Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Even though the main structure of the treehouse residence was the large trees, that little bit of wood wouldn’t be nearly enough."

"The wood supply was insufficient, so energy would have to make up the difference. All Mu Ying could do was hope to gather more energy.

A thought struck Mu Ying: the Spring of Restoration should be quite valuable, after all, it was a product of orange-tier mythic equipment. Besides, it would be fully replenished by tomorrow anyway.

She converted all the remaining Spring of Restoration into energy. Sure enough, it didn’t disappoint her—she got a full 200 points.

Suddenly flush with energy, Mu Ying felt much more confident and decisively converted the blueprint for the treehouse residence.

The most important thing in building a treehouse is, of course, the tree itself—the bigger and taller, the better. The advantage is that it doesn’t affect the tree’s growth, and being elevated above the ground makes for more efficient use of space.

This patch of forest was right next to the Green Mountain Woods, and the trees were quite mature. Just three of them could support a small treehouse of about 20 square meters. Building one required 20 energy and 20 wood.

Mu Ying tried building the smallest treehouse.

Plank by plank, the wood took shape at her chosen spot, forming a tiny, pointy-roofed treehouse. Vines that had originally clung to the tree trunks were drawn up to the treehouse walls, paired with petite arched doors and windows, giving it a whimsical, fairytale-like charm—just as she had imagined.

In the harsh post-apocalyptic world, a warm and beautiful dwelling like this brought a sense of comfort and peace.

There was a small platform in front of the treehouse door, with a plank railing engraved with “Treehouse No. 1.” A wooden ladder hung from the edge.

Mu Ying climbed up the ladder and pushed open the door. Inside, it was empty—no furniture at all—except for a small fireplace in the corner connected to a chimney, and a tiny stove attached to the fireplace.

Furniture didn’t count as territory facilities, so their absence was normal. But what surprised her was that the fireplace was made of the same wood as the treehouse itself.

Mu Ying snapped her fingers, conjuring a small flame at her fingertip. She touched the flame to the wooden plank, but the surface seemed to have an invisible membrane—completely unaffected by the fire.

This fireproofing was impressive; she wouldn’t have to worry about fires when cooking indoors.

Running her hand over the wood grain, Mu Ying could still smell the fresh scent of the trees. She instantly fell in love with the place.

Unfortunately, she only had enough wood for one treehouse. If she ran short, 1 point of energy could substitute for 2 units of wood.

Mu Ying did the math: after converting the shop blueprint, she’d have enough energy left to build three more treehouses, with 20 points to spare.

She spent 100 energy to convert the shop blueprint.

Once exchanged, the shop blueprint displayed a list of shop types.

[Shop Types: General, Clothing, Food, Furniture, Weapons, Armor, Accessories, Materials, Potions…]

Mu Ying opened one category. Inside were all the shops available to camp-level territories.

A quick glance showed a wide variety of goods—some shops required a lot of energy, others had high requirements.

The most basic and affordable was the low-level general store in the General category. It didn’t require extra energy, just meeting the merchant’s requirements.

That was exactly what she needed. The general store covered all the basics—food, clothing, shelter, and travel. Though the selection was limited, having a general store in camp meant that as long as you had money, you could survive.

Even among general stores, different merchants had their own features and requirements.

[Copper Coin General Store: Sells standard adventuring supplies, wide selection, low prices. Requires population >100, tax ≤4%.]

[Home General Store: Sells standard adventuring supplies and various textiles. Requires two-story residences, no rent, tax ≤5%.]

…

Mu Ying searched for a long time. Most options had requirements like those above—minimum population, specific shop styles, or tax rates. Tax was negotiable, but population was out of her control.

The goods were mostly the same—standard adventuring items—but some stores, like Home General Store, offered specialty products.

In the end, Mu Ying simply filtered for stores that met her current conditions.

[Oak General Store: Sells standard adventuring items, buys all kinds of animal and plant materials. Requires territory to have a strong natural atmosphere and lush vegetation.]

Compared to the others, this store’s requirements were much simpler—no tax stipulation at all, which made Mu Ying a bit concerned about the owner’s business sense.

But the focus on a natural environment appealed to her. She felt a sense of kinship, and figured the shopkeeper would be pleased with her territory’s environment.

Mu Ying immediately recruited them, using Treehouse No. 1 as the address.

[Recruitment successful. Merchant will move in on the next working day. Countdown: 13:59:59]

“Working day?” Mu Ying calculated—it would be tomorrow during the day. She could wait.

She built the remaining three treehouses, numbering them as well.

“Treehouse No. 2 (Occupied)”

“Treehouse No. 3 (Rent: 10 copper coins/day)”

“Treehouse No. 4 (Rent: 10 copper coins/day)”

Since no one had much money yet, it made sense to rent out the residences. She planned to live in No. 2 herself, so its sign showed “Occupied.” Nos. 3 and 4 were up for rent. Once she accumulated more energy, she could build more.

Constantly converting Spring of Restoration into energy was wasteful; it would be best for the territory to become self-sufficient.

Besides that, Mu Ying also changed the appearance of the territory’s protective barrier.

The territory was now surrounded by a low wall of glowing, firefly-lit vines. The glow came from patterns on the vine leaves. Near Moon Lake, there was an arched main gate woven from arm-thick vines. A plaque hung atop the gate, reading “Green Mountain Camp” in softly glowing characters—eye-catching and beautiful, sure to attract more people.

Next to the camp gate was a double-sided notice board, also outlined in vines, with a message visible both inside and outside the camp.

These were the territory rules she’d just set. Rules made by the lord could not be violated by others, so she was absolutely safe within her own territory.

“Green Mountain Camp Rules (Provisional):

1. Entrance fee: 5 copper coins/day

2. Tax: 5%

3. No fighting of any kind within the camp

4. No damaging camp facilities (including trees within the camp)”

Whether it was the main gate, the low wall, or the notice board, they were all just for show—Mu Ying had simply changed the appearance of the territory’s protective barrier. The vines weren’t actually alive, just part of the shield.

However, others could only enter and exit through the main gate, while she herself could come and go from anywhere.

The entrance fee was half that of other camps. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to make money, but her camp was still primitive, with only one shop. Earning copper coins early on wouldn’t be easy, so she’d rather go for low margins and high volume to quickly accumulate funds.

With the pretty new wall, gate, and four treehouses, the camp finally looked the part.

Mu Ying spent the night moving all her belongings into Treehouse No. 2.

Since there were no shelves, most things had to be piled on the floor, making poor use of space.