamer likes to hear their partner referred to as just a pet.

Lilith said, “Thank you.”

After Lilith thanked her, Su You took her leave.

Later, Su You returned to the recruitment point to continue enlisting people.

After recruiting two more, she saw Lilith leading her wolf cub out of the residential area. Lilith headed to the bounty board, apparently took on a task, and then left the territory.

Su You didn’t bother to check what mission Lilith had accepted, and simply continued her recruitment work.

…

…

The aura’s effect was quite good, but after all, it was only a level-one aura, so by afternoon its power had noticeably waned.

In the morning, three out of every five people who came would choose to stay. But by afternoon, even though twelve people inquired, only three ended up joining the territory—and all three were ordinary NPCs.

As dusk fell, Su You packed up the recruitment sign.

After two days of recruiting, the population of Su You’s territory had reached twenty-seven. Of these, ten had skills: Dory, Doya, Buguo, Vivian, Canglan, Lilith, Laier, Laike, Meike, and Yousen.

Although Youai could use water magic, her abilities and talent were limited, so she was still only an apprentice mage—not a true mage, and not qualified for the “Novice Mage” skill.

With so many people now, the territory’s development would only get faster and smoother.

Tonight would be the last for the [Renowned I] aura. Not wanting to waste its final moments, Su You took some money and Buguo to visit the merchant caravan again.

This time, besides the basic materials, Su You bought a lot of things that, while not exactly rare, weren’t cheap either.

For example: herbs.

Now that there was a clinic, there had to be medicinal herbs for treating the sick—otherwise, even the best healer can’t work without ingredients.

Vivian’s healing magic could only treat wounds and restore health. For headaches and fevers, you still had to rely on science.

“Wuguo, Sanhua Grass, Purpleleaf Orchid, Coldwind Grass, Calming Bamboo, Fourleaf Flower, Sparrowfruit…”

As Su You rattled off a long list of herbs, Bai Qiu—the one Tang Lu had appointed as “acting captain” and put in charge of the caravan—looked at her in shock.

Halfway through her list, Su You noticed his stare and met his gaze directly.

“Is there a problem, Captain Bai? Are you out of any of these herbs?”

Bai Qiu shook his head repeatedly, simply surprised that Su You knew so much about herbs.

“My apologies, I was just surprised at how knowledgeable you are, Lord Su.” He had seen a lot in his time, and to avoid being swindled during trade, he’d made it a point to learn the names, uses, origins, and values of every product… Yet even so, there were a few herbs Su You mentioned that he’d never heard of.

“All the herbs you mentioned are in stock—except for Coldwind Grass, Calming Bamboo, and…” Bai Qiu repeated six or seven names from Su You’s list, looking troubled. “Forgive my ignorance, but our caravan doesn’t have these, and we don’t even recognize them.”

Su You glanced at the list of missing herbs and suddenly remembered something.

“Captain Bai, have you ever heard of Coldwind Valley?” She’d just realized that all the herbs Bai Qiu didn’t have came from Coldwind Valley.

Coldwind Valley was famous for its herbs. Due to its unique terrain, and because the locals were bound by a rule to “guard Coldwind Valley for life,” they relied entirely on what they could produce and sell themselves.

But there were always things they couldn’t make on their own, so whenever a caravan passed through, they would trade large quantities of herbs—valuable to outsiders, but not rare to them—for goods they desperately needed.

These herbs might not be rare, but they were highly effective and had a wide range of uses.

(End of chapter)"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

190. Assistance with Transportation

Because it is only produced in Coldwind Valley, it is extremely rare on the market and is worth significantly more than ordinary herbs.

Logically speaking, since Tang Lu’s caravan has such a large stockpile of herbs, they must be in the herbal trade and shouldn’t have missed out on such a lucrative opportunity.

Unless… unless they don’t even know that a place like Coldwind Valley exists!

But Coldwind Valley isn’t exactly a secret location, and this is a major caravan… Su You was quite puzzled, but what Bai Qiu said next confirmed her suspicions.

Bai Qiu said, “I’m not familiar with this Coldwind Valley. I’ve truly never heard of it. If Lord Su doesn’t mind, could you explain it to me?”

Bai Qiu was a sharp one—otherwise, Tang Lu wouldn’t have appointed him as acting leader.

Their previous conversation had clearly been about herbs he didn’t recognize, but after Su You realized he didn’t know them, she suddenly brought up Coldwind Valley… It wasn’t hard to guess that these herbs must be closely connected to that place!

It wasn’t arrogance on Bai Qiu’s part; he simply had a clear understanding of his caravan’s capabilities.

In his view, if even their caravan didn’t know about something, then chances were, hardly anyone else in the world did either… The thought that he might have stumbled upon a source of herbs unknown to almost everyone else made Bai Qiu extremely excited.

After all, if they learned about this place, they could monopolize the trade!

He wasn’t worried that these herbs would be useless—if they were, Su You wouldn’t have gone out of her way to buy them.

However, even though Su You couldn’t understand why they didn’t know about this place, that didn’t mean she was going to just hand over such a valuable secret!

Bai Qiu could also tell that Su You wasn’t planning to reveal anything about Coldwind Valley directly, so the two of them began negotiating on this point.

During this time, Buguo took Su You’s list of herbs and a pile of gold coins and went off with another member of the caravan to discuss prices.

…

Su You said, “In that case, let’s do this: I’ll pay the caravan to run an errand for me. The items I need are all listed here.”

After some back-and-forth negotiation, both sides compromised. Instead of selling information about Coldwind Valley, Su You agreed to have them help her procure herbs.

Bai Qiu was unwilling to pay too high a price for information about the place. He was a cautious man—even though Su You’s demeanor didn’t seem fake and the chance she was lying was slim, he couldn’t take that risk.

He wasn’t the official leader like Tang Lu, just the acting leader.

His authority was limited, and he didn’t know about the spatial pouch or the formulas, nor did he realize there were even bigger interests at play between Su You and the caravan. So it was only natural for him to be suspicious.

Su You knew he doubted her, but she had neither the need nor the means to convince him that Coldwind Valley really existed, so she simply changed the terms of the deal.

She’d have them buy herbs from Coldwind Valley at market price for her—in other words, run errands in exchange for money and information.

Seeing that Su You had already compromised this much, Bai Qiu naturally relented as well.

Running errands wasn’t something the caravan had never done before; the only difference was that they usually got paid for it. This time, however, their “payment” was information about a location—which, in effect, meant they were running errands for free.

“Thank you for your understanding, Lord Su. May I ask how much in herbs you need? Do you have any requirements for timing or frequency?” Bai Qiu knew that getting such potentially monopolizable information in exchange for just running errands was a huge bargain, so he was willing to make further concessions in the negotiations.

Su You replied, “I’ll need two hundred gold coins’ worth of herbs this time, as listed here. If there’s any money left over, just use it to buy more herbs—any type or quantity is fine.”

She currently had five hundred gold coins on her, so spending two hundred wasn’t a big deal.

If she didn’t have so many other things to buy from the caravan, and if the increased population in her territory hadn’t caused such a drain on her bounty board funds, she would have spent another hundred gold on herbs.

As soon as Su You finished speaking, Bai Qiu agreed without hesitation.

After all, this was a major caravan with a cash flow in the thousands and goods worth tens of thousands. Adding Su You’s two hundred gold coins to their purchases was nothing.

Two hundred, or even double or triple that, wouldn’t have mattered.

Bai Qiu said, “No problem, Lord Su. I can agree to your request. As long as Coldwind Valley really exists and these herbs are real, our Tianhong Caravan will definitely fulfill your commission.”

Tianhong Caravan was the name of Tang Lu and Bai Qiu’s caravan.

Generally, only medium or large caravans bothered to name themselves. Small caravans—like Yun Li’s group from before—weren’t even considered caravans by people like Bai Qiu. In their eyes, there was no such thing as a “small caravan”; those people were just wandering merchants at best.

The caravan business is all about money, and one careless mistake can ruin you. If you can’t reach the scale of a medium caravan, you’re always on the brink of collapse, so naming your group is pointless.

Back to the matter at hand—although Su You was only giving up a location, the value that information could bring was enormous, so there was no way just one errand worth two hundred gold coins would be enough to make up for it.

Neither Bai Qiu nor Su You herself would believe that.

“Don’t agree so quickly, Captain Bai,” Su You said. “I’m not just talking about a one-time commission. I want to set up at least a year-long transportation assistance contract. During that year, the Tianhong Caravan must deliver whatever the Sunset Territory needs every half month.”

Although Su You was just an ordinary person in the real world—at most, a skilled gamer—she didn’t have any special negotiation skills or business sense. What she relied on was her deep understanding of this world.

A truly thorough understanding.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have thought to ask the caravan for ongoing transportation assistance. Most people wouldn’t have come up with such an alternative deal on the spot.

She was deeply grateful that, back when she was trying to clear the game, she had practically gone without sleep or food, poring over guides, memorizing data, and reading every bit of official lore—she hadn’t even studied that hard for her most important exams.

(End of chapter)"

"191. The Skill Hall and Job Change Hall

Thinking about this, I can’t help but sigh with relief—thank goodness this game didn’t come out in the same year as those exams. Otherwise…

I’m getting off track.

When Su You mentioned her need for a long-term purchasing arrangement, Bai Qiu frowned slightly.

But he also knew that Su You’s request was reasonable, so he didn’t refuse. He just made some adjustments to the details.

For example, the delivery schedule was changed from every fifteen days to every twenty days, since their caravan operated on a ten-day cycle. If they did it every fifteen days, they’d have to alter their route midway… and changing the route with that much cargo was a huge hassle.

After thinking it over, Su You agreed to this, but she wasn’t willing to compromise on the shipping value.

The shipping value referred to the total value of goods to be purchased and delivered each time. For example, this time the shipping value was two hundred gold coins.

There had to be a cap on this value. Otherwise, if Su You later asked them to transport thousands or even tens of thousands worth of goods in one go, would they really have to agree?

Even though Su You was paying for the goods and they were just running errands, the more they transported for her, the less space they had for their own merchandise.

Less cargo meant less profit. And since they were doing this delivery for Su You for free, it was basically like they were losing money just to run errands for her!

If everything Su You said was true, then losing a bit of money was fine—they could just consider it the price they paid for her information earlier. But they couldn’t afford to lose too much, or they might as well just pay for the information outright.

So, when it came to the shipping value, the two of them negotiated back and forth for quite a while before finally reaching an agreement.

“Alright, here’s the deal: this time doesn’t count. Starting from our next cycle, we’ll make a delivery for Lord Su every twenty days. The first delivery will have a value cap of five hundred gold coins, and for each subsequent delivery, the cap can increase by one hundred. There will be a total of twenty deliveries. For the last two, we’ll make an exception and allow the caps to be three thousand and five thousand gold coins respectively.”

Su You listened carefully and agreed happily.

While it was supposed to be a year, twenty deliveries actually covered more than a year. So even though the amount was a bit less than she’d hoped, it was still acceptable.

Besides, Bai Qiu had specifically added that the last two deliveries would have much higher caps—three thousand and five thousand gold coins each. Averaged out, it was about what she wanted.

“Alright, let’s sign the contract.” The contract here was basically a binding agreement. With this contract, neither side could back out.

Especially for the Tianhong Caravan—their reputation was their lifeblood. If they ruined it, the whole caravan would be finished. So there was no way they’d go back on their word.

Once the contract was signed, Su You took out paper and pen and drew a rough map.

“Things change over time, so the surroundings might be different. This map may not be completely accurate. To find Coldwind Valley, you’ll need to remember the following points…” Su You explained verbally while writing it down, then handed the paper, along with the herb list and two hundred gold coins, to Bai Qiu.

After reading it over, Bai Qiu carefully asked a few more questions and noted down Su You’s answers before putting everything away securely.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll go take a look at what else the caravan has to offer.” After exchanging a piece of location information for the services of a reputable caravan to run errands for her territory twenty times, Su You was in a great mood.

She took her remaining two hundred or so gold coins and browsed through the caravan’s goods again.

After all, this was a big caravan, with a huge variety and quantity of goods—there were all sorts of rare and unusual items. If she weren’t so short on money, Su You would have loved to buy that whole crate of books she’d seen.

At this point, her territory wasn’t lacking in basic supplies. The basic buildings were all in place, and food, clothing, and shelter weren’t a problem. If she wanted to upgrade her territory now, it would be a matter of upgrading each building and adding more advanced ones.

Like a library, a skill hall, a job change hall, and stables.

The library increased happiness, and when residents read books, they could also gain basic stat boosts depending on the type of book.

Su You actually had the materials to build a library, but the most important part of a library wasn’t the building itself—it was the books inside.

As long as you had books, anywhere could become a library. Unfortunately, Su You didn’t have enough books yet, so she wasn’t planning to build one for now.

However, she could go ahead and build the skill hall and job change hall.

The skill hall allowed her to copy skill books for residents to learn, so she wouldn’t have to worry about running out of skill books. The job change hall let residents with skills change jobs, and with the right items, even those without talent could switch to a corresponding profession. For example, the magic rune book that let NPCs become mages was used in this building.

Yue was about to save up enough contribution points to exchange for a magic rune book, so Su You started buying materials to build the skill hall and job change hall.

The materials for these two buildings were basically the same, so Su You bought double the amount.

[Skill Hall]: Composite Wood Plank x20, Composite Stone Slab x20, Marble Slab x10, Brick x100, Green Roof Tile x500, Stained Glass x100, Purple Sandalwood x50

[Job Change Hall]: Composite Wood Plank x20, Composite Stone Slab x20, Marble Slab x10, Brick x100, Red Roof Tile x500, Stained Glass x100, Red Sandalwood x50

Su You already had most of the materials. The only things she needed to buy were the two types of roof tiles (green and red), two types of wood (purple sandalwood and red sandalwood), and stained glass.

Technically, Su You could make roof tiles and glass herself, but for these special types—like “green” roof tiles or “stained” glass—she needed NPCs with the “crafting” skill to make them.

A regular workbench just couldn’t produce these items.

That’s why, in the early stages, you could only buy them, which made them pretty expensive.

Roof tiles came in sets of ten, with each set costing one silver coin. Five hundred tiles meant fifty sets, or fifty silver coins. For a thousand tiles, that was a whole gold coin gone.

Stained glass was even pricier, sold individually at fifty copper coins per piece—the same price as copper ore. Two hundred pieces meant another gold coin spent.

It didn’t seem like much, but when upgrading buildings later, you could easily go through hundreds or thousands of these tiles and glass pieces, plus other materials. Each upgrade could cost ten or even dozens of gold coins.

That’s why building up a territory was such a money sink… Those two hundred gold coins seemed like a lot, but after just a short while, Su You was down to her last sixty or so."

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your provided text:

---

192. The Balder, the Stronger

Su You returned fully loaded, handed Bu Guo ten gold coins, and before he could react, she took the pile of materials and headed straight into the warehouse.

Because her backpack couldn’t hold everything, Su You casually grabbed two residents, gave each of them ten copper coins, and had them use wooden carts to help transport the materials to the warehouse.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that she’d just spent hundreds of gold coins shopping—as soon as it came to copper coins, ten suddenly seemed like a small amount. But if you think about it, ten copper coins is enough for an ordinary person to eat two meals if they’re frugal.

Still, earning ten copper coins for just ten minutes of hauling materials was basically like getting money for nothing for these folks!

The onlookers couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful that they hadn’t been the ones standing next to Su You just now—if they had, they’d be the ones getting paid for this easy work!

...

Su You: “Thanks for your help.”

After sending off the two residents, Su You began gathering the materials needed to construct the Skill Hall and the Job Change Hall from the warehouse.

[Consume Composite Planks*20, Composite Stone Slabs*20, Marble Slabs*10, Bricks*100, Green Tiles*500, Stained Glass*100, Rosewood*50 to build the Skill Hall?]

[Construction in progress: Skill Hall. Estimated time: 24 hours.]

[Consume Composite Planks*20, Composite Stone Slabs*20, Marble Slabs*10, Bricks*100, Red Tiles*500, Stained Glass*100, Red Sandalwood*50 to build the Job Change Hall?]

[Construction in progress: Job Change Hall. Estimated time: 24 hours.]

...

Su You placed the Skill Hall and Job Change Hall next to Post Station 2, right in front of the Quest Hall, with the two buildings side by side.

Although the library wouldn’t be built for now, Su You still reserved a spot for it—right next to the Job Change Hall on the left.

With two more buildings checked off her blueprint, Su You marked them as completed, then took her herbs to the clinic.

When she arrived, the entrance looked deserted, so she assumed it was empty inside as well. But to her surprise, there were four people inside.

However, none of the four seemed to have any visible injuries... She couldn’t tell if their wounds were hidden under their clothes, or if they were just suffering from ordinary illnesses rather than trauma.

Vivian, who had looked troubled just moments before, brightened up a bit when she saw Su You.

“...What brings you here?” Vivian asked, lifting her skirt slightly as she walked over to Su You. The other people’s gazes followed her, all landing on Su You.

“Delivering herbs,” Su You said, showing Vivian the contents of the wooden cart.

Vivian glanced at the cart, and whatever she saw made her eyes light up with excitement. She reached in, grabbed a few herbs, returned to the counter, wrapped them in a piece of paper, and casually tossed the bundle to one of the people.

“Here’s the pain relief medicine you wanted. Take it home and boil it with a pot of water each time—this pack is good for three doses. Don’t waste the herbs,” Vivian said, while expertly moving the beads on her abacus to tally up the bill.

“Three huaguo, twelve copper; one inch of baiqi,” Vivian announced. She might have a sharp tongue, but when it came to her profession, she was always serious.

She enjoyed teasing people, sure, but she also knew where to draw the line—she would never mess around when it came to treating patients.

Su You was familiar with the game’s recipes—not just the ones for making pills, but also the everyday remedies for common ailments—so she knew that the herbs and quantities Vivian listed were all appropriate. This really was a legitimate pain relief formula.

But perhaps because Vivian’s manner was so casual, and because of her age... Well, maybe it’s unfair to judge by appearances, but the saying “the older, the wiser” or “the balder, the stronger” from the modern world seemed to apply here too.

In any case, the four people didn’t seem to trust Vivian’s medical skills, and soon started voicing their doubts.

“What kind of pain relief formula is this? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Are you really the doctor here? This is a matter of life and death—you can’t just joke around.”

Vivian wasn’t exactly known for her patience, and after everything that had happened earlier, she didn’t even bother to get angry. Instead, she smiled as she took back the bundle of herbs she’d just given them.

She was smiling, but Su You could tell that Vivian was actually furious.

Vivian: “Are you the doctor, or am I? Isn’t it normal that I know formulas you don’t? If you already knew everything, why come to the clinic at all?”

Vivian: “Earlier I asked if the patient was male or female, old or young—you didn’t say. I asked about the situation—you didn’t say. I asked where the injury was—still nothing. I said I needed to see the patient in person—you refused... This won’t do, that won’t do. You keep saying it’s a matter of life and death, but honestly, it doesn’t seem like you care much whether that person lives or dies. Since that’s the case, I won’t worry about it either. Off you go, don’t get in my way. If you don’t leave, don’t blame me for being rude!”

Su You could tell the atmosphere was tense, but at first she didn’t think there was any real problem. After Vivian took the herbs, Su You started sorting the rest into the medicine cabinets at the back of the clinic for easy access later.

But halfway through, she overheard the exchange.

There are always patients in the real world who refuse to cooperate with doctors, so Su You wasn’t surprised to encounter it here.

Still, it was rare for people to be this uncooperative—not saying anything about the situation, not even revealing the patient’s gender or age, and refusing to let the doctor see them.

“The clinic is a place for treating people, not for playing guessing games. No matter how skilled a doctor is, they’re still just a doctor, not a deity or a fortune-teller—they can’t magically divine what illness someone has... What kind of illness are you so afraid of others discovering, anyway? Could it be...?” Su You glanced at the group, noticing their shifty eyes, and grew a bit suspicious.

“I told you before, there’s only a young girl in this clinic—she doesn’t look like she knows what she’s doing, but you insisted on coming...”

“Enough, shut up!” A man who seemed to have some authority barked, then turned to Vivian with an apologetic look. “Miss... Doctor, please don’t take offense at what just happened. There was an accident at home, and the patient doesn’t want to see outsiders. But the pain has become unbearable, so we came to get some pain medicine.”

---"

"193. Black Crow

After the first person finished speaking, another chimed in to add, “It’s not that we don’t trust the doctor. It’s just that our family members usually take other medicines as well, so we’re worried about possible interactions. We just asked a few more questions to make sure nothing would go wrong… We’ll buy that packet of medicine. Ah Er, pay up.”

The man called “Ah Er” immediately counted out twenty-eight copper coins from his purse.

Vivian let out a soft snort. Though she was still annoyed, since the other party had explained themselves and for the sake of the innocent patient, she tossed the medicine packet over.

“Hurry up and leave. Don’t let me see you again.” Before she’d even finished speaking, the group had already hurried out.

As soon as they stepped out of the clinic, Vivian walked to the door and shut it behind them.

When she turned to look at Su You, she could clearly see that the usually smiling face was now clouded with gloom.

Vivian said, “There’s something off about those people. They smell of Black Crow.”

Black Crow—a mysterious herb known to cause unconsciousness, with effects similar to the “knockout drugs” often mentioned in stories.

Su You, being extremely knowledgeable about the game—practically a walking encyclopedia—naturally recognized what Black Crow was, though she wasn’t skilled enough to identify it just by scent.

“Were you deliberately stalling them?” Since Vivian had already detected the scent of Black Crow, her earlier behavior—which was somewhat out of character—now made sense.

If she hadn’t noticed something suspicious about those two, their fate would likely have been the same as those who had accidentally bumped into her in the trading district. But this time, Vivian hadn’t made a move.

“Mhm~” Vivian sat down in a chair, lazily propping her elbow on the table. “Didn’t you say you’d be bringing some herbs by this afternoon? So I waited a little longer.”

From the start, Vivian had known these people. Their story was that someone in their group was injured, and though they’d already applied medicine, the pain was so severe that they had no choice but to come to the clinic to ask if there was anything for pain relief.

But since Su You hadn’t arrived yet, even with all her skill, Vivian couldn’t conjure up herbs out of thin air to treat people. Plus, she’d smelled Black Crow and realized things might not be so simple, so she stalled for time.

Lilith said, “My lord, you arrived just in time. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to hold them off much longer~ If we’d missed something important, that would’ve been a shame.”

Vivian not only enjoyed teasing people, she also liked to watch the drama unfold.

But this situation was clearly not simple. She couldn’t handle it herself, nor could she just keep quiet, so she left it for Su You, who was best suited to deal with it. That way, she could still watch the excitement later.

Even though she knew Vivian was just in it for the entertainment, Su You still expressed her thanks.

After all, Vivian’s actions had helped uncover a potential threat to the territory… The strong scent of Black Crow on them was hard not to associate with certain unsavory possibilities.

“They’ll probably make a move by tomorrow at the latest.” After all, she’d just made it pretty obvious that she was suspicious of them.

She’d done that on purpose—deliberately letting them know she was onto them, so they’d be forced to act.

Otherwise, with such a hidden danger lurking in the territory, Su You couldn’t rest easy.

“I’m off. You be careful too.” If those people really weren’t up to any good, in their eyes, Vivian was just a defenseless doctor.

If they really needed a doctor, they might target Vivian.

However, up to now, Vivian had never used magic to heal anyone, so apart from Su You and Meike, no one else knew she was a mage.

Mages might not always be offensive powerhouses, but they certainly had plenty of ways to protect themselves—especially this mage, Vivian.

Even though Su You knew Vivian probably wouldn’t get into trouble, she still offered a word of concern.

“My lord, you’re probably worried about the wrong person. I’d be thrilled if they came looking for me~” Vivian said, winking playfully.

If it weren’t for her cheeky words, just looking at her, she’d seem like a sweet, well-behaved girl next door. But in reality, she was a little devil in angel’s clothing.

Su You didn’t doubt what Vivian said.

Teasing ordinary people might not be right, but if the target was a bad guy, as long as you didn’t go overboard, there was no reason to feel guilty.

Vivian said, “But thank you for your concern, my lord~”

Just as Su You reached the door, she heard this and couldn’t help but smile.

…

…

Knowing there was something wrong with those people, Su You immediately went to find Yuwei.

If they were still in the territory this late, it meant they were probably staying overnight, and Yuwei was the one in charge of registering overnight guests at the inn these days.

Four of them had come to buy medicine, which meant there were at least six or seven in total.

Even though the territory had been bustling lately, a group of six or seven still stood out, so after a brief description, Yuwei quickly found the record.

“My lord, I think these are the people you’re talking about.” Whether it was because the group wasn’t very professional or because Yuwei was just that sharp, she’d already noticed something off about them: “They booked four rooms in total, all doubles. When they checked in, they split into two groups. They acted like they didn’t know each other, but I noticed them interacting privately.”

They clearly knew each other, yet still checked in separately… Maybe they had their reasons—perhaps they’d arrived at different times and split into two groups.

But to pretend not to know each other and deliberately avoid contact, that was a big red flag.

Yuwei said, “Actually, I’d planned to report this to you, my lord, but with so many people registering, and you being busy this afternoon…” To put it nicely, Su You had things to do; in truth, Yuwei just couldn’t find her.

“I was going to go to the lord’s manor later, but I guess that’s not necessary now.”

With so many people coming and going these past couple of days, Yuwei couldn’t leave the inn, and Su You had spent the afternoon at another inn negotiating with a merchant caravan, so it was normal that Yuwei hadn’t been able to find her.

“They’re not even staying together?” Not only that, but one group was in the far left room on the first floor, and the other in the far right room on the second floor—the two most distant rooms in the entire inn.

If they really knew each other, even if they wanted to avoid suspicion, there was no need to stay so far apart."

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of the provided Chinese text:

---

**194. Nighttime Operations**

Yue: “When the second group arrived, they actually asked if the room next door was occupied, but as it happened, someone was already living there. There were still other rooms available on the same floor, but I thought they seemed a bit suspicious, so I didn’t let them choose their own room.”

At the inn, guests can usually pick their rooms, but that’s only when there aren’t many people. When it gets crowded, for the sake of better management, guests aren’t allowed to choose—unless they’re booking a single room.

At the time, Yue deliberately gave them the farthest room. When they asked why there were still vacant rooms on the second floor, Yue simply used the excuse that those rooms were “already reserved.”

It wasn’t an excuse that could be easily seen through. After all, there had been a lot of people in the territory lately, and Yue was the one in charge of room assignments. If he wanted to fill up the second floor, it would be easy—he’d just keep assigning people there.

Besides, it’s not like these people could go door to door to check if the rooms were really reserved. So, while they looked a bit dissatisfied, they couldn’t really vent their frustration at Yue, and didn’t seem especially suspicious.

“You did very well.” Su You was genuinely surprised—what amazed her was that Yue actually possessed such a high level of AI.

Such keen observation and problem-solving skills—if he were a real person, Su You wouldn’t find it strange, no matter what kind of person he was. After all, human thinking is entirely self-directed.

But this was just a string of AI-controlled data!

It wasn’t that Su You was prejudiced against NPCs—she usually treated them as if they were real people.

But perhaps because of her past gaming experiences, where she’d been tormented by those dull-witted, barely functional low-level NPCs, she’d developed a stereotype. So now, discovering that even an ordinary NPC could have thought processes almost indistinguishable from, or even equal to, a real person’s, she found it a bit hard to adjust.

Still, she quickly adapted, and since there were more pressing matters at hand, she didn’t dwell on it.

“Keep an eye on them. I’m going to find the others.” According to Yue, there were at least seven of them. Su You herself had no combat ability, so she couldn’t handle them alone—she needed to find Lyle and the others.

Although it was already night, it wasn’t too late yet—the sunset flowers had only just closed their petals. Lyle and the others were home, but hadn’t gone to bed.

Su You found them and explained the situation. After hearing everything, Lyle and his group immediately became highly alert.

Lyle: “Does my lord know how strong these seven are?” Lyle and the others were confident in their own abilities, but they weren’t arrogant.

The other side had more people. Unless they were all just for show, if any of them had real skills, it could be troublesome to deal with.

“I don’t know their strength, but you two won’t be acting alone—Yue will be with you.” Yue was only a half-trained mage, but a mage was still a mage—a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse.

Even if Yue wasn’t a mage and knew no magic at all, he’d once been a farmer, and years of hard labor had given him a sturdy physique. So he could still be considered a fighting force.

But three people still wasn’t quite enough.

Fortunately, Su You had her eye on two other residents whose stats were better than most. She wanted them to serve as gate guards.

If they were willing, this would be a good chance to test their abilities. With them, they’d have five people.

Five against seven—still outnumbered, but as long as the opponents weren’t especially formidable, Lyle and Lake could each handle two at once without much trouble.

Lyle: “They probably aren’t that strong. If they were, they wouldn’t need to sneak around like this.”

Splitting into two groups and pretending not to know each other—besides showing caution, it also suggested their abilities were limited and they weren’t fully confident in what they were doing.

Su You nodded in agreement.

“You’re right, but you still need to be careful—especially since they have Black Crow on them.” Black Crow was a powerful sedative. If they could get their hands on that, who knows what other tricks they might have. If they couldn’t win openly, they might resort to underhanded means, which could be a big problem.

“Don’t worry, my lord. We’ll be careful.” Not only would they be cautious, but to avoid alerting the enemy, they didn’t plan to act immediately.

The other side hadn’t made any moves yet. If they struck first, it could backfire, making it look like Sunset Territory was trying to rob or kill them.

...

Lyle and Lake went to the inn as if nothing was amiss, while Su You, after checking the territory map, found the two residents she’d mentioned as potential gate guards.

Whether or not these two were willing to join, as soon as they learned Su You’s identity, they became extremely nervous and respectful.

Even though it was a small territory, Su You was still the lord, and they were, after all, “living under someone else’s roof,” so they naturally felt a sense of respect and deference toward her.

Su You chose them partly because their strength stats were higher than average.

They weren’t as strong as Lake or Azure, who were born with the “Mighty” trait, but they were still stronger than most adult men.

Secondly, both had high loyalty scores.

They’d only joined the territory yesterday, and their loyalty was just over sixty at the time, but now one was at 75 and the other at 78—an increase of more than ten points in a single day.

Loyalty scores of 70, 80, and 90 mark three different thresholds. Once someone reaches 70, there’s basically no chance of betrayal, and they’ll even be willing to serve the territory as long as it doesn’t harm their own interests.

These two were right at that stage, so when Su You told them, “Someone is threatening the territory, and I need your help. Once this is over, I’ll arrange a good job for you,” they agreed immediately.

Now, the team was assembled, and Yue, Lyle, and the others were keeping a close watch on the suspicious group, just waiting to see if they made a move tonight...

...

Late at night, faint movements could be heard from several rooms on the second and third floors of the inn, at opposite ends of the building."

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your Chinese text:

---

195. Take off your shoes, quick!

But the commotion quickly died down, so fast it was as if everything had just been an illusion.

After a while, the doors to all four rooms opened almost simultaneously, and a number of people crept out, moving stealthily and quietly.

Two of them seemed to be carrying huge burlap sacks on their backs. Since the sacks were opaque, no one could tell what was inside... but anyone who saw them would feel that something was off.

It was nighttime, and the corridor of the inn wasn’t lit, so everything was shrouded in darkness.

Normally, this would make any action difficult, but perhaps because it was so late, there was no one else around to witness their movements—making it the perfect opportunity for them to act.

“Go!” someone whispered, and the corridor was filled with the barely audible sound of footsteps.

Although they tried their best to keep quiet, perhaps because of the floorboards, their footsteps were still a bit too loud.

They would take a step, then stop for a while, wasting time and tiring themselves out.

“Take off your shoes, quick!” Suddenly, someone whispered this suggestion. After a few seconds of silence, the sound of shoes being removed could be heard in the corridor.

Sure enough, after taking off their shoes, their footsteps became much quieter.

Not only could others not hear them, even they themselves couldn’t hear their own steps!

Just like that, they made their way from the second or third floor down to the main hall on the first floor of the inn.

Since no one was staying on the first floor, they grew bolder. At that moment, someone quietly asked, “Hey, who was the clever one who suggested taking off our shoes? That was a great idea! It really did make us silent—what a brilliant trick!”

As soon as he finished, everyone waited for the person who came up with the idea to speak up, but after several seconds, there was only silence.

Just then, a strong gust of wind blew open the windows of the inn and swept over the group, making everyone’s hair stand on end.

“Y-you guys… don’t go all quiet on me…” the person who spoke earlier now sounded shaky, and with that gust of wind, everyone felt a chill run down their spine.

They were already up to no good, sneaking around in the dead of night, worried about being discovered. Now, with this strange situation, even if they didn’t want to, their minds couldn’t help but wander to ghosts and spirits.

“All right, if you don’t want to talk, then shut up and move. Hurry, before we get caught.” The speaker was clearly the leader, and after his words, the group steadied themselves.

But just then, the first floor of the inn was suddenly flooded with light. The sudden brightness made them instinctively shut their eyes. It only lasted a few seconds, but in that moment, several figures rushed out from the shadows and tackled the group to the ground.

Some of them, slower to react and not very strong, were quickly knocked down, making a loud noise.

Three of them managed to react in time, but one was carrying a sack, so even though he realized what was happening, he couldn’t respond quickly enough.

The other two were clearly more skilled than the rest. They dodged the ambush and started fighting with Lyle and Lake.

With all the shouting and scuffling, the noise was impossible to ignore, and many of the guests upstairs were woken from their sleep.

Realizing the commotion was coming from downstairs, those who weren’t too timid or heavy sleepers—and who were at least a little curious—peeked over the upstairs railing to watch.

Some even came downstairs, but were quickly stopped at the staircase.

“What’s going on?”

“Why are they fighting in the middle of the night? How’s anyone supposed to get any sleep?”

“Tsk, this is obviously something serious. You still want to sleep? Aren’t you afraid you’ll die in your bed?”

“Hey, young man, what’s happening with those people?”

“Isn’t that the innkeeper? Why are you here? Tell us what’s going on!”

...

Someone recognized Yuwei and, seeing him helping to block the stairs, naturally guessed that some of the people fighting downstairs must be from the territory.

Otherwise, why would he be so calm, just standing there watching?

Even if he was worried about getting hurt and didn’t dare break up the fight, he should at least be trying to resolve the situation. Otherwise, with all this noise in the middle of the night, no one would be able to rest.

