I Live on the Land in Global Games
Chapter 100 - 99 Chaotic Stone Forest

Chapter 100: Chapter 99 Chaotic Stone Forest

Mu Ying wouldn’t consider a dirt road.

Given the nature of the Doomsday Game, it was almost impossible to hope that a dirt road once built would remain in good condition for long.

Just think about what happens to a dirt road with low human traffic in reality—it might be overrun by weeds within a few months.

Although she pinned her hopes on this road, hoping it would bring in a large permanent population, the truth was, even with a road, those who dared to venture out for exploration would still be a minority for the short term.

This was a slow and steady process; there was bound to be a period at the beginning when the use of the road would not be high.

Stone slab roads were the best, but required more materials and were a bit strenuous to build, so gravel roads were better. Since the materials were the same, upgrading to stone slab roads later would just require adding a few more materials.

But even for a gravel road, if she were to replace materials entirely with energy, it would cost 12 energy points per meter, making one kilometer of road cost more than one Gold Coin.

Even though she now had more than thirty Gold Coins, building a gravel road to connect the two territories didn’t seem like a major issue, but Mu Ying felt it was a bit of a waste.

Since territorial income was completely derived from residents, the structure of the residents’ income was very important.

Currently, the vast majority of people in the territory were making money by hunting monsters, which wasn’t stable.

As the saying goes, this is reality, not a game. There were only so many monsters and wild beasts, and they would not respawn. Relying solely on this meant that everyone would gradually become poorer, and then her territory wouldn’t be sustainable.

Moreover, only a few had good Attributes, and many, like Liu Luoluo, were at the upper limit of their Attributes and Profession.

Liu Luoluo could still rely on her Healing Magic to make a living, but what about those in combat professions?

Mu Ying felt that she, as a Lord, was really breaking her heart for her residents, trying to find ways for them to make a living.

The territory now needed a large amount of stone, and she thought it would be better to outsource the gathering of stone. This would save her money and also provide the residents with extra income.

But unlike her, others didn’t have Storage Pouches, and the efficiency of transporting stones was low and very dangerous. Mu Ying couldn’t bear to see her residents die over this as each death meant one less money sack for her.

In the end, after much consideration, Mu Ying’s gaze still fell back on the Sub-camp.

She suddenly realized the correct way to use the Sub-camp.

Using it to encircle land for farming as she had done before was somewhat wasteful. If it weren’t for the special location of her territory, surrounded by forests, it would be better to cultivate the fields within the territory itself.

Wouldn’t it be better to use the Sub-camp to enclose resource points?

Iron Mine, Coal Mine, Gold Mine, Gemstone Mine — Mu Ying swallowed and could almost smell the scent of wealth.

Were there any mines around Coastal City before?

The Sub-camp could only be built within a certain range of the territory. This range was extremely wide. At her current Territory Level, it could cover both the original area of Coastal City and Qingshan Forest, offering a large selection.

But after careful consideration, Mu Ying couldn’t recall any mines around Coastal City.

However, she was just a high school student before, spending most of her time moving between the forest, school, and her part-time job locations, with limited knowledge of the city. It seemed necessary to ask around.

Those matters were not urgent for the moment. First, she needed to set up a quarry.

This was simple, there was a Chaotic Stone Forest to the Northwest of Qingshan Town.

When night fell, Mu Ying mounted her broom and headed out, flying straight for the largest stone mountain.

After circling the stone mountain, she nodded to herself, feeling it should be sufficient.

The Sub-camp was limited to one hectare at most, and she couldn’t cover the entire mountain within it, nor did she need to.

If she did cover it all, why would she need anyone to mine it? Everything within her territory was under her control, and she could directly convert the stones in the territory into material and collect them.

She planned to establish a sub-camp between the largest stone mountains, ideally each of which would connect at the edges, and then to dig mining tunnels; when the time came, she’d have people mine inside.

The stone mountains here had a very low content of soil, so the risk of collapse wasn’t significant.

However, this also reminded her that she would need to find an expert in mining later on. After identifying new mining sites, it would be dangerous to proceed so crudely without professional guidance.

Mu Ying found a suitable location and descended directly.

After landing, it seemed as if she stepped on something. She looked down and was surprised to see a stone bird, with its feathers intricately detailed and lifelike, as if it were a real bird cast in stone.

The stone bird was already broken into several pieces, and her step caused its body to shatter even further, leaving only a half-broken bird head.

Mu Ying nudged the shattered body with her foot, and some of the stones inside were actually crimson.

Feeling a sense of unease, she looked around. Far off, between two mountains, a pair of faint green eyes appeared.

The distance was great, and the creature’s color was very similar to the rocks. Even with Dark Vision, had it not been for those faint green eyes, she might not have noticed it at all.

After making eye contact for a few short seconds, she felt her body grow stiff.

She quickly looked down, avoiding its gaze, her hands trembling as she struggled to use the sub-camp token.

The Territory Shield unfolded, and Mu Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief.

According to the World Forum, no monsters above level 4 had appeared in the wild yet. With a Territory Shield capable of defending against level 5 monsters, she was safe for the moment, regardless of what that creature was.

She stood there stiffly, unable to even set up the Transmission Array, as her body felt immobilized.

Thudding footsteps and violent impacts sounded.

Thankfully, the protective shield held strong, remaining intact despite the relentless assaults from outside.

An hour passed, then two, and only with daylight did the ashen gray color on her gradually fade away.

The monster that had pounded on the Territory Shield all night seemed to realize it was futile and ceased its frantic battering.

Once Mu Ying regained control of her body, she hung her head and immediately turned the transparent protective shield into a foggy white, obscuring any outside view.

She had realized there was something wrong with the monster’s gaze, and it seemed to affect only those who made eye contact with it.

Avoiding its gaze, Mu Ying could still feel the chilling sensation of its eyes on her, but her body did not grow stiffer.

Indeed, once the Territory Shield blocked the external view, the chilling sensation on Mu Ying disappeared.

"Whew–"

She sat down on the ground, her heart still racing. After standing motionless all night, her entire body was numb.

What was more terrifying was the impending sense of doom.

If it hadn’t been for the weakening effect of the stiffening, the sense of desperation and helplessness she had felt might have driven her mad.

She should feel fortunate that she only made eye contact with that gaze after landing; if it had happened while in mid-air, she might have ended up like the stone bird.

A mere hair’s breadth from death.

She took a while to compose herself, forcing herself to calm down, squinting her eyes and slowly raising her head.

Thankfully, she didn’t feel stiff this time.