Chapter 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."