Yuwei didn’t join the fight because, in the eyes of all the outsiders, he was just the innkeeper. It wouldn’t be appropriate for him to get involved—it would only make the guests suspicious.

What he needed to do now was explain and reassure the guests.

Yuwei said, “Please don’t worry, everyone. These are just a few petty thieves. I noticed something suspicious, so I arranged for people to wait here in advance, just waiting for them to slip up… To avoid alarming anyone or tipping them off, I didn’t say anything to the guests.”

To back up his words, Yuwei pointed at the sacks on the ground. “These should be the stolen goods. If they weren’t, why would they try to sneak out of the territory with them in the middle of the night?”

“To make up for the disturbance tonight, yesterday’s room charges are all waived. Everyone can bring your room cards to the front desk on the first floor in the morning and get your refund from me!”

Yuwei’s explanation was logical, and with the promise of a free night, the guests naturally sided with him.

Besides, the group’s behavior was suspicious enough as it was—dressed all in black, and, strangest of all, barefoot… Not to mention carrying several large sacks. No normal person would act like that!

Traveler A: “Thieves? I need to go check if any of my things are missing!”

Once someone said this, everyone who had left their luggage in the inn that day panicked and hurried back to their rooms.

“I’d better go check too!”

“Those bastards—of all the things to do, why’d they have to go and steal?”

...

With that, most of the onlookers quickly dispersed, leaving only a handful behind.

Once they were gone, the fight downstairs was all but over.

(End of chapter)"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

196. Burlap Sacks

It was hard to say whether it was because Lyle was more skilled, or simply because the two opponents weren’t wearing shoes, but after a period of struggle, both of them were ultimately defeated by Lyle.

Once they were subdued, the two ordinary townsfolk who’d been called over to help immediately stepped forward with ropes and tied up the two most troublesome captives—tightly and securely.

Their hands were tied, their bodies were tied, their feet were tied, and at one point, the group even tied them to each other... By the end, they’d used at least six or seven ropes. There was no way these two were getting away.

With the situation resolved and the onlookers having dispersed, the rest of the crowd left as well.

As for what happened to those people?

No one cared.

They were all strangers to each other. The bystanders had enjoyed the spectacle, gotten a free night’s stay, and hadn’t lost any belongings. Why should they care about anything else?

After everyone else left, the group quickly cleaned up the scene.

First, they tidied up all the furniture that had been knocked over or broken. Then, they took the captives away and locked them up in an empty house nearby.

As for those burlap sacks...

At first, they’d wanted to check what was inside, to see if there was anything special—after all, whatever was in those sacks must be important if these people had gone to such lengths.

Since they were so nervous about it, the contents had to be unusual. But when they finally opened the sacks and saw what was inside, they realized just how unusual it really was.

The moment the sack was untied, they saw a head. The one opening the sack, Lake, was so startled that his hand jerked and, acting on instinct, he quickly pulled the sack back up, stuffing the head back inside.

Su You: ……

Lyle: …What the hell are you doing?

Fortunately, there were only three people present. Yue had to stay at the inn to handle any follow-up issues, and the two ordinary townsfolk had been assigned to help him for the time being.

If Lyle and Lake had been the only ones to see this, it wouldn’t have mattered—they were former adventurers, after all, and had seen all kinds of things. But the townsfolk were just regular people. If they’d seen a “human head” sticking out of a sack, they might have been scared to death!

Even so, seeing something like this in the middle of the night was enough to give the two of them quite a fright.

“Lord, um… this…” Lake turned around, utterly confused, and looked at Su You.

But before Su You could say anything, Lyle smacked Lake on the back of the head.

Lyle: “What are you thinking? Let them out! Why’d you shove them back in?”

Lake looked a little aggrieved, but he knew he’d just done something stupid. Ignoring the pain in his head, he hurried to untie the sacks and let the people out.

There were two sacks in total, and both contained people—two young, beautiful women.

At first glance, they seemed normal, but on closer inspection, there was something strange about them.

It was hard to put a finger on it, but the feeling was definitely there—especially with the one dressed more ornately. The sense of “otherness” compared to humans was very strong.

But no one was in the mood to care whether they were pretty or not, because both women were badly injured. The wounds looked like they’d been caused by sharp weapons, and one of them was clearly an arrow wound.

Thanks to Duoya, both Su You and the others were very familiar with arrow wounds, so they recognized it immediately.

“These… bastards!” Kidnapping was bad enough, but to see them so badly hurt—it wasn’t hard to guess these injuries had happened during the capture.

No wonder the kidnappers had needed painkillers. No wonder they hadn’t dared take the women to a healer…

Fortunately, apart from the physical injuries, it seemed the women hadn’t suffered any further harm.

“Go get Vivian,” Su You said. As soon as the words left her mouth, the door swung open and a girl in a dress walked in, light on her feet.

Vivian beamed and said, “Who’s looking for me~?”

She’d arrived at just the right moment—the sacks had just been removed, so she immediately saw the two women lying on the bed, along with their wounds.

Her smile froze, and for once, she didn’t keep up her usual cheerful expression. Instead, she looked distinctly displeased.

“Out, out, both of you, out!” Vivian strode over, her tone sharp as she shooed Lyle and Lake from the room.

The brothers knew saving lives was the priority, and that they weren’t needed here, so they didn’t mind Vivian’s attitude and quickly left.

“Go keep an eye on those people, and have Yue check their room,” Su You instructed them before they left. Then she turned to watch Vivian treat the two women, feeding them healing potions as well.

About a minute later, a flash of white light appeared.

As the healing magic’s incantation ended, both Su You and Vivian could clearly see that the women’s wounds hadn’t changed at all.

“Impossible…” Vivian was stunned—she’d never imagined her magic would fail.

Su You was surprised too. She carefully examined the two women, and after a moment—perhaps noticing something—she quietly stood up and slipped out of the room, careful not to disturb Vivian.

Vivian, frustrated by her failed magic, was still trying to heal the women and didn’t notice Su You leave.

After the second attempt, the wounds seemed to heal a little, but only just—a casual glance wouldn’t notice any difference at all.

Vivian bit her lip in frustration, then pulled out her wand.

Normally, every mage had their own wand, but most of the time they didn’t use it, since a wand’s main purpose was to amplify magic.

Usually, there was no need to use it, as it would just waste mana. But this situation was clearly different, so Vivian took out her wand.

Healing mages were rare, and so were their wands—expensive and hard to come by. But the quality was excellent, and the amplification effect was remarkable.

After all, even if you made a pile of junk out of good materials, it was still extraordinary “junk.”

“…” Vivian muttered under her breath, raising her wand as she began to chant.

(End of chapter)"

"**197. All-Healing Spell**

Visible to the naked eye, a swirl of white light laced with golden radiance enveloped the wounds of the two women.

If someone knowledgeable in magic were present, they would immediately notice that what Vivian was casting was not an ordinary healing spell, but a magic known as the “All-Healing Spell.”

Although this spell was classified as intermediate magic, in reality, most intermediate mages were incapable of casting it. Only a handful of mages who had reached the bottleneck of the intermediate level could manage to do so.

In other words, this was an intermediate spell that was almost on par with advanced magic.

Yet Vivian was able to use it—though it was obvious that doing so came at a steep cost.

Her usual cheerful smile had completely vanished, replaced by a serious expression. Her face was pale, and her hand gripping the magic staff trembled slightly, as if she were enduring something painful.

As a burst of golden light exploded like fireworks, Vivian slumped into a chair, breathing heavily, her eyes filled with both joy and exhaustion.

“…You used a spell above your level?” It was around this time that Su You walked in, carrying two bowls filled with some unknown liquid.

She saw Vivian’s disheveled state, as well as the two people whose wounds had nearly healed completely.

“These were meant for them, but you should drink one now,” Su You said, placing the bowls on the table nearby.

Vivian was utterly spent; the feeling of having her magic completely drained was far from pleasant. The once lively healing mage now sat in the chair like half a cripple.

Still, despite her exhaustion, perhaps because she had successfully cast the All-Healing Spell, Vivian was in rather good spirits.

While casting spells above one’s level could be harmful to the body, that was only if the spell failed. Clearly, she had succeeded.

On the flip side, every successful attempt at casting a higher-level spell would strengthen a mage’s abilities.

The more talented a mage, the more likely they were to succeed in casting spells above their level. This was a key reason why some people’s power advanced faster than others with similar talent.

“What is this stuff?” Vivian eyed the dark brown liquid on the table with suspicion, clearly reluctant to drink it. It looked rather odd, after all.

Su You was busy checking the patients’ conditions and hadn’t noticed Vivian’s expression. She replied offhandedly, “Deer antler soup.”

“Deer antler soup? That’s good stuff.” Vivian hadn’t expected there to be deer antler in the territory, let alone that Su You would be willing to use it on strangers.

But now that the two patients had mostly recovered thanks to the All-Healing Spell, it was Vivian herself who was in worse shape. If an outsider walked in, they might wonder who the real patient was.

“If you know it’s good for you, drink up. It’ll lose its effect if it gets cold.” Su You was just making things up—there were no such strict rules in this data-driven world.

As long as it wasn’t expired, it would still be effective.

Vivian grinned, “Then thank you for the ‘reward,’ my lord~”

Whether she believed Su You or not, Vivian joked as she waited for her strength to return. Then, without further ceremony, she picked up a bowl and gulped it down.

Deer antler soup was an excellent remedy for serious injuries, but it also had another use: restoring magical energy.

Just like in the games she used to play—when you’re out of HP, you drink a healing potion; when you’re out of MP, you drink a mana potion. A mage’s magical energy was essentially their “mana,” and Vivian had run dry. Deer antler soup was the perfect mana potion.

Of course, using such a valuable life-saving remedy as a mana potion was a bit of a waste.

But since the patients were already healed and the soup had already been made, not drinking it would be wasteful. Besides, Su You figured that if she hadn’t misidentified the ingredient, using the deer antler this way wasn’t a loss.

Vivian said, “Although their wounds have mostly healed, it’ll still be a while before they wake up.”

While healing them, Vivian had also checked their physical condition with her magic. For some reason, she felt that the two were extremely weak—not outwardly, but as if some internal energy had been depleted.

With her magic mostly restored, Vivian picked up the other bowl of deer antler soup. “Now that we have this, they should wake up sooner. Since I had a bowl, the rest can be split between them.”

So she fed half a bowl each to the two lying in bed.

They were badly injured but not on the verge of death. With both the All-Healing Spell and deer antler soup, it would be hard for them not to recover.

After all this, Vivian was thoroughly exhausted.

Even though her magic was mostly restored, the fatigue in her body and mind couldn’t be replenished by magic alone. She yawned, waved to Su You, and left the room.

…

…

Morning. In a house somewhere in Sunset Territory, one of the two women sleeping in bed stirred slightly.

No one knew how much time had passed before a pair of light green eyes opened.

Upon waking, she immediately checked her own condition and her surroundings. When she saw the other person lying on a bed just a few meters away, she breathed a sigh of relief. But when she realized the other was still unconscious, her heart tightened again.

“Your Highness… Your Highness…” The woman got out of bed and went to the other’s side, calling softly.

About ten minutes passed, but the person on the bed showed no sign of waking. The woman was worried, but since “Her Highness” was breathing steadily and her wounds had completely healed—just sleeping, it seemed—she didn’t insist on waking her.

Rather than waking her Highness, the most important thing now was to figure out where they were, what had happened, and what their current situation was.

If she remembered correctly, she and her Highness had been attacked by humans.

She had been badly injured protecting her Highness, and though her Highness was shielded, she too was wounded by the attackers… When they could no longer hold out, the enemy captured them.

To prevent their escape, the captors had no intention of healing them. They merely treated their wounds enough to keep them alive.

(End of chapter)"

"Certainly! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your provided text:

---

**198. The Golden Bells**

Ever since then, it was as if they had been fed something special—every day they felt groggy and muddle-headed, which meant the two of them were now completely unaware of what was happening in the outside world.

But now, she was wide awake, her wounds had completely healed, and she wasn’t restrained in any way... Could it be that their people had come to rescue them?

No, that couldn’t be right. This place didn’t feel like home; it was more like a human dwelling. They were probably still on human territory. If their people really had come, then they should be...

*Knock, knock—*

Just as she was lost in thought, a sudden knock at the door startled her, making her tense nerves jump.

She hesitated, unsure whether to open the door or get back in bed and pretend to be unconscious, when suddenly, the door opened.

“Are the people inside still out cold? Just go in, there’s no need to knock,” a woman’s voice came from outside as the knocking stopped.

The door swung open, and before she could decide what to do, the woman sitting by the bed found herself face-to-face with the two people at the door. For a moment, all six eyes met in silence.

Dolly: “...”

Buguo: “...”

The woman: “...”

Weren’t they supposed to be unconscious?

Buguo said nothing, and then followed Dolly into the room.

“Well, it’s good you’re awake. I’m here on the lord’s orders to check on you and bring you some food,” Dolly said, placing the items on the table.

Although the woman didn’t know exactly what had happened, when she heard the words “on the lord’s orders,” and thought back to her earlier suspicion that she and Her Highness had been rescued, it wasn’t hard to guess that the person who saved them must be the lord of this territory.

A territory’s lord—so long as they weren’t in league with the people who had kidnapped them—should be trustworthy, at least for now.

“Thank you,” the woman said, standing up to express her gratitude, careful not to reveal any of her complicated thoughts.

Dolly could see her wariness, so before the woman could ask anything, she took the initiative to explain everything that had happened yesterday.

Dolly said, “...I’m not telling you this to make you feel grateful. I just want you to know that you’re safe now.”

The woman looked at her in surprise, not expecting her to say such a thing.

But she had to admit, Dolly’s openness did put her more at ease. If Her Highness weren’t still unconscious, she wouldn’t have needed to be so cautious.

“Thank you, miss. Once my lady wakes up, I’ll bring her to thank your lord in person.”

Dolly nodded, then exchanged names and some information with her.

The woman’s name was Anning, and the one still lying in bed was “Ruiya.” The two were mistress and servant. A few days ago, they had gone out for a trip, but ran into some criminals. Unable to resist, they were captured.

As for why those people had kidnapped them, Anning said it was for ransom—after all, her lady came from a wealthy merchant family.

Dolly expressed her understanding, though she knew Anning’s words were probably only half true. She might be hiding something, or making things up, but one thing was certain: the two of them were victims.

After chatting a bit longer, Dolly said she had to leave.

“Sorry, I have some things to take care of and can’t stay with you,” Dolly said with an apologetic smile, then brought Buguo over to Anning. “This is Buguo. She’ll keep you company. If you need anything or have any questions, just ask her. If you want to go out for a walk, she can show you around.”

There were quite a few people in the territory whom Su You could trust, but most of them were busy.

Take Dolly, for example—she could only stay for a short while before she had to get back to the sewing shop. The others were much the same.

The only one who was relatively free, who didn’t have a fixed job and didn’t have to worry about food or shelter, was Buguo.

And since Buguo was just a child, people tended to be less guarded around her than they would be with an adult.

After Dolly left, Buguo sat in the room and chatted with Anning.

“We were both injured, but when I woke up this morning, I found my wounds had disappeared. Buguo, do you know who healed us? I’d like to thank her.”

Partly, she wanted to express her gratitude, but Anning also knew that, given their special identities, ordinary means couldn’t have healed them. That was why she’d been so surprised to find her wounds gone.

Buguo hadn’t thought much about it. She tilted her head, thought for a moment, then pointed in a direction. “It was probably Sister Vivian who healed you. She’s amazing—a healing mage!”

Although both Vivian and Buguo were considered “youths,” that term covered a range of ages. Twelve was a youth, but so was eighteen, and Vivian was clearly the latter—much older than Buguo.

In other words, Buguo was the youngest in the territory, so she called everyone “big brother” or “big sister”—except for Meike, who was old enough that Buguo had to call him “uncle.”

Although Buguo’s past made her naturally wary of strangers, it didn’t stop her from admiring mages, so she called Vivian “sister” quite naturally.

“I see,” Anning said, a look of understanding in her eyes. No wonder—so it was a mage.

“Anning, would you like to meet Sister Vivian? I can take you to her—she should be at the clinic right now.” Since Anning wanted to thank her, Buguo told her where Vivian was and offered to show her the way.

But Anning wasn’t planning to go out just yet—after all, Ruiya was still unconscious, and she wanted to stay by her side.

Just as she was about to shake her head and decline, a familiar voice sounded from behind her—

“Then I’ll trouble the young lady to lead the way. After all, she saved us—we ought to thank her.”

...

...

“My lord, these are all the things we found on them. Besides that, they must have left in a hurry, because they left quite a few belongings behind in the room. I’ve sorted them all and put them here,” Yue reported as she laid out the most suspicious items separately.

Su You glanced over and saw a pair of golden bells, each about the size of a ping-pong ball.

Of course, if Yue had singled them out and handed them to her, they couldn’t possibly be ordinary bells.

But no matter how Su You examined them, she couldn’t see anything unusual. Even after using her identification skill multiple times, she couldn’t figure out what was special about the bells.

(End of chapter)"

"Certainly! Here is a fluent, natural English translation of the provided Chinese text:

---

199. Not Human

There were only two possible reasons why she couldn’t see the information about the item. One was that it had already recognized an owner, so she couldn’t inspect someone else’s belongings. The other was that the bell’s quality was extremely high—so high, in fact, that her current abilities weren’t sufficient to appraise it.

Although the lord herself couldn’t level up, the territory she was bound to could. In essence, the territory’s level was the same as the lord’s level, and as the territory leveled up, her own attributes would also change.

For example, while her HP wouldn’t increase, her base defense (when unequipped) would. Her stamina cap wouldn’t rise, but the stamina cost for each action would decrease, and her stamina recovery rate would improve. She’d also be able to see more detailed information about items, and inspect higher-level items as well…

“Let’s talk about the other stuff first,” Su You said, testing whether she could store the bell in her inventory. When she found that she could, she already had her answer.

Items that have recognized an owner can’t be put into a player’s inventory. Otherwise, it would be too unfair—if someone’s precious item had already bonded to them, but a player could just take it away because they had an inventory, it would seriously disrupt game balance.

But since she could store it, it meant it was simply a high-quality item, nothing more.

Yue said, “There’s not much else. Most of what we found on them was money and proof of identity. They didn’t leave much at the inn. If there’s anything odd, it’s that they had women’s clothing with them.”

Yue had been watching over the inn at night and hadn’t gone to the residents’ houses, so he didn’t know there were actually two people in the sacks, let alone that they were both women. So it was natural for him to find it strange that this group of burly men had women’s clothes.

But Su You didn’t intend to explain this to him. She just nodded and checked the clothing Yue mentioned.

“Just as I thought…” As she looked through the clothes, Su You found something that basically confirmed her suspicions about the two women’s identities.

As she had guessed—they weren’t human.

In fact, last night, when she rescued them, Su You had already tried using her information-checking skill on them, but got nothing.

As mentioned before, she could only view all of someone’s information without their awareness when she constructed a certain building—but even then, the information didn’t include their names.

That building was the library.

Before building the library, the only living beings Su You could inspect were humans, monsters, and animals.

The fact that she couldn’t even see their names could only mean they weren’t human—and the elven insignia she found on the clothing confirmed this.

They were elves… or, more precisely, members of the elven race.

Of course, there was another possibility: if they were human but using powerful magic to conceal themselves, like a mage or sorcerer masking their identity, she wouldn’t be able to see through that either.

But such spells were extremely advanced. If both of them were capable of casting such magic, there’s no way they would have been captured by a bunch of ordinary people.

“You go ahead. I’ll check if there’s anything else here.” She needed to gather up all the elven-related items—destroy what needed to be destroyed, return what needed to be returned.

After all, this could potentially affect the relationship between her territory and the elves. She had to be extremely careful.

“Yes.” Yue nodded and prepared to return to the inn to continue his work.

Before he left, Su You tossed him a book. “Oh, here, take this.”

Yue was startled, but instinctively caught what she threw. Looking down, he saw it was a book with strange patterns on the cover.

But even stranger than the patterns was the fact that he couldn’t open the book!

“What is this…?”

“The job change hall will be finished this afternoon. When it’s ready, you can take this and become a mage.”

With that, the book’s identity was clear—it was the magic rune book Yue had been longing for.

Su You had actually wanted to give him the magic rune book for a while. After all, the territory needed combat power, and even a not-so-talented water mage was still a mage.

Especially after seeing so much trouble arise in just three days since the territory opened, Su You was even more eager to boost their fighting strength.

Yue had also managed the inn very well these past few days, and yesterday he’d shown sharp judgment and taken the right actions, which was a huge contribution.

If they’d really let those people take the elves away, and left behind a bunch of items marked with elven insignia, once the elves discovered their people had been kidnapped and traced it back to Sunset Territory, it would be hard to explain.

Even if they managed to clear things up in the end, their reputation would definitely take a hit—the only question would be how much.

But if they couldn’t explain it at all… their relationship with the elves would be completely ruined.

After shooing the excited, tongue-tied Yue out, Su You began sorting through the “spoils” here.

She pocketed the money without hesitation, packed up the items with elven markings to return to the two elves, and kept the villains’ identity documents to hand over to the elves later…

Once everything was sorted, Su You found a letter.

The letter had already been opened, so Su You didn’t hesitate to read it.

After reading its contents, Su You finally understood how these people knew where the elves were, how to identify them, and how they managed to capture them.

If elves were entering the human world, they would certainly disguise themselves.

According to the letter, these people owed money. One day, they suddenly received this letter, which promised them a large sum of money if they helped kidnap two people and deliver them to a certain location.

The letter didn’t specify that the targets were elves. It just said they’d be given an item, and when that item vibrated, it meant the people they needed to capture were nearby.

Elves might not like fighting, but it’s not that they can’t fight. The letter’s sender knew that a ragtag group like this couldn’t defeat elves, so they provided them with something—the bell Yue had just given to Su You.

This bell could prevent elves from using their abilities—just like a mage unable to use magic.

Without their powers, elves were no different from ordinary people, easy prey.

To convince the group they’d really be paid, the sender had even included money with the letter.

---

(Author’s Note:)

I’ve noticed some readers are confused about the “hunger value” and think “satiety” would be a better term. I think that’s reasonable.

However, the term “hunger value” comes from the game Minecraft. In MC, “satiety” is actually a separate hidden stat with a different meaning.

Minecraft was the first sandbox survival game I ever played, and it’s very special to me, so I don’t plan to change the terminology. I hope this won’t affect your reading experience.

Even so, I really appreciate everyone’s support and suggestions. If you have more reasonable feedback in the future, feel free to share it."

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your provided Chinese text:

---

200. Framing

The letter had already been opened, and the money inside had naturally been taken. However, Su You did manage to scrounge up a dozen or so gold coins, which must have been part of the original sum.

A dozen gold coins!

Not silver coins, and certainly not copper!

The person who wrote this letter was quite generous. But then again, considering their target was an elf, Su You could understand why they were willing to pay so much.

Wherever there is light, there is also darkness. There have long been rumors that elves possess the power of immortality: that using elf blood in medicine can preserve youth, and that consuming an elf’s core can grant eternal life!

If Su You remembered correctly, in a storyline released by the game company, she’d seen a noble elf whose core was dug out by humans. Although the elf was later rescued, losing the core was like a human losing their soul—ultimately, the elf didn’t survive.

…Could things really be that coincidental?

Su You rubbed the letter, feeling more and more that this was no simple matter.

But what troubled her wasn’t just the kidnapping of the elves, but the entire data-driven world itself...

“Lord! There’s a resident named Lilith who wants to see you.” Lyle’s voice came from outside the door. Su You snapped out of her thoughts, quickly stuffed all the sorted items into her backpack, and got ready to go.

“Where is she?” Su You had a deep impression of Lilith—after all, she was an NPC with skills, and not just any skills, but the rare beast-taming ability.

By rights, with Lilith’s ‘introverted’ personality, she shouldn’t have sought Su You out on her own, especially not going through others to find her when she couldn’t locate her directly.

Something was clearly off—unless Lilith had something extremely important to say.

“She said she’s waiting for you at her house.”

“I’ll be right there.” The territory had been in turmoil these past few days. Su You was run off her feet with construction, recruiting residents, assigning jobs… She’d barely gotten a break after the last crisis, and now there was this elf situation.

Su You sighed, and before leaving, asked Lyle to sit by the bulletin board and help with recruitment.

She had a feeling she wouldn’t get a moment’s rest today…

…

…

Perhaps her intuition was right. After knocking on Lilith’s door, Su You was led—actually, it was more like she was led by Lilith’s little gray wolf—to a corner of the territory.

Lilith said, “Lord, Little Gray has been restless since yesterday afternoon. This morning, it dragged me straight here… Normally, it’s very well-behaved and never runs off.”

Watching the little gray wolf anxiously pacing in the corner, Su You seemed to guess what was going on. She took a shovel out of her backpack.

“Have it stand back a bit.”

Lilith softly called Little Gray’s name, and when it seemed reluctant, she simply walked over and picked up the wolf pup.

Su You started digging. In less than two minutes, she uncovered a box, surrounded by some kind of white, unidentified powder.

She’d wanted to examine the powder, but since it was mixed with dirt and sand, it wasn’t pure enough to identify. All she could conclude was that it was some “unknown impurity.”

Since she couldn’t tell what it was, Su You just collected some and turned her attention to the box.

The box wasn’t large—about the size of a basketball. Inside were several bloodstained weapons: swords, knives, and arrows.

Seeing Su You open the box, Lilith asked softly, “Is there something inside?”

Not wanting to scare her, Su You didn’t answer directly. She just closed the box and prepared to take it with her.

“You heard about the incident at the post station yesterday, right?” Quite a few people had seen what happened, so the story of “thieves breaking into the post station at night, but quickly being caught by the territory” had spread everywhere.

Thanks to tight security, people only knew the official story—that there were thieves—but not what exactly had been stolen.

“I heard,” Lilith nodded.

Realizing the box might be connected to the thieves made her a bit nervous.

Su You hadn’t meant to frighten her, so she reassured her, “They’ve already been caught. This is just some stuff they hid away.”

As she spoke, she crouched down and handed five silver coins to Little Gray.

The little wolf glanced at her, then took the coins in its mouth, rubbing against Lilith’s leg with a pleased look in its eyes.

Lilith was stunned, and instinctively tried to return the coins, but Su You’s next words made her hesitate.

“This is a reward for Little Gray. You have no right to give it back unless Little Gray doesn’t want it.” After all, the wolf had helped find the box—a reward was only fair.

Anyone who saw the contents of the box could guess these were the weapons that injured the two elves. There was no way the weapons had buried themselves, so it was obvious the culprits had hidden them here on purpose.

First, they left items with elven markings in the room, then buried the weapons on the territory. This kind of “framing” wasn’t particularly sophisticated, but as long as it could mislead the elves coming to the rescue, it would be considered a success.

If they could really mislead the elves and pin the blame on Sunset Territory, so much the better!

But Lilith knew nothing of this.

She only knew that her Little Gray had found a box, and somehow earned five silver coins for it.

“Keep it. You’ll need money to buy a house someday. If you feel bad, just buy some extra meat to reward your partner.” With that, Su You took the box and left.

Lilith hesitated, but realized Su You had a point, so she accepted the money.

Rather than fret over this, she might as well take Little Gray to buy some food.

While Lilith was taking Little Gray to buy raw meat from Doya, Su You, loaded down with odds and ends, headed to the house where the two elves were being kept.

But when she opened the door, they weren’t there. Even Bu Guo, whom she’d assigned to watch over them, was gone.

Su You raised an eyebrow, set her things down, and decided to wait for their return.

She didn’t have to wait long—less than ten minutes later, she heard footsteps outside.

Not expecting anyone inside, An Ning pushed the door open and entered. Seeing Su You, she froze, then instinctively glanced at Bu Guo, silently asking who this person was.

But Bu Guo didn’t notice her look, nor did she introduce Su You. Still, her words and actions had already revealed Su You’s identity.

---"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

201. Territory Income

Buguo trotted over to Su You and said, “My Lord, what brings you here? I just took them to the clinic to thank Sister Vivian.”

Buguo knew that her task, aside from looking after these two, also carried a hint of “surveillance.”

After all, these were two people with obvious backgrounds and stories. There was no way they’d be allowed to wander freely around the territory, let alone leave whenever they pleased.

Especially after learning their true identities, Su You was even less likely to let them go. If they left the territory and the elves showed up right after, with all that talk of “dangerous artifacts” and “relics,” there’d be no way to explain it, no matter how hard she tried.

“So this is the Lord of the territory,” Riya said with a smile, leading Anin inside from the doorway.

“I’m Riya, and this is Anin. The two of us must thank you for your help, Lord Su.” Riya’s gratitude was sincere. No matter what ulterior motives Su You might have, at least for now she had none, and it was indeed Su You who had arranged for them to be rescued.

Since they’d already gone out of their way to thank Vivian, it wouldn’t make sense not to thank Su You as well.

“Buguo, you can step out for now.” Although Su You trusted Buguo, the elves’ identities were still a potential problem until things were resolved. The fewer people who knew, the better.

Buguo didn’t think much of it. She whispered a couple of words to Su You, then left the room.

“Please, have a seat. There’s no need for more thanks. If you really want to show your gratitude, then please stay in the territory for a while longer.” To avoid any misunderstanding, Su You stated her reason for keeping them directly.

By doing so, she inevitably revealed that she already knew their identities.

“Since someone is targeting you, it wouldn’t be safe for you to leave now. Better to wait for your people to come pick you up.” The moment Su You made it clear she knew who they were, Anin grew visibly nervous, worried that Su You might want to capture them just like those other people.

By contrast, Riya remained much calmer. She believed Su You wouldn’t harm them.

Riya said, “Lord Su, your reasoning makes sense. We’ll have to trouble you for a few more days, then.”

As the lord of a territory, even if Su You knew they were elves, she had already captured them and held all the evidence. If she wanted to harm them and blame it on those other people, it would be all too easy—there was no need to sit here and waste words.

Besides, Su You had a point: since the letter-writer knew they were leaving and even had items that could suppress elves, it really might not be safe for Riya and Anin to leave the territory.

It was better to stay here, at least in a place with a healer mage.

“It’s no trouble at all—just two more mouths to feed,” Su You replied politely, then remembered the bell in her inventory.

“The item mentioned in the letter, the one used against you, is with me now. Would you like to see it?” Since she didn’t know exactly what it was, how it worked, or if it still posed a danger to elves, Su You had taken out everything except that item, afraid of accidentally hurting them.

At the mention of the bell, Anin’s face turned pale, clearly recalling the ordeal she’d suffered because of it… Riya was no different—if not for the bell, those people would never have been able to overpower them.

But Su You’s words actually reassured Riya, confirming once again that Su You meant them no harm.

If that weren’t the case, Su You could have simply kept quiet and used the bell as leverage against them.

Riya said, “Let’s take a look. I’m curious what kind of item could have put us in such a sorry state.”

Since Riya said so, Su You didn’t refuse. She took the bell from her backpack.

The moment the bell appeared, that familiar sense of weakness washed over them. Anin and Riya both turned pale. Seeing this, Su You quickly put the bell away.

“Best not to look at it.” After all the trouble she’d gone through to save them, Su You couldn’t risk something happening to them now.

To put it bluntly, even if something were to happen to Riya and Anin, it couldn’t happen here in Sunset Territory.

Riya understood Su You’s good intentions. Even though she wanted to tough it out and study the bell, in the end, she said nothing.

“You two should have a way to contact your people, right?” Su You knew that every special race had its own unique method of communication.

Since she was now sure Su You was friendly, Riya didn’t hide anything.

Riya said, “Yes, I already notified them this morning. And even though we were unconscious before, we left traces along the way.”

As for exactly when she notified them, or what those traces were, Riya didn’t say, and Su You didn’t ask. She just hoped the elves would come soon to take them away.

Given their special status, even with magic disguising them as ordinary people, Riya and Anin chose to stay in their room.

Their residence was in the most secluded part of the territory, with only the quiet, introverted Lilith next door and no one else around.

After her conversation with Riya, Su You checked on the condition of the captured villains. Seeing they were still unconscious but alive, she left.

As for interrogations, to prevent anyone from tampering with things, it was better to leave that to the elves. She wouldn’t get involved.

…

Today was the first day since the aura disappeared, but there were still quite a few people in the territory—those who had arrived in the past few days and hadn’t yet left.

However, with the aura gone, it was obvious that the flow of people had dropped significantly.

Before, there would be at least twenty or thirty visitors each day. On the twelfth day, there were even close to fifty!

Although some people left soon after arriving, they still contributed a fair amount to the territory’s GDP.

Even though Su You had been busy these past few days, she always set aside time to check the various statistics of the territory, especially those related to the economy.

Currently, the top earner in the territory was the tailor shop, followed by the tavern, the inn, the blacksmith, and the clinic…

The tailor shop was number one because its goods were priced in silver coins, while the tavern mainly sold basic food, so its prices were in copper coins.

But in terms of sales volume, the tavern was definitely number one, followed by the inn, and then the tailor shop.

(End of chapter)"

"202. Changing Class to Mage

Thanks to Dolly’s hard work, the tailor shop brought in a total of 8 gold, 12 silver, and 60 copper coins over three days—averaging nearly 270 silver coins per day.

Of that, nearly 90% of the income came from selling beast hide equipment, while the remaining 10% was from clothing and daily necessities.

The tavern, which ranked second in income, made 4 gold, 24 silver, and 15 copper coins over the same three days—only half of what the tailor shop earned!

But this was to be expected. After all, even the cheapest piece of beast hide equipment cost enough to feed a dozen or more people for a day.

With such a price difference between goods, if not for the high sales volume and the fact that people were willing to support Meck, the fire mage, it would be hard to make even half that amount, let alone four gold coins.

As for the third-place earner, the two inns combined made a total of just 42 silver and 10 copper coins over three days.

This amount, not even a single gold coin, might seem unbelievable, but it actually makes sense.

After all, the number of rooms at the inn is limited, and so is the number of guests it can accommodate. This means there’s a cap on how much money can be made each day.

To increase the inn’s revenue, the main thing is to improve service quality and earn extra tips in other ways.

But with the current conditions in the territory, all Su You could do was have Yue post a notice to recruit a few runners to help carry luggage and heat water.

The main issue is the lack of talent with management skills in the territory. If there were someone like that running the shops, they could definitely boost profits and adjust business strategies as needed.

Yue, after all, isn’t that kind of talent, so there’s only so much he can do.

Aside from these three shops, the combined income of the blacksmith, clinic, and workshop was just a few silver coins.

