Chapter 20: Envious Players

After having the scorpion warrior and the bandaged mummy stand guard together, Richard returned to the hall and habitually opened the [Forum Chat].

Two days had passed, and he did not know how the other lords were doing.

[F*ck! Today, we attacked a small logging field and encountered an Elite 3-star wild monster. I f*cking clashed with a husky monster… Why would an elite-level creature appear in a small logging field? All the troops I recruited were all sent out!!!]

[You might not believe me if I tell you this, but today, I met an NPC caravan. On board were aborigines. You didn't see them. Those aborigines used earth dragons to transport resources. Those are rare-level troops! I was so envious that my eyes turned red.]

[The one above is nothing. The NPC caravan that I met was planning to trade with me. However, my territory doesn't have any unique products. The other party took one look and left.]

[Pui, this is blatant discrimination! Hmph, these bastards, I'll let them know! Thirty years to the east! Thirty years to the west! Don't bully the young and poor!]

[Where on earth can I get food?!! My population has already exceeded 300!! But I really can't f*cking afford anymore!!!]

[This was the first time I knew that 300 people had to consume so much food every day to eat. Who can lend me some food? I promise, when I'm rich, I'll pay back tenfold!]

[Hahaha, I finally have an elite-level troop lair!! I used half the population of my territory to be cannon fodder and finally captured that desert troop lair. But this doesn't seem to be anything worthy of happiness. Those residents have all run away because of this. Damn it! These days are too hard!]

[F*cking game developer, don't let me know where you are!!! Why did you develop such a dehumanizing game? The residents of my territory rebelled just because they were hungry for a day!!! F*ck! Wasn't it just a day without food? What right did they have to rebel!! So what if they rebelled? They even ransacked my territory!! Can we still live like this?!]

[It's too hard. Why is this world so hard... How can we manage our territory like this? There's a shortage of food, water, and resources. And the outside world is filled with powerful wilderness troops. It seems like they're cursing…]

Richard looked around for a long time and found that most players live miserably.

Only a few of them could barely manage, but there were also many problems.

In comparison, Twilight City was too comfortable.

For two days, they had already established themselves in the desert, the forbidden land of life.

Although the food was not abundant and the water was scarce, it was countless times better compared to the miserable lives of the other lords.

After looking for a while, Richard suddenly thought of something.

He took out two resource treasures that he had exchanged for 800 units of food—the Russian olive seed and the spring water fragment.

"Ten mu of Russian olive seed, maturing once a month... Without a doubt, this kind of stable food source, the earlier you plant it, the better."

"Although the income from hunting is high, it's not stable. It isn't a long-term development plan for the territory."

"But the problem is that adequate irrigation is necessary for the Russian olive seeds..."

"And there's only one piece of the spring water fragment. How can I get the other two pieces?"

"It's typically not realistic to open the treasure chest by myself... I still have to buy it from other players."

As Richard's thoughts spun, he had an idea.

"Under the premise of ensuring the consumption of Twilight City, I can take out a portion of the food in exchange for the spring water fragment. I can start planting the 10 mu Russian olive seeds as soon as possible..."

"A Russian olive seed that can steadily produce food is greatly significant to Twilight City since it is in the desert."

The desert was not a fertile place. Stable food production was not a guarantee.

Twilight City could not always rely on hunting to solve the food problem.

Hunting was fine when the population was small, but when the population grew to 3 - 4 thousand, or even tens of thousands, how many preys did they have to hunt every day to be satisfied?

If the territory wanted to develop, they had to farm.

After Richard made the decision, he asked someone to call Karu.

Without waiting for Karu to bow, Richard immediately asked.

"Karu, after today's prey is processed, we have how many total units of food left?"

Karu's slightly turbid eyes looked directly at Richard. His voice was old and steady.

"Lord Richard, after today's prey is processed, there are still 1,300 units of meat, including the 3,200 units in the warehouse. So, there is still a total of 4,500 units of meat left."

"However, drying these fresh meats into dried meats will cause too much damage."

"Initially, we still have 500 units of coarse wheat left..."

"All the food added together can support the territory's consumption for half a month. If we save some, we can last for 20 days."

Richard's eyes narrowed slightly.

Half a month's worth of inventory was far from enough for a territory. The ability to resist risks was too weak.

However, in the early stages, where opportunities were precious, there was no need to save so much. A portion was enough for development.

Ten days' worth of buffering was enough.

After having a plan in mind, Richard immediately got up and went to the warehouse of the mansion... 

All the resources in Twilight City were in the warehouse.

Karu also arranged for a few people to guard it day and night.

Richard took 1,000 units of fresh meat from the warehouse and posted the information for a reward in the reward column of the [Trading Market].

[One thousand units of raw meat reward resource treasure: Spring water or spring water fragments x2.]

This information immediately appeared in first and second place in the reward area.

The reward column ranked items according to their corresponding value.

The system determined that his 1,000 units of fresh meat were worth more than all the items put up for reward.

In such a large [Trading Market], there were countless rewards.

However, it was the first time he had seen a meat item on the reward list using food. Furthermore, it was 1,000 units of meat.

These caused many lords who were short of food to be so envious that their eyes turned red.

They quickly started discussing in the [Forum Chat].

[I just saw that a big shot called Qing Qiu posted 1,000 units of meat just to exchange for a trash item. For what do you think this spring water fragment is? The water in my territory is flowing out every day…]

[I can't afford it!!! Why only exchange for a treasure? Ahhhhh! 1,000 units of meat. I can let the residents of my territory eat for 10 days. A bowl of meat soup every day. Won't they die of beauty?!]

[More people are dying than others! One thousand units of meat in one go. This is just the beginning... Who is so generous?]

[This is the first time I've seen such a tycoon. What kind of life is this big shot called Qing Qiu leading?!]

[Why is there someone who has so much food at this stage?? I'm not convinced!! Why can I only eat porridge today…]

These two messages immediately caused several players experiencing a shortage of food to wail.

When they were still worried about food, someone had brought so much food and meat in exchange for a piece of spring water fragment, a treasure that was trash to the rest. It simply made them envious...