“Big brother, where did you go? Why have you only come back now? I’ve been waiting so anxiously at home!”

Though she was still far away, Su Chan sounded as if she might cry.

However, before she could rush up to Su Mo and leap into his arms like a little bird, Su Chan’s emotions gradually settled down.

“That’s a good girl. Something came up suddenly, that’s all.

“Don’t worry! There isn’t a single place in this New World that can hold your big brother!”

Su Mo brushed his hand lightly over Su Chan’s smooth hair. He then looked at Oreo laughing happily beside him, and at Chen Shen and the others who were surging out from the village entrance.

Su Mo stood up nimbly before coming forward.

“Shelter Leader! You’re back!”

“Yes, nothing happened here at home, right?”

“No, nothing happened at all. Everything’s fine. The foreign races around our territory have been very quiet. Since winter’s coming, even they’ve begun to work hard!”

“That’s great!”

After rapidly getting an understanding of the situation from Chen Shen and making sure that the ents from before had not taken this opportunity to invade the basin, Su Mo was finally able to be at ease.

The leadership arrived after that.

The crowd that had just surged forward began making its way back into the village again.

“Leader Su, this is the gate we built yesterday afternoon. The sign hasn’t been hung yet; we’ve been waiting for you to come back to do the honors.

“The lanes in the village were paved using a mixture of stones and mortar. Even if rain or snow falls, they’re guaranteed to maintain structural rigidity, so they won’t easily collapse from the rain.

“Oh, that’s right. We discovered a stable source for sand. It’s a small river located 100 kilometers or so north of our basin with a riverbed full of natural river sand. It’s top-quality construction material!

“Hehe, if this were Huaxia, digging for river sand would be illegal, but on this Doomsday wasteland, no one could care less. We can just dig however much we want!

“For these prefabricated homes, we used frames that were created in the furnace. As for this red paint, we bought it previously when Hope One was successfully completed. We never expected we would be able to use it here.

“We initially planned to make this enclosure from wood, but after everyone sat down to do some calculations, we discovered that once the wood had been cut, it would take at least a few years to get enough for large-scale use. In the case of iron, however, the basin has an iron mountain that can provide the raw material. It’s more than enough for one and a half years’ use, so we ended up with iron fences!”

The whole way, Chen Shen kept pointing at “new” structures and introducing them effusively. It was obvious that he had prepared for quite a while.

They walked from the beginning of the village to the very end, then went around from there to the first of the prefabricated homes.

Seeing that the villagers were already coming back one by one and beginning to gather in a cluster, Su Mo smiled. He took two steps forward and pushed open the door of the house.

Whoosh…

Once the door was opened, a “pungent” smell of newly-forged iron surged out, interspersed with a damp reek of mold and faint body odor.

Without anything to mask them, these smells assaulted everyone’s noses right away.

Compared to the clean and tidy apartments of the civilized era, this could be considered a “stench of garbage”.

However, in comparison with Freedom City, which still used open-air lavatories, or the residential buildings in the wasteland’s other human territories, this place was undeniably “heaven”!

The people living here did not need to worry about the game deciding on a whim to take back its shelters on any given day.

As long as they had a modicum of strength and enough materials, they could build however many levels they wanted and renovate however they wished.

This was what a true private domain meant!

It was…

Their home on the Doomsday wasteland!

“Leader Su, our electricity is still reliant on generators for the time being, so for now, everyone is only able to use simple light sources to illuminate their homes.

“As for the windows, we solicited everyone’s opinion. Everybody agreed unanimously that since winter was coming soon, there should not be too many windows or else insulation and keeping warm would become huge problems. So… they only constructed these few windows!”

The interiors of the prefabricated homes were interconnected.

For one, this would save on steel and use the least amount of materials for the greatest structural stability.

For another, this was preparation for future heating, to ensure that there would not be a situation where one corner of the house was hot while another was cold.

The only thing was that there would be 80 people in one big room, and there would only be two wooden windows—one in the middle, nearer the front, while the other was at the very end.

As such, staying indoors for more than a day would cause a myriad of stenches to build up.

“There really should be more windows. For a large area like this, you need to add at least three more windows, or else even before winter comes and one person gets ill, everyone else will fall sick as well in such an enclosed space.

“I can understand why you’ve built the houses this way, taking safety and the future into consideration. However, comfort is something necessary as well.

“This place has to give everyone a sense of belonging so they know this is their home.

“As far as heating is concerned, I already have inklings of a solution, so there’s no need to worry for the time being!”

Details made all the difference.

After coming upon the Demon clan outside Freedom City and how pitifully primitive they seemed, Su Mo had gained new insights into the ways of village construction.

The homes were a double-edged sword.

In just over a day, there was already an odor in the house that would make one frown.

In another 5 or 10 days, the smell would only increase further and become more pungent.

