The first problem Ye Bai faced after becoming a lord was—
What should the territory be named?
From the fact that Ye Bai's usual game ID was her name spelled backward, it was clear that she didn’t have much talent for naming things.
Ye Bai pondered for a moment... but nothing came to mind. Well, might as well use the simplest method.
[Are you sure you want to name your Level 0 territory 'Baiye'?]
[Confirm]
Instantly, a golden light flashed from the Tree of Creation beside Ye Bai, and the information changed to 'Baiye Village (Level 0 Territory)'. At the same time, two new independent pages appeared: [Development Direction] and [Development Strategy].
Ye Bai opened the [Development Direction] page, where a familiar three-pronged tree diagram appeared again—this was the tech tree for territory development.
Similar to the talent page, but instead of being structured from bottom to top, it was arranged in a circular pattern, with ten concentric rings, including the center. Currently, only the initial techs in the center were visible, while the rest remained hidden.
Other interstellar players would need to unlock prerequisite techs layer by layer to reveal the hidden content, but for Ye Bai, these hidden elements were naturally no secret.
The ten rings corresponded to the ten development levels of the territory—Levels 0-3 were villages, Levels 4-6 were towns, and Levels 7-10 were cities.
If a territory's development level didn’t meet the requirements, even if the prerequisite techs were unlocked, the next stage of techs couldn’t be activated. For example, a Level 3 village couldn’t learn the techs of a Level 4 town.
Additionally, unlocking these skills required consuming [Productivity].
At the bottom of the page was a productivity bar, which gradually filled over time. Once the bar was full, 1 point of productivity would be gained, which could be used to unlock techs on the tree.
The rate at which productivity regenerated was tied to various indicators such as the territory's population, number of professionals, number of buildings, energy, health level, happiness, and more. It was the most direct reflection of a territory's overall strength.
Currently, Ye Bai had 4 points of productivity available for use.
This was the benefit of clearing a Nightmare-level dungeon.
Of course, the Seeds of Creation obtained from dungeons of different levels varied, and the difference lay in their only base attribute: 'Prosperity'.
The Seed of Creation from a Nightmare-level dungeon had a Prosperity of 4/4, while those from normal dungeons had a Prosperity of 1/4.
A full Prosperity rating meant that after claiming the territory, Ye Bai received four initial productivity points as a reward, giving her a head start right from the beginning.
[Weaving], [Farming], [Mining], [Logging], [Adventuring]... Among the initial options available for unlocking, Ye Bai thought for a moment and chose [Farming], [Mining], and [Logging], and then selected [Irrigation and Fertilization] from the second level of the [Farming] tech.
[Farming] Villagers gain partial knowledge of crop transplantation; receive 100 unidentified crop seeds; receive 20 hoes.
[Mining] Villagers can mine surface iron and copper ores; receive 20 pickaxes.
[Logging] Villagers gain more efficient logging techniques; receive 20 axes.
[Irrigation and Fertilization] Villagers can increase crop yield and growth speed through irrigation and fertilization; unlock composting technology; unlock the [Compost Yard] building.
After unlocking the techs, Ye Bai opened the [Development Strategy] page.
On this page, she could see the conditions required to upgrade the territory to the next level: owning 10 residential buildings, having 1 professional building, and reaching a population of 25.
In the early stages of territory development, the upgrade conditions were similar for all territories. However, as the level increased and the territory leaned toward different development paths, these conditions would change based on its own direction. Different territories would have different upgrade conditions and would generate unique territory tasks, completing which would grant additional rewards.
But for now, all of this was still far off for Ye Bai.
Apart from the upgrade conditions, the most