Chapter 007: Recruiting the Guard Team

Zhou Bai and his family came outside early in the morning and this was the scene they saw.

Seeing everyone's spirited appearance, his mood was also unconsciously influenced.

At this moment, Zhou Bai also understood the significance of having a territory.

Without a territory, would these people adapt to the environment so quickly? No!

Normally lazy, he silently added a little responsibility onto himself.

Then, Zhou Bai directly looked at the Lord module on the control panel.

And at first glance, Zhou Bai noticed the territory map.

Because there were significantly more red dots than yesterday, even a small group of Demon Beasts had appeared.

Zhou Bai quickly said to his parents beside him, "We guessed right, the number of Demon Beasts has increased and it seems they have a target, moving towards our territory."

Zhou Zhengping and Ding Qiurou listened with a more serious expression.

Although they had anticipated this, it was not good news for them.

This Doomsday Game was really pushing them to combat, forcing them to strive to grow stronger.

The more this happened, the more it meant the environment might become more perilous in the future.

"Should we alert the others?" Ding Qiurou whispered, seeing the readiness within the territory, she knew there were quite a few teams that had gone out; if they encountered a large number of Demon Beasts, it would be bad.

"Not suitable!" Zhou Zhengping directly vetoed, "If we alert them, what do we do if they ask where the information came from?"

Ding Qiurou immediately understood and quickly shut her mouth, prioritizing their daughter over others.

Zhou Bai's eyes flickered slightly and he immediately said, "I actually have a way to alert others without exposing it."

Both their gazes swiftly turned towards him.

"You probably forgot, I am the Lord, I can issue tasks and notifications, and all residents within the territory will receive them," Zhou Bai responded, "I just need to recruit some members of the Guard Team to protect the territory. Anyone with a bit of sense can guess the reason, and besides, it's about time the territory established a protective force anyway, killing two birds with one stone."

This was something he had thought of the moment he saw an increase in Demon Beasts; everyone was thinking of heading out to collect or hunt, leaving the territory like an empty shell. If the Demon Beasts attacked, his losses would be huge.

More importantly, he never forgot the note on the Lord panel.

"Territory can only be conquered by the Lord."

In his view, this might mean that there would be future battles between territories.

Therefore, the strength of the territory was very important.

Even if he was wrong, having a stronger territory wouldn't cause any harm.

Zhou Zhengping listened, nodded in agreement, and couldn't help but reach out and pat his head, "Do as you think is best!"

He really had grown up!

Or rather, it was only in times of crisis that he knew just how capable his daughter was.

Subsequently, Zhou Bai opened up the Lord Mansion building and began to post notices directly on the bulletin board above.

"Recruiting Guard Team, 20 people, 100 copper coins per day, personal ownership of dropped supplies."

"Rescue survivors task, rescue one person, reward 1 copper coin."

"Purchasing linen, 2.2 copper coins per unit."

"Purchasing … "

As the notices were published, the residents received the notification and were stunned when they saw it; they had only received purchasing tasks before, but they hadn't expected recruitment tasks to be added today.

"A Guard Team should mean protecting the territory, is there any danger to the territory?"

"Personal ownership of dropped supplies, could there be a Demon Beast attack like yesterday, and the Guard Team's task is to counter the Demon Beasts?"

"Don't we have a protective shield for the territory?"

"But what if the protective barrier has conditions? What if it stops working after a certain point?"

"Then wouldn't the territory no longer be absolutely safe?"

"There's no such thing as absolute safety, what we have now is already pretty good."

"So, are you guys going to sign up?"

"Of course we're signing up, the conditions are good, and it's for the benefit of the territory."

"By the way, is this recruitment task automatically issued by the territory, or is someone controlling it?"

"That, I'm not sure about. For now, no one has come forward to claim the Lord Identity, so let's assume it's ownerless!"

"If there really is one, it's better hidden; I don't want the territory to become chaotic due to power struggles."

"..."

Suddenly, the entire territory was bustling with activity, and many people chose to sign up. After registering, some of the more timid ones abandoned their plans to travel outside. There had been quite a few teams that had gone out before them; they would wait to hear about the outside situation from those returning and then decide whether to go out or not, as there was no rush.

As for those who felt they could handle it, they still took their teams out.

Outside, the teams that had gone out earlier to gather and hunt around the territory had received the notification as well.

Li Xingteng was leading a team, and when he saw the notification, there was an involuntary flicker in his eyes.

After they had left today, they definitively noticed an increase in the number of Demon Beasts around. However, since his team consisted of eight or nine people, whenever they encountered a Demon Beast, they would swarm it. Additionally, with the Iron Axe, they generally managed to deal with the Demon Beast in just a few moves.

They could say that today had been a fruitful one.

However, correspondingly, as they killed more Demon Beasts, their physical strength depleted faster, and they were now resting on a cleared space.

"Brother Li, the number of Demon Beasts has indeed increased today, and some higher-level ones appeared as well. It seems like the territory has also noticed, hence the recruitment," one person approached Li Xingteng and said.

Once he started talking, others couldn't help but join in.

"But the income for guarding for one day seems a bit low!"

"Brother Li, are you going to be a guard?"

"..."

The others also gathered around Li Xingteng, each adding their thoughts.

They had originally entered the territory following Li Xingteng, and it was thanks to his guidance along the way that they were able to smoothly enter Hope Village. Afterwards, it was only natural that they formed a team, with him as the leader.

After two days of effort, even the lowest among them had advanced to Level 2. As for the gains, they were proportional to the effort.

So they truly respected this leader.

That's why they were interested in seeing what Li Xingteng planned to do next.

Li Xingteng, seeing their anxious expressions, straightforwardly said, "I plan to join the Guard Team."

"What about our team, then?"

"If you're interested, you can sign up with me. Who says the Guard Team can only stay within the territory? Given the territory's current scale, 10 people would suffice. Choosing 20 might be intended to split into two teams: one to stay behind and the other to go out. After all, the territory must also be looking to upgrade its guards," Li Xingteng analyzed. "If not selected, you can continue to form your own team for hunting, then wait for the next opportunity. Right now, the Guard Team has 20 people, but as the territory upgrades, surely more will be needed."

By then, those who entered first and were capable could potentially lead a team.

And judging by the current development of the territory, everything was progressing in a positive direction.

So as long as the territory had potential, he would unwaveringly follow it.

Relying on the territory was stronger than struggling alone!

The others listened, their eyes lighting up, won over by Li Xingteng's analysis. The next moment, they also signed up.

Afterwards, once everyone had rested, they began searching for Demon Beasts in the vicinity again.

Regardless of the standards used by the Guard Team, being at a higher level always added more possibilities.

Just like Li Xingteng and his team, many others had the same thought, hence Zhou Bai distinctly noticed that after the news about recruiting for the Guard Team had spread, the number of Demon Beasts around the territory was steadily decreasing.