In the meantime, if one villager began to be repulsed by the smell, then their repulsion would transfer to the house itself, which would make the whole situation unbearable.

Once that happened, this hard-won sense of “home” would rapidly be washed away.

Trying to solve this problem would require 5 or even 10 times the effort.

With this in mind, it would be better to prevent something like this from happening right from the start. Su Mo would rather pay the price to permanently get rid of such problems, so they vanished without a trace.

“Very well, I’ll instruct someone to handle it. We’ll use the night and construct the additional windows you want.”

Upon hearing that Su Mo could solve the heating problem, Chen Shen raised no further objections. He gladly accepted Su Mo’s suggestion and instructed the people behind him to quickly spread the word.

Of course, news like this could not be concealed.

As rousing cheers arose, Su Mo smiled with satisfaction after observing through the small gap in the windows for a while.

Compared with that group of greedy Demons in Freedom City who were only after contribution points, the villagers in the basin were undoubtedly adorable, perhaps even to a fault, because they were so easily satisfied.

Just by constructing three more windows, everyone was as happy as if it were the New Year, overflowing with joy and laughter.

“At this stage, we need to make sure everyone has their own bed, a cupboard to store their personal items, plus a suitable mattress and bedding. This is the first livelihood plan that we need to implement.

“Oh yes, that agricultural land I left to you—how is it doing?”

Apart from a simple iron-frame bed, the interior of the house had some basic storage cabinets that the villagers had cobbled together, all scattered about on the floor.

The environment within the rooms still had a long way to go.

After giving orders for improvement, Su Mo took a group of the leadership and went out of the village with them once more.

“For the time being, we’ve only allotted 5 mu of land for planting winter wheat. We just started breaking the ground yesterday afternoon, and we’ve finished about two mu of land so far.

“For planting the… Food Leaves, we chose… that spot there!”

Pointing at the top of the mountain, Chen Shen gave a wicked grin.

“You chose the mountain top?”

Chen Shen nodded. “That’s right, Leader Su. You said that the Food Leaves had to be exposed to daily sunlight along with the best conditions and the best soil to produce high-quality leaves. We must also take into account the fact we still don’t have a way to implement a comprehensive defense system for the territory.

“That’s why for purposes of optimal safety and guaranteed concealment, we’ve leveled the entire mountain top and opened up a terrace of about one mu or so. It will be more than enough for planting!”

Human intelligence was continuously drawing inferences from various instances to figure out every facet of a matter.

As the group went up the fruit tree mountain for a survey of the surroundings, they discovered that with the fruit trees obstructing the view, no one could see what was in the interior.

Even Su Mo could not help but be astonished.

“Excellent. It seems that all of you didn’t slack off while I was gone. I’m very pleased with all that you’ve done.

“The way things are going, our plans will rapidly be realized. In that case, Chen Shen, Li Hu, Pei Shao, Shen Ke, you four come with me!”

After pointing out the four individuals in the group, Su Mo led the way and went ahead.

Actually, ever since that night when the white fog appeared and Su Mo disappeared to follow its trail, these few individuals already more or less knew where he had gone.

When he singled them out, their hearts skipped a beat, and they hurriedly left the rest of the group, following behind Su Mo.

After a while, all 5 of them came to a familiar meeting place.

The peak of Iron Rock Mountain!

Unlike the previous desolate wilderness, this time, when they stood on top of the mountain, they saw lush, verdant life below.

With its potential restored and the rain washing away the salt in the soil, the dry yellow ground was covered with a pale layer of green in just a few days.

In time, this place would certainly be like the Candlelight Plains from before and become a fertile grassland!

“This round, I visited the Demon clan!”

As the four people behind him found their footing, Su Mo immediately dropped this bombshell on them.

Just as he had expected, although all four betrayed startled expressions, they were still well able to control their shock based on their actions.

“Leader Su, the Demon clan—they aren’t really in the underworld, right?

“Did you go down there for a while?”

Upon hearing Chen Shen swallowing hard and finding great difficulty in getting the words out, Su Mo could not help being startled. He started laughing hard!

“What on earth are you thinking about? The Demon clan are just ordinary living beings. They even have their own territory, their own city, and their own people, just like us.

“Their city’s located about 500 kilometers west of the basin!”

Pointing at the way he had come back from, Su Mo’s gaze was serene and remote.

Of course, if someone else had said this, the four leaders would have had their doubts, but if Su Mo said so, then there was no doubt that it was true.

Li Hu involuntarily raised his hand.

“Leader Su, you mentioned their city? Don’t tell me they’re just like the ents and the dwarves or those people from the Light Empire—they’re humanoid beings?

“If not, their city…”

Su Mo nodded. “Yes, their city is no different from our cities back in ancient Huaxia. They have the same courtyards and several taller buildings.