Originally, the blacksmith’s income would have been higher, but Su You had Cang Lan busy forging things for her these past few days, so she didn’t have time to make goods for sale.

Speaking of Cang Lan, the two sets of copper armor Su You asked her to make were now finished.

From helmet to top, bottoms, shoes, and gauntlets—everything was included, and the stats weren’t bad either.

The main advantage of armor is its high defense—a full set offers over fifty points of defense!

But armor also has a big drawback: it’s heavy. Since it’s made from ore, it’s bound to be weighty. Because of this, wearing armor reduces agility and speed-related stats.

However, this didn’t affect Lake much. Thanks to his “Great Strength” trait, once he got used to the armor, it was almost like he wasn’t wearing it at all.

His fighting style is to stand his ground and trade blows. Before, he’d dodge attacks when necessary, relying on speed. But now, with Vivian around, dodging was hardly necessary—as long as he didn’t get one-shot, he’d be fine.

Lyle’s dagger is technically an agility-based weapon, but perhaps influenced by Lake—and since Lake always drew aggro—he pretty much fought the same way.

He couldn’t wear the gauntlets (they made it too hard to wield his dagger), but he had no problem with the rest of the armor.

Besides the two sets of armor, Su You also had Cang Lan make a bunch of balanced arrows—some copper, some iron—since she’d just bought a huge stockpile of ore from a merchant caravan.

With everything just about ready, Su You informed everyone to prepare to head out the next morning to destroy the monster spawning cage.

The reason they weren’t going today was that the class change hall had only just been completed. Su You wanted to wait for Yue to change classes first, so they’d have an extra fighter and a better chance of success.

Since the situation inside the monster cage was unknown, and Su You only knew that time wouldn’t pass while inside, she decided to set out early, just in case anything unexpected happened.

To give Yue time to change classes and get used to being a mage, Su You assigned the inn’s registration work to a regular resident.

Registering guests and assigning rooms wasn’t hard—easy to teach, and with so few people, the new worker picked it up quickly.

Once he took over, Yue, who had been busy for days, immediately grabbed his magic rune book and camped out at the entrance to the class change hall.

……

……

[Class Change Hall construction complete. Class change function now available.]

[Skill Hall construction complete. Skill copying and learning functions now available.]

Although Su You was the first to receive the notification that the buildings were finished, Yue was the first to rush into the class change hall.

The process was simple: in the center of the hall was a class change platform, with a round table and a raised dais. The table was for placing class change items, and the dais was where the person changing classes stood.

It was Yue’s first time seeing the class change hall, so even after entering, he wasn’t sure what to do.

In the end, Su You came in and taught him how to change classes. Only then did he place his precious magic rune book on the table and step onto the dais.

At the same time, Su You received a flood of notifications.

[A resident is attempting to change class… Checking resident information… Calculating class change data…]

[Results—]

[95% chance to become a Novice Water Mage.]

[4% chance of class change failure.]

[0.9% chance to become a Novice Ice Mage.]

[0.1% chance to become a Special Mage.]

[Class change in progress…]

……

The biggest difference between changing class and learning a skill book is that the former can fail, while the latter is always successful.

The success rate of a class change depends on talent, attributes, and effort.

Otherwise, Su You wouldn’t have had Yue learn the basics of magic from Meck—she did it to improve his chances of success.

But she didn’t tell Yue this, because she didn’t want it to affect his attitude toward learning magic.

If he thought having the magic rune book meant he didn’t need to try, Su You would see his true character. But if he worked hard, she’d do her best to help him succeed—after all, helping him was helping herself.

Class changing takes a while—not too long, but not too short either—so Su You didn’t plan to wait around.

There was only a 4% chance of failure, and that was just because his talent was low; if his talent reached 60, the failure rate would probably be 0%.

(End of chapter)"

"203. Destroying the Monster-Spawning Cage 1

In this game, balance favors those who put in the effort. In other words, even though there was still a 4% chance of failure, Yua’s job change was practically guaranteed.

As the job change ended, the magic rune book on the round table vanished without a trace, not even leaving behind a mark.

[Job change successful. You are now a Novice Water Mage.]

Just as Su You had predicted, Yua’s job change was a success. He was now officially a novice water mage.

The joy of becoming a mage filled his mind. Even though the process was over, he remained standing on the platform for a long time, unable to come down.

There’s a big difference between being a full-fledged mage and just an apprentice. Both can use magic, but in reality, the gap is huge.

For example, the spells you can cast, your mana reserves... But most importantly, apprentice mages can’t use magic wands—those are weapons only available to novice mages and above.

“I actually…”

“I actually became a mage! Hahahaha!!!”

Yua let out an excited laugh, then immediately dashed to the tavern. Under Meck’s initially annoyed and confused, then shocked gaze, he threw his arms around him in a tight hug.

“Master Meck, thank you so much!”

“I’m a novice mage now—I didn’t let you down!”

Meck: “I... Let go of me, you brat.” Nearly suffocated by Yua’s bear hug, Meck was tempted to summon a fireball and blast him away, but for some reason, he didn’t actually do it.

Off to the side, Su You, who had witnessed the whole scene by chance, quietly finished her berry juice, ignored Meck’s pleading look, and strolled out of the tavern at a leisurely pace.

Hmm… What nice weather. Tomorrow’s going to be a perfect day for a fight~

…

…

Doya (Intermediate Archer), Lyle (Novice Melee, bottleneck), Lake (Intermediate Melee), Meck (Novice Fire Mage, bottleneck), Vivian (Novice Healing Mage), Yua (Novice Water Mage).

Six people in total, three of whom are mages. They’ve got DPS, a tank, and a healer. There’s both physical and magical damage. If this weren’t a real, data-driven game, this lineup would be as good as it gets.

Doya brought along the copper and iron arrows made by Canglan. Since Su You wasn’t yet confident she could craft a perfect phoenix wood bow, Doya was still using her old one for now.

Lyle and Lake donned their armor. Lyle’s dagger and Lake’s gauntlets had been upgraded the day before by Canglan and Dolly, respectively.

The blade of the Fang Dagger was upgraded from copper to iron, and the gauntlets were reinforced with beast hide.

Su You had actually gotten silver and gold ore from previous silver and gold chests, but since Canglan’s crafting skill wasn’t high enough, she could only upgrade the blade to iron for now.

Upgrading the materials gave a significant boost to both the dagger’s and gauntlets’ stats.

Once everything was ready, the group headed to the monster-spawning cage. They quickly cleared out all the ghostly skeletons that had spawned over the past two days, then, led by Su You, arrived at the ruined stone gate that looked just like a heap of rubble.

[Ghostly Stone Gate]

Difficulty: ★☆

Players: 0/10

Escape Attempts Left: 3 (Each exit from the gate consumes 1 escape attempt. When escape attempts reach zero, you can only leave by defeating the boss inside.)

Description: A ruined stone gate left behind from who knows when. It seems to seal a powerful monster inside, as well as a core that can endlessly spawn monsters...

[Enter the Ghostly Stone Gate?]

[Yes] [No]

…

Since they’d come all this way and prepared so thoroughly, Su You certainly wasn’t going to back out of a mere one-and-a-half-star dungeon.

Besides, with three escape attempts, they had three chances to save themselves if things went wrong.

As Su You chose “Yes,” everyone saw a flash of darkness before their eyes. When their vision cleared, they found themselves standing on a barren, lifeless stretch of land.

The area was vast, the ground uneven and pitted. What made it especially unsettling was the complete absence of life.

There were no plants in sight—let alone animals.

“What an unpleasant place,” Vivian muttered, frowning in disgust at the environment.

She wasn’t the only one. The others also felt uncomfortable upon realizing they’d entered a dead zone.

“Lord, look over there,” Lyle said, pointing. Everyone followed his gaze and spotted a group of figures in the distance.

“They’re coming closer…” Doya gripped her bow, already nocking an arrow as she spoke.

“I’ll set up defenses first. Everyone, be careful.” At Su You’s words, the others immediately took up protective positions in front of her.

In dungeons, lords can also build structures. In fact, due to the special environment, construction time is even reduced.

With enough materials and experience, a lord can even solo a dungeon.

Su You had soloed dungeons before, but this time she didn’t have enough materials, so she still needed help from the NPCs.

Stone walls, towers, arrow towers, spikes, traps…

Different environments, same setup. Since she’d done this more than once, it took her less than five minutes to get everything built.

Because her backpack could only carry so many materials, the safe zone she created wasn’t very big—just enough for seven or eight people. Any more and they’d barely be able to turn around.

“The tower’s done. You three, get up there.” She meant Doya, Meck, and Yua.

Vivian was a healing mage with no combat ability. Her job was to stay below and keep an eye on Lyle and Lake, the two melee fighters who might take damage.

So her healing spells were focused on them.

She couldn’t stand on the tower—even though the view was better up there, she wouldn’t be able to reach them with her spells. In game terms: “out of casting range.”

As soon as Su You gave the order, everyone quickly moved to their assigned positions.

At the same time, the dozens of ghostly skeletons charging toward them entered the attack range of the arrow tower and Doya’s group.

[Mutated Ghostly Skeleton]

HP: 500/500

Attack: 50

Defense: 30"

"Sure! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

204. Destroying the Monster Spawner 2

...

“These ghost skeletons have mutated. You two, be careful.” The original ghost skeletons had 100 HP, 20 attack, and 10 defense. But these mutated ones had five times the HP, and their attack and defense stats had doubled or even tripled.

How is this just a mutation?

This is clearly an evolution!

A super evolution, at that!

Fortunately, Su You was prepared. Now, both Lyle and Lake had over fifty defense. Unless they got extremely unlucky with a critical hit or armor break, these mutated ghost skeletons couldn’t even scratch them. Vivian didn’t even have a chance to use her healing magic.

“Let’s finish this quickly. The ghost skeletons here will start respawning faster.” Even if the enemies couldn’t hurt them, their equipment still had durability. Every hit reduced that durability.

Once the durability hit zero, the equipment would disappear completely. At that point, they’d be fighting in their underwear, and these ghost skeletons could take off fifty HP with a single slap. Even if they had ten lives, it wouldn’t be enough.

Su You wanted to control the arrow towers to attack, but she was more eager to find the core pillar of the spawner, as well as the monster guarding it.

Otherwise, the ghost skeletons would keep respawning endlessly, and they’d never survive a war of attrition.

“Found it...” Su You spotted a purple-glowing protrusion on the ground not far away, then directed one of the arrow towers to aim at it...

*Bang—*

A sound like an explosion drew everyone’s attention.

“Keep attacking! The boss is about to appear. We need to kill these ghost skeletons before it shows up!” Sometimes the boss in a monster spawner appears on its own, but other times, like now, it needs to be “physically summoned.”

It guards the core pillar, so when the pillar is discovered and attacked, the boss will appear.

That’s how you “physically summon” it.

*Whoosh—*

*Sizzle—*

...

Thanks to Su You’s warning, everyone instinctively sped up their attacks.

In less than a minute, the last mutated ghost skeleton fell, dissolving into motes of light.

At the same time, Su You had the arrow tower fire another shot at the core pillar—just as the arrow was about to hit, the ground suddenly shook. A skeletal hand burst out, grabbed the arrow, and snapped it in half.

Su You: ...

For some reason, this scene should have felt terrifying and tense, but Su You just found it a little odd.

Maybe it was because in some old single-player game, the animation when you clicked “Start Game” looked just like this?

That strange sense of familiarity made the whole dungeon feel weirdly off to Su You.

But she didn’t have time to dwell on it, because the owner of that skeletal hand soon thrust a second hand out of the ground. With both hands braced at a twisted angle, the creature hauled itself up out of the earth.

Su You: “Attack.”

Before it had even fully emerged, Su You waved her hand, giving the order for the ranged fighters to open fire without the slightest hesitation.

As for Lyle and Lake, they wisely kept their distance, not daring to get close and risk being buried by the dirt thrown up by the monster’s emergence.

Once the ghost skeleton boss had fully crawled out of the ground, they readied their weapons and armor, approached cautiously, and, after confirming it was safe, charged in.

Vivian tested her range, then found a spot where she could see both of them, use her magic, and stay out of harm’s way.

This was a skeleton monster over ten feet tall. Standing before it, even the tallest human looked like a chick by comparison.

Though it had no flesh, only a bony frame, the boss’s skeleton was clearly robust and powerful.

At least compared to the scrawny, human-sized skeletons nearby, this one was obviously going to be a tough opponent.

Su You found a good vantage point and tried to check the boss’s stats. Maybe because its level was so high, she failed four times before finally succeeding on the fifth try.

[Ghost Skeleton Boss]

HP: 4762/5000

Attack: 80

Defense: 50

Skills:

[Rage (Passive)]: The more damage it takes and the lower its HP, the more enraged the Ghost Skeleton Boss becomes, causing certain changes. Its defense decreases, but attack speed and attack power increase.

[Absorb]: When other ghost skeletons are nearby, the boss can absorb their HP to heal itself. Any stat boosts gained from “Rage” are retained even after healing.

Description: Guardian of the Ghost Stone Gate. Only by killing it can the core pillar be destroyed.

...

Thanks to her extensive gaming experience, Su You immediately spotted the boss’s key mechanics after reading its info.

She didn’t know the exact numbers for how much “Rage” could boost its stats, but two critical points were obvious:

1. More ghost skeletons would respawn soon.

2. You can’t let those ghost skeletons stay near the boss.

Otherwise, the boss would keep healing itself, and, worse, the stat boosts from “Rage” wouldn’t go away after healing.

In theory, that meant the boss’s attack and attack speed could increase without limit.

The only silver lining was that its defense would drop during “Rage.” Otherwise, this fight would be impossible.

“Lyle, Lake, lure it over here...”

Since no new ghost skeletons had spawned yet, the boss was alone for now. The best-case scenario would be to kill it before any more skeletons appeared—but that was obviously impossible. So Su You’s plan was to move the boss away from the core pillar in advance.

After all, the core pillar was the source and spawn point for the monsters.

Hearing Su You’s instructions, Lyle and Lake exchanged a glance, then worked together to drag the boss to the designated spot.

In the process, they inevitably took a few hits. Even clad in full armor, the boss’s 80 attack meant they still lost 20–30 HP per blow.

It was only a dozen meters from the core to their destination, but their HP had already dropped significantly."

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

205. Destroy the Monster Spawner 3

[Lyle]

HP: 221/250

[Lake]

HP: 216/290

...

Originally, Lyle’s max HP was 230 and Lake’s was 260, but thanks to all the “monster fighting” and “training” they’d done recently, not only had their HP increased, but all their other stats had improved as well.

Vivian, who had been keeping a close eye on their condition, immediately began casting a basic healing spell when she saw them take damage.

Vivian: “…Heal—”

With a barely intelligible two-syllable incantation, Lake, whose HP was lower, instantly recovered about 30 points. But that obviously wasn’t enough. However, after that instant recovery, Lake’s HP continued to increase by 5–10 points every two seconds.

In just over ten seconds, Lake’s HP was back to full.

Vivian had used a spell that instantly restored some HP and then continued to heal over the next twenty seconds.

This was a basic, commonly used spell, so Vivian cast it quickly and smoothly.

After healing Lake, Vivian turned to treat Lyle.

Since Lyle hadn’t lost much HP, using a continuous healing spell would have been a waste of mana. So she simply muttered a much shorter incantation—less than two seconds—and Lyle’s HP was also restored to full.

...

Seeing that everything was going well over there, Su You finally relaxed and focused her attention on the core, thinking about how to set things up.

Since she didn’t know when the ghost skeletons would respawn, Su You didn’t dare build structures right next to the core, let alone dig pits—which would take time and could easily backfire.

After thinking it over, she used her last bit of materials to make a U-shaped barrier, positioning the open end facing directly away from where the Ghost Skeleton Leader was.

She wasn’t sure if this would actually help, since some monsters could be “commanded” by boss-level monsters. In that case, even if they couldn’t get through, they’d find a way.

But if the Ghost Skeleton Leader didn’t command the minions, this barrier might at least influence the path the ghost skeletons took right after spawning.

“Roar—”

Just as Su You finished placing the last barrier, she heard the Ghost Skeleton Leader let out an angry roar. Instinctively, she turned to check on it, and her expression grew serious.

[Ghost Skeleton Leader]

HP: 3992/5000

Attack: 100 (80 + 20)

Defense: 30 (50 - 20)

Status:

[Rage (1 stack)]: The Ghost Skeleton Leader hates being hurt. Each time it takes damage, it gains a stack of Rage. Each stack increases its attack by 20 and decreases its defense by 20. Attack has no upper limit; defense cannot go below 0.

...

Because of its high defense, it had only lost about a thousand HP after all this time.

But once its HP dropped below 4000, the Ghost Skeleton Leader’s stats changed significantly.

Just as the Rage passive described, its attack increased by 20, while its defense dropped by 20!

With its defense lowered, they were now dealing about 20 more damage per hit to the Ghost Skeleton Leader.

At the same time, Lyle and Lake, who previously only took about 20 damage per hit, were now taking 40!

The Ghost Skeleton Leader had thousands of HP, so an extra 20 damage per hit wasn’t a big deal for it. But for Lyle and Lake, whose HP wasn’t even a tenth of the boss’s, it was a different story.

If every 1000 HP lost adds another 20 attack, then when the boss drops below 1000 HP, it’ll have four stacks of Rage—an extra 80 attack, for a total of 160!

That’s double its original attack!

Forget about surviving 160 attack—once it drops below 2000 HP (three stacks, 140 attack), even then…

At that point, if it doesn’t crit, just three hits would be enough to kill Lake on the spot.

If it does crit, then two hits… No, actually, a single critical hit would put Lake into a near-death state!

Because boss monsters’ crits deal double max damage!

And while its defense drops as its attack rises, defense can’t go below zero.

This means that after three stacks of Rage, the only thing this state does is boost the boss’s attack—it doesn’t make it any easier for them to kill it. In fact, it puts them in even greater danger.

In other words, with three stacks of Rage, if the team can’t burst down the boss’s remaining 2000+ HP in one go, Lyle and Lake could be killed at any moment.

Even though the chance of a crit is low, Su You didn’t want to risk even a one-in-ten-thousand possibility.

“Stop attacking for now! Vivian, keep an eye on their HP. You two, stop as well—dodge its attacks as much as possible.” Su You felt she needed to think… think some more…

Maybe this Ghost Skeleton Leader wasn’t meant to be fought this way at all!

This was just a one-and-a-half-star difficulty dungeon, and it had spawned ten days ago. There’s no way it should be this hard… There must be another solution…

No one really understood why Su You was giving these orders, but they all stopped attacking without hesitation. The Ghost Skeleton Leader’s HP froze at 3246—just a bit more and it would have gained another stack of Rage.

“Don’t attack it for now. The more you hit it, the stronger it gets. Lyle and Lake will be in danger.” Against a boss like this, someone had to kite it, or else things could fall apart fast.

So Lyle and Lake still needed to keep the Ghost Skeleton Leader occupied.

After they stopped attacking, Su You’s mind raced… She wanted to come up with a solution quickly, but not long after they stopped, five ghost skeletons suddenly appeared at the core.

These skeletons shrieked as they moved—unimpeded—straight toward the building where Su You and the others were.

Her train of thought interrupted, Su You felt a bit frustrated. She forced herself to calm down, glanced at the skeletons, and said, “Attack these newly spawned ghost skeletons, but leave the Ghost Skeleton Leader alone.”

For now, each attack only did about 40 damage, which the brothers could still handle. Plus, they didn’t need to attack anymore—just play cat-and-mouse with the boss, dodging as much as possible. Usually, the Ghost Skeleton Leader needed three or four swings to actually land a hit.

---"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

206. Destroying the Monster Spawner (4)

Even if someone accidentally took a hit, Vivian would quickly heal them back up.

But their stamina was ultimately limited, and Vivian’s mana wasn’t infinite either. Meanwhile, the ghostly skeletons could keep respawning endlessly. They couldn’t afford to drag this out forever.

“Rage... passive skill... HP...” Su You muttered under her breath, repeatedly checking the Ghost Skeleton Leader’s information, as if she was on the verge of figuring something out.

But the clue she’d grasped was like a slippery fish—every time she thought she was about to catch it, it would slip right out of her hands.

In the blink of an eye, the second wave of ghost skeletons spawned—this time, there were six.

If this wasn’t just a coincidence, did that mean each new wave had one more skeleton than the last?

But Su You still didn’t have any answers.

She was just considering whether they should use an escape opportunity to conserve everyone’s strength—leave this place and let her think things through in a safe, quiet environment—when she suddenly caught sight of a crucial keyword.

“Injured... it’s about being injured!” Su You suppressed her excitement and immediately turned to the others. “Do you know Healing Touch? Or any other spell that can only heal wounds, but doesn’t actually restore HP?”

Healing Touch, as the name implied, helped wounds close up.

But this spell only healed wounds—it didn’t restore any lost HP.

It might seem useless, but in certain situations, using Healing Touch to treat wounds and remove serious injuries or bleeding, then following up with a spell that restores HP, could actually be much more effective.

As expected, Vivian knew the spell. After all, Healing Touch was a basic spell—hardly any healing mage didn’t know it.

She nodded. “I know it. Are you hurt?” As she spoke, Vivian looked ready to start chanting.

Su You stopped her and pointed at the Ghost Skeleton Leader. “Use it on him. He’s the one who’s injured, not me.”

Vivian: “...?”

Vivian’s chant faltered halfway through. For a moment, she even forgot the words to Healing Touch. She stared blankly for several seconds before she finally understood what Su You meant.

“Are you sure you didn’t misspeak? You want me to use Healing Touch on that monster?” Vivian had always known she was a bit crazy, but she hadn’t expected her own lord to be even crazier.

Who would ever think to heal the enemy?

This was just...

Vivian couldn’t even come up with a suitable adjective.

“I didn’t misspeak. Just do it,” Su You said firmly, making Vivian take her words seriously.

Vivian: “Alright, I’ll do it, but I can’t guarantee it’ll work.”

She’d used Healing Touch plenty of times before, but never on a monster. In fact, there probably weren’t many people on the whole continent who’d ever tried healing a monster.

But since Su You was so insistent, Vivian could only comply.

Because the distance was a bit far, Vivian moved a little closer, but she kept her staff at her side—she wasn’t about to waste mana until she was sure this would work.

While Vivian was casting, Su You’s attention was already on the Ghost Skeleton Leader.

As the murmured incantation faded, the Ghost Skeleton Leader, who’d been about to attack, suddenly paused.

That pause made Su You’s heart leap. Lake, who’d been closest and was bracing to dodge, was also caught off guard.

He’d been about to dodge left, but he wasn’t fast enough and had resigned himself to taking a hit. But thanks to the Leader’s sudden hesitation, Lake managed to circle around behind it, not only avoiding the attack but also slipping into its blind spot.

“Huh, it actually seems to work?” Vivian’s mouth dropped open in surprise, her hand still raised mid-cast.

The others didn’t say anything, but their thoughts were equally colorful.

Clang—

After about four or five seconds, the Ghost Skeleton Leader snapped back into its berserk state. Its attack speed and damage were as fierce as ever.

On the surface, it looked no different than before.

But Su You didn’t believe that Healing Touch had no effect—otherwise, it wouldn’t have paused just now.

She trusted her judgment.

Su You opened the Ghost Skeleton Leader’s status window again. This time, under its status effects, there was a new entry alongside “Rage”: “Soothing.”

[Soothing (1 stack)]: The Ghost Skeleton Leader can be soothed by certain means. When Soothing reaches three stacks, you can consume all three stacks to remove one stack of Rage.

...

Seeing the description for “Soothing,” two words popped into Su You’s mind—

Got it!

“Keep using Healing Touch.” If each healing spell added one stack of Soothing, then Vivian just needed to use Healing Touch two more times to reach three stacks.

Vivian couldn’t see the status window, but she’d noticed the Leader’s earlier pause. So, hearing the same command again, she didn’t question it. After healing Lake once, she immediately cast Healing Touch on the Ghost Skeleton Leader again.

As expected, after the second cast, the Soothing stack increased by one.

“Should I keep going?” Vivian looked uncertainly at Su You.

This time, although Healing Touch closed the Leader’s wounds, it didn’t stop its attacks. Vivian began to wonder if the spell’s effect was just a one-off.

But she didn’t know that Su You’s goal wasn’t to stop the attacks, but to counteract the Rage status.

“Use Healing Touch three more times, and everyone else, start attacking.” With three more uses, they’d have enough Soothing stacks to cancel out one Rage and still have two left over.

That way, if anything unexpected happened, Vivian would only need to use Healing Touch once to immediately counteract Rage. It was a precaution in case she didn’t have time to cast three times in a row.

Vivian: “Alright.”

Scheduled update—I accidentally set one chapter too few, now fixed.

(End of chapter)"

"Certainly! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

**207. Destroying the Core**

Vivian was busy squeezing in heals for both people and monsters wherever she could. Meanwhile, the others, who were so idle they were practically growing mushrooms, immediately drew their weapons when they heard Su You’s command.

A barrage of attacks, long held in reserve, rained down on the Ghost Skeleton Leader like a violent storm. Because its HP had dropped below 3,000, a layer of Rage that had previously been dispelled stacked up again.

However, since it already had two layers of Calm on it, Vivian, following Su You’s instructions, cast Healing once more, and the second layer of Rage vanished as well.

As soon as it disappeared, the core refreshed another batch of ghost skeletons—this time, seven of them, just as Su You had predicted: each time the core spawned ghost skeletons, it produced one more than the last!

Su You directed everyone to clear out the adds first, to prevent them from circling around and healing the Ghost Skeleton Leader.

At that moment, Vivian, who had been focused on healing, frowned.

Vivian: “I’m running low on mana.”

If she only had to heal people, it would be fine. But now she had to heal both monsters and people—two targets—so her mana was draining three times as fast. No matter how skilled she was, Vivian was still just a novice mage, with limits to her power. She couldn’t keep this up for long.

In other words, the fact that she’d lasted this long was already impressive.

“How many more times can you use Healing? Will it affect your ability to heal the others?”

“Twice is fine, three times will affect it.” Vivian meant that if she cast Healing two more times, it wouldn’t impact her ability to heal Lyle and the others, but a third time would.

Although Healing was a basic spell, it consumed more mana than regular restorative magic.

Vivian couldn’t see her status panel, but she’d noticed from Su You’s instructions that “Healing must be used three times to achieve a certain effect,” so that’s why she answered that way.

“Then stop using Healing.” If she couldn’t use it three times, she couldn’t dispel Rage. Using it twice would just waste two layers of Calm for nothing.

Besides, with two layers already dispelled, as long as they didn’t let the ghost skeletons reach the leader and heal it—giving it a chance to stack more Rage—the Ghost Skeleton Leader could only ever have two layers of Rage at most.

Two layers of Rage meant 120 attack power. Although each hit still dealt over sixty damage, as long as Vivian healed promptly and the others dodged and defended a bit, they could handle it.

Even if they got unlucky and took a critical hit, it wouldn’t be enough to take someone out in one blow.

So, after more than ten minutes of this “tickle fight,” the Ghost Skeleton Leader suddenly glared, raised its hand, and its whole skeleton began to tremble. The shrill sound it made gave everyone goosebumps.

The once-mighty Ghost Skeleton Leader now looked like a crumbling building, and then collapsed with a crash.

As the Ghost Skeleton Leader died completely, the core pillar, as if in its death throes, spawned a twelfth batch of ghost skeletons.

This time, there were sixteen of them. But since the group had already taken down the leader, dealing with these was a piece of cake. The ghost skeletons were quickly reduced to piles of loot on the ground.

“Go dig out the core!” “Digging out” the core actually meant attacking it.

The core had HP as well. Once its HP reached zero, the core would be destroyed—meaning the entire monster spawner would be gone.

**[Ghost Stone Gate Core] (Attackable)**

HP: 9,841/10,000

Attack: 0

Defense: 0

Description: The core supporting the Ghost Stone Gate, continuously spawns ghost skeletons.

…

Earlier, Su You had attacked the core once to summon the Ghost Skeleton Leader, so it wasn’t at full HP now.

And since the core had no attack or defense, even though it had 10,000 HP—twice as much as the Ghost Skeleton Leader—it was even easier to deal with than chopping vegetables.

As the core’s HP dropped to zero, it suddenly emitted a sound like an explosion, then disintegrated without a trace.

**[Congratulations! A1-16 has successfully led the team to destroy the Ghost Stone Gate Core and defeat the Ghost Skeleton Leader. Rewards have been sent to the mission hall.]**

**[With the core destroyed, the Ghost Stone Gate’s illusion will only last five more minutes. Please leave quickly.]**

Su You: “Hurry, pick up everything on the ground! We need to get out of here!”

Hearing they only had five minutes, Su You didn’t bother with anything else. She shouted to the others, and before she’d even finished speaking, she was already rushing out herself.

She didn’t even look at what had dropped—she just stuffed everything she could into her backpack.

Luckily, she’d used up a bunch of materials earlier, so her backpack had plenty of space.

The others exchanged glances, then hurried over to help gather the loot.

While they didn’t all have backpacks, some had storage pouches, so they managed to pack away quite a bit.

Maybe because the ghost skeletons had mutated, the loot was different from before—but with time so tight, no one paid much attention to what they were picking up.

Halfway through, Su You suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to Lyle and Lake—

“You two, hurry up and gather those skeleton remains. Don’t waste them.”

Lyle and Lake froze, looking awkward: “…Lord, you’re not even letting the skeletons go?”

As mentioned before, regular monsters’ bodies would disappear after death—only bosses left corpses to loot. Since Lyle and Lake had been the ones holding the Ghost Skeleton Leader’s attention, they were closest, so Su You was referring to the leader’s remains.

Even regular ghost skeleton bones could be turned into bone meal for fertilizer, let alone a boss-level skeleton.

Even if it couldn’t be used to make weapons or gear, it was worth seeing if it could be turned into intermediate fertilizer… and if not, even basic fertilizer would be useful.

It’s a small territory—they’re short on everything, so nothing goes to waste!

Though Su You’s order was a bit surprising, the brothers were used to following her lead. After a brief shock, they quickly took out some rope and bundled up all the bones on the ground, tying them together like firewood.

But this was a ten-foot-tall skeleton, so there was a lot to gather.

The two brothers worked for quite a while, bundling up four piles of bones before they finally cleared the ground of all the intact pieces. There were still plenty of broken bone fragments left scattered about.

---"

"208. Blueprints and Skill Books

Just as they were hesitating over whether to pick up all the scattered bone fragments on the ground, the two of them suddenly felt their vision blur.

When their sight cleared, they realized they had already left the Ghostly Stone Gate and now stood beside a ruined stone doorway.

""Not bad at all."" Looking at the four neatly bundled stacks of firewood—no, bones—Su You approvingly patted them on the shoulder, then walked over and put all four bundles of bones into her backpack.

The others also came over and handed all their loot to Su You.

Once everything was sorted, everyone got ready to go about their own business.

Meike and Vivian both had their own shops to manage, so they headed straight back to the territory.

Duoya didn’t go back, instead planning to look around the area for any prey.

As for Lyle and Lake, the two brothers used to spend their days chopping wood or mining stone and ore. But now that the territory had more people, all the resources were being gathered by others, so there was no need for them to do such unskilled labor anymore. As a result, they were now quite free.

Sometimes they’d chop wood or mine, sometimes go hunting, sometimes train at the training grounds, and sometimes go back to their old trade—helping Su You explore unexplored areas of the map.

Now they had a new mission: to help search for the hidden ruins in the forest. Su You hadn’t forgotten that there was still a forest ruin waiting for her to explore.

Everyone scattered, leaving only Su You behind.

She looked at the stone gate, which hadn’t disappeared, and took out her stone hammer.

Since the core was gone, the stone gate was now just an ordinary stone gate. No more monsters would spawn, and it couldn’t be entered, but it still had some value: if destroyed with a stone hammer, some materials could be salvaged.

Besides materials, Su You could also obtain a blueprint.

[Ghostly Stone Gate · Blueprint]

Quality: Purple

Category: Special

Description: Use to learn how to craft a ‘Ghostly Stone Gate’.

...

Su You dusted off her hands, immediately learned the blueprint, and then started picking up the other materials on the ground.

[Stone*52]

[Obtained Marble*18]

[Obtained Star-patterned Stone*5]

[Obtained Refined Magic Ore*13]

...

Since it was a stone gate, the drops were all kinds of stone and ore.

She’d seen things like marble and refined magic ore before, but star-patterned stone was new to her. It was a type of companion ore that increased the success rate of crafting certain high-level equipment.

It could also be used as an alchemy material.

There wasn’t a huge quantity, but there was a good variety, so Su You’s backpack was packed full. Thankfully she had an extra storage bag, or she’d have had to agonize over what to throw away.

For a hoarder like her, deciding what to throw away was torture—she’d rather throw herself away.

Loaded with loot, the first thing Su You did upon returning to the territory was empty her backpack, then head straight to the quest hall to open her treasure chest.

In the usual spot, Su You found the [Ghostly Skeleton Leader’s Chest].

Due to some less-than-pleasant past experiences, Su You took the chest to the tailor shop to find some backup before opening it.

There weren’t many people in the territory these days without the aura, so even the once-bustling tailor shop only had a few scattered customers now.

Those few people were just browsing, not even sure if they wanted to buy anything.

Dolly was in the middle of making some equipment. Her neck was a bit sore from looking down for so long, so—perhaps by coincidence—she happened to look up just as Su You walked in.

“What brings you here?” When there were outsiders around, unless Su You specifically asked, they never called her ‘Lord’ directly. It had become a habit.

Su You didn’t say anything, just set the chest down on the table in front of Dolly, making her intentions clear.

Having helped open a chest once before, Dolly immediately understood. She hesitated for a moment, then put down her work and unlocked the chest.

[Obtained Gold Coins*3]

[Obtained Beginner Heavy Armor Skill Book*1]

[Obtained Beginner Gathering Skill Book*1]

[Obtained Ghostly Skeleton Leader Statue*1]

...

[Beginner Heavy Armor Skill Book]

Category: Skill Book

Quality: Blue

Description: Learn to gain the Beginner Heavy Armor skill.

Heavy Armor (Active Skill): Doubles current defense for ten seconds after use. Cooldown: ten minutes.

[Beginner Gathering Skill Book]

Category: Skill Book

Quality: Blue

Description: Learn to gain the Beginner Gathering skill.

Gathering (Passive Skill): Slightly increases efficiency in all gathering-related activities.

[Ghostly Skeleton Leader Statue]

Category: Furniture

Quality: Blue

Description: An unattractive statue that can be placed in a building to increase comfort.

...

Su You blinked, picked up the two skill books and looked them over repeatedly, then sighed, “You really are my lucky star!”

Leaving aside the statue, the effects of the two skill books were easy to understand. One was for defense, the other increased the gathering efficiency of territory residents... Most importantly, she had just built the Skill Hall, which meant she could now duplicate these skill books!

Once copied, the skill books would be stored in the Skill Hall’s database, and as long as she had enough materials, she could make as many as she wanted for people to learn!

Of course, not all skill books could be copied, but these two could.

Dolly was a little surprised at Su You’s words, then smiled. “I never used to have such good luck. Ever since I met you, my luck’s been on the rise.”

After chatting a bit more, Su You took the coins and skill books and hurried off to have them duplicated at the Skill Hall.

Heavy Armor was one thing—only combatants really needed it—but Gathering was a general skill that everyone could use, and the benefit was huge.

Dolly watched her leave in a hurry, feeling rather happy. But when she sat down and saw the somewhat creepy statue beside her...

Dolly: “...”

Dolly: My lord, did you forget something?

Since Su You was already gone and there were customers ready to check out, Dolly couldn’t chase after her.

So she just set the statue aside, planning to mention it to her later.

“Boss, I want this. How much is it?” A customer came over to pay.

But as soon as he approached the counter, he was startled by the statue sitting next to it."

"Certainly! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

209. Unique Taste

Dolly: “Nine silver coins, thank you for your patronage.”

Customer: “…Boss, you sure have… a unique taste.”

Dolly had been checking what he’d picked out, and had just quoted the price when she suddenly heard this comment. She paused, then followed his gaze—and only then realized what he meant.

She was about to explain that the statue had nothing to do with her, but before she could, the customer paid, his face full of inexplicable emotion, and left.

Maybe the statue was just too creepy, because the customer left in a flash. In the blink of an eye, he was gone from the shop.

Dolly: …???

Dolly: Wait, let me explain! That statue isn’t mine!!!

Unable to explain, Dolly glared helplessly at the statue, her rare annoyance showing. She decisively shoved the thing into a corner under the table, just in case anyone else saw it.

It’d be one thing if someone got accidentally spooked, but if another customer thought she had some kind of… unusual hobby, like that last guy, that’d be a problem.

…

…

Meanwhile, Su You had arrived at the Skills Hall and placed two skill books into something like a bookshelf—this was the “Library” of the Skills Hall.

But the “books” stored here weren’t ordinary books—they were skill books.

Any skill book placed in the Library couldn’t be taken out, but could be copied.

[Beginner Heavy Armor Skill Book stored. Copying of Beginner Heavy Armor Skill Book unlocked.]

[Beginner Gathering Skill Book stored. Copying of Beginner Gathering Skill Book unlocked.]

To craft [Copy: Beginner Heavy Armor Skill Book]: Paper x10, Iron Helmet x1, Iron Armor x1, Iron Leggings x1, Iron Boots x1, Iron Gauntlets x1, Beginner Defense Potion x5.

To craft [Copy: Beginner Gathering Skill Book]: Paper x10, Fiber Scraps x100, Wood x100, Stone x100, Red Berries x100.

Although the copied Beginner Gathering Skill Book used more materials in terms of quantity, they were all basic resources—Su You had plenty and didn’t care.

But the Beginner Heavy Armor Skill Book was another story: it required a full set of iron gear, and Su You hadn’t found an iron mine yet. Even after buying a lot from caravans and opening many chests, iron was still very scarce.

A full set of gear would cost at least ten iron ingots—meaning each skill book would use up about ten ingots, which was just too expensive.

Not to mention, Su You didn’t even have any Beginner Defense Potions.

Those potions fell under alchemy or potion-making. Su You had the recipe, but not the ingredients, so she couldn’t make them.

Still, Su You had expected that she wouldn’t be able to make the Beginner Heavy Armor Skill Book, so she wasn’t disappointed. Instead, she gathered materials to copy some Beginner Gathering Skill Books first.

Among the required materials, red berries were the scarcest, so Su You only managed to copy fifteen Beginner Gathering Skill Books for now.

It wasn’t enough for everyone to have one, but it was sufficient for the current needs of the territory.

Su You placed the copied skill books on the shelf at the front of the Skills Hall, then went to the Lord’s Manor to post an announcement—

[Lord’s Notice: The Skills Hall is now open. All residents may visit to purchase skill books for study.]

As soon as the announcement was posted, the bulletin board at the entrance automatically updated. Everyone could read the notice and learn the news.

The announcement made it clear: skill books were to be “purchased,” not given out for free.

As for pricing the Beginner Gathering Skill Book, it couldn’t be too high—after all, it was just a beginner skill book. If it was too expensive, no one could afford it or would want it, making the skill book pointless.

But it couldn’t be too cheap, either. If it was, people wouldn’t value skill books, and they wouldn’t end up in the hands of those willing to work hard to improve their lives.

After all, in most cases, only those who strive to improve themselves will want to buy skill books, and only those who work hard can save up enough money. So the price of skill books was, in a way, a filtering process.

Su You set the price of the Beginner Gathering Skill Book at ten silver coins.

This wasn’t particularly high—in fact, it was even a bit lower than the market price. As long as someone worked hard, even if all they did was chop wood or mine every day, they could save up ten silver coins in a month.

Additionally, Su You set an important restriction: only residents of the territory could buy skill books.

Maybe in the future, skill books could be sold to outsiders, but for now, the priority was to meet the needs of her own territory.

Also, since copied skill books were automatically bound to the buyer, and only after upgrading could someone spend special materials to copy unbound books, Su You didn’t have to worry about people reselling them.

…

After finishing all this, Su You was about to leave the Lord’s Manor when she saw a crowd heading toward the Skills Hall. They’d probably seen the notice and wanted to check it out.

Among them were territory residents Su You recognized, as well as strangers—wanderers and travelers.

“Everyone’s heading to buy skill books?”

“Yeah, what else would you go to the Skills Hall for?”

“I just hope the skill books are actually useful, or this trip will be a waste.”

“As if you could afford one! Didn’t you see the notice? You have to buy them—they’re not free!”

…

Conversations buzzed around her, but Su You didn’t stop. After listening for a bit, she headed to the warehouse to sort through the day’s haul.

Calling it a “haul” was generous—most of it was just creepy piles of bones.

First were the bones from the mutant skeletons. These were gray, and the odd color made them look even scarier than regular white bones.

It was daytime now, but if it were night and someone had to share a room with a pile of bones like this, not many people could handle it.

After checking, Su You found that although the bones looked strange, they worked the same as regular bones. The only difference was that the gray bones could be turned into more bone meal.

Normally, one bone made three portions of bone meal, but a gray mutant bone could make five.

Today, she’d collected over seven hundred bones—more than three thousand portions of bone meal, which meant more than three thousand bags of beginner growth fertilizer.

(End of chapter)"

"210. Swift · Wutong Wood Bow

That’s a lot of growth fertilizer—enough to last for quite a while.

If Yousen saw all these bones, he’d definitely be thrilled, because it means he can freely use the growth fertilizer to speed up his seed improvement progress.

Aside from the gray bones, this time’s loot also included gray scale powder, as well as a batch of “Ghost Bones” dropped by the boss.

【Gray Scale Powder】

Category: Material

Quality: Green

Description: Gray scale powder produced by mutant ghost skeletons. Twice as effective as ordinary scale powder. One of the raw materials for corrosive potions, and can also be used to craft other items.

【Ghost Bone】

Category: Material

Quality: Blue

Description: Skeleton of a ghost skeleton boss. Although it looks eerie and terrifying, it’s incredibly tough and can be used as a raw material for crafting equipment and tools.

……

You can actually make equipment with this?

Su You was pleasantly surprised.

She’d originally planned to just bring these back as raw materials for fertilizer… Looks like she’d underestimated this pile of skeletons!

Although she didn’t have exact recipes, Su You had seen plenty of blueprints before and knew how to combine and adapt them, so she already had ideas for what to make with these Ghost Bones!

Bone arrows! Bone armor! Bone knives! Bone accessories!

Of course, that’s just a portion—the most common uses. As for whether she could make anything else, that would have to wait until these were finished. If there were any Ghost Bones left, she could use them to experiment with new creations.

As for the gray scale powder, Su You planned to sort through her materials to see if she could directly make corrosive potions. If she could, she’d keep some as backup and sell the rest to the merchant caravan.

Corrosive potions didn’t seem all that useful at the moment, but since the merchant caravan traveled far and wide, you never knew when they might need them. So selling to them was pretty much a sure thing.

She could also just sell the raw materials, but the price for those would definitely be lower than for finished products. She’d have to do the math and see which was more worthwhile before deciding.

Having figured out how to use all these materials, Su You called in Buguo to help oversee the bone meal and growth fertilizer production, while the Ghost Bones were split between Lyle and Azure to supervise crafting some items.

As for herself, she took a material she’d chipped off the Ghost Stone Gate—a kind of stone called “Sky Ice Stone”—and got ready to finally make the Wutong Wood Bow she’d been putting off for days.

……

Sky Ice Stone, also known as Lucky Stone, is a material that can be inscribed with “Luck Runes.”

Luck Runes, as the name suggests, temporarily boost the wearer’s luck. Once the effect ends, the rune self-destructs, and the inscribed stone turns to ash.

Su You knew how to inscribe runes. She had read and memorized every rune, whether included in the “Rune Compendium” of Sunset Continent or not. After all, runes were one of the few tools that didn’t rely heavily on skill level to craft.

If only suitable rune-inscribing materials weren’t so rare—if even ordinary stone could be used—Su You probably would have cleared the game ages ago.

So, upon seeing Sky Ice Stone today, Su You’s first thought was to seize the chance to finally make the Wutong Wood Bow.

She found a quiet spot, made a carving knife, and drew the pattern for the Luck Rune on paper.

She stared at the pattern for a while, absentmindedly stroking the Sky Ice Stone. Before long, she picked up the knife and began inscribing the rune.

Rune carving is all about doing it in one go—any hesitation or pause means instant failure, and the half-finished material will shatter.

Su You had inscribed plenty of runes before. Even though she hadn’t done it in years, muscle memory took over the moment she started, guiding her hand smoothly through the process.

From the first cut to the last, her movements were fluid and natural. It looked less like carving and more like painting.

【Obtained Intermediate Luck Rune ×1】

Not enough… Just one isn’t enough.

For a material of Wutong wood’s caliber, without skill assistance, you need at least one Advanced Luck Rune. An Intermediate Luck Rune’s effect is too limited.

So Su You carved two more Intermediate Luck Runes.

【Obtained Intermediate Luck Rune ×2】

Looking at the three palm-sized stones in her hand, Su You placed them on the table in a triangle, then filled the space in the center with an uncarved piece of Sky Ice Stone.

Most rune levels are determined by the material itself, but you can also upgrade by linking three runes of the previous tier.

Like now—Su You was about to link these three Intermediate Luck Runes together to merge them into one Advanced Luck Rune.

She had plenty of Sky Ice Stone—over a dozen pieces—so she wasn’t worried about failure. She could always try again… Maybe it was this relaxed mindset that let her succeed on the first try.

【Obtained Advanced Luck Rune ×1】

After succeeding, the three Intermediate Luck Runes shattered, leaving a pile of stone fragments on the table. The one in the middle was now covered in intricate rune patterns.

【Advanced Luck Rune】

Category: Tool

Quality: Purple

Description: Greatly increases the wearer’s luck for sixty minutes.

An hour isn’t too long or too short, but if it’s just for crafting, it’s more than enough.

Su You casually grabbed a string from her backpack, threaded the rune, and hung it around her neck.

Then she stretched a bit, took out the materials for the Wutong Wood Bow… The rune’s effect kicked in the moment she put it on, so she couldn’t waste any time.

……

About forty minutes later.

【Obtained Swift · Wutong Wood Bow ×1】

【Swift · Wutong Wood Bow】 (Upgradeable)

Category: Weapon

Quality: Red

Attributes: Attack (105), Armor Penetration (12%), Pierce (5), Crit (5%)

Durability: 500/500

Skill: Swift (Active): Greatly increases movement and attack speed for five minutes. (Cooldown: 60 minutes)

Description: A bow made from Wutong wood, strung with tough beast sinew. Top-quality materials and superb craftsmanship make this bow exceptionally fine. Infused with refined magic ore during crafting, it boasts enhanced speed attributes, making it especially suitable for those with high agility.

……

Prefix, upgradeable, high quality, and even comes with an active skill… No matter what game you’re in, this would be a top-tier weapon you could use until the servers shut down.

After reading the bow’s info, Su You blinked.

(End of chapter)"

"211. Random Bundle Gift Pack

Afterward, she looked down at the high-grade Luck Rune that had inexplicably broken early, and vaguely guessed why she’d been able to perform beyond her usual level.

When using runes, there’s always a chance they’ll be destroyed ahead of time. But the total energy contained in the rune doesn’t just vanish. If the rune breaks early, the remaining energy is released all at once into the wearer.

Simply put, just as she was about to finish crafting, the high-grade Luck Rune dumped all of its remaining twenty minutes’ worth of luck energy into her at once. With its energy depleted, the rune shattered prematurely.

At that moment, she was instantly infused with nearly half the total energy of a high-grade Luck Rune, allowing her to craft this bow at a level far beyond her normal abilities.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the value of this bow might already surpass the entire territory’s worth. If not for the slightly inferior bowstring material, it would definitely rank among the very best equipment on the continent.

If it had been made with dragon sinew… Well, even that wouldn’t help, because combining two top-tier materials isn’t something a single high-grade Luck Rune could handle.

Even a hundred or a thousand high-grade Luck Runes wouldn’t be enough!

This result was already more than good enough—Su You wasn’t greedy.

She shook out her somewhat sore hands, her mind going completely blank… In order to make this bow, she’d been tense and hyper-focused for the past forty minutes.

Though it was only forty minutes, it was even more exhausting than chopping trees or mining stone for four hours straight.

Still, getting this bow made all the effort worthwhile.

After resting for a bit, Su You prepared to deliver the bow to its future owner.

When she stepped outside and glanced at the still-bright sky, she realized that although it felt like she’d spent ages crafting, in reality, less than an hour had passed.

Less than an hour—meaning it wasn’t even noon yet.

Duoya usually spent her days out hunting, only coming back for lunch. Now that she had a spatial pouch to easily carry food, she sometimes didn’t even bother coming home at noon.

Su You thought for a moment, then went to Duoya’s place and hung the bow on her bedroom door, so she’d definitely see it when she came home to rest that night.

Afterward, Su You turned on her message notifications—she’d turned them all off earlier to avoid being distracted by system messages while crafting, which could lead to mistakes.

Now she just wanted to check on the situation in the Skill Hall.

But to her surprise, there were quite a few messages from the Skill Hall, and even more notifications about residents applying to join the territory.

A quick glance showed six or seven applications!

At first, Su You didn’t understand why so many people were suddenly applying, until she overheard a conversation as some people passed by.

“Hey, I heard this territory opened up a Skill Hall. Have you checked it out? What skills are there?”

“I did, but it’s just a basic gathering skill book. Look at you all getting excited, like you’ve never seen the world.”

“Hey! Watch your mouth. You make it sound like you weren’t the one glued to the display window just now. If you didn’t have to join the territory to buy it, I bet you’d have bought ten copies already!”

…

Oh~

So it was all for the skill books~

Although Su You had set it so only territory residents could buy skill books partly to attract people, she hadn’t expected it to work this well.

But since they were only joining for the skill books, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t just leave after learning the skills. Besides, the territory wasn’t particularly short on people anymore—what it really needed were people with management or other advanced skills. So Su You didn’t immediately approve all the applications.

She filtered through them, keeping only two applicants with relatively high initial loyalty.

As for the others, she decided to observe them for a few more days.

“Hey! My application got approved! Let’s go buy skill books!”

Just as Su You approved two applications, she overheard an excited man nearby.

She paused, surprised at the coincidence.

She quickly checked his information—nothing seemed amiss—then looked at the Skill Hall’s status. Of the original fifteen basic gathering skill books, only eight were left.

Of the ones sold, two had been bought by Lake and Buguo, while the rest went to other residents who didn’t have skills but had some savings.

Seeing that the skill book stock would last a while, Su You closed the panel and headed to the bounty board.

She still had two timed quests to submit!

She’d held off before, worried that new timed quests would pop up and she wouldn’t have time to complete them. But now, with the dark creatures’ attack over, the territory’s busiest days behind them, and the monster cages destroyed, there was no reason to keep delaying.

System quests existed for a reason, and endlessly putting them off couldn’t be good.

[Submit quest ‘Stop the Darkness’?]

[Note: Please ensure you have enough space in your backpack for rewards before submitting, or bear the consequences.]

Su You was used to this prompt and didn’t mind—she’d just cleared out her backpack, so there was plenty of space.

[Congratulations on completing the quest ‘Stop the Darkness’. System rewards: Level 3 Warehouse Card x1, Reputation +10, Gold Coins x5.]

A level 3 warehouse card… Well, okay.

Not exactly rare, but at least it didn’t require construction time. With the territory’s population growing and resource storage needs increasing, she’d have to upgrade the warehouse anyway.

Su You put away the card and coins, then submitted the next quest.

This third quest was the only one whose reward wasn’t specified, so Su You was pretty curious about what she’d get.

Recruitment card, bounty card, or even a few rare building cards would be nice… She wasn’t picky, really.

Su You had high hopes, but things didn’t quite go as she expected.

[Submit quest ‘Develop the Territory’?]

[Congratulations on completing the quest ‘Develop the Territory’. System rewards: Random Bundle Gift Pack x2, Reputation +10.]

Su You: …

Random bundle gift pack… What the heck is that?

Su You suddenly felt a headache coming on.

She stared at the two basketball-sized, bizarrely wrapped gift packs that had suddenly appeared in her hands, feeling a strong sense of dissonance.

(End of chapter)"

"212. Animal Symphony

The source of this sense of discord was the art style of this gift pack.

If this digital world is supposed to be a ""realistic game,"" then this gift pack looks like it was ripped straight out of some cheesy browser game where you get ""999 damage with one click."" The colors are gaudy reds and golds, topped off with a huge bow—tacky to the extreme, but somehow it gives off a weird sense of reassurance.

Su You stared at the gift pack for a few seconds. She was about to open it right away, but a voice inside her kept frantically warning her—Don’t open it!

At least, absolutely don’t open it here!

Su You didn’t know where this feeling came from, but it didn’t stop her from following her instincts. She decided to head back to the Lord’s Manor to open the gift pack.

Before leaving, she didn’t forget to glance at the bounty board. Only after noticing a new countdown timer appeared did she feel at ease enough to go.

…

[Random Combo Gift Pack]

Category: Special

Quality: None

Description: A special reward for completing system tasks, containing a thoughtful combo for territory development.

Su You: …The more I look at it, the weirder it seems.

But no matter how weird it is, a gift pack is still a gift pack—at the very least, it’ll give her some resources for building up her territory.

Suppressing her inexplicable unease, Su You opened the first gift pack.

[Received: Pasture Grass Seeds x10]

[Received: Animal Feed x100]

[Received: Random Animals x5]

[Received: Ranch Building Card x1]

The moment she untied the bow, the packaging vanished, leaving behind a table full of… and a room full of “stuff.”

…

“Baa—”

“Moo—”

“Cluck cluck—”

Listening to the “animal symphony” ringing in her ears, Su You’s headache instantly got worse—now she finally understood where her earlier sense of unease had come from.

Thank goodness she didn’t open the gift pack out on the street. If a bunch of livestock had suddenly appeared around her, even if the NPCs wouldn’t find it strange, it would have been a huge hassle to get all these animals to their proper places.

If she wasn’t careful, who knows what kind of chaos might have broken out.

Before Su You could react, a chicken suddenly flapped its wings and flew onto her table, stretching its neck as it walked around. Its weird gait looked both ridiculous and infuriating.

Another chicken tried to imitate it, but it seemed a bit dumber. It couldn’t fly as high, so it landed on a nearby chair first, then flapped its wings again to get onto the table.

Su You: …

She looked at the two chickens on the table, then at the two sheep and one cow nearby. Taking a deep breath, Su You pulled a bunch of ropes out of her backpack.

“Cluck cluck… squawk squawk cluck—!”

“Cluck!!”

“Squawk cluck—”

After a round of chickens flapping and jumping about, Su You sneered, then knocked one chicken out with a swift motion and tied it up with a rope.

The other chicken seemed to have some sense. After seeing what happened to its companion, it abruptly stopped making noise and froze in place like a statue.

“Playing dead won’t help you,” Su You said, grabbing the “dead” chicken and tying it up as well.

Speaking of playing dead, Su You thought of a certain little white creature. Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen it in a while.

But she wasn’t worried about it—Dolly and Doya were still looking after it. Just a few days ago, Dolly had told her it was doing great—maybe even a little too great.

Su You didn’t really know what “a little too great” meant in this context, but as long as it was alive, that was good enough.

Rather than worrying about it, she might as well focus on how to deal with the remaining cow and two sheep.

Su You gripped the rope, her gaze settling on the other three animals. One of the sheep visibly shrank back, then let out a meek bleat.

“Baa~”

Since these three were relatively well-behaved, Su You decided not to tie them up for now.

Besides, she didn’t want to tie them up anyway. She could carry the two chickens, but with a cow and two sheep, even a few more people would have trouble managing them if they acted up.

So it was best if they behaved themselves.

“Be good, you guys.” In the real world, Su You would never talk to animals like this, but this was a digital world—anything was possible. Especially since that one clever chicken just proved that even the animals here had a certain level of AI.

If they had AI, that meant she could communicate with them. If she could communicate, she could probably get them to walk themselves over later.

“Baa~”

Maybe they understood her, because the two fluffy, chubby sheep slowly walked over to Su You and rubbed their soft, woolly heads against her arm, as if promising to behave.

The cow was no exception. It seemed to recognize Su You as its owner, let out a “moo,” and stood obediently in place, not acting up like the chickens had. It looked ready to follow Su You’s every command.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you home.” Now Su You finally understood what this “combo” really meant.

Animal babies + animal feed + feed seeds + ranch—that’s basically a one-stop “livestock farming package,” isn’t it?

Although their sudden appearance had startled her, Su You had to admit she really liked this combo.

Milk, eggs, wool—these were all good things.

Especially since there were two chickens and two sheep, one male and one female of each. That meant not only could she harvest eggs and wool, but she could also breed even more animals in the future.

…Thinking of this, Su You was already looking forward to seeing what the second gift pack would give her.

But since she hadn’t even settled the first batch yet, she decided to wait until everything was in order before opening the next one.

…

Thanks to the building card, setting up the livestock wasn’t difficult. With a swipe of the ranch card, Su You carried the two unruly chickens and herded the two sheep and the cow toward the ranch.

Although cows, sheep, and chickens were all ordinary animals, maybe because this particular combination was so unusual, Su You’s little parade attracted quite a bit of attention along the way.

Su You didn’t mind—she had thick skin and ignored everyone’s stares, acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

But the cow and sheep, on the other hand, seemed a bit nervous under so many gazes. They actually started walking faster, even overtaking Su You and leading the way.

The ranch was located next to the fields, with a small stream nearby. So as Su You’s little procession caught the attention of passersby, it also happened to be spotted by Yousen.

He stared in surprise at the animals, mouth agape, and only snapped out of it after watching Su You and her animals disappear into the ranch.

(End of chapter)"

"213. Tavern Refresh

“Ah! We’ve got animals now, so I need to plant some pasture grass!” Yousen muttered to himself as he kept busy with his work, all the while considering which plot of land to set aside for growing grass for the cows and sheep.

As for the chickens… that was easy enough. Just scatter some rice or grain husks and they’d be fine. Chickens could also nibble on pasture grass from time to time, so there was nothing special to worry about.

Without Su You even knowing, before the animals had proper housing arranged, someone was already worrying about their feed on her behalf.

She brought the five animals to the ranch. As she opened the door, she took out all the furniture and fixtures that had been stored in the ranch’s warehouse.

There were things like feeding and watering troughs, as well as ordinary furniture like windows, tables, and chairs—everything they could possibly need.

“You two will live here.” Su You led the two sheep—who looked especially docile and obedient—into one of the pens.

The two sheep bleated softly and walked into the pen without wandering off.

The cow, seeing the sheep go in, seemed to want to join them, but Su You stopped it and led it to a smaller pen next door.

The cow looked a little unhappy, perhaps because the sheep and chickens both had companions, while it was all alone.

Being the only cow was bad enough, but it also wanted to play with animals of other species. Su You, however, wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Moo—” The cow looked at Su You, a hint of grievance in its eyes.

Su You casually tossed the two chickens she’d been carrying for a while into their coop and locked it, then opened the gate between the sheep pen and the cow pen.

“If you want to play together, go ahead, but remember to go back to your own homes at night.” Su You wasn’t surprised at how human-like these animals acted, and she was prepared to do her best to meet their needs.

After all, they just wanted a playmate—it wasn’t a big deal. Still, some things had to be made clear in advance.

At night, they could only rest in their designated “homes.” Each pen had a maximum capacity, and if they exceeded it, while nothing terrible would happen, it would still be a hassle.

“Moo~” Seeing Su You allow it to mingle with the sheep, the cow’s moo sounded much gentler.

Remembering how the sheep had snuggled up to Su You earlier, the cow wanted to do the same. But before it could get close, Su You quickly took several steps back.

No way—gentle or not, it was still a full-grown cow!

Animals didn’t always know their own strength, and as a town lord with thin skin and low defense, Su You definitely didn’t want to be the first person injured by her own livestock!

That would be too embarrassing for words!

“You’ll eat here from now on.” To ease the awkwardness from her sudden retreat, Su You naturally took out a pile of animal feed from her backpack and poured it into their feeding troughs.

The cow, seeing this, immediately forgot about what just happened and didn’t suspect Su You had avoided it on purpose.

Watching them eat, Su You went outside to fetch water for them, then left the ranch.

……

Compared to the first starter pack, the second one wasn’t nearly as good.

If it needed a name, the second pack would be the “Food Set Gift Pack,” which included a restaurant building card, a pile of ingredients, and some crop seeds.

Everyone was eating at the tavern these days, so the restaurant was optional, and there was no shortage of food. The ingredients were just a nice bonus.

As for the seeds, there were only three kinds: wheat, rice, and potatoes. Nothing special.

Even though it wasn’t very useful, Su You still used the restaurant building card, placing the restaurant in front of the tavern.

Now that there was a restaurant, Meike wouldn’t have to work at the tavern anymore and could move to the restaurant instead. After all, the tavern was more focused on drinks, and its cooking facilities weren’t complete.

As for the tavern, it would stay empty for now, until she could recruit an NPC with the “brewing” skill.

[Tavern has refreshed. You can now go to the tavern recruitment desk to select a resident to recruit.]

“Hm?” Well, wasn’t that convenient?

She’d just been thinking about needing people, and now the tavern had refreshed.

Su You first handed all the seeds to Yousen, then turned and headed to the tavern.

……

“Well, look who finally showed up!” Meike’s sarcastic tone didn’t bother Su You, since she knew it was because she’d promised to set up a big kitchen for him but had been delayed. Given his personality, a little sarcasm was already being polite.

Su You said, “The big kitchen you wanted is ready.”

Meike paused, then looked at her skeptically. “Really?”

“If you don’t believe me, go see for yourself. You think I’d bother making an illusion just to fool you?” Su You rolled her eyes and told him about the restaurant.

Maybe because Meike was the only NPC she’d met twice, Su You felt a natural sense of familiarity and ease with him.

Meike didn’t really think Su You would lie to him about this; he just couldn’t help making a snarky remark.

Now that the kitchen was sorted, Meike found her much more agreeable.

He opened his mouth to say something, but seeing Su You walk over to the recruitment counter without paying him any attention, he rolled his eyes and stayed quiet.

Since the tavern had been upgraded once, the recruitment interface was now quite different from before.

First, the number of candidates: it used to be three choices, now it was four, and the chance of higher-skilled NPCs appearing had increased.

Second, the refresh time for recruitment.

It used to refresh every three to five days, but now it was every two to four days—a whole day less on both the upper and lower limits. That was a big improvement.

The rest wasn’t too important. Su You opened the recruitment interface and started browsing the current batch of NPCs.

The first candidate had two basic skills: carpenter and craftsman. Both skills had decent talent values—one at 75, the other at 80—making this a rare dual-talent recruit.

As for traits, there was one positive and one negative, which was standard. The positive trait wasn’t anything special, but the negative trait would affect crafting success rates—not great.

The second candidate had an intermediate pharmacist skill, with a solid talent score of 80. With a bit of training, reaching advanced level would just be a matter of time.

But as soon as Su You saw “pharmacist,” she lost interest and moved on."

"214. The Mechanic

There was a simple reason: his profession overlapped with Vivian’s.

What’s more, Vivian was a healing mage. Even though her healing skills were only at the beginner level, the fact that she possessed magic made up for many shortcomings—she was by no means inferior to this person.

The third candidate also had one intermediate skill and one beginner skill: fishing and construction, with 85 points in fishing aptitude and 70 in construction.

At first glance, it seemed like this person had two skills, but one was just a support skill, while the main life skill was only at the beginner level and not particularly high in aptitude.

Support skills are generally those that use tools to produce raw materials, such as fishing, farming, gathering, logging, mining, and so on.

Main life skills, on the other hand, use materials to produce finished goods that can be used or sold directly, like cooking, tailoring, blacksmithing, alchemy, etc.

Some support skills are important—farming, for example, is essential—but others aren’t as crucial. Fishing, at least, falls into the less important category.

If the levels of these two skills were reversed, and the person had intermediate construction instead, Su You would have chosen them without hesitation, as a high-aptitude intermediate builder would be a huge asset to the territory’s development.

After all, builders can draw their own blueprints, reduce material consumption during construction, speed up building efficiency, and even lead construction teams… But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

The fourth candidate only had a single beginner skill, and their aptitude was low—just 65 points.

Compared to the previous three, having only one beginner skill and such low aptitude was rather unimpressive. However, this person’s skill was quite unique: he was a beginner mechanic.

To be honest, when Su You saw that he was a mechanic, she checked his race several times, making sure he wasn’t a goblin.

Fortunately, he was human. Unfortunately, he was human.

It was fortunate because goblins are notoriously greedy—Su You felt she couldn’t afford to keep one. Recruiting a goblin would be a waste, but not recruiting one would be a pity.

It was unfortunate because goblins generally have very high mechanical aptitude, and often come with traits tailored to machinery. Having a goblin, as long as you had enough money, would be a huge boon.

Goblins are experts at mechanical inventions, alchemy, and all sorts of engineering devices, so most mechanics you find in taverns are goblins.

But this was only a level-two tavern, so it was almost impossible to encounter non-human NPCs. Besides, a goblin’s mechanical aptitude would never be this low. Su You knew this, but still couldn’t help hoping for a miracle.

As expected, he was human.

After reviewing all four candidates, Su You frowned deeply, torn between the first and the fourth.

If she recruited the first, she could put him in charge of the workshop; he could even make some carpentry goods for sale. With dual aptitudes, if he was properly trained, his potential and usefulness would be limitless.

Unfortunately, his traits were just too poor. A trait that lowers success rates is an instant dealbreaker.

If she recruited the fourth, his mechanical aptitude was too low. Even though his negative traits weren’t too bad, his positive traits didn’t help his skills much either.

Unable to make up her mind, Su You reread both candidates’ background stories.

Sometimes, these NPC backgrounds hide clues or information. The chances are slim, but it’s still a factor in making a decision.

To her surprise, while she hadn’t expected much, she actually noticed something.

In the mechanic’s introduction, it mentioned that as a child, he loved tinkering with things and often made strange gadgets. His family was furious with his “idle” behavior and forbade him from doing such things.

At first glance, this seemed unremarkable, but in order to acquire a skill, unless you have exceptional talent, you need a teacher.

In other words, this mechanic had a teacher.

But since his family disapproved of his tinkering and considered it a waste of time, his teacher couldn’t have been a family member, nor someone his family hired to teach him.

In the human world, people capable of teaching mechanical knowledge—and able to train a child with low aptitude into a beginner mechanic—are rare, even rarer than mages. It’s almost impossible for a child to encounter such a person.

So, Su You’s conclusion was simple: she suspected the mechanic’s teacher was a goblin.

Only a goblin would have that kind of skill.

But then again, knowing how obsessed goblins are with money, it’s unlikely one would voluntarily teach a human child mechanical knowledge.

After all, this is their livelihood—let alone teaching a human, they’re reluctant to teach even their own kind.

Unless the goblin had a special connection with this mechanic, and it was a deep one.

[Would you like to recruit “Anjie”?]

[Yes]

[This NPC is on their way to your territory. Estimated time: ???]

[Anjie]

Gender: Male

Age: Young adult

Loyalty: 75

Affection: 20

Aptitude: Mechanics (65)

Skill: Beginner Mechanic

Traits: Loyal (starts with higher loyalty), Blunt (has some difficulty with communication)

Introduction: [Anjie has a certain talent for mechanics. Perhaps because of this, he has been passionate about all kinds of gadgets since childhood, often helping out at the scrapyard in exchange for useless junk to take home and study.

Unfortunately, Anjie’s talent is limited, so most of what he made was junk with no real value. But he never gave up, and vowed to one day create a fully functional mechanical device.

One day, his family discovered what he was up to. Seeing him “wasting time” tinkering with useless trash, they threw everything away while he was out.

When Anjie found out, he made a huge fuss, but as a child, he had no power to resist and could only follow his parents’ plans for him.

Later, when Anjie grew up and was able to live independently, he set out to pursue his childhood dream once more.]"

"215. The Mysterious Group

...

Anjie—that was the name of the mechanic.

Whether her guess was right or not, as long as there was a possibility, recruiting this mechanic was worth it.

Anyone who could get a goblin to willingly teach them mechanical knowledge must have a good relationship with goblins. This meant the territory might have a chance to connect with goblins and trade with them.

After finishing the recruitment, Su You left the tavern and went to update the bounty board and the quest hall.

At the same time, she added a few new notices to the bulletin board—

[Recruiting Craftsman]

Description: Recruiting a craftsman to be responsible for making goods and managing the craftsman’s shop. Other details negotiable.

Requirements: Junior Craftsman (minimum)

[Recruiting Brewer]

Description: Recruiting a brewer to be responsible for brewing alcohol and managing the tavern. Other details negotiable.

Requirements: Junior Brewer (minimum)

[Recruiting Manager]

Description: Recruiting two managers to be responsible for running the relay station and related matters.

Requirements: Junior Manager (minimum)

[Shops for Rent]

Description: Various types of shops for rent. Shop type, rent, lease duration, and other details negotiable.

Requirements: None

...

Actually, shops in the territory weren’t limited to residents—anyone willing to pay rent could lease a plot and build a shop.

That was the point of the third notice.

The number of shops was an important factor in the territory’s prosperity, as well as its economy and population flow.

Thanks to the reputation accumulated earlier, the territory still drew a steady stream of visitors every day. But if there wasn’t enough to attract and retain them—or to encourage them to bring in even more people—then the flow would slowly decline over time. That was the last thing Su You wanted to see.

As soon as these notices went up, there was another stir.

But unlike last time, this commotion died down quickly. These announcements just weren’t as exciting as the previous one about the skill hall.

After all, anyone with money could learn skills, but to rent a shop or apply for any of the first three positions, you needed skills of your own.

Given Sunset Territory’s current reputation, it wasn’t likely to attract much talent of that kind. In the past few days, only a Canglan and a Lilith had been recruited.

But this was within Su You’s expectations, so she wasn’t disappointed—she had plenty of patience.

What did surprise her, though, was that she only had to wait two days.

During those two days, quite a few people applied to join the territory, and Su You approved many of them. But none were the kind of talent she needed.

Just as Su You thought today would be another fruitless day, Sunset Territory welcomed a group of extremely unusual guests.

This group seemed to have come with a purpose, and they were wrapped up from head to toe. No one would believe they were ordinary people. As soon as they entered the territory, they began asking around about how to meet the lord.

Recently, besides gathering resources and exploring or fighting monsters, Lyle and Lake also occasionally helped watch the city gates.

As two of the few people in the territory who knew the lord’s identity and her whereabouts, they immediately noticed something off about this group and promptly informed Su You.

...

“You’re saying... there’s a group of people all wrapped up looking for me?” Su You’s eyes held a hint of confusion, but she didn’t doubt Lake—she just found it odd.

Lake nodded. “Yes, there are about a dozen of them. Lyle is stalling them.”

A dozen was actually quite a lot—after losing its aura, Sunset Territory only saw a daily flow of ten to twenty people. Their arrival instantly doubled today’s numbers.

With so many people and no patrol guards in the territory, Lyle had to stay behind to keep an eye on them and sent Lake to notify Su You.

Su You pondered Lake’s words, but couldn’t figure out what was going on. Still, she decided to go take a look.

After all, they’d come all this way and hadn’t caused any trouble—at least they weren’t here to pick a fight.

And they hadn’t specifically asked for her by name, just the lord of the territory. In other words, they probably weren’t here to make trouble, but rather to ask something of the lord—which was her.

Besides, this was her turf. If she couldn’t even face people here, what was the point of living?

“Let’s go. Take me to them.” Su You packed up her things and followed Lake to the tavern.

Since Mek had moved to the restaurant up front, the tavern was now completely empty—no one came or lingered there. It was spacious, making it a good place to meet and temporarily house special guests.

The moment Su You walked in, she sensed a strange atmosphere.

She observed the room while trying to use her skills to check the group’s information.

At the same time, the leader of the group, having learned Su You’s identity, stood up to greet her.

“Greetings, my lord. We are—”

“I know why you’re here.” Before he could finish, Su You interrupted, as if she could see the future. “You’re looking for someone.”

At her words, the speaker’s body moved almost imperceptibly. Unfortunately, his face was covered, so no one could see his expression.

And not just him—behind him, the dozen or so people who had been sitting all stood up in unison.

Regardless of their reason, seeing a dozen people, all wrapped up and faceless, suddenly stand up together would make anyone’s first thought: “They’re up to no good.”

Lyle and Lake thought the same. So, as soon as Lyle—who’d been standing nearby—saw this, he drew his weapon without hesitation, while Lake quietly reached for his knuckle dusters.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the room became tense and suffocating.

Thanks to [Wild Event Spirit] for the tip.

(End of chapter)"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your provided text:

---

216. Ling Si

Yet one of the people involved remained perfectly calm, as if she hadn’t noticed at all that her own words just now were the very cause of the current situation.

“You let one person come with me. I’ll take them to see the… person you’re looking for.” Su You glanced at them meaningfully, then called out to the two brothers. The three of them left the tavern, but instead of leaving entirely, they just waited by the door.

From inside, faint sounds could be heard—probably people talking.

Meanwhile, outside, Su You and the two brothers had a brief conversation.

It was nothing more than the two of them asking questions, and Su You answering.

Lake: “Lord, do you know them?”

Su You: “Of course not.”

Lyle: “Then you must know the person they’re looking for… Maybe we know them too?” After all, the territory wasn’t that big. If Su You knew someone, it was likely they did too.

Su You just smiled without replying, but the two brothers felt they already had their answer.

Just as their conversation ended, footsteps approached from inside. A moment later, someone pushed open the door and came out.

Though their outfits were similar—white cloaks hiding their figures, faces masked—their heights were still distinguishable.

At the very least, Su You could tell this wasn’t the person who had spoken earlier; the previous one was taller, this one a bit shorter.

She walked up to Su You and said, “My name is Ling Si. I’ll trouble you, Lord, to lead the way. If we find the person we’re looking for, we’ll be sure to thank you handsomely.”

“No need for a big reward…” Su You intended to be polite, but wasn’t about to turn down all benefit. “I just hope I can buy a few things from you when the time comes.”

Ling Si paused, thinking: As expected.

As expected, this lord already knew their identity.

But aside from a trace of tension at being exposed, Ling Si no longer doubted Su You’s claim that she could take her to the person they sought.

Since she knew their identity, she must have met them before.

Ling Si said, “Our young lady is of noble birth. If we can find her, any ordinary transaction is nothing in comparison.”

Su You understood her meaning, took a few steps forward to lead the way, and before leaving, reminded the two brothers, “Take good care of them. If they don’t want to leave, don’t let anyone else come in.” Since they were dressed like this, they clearly didn’t want to be discovered. She might as well help out, so no troublemakers in the territory would disturb them.

It wasn’t a big deal anyway, and it was a good way to earn some favor.

In fact, the reason she suggested bringing only one person was to avoid drawing attention. A group of a dozen would be far too conspicuous, especially dressed like that.

Besides, her own house wasn’t that big—there was no way it could fit so many people.

Lyle, Lake: “Understood.”

Hearing Su You’s instructions, the brothers naturally obeyed. As for Ling Si, she felt a bit more favorable toward Su You after hearing this.

Since she knew Su You had guessed their identity, she wasn’t foolish enough to think Su You left the brothers behind to keep watch on them.

Su You led Ling Si away, while Lyle and Lake stayed behind.

…

…

They circled from the tavern to the residential area. Walking quickly, it only took a few minutes. Ling Si looked around—the place wasn’t luxurious, but it was clean and tidy. The faint goodwill she’d felt toward Su You grew a little stronger.

After a while, Su You stopped in front of a house.

Ling Si, a little nervous and excited, asked, “Is it here?”

Su You nodded, then knocked on the door. A voice from inside called out.

Before Su You could answer, Ling Si, recognizing the voice, called out loudly, “It’s me! Ling Si! We’ve come to take you and A-Ning home!”

Immediately, there was a commotion inside, as if a small chaos had broken out. Before Su You could react, she was pulled and pushed into the house by people both inside and out.

With all that fuss, anyone who didn’t know better might have thought Su You had been attacked—one blink and she’d vanished through the door.

The first thing Ling Si did upon entering was to check Riya over from head to toe. Once she was sure she was unharmed, she did the same for A-Ning.

Only after confirming both were safe did she finally breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

Although Su You’s earlier demeanor had suggested the two were fine, Ling Si couldn’t relax until she saw it with her own eyes.

After that, Su You found herself sitting around bored, yawning, while the three stunningly beautiful women chatted about what had happened.

They spoke in Elvish, which ordinary humans couldn’t understand, so they weren’t worried about Su You eavesdropping—they just chatted openly.

And to be honest, calling them stunning was no exaggeration. The elves were a race of beautiful men and women; even disguised as humans, any one of them would be a breathtaking beauty by human standards.

No wonder they tried to keep such a low profile. One or two beauties could be a coincidence, but if too many gathered together, anyone with a bit of knowledge would guess they weren’t human.

But… why didn’t they just disguise themselves better?

If they could pass for humans, why not pick more ordinary looks, instead of piling on cloaks and hoods? Wouldn’t that be less conspicuous?

Sure, the cloaks hid their faces, but that only made them stand out more!

Su You didn’t get it… she really didn’t understand what these elves were thinking…

But while Su You was lost in thought, the three on the other side had already finished their conversation.

“In the end, we really have to thank Lord Su… Lord Su?” Riya, now speaking in the human tongue, noticed Su You was a bit distracted and called out softly.

Su You blinked and turned her head, only to find all three—three elves—looking at her.

Su You: “Finished talking?”

“Mm, we were just thanking you, Lord Su.” Ling Si, having taken off her cloak, revealed a bright, delicate face. She gave Su You a gentle smile, and it was as if a thousand flowers had bloomed at once.

(End of chapter)"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

217. The Elven Princess

As Su You admired the beauty before her, she casually replied, “You’ve already thanked me plenty of times. Just don’t forget what we agreed on before.”

Everyone appreciates beauty, and Su You was no exception. She enjoyed looking at beautiful people, but when it came to negotiating for her own interests, she would never let herself be distracted by ‘falling for a pretty face’ and miss out on anything. Beauty was nice to look at, but to her, it wasn’t worth anything… Of course, unless an elf was willing to stay behind!

But clearly, that was impossible.

Because their earlier conversation had revolved around the kidnapping, Riya and Anning had no idea what Su You meant by ‘what we agreed on before.’

Still, they didn’t ask about it at that moment.

As the only elf who understood Su You’s intentions, Lingsi didn’t think Su You was greedy. On the contrary, if Su You had asked for nothing at all, they would have had to worry she might use her favor as leverage to demand even more in the future.

Of course, that didn’t mean the elves would just forget about the debt they owed. It was just that elves tended to be straightforward and didn’t like playing games or dealing with scheming, unpredictable humans.

Lingsi said, “Of course I remember. I’ll go inform the others now.” With that, she stood up to leave.

Seeing that Riya and Anning weren’t planning to leave with her, Su You stood up as well.

“Aren’t you coming too?” Su You’s question seemed to surprise all three of them.

Lingsi paused, looked back at her several times, then glanced at Riya and Anning—though her attention was mostly on Riya’s expression.

Riya hesitated for a moment, as if she’d realized something, and then smiled.

Riya said, “In that case, let’s all go together.”

Since she’d spoken, the other two elves naturally followed her lead.

So, while Su You had arrived with only one person, she left with three.

There weren’t many people living in the residential area—most residents still stayed at the inn—so the neighborhood felt rather deserted.

It was broad daylight, and most people were out on errands or taking on jobs to earn money, so on the way back to the tavern, Lingsi didn’t bother to put on her previous disguise.

They quickly returned to the tavern, where Laierlaike was still dutifully guarding the door, making sure no one else could come in and see the group of elves inside, whose appearances were clearly not human.

“My lady,” Laier gave a brief report on what had happened while they were gone.

They hadn’t been away long, and the tavern didn’t serve much purpose anymore. The restaurant was in front of the tavern, blocking it from view, so hardly anyone came by.

Only a few residents and travelers—who hadn’t realized the tavern had moved to the restaurant—came to take a look and ask what was going on.

But they just asked a few questions, and after Laier and the others answered, they left without causing any trouble.

Lingsi and the other two elves had already gone inside, leaving Su You outside to listen to Laier’s report.

“Thank you. You can all get back to your own work now.” Once Su You knew nothing major had happened, she dismissed them and headed inside herself.

The moment she stepped into the tavern, Su You felt what it truly meant to be ‘blown away by beauty’—and not just once, but dozens of times over.

This group of elves—men, women, young, old—were all stunning: gorgeous, charming, handsome, gentle, elegant, aloof… every type imaginable. It was a paradise for anyone who appreciated good looks.

Only in a digital world could you gather so many beautiful people together. In real life, you’d be lucky to find even one person as perfect as Nuwa’s prized creations.

Su You wasn’t exactly obsessed with looks, but she certainly didn’t mind having her eyes blessed by so much beauty.

As before, the elves chatted among themselves in their own language, while Su You sat nearby, lost in her own thoughts—like what she should ask to buy from the elves later.

But she hadn’t even been sitting for a minute when a young girl, about the same age as Buguo, came over.

“I’m Tangxing. The elders need to discuss some things, so I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a little while, my lady~” Tangxing looked just as cute and lively as her apparent age, and thanks to her elven heritage, her looks were even more striking—she was simply adorable.

“No problem, go ahead. I don’t have anything else to do anyway.” That was true—she still hadn’t found the Forest Temple, and she hadn’t bothered to look into that strange locked event, so there really wasn’t much to keep her busy in the territory these days.

Her days were mostly spent using the materials everyone had gathered to gradually upgrade and expand the buildings in the territory, hoping to finish all possible construction within twenty-five days, and then use the remaining five days to prepare supplies for the double disaster event.

Tangxing hadn’t expected her to be so easygoing, and smiled with her eyes squinting in delight.

She seemed to be quite the chatterbox. Even though they were different races and had never met before, she still managed to strike up a lively conversation with Su You, chatting about all sorts of things.

She was so cute, and her gestures so animated, that it was like she was acting out everything she talked about right in front of Su You, who couldn’t help but be entertained.

Tangxing said, “Honestly, this whole thing was so worrying! When we realized Sister Anning and Her Highness were missing, the whole elven tribe was thrown into chaos!”

Tangxing continued, “Luckily, the Elder of Stars helped us locate them, so we were able to rush back so quickly. But even then, we were almost too late… If it hadn’t been for Sister Su helping out, we might have missed them again.”

It only took Tangxing less than five minutes to go from calling her “my lady” to “Sister Su”—her social skills were definitely top-tier.

Su You didn’t mind the change in address, but she did notice what Tangxing called Riya.

Her Highness?

The elven “Her Highness”—could it be… the elven princess?!

That would also explain why Anning had previously called Riya “Miss”—it was clearly a term of respect, which shouldn’t normally exist among elves.

At first, Su You had thought Anning was just using the term to hide her identity as an elf, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Among elves, everyone was supposed to be equal—unlike humans, with all their complicated hierarchies.

---"

"218. Overlapping Storylines

There are only a few truly special roles among the elves: the Elven Queen (or King), the elders, and the next in line for the throne—the Elven Princess or Prince.

But because elves are simple and peaceful by nature, loving harmony above all, even the Elven King is not regarded by ordinary elves with any excessive sense of status or hierarchy.

Titles like King, Elder, or Your Highness are, to them, more like simple forms of address—just like “A Ning” is simply a name. The status these words represent is secondary.

That said, Su You remembered that, in the background setting of the game she once played, the Elven Princess wasn’t called Riya.

But that wasn’t too surprising. After all, even if it’s the same game, the timeline might not be exactly the same… Still, Su You felt something was off, because some of the storylines matched up exactly with what she remembered from the game.

The first was Qin Yao’s storyline.

She’d mentioned Qin Yao before. Su You had met someone named “Qin Yao” as well, but when they met, they were enemies—Qin Yao was the “leader” of the dark creatures during the twentieth invasion, the one Su You had to defend against.

Qin Yao had become a dark mage, with the power to summon darkness.

Su You suspected that Dory hadn’t fainted on her own back then, but was knocked out by someone secretly observing them, and that this person’s target was Qin Yao.

He must have discovered Qin Yao’s potential to become a dark mage, so he saved her and took her away.

Of course, under normal circumstances, Qin Yao would never have agreed to leave. But at the time, she was powerless to resist, and Dory was right beside her. If the other party threatened Dory’s life, given that Qin Yao was willing to sacrifice herself to save Dory, she clearly wouldn’t refuse any other demands.

This would also explain why Qin Yao was willing to become a dark mage.

After all, dark mages are very different from ordinary mages. The requirements to become one are extremely strict—the most important being that the candidate must be completely willing, with not a trace of resistance.

…

The second was the Elven Princess’s storyline.

As mentioned before, Su You had befriended the elves in a previous save file, so she knew quite a bit about them—including the rumor that the next in line for the throne lost her eligibility to become the Elven King due to an accident.

Because of this incident, the current Elven King had no choice but to remain on the throne, even though her time was up and her strength was waning, which eventually led to the decline of the elves.

Su You was able to befriend the elves back then because she had received a reward that could help the Elven King maintain her strength for a while, buying the elves time to wait for a new heir.

Such a valuable item—just to gain favor and get some elven spring water and life fruit from the elven tree—Su You had given it away for free. This act of generosity instantly boosted her favorability with the elves to nearly eighty or even ninety percent.

After all this, the key point was obvious—was Riya actually the “heir who suffered an accident”?

If Su You hadn’t saved Riya, who knows what might have happened to her, but it certainly wouldn’t have been good. In that case, the storyline would have followed the same path as before.

But because Su You saved Riya, Riya was injured but not fatally, and she didn’t fall into the hands of the mastermind or suffer anything terrible. She still qualified as the heir and could still become the Elven King.

With an heir, the current Elven King wouldn’t have to bear the burden any longer, and under the new ruler, the elves wouldn’t decline, so the subsequent tragedies wouldn’t occur.

This sudden chain of cause and effect left Su You’s mind in a brief state of confusion.

It seemed she could change the original storyline—this thought suddenly surfaced in Su You’s mind.

She started thinking of many things, many past regrets… If all of these could be changed by her actions, then…

Then she realized she might have already missed something…

Tang Xing: “Sister Su, the elder says she’d like to talk to you~”

Tang Xing’s words pulled Su You back to reality. She paused for a few seconds, then took two candies out of her backpack.

Her territory couldn’t produce candy at this stage; she’d bought these from a merchant caravan, intending to use them to win favor with Bu Guo or other children. Tang Xing was an elf, but still a child, so giving her candy made sense.

Placing the candies in front of Tang Xing, Su You stood up. “Alright, I’ll go talk to your elder.”

As she left, Tang Xing looked at the blue and green candies, hesitated for a moment, then put away the green one and unwrapped the blue one.

Mmm! So sweet! So tasty!

Ugh… If I’d known they were this good, I would’ve saved one for Sister A Ning and the other for Her Highness.

Tang Xing regretfully pushed the candy around in her mouth with her tongue, clutching the green candy in her pocket, wondering if she could ask the gentle and beautiful Sister Su for a few more… What were the odds of getting at least one more?

…

Meanwhile, Su You, already gone, had no idea what Tang Xing was thinking. If she knew that a few candies could win over an elf, she’d have handed over every last one she had.

It’s just candy!

Eat! You can have it all! Eat until you’re sick! If it’s not enough, I’ll buy more from the merchant caravan!

She might not have much money for other things, but she had plenty for candy!

But, since she couldn’t read minds, she had no way of knowing this.

“Greetings, Lord of the Territory. Since you already know our identities, there’s no need for me to hide anymore… I am an elder of the elves, my name is Tong Sheng.” The speaker was a gentle, dignified woman, her voice soft as water. Even without seeing her, just hearing her voice made people feel especially warm and favorable toward her.

“Hello, Elder Tong Sheng. I’m Su You, lord of Sunset Territory,” Su You replied with a nod.

Ling Si, Tang Xing, Tong Sheng… She had to admit, elven names were quite different from human ones, but whether spoken or written, they all sounded lovely.

By comparison, “A Ning” seemed a bit odd, like it was just a convenient nickname…

Wait, she’d always assumed Riya and A Ning were the real names of those two elves, but what if they weren’t?

It would make sense if they were aliases, but after all her earlier speculation, Su You was now genuinely curious about Riya’s real name…"

"219. Anita

She knew the name of the previous successor who had lost her qualifications, so she wanted to find out whether this elven princess was the same person from before.

Su You glanced at ""Riya,"" who was seated to the right of Elder Tongsheng, her gaze thoughtful.

""Riya"" hadn't expected Su You to stare at her so directly. However, because Su You's eyes were so pure—aside from a hint of curiosity—she didn't find it unpleasant.

In fact, not only did she not mind, she even gave Su You a gentle smile and asked, ""Lord Su, why are you looking at me like that?""

Having dealt with the elves many times before, Su You was familiar with their likes and dislikes, as well as their ways of communication. So she didn't bother to hide her question.

""I'm just a bit curious about your name, Riya, and Anin's as well."" Su You responded with a smile, then casually asked about her name, as if it was just a passing question.

Upon hearing Su You's words, both Elder Tongsheng and ""Riya"" paused for a moment.

They hadn't expected Su You to be so straightforward. After all, in their previous dealings with humans, humans always spoke in roundabout ways, packing every sentence with traps and pitfalls.

If it weren't for the fact that elves had difficulty obtaining certain resources and had to trade with humans, they wouldn't want to deal with humans at all.

By contrast, elves actually preferred dealing with goblins, because goblins only cared about money. They didn't play games or set traps—if you had money, there would be no trouble, and elves were never short on money.

If only goblins weren't always so violent and warlike, the elves would probably like them even more.

Back to the present—after realizing that Su You already knew she was using a false name, ""Riya"" began to consider whether she should reveal her real name.

But she didn't spend long thinking about it. After all, it was just a name, not some unspeakable secret. Besides, Su You had saved her—wanting to know the name of the person she rescued wasn't an unreasonable request.

""Since you can tell there's something off about this name, I suppose you've guessed a few other things as well?"" ""Riya"" propped one hand on the table and gestured toward Anin. ""Anin's full name is Lu Ning, but calling her Anin is fine. As for me, my name is Anita.""

Riya—no, Anita now—glanced at Elder Tongsheng after introducing herself. Elder Tongsheng seemed to understand, and took out a palm-sized token.

Anita drew a small cut on her finger, and a drop of emerald-green liquid—so vivid it looked more like jade than blood—welled up.

The liquid dripped onto the token and was absorbed, leaving no trace behind.

Then, she handed the token to Su You.

The token looked like it was made of wood, but felt nothing like wood to the touch. It also emitted a faint, refreshing fragrance that was not overpowering, but rather calming and pleasant.

Anita said, ""This is a gift from me to you as Riya. It's an elven communication token. If you ever need help in the future, just tap it three times. Unless it's a special circumstance, I'll respond as soon as I can.""

Even if Anita hadn't explained, Su You already knew what it was for—she'd had one before, though that time the blood had come from an elder, who had used it to send something to the elves on Su You's behalf.

Su You felt a bit complicated inside, but she still accepted the token.

Whether or not she would ever use it, and whether Anita would respond when the time came, the token still had other uses. For example, it could serve as proof of her friendly relationship with the elves, or even allow her entry into elven territory if the opportunity arose.

Su You put away the token and looked at Anita, waiting for her to continue.

As Anita had said, this was just a gift from her as ""Riya."" She also had another identity—Anita, the elven princess and next in line for the throne.

Anita said, ""I heard from Lingsi that you want to trade with the elves?""

Su You knew that Anita was now speaking as the elven princess, since ordinary elves wouldn't have the authority to make such decisions.

""Yes. There are some things I need, but I don't expect them as gifts. I can pay the proper price."" After all, the elves were a special race, and trading with them was nothing like trading with ordinary human merchants.

But the things she needed weren't particularly valuable, and she could always buy the more expensive items later.

Anita nodded. ""Alright. The things you need will be delivered in five days."" Anita didn't even ask what Su You wanted—she simply agreed, making it clear that whatever Su You needed, whether or not it was a big deal, they would do their best to fulfill the request.

But ""do their best"" didn't mean ""anything goes."" If Su You thought saving two elves entitled her to anything she wanted, the elves wouldn't be so foolish.

After all, it's better to maintain a long-term relationship than to get a lot in one go and then cut ties. Anyone with sense would know which to choose.

Su You said, ""I need red soil and black soil to upgrade my farmland, and I need all kinds of seeds. Just give me whatever you have, one pack of each. Also...""

As Su You spoke, Elder Tongsheng took notes.

Elven record-keeping used magic to inscribe information on special materials, so it didn't require handwriting and could easily keep up with Su You's normal speaking pace.

Red soil, black soil, one pack each of all the common seeds the elves had, some wood from elven trees, three bottles of dew, and an elven planting manual.

That was basically everything Su You needed.

""I know it's a lot, but I'll prepare the money. If there's anything else you want in exchange, I can see if I have it.""

Hearing Su You's list, Elder Tongsheng gave her a surprised look.

Su You was right—she was asking for a lot, but even so, they were all things of little value.

Red soil and black soil were materials for upgrading farmland. In the human world, you could only find these fertile soils in special places, but for the elves, with their nurturing elven trees, red and black soil was everywhere in their territory."

"220. Tracking Curse

To them, these two things were nothing more than the yellow earth and sand found everywhere in the human world.

The same went for the seeds. Not to mention just one packet of each— even if she wanted ten packets of every kind, it still wouldn’t be worth a single gold coin. After all, what she wanted were just ordinary seeds, not any special, spiritual ones.

As for wood and dew, it was the same story. The former, like red and black soil, was everywhere. The latter was a bit harder to collect, but it wasn’t exactly rare either.

If anything was troublesome, it would be the elves’ planting manual. There were no printers here, so these manuals had to be painstakingly handwritten by the elves themselves.

Even though it was a hassle, in terms of value, it was hardly worth mentioning.

Elder Tongsheng glanced at Su You, then put down what she was holding. “There’s no need for such formality, Lord Su. After all, you saved the princess and Aning. You are a benefactor to the entire elven race.”

As if worried Su You didn’t know Anetta’s identity, Elder Tongsheng deliberately mentioned it.

From the elves’ perspective, as long as Anetta could return safely, no price was too high. They all knew what would happen to the elves if they lost their heir.

But in truth, Su You understood as well.

“It’s not that I don’t want better things… I’ve long heard that the elves have Life Fruit and the Flower of Rebirth, which can bring the dead back to life, and the Elven Spring, which can extend one’s lifespan. But I simply can’t afford them.”

It was the first time Elder Tongsheng had met a human who could declare their own poverty so righteously. For a moment, she was left speechless.

Even Anetta’s ever-present gentle smile faltered a little. She hadn’t expected Su You to answer like that.

“Pfft…” Anetta couldn’t help but laugh, her previously formal smile now much more genuine. “Then let’s leave it at that. If you ever really want the Life Fruit, the Flower of Rebirth, or Elven Spring Water, as long as you can gather something of equal value or the money, we’ll definitely sell you a share.”

Though these three things were incredibly precious, the elves did have some in reserve. To exchange a portion for the princess’s safety—if the Elven King himself were here, he wouldn’t hesitate to agree.

Besides, it wasn’t a gift, but a fair trade.

And this was exactly what Su You wanted to hear.

Lack of money was one thing. More importantly, even if she did get her hands on such treasures, without the right NPCs with the necessary skills, or the corresponding materials of the right level, they’d be useless to her.

So, better not to ask for them at all.

Anyway, the elves weren’t stingy. Su You’s actions would surely be remembered by them.

However… there was one slightly special item Su You did want to buy.

“Speaking of which, while I can’t afford Elven Spring Water, I can at least buy the ordinary spring water from around the Elven Spring.”

There were two kinds of Elven Spring Water. One was the water from the very source of the spring—extremely rare and precious, with only a small pool accumulated over centuries.

But the water from around the spring was different. It started as ordinary spring water, but after being infused with the spiritual energy near the source, it gained a bit of that aura.

Of course, since this was acquired after the fact, it couldn’t compare to the water directly from the source, and its effects and value were much lower.

Anetta nodded. “If you just want ordinary spring water, we can price it at ten gold coins per bottle, up to a thousand bottles.”

Ten gold per bottle was actually quite reasonable. After all, this spring water was blue quality on the stats panel, but its actual quality was close to purple. It had a wide range of uses.

It could be used in cooking and alchemy, and even in forging—using this water could improve the quality of the finished product.

Of course, Sunset Territory wasn’t yet so extravagant as to use ten-gold-per-bottle spring water for cooking or alchemy. Su You wanted it for construction—like hot springs or bathhouses.

“Then I’ll trouble you to bring me twenty bottles.” Twenty bottles would be two hundred gold coins. Su You definitely didn’t have that much on her right now—she was barely at a hundred gold. But the elves hadn’t brought the water with them anyway; they were here to rescue, not to trade.

They’d have to go back to fetch the goods, and that would give Su You enough time to gather the money.

Tang Lu had left several days before them, and by now should be on her way back. She’d arrive before the elves returned, and once she did, Su You would have plenty of funds.

It was such a good deal that Su You believed Tang Lu and the caravan leader behind her—anyone with sense—wouldn’t refuse.

And even if Tang Lu did refuse, Su You could just take back the two hundred gold coins she’d given the caravan for herbs earlier… Either way, she’d have enough to buy the spring water.

“Twenty bottles it is.” Anetta didn’t really care how many bottles Su You wanted. The elves had plenty of ordinary spring water. If Su You hadn’t insisted on paying, Anetta would have gladly gifted her dozens or even hundreds of bottles.

But she understood Su You’s reasoning, so she didn’t say anything more.

With the trade settled, it was time to deal with Anetta’s kidnapping.

Elder Tongsheng: “Are those people still alive?”

She was referring, of course, to the ones who had kidnapped Anetta and Aning.

“They’re all alive. You can take them with you when you leave. Besides them, I’ve kept all the letters and items related to their contact with the mastermind.” Su You took out the letter she’d already shown Anetta and handed it to Elder Tongsheng.

But Elder Tongsheng didn’t even look at the writing. As soon as she took the letter, she did something—Su You wasn’t sure what—and a wisp of black smoke rose from the top of the letter.

“Elder?” Anetta looked at her, puzzled.

Thanks to Vivi and the elves’ powerful healing abilities, Anetta’s injuries were already fully healed. But the damage from that mysterious bell lock remained. Right now, she was as powerless as an ordinary person, unable to use any abilities or perceive certain things.

She and Aning would have to return to the elves and see the other elders or the Elven King to examine their bodies and receive treatment.

Faced with Anetta’s question, Elder Tongsheng’s expression grew serious.

“This is a tracking curse. It’s just a low-level spell, nothing too serious.”

Curses weren’t magic—mages couldn’t use them. Only witches could cast curses."

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

**221. The Forbidden Lock Bell**

These days, there are very few witches left, and since most of their spells are shady and not meant for the public eye, even if someone is a witch, they wouldn’t flaunt their identity like ordinary mages do, parading around with pride.

“It can’t be that simple, can it?” Su You looked at Elder Tongsheng, feeling that things weren’t as straightforward as she made them sound.

If it were just a simple tracking spell, Elder Tongsheng wouldn’t have shown such an expression. Clearly, she must have discovered something else.

Elder Tongsheng had originally planned not to mention it if Su You didn’t ask, but since she did, and it wasn’t really a secret, she decided to share her findings.

“Lord Su, you’re quick to catch on. You’re right—besides the tracking spell, there are traces of dark magic on this.”

Dark magic… Does that mean a dark mage was involved in this?

Or perhaps the mastermind behind the scenes is a dark mage?

Or maybe, somewhere along the way, a dark mage tampered with this letter?

There were many possibilities, all of them plausible, but in the end, they were just guesses. The truth remained unknown.

“Besides this letter, I also have a bell,” Su You said, though she didn’t actually take the bell out.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but that she couldn’t.

Anita understood Su You’s meaning and explained the situation with the bell to Elder Tongsheng.

Anita was the one most affected by the bell, so it made sense for her to describe its effects. Even though Su You knew the bell affected her and Anning, she hadn’t experienced it firsthand and couldn’t truly empathize.

Elder Tongsheng asked, “What kind of bell is it?”

Anita had never actually seen the bell herself. As long as it was nearby, she would feel extremely uncomfortable, and the same went for Anning. Naturally, neither of them could focus enough to get a good look at it.

“I’m afraid I can’t describe it well. It would be best if you could see it for yourself, Elder,” Su You said, implying that Anita should step away for a bit.

Before the elves arrived, Su You and Anita had already experimented a few times. No matter when, as long as the bell was within a certain range, both Anita and Anning would feel unwell. But as soon as they left that range, the discomfort disappeared.

“Elder, I’ll go over there and catch up with the others about what’s been happening in the clan lately,” Anita said. Though she wanted to see the bell for herself, she knew she couldn’t, so she didn’t insist.

Her only concern now was whether the bell affected just her and Anning, or if it would affect all elves.

If it was the former, that was manageable. If it was the latter, they’d have to think carefully about how to bring the bell back to the elven clan.

They couldn’t possibly leave something that could threaten the entire elven race in the hands of a human, even if that human seemed friendly for now.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on the elder,” Su You reassured her, which put Anita at ease. She glanced at Elder Tongsheng, nodded slightly, and then left the area where the bell’s effects reached her.

When Su You took out the bell, she gave a warning. Elder Tongsheng seemed to prepare herself, but the moment the bell appeared, her expression changed.

“Could this be… the Forbidden Lock Bell?” Elder Tongsheng’s astonishment was plain to see.

Su You was just as shocked. She knew exactly what the Forbidden Lock Bell was, and she also knew it was almost impossible for it to show up here.

The Forbidden Lock Bell was the treasured artifact of the giant clan—one of the few ancient relics still intact in the world.

Su You searched her memory to make sure she wasn’t mistaken.

Every race has its own treasured artifact. For the elves, it’s the World Tree—their very lifeblood. For the goblins, it’s their ancient secret manual, their source of pride. For the giants, it’s the Forbidden Lock Bell, their trump card for suppressing troublemakers at the borders…

The Forbidden Lock Bell’s function is this: if someone’s blood is dripped into the bell, that person will be affected by it, unable to use their special abilities, and their constitution will become extremely weak—just like what happened to Anita.

Of course, that’s only one of its effects. It has others, but those aren’t important for now.

Elder Tongsheng examined the bell carefully, turning it over and over, and finally came to a definite conclusion, which also answered Su You’s doubts—

“No, this isn’t the giants’ original artifact. This is a replica of the Forbidden Lock Bell.” As she said this, Elder Tongsheng visibly relaxed.

A replica, much like copying a skill book, is a method of recreating an item with the same effects, provided you have enough materials.

But the higher the item’s grade, the stricter the requirements for replication, and the rarer the materials needed.

Something like the Forbidden Lock Bell, which can seal the powers of an elven princess, is already a gold-grade item. Successfully replicating it is no easy feat, and the replica’s effects are much weaker.

For example, although Anita and Anning had their powers sealed, as long as they returned to the elven clan, the elders and the current elven king could lift the effect—though it would take some time.

But if this weren’t a replica, but the real artifact of the giants, even the elven king or the giants’ own chieftain would struggle to break the seal. Only the person who used the bell could undo it.

As the saying goes, “Only the one who tied the bell can untie it.”

Everyone knew that the real Forbidden Lock Bell was almost impossible to find here. The giants would never let their clan’s treasure be stolen, let alone for so long without noticing.

Anyone who knew what the Forbidden Lock Bell could do wouldn’t be foolish enough to use an ancient artifact just to capture the elven princess… If you had something that powerful, why bother with the princess? Just go straight for the elven king!

That being said, knowing this was only a replica still made Elder Tongsheng and Su You breathe a sigh of relief…

Su You had worked hard to change the story’s course and didn’t want things to go off track again. After all, the decline of the elves would have a huge impact on the Sunset Continent.

“As long as it’s not the real thing,” Su You said sincerely. She knew what would happen if the elves declined, so she truly hoped they wouldn’t. Besides, she had always been on good terms with the elves and naturally felt a fondness for them.

The elves are sensitive to others’ emotions, and Elder Tongsheng could tell Su You was being genuine. She was already grateful to Su You for saving Anita and Anning, and seeing her sincerity now only increased her goodwill.

---"

"222. The Friendship of the Elves

And so, on a data panel invisible to Su You, one of the favorability values was rapidly shooting up at lightning speed.

Elder Tongsheng said, “Even though it’s a replica, if the effects aren’t removed for a long time, it can still cause significant harm. We need to take the princess and Aning back immediately.”

She wasn’t lying, but Su You knew there was another reason: they wanted to use this Forbidden Lock Bell to trace it back to its source and catch the mastermind behind the scenes.

The Forbidden Lock Bell looked impressive, but everything has its balance. While the bell could seal abilities, it came at a steep price.

First, the person using the bell couldn’t be weaker than the one being sealed—at the very least, their strength had to be equal.

Also, while using the bell, the user’s own strength would be greatly diminished. If the seal was broken, the user would suffer backlash, the severity of which would be doubled based on the strength of the sealed target.

Once the backlash occurred, the elves naturally had ways to track down the culprit.

If Su You were to evaluate the Forbidden Lock Bell, she’d say it was a “hurting the enemy by 800, hurting yourself by 1000” kind of thing. Still, in certain situations, it could be quite effective.

For example, in Anita’s case, the mastermind used ordinary people to kidnap elves, which not only kept themselves hidden but also avoided their own period of weakness.

If Su You hadn’t intervened, Anita would definitely have been in trouble, and the story would have returned to its original path. Past events had already proven that this method worked.

“Since it’s the Forbidden Lock Bell, I’ll hand it over to the elder.” The bell could only affect the one it sealed; it couldn’t harm anyone else. So Elder Tongsheng and the other elves wouldn’t be affected, and Su You could hand it over with peace of mind.

She never considered keeping the bell. For one, she couldn’t; for another, the replica could only be used once and would self-destruct after the seal was broken.

Only the original bell, owned by the Giants, could be used repeatedly. Unless she was delusional enough to want to control the elven princess, there was no point in keeping it. This replica couldn’t harm anyone else now.

“Thank you, Lord Su.” Even though it was just a replica, it was still crucial—they needed it to lift the seals on Anita and Aning. Even if Su You hadn’t offered, Elder Tongsheng would have suggested trading something for the bell.

Since Su You offered it freely and didn’t ask for anything in return, Elder Tongsheng was deeply grateful.

Elder Tongsheng said, “When I return, I will be sure to inform the king of your kindness. The elves will become a friendly ally to Sunset Territory.”

[Congratulations! Sunset Territory has gained “Friendship of the Elves.” The territory social system is now officially unlocked.]

……

……

On the seventeenth day of datafication, Su You’s Sunset Territory officially established its first friendly relationship with another race—the elves.

After this, the elves left the territory, so quickly it was as if they’d never been there at all. But before leaving, Anita and Aning came to see Su You.

They thanked her and gave her a book titled “Elven Archery Techniques.”

This wasn’t a skill book, but a book that, once read, could increase relevant attributes. It could be placed in the library for unlimited viewing.

Previously, Su You had wanted the “Elven Planting Manual,” which was the same type of book. But archery techniques were even more expensive and not something just any elf could write, so Su You hadn’t bought it. She hadn’t expected Anita to gift it to her directly.

Thinking back, while she was talking with the elder, Anita had been scribbling away—now it was clear who’d written the manual.

A free gift is always good. Since there was no library yet, and the territory only had one skilled archer, Su You naturally handed the book to Duoya.

With the elves gone, peace returned to the territory… or so it seemed.

Not long after the elves left, Su You saw a crowd gathering in the trading area.

Normally, Su You wasn’t interested in such commotion, but she spotted someone—Anjie.

He was the human mechanic she’d recruited, and the “culprit” behind the crowd in the trading area.

As she got closer, she overheard people discussing Anjie—or more precisely, the items at his stall.

“What’s he selling over there? Why are there so many people?”

“I’m not sure. I heard he’s selling some handmade trinkets.”

“Huh? So many people are interested in handmade trinkets these days? I could do that too. I’ve been good with my hands since I was a kid—I can make all sorts of little things.”

……

Listening to their conversation, Su You thought to herself: No, you’re not the same. The things a mechanic makes aren’t just ordinary trinkets.

But it seemed the others didn’t know what Anjie was selling, so their dismissiveness was understandable.

But Su You knew, and she was curious about what exactly Anjie was selling to draw such a crowd.

Since there were too many people, Su You knew she couldn’t squeeze in, so she found a higher vantage point to look down on the crowd. She saw six or seven dark objects in front of Anjie. Two of them seemed to be moving, while the others were still.

Even if she could see the items, Su You knew she might not understand what they were for, so she hadn’t planned to figure it out just by looking.

Why not use her skills?

She used several investigative skills in a row and got detailed information on the items:

[Inferior Music Sprite]

Category: Item

Quality: White

Durability: 98/100

Description: A toy that produces music by winding a spring to power a mechanical box. Due to poor craftsmanship, the music is not pleasant.

[Inferior Small Mechanical Puppet]

Category: Item

Quality: Green

Durability: 256/300

Description: A small mechanical puppet capable of performing a series of automatic actions. It can’t attack, defend, build, or manufacture. Its only function is to transport small amounts of items through limited space. Due to poor craftsmanship, it may break down at any time.

[Inferior Time Bomb]

Category: Weapon

Quality: White

Description: An ordinary bomb that cannot be set to explode at a specific time. Its power is moderate. To use, simply pull the fuse. After pulling, it will explode at an unknown time… Of course, if it doesn’t explode for a long time, there are two possibilities: either the time hasn’t come yet, or it’s broken."

"223. The Cash-Strapped Mechanic

【Mechanical Axe】

Category: Tool

Quality: Green

Durability: 87/100

Description: A mechanical axe. Its chopping power is equivalent to a stone axe, but thanks to some unique internal mechanisms, it allows the user to expend less stamina.

……

Su You: ……

She felt the need to apologize for what she’d just said.

The little gadgets this mechanic made really were just that—simple little gadgets… In fact, some of them weren’t even as good as children’s toys. At least toys don’t put your life in danger.

Out of this whole pile of stuff, the most useful thing was actually an axe—and even then, it only worked as well as a stone axe. For Sunset Territory, which had already entered the Iron Age, this was basically useless.

Su You was now starting to wonder if recruiting Anjie had really been the right decision… Of course, she wouldn’t regret it—there was no point. The tavern didn’t allow “returns.”

Still, while these things were useless from Su You’s perspective, to others, they were definitely novel curiosities.

A music box that actually plays music!

Even if it doesn’t sound very good…

A mechanical axe that makes reading easier!

Even though there are better axes out there…

A time bomb that can explode!

Though it might go off on its own…

A mechanical puppet that can carry things!

Though it could break down at any moment…

But none of that matters! As long as people find them fun, that’s enough!

Whether it was because they were genuinely fun, or just because Anjie’s prices were so low, Su You couldn’t say. But to her surprise, all these little pieces of junk—er, gadgets—were sold out in less than ten minutes.

Su You: Bro, being a mechanic is really selling you short.

Anyone who can sell off this kind of junk—oh, sorry, these low-quality goods—must have some real talent. Su You thought maybe Anjie should spend some time learning from Buguo.

After selling everything, Anjie counted his earnings with a troubled look, then calculated the stall fee he’d have to pay for setting up shop in this territory…

“Ugh… I shouldn’t have sold them at these prices. This isn’t even enough to cover half the cost of the materials!”

Anjie had always known that being a mechanic was a money pit, but he loved it so much that, as a kid, he’d rather get scolded by his parents than stop tinkering. As an adult, he was still willing to blow months of hard-earned wages on raw materials.

But this time, losing money meant he’d have to find a new place to work, get a job, save up, and buy more materials…

*Gurgle…*

Hearing his stomach growl, Anjie sighed, put away the few silver coins he’d earned, and pulled out a copper coin—his only spare change.

What can you buy with a single copper coin?

Definitely not enough to fill your stomach.

Even the coarse flatbread sold by Captain Yun’s merchant caravan cost at least two copper coins per piece.

And one wasn’t enough to fill you up—a normal adult would need at least two, and those with bigger appetites could eat three or five!

Anjie didn’t consider himself stingy, but because his beloved hobby was so expensive, he’d gone from an optimistic, cheerful young man to a total penny-pincher in every area except buying materials.

“Oh well, better eat first.” Gritting his teeth, Anjie put the copper coin away, took out a silver coin, and headed to the restaurant he’d spotted when he first entered the territory.

Since he needed to save money for materials, Anjie didn’t plan to spend much on anything else. He bought the most economical option—a big bowl of rice, just three copper coins, enough to fill him up and even cheaper than the flatbread.

The rice was soft and fragrant, and since Anjie was starving, he wolfed it down. The only downside was that, to save money, he hadn’t bought any side dishes—just the rice.

At first, his hunger made it easy to eat, but once he was half full, it became harder to swallow.

But since he’d paid for it, he forced himself to finish, even if he had to cry through it.

Unbeknownst to Anjie, Su You was watching the poor mechanic’s miserable life and fell into deep thought.

She’d only planned to observe Anjie for a while, to figure out how to recruit him to her territory, but she hadn’t expected to witness this scene.

She was too far away to hear Anjie’s mutterings, so she didn’t know his frugality was all for buying materials. She was baffled by the fact that, despite having several silver coins, he wouldn’t even spend two copper coins on a tiny plate of shredded potatoes—the cheapest dish available.

How much could materials possibly cost?

He was a mechanic, and even if his talent wasn’t great, as long as he met the basic skill requirements, how could he possibly be short on money?

By then, Anjie had already left. Su You pushed down her confusion and followed him openly.

Yue, who happened to see this, was a bit dumbfounded. He didn’t understand why the lord was tailing someone, but he was smart enough not to interfere and risk ruining Su You’s “plan.”

Of course, Su You had no idea what Yue was thinking. If she did, she’d definitely correct him—recruiting people as a lord isn’t “stalking”!

It’s called observation! It’s called research! It’s called knowing what makes them tick!

……

After leaving the tavern, Su You saw Anjie wandering aimlessly around the territory before heading into the blacksmith’s shop.

“Is he buying materials?” The raw materials for most mechanical devices were various stones and ores, with only a few exceptions.

And if there was one thing the blacksmith’s shop would never run out of, it was ore.

Su You saw Anjie chat briefly with Canglan, then leave looking disappointed.

Once she was sure Anjie had gone to the inn for the night and wasn’t leaving the territory, Su You returned to the blacksmith’s shop.

“Canglan, come see me in a bit—I have a question.” Su You entered the shop and saw there were still a few customers, so she didn’t speak to Canglan right away. Instead, she went to the backyard and asked Canglan to join her there when she was free.

Canglan: “Alright.”

A few minutes later, after serving the last customer, Canglan went to the backyard.

“Lord, what would you like to ask?”

Su You briefly described Anjie’s appearance and asked, “What did he say to you just now? He looked pretty disappointed when he left.”

Since it had just happened ten minutes ago, Canglan remembered clearly and answered without hesitation.

“He seemed to be looking for parts, but I don’t make components here, so he left.”

Thanks to an anonymous tip!"

"224. The Goblin Teacher

As for his regret... it probably just comes from not being able to buy the parts he wanted, right?

Hearing Canglan’s reply, Su You could already confirm her guess was correct—Anjie really had come to buy materials.

But it wasn’t the most basic raw materials he wanted, it was semi-finished materials.

Raw materials, like wood or fiber, are gathered directly from nature. Semi-finished materials, like cloth or planks, have been processed at least once but can still be further refined.

“Besides parts, did he ask for anything else? Or did he say anything unusual? Tell me everything.” Su You had recruited many NPCs before and was very familiar with the process. To put it simply, it was all about leveraging the target’s interests.

Anjie was a mechanic, and clearly passionate about his craft, so that was his main interest.

But aside from that, Su You wanted to see if there were any other openings.

Canglan wasn’t sure why her lord was so interested in that previous customer, but since she was asked, she began to recall their conversation in detail...

“Oh, right, I remember now!” Canglan really did recall something odd from their earlier exchange. “At first, he asked to buy parts. When I told him we didn’t have any, he asked if I could teach him how to make them…”

That was the strange part. Normally, if someone can’t buy something they really need, they’ll just ask if you can make it, how long it’ll take, and if you can hurry it up. But Anjie, unable to buy what he wanted, immediately asked if she could teach him how to make the parts. Canglan was good-natured, but if it had been someone with a worse temper, they might have kicked him out on the spot. And you couldn’t even blame them, because technically, he was in the wrong.

After all, why would a stranger teach you their trade secrets for free?

“I see. Thanks, Canglan, you can get back to work.” After hearing Canglan’s account, Su You had a good idea of what Anjie needed, and how to recruit him.

But she was still a bit puzzled—are there really mechanics these days who can’t make their own parts?

After all, the parts a mechanic needs are different from those sold on the market. Mechanic parts are more precise, more delicate, and more complex. Most of the time, mechanics make their own. If you want custom parts, you need money.

Sometimes, even money isn’t enough.

That’s why, just as the first lesson for a repairman is “knowing your materials,” the first lesson for a mechanic is “making parts.”

The fact that Anjie couldn’t make parts really surprised Su You, but also made her feel lucky—otherwise, she wouldn’t have known how to recruit him.

Now that she understood Anjie’s needs, Su You made some preparations and didn’t waste any time heading straight for the inn.

Maybe because Anjie only had basic skills and not much talent, recruiting him wasn’t difficult. In fact, the moment Su You took out her prepared items, she received Anjie’s application to join her territory.

[Wanderer “Anjie” requests to join Sunset Territory. Accept?]

After accepting, Su You tentatively asked how he’d learned his mechanic skills.

From their conversation, Su You realized that although Anjie looked gentle and clever on the outside, his personality was actually a bit... simple.

To put it nicely, he was honest and sincere; to put it bluntly, he was a bit of a fool. Not a complete idiot, but the kind who’d help you count the money after you sold him.

The following conversation between Su You and Anjie only confirmed her impression.

“My teacher... it didn’t want me to call it ‘teacher,’ but I always did.” As Anjie spoke, a nostalgic look appeared on his face. “I remember that day I got home late and ran into a wounded ‘little monster’ on the road. I felt sorry for it, so I took it home and nursed it back to health…”

The identity of this “little monster” was obvious—a goblin.

Goblins may be greedy, but that doesn’t mean they’re ungrateful, especially when it comes to a life-saving debt.

What happened next was only natural—

The goblin noticed the little gadgets in Anjie’s room and realized he was interested in such things. To thank Anjie for saving its life, the goblin taught him some mechanical skills while recuperating at his home.

Anjie’s talent was poor, but his teacher was so skilled that he managed to cram the knowledge into Anjie’s head. With both theoretical knowledge and hands-on practice, Anjie eventually became a junior mechanic.

Of course, Anjie’s own effort played a part. If he hadn’t worked hard, not even the goblin’s ancestors could have helped him.

“It was very patient with me, but I was a bit slow. I had to try things over and over before I got them right.” At this point, Anjie looked a little dejected.

Su You could tell he wasn’t lying. With his low talent, if it weren’t for the goblin’s teaching, he’d never have made any progress on his own.

But she couldn’t say that out loud.

“I don’t know if you’re slow, but you’re definitely hardworking. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be a mechanic now.” No matter how hard the process, as long as the result is good, that’s what matters.

Anjie agreed. He knew how much effort he’d put in to learn those skills.

“After it recovered, it didn’t leave right away. It stayed and taught me for a while longer, until I became a junior mechanic…”

At this point, Su You had to admit that this goblin was pretty responsible. Compared to other goblins she’d met, it was almost an outlier.

But that impression lasted less than a minute.

“After it left, I didn’t have any parts to make machines anymore, so I started wandering around.” ‘Wandering’ sounded worse than it was—Anjie was an adult man, and even if he couldn’t make a living as a mechanic, he could always find other work.

As mentioned before, all the money he earned from odd jobs went into his mechanical hobby, so his finances were always up and down. Basically... he never managed to save anything.

At this point, Su You noticed something off.

“What do you mean, after it left, you didn’t have any parts to make machines? Didn’t it teach you how to make parts?” This was the question Su You had wanted to ask ever since Canglan’s account.

Anjie: “No, my teacher... it said making parts was very difficult, and I’d have to wait a while before it would teach me…”"

"225. Timed Quest Refresh

As the conversation reached this point, Anjie suddenly felt inexplicably downcast, as if he was upset about his own lack of talent.

If only he weren’t so untalented, maybe he wouldn’t have ended up unable to learn how to make parts himself.

“…During my apprenticeship, all the parts I used were made by him.”

Oh, so he definitely wasn’t taught—otherwise, he wouldn’t be clueless now.

After hearing Anjie finish his sentence, Su You couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. With her understanding of goblins, she felt like she’d figured out what was going on.

She kept her expression calm and continued in a natural tone, “Did he give you those parts for free?”

Anjie looked a little confused at her question, as if he couldn’t understand why she’d ask that.

“No, I paid for them. He said teaching me for free was already a big loss for him, so I had to pay for every part.” Anjie thought the goblin’s reasoning made perfect sense—after all, it’s rare for anyone to teach the craft of a machinist, so being able to learn for free was already a great deal.

Su You: “……” Ah… she knew it would be like this.

Goblins and their obsession with money—unbelievable! They’d even scam their own savior!

But knowing goblin nature as well as she did, Su You wasn’t even surprised. In fact, this was exactly what she’d expected.

No wonder Anjie was so poor. He couldn’t make his own parts and had to commission them from others—no wonder he was always broke!

Even for a beginner, a single ingot of ore could be used to make a basic part.

Once you get the hang of it, one ore ingot could make two or even three basic parts. If you’re really talented, you could even use the scraps to make smaller components.

A copper ore costs fifty copper coins, so even at a one-to-one ratio, a copper part would only cost fifty coins to make.

But out in the market, a single copper part could easily sell for the price of two, three, or even four copper ores… And besides copper, there are also iron parts, which sell for several times more…

The fact that Anjie could support himself while also studying to be a machinist was honestly impressive!

As for “making parts is too hard”—that was just an excuse the goblin used to stop Anjie from learning how to make them.

He could already assemble finished mechanical products—how could he not be able to make the parts themselves?

Since when is processing semi-finished materials harder than crafting the finished product?

Su You knew the truth. But since Anjie was new here, and while his loyalty was high, his affection wasn’t, she couldn’t just come out and tell him that the goblin he saved was scamming him. Otherwise, he’d probably think she was trying to sow discord.

In the end, Su You simply told him that from now on, he wouldn’t have to spend so much money buying parts, because she could teach him how to make them himself.

“This is a basic parts crafting manual. Take a look, and if there’s anything you don’t understand, ask Canglan.” Su You could have taught him herself, but she didn’t have that much time.

Besides, Canglan had a blacksmith’s talent and could learn forging blueprints much faster. Parts blueprints were considered general blueprints, so she’d make a decent teacher.

For Anjie, being a machinist was his passion—just like cooking was for Meike. If a high-level mage could stay for the sake of a skill book, Anjie would certainly stay for the chance to have all the materials he needed.

“Thank you, my lord!” Anjie was overjoyed, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he took the parts manual from Su You and bowed deeply.

Su You: …No need to get that worked up.

Faced with such a sincere kid, Su You felt a little guilty… Not!

That goblin didn’t feel guilty at all, so why should she? She was providing a place to live, a job, and even teaching him how to make parts—what was there to feel guilty about?

“Study hard. For now, you can sell whatever you make at the blacksmith shop. I’ll provide the materials, and you’ll get a share of the profits.” There were shops specifically for machinists, but Anjie’s skills were still too basic—he couldn’t even make the simplest parts yet, so he couldn’t run a shop on his own.

The blacksmith shop had plenty of space, and stocking it with more products would be good. Machinist goods were made from ores too, so they fit right in.

Anjie: “Alright! Don’t worry, my lord! I’ll work hard!”

Successfully recruited… another loyal subject for the territory. Su You smiled in satisfaction.

She first took Anjie downstairs to check out of his old room, then led him to his new place: Residential House 4.

Residential House 4 had originally been used as a warehouse, but with supplies now abundant and several upgraded warehouses built, Su You had cleared out the boxes and moved the furniture back in, making it livable again.

Several residents had already saved up enough to buy their own homes, so the first floor was full. Anjie’s room was on the second floor, which he shared with another resident.

Su You had planned to ask him more—like what skills he already had and whether he could help the territory’s development—but just as she dropped Anjie off at the door, she received a notification—

[Timed Quest Refreshed. Please check and complete the quest promptly, Lord.]

Compared to what she wanted to say, the timed quest was clearly more urgent, so Su You didn’t plan to linger.

“This house is yours now. Settle in and start learning how to make parts. If you run into any problems, go to the blacksmith shop and talk to the owner, Canglan. I’ll let her know about you.” Su You left him some ore to practice with, then headed toward the quest board.

Anjie, just as Su You instructed, quickly tidied up his room, then took out the manual, the ore, and his tools, and threw himself into his work with single-minded focus.

He’d never had the means to work hard before, but now that he did, he was determined to put in the effort—whether for his passion or to repay the lord’s trust.

So much ore… that’s all money!

He couldn’t let the lord down!

…

…

Meanwhile, Su You had arrived at the quest board and immediately spotted three newly refreshed timed quests.

[Prosperity II] (Completed)

Issuer: Unknown

Quest Objective: Raise territory prosperity to 500 (503/500)

Quest Reward: Random Card Chest x1, Territory Reputation, Money

Time Limit: 120 hours (Time remaining: 119 hours, 52 minutes, 45 seconds)

Failure Penalty: Territory Prosperity -100"

"226. Moneylender

[Withstand the Calamity] (Accepted)

Issuer: Unknown

Quest Objective: Successfully survive the first natural disaster and achieve a B rating or above in the disaster settlement.

Quest Rewards: Territory Reputation (fixed), Money (fixed), ?? (reward based on disaster settlement rating)

Quest Restrictions: None

Failure Penalty: Territory stats and potential points will be deducted according to the settlement rating

[Develop the Territory II] (Accepted)

Issuer: Unknown

Quest Objective: Develop the territory’s economy and build shops so that there are 20 operational shops in the territory (9/20), with at least 10 of them turning a profit (5/10).

Quest Rewards: Territory Reputation, Money, ?? (random reward based on submission time)

Quest Restrictions: Must be completed and submitted by Day 29, 23:59:59

Failure Penalty: Territory receives a negative aura*1, potential points decrease

……

Although this was only the second time she’d received a timed quest, Su You was already trying to summarize the patterns, thanks to her previous experience.

1. There are currently three timed quests. [Prosperity and Flourishing] and [Develop the Territory] are chain quests, while the third is a main quest (at least for now).

2. The first quest isn’t difficult—most likely it’s meant to give you a free reward. The second quest is related to major territory events (the main storyline): the first time it was an attack by dark creatures, the second time it’s a natural disaster. These are main story events triggered by time and can’t be changed. The third quest focuses on the territory’s development itself. It’s a bit harder than the first, but as long as you manage your territory seriously, it should be doable.

3. Deliberately stalling timed quests is a bad idea!

……

After all, this was only the second batch of timed quests, so there wasn’t much Su You could figure out yet.

The first two points were easy to understand. As for the third, the reason she thought so was because this time, the [Develop the Territory II] quest restriction wasn’t a countdown, but a specific date.

If she’d kept putting off submitting the quest and waited until after thirty days, Su You strongly suspected that [Develop the Territory II] would fail outright.

Because the timing of this quest wasn’t a coincidence—it was set to end right before the natural disaster. That meant the timing was intentional, and the system probably wouldn’t change it just because you tried to stall.

Su You felt this setup would probably trip up a lot of people—unless they never submitted timed quests and never refreshed the next batch. On the other hand, the system didn’t seem to be out to maliciously punish those who didn’t submit.

Still, as the system said on the very first day in this data-driven world: “No slacking off.” Deliberately stalling timed quests could be seen as trying to game the system, or simply as being passive.

“So… why is that, anyway…” Su You couldn’t figure out the answer to her own question. For once, she irritably ran her fingers through her hair, then went ahead and submitted the first quest.

Now that she knew stalling timed quests was a bad idea, and her territory’s development was on track, Su You decided not to drag things out any longer.

Besides, she was eyeing that card chest. Recruitment cards, bounty cards—the sooner you use them, the sooner you benefit… Unless it turned out to be a building card, in which case, never mind.

Unless it was a legendary building card!

[Submit quest ‘Prosperity and Flourishing II’?]

[Congratulations on completing the quest ‘Prosperity and Flourishing’. System rewards: Random Card Chest*1, Territory Reputation +10, Gold Coins +10]

Five minutes later, Dory watched the lord appear at the shop’s entrance once again, hugging a box, and fell into deep thought.

……

……

“Not bad at all…”

Ignoring the process, Su You had managed to get two cards: one building card for a ‘Stable’, and another familiar bounty card.

The moment she got the bounty card, Su You used it right away. The bounty was similar to last time: recruiting people, especially those with skills.

This time, there was also an extra advertisement, which simply stated that Sunset Territory had many shops for rent, and the first five to rent would get a discount.

Thanks to the aura and the three completed timed quests, the territory’s reputation had already reached the nineties—almost at a hundred. So even without the aura bonus this time, the bounty card’s effect was just as good, if not better, than before.

As for the stable building card, Su You used it immediately, placing the stable behind the inn for the convenience of guests.

After all this, Su You began to consider how to complete the third quest.

‘Develop the Territory II’ was actually split into two parts: one, to have twenty shops; two, to have ten of them turning a profit.

The first part was easy. With the territory’s current stockpile of materials, Su You could build dozens of shops in no time.

But there was no need to do that—there weren’t enough people to keep them running, so it would just waste materials and lower the territory’s average prosperity.

According to the quest progress, she currently had nine shops, and with the stable, that made ten. Five of them were profitable, so she needed to build ten more shops and get five more to turn a profit.

First, shop expenses were divided into three main parts: maintenance fees (a daily deduction to keep the shop running, not charged to closed shops), employee wages, and raw material costs.

Income was simple—currently, it only came from selling goods. There would be other sources later, but that wasn’t relevant yet.

The ten operational shops so far were: Inn 1, Inn 2, Tailor, Blacksmith, Workshop, Clinic, Restaurant, Tavern, Training Ground, and Stable.

The five profitable shops were: Inn 1, Inn 2, Tailor, Blacksmith, and Restaurant.

Unfortunately, the Skills Hall was a purely functional building and didn’t count as a shop. Otherwise, with all the skill books it had sold, it would definitely be profitable.

Although getting ten profitable shops wasn’t hard, having more would let her finish the quest sooner—after all, the reward depended on how quickly she submitted it.

Fortunately, duplicate buildings counted separately. That meant if she couldn’t complete the quest the normal way, she had other options.

For example, building a moneylender.

A moneylender was a special building. Before paying out interest, a moneylender’s money was always profitable."

"227. Pastry Chef

If she were to directly build five banks, then temporarily offer high interest rates to lure people into depositing their money, the banks would show a profit as long as the term hadn’t ended yet. Once the task was completed, she could pay out the interest and dismantle the banks—essentially spending money to finish the mission.

However, if possible, Su You didn’t really want to do things this way. It was a waste of both money and materials, and she always felt that exploiting loopholes to complete tasks wasn’t quite right. So this method was only a last resort.

Su You kept this as her trump card, then began thinking about how to complete the mission through normal means.

She decided to start with the existing buildings that weren’t yet profitable.

First was the workshop. She needed to recruit craftsmen, or just have Lyle temporarily act as the boss. That way, there’d be someone to run the shop and products to sell. With the current foot traffic in the territory, making a small profit shouldn’t be difficult.

Second was the tavern, but that would require hiring a brewer.

As long as she had a brewer, there were plenty of materials in the territory, and she had enough brewing recipes. There’d be no problem brewing alcohol or making money from it.

Third was the training ground. The way to make money here was simply to open it to the public and charge a usage and maintenance fee. This was pretty straightforward—just assign someone to collect the money, just like at the post station. No special skills required.

However, the level-one training ground was small. If she opened it to outsiders, the locals wouldn’t be able to use it, and there was no need to build a second one. So Su You decided not to open it up for now, and to focus on making profits from other shops to complete the task.

Fourth was the stables. Like the training ground and post station, it didn’t require much skill. Just hire a few people to take care of customers’ horses, provide feed and water, and charge a fee.

Unfortunately, Su You didn’t have any adult horses suitable for breeding, or she could have made money selling horses as well.

The only building not mentioned was the clinic, which was a bit special. Plus, Vivi’s salary wasn’t low, so Su You didn’t expect the clinic to turn a profit.

Unless there was some accident in the territory, with lots of injuries or illness, the clinic could make a fortune… But compared to having her people get hurt or sick, Su You would rather exclude the clinic from the list of ten profitable shops.

After analyzing the existing buildings, Su You started looking through the rest of the shop options in the construction list.

When she saw the pet shop, she paused, because she thought of the perfect person to run it—Lilith.

She was a beast tamer and had the “affinity” trait. No one was more suited to be the boss.

Su You marked the pet shop, then continued searching for other suitable buildings.

Some time later…

Su You looked down to check the notes she’d made—listing the people she needed to recruit in the coming days, and the buildings she had to construct.

For example, the pet shop. She could ask Lilith if she was interested. As long as Lilith agreed, the shop could open right away. Building a pet shop took about five hours, the same as most other shops.

Although she hadn’t asked yet, Su You checked Lilith’s current favorability and loyalty, and was pretty sure this would work out.

As for the pets to sell, that wasn’t hard either. She could have Doya catch some rabbits, squirrels, fluffy pigs, golden mice (similar to hamsters, but not quite), and other cute little animals. Or she could ask the merchant caravan if they had any young animals for sale. That would settle the “products” for the pet shop.

Next was Anjie’s machinery shop.

Given Anjie’s love for all things mechanical, if he could open a shop, he’d definitely agree without hesitation.

Originally, Su You planned to have him work at the blacksmith’s for a while, but since she needed profitable shops, she decided to let him run his own place.

However, before that, he had to learn how to make parts. Otherwise, without raw materials, the machinery shop would definitely lose money.

Besides these two, Su You also planned to set up some shops like the post station—places that didn’t require much skill, just someone to watch over them to make money. Things like a hot spring, bathhouse, bank, laundry, and so on.

The first two would have to wait for the elves to deliver spring water. Ordinary water could be used to build a hot spring or bathhouse, but the effect wouldn’t be as good as with special spring water. As for the other buildings, she had enough materials.

By this calculation, there would be more than ten profitable shops. The only problem was still a lack of people.

Su You looked at her list of buildings, which filled less than half a page, then at her recruitment notes, which nearly filled two sheets of paper, and sighed quietly.

But thinking of the bounty card she’d already used, Su You quickly perked up again.

……

……

“Captain, guess what I saw at the mission hall today?” A young woman sidled up to the woman she called Captain, her face full of mystery.

This captain was Yun Li, leader of the first merchant caravan to arrive at Sunset Territory.

“Ah Ru, come on… If you’ve got something to say, just say it. Stop keeping me in suspense.” Yun Li poked her on the head, telling her to cut the nonsense.

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you… I saw another bounty posted by Lord Su today!” Ah Ru briefly described the bounty, and when she mentioned the shop rental discounts, her tone revealed a hint of excitement.

Yun Li and Ah Ru had grown up together, childhood friends for over a decade, so she naturally knew Ah Ru’s dream.

Ah Ru’s grandmother used to work as a helper in a dessert shop.

While working there, her grandmother became interested in pastries, so she paid to become an apprentice. Although the shop’s rules didn’t allow the pastry chef to take on apprentices, the chef kept her word after taking the money and taught her grandmother quite a lot, both openly and in secret.

Later, the shop owner got greedy and tried to make more money by cutting corners on ingredients, even using cheap, low-quality materials to save costs. No one could stop him, so they had to go along. In the end, they were found out.

After that, the dessert shop’s reputation was ruined and it closed down. The pastry chef who had taken the money was a decent person, and before leaving, gave Ah Ru’s grandmother a book about pastries.

With the shop gone, her grandmother took her savings and the pastry book home. She helped out with the family business and studied the book on her own, until she got married and had children, including Ah Ru’s mother.

Her grandmother wanted to pass on her pastry skills, but her mother didn’t have the talent for it. Instead, it was her granddaughter who showed promise—and Ah Ru herself loved making pastries, so she learned from her grandmother from a young age.

By now, Ah Ru was already a junior pastry chef.

On the Sunset Continent, the definition of a pastry chef was quite broad: in short, anything made with flour counted as a pastry."

"228. Going Together

This includes, but is not limited to, bread, cakes, steamed buns, mantou, and so on.

With this skill, it was only natural for Ah Ru to dream of opening her own shop. It was not just her own dream, but also her grandmother’s.

Unfortunately, while the cost of living in her city wasn’t exactly high, it wasn’t low either. She couldn’t even afford to rent a storefront. So for now, she could only follow Yun Li on her trading runs, hoping to slowly save up some money and figure out the rest later.

“You want to open a shop in Sunset Territory?” Yun Li saw right through Ah Ru’s thoughts at a glance.

The person in front of her was her closest friend, so Ah Ru didn’t hide anything. She nodded without hesitation and then quietly asked Yun Li for her opinion.

“Captain, Sister Yun~ you know I’ve loved this since I was little. Now I finally have a chance…” The big territories had high prices, high rent, and fierce competition. As a junior pastry chef, no one would even hire her at a related shop, let alone let her open her own.

So if she wanted to open a shop and run it smoothly, her best bet was to go to a smaller territory, letting her shop grow alongside the territory itself.

But small territories came with big risks. They’d seen too many territories fail halfway. So even though Ah Ru wanted to chase her dream, she didn’t dare act on her own, afraid she’d be swallowed up by darkness along with the territory.

Her parents knew her wish, too. They didn’t want to stop her, but they couldn’t help worrying. Plus, they were always busy and couldn’t keep an eye on her, so they asked Yun Li to look after her.

In other words, if Ah Ru really wanted to open a shop in Sunset Territory, the first hurdle wasn’t her parents—it was Yun Li.

“But…” Yun Li frowned, looking a little disapproving.

“Sister Yun, didn’t you praise Sunset Territory before? Lord Su is really nice and smart, and her territory is developing so well. We’ve only been gone a short while, and she’s already posted two regional bounties…” For the sake of her dream, Ah Ru, rarely so bold, interrupted Yun Li, her voice full of urgency.

NPCs posted regional bounties differently from players, but that didn’t change the fact that it was a very difficult thing to do.

So when Ah Ru saw that Sunset Territory had posted a second bounty just three days after the last one ended, she took it as a sign of rapid development and great potential—a reasonable assumption.

“Are you sure you want to go to Sunset Territory?” Yun Li looked at her, her eyes flickering with thoughts unknown.

If Ah Ru had been paying close attention, she’d have noticed that Yun Li wasn’t actually rejecting her outright—but she was too anxious to notice anything else.

Ah Ru said, “Of course I’m sure! I’ve saved up quite a bit these past few years. I don’t know what the prices are like in Sunset Territory, but I can definitely afford a year or so of rent. Lord Su seems trustworthy, and if I go early, I might even catch some shop-opening discounts…”

Listening to Ah Ru ramble on, Yun Li stayed silent, and her attitude made Ah Ru’s voice grow quieter and quieter.

Finally, when Ah Ru fell completely silent, Yun Li looked up at her—at some point, Ah Ru had gotten so worked up she was already on her feet.

“Why did you stop talking?”

“What else can I say…” Ah Ru sounded disappointed, thinking Yun Li still didn’t approve.

But Yun Li’s next words brought Ah Ru a huge surprise.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to open a shop? Tell me your detailed plan, so we can arrange for everyone to go together when the time comes.” Yun Li hadn’t been trying to stop her—she’d just been thinking about something else, and hadn’t realized Ah Ru would misunderstand.

Seeing Ah Ru freeze up at her words, Yun Li couldn’t help but smile wryly.

“Did you mean it? You agree to let me go to Sunset Territory?!”

“Mm. And not just you—we’re all going together.”

……

……

The bounty card’s effect was obvious, especially on the second day after the regional bounty was posted—the eighteenth day of the digital world—when a lot of people arrived at the territory.

At the same time, Su You received over a dozen applications to join the territory, including four NPCs with skills: a junior fisherman, a junior carpenter, a junior manager, and a junior melee fighter.

First, she arranged rooms for them, then assigned them jobs in the territory based on their skills.

Before this, Su You had asked whether they wanted to choose their own jobs or have the territory assign them. All four said they were willing to follow the territory’s arrangements, so Su You assigned them as she saw fit.

The fisherman went to the fish pond to raise fish, the carpenter was assigned to the workshop, the manager temporarily went to one of the relay stations, and the melee fighter joined the gate guards.

It’s worth noting that the fish pond wasn’t considered a shop, but a production building like the fields and pastures, so it didn’t count toward the shop-opening mission.

Besides these new residents, Su You also saw quite a few people who had come specifically for the shops, and answered many questions from those interested in renting or buying a shop.

Most of these people already belonged to other territories, so they usually wouldn’t consider leaving just to join a small one.

Some were there for information, some just to see the excitement, and some felt the prices in their own territories were too high and unsustainable, so they wanted to find a territory with potential.

They didn’t want to join another territory, but that didn’t stop them from wanting to find a good place to make money—once they’d earned enough, they’d go back to their own territory to buy a house.

As a territory that had recently been in the spotlight, Sunset Territory became their top choice.

After some discussion, two people showed strong enough interest that Su You invited them to negotiate privately.

As for the others, some didn’t really want to open a shop and left when they didn’t like the terms; some were all talk and no action, or looked down on small territories, thinking they could take advantage.

Su You didn’t bother wasting time on such people—if they caused trouble, she’d just kick them out; if not, they could stay and contribute to the local economy.

The two who stayed were an NPC with junior enchanting skills, who wanted to open an enchantment shop, and another with intermediate management skills, who wanted to open a general store."

"**229. The Enchantment Shop**

Negotiations with this enchanter didn’t go smoothly. He wanted to buy the land for his shop outright, but Su You wasn’t planning to sell any plots just yet—she only wanted to lease them out for shop construction.

The reason was simple: as the territory developed, both rent and land prices would rise. Clearly, the enchanter saw the potential of Sunset Territory and understood this, which is why he wanted to buy early.

He knew Su You, as the lord, understood this even better and naturally wouldn’t let herself get the short end of the stick.

If it were one of her own people, like Dolly or Doya, Su You wouldn’t mind selling them a plot, maybe even offering a prime location. But this enchanter was different—he wasn’t a resident and had no intention of joining the territory.

If he picked a prime spot, once Sunset Territory leveled up a couple of times, the land’s value would multiply several times over. Worse yet, if he ever decided to close shop, Su You wouldn’t even be able to collect taxes from that golden location!

The taxes from a prime location shop could easily surpass those from an entire remote street!

In short: Want to rent? Sure! Want to buy? No way!

The enchanter seemed to realize he couldn’t get his way with Su You, so after some struggle, he tried to achieve his goal by negotiating for a much longer lease.

After all, rents were low now. If he leased for ten years or so, by the time the territory leveled up and his profits increased, he’d still be paying the old, cheap rent, giving him a major competitive edge.

If other enchanters moved in, he could start a price war to maintain his position—since his rent was so much lower, his costs would always undercut the competition, letting him profit even at prices where others would lose money.

It was a good plan, but Su You still refused. She only accepted short-term leases of one year, and every time the territory leveled up, the rent would increase by a set percentage—though the increase would be a bit lower than for new tenants.

This didn’t work for him either, and he was clearly annoyed.

Enchanters weren’t as prestigious as mages, but they were still rare and respected, with a status similar to Dory the repair specialist—maybe even higher. People like him were used to being courted and flattered, so he couldn’t accept Su You’s attitude.

But no matter how dissatisfied he was, it didn’t matter. Su You was firm: “If you don’t agree, then don’t rent.”

Given the current situation, Su You really didn’t need this one tenant. She wasn’t desperate, so there was no need to compromise.

The side with less pressure always has the upper hand in negotiations, and in this case, Su You clearly came out on top.

In the end, both sides compromised: the lease was extended to two years, the rent increased by 10%, but each time the territory leveled up, the rent increase would only be 70% of the standard rate.

Additionally, the shop couldn’t be sublet or modified for anything other than business use. Any violations would result in immediate repossession; rent would be refunded, but the deposit would not.

Faced with such strict terms, the enchanter was clearly unhappy, but he gritted his teeth and agreed.

It’s said that harmony brings wealth. Su You made a tidy profit and, out of goodwill, shared some useful news with the enchanter. After hearing it, his mood improved considerably.

Compared to this difficult enchanter, the second NPC, who had intermediate management skills, was much easier to deal with.

Aside from being a bit picky about location, he had no issues with the rent or lease term, so they quickly moved on to signing the contract.

“If I want the territory to help build my shop, how much will it cost?”

There were two types of shop rentals: one was a ready-made shop you could move into immediately; the other was leasing a plot to build on. You could hire your own builders, or pay the territory to handle construction.

Having the territory build it basically meant Su You would use her materials to construct it directly—very convenient.

Su You calculated the material costs for the general store he wanted and quoted a price.

“Two gold coins, including basic furniture. If you need anything else, you can order from the shops up front.” The workshop, blacksmith, and tailor shops could make almost anything needed for daily life, so if he needed anything, he could just bring the money and order it—Su You didn’t have to worry.

“Thank you, Lord Su.” He handed over the rent, plus two additional gold coins.

At a monthly rent of three gold coins, a one-year lease totaled thirty-six gold. Add the two for construction, and it came to thirty-eight.

The previous enchanter, because of the longer lease, paid 10% more rent. Originally, two years would have been seventy-two gold, but now he had to pay an extra seven gold and twenty silver. If the territory leveled up during the lease, he’d have to pay extra rent for the remaining term, but only at 70% of the usual increase.

Besides rent, the territory also charged a “three-tax” system, settled monthly.

The three taxes were: Basic Tax (3% of total revenue), Income Tax (5% of profit; if profit is negative, no tax), and Maintenance Tax (1%).

The first two taxes went to the territory’s treasury, so Su You’s own shops could pay them or not, as she pleased. The third tax was different—it was like a maintenance fee paid to the system, unrelated to Su You or the territory, and all shops had to pay it.

After signing the second contract, Su You saw the tenant off, then took the materials to the chosen location and began construction on the general store.

[Constructing: General Store. Estimated time: 300 minutes.]

The enchanter hadn’t requested construction help, so Su You left him to it. As long as he built and opened the shop within the required time, it was fine. If the land sat empty too long, she’d reclaim it, refunding part of the rent and deposit.

The five discounted spots she’d promised were now down by two, so Su You posted a notice on the bulletin board.

This was both an announcement and a message to those still hesitating: others had already taken action, and the discounts were limited—act now or miss out!

The discount was a tax reduction: normally, the basic tax was 3%, but for the first five partners, it would only be 2% for the first year.

As soon as the announcement went up, Su You received six or seven more partnership applications at the lord’s mansion that very evening.

Since it was late and she had other matters to attend to, she scheduled detailed discussions for the next day.

(End of chapter)"

"**230. The Story of the Wolf Cub**

Although these people were anxious, they also understood that some things simply couldn’t be rushed.

At this moment, Su You, who should have been at the City Lord’s mansion, was instead standing in front of a house in the most remote part of the residential district.

“You mean you want me to run a pet shop, my lord?” The speaker was clearly Lilith.

Just as Su You had expected, she looked quite tempted. The little wolf cub that was always circling around her was, for once, quiet and didn’t interrupt her thoughts.

“Yes, I want to open a pet shop, and I need someone suitable to be the manager and take care of the animals. If you have any concerns, you can…” Su You’s words trailed off as something seemed to flash before her eyes. The next moment, a fluffy, snow-white creature appeared on her shoulder.

It was the white ermine that Su You had brought back to the territory, and which hadn’t been seen for many days.

“Huh? Why is it here?” Lilith was clearly distracted by the ermine, so much so that she forgot what they had just been discussing.

She couldn’t help but reach out to touch it, but quickly stopped when she heard a pitiful whimper—the source of which was the little wolf cub.

Su You pulled the ermine off her shoulder. She was about to put it on the ground, but paused when she saw the watery look in its eyes, then casually stuffed it into her pocket.

“Be quiet.” This was clearly directed at the ermine.

The ermine didn’t push its luck. Seeing that Su You hadn’t thrown it out, it obediently stayed in her pocket, motionless.

Lilith had been eyeing the ermine, but when her own wolf cub saw this scene, it suddenly became wildly jealous. The usually quiet and well-behaved little grey wolf bit her pant leg and pulled backward with all its might, as if trying to use its own strength to drag Lilith away from the ermine.

But it was still just a cub and didn’t have much strength. Lilith doted on it, so when she saw this, she squatted down to comfort it.

Only after Lilith repeatedly promised she absolutely wouldn’t touch the ermine did the wolf cub finally calm down.

Even so, its gaze kept drifting to Su You’s jacket pocket, its wolfish eyes full of obvious hostility and a strong urge to attack.

“Be good, I still have things to discuss right now. I’ll get you something tasty when we get back.”

Thanks to this little episode with the ermine, the previously tense atmosphere was much relieved.

Hugging the wolf cub, Lilith voiced her concerns: “I like small animals, but I don’t like dealing with strangers.”

Su You believed her—Lilith really did have an introverted personality—but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be the shop manager.

“It’s fine. If you don’t like talking to people, we can hire a shop assistant to help you. You just take care of the animals, and the assistant can handle the customers. If you need anything, you can just tell them.” Compared to taking on bounty board collection tasks, Su You believed there would be plenty of people willing to take a stable, well-paying job.

Previously, she hadn’t been able to recruit anyone because she needed people with specific skills. But for a pet shop, as long as there was one animal handler, the assistant didn’t need any special skills—just someone obedient and willing to follow Lilith’s instructions.

With Su You putting it that way, Lilith had no reason to refuse.

“Alright, once the pet shop is built, I’ll go work there. As for the assistant…” Lilith thought for a moment, then tactfully requested that the assistant be a woman with a good temperament.

Lilith didn’t like talking much because she disliked interacting with others. She wanted a female assistant partly for her own sake, and partly for the wolf cub.

She would definitely bring the wolf cub to work, and as for its mother—that formidable she-wolf—she had been killed by a male sadist…

A “sadist” was a kind of human with a strong urge to inflict pain and kill.

They craved blood, worshipped violence, and enjoyed causing suffering to other creatures. But they were also rational enough to know not to target humans—or rather, they didn’t dare target humans—so they took it out on other creatures.

If it were just normal hunting, that would be one thing; the law of the jungle is fair—beasts can attack humans, and humans can hunt beasts.

But sadists were different. To satisfy their twisted desires, they used extremely cruel methods, leaving the wolf cub with severe psychological trauma after witnessing it all.

Because of this, the wolf cub deeply hated humans and had a strong urge to attack them.

At the time, the cub had hidden well, and Lilith happened to pass by. The sadist didn’t want to be discovered by another human, so he left quickly.

Later, Lilith and her companions found the she-wolf—by then almost unrecognizable—and, true to her animal handler’s nature, Lilith buried her. During the burial, she discovered the wolf cub and naturally took it in.

From then on, the cub’s hatred of humans turned into a hatred of all humans except Lilith.

After Lilith had cared for it for a while, its hostility toward humans lessened somewhat.

Even so, it would still actively attack any male who got close to Lilith. Maybe it saw Lilith as its mother and didn’t want her to be hurt, or maybe there was another reason.

…

Requesting a female assistant with a good temperament wasn’t a harsh condition—in fact, it hardly counted as a condition at all. Even if Lilith hadn’t mentioned it, Su You would have preferred to hire a woman who liked animals anyway.

After that, Su You discussed the salary with Lilith, and received the remaining payment for the house.

“The entire first floor of this house is yours,” Su You said as she updated the permissions, then took her leave.

Next, she went to find Anjie, who was still making parts at the blacksmith’s shop, with Canglan forging weapons nearby.

Although they were in the same room, it was as if they were from two different worlds—neither spoke to the other, only communicating briefly if Anjie ran into a problem.

When Anjie learned he was about to get his own mechanical shop, he was so excited that he started bowing to Su You over and over.

If it wasn’t just her imagination, Su You even felt like Anjie was about to kneel down and kowtow… No need for that, really… It’s just a shop.

Su You forced a smile and stopped Anjie from continuing his thanks, her expression turning serious.

(End of chapter)"

"231. The Big Pig Ferret

“There’s definitely a mechanics shop, but you’ll have to learn how to make parts before you can run it.”

“No problem, no problem, that’s how it should be. If I can’t even make parts, I don’t deserve to run a mechanics shop.” Anjie grinned, then showed Su You what he’d accomplished today.

Su You had a vague feeling that something was off about Anjie’s words. When she saw the parts he’d made, she quickly realized what was wrong.

He’d just said, “If I can’t even learn to make parts, I don’t deserve to run a mechanics shop.” Logically, there was nothing wrong with that, but given how Anjie had been tricked by the goblins, it was almost impossible for him to say something like that.

Because of the goblins, Anjie had always thought that making parts was harder than making machines.

So does that mean he’s figured out he was tricked?

Su You glanced at Canglan, who, sensing her gaze, looked back in confusion... She didn’t know about Anjie and the goblins, so she had no idea Anjie had been tricked, nor whether he’d realized it yet.

“You’ve worked hard, keep it up.” Su You decided not to dwell on the issue. Whether Anjie knew or not didn’t affect the fact that he was already the territory’s mechanic.

After leaving the blacksmith shop, Su You took some materials and built a pet shop and a mechanics shop beside and behind the general store.

[Building: Pet Shop, Estimated Time: 12 hours]

[Building: Mechanics Shop, Estimated Time: 12 hours]

‘Eek?’ A faint sound came from her pocket.

“Oh, you’re still here.” Su You felt the weight in her pocket and suddenly remembered she was still carrying a little critter.

She pulled the white ferret out of her pocket, but as she did, she noticed something was off... the weight was wrong.

Instinctively, Su You looked down and saw that the once palm-sized little thing had been fed until its fur was glossy and smooth. Especially that plump body—she’d successfully raised a skinny little white ferret into a chubby “big pig ferret.”

Su You: “...”

White Ferret: “...”

Human and beast stared at each other in silence.

“Looks like you’ve been living pretty well here,” Su You said. She’d thought about the white ferret before, but hadn’t had time to check on it, worrying it might be suffering. Clearly, she’d worried for nothing.

In less than half a month, it had gained several pounds—piglets didn’t grow this fast.

‘Eek!’ The white ferret didn’t understand Su You’s words. It couldn’t comprehend human language, so it could only sense her meaning through her emotions.

“It’s late, time to rest.” With that, Su You tried to set the white ferret down again. This time, unlike before, the ferret didn’t cling to her, unwilling to leave.

After putting the ferret down, Su You was about to head back to the lord’s manor to rest, but after just a few steps, she felt something behind her. Turning around, she saw the ferret she’d just set down was following her every step.

Because of its low vantage point, the ferret didn’t notice Su You had stopped. By the time it realized, it had already bumped its head into the back of her heel, then instinctively took a few steps back.

Su You: “...” Why does this treasure-hunting ferret seem a little... not so bright?

She was just thinking this when the white ferret looked up at her with big, watery eyes.

Su You couldn’t take it anymore. She picked it up again, stuffed it back in her pocket, and brought it with her back to the lord’s manor.

...

...

The next day, Su You had planned to meet with the NPCs who’d applied to rent shops, one by one.

But although only six people had applied yesterday, by the next morning, the number had grown to ten—almost doubling her workload. If she really met with each one individually, she’d be stuck in the manor all day.

So, Su You simply scheduled a meeting for all ten applicants at once, plus herself, making eleven people to negotiate together.

That way, they could all see each other and feel a bit of competitive pressure.

The meeting was set for the afternoon, so Su You had the morning free. She planned to use the time to recruit some reliable staff for the tailor shop, pet shop, restaurant, inn, and so on, to ease the burden on Meike and the others.

Otherwise, making them handle everything personally would be a waste of their talents.

But Su You had barely sat down at her usual spot when she saw a luxurious carriage roll in through the city gates.

The carriage stopped at the entrance, and a few people got out. The gate guards asked them some basic questions, then handed each of them a token with their basic information (name, gender, age) on it.

These tokens were something Su You had just come up with a couple of days ago, mainly to prevent people from sneaking into the territory.

Whether staying at the inn, shopping elsewhere, or setting up a stall in the market, you had to show your token to prove you’d been approved by the gate guards.

It might not seem all that useful, but if there had been gate guards before, the elf kidnapping incident would have been discovered and resolved much sooner.

There were now three people guarding the gate: two who’d distinguished themselves during the elf kidnapping incident and had been reassigned by Su You, and a new resident with basic melee skills who’d just joined yesterday.

Once she recruited a few more people, Su You planned to transfer these three to the patrol team, along with Lyle-Lek, who would be the captain. They’d each lead a patrol squad, taking turns patrolling the territory.

As time passed, many things in the territory were gradually improving—not too fast, not too slow, but always moving steadily forward...

Soon, the inspection was over. The guards handed out the tokens, and the group got back into their carriage, which then headed toward Inn No. 2.

Seeing this, Su You quietly packed up her table and chairs—she’d only just set them out—and headed toward Inn No. 2 as well.

On the way, she grabbed a resident, gave her a few copper coins, and asked her to go to House 6 and tell Bu Guo to hurry over to Inn No. 2.

The reason was simple: Inn No. 2 was where the Tianhong Merchant Caravan was staying."

"232. The Transaction Concludes Smoothly

Aside from that, today marked the nineteenth day, and it had been twelve days since Tang Lu left.

The agreed-upon seven days had passed, so Tang Lu should be arriving… If Su You’s guess was correct, the person in the carriage must be Tang Lu.

Although she knew deep down that this deal was almost impossible to refuse, Su You still felt a bit anxious. However, the moment she saw Tang Lu, all her worries vanished.

“Lord Su.” Tang Lu had just set down her luggage and was about to head out to the city lord’s manor, when she unexpectedly turned around and saw the very person she’d been planning to find.

“I should have let Captain Tang rest properly, but I was a bit impatient, so I came over,” Su You said with a smile. Seeing Tang Lu ready to head out, she already understood the other woman’s decision.

If Tang Lu had intended to refuse, she wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to leave. After all, she’d spent nearly six days on the road out of seven, and some rest was necessary… Her eagerness could only mean that she’d returned with a result Su You would be satisfied with.

“You’re too kind. I was actually just about to go to the city lord’s manor myself. Since you’re here, why don’t we go upstairs and talk? I also brought along everything you asked me to deliver,” Tang Lu replied.

Su You nodded and followed Tang Lu upstairs.

On the way, Tang Lu glanced behind her. “Where’s that little girl from last time?”

From any angle, it was obvious that the “little girl” Tang Lu mentioned could only be Buguo.

“I’ve already sent someone to fetch her. She’ll be here soon.”

“I don’t know where you found such a treasure, Lord Su. That girl nearly had me going in circles several times. I thought I could get what I wanted for 350 gold coins, but she managed to push the price up by almost five percent.” If it were just twenty gold coins, it wouldn’t matter—after all, the Tianhong Caravan was wealthy and didn’t lack for such a sum. But because the price of the spatial pouch was raised, it also drove up the price of the formula.

After all, the price of a formula for something like this was usually ten times the finished product. So not only did she lose twenty gold coins, but also another two hundred on the formula.

Although Tang Lu was joking, there was a hint of seriousness in her tone.

“If Buguo were here and heard you praise her like that, she’d be over the moon.” Everyone likes being praised and wants to hear their abilities acknowledged by others. Especially since Buguo was still a child, she cared about such things even more.

Tang Lu raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Then when she gets here, I’ll say it all again. Maybe she’ll get so happy she’ll float away, and I can get an even better deal.”

Once they reached the familiar room, Tang Lu opened the box she’d brought. The moment it opened, Su You’s eyes widened at the sight of a whole chest full of gold coins.

“Lord Su, please check the amount,” Tang Lu said, stepping aside.

Normally, counting over three thousand gold coins one by one would take at least half an hour. Gold coins were the highest denomination on the continent, and with no electronic payments, there was no other way.

But people are clever.

Without electronic payments, they invented special containers for gold coins, which came in three sizes: small, medium, and large, corresponding to ten, a hundred, and a thousand coins each.

Small containers could hold up to ten coins, medium up to a hundred, and large up to a thousand.

So when Tang Lu asked Su You to check the amount, it wasn’t about counting coins, but counting containers.

The box wasn’t big enough for large containers, which were only used for transactions over ten thousand coins. Here, there were thirty-seven medium-sized containers, each packed full of gold coins, fitted so tightly that not even water could seep in.

Thirty-seven wasn’t a big number, especially since the containers were neatly arranged. With just a glance, Su You could tell the total.

In fact, even without the containers, it wouldn’t have mattered. Unlike others, Su You had a special ability: as long as she had the right to collect something, she could instantly know the quantity, no matter how much there was.

For example, as soon as the chest was opened, she saw a string of text: Collectible Gold Coins × 3700!

“Here’s the formula,” Su You said, handing over the recipe for the Tier 1 spatial pouch. After Tang Lu checked that everything was in order, Su You stowed away the gold coins. Her small treasury, which had just broken into three digits, now soared into the four digits.

With that, the goods and payment exchanged hands, and the transaction concluded smoothly.

“You can see the materials listed here, Captain Tang. They’re all fairly common, except for this spatial stone…” As Su You spoke, she took out a smooth, gray-brown oval stone from her bag. “This is a spatial stone.”

Tang Lu had just put away a formula worth thousands—potentially tens of thousands—of gold coins, when she heard this.

She looked at the stone in Su You’s hand but couldn’t see anything special about it.

“May I take a look?” she asked. After all, it was something she’d never heard of, and she needed to study it carefully if she wanted to collect more in the future.

Su You nodded and handed her the stone.

Tang Lu examined it closely, memorizing its features. With Su You’s permission, she called in another member of the caravan—a painter.

This person had no other skills, but his painting was exceptional. Though not a master, he was at the intermediate level and close to breaking through.

With no cameras available, they had to rely on drawings to avoid forgetting any details. Of course, if Su You was willing to sell the stone, that would be even better—but as expected, Su You refused.

Tang Lu was a bit unwilling to give up. She considered how much money she had on her and tentatively offered, “How about a thousand gold coins?”

The painter was still present when she made her offer. He’d already found it odd that Tang Lu had called him in just to draw a stone, but now, hearing her offer a thousand gold coins for it…

“Sorry, my hand slipped,” the painter said nervously, apologizing for ruining the paper with his drawing.

Who could blame him? A thousand gold coins for a stone—anyone would find that strange, especially since he’d examined it up close and still couldn’t see anything special about it.

But he wasn’t the type to ask unnecessary questions. The fact that Tang Lu had called him in meant he was trustworthy."

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your provided Chinese text:

---

233. Upgrading the Farmland

“It’s fine, go ahead.” Tang Lu comforted her, then turned to Su You. “So, what do you think? If it doesn’t work for you, the price is negotiable.”

Although a thousand gold coins was already a very high price—actually, based on what Tang Lu knew, it was even a bit inflated—Su You had no intention of agreeing.

“Sorry, I’m not planning to sell this stone.” With one space stone, Dolly could make eight level-one space pouches. Even if each pouch only sold for 350 gold coins, that would be 2,800 gold coins total. There was no way Su You would sell something worth nearly 3,000 gold coins for just 1,000.

But Tang Lu didn’t know this. She thought one space stone could only make a single space pouch… which was true under normal circumstances. But Dolly was a restorer.

Normally, after making a space pouch, the space stone would shatter and become unusable. However, Dolly had gotten inspiration from Su You’s earlier trick of deliberately breaking things just so Dolly could repair and upgrade them.

So she tried using fragments of space stones to repair other fragments, and she succeeded—she managed to restore a complete space stone.

Although the restored stone was a bit smaller than before, it was still a usable space stone, suitable as crafting material.

Repeating this process seven times, she ended up making seven more space pouches.

Su You was amazed when she found out the truth, but she had no intention of telling Tang Lu. The value of this secret was beyond money—revealing it could even put Dolly in danger.

After all, if space stones could be restored, what about other rare materials? Could they be repaired too?

Su You had never heard of used materials being restored before… Maybe this meant Dolly’s ability was unique to her?

In any case, she definitely couldn’t say anything about it. But she would honor her promise and tell Tang Lu how to obtain space stones.

“Are you sure there’s no room for negotiation?” Tang Lu tried to bargain, but when she saw Su You shake her head, she realized it was hopeless.

Su You said, “As we agreed, I’ll tell you how to get them. With the Tianhong Caravan’s resources, I’m sure you’ll be able to find quite a few.”

“Thank you, Lord Su.” Tang Lu sighed and accepted reality.

After the artist left, Su You put away the space stone and explained how to obtain them.

“If you kill those large monsters out in the wild, they always drop something. Space stones are one of the possible drops, though the odds are pretty low.”

“This is the only method I know of, and I can guarantee it’s real—because that’s how I got mine.”

“Of course, there might be other ways to get space stones, and maybe someone else in this world has already found them, but just doesn’t know what they are. So you could try buying stones with these characteristics.”

Of course, they couldn’t just openly tell people what they were buying. They’d have to make up some excuse and keep their real intentions hidden.

But that wasn’t Su You’s problem. Big caravans have their own ways.

…

Once the painting was finished and the artist left, Buguo arrived around the same time, and Tang Lu took out the items Su You had entrusted her to bring.

Besides negotiating for the recipe, Tang Lu’s trip back also included helping Su You transport some things.

For example, flowers needed to make the “flower clock”—Su You still needed Zhu Tang flowers, Frost Orchid flowers, and Lian Dai flowers. These weren’t rare, and with the Tianhong Caravan’s resources, they were easy to get.

“These are the three kinds of flowers you requested, Lord Su.” Tang Lu opened another box, revealing three flowerpots inside, each with blossoms of red, white, and purple, swaying gracefully and looking very lovely.

After moving the three pots aside, there was a pile of other things underneath.

“A sensing compass, diving gear, various seeds, fish fry, some ores, animal hides and tendons, rune materials…” Tang Lu introduced each item, and Su You helped take them out one by one.

Once all the miscellaneous items were unpacked, only a pile of red and black soil remained at the bottom, packaged in clear bags and looking just like regular dirt.

“Due to weight limits, we could only bring twenty bags each of red soil and black soil… If it’s not enough, Lord Su, I can have more sent later.” Since they needed to travel quickly, they couldn’t carry much—one chest of gold coins, and one chest of Su You’s supplies. That was their limit.

Su You hadn’t ordered a lot, but the red and black soil took up a lot of space and were quite heavy.

But Su You had already said these were just for filling extra space—if there was room, bring some along. So Tang Lu did her best to bring enough for five farmland upgrades.

If not for the wagon, and if Tang Lu had ridden back on horseback like before, she wouldn’t have been able to bring even a single chest.

“Thank you, Captain Tang. This is more than enough.” Su You had guessed Tang Lu couldn’t bring much red or black soil, which was why she’d also asked the elves for help.

With the elves’ soil, she wouldn’t need Tang Lu’s help anymore, and the elves’ soil was even cheaper.

“Buguo, let’s settle up.” As before, Su You gave Buguo five hundred gold coins and let her handle the details. As for the goods, Su You took them all.

After all, she’d ordered these things, and they’d gone to the trouble of bringing them. Even if there was some haggling over the price, there was no reason not to take them. The deal would go through eventually; it was just a matter of the final price.

With all these odds and ends, Su You first took the fish fry to the fish pond and handed them over to the resident in charge. Then she went to the warehouse to gather the materials needed to upgrade the farmland, and headed to the fields.

“Are there any plots that can be cleared right away?” Su You glanced over the farmland and found Yousen to ask.

Yousen didn’t know what Su You wanted, but he pointed to a section. “You’re just in time, my lord. I just harvested red grass cotton and wind grass from these plots and was about to plant the next crop.”

There were six plots in total—just enough for upgrades, with one extra.

“Alright, hold off on planting for now. I bought red and black soil, and I want to upgrade and renovate the fields over the next couple of days… Leave this plot as it is, and upgrade all the others.”

Thank you to the anonymous reader for the reward*1.

(End of chapter)"

"Certainly! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your provided Chinese text:

---

**234. The Flower Clock and the Treasure-Seeking Needle**

As she spoke, Su You selected the plots of farmland that Yousen had just marked and began upgrading them one by one.

[Do you want to use Composite Plank*10, Composite Stone Slab*10, Red Clay*4 to upgrade Basic Farmland to Intermediate Farmland?]

[Upgrading: Intermediate Farmland. Estimated time: 18 hours.]

“Keep an eye on the upgrade progress. If the farm finishes upgrading and I’m not around, remember to remind me,” Su You instructed, while piling the materials needed for the advanced farmland upgrade near the fields. To upgrade to advanced farmland, she’d have to wait for the intermediate upgrade to finish first.

Since she couldn’t upgrade right now, she decided to leave the materials here, so she wouldn’t have to carry everything back and forth later.

Yousen replied, “Alright, I understand.”

“And here are some herb seeds. I’ll have someone come over soon to clear new farmland. Plant these seeds on the new plots… Sorry for all the extra work lately. I’ll be hiring a few more people in the next couple of days. When they arrive, you’ll be in charge of managing and assigning their tasks. Leave the small stuff like watering and harvesting to them.”

Farming wasn’t particularly difficult—it didn’t require special skills. Take Dory, for example; she didn’t have any skills, yet she still managed to take good care of the first batch of crops.

For Yousen, as an intermediate-level cultivator, managing fifteen plots of farmland wasn’t hard, since higher skill levels improved his efficiency at farm work.

For example, he could clear land faster, crops watered by him would dry out more slowly, and the fields he tended had a lower chance of weeds or pests.

But now, on top of farming, Yousen also had to work on seed improvement, which was starting to become overwhelming.

If it hadn’t been for Yuae and Su You mentioning it, Su You wouldn’t have known that Yousen had been working so hard on seed improvement that he’d been skipping sleep and working through the night!

“Rest is important,” Su You said, noticing that he seemed about to refuse her offer to hire help, so she spoke earnestly.

“Thank you for your concern, my lord. I’ll take care of everything here on the farm,” Yousen replied, guessing she’d found out about his late nights, and didn’t say much more.

After all, having things a bit easier for himself was a good thing.

After giving her instructions and reminding Yousen to take care of himself, Su You took the freshly harvested Windgrass and got ready to make some Basic Agility Potions.

Leaving the farmland, Su You headed to her workshop.

She took out all the materials she’d brought and set up five workbenches for potion-making.

Since the Agility Potion required more materials, it took up two workbenches, while the other three were used for making Basic Healing Potions, Basic Defense Potions, and Basic Attack Potions.

The Basic Healing Potion was self-explanatory. The Basic Defense Potion increased defense, and the Basic Attack Potion increased attack power.

Basic Attack Potion: Increases attack by +10 after use (duration: 10 minutes). Cooldown: 1 hour.

Basic Defense Potion: Increases defense by +15 after use (duration: 10 minutes). Cooldown: 1 hour.

The materials used were similar. The Basic Attack Potion used a herb called Silverleaf Lotus, while the Basic Defense Potion used a material called Wild Steelflower.

The recipe was the same as the Basic Agility Potion: with Greenheart Grass, only one main herb plus water and a container were needed; without Greenheart Grass, three main herbs plus water and a container were required.

All these herbs came from the merchant caravans. The things Su You had spent so much money buying were definitely not useless.