“Furthermore, their social structure is very complete. From basic trade locations to the city’s law enforcement against violence, as well as all kinds of restaurants, blacksmith shops, tailors’ shops, and small businesses, they’re all available and functioning.

“Currently, even though the inner workings are still slightly disorganized in some details, in terms of progress, they’ve already settled fully into an organizational structure!”

After describing the big picture and seeing the appalled looks on the faces of the four, Su Mo simply explained a bit more in terms of concrete detail.

He spoke about the Demon clan’s special abilities, the city gate’s inspection facility, the three-party chaos within the city, and finally touched on the messy situation between the three parties, as well as the opposing stands between the city guards and the chamber of commerce.

Su Mo’s excellent memory ensured that whenever he was describing something, he could also vividly depict it by using gestures.

Thanks to his superb storytelling abilities as well as his description of similarities to the ancient Huaxia capital city, all four leaders rapidly gained a general impression of the Demon clan’s city.

“That’s too powerful! Abilities like that should be against the rules. If they can impersonate other foreign races on purpose and possess their abilities as well, that would make them natural weapons of war!”

Li Hu’s immediate reaction came from a combat perspective.

“If we could also have a specific template and assign the appropriate people to the appropriate jobs, we would certainly be able to get to an effect to the tune of 1+1 and greater than 2.

“Not only that, if we operate well, we could see developmental speeds of 10 to 100 times faster than now!”

As the head of agricultural logistics, Shen Ke’s first reaction came from looking at things from the angle of the villagers’ livelihood development.

“No wonder Paulie the dwarf said the Demon clan was their most difficult competitor. This Demon clan is really something. In our previous intelligence-gathering attempts, we were restricted by how we might infiltrate their internal circle and bribe someone into stealing information for us.

“However, if we have their ability, we could just arrange for our own people to go among them in disguise. We could even infiltrate them and replace their internal people—it would be the perfect undercover operation.”

As for Pei Shao, who was particularly sensitive regarding enemy intelligence, he also offered up a different opinion based on his abilities.

In the end, Chen Shen, as the village chief, also considered things from a standpoint that was different from the other three.

“Shelter Leader, based on what you said, if the internal relationships within the Demon clan are so complicated, we could send a group in advance to lie low there.

“If they can open up a trade route between us and the Demon clan’s Freedom City so that the basin’s local products could be widely exported, that would completely revitalize our situation!”

Having observed that all four leaders could think about development from different aspects, Su Mo nodded with satisfaction.

“Yes. What you’ve mentioned is exactly what I wanted to talk about!

“The Demon clan is our friend, not our foe. Before we come into contact with any of their fundamental profits and interests, if any friction happens between us, they’ll minimize large matters and count small matters as nothing.

“This particular point differs considerably from the ents, but the actual implementation would require that we leave our mark first.”

When he finished speaking, Su Mo pulled out the earlier marks from the container around his waist, just like when he showed them to Moore.

This time, however, the marks exceeded the knowledge blind spots of the four leaders.

They sized the marks up for a while once more, and all four looked at each other blankly, unable to display the same sort of delight that Moore had evinced.

“That’s alright. This matter is something that only the four of you need to know. Don’t tell anyone else about it.

“Even in the future, the use of our marks will only be granted to the most trustworthy individuals. Any villagers who wish to have them must undergo a series of tests.

“Before I give notification of this, keep the matter to yourselves and act like you know nothing!”

Su Mo put away all the marks and continued giving a few specific directions on general matters.

When he saw all four people leaving excitedly, he let out a long sigh as he stood on the mountain top.

Within Freedom City, he was just a passerby. No matter what kind of development happened, good or bad, it had nothing to do with him.

However, in this land where over a thousand people lived, Su Mo had to shoulder the main responsibility. He would have to bear the consequences of any failed decisions he made.

“Hey, the time has gone by so fast! The last I checked, three days came and went without me realizing it.

“There’s no point hoarding these territory points. I may as well use them as soon as possible!”

After calculating the resources he had on hand, Su Mo smacked his head and realized he had not yet been able to check today’s daily system announcement. He could not help chuckling.

After the basin started developing, the number of daily territory points increased per day.

During the first day, it was 0.7.

When the potential value was factored in, it rose to 1. On the first day when he visited the Demon clan, it skyrocketed to 1.3.

After two days of the basin undergoing rapid fundamental construction, yesterday’s territory points had already broken the 1.5 mark.

This was a victory trumpet for the virtues of rapid development!

As for today’s rewards, he looked down at the village that had just been completed this afternoon, the newly plowed farmland, and the leveled ground surface.

Full of anticipation, Su Mo used his mind, and a vaguely illusory panel slowly popped up.

At the same time, a gratifying green ray gradually radiated through the small envelope icon of the daily system announcement!