“Healing potions, attack, defense, agility… If only I had some Violet Orchid Fruit and Bluegrass as well. What a shame,” Su You sighed.

The Violet Orchid Fruit and Starflower she mentioned were the main ingredients for Basic Mana Potions and Basic Magic Potions. The former increased magic attack, while the latter restored mana—basically the “blue potions” from online games, while healing potions were the “red potions.”

Both Violet Orchid Fruit and Bluegrass were specialties of Coldwind Valley. Even the Tianhong Caravan didn’t know about Coldwind Valley’s existence, so Su You didn’t expect to find these herbs from any other small merchant groups.

She could only hope the Tianhong Caravan would deliver her order soon. Without those two ingredients—especially the blue potion—things would be tough for mages.

A mage without mana was like an archer without arrows, or a musketeer without bullets… basically, they’d have no combat power at all.

…

Besides these potions, Su You had come this time to make two important items: one was the Flower Clock, which she’d been longing for—a tool for telling time; the other was the Treasure-Seeking Needle, mainly used to locate various wild-spawning buildings, including ruins.

Su You took out five different flowers—yellow, blue, red, white, and purple—and placed them on the workbench.

[Do you want to use Sunset Flower*1, Starry Night Flower*1, Vermilion Flower*1, Frost Orchid*1, Indigo Flower*1 to craft a Flower Clock?]

[Crafting: Flower Clock. Estimated time: 600 seconds.]

Next, she took out the sensing compass Tang Lu had brought earlier, along with some copper ingots, iron ingots, and a gold coin, and placed them on the workbench as well.

[Do you want to use Sensing Compass*1, Copper Ingot*3, Iron Ingot*5, Gold Coin*1 to craft a Treasure-Seeking Needle?]

[Crafting: Treasure-Seeking Needle. Estimated time: 600 seconds.]

Ten minutes later…

[Obtained Flower Clock*1]

[Obtained Treasure-Seeking Needle*1]

[Congratulations, player! You have crafted a timekeeping tool. The time panel is now unlocked. You have obtained the “Clock” crafting recipe.]

[Clock Recipe] (Learnable)

Category: Tool

Quality: Green

Description: Clock recipe. Use to automatically learn how to craft a clock. Materials required: Iron Ingot*1, Gear Component*1.

…

Su You opened her panel, and sure enough, in a familiar corner, she saw a string of familiar characters—19d-9h-38m-14s.

This string of characters looked odd, but it actually meant 19 days (d), 9 hours (h), 38 minutes (m), and 14 seconds (s).

Su You didn’t really understand why time had to be displayed this way, but it wasn’t a big deal—she was used to it by now.

With a way to tell time, many things would be much more convenient in the future… Su You put away the Flower Clock, planning to hang it at the entrance of the Lord’s Manor. Besides being practical, the Flower Clock looked quite nice—it was made from five different flowers, after all, so it couldn’t look bad.

As for the clock recipe, Su You planned to give it to Anjie to learn.

Although he’d only joined the territory less than two days ago, his loyalty had already risen to 85—a very fast rate. Su You had no worries about him betraying the territory.

(End of Chapter)"

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your provided Chinese text:

---

235. Materialization

Besides, this recipe wasn’t particularly rare to begin with, and some of the required materials—parts—were exactly the kind of things only blacksmiths and mechanics could make.

Leaving the workshop, she headed to the smithy and handed the recipe to Anjie. Now, of all the things Su You had bought from Tang Lu, only a few packets of flower seeds, several sets of diving gear, a pile of raw materials, and a freshly made treasure-seeking needle remained.

The flower seeds were reserved for the flower shop. Flowers could boost prosperity, increase residents’ happiness, and also serve as decorations to make homes more comfortable.

Since the territory hadn’t recruited a florist yet, ordinary people could plant flowers, but it was troublesome, so these seeds would have to be set aside for now.

As for the diving gear, as the name implied, it was equipment for diving. She’d bought it for future exploration along the southern coast, and the potions were also for coastal expeditions.

The treasure-seeking needle, of course, was for the forest ruins!

The forest ruins event was supposed to appear on the ninth day—the day before the dark creatures attacked. But now it was already the nineteenth day, and she still hadn’t found where the ruins were.

Since she couldn’t find it by normal means, she’d have to use a tool.

Otherwise, if something like ruins kept being delayed, it could easily lead to complications and unexpected changes. If it dragged on until the double calamities, who knew what might happen.

Since it was still early, Su You took out the treasure-seeking needle to try it for the first time. She opened the metal lid, then gently flicked the needle with her finger—

[Do you want to use the treasure-seeking needle to locate the nearest special structure?]

[Yes]

[Locating…]

[Locating…]

With a ‘ding’, the wildly spinning needle suddenly stopped. Su You frowned slightly as she looked in the direction it pointed.

She stood up and began to walk slowly in the direction indicated by the needle. To avoid overshooting, she paused every few steps to check the needle again.

In this way, Su You advanced, stopping every three or five steps, and before long, she found herself back in the farmland area.

Faced with Yousen’s confused expression, Su You glanced at the little stream she’d fenced off and the treasure-seeking needle, which was now spinning erratically, and a suspicion began to form in her mind.

She went to the restaurant to find You’ai—he’d originally been at the post station, but since that wasn’t really his specialty, and Su You didn’t want to waste a mage’s time, she’d assigned two loyal workers to the post station instead.

With nothing to do at the post station, You’ai had started following Meike around like a shadow. Since Meike was often in the restaurant, You’ai ended up helping out there too…

Which was perfect! A water mage’s magic was incredibly useful for washing dishes!

So, since Meike liked to cook but hated washing up, he kept You’ai around, which meant that when Su You arrived at the restaurant, she saw the rare sight of a mage using his magic to wash dishes.

Su You: …

It was just as well the kitchen wasn’t open to the public. Otherwise, if people saw that not only was the chef a fire mage who loved to cook with fire magic, but even the dishwasher was a mage using water magic…

It might make for a good gimmick, but it would also look like she was exploiting them somehow. If word got out, it might even attract the attention of the Mage’s Guild.

Su You took a deep breath, walked over to You’ai, and asked him to put down what he was doing and come with her.

You’ai didn’t know what was going on, but didn’t ask. He just told Meike he was leaving, wiped his hands, and followed.

…

“Lord, why did you bring me here?” You’ai looked in confusion at the little stream before him, not sure what Su You wanted.

But he was curious. He remembered that when he first arrived, the stream hadn’t been fenced off—he’d even fetched water from it. Then, one day, it was suddenly closed off, and Yousen often reminded him not to go near it.

“You’re a water mage, so you’re more attuned to water elements. Use your magic to check this stream and see if there’s anything unusual.” Since Su You didn’t know exactly what might be here, she couldn’t give You’ai a precise answer—she could only ask him to take a look.

Still, Su You suspected that whatever was in this stream was related to Event III.

III: [Gurgle, gurgle—something seems to be rising and falling?]

With the answer in mind, the ‘question’ was clear: ‘Gurgle, gurgle’ was the sound of water, and ‘rising and falling’ referred to how most things behave in water.

What she needed to know now was: just what was it that was rising and falling?

“I’ll give it a try.” You’ai was about to open the gate and walk up to the stream to investigate, but Su You stopped him.

“Just stay here.” If the stream really was the trigger location for ‘Locked Event III’, then usually, unlocking such events caused quite a commotion…

You’ai did as told, crouching three or five steps from the stream and closing his eyes.

Although Su You and Yousen weren’t mages, they could vaguely see a blue substance drifting in the air around You’ai.

As the color of this ‘blue substance’ deepened from nearly transparent pale blue to a darker shade, almost as if it would swallow You’ai, Yousen grew worried.

Yousen: “My lord… is this safe?”

Su You shook her head and explained simply, “That’s just the materialization of water elements. It’s normal.”

It was normal—any mage probing an area aligned with their element would trigger element materialization.

What Su You didn’t say was that normally, these materialized elements would dissipate quickly. But here, the blue elements floated around You’ai like dandelion fluff, showing no sign of fading.

This meant two things: first, there was definitely something unusual about this stream—she was in the right place, and the treasure-seeking needle wasn’t broken; second, whatever was wrong here involved a strong concentration of water elements.

Elemental materialization usually couldn’t last long due to insufficient elemental magic. If it persisted this long, it meant the opposite—there was not only enough elemental magic here, but it was abundant.

Su You habitually searched her memory for similar situations, but before she could recall anything, she suddenly heard a ‘gurgle, gurgle’ sound by her ear.

(To be continued)"

"Certainly! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

---

236. The Sunken Underwater Labyrinth

This sound was exactly as described in the incident report!

Just as Su You realized something was wrong, the stream in front of her—only a few meters wide and deep—suddenly erupted from below like a volcano, giving her no time to react.

The massive water jet burst forth with tremendous force, not only tearing up all the ground nearby but also flooding the closest farmland.

Yousen had been watching that area the whole time. He didn’t have time to worry about the crops being submerged; he just managed to pull Youai back as the water erupted, saving him from being hit by the powerful blast. If he’d been struck, the impact could have seriously injured him.

“Thank goodness… thank goodness I was standing far enough away…” Youai gasped for breath, looking both frightened and exhausted, as if he’d used up too much magic.

Now he finally understood why the Lord had just told him not to squat near the stream. If he had, he wouldn’t be standing on the ground right now—he’d be up in the sky!

That water jet would have launched him straight into the air!

He had no doubt about the water jet’s ability to “lift you high.”

[‘Sunken Underwater Labyrinth’ discovered. Incident unlocked.]

After confirming Youai was unharmed, Su You instructed them to disperse all the people who’d been drawn over by the commotion caused by the water jet.

Yousen and Youai followed Su You’s orders, but the process didn’t go smoothly. After all, most people are naturally curious and love to watch a spectacle, so hardly anyone wanted to leave—instead, the crowd grew noisy and restless.

“Hey, buddy, tell us what’s going on… Don’t just stand there!”

“Don’t push me! Ugh, if you can’t see, don’t get in my way!”

“Why are you kicking us out? We all live here! If you don’t tell us what happened and something dangerous happens later, what are we supposed to do?”

“Yeah, just let me take a look. I’ll leave after I see.”

…

Yousen wasn’t a fighter, and although Youai was a mage, he’d just used up a lot of magic investigating and was feeling drained.

So if these people insisted on staying, there wasn’t much they could do to stop them.

This was exactly the kind of situation where a patrol squad would be useful. If the territory had a patrol team, this sort of thing would never happen—people would think twice before causing trouble, and if anything did happen, there’d be someone qualified to handle it.

Fortunately, Lyle and Lake arrived just in time. Faced with these two burly men—so different from the two scrawny ones before—the noisy crowd gradually quieted down.

Besides Lyle and Lake, more residents from the territory arrived to help maintain order. With more people on hand, they finally managed to send the gawkers away.

Well, “sent away” was a bit of an exaggeration. In reality, people just stopped trying to get closer, but many still stood at a distance, craning their necks to see what was happening.

Lyle and the others knew that if people really wanted to watch, there was no stopping them.

After all, they were just standing there, not doing anything else. They couldn’t just drive everyone away—there were too many people, and it would look bad if word got out.

So, if people wanted to watch, let them—just as long as they didn’t take another step forward and interfere with Su You.

The commotion here was so loud that even the people from the Tianhong Caravan, living on the other side of the territory in “Station 2,” sent two people over to see what was going on.

Lyle recognized them, so after a brief explanation, he said nothing more.

In any case, things finally settled down.

…

Meanwhile, as soon as the system notified her that Incident III had been unlocked, Su You immediately opened the territory’s information panel and found the spot where the information was displayed—

Incident III: [It is said that ten thousand years ago, the Sunset Continent did not exist; it was a world of nothing but ocean… Over the ages, islands gradually formed, and the wonders once buried beneath the sea were hidden in the depths. When humans appeared, some claimed these places for themselves, while others left their mark for the benefit of future generations… The Sunken Underwater Labyrinth is an opportunity, a blessing, and a disaster.]

…

How to put it… The background of the Sunset Continent had been mentioned before, and Su You was quite familiar with it. The first half of the description matched what she already knew.

As for the latter half, introducing this “underwater labyrinth,” the wording sounded light, but Su You approached it with caution.

Humans weren’t present at the birth of this world, but nature is wondrous—treasures can be born without human intervention.

If this underwater labyrinth really was left behind by people, that would actually be a good thing. After all, an individual’s power is limited, and so is what they can create.

But if the labyrinth was formed entirely by nature—meaning no one had ever discovered it before—then its danger level would definitely be five stars.

But in the study of balance, danger and opportunity always go hand in hand. Just as the incident description said, this isn’t just a disaster—it’s also a chance and a blessing.

The dangers humans can create are limited, and so are the “opportunities” and “blessings” they can leave behind. But if it’s a purely natural labyrinth, then behind its five-star danger, there must also be five-star treasures.

Just as Su You was considering whether to step closer for a look, two floating messages appeared before her eyes—

[Sunken Underwater Labyrinth (★★★☆) is now open. This ruin will sink back underground in three days.]

[Countdown: 47 hours, 58 minutes, 54 seconds]

…

“Only two days…” Two days to prepare, to learn about the ruin, to explore and solve all its traps—there just isn’t enough time…

Especially since this is a three-and-a-half-star difficulty ruin!

But to give up on exploring it entirely? That’s impossible—if a mountain of gold is right in front of you, who would walk away just because it might be a trap?

Most people wouldn’t. They’d only think about how to get past the traps and take the gold for themselves. Su You was no different—she wanted that “mountain of gold” too.

But as she stared at the hole in the ground, water gushing out like a fountain, she fell into deep thought.

Desire is one thing, but life is most important. If you lose your life, no treasure is worth it.

(End of chapter)"

"237. No Way Out: The One-Way Maze

After a moment, Su You turned to Yuwei beside her to ask about the situation.

Su You: “Did you notice anything unusual just now?”

Yuwei had actually wanted to speak up for a while. At first, he’d been startled by the water jet, then got sent off to disperse the crowd, and when he returned, he saw Su You deep in thought, staring at the gushing hole. That was why he hadn’t had a chance to speak until now.

Now that Su You brought it up, Yuwei hurriedly shared his findings.

“Yes! At first glance, this little stream seemed perfectly normal, but I discovered… it’s really deep!” Yuwei began recounting his exploration from the beginning, describing everything in detail for fear of missing anything important.

At first, he didn’t know what might be inside. The stream was shallow and clear, and didn’t look like it was hiding anything, so Yuwei only used a small amount of water magic to investigate.

But then he noticed something odd—when he probed with magic, he realized the stream wasn’t just a few meters deep as it appeared on the surface.

His water magic could keep going deeper and deeper, and the further it went, the dimmer the light became… In Yuwei’s own words, it felt less like he was probing a stream and more like he was falling into an abyss.

“…I don’t know how deep I went, only that I vaguely saw a beam of light, so I followed it—and then I saw a magnificent building.”

From Yuwei’s description, Su You suspected this building was the so-called “underwater labyrinth.”

As for how Yuwei was able to “go” so deep, it was because his magic bypassed the surface and directly sensed the submerged labyrinth. Although the stream looked shallow, no one really knew what lay beneath it.

Using magic and the corresponding elements to investigate was a method unique to mages. If Su You had to do it herself with her current means, unless she dug three feet into the ground, she’d have no easy way to discover the maze.

“I didn’t actually enter the building, because the moment I opened the door, the ground started shaking…” And then the “geyser eruption” happened.

But that wasn’t all—Yuwei still had something special to report.

“It’s like this: when the ground was shaking, I tried to steady the water element to get a better look at the building. I failed in the end, but I did manage to spot a series of carvings. They looked a bit like writing, a bit like symbols. I couldn’t read them, but I memorized them.”

Hearing this, Su You immediately took out her pen and paper. Yuwei quickly took them and, relying on his memory, drew out the string of characters as best as he could.

Su You took the paper, frowned at the black ink on white, and then slowly read aloud: “No way out. Only in, no exit.”

Yuwei stared at Su You in surprise, amazed that she could actually read the writing… But then he remembered she was their lord, so maybe it wasn’t that strange after all.

In fact, the more their lord knew, the happier Yuwei was—because it meant she was even more capable, and a capable lord meant a better future for the whole territory.

Suppressing the urge to flatter her, Yuwei pointed at the writing and tentatively asked, “My lord, do you know what this means?”

It was true he’d translated the symbols into words, but what did those words actually mean?

Taken literally, it was simple: a maze with no exit, only entry. But could there be a deeper meaning behind those eight characters? That was anyone’s guess.

Su You didn’t know either. After all, she hadn’t been inside yet, and just these eight words didn’t explain much… At most, they warned that the labyrinth was extremely dangerous. If she really wanted to explore it, she’d have to be mentally prepared—

—Prepared to never return.

“This is a treasure-filled maze, but extremely dangerous… Let me think…” By “think,” she meant she needed to consider whether she really needed to explore this maze.

There were certainly rare treasures inside, but her territory was thriving. With all the card and treasure chest rewards, her development speed was as fast as ever—she had no compelling reason to risk exploring this place.

Without absolute certainty, she wouldn’t let greed drive her to do something she might regret. Even if she could stay out of it herself and just send others in, she wouldn’t do that either.

“Take a good rest for the next couple of days. Don’t let Meike run you ragged again.” Although she hadn’t made a final decision, if she did decide to explore the maze, Yuwei would have to go.

Not only because he was a water mage, but also because he was the one who triggered the maze… In most cases, having the trigger person participate increased the chances of success.

So Yuwei was a must, but Meike definitely wouldn’t be going.

After all, he was only a beginner fire mage.

With the natural elemental disadvantage, his effectiveness in the maze would probably be worse than Lyle and the others.

“Yes, I’ll go let Lord Meike know in a bit,” Yuwei nodded.

Su You took out materials and repaired all the fences destroyed by the water jet, then spent more materials to restore the flooded farmland.

Yousen looked at the mess, heart aching—nothing hurts a planter more than seeing their fields destroyed.

Especially when the crops were almost ready for harvest!

Fortunately, the upgraded fields Su You had worked on earlier were closest to the water jet’s point of eruption, and since nothing had been planted in those upgraded fields yet, the losses were much less than they could have been.

…

After repairing the damaged buildings, Yousen stayed behind to tidy up the farmland. Lyle and Laike also helped out, taking the opportunity to open up new fields, while Yuwei, following Su You’s instructions, went off to rest.

The onlookers, seeing that everyone was dispersing, assumed the excitement was over and left as well.

Among the residents who’d come to help, two said they’d seen the notice board and wanted to work as farmers, so Yousen kept them on.

It was just in time—some fields had been flooded and needed to be replowed and replanted, giving Yousen a chance to teach them hands-on.

As for the other residents, seeing that things had settled down, they were about to leave—when Lyle stopped them."

"238. Reliance

Under their puzzled gazes, Lyle handed out ten copper coins to each person. Though it wasn’t much, it was enough for a meal—essentially a treat to thank them for their help just now.

“This is a reward from the Lord for assisting us earlier,” Lyle said as he distributed the coins. Everyone who received the money was very grateful.

“Thank you, my lord. Thank you, Mr. Lyle.” The money wasn’t a lot, but it was the thought that counted. Besides, they hadn’t really done much—at most, they’d just stood there, serving as a deterrent to the troublemakers. Getting a free meal out of it already made them quite happy.

If Su You were to open the territory residents’ panel at this moment, she would see that the loyalty and favorability values next to these residents’ names had both increased significantly.

Lyle reported, “My lord, the money has all been distributed—ten copper coins each.”

Su You nodded, then pointed to the spot where the water was still gushing out. “You two are responsible for watching over this place for the next couple of days. Don’t let anyone except Yousen and the farmhands get close.”

Lyle replied, “Understood.”

…

Although there had been a minor disturbance earlier, thanks to timely handling and good follow-up, the appearance of the underwater labyrinth hadn’t caused any further issues in the territory.

Everything was in order, with no mistakes.

After arranging for people to guard the entrance to the labyrinth, Su You returned to the lord’s manor, picked up a certain “little pig” who was still sleeping on her bed, and took it with her to Post Station 2.

A few minutes later, inside Post Station 2.

Tang Lu watched Su You return, glanced at the fluffy white creature still fast asleep in her arms, and thought of the two people who had just come to ask about the news. She kept her expression neutral, but she already had some guesses in her mind.

“Captain Tang, are you interested in ruins?” Su You got straight to the point as soon as she sat down.

Her meaning was clear: she wanted the Tianhong caravan to join in exploring the underwater labyrinth.

This kind of treasure-filled ruin wasn’t exclusive to her—others on the continent, or rather, other NPCs, the natives of this world, could also enter if they discovered it.

If someone could share the risk, and if those helpers were strong enough, then the labyrinth might just be worth exploring.

Of course, the spoils would be less, since those who share the risk would also expect a share of the rewards—no one works for free.

“You mean the spot where the water just erupted? What kind of ruin is it?” Tang Lu was no fool. She already thought it odd that a small stream had suddenly burst forth from underground.

But since it was someone else’s territory, she hadn’t asked, not wanting to be a bother. Now that Su You brought it up herself and even hinted at cooperation, Tang Lu didn’t hold back and voiced all her questions.

“Yes, that’s the place—a sunken underwater labyrinth.”

Su You first answered Tang Lu’s question, then stated her purpose directly: “I’ll be honest, I’m inviting you because my territory isn’t strong enough. But with treasure right in front of me, I’d be unwilling to just give up…”

“This is a ruin close to legendary level, and it will only exist for two days. If Captain Tang is interested, I’ll need your answer by tomorrow—otherwise, there won’t be time to prepare.” The one-star, two-star rating system was a difficulty index used by players, or rather, calculated by the system.

But on Sunset Continent, they had their own way of measuring difficulty.

For example, a one-star ruin was considered ordinary, two stars was difficult, three stars was epic, four stars was legendary, and five stars was ancient or primordial.

This underwater labyrinth was rated at three and a half stars, which made it essentially an epic ruin, bordering on legendary.

“Are you sure it’s a near-legendary ruin?” Tang Lu raised her eyebrows, seemingly in disbelief.

Su You nodded, very certain. “Yes, I can guarantee it 100%.” After all, it was information shown by the system—there was no way it could be wrong.

Because their previous dealings had gone smoothly, and Tang Lu had also heard from acting captain Bai Qiu about the caravan’s cooperation with Sunset Territory and the Coldwind Valley incident, Tang Lu had a good impression of Su You and knew she was no ordinary lord.

She didn’t know how Su You got this information, but she believed everything Su You said—there was no reason for her to lie.

If it were a low-difficulty ruin, Su You wouldn’t need to invite her, since that would just mean giving away profits for nothing.

If it were a high-difficulty ruin, Su You wouldn’t deliberately downplay the danger, as that would only endanger everyone involved, including her own people.

“Lord Su, you’re so straightforward that you’ve put me in a tough spot… but I have to admit, I’m tempted.” If it were just an ordinary ruin, there’d be no point exploring—the rewards would be too meager.

A difficult ruin would offer decent rewards, but splitting them between two parties wouldn’t leave much for either.

But this was an epic ruin, nearly legendary—challenging but not impossible, with generous rewards. Normally, there’d be no reason to refuse.

However, the team she’d brought was a merchant caravan, not a group specialized for exploring ruins. That was why Tang Lu was interested but hadn’t agreed right away.

“Since you know so much about ruins, you must also know that labyrinth ruins are always much harder than other types. Even if this one isn’t quite legendary, since it’s a labyrinth, the actual difficulty is probably already at that level.”

“Of course I know, but risk always comes with opportunity.” Tang Lu was right—labyrinth ruins were indeed more difficult than other types, but the rewards were also much greater.

Every labyrinth had countless paths, each possibly hiding treasure. The more paths, the more treasure… and where else has more paths than a labyrinth?

Nowhere—only labyrinths offer endless possibilities, and endless risks.

“If I’m inviting you, Captain Tang, it’s because I have something to rely on.” Su You didn’t intend to reveal her trump card just yet, since Tang Lu hadn’t agreed to cooperate.

Tang Lu understood what Su You wanted to hear. After thinking it over, she nodded slightly.

“If things are as you say, Lord Su, then the Tianhong caravan would be glad to cooperate on this venture.”"

"239. Cooperation

“So, can Lord Su tell us what your trump card is now?” Tang Lu looked at Su You, unable to understand what exactly gave her the confidence to claim she had something to rely on.

She had to admit, Su You was indeed impressive—given time, this territory would surely become one of the top territories on the Sunset Continent.

But that was the future. Right now, this was just a small territory that had been developing for less than a month. Tang Lu really couldn’t imagine what Su You could possibly have up her sleeve.

“My trump card… is this.” As Su You spoke, she placed a large bundle she was holding onto the table.

The table, slightly cold and quite hard, wasn’t exactly comfortable for sleeping. So, the little white ferret—who had been sleeping soundly and hadn’t even woken up when Su You carried it across half the territory—finally woke up the moment it was placed on the table and left Su You’s arms.

“Chirp?” The just-awakened ferret’s eyes were still a bit hazy, and its soft, fluffy fur shifted as it moved, making it look even softer and more comfortable.

Tang Lu resisted the urge to pet it, forcing herself to meet Su You’s gaze.

Tang Lu asked, “And this is…?”

Su You replied, “Just a little fellow with treasure-seeking beast bloodline, that’s all.”

Tang Lu: “…”

A treasure-seeking beast bloodline? And you say ‘just’?

Tang Lu was speechless.

But now she understood why Su You claimed to have a trump card… What’s the hardest part about a labyrinth?

It’s the countless winding, complicated, and indistinguishable paths!

With everything looking the same, it’s almost impossible for a normal person to find the way out.

But treasure-seeking beasts are different. They find their way by instinctively sensing treasures…

To put it simply, every treasure might have its own unique “sound” or “scent,” which only treasure-seeking beasts can detect.

So, when they search for treasure, they navigate by the actual location of the treasure, not by following the paths. Naturally, they’re not bothered by the labyrinth’s tricks.

Sure, labyrinth ruins are hard—extremely hard—but with a treasure-seeking beast, the difficulty drops dramatically. Treasure-seeking beasts are the undisputed nemesis of labyrinths!

“I really didn’t expect Lord Su to have… such a treasure.” And indeed, she hadn’t. While treasure-seeking beasts weren’t unheard of, they were still rare—after all, their bloodline was coveted, and only one in ten thousand could truly survive.

Tang Lu had seen treasure-seeking beasts before. In fact, her caravan had two—one bought at great expense, and the other acquired from a special place, also at considerable cost.

Those two little creatures were pampered in the caravan, treated to the best food and drink—short of burning incense for them, they did everything. Even so, treasure-seeking beasts had their own tempers.

They were intelligent, so whenever you needed their help, you usually had to “beg” them for quite a while.

This was the first time she’d seen such a… docile and affectionate treasure-seeking beast.

Docile, because this white ferret honestly didn’t look very bright; affectionate, because most treasure-seeking beasts weren’t close to humans, but this one was different. As soon as it woke up, it clung to Su You’s hand and wouldn’t let go. Even after Su You pushed it onto the table several times, it kept snuggling back up to her.

Honestly, Tang Lu was starting to doubt whether this was really a treasure-seeking beast. If it was, she wanted to drag her own caravan’s two over to have a look—“See what your kin are like! Learn something!”

Tang Lu’s complicated expression was obvious, and Su You naturally noticed, but she pretended not to and continued on to another topic.

“It was a water mage from my territory who discovered this ruin. When the ruin opened, he found a string of text.” Su You took out the writing that You Ai had just drawn.

Tang Lu withdrew her complicated gaze and took the paper. With just one look, her expression grew grave.

“So Captain Tang recognizes these characters too.” These were ancient characters. While not lost to time, they were rare and not very useful—most people wouldn’t bother to learn them.

Su You had only learned them herself to decipher a certain secret-room ruin, which contained many books written in the ancient script. She’d stayed up late studying just for that.

After finally mastering the language, she translated the books—only to find the secret room’s owner’s love triangle story. The entire bookshelf was filled with romance serials, completely unrelated to the puzzle. Su You was so angry she didn’t log into the game for a whole day and night.

The next day, the first thing Su You did was bring a backpack full of high-powered explosives and brute-force her way through the secret room.

Annoyed as she was, she didn’t forget what she’d learned—especially since it had come in handy several times since. So, Su You’s knowledge of ancient script was second only to her understanding of that particular backstory.

“I only recognize some of it. It’s been so long, I’ve forgotten most.” Tang Lu wasn’t sure if her translation was accurate. If it was, then this labyrinth might be even harder than they’d imagined.

“Pathless labyrinth… Only in, no out? No wonder…” No wonder Su You wanted to cooperate.

They said treasure-seeking beasts were the nemesis of labyrinth ruins. Tang Lu had wondered why, with a treasure-seeking beast—even if this was a near-legendary ruin—Su You didn’t just go it alone. Why did she come to her for cooperation without hesitation? Now she understood.

Even if those eight characters weren’t entirely true, if Tang Lu were in Su You’s shoes, she’d also want to be cautious and find partners.

After all, treasure-seeking beasts weren’t omnipotent.

“Captain Tang doesn’t regret it, does she?” Su You smiled, not mentioning that she’d deliberately saved this information for last.

Tang Lu rolled her eyes, then pretended to be annoyed as she “threw” the paper back.

“A promise is a promise—no backing out. But since this is a partnership, we should clarify the terms of profit distribution…” Tang Lu wasn’t the type to show her true anger so openly if she was genuinely upset.

Her blunt retort only showed she wasn’t really angry—just a little annoyed, but that feeling quickly faded and wasn’t worth mentioning.

After all, it was her own fault for not noticing Su You had withheld information, and for not asking about how the ruin was triggered. She couldn’t blame Su You for keeping it secret… Besides, Su You had only kept it hidden for a while, and eventually brought it out anyway.

Since she hadn’t caught Su You’s omission earlier, Tang Lu naturally wanted to negotiate for a larger share of the profits.

After some discussion, Tang Lu’s side would send ten people, bringing their own supplies.

(End of chapter)"

"Certainly! Here’s a fluent, natural English translation of the provided Chinese text:

---

**240. The Three-Five Split**

Among these ten people, seven were skilled fighters, with both melee and ranged specialists. The remaining three, while not combatants, were still capable of protecting themselves, and each possessed a unique profession.

One was a doctor, one a spirit medium, and the last a mechanic.

Tang Lu had originally wanted to send a few more people, but Su You insisted that too many would be unnecessary. After all, mazes tend to have narrow passages, and a large group could be more of a hindrance than a help—not to mention harder to manage.

After listening to Su You’s reasoning, Tang Lu agreed and settled on just ten people.

On Su You’s side, only four were chosen: Duoya, Vivian, Lyle, and Yue.

Yue was a given—he was a water mage and the one who triggered the event, so he had to go.

Duoya was a ranged specialist, less likely to trigger traps, agile, and well-suited for most operations.

Vivian was a healing mage. It was precisely because of her presence that Tang Lu didn’t assign a healer from her own caravan, even though they had one.

As for Lyle, he was brought along because he was an outstanding adventurer.

A seasoned adventurer, with enough experience, develops a keen sense for danger… To put it simply, Lyle’s experience would be invaluable in the ruins.

Besides these four, Su You herself would also be going.

She needed to bring the white ermine with her, and it simply wouldn’t behave for anyone else. That alone was reason enough for her to join.

And when it came to exploring ruins, among all these people, she could confidently claim to be second to none!

She hadn’t cleared over a hundred ruin dungeons by luck alone.

Most importantly, even though this was a partnership, the two sides weren’t exactly familiar with each other. There had to be a leader—otherwise, in such a dangerous place, any internal conflict could lead to disaster.

Tang Lu had considered this as well, so not only were her ten people highly capable, but they were also all even-tempered. Anyone with too much pride or arrogance had been left out.

Even so, before entering the maze, she spoke with all ten, instructing them to follow Su You’s orders as long as their own safety wasn’t at risk.

If an order was dangerous but seemed reasonable, they could decide for themselves whether to follow it.

Finally, regarding the division of spoils, the two sides agreed to a “three-five split”: Tang Lu’s group would get 30%, while Su You’s side would get 50%. If there were items of uncertain value, they’d be converted to cash.

Although Tang Lu was providing more people, this was Su You’s territory, and the ruins had been triggered by her side. All the information came from Su You… Most importantly, Su You had a treasure-seeking beast.

That one treasure-seeking beast was worth several people, so Tang Lu’s numerical advantage didn’t really count for much.

The remaining 20% would be distributed based on actual contributions.

After all, no one knew what would happen inside the ruins. Whichever side contributed more would get that extra share.

With all the arrangements settled, Su You set the exploration for the following morning, giving everyone enough time to prepare. That afternoon, she needed to get ready herself and also meet with those she’d previously arranged to discuss shop rentals.

After about two hours of “meetings,” three more shops were added to the territory: a teahouse, a furniture store, and a bun shop.

The teahouse was rented for three months at nine gold coins, the furniture store for six months at eighteen gold, and the bun shop owner was decisive, renting for the maximum one year at thirty-six gold coins.

In addition, each of them gave Su You two gold coins to help with shop construction.

Sixty-nine gold coins in total—once, that would have been a huge sum, but after selling her recipe, Su You now had over three thousand gold coins on hand. This amount didn’t seem like much anymore… But recipes were rare, and valuable ones even rarer.

That kind of windfall wasn’t something you could count on every day. Hoping to get rich off it was just wishful thinking.

Rental income and taxes, on the other hand, were the territory’s most stable source of revenue—the simplest and most fundamental economic cycle for any territory’s development.

…

With the shop matters settled, Su You took her money and went on another shopping spree at the caravan. This time, instead of buying everything she saw, her purchases were all carefully chosen—materials for making potions and runes.

Tang Lu, with her keen eye, immediately recognized the uses for these materials and understood what Su You intended. She even gave Su You a discount—after all, these were all life-saving supplies for tomorrow’s maze, and the more they had, the higher their chances of success.

Once she’d finished shopping, Su You, satisfied with the prices, didn’t bother haggling and took her materials straight to her workshop.

She locked herself in, surrounded by piles of materials like small mountains, with her desk and the floor equally cluttered.

As time passed, these materials were transformed by Su You into runes etched with special patterns and bottles of colorful potions.

【Obtained Intermediate Luck Rune x20】

【Obtained Intermediate Illumination Rune x10】

【Obtained Intermediate Recovery Rune x30】

【Obtained Intermediate Earth Rune x20】

…

【Obtained Basic Water Defense Potion x15】

【Obtained Basic Lightfoot Potion x10】

【Obtained Basic Stamina Potion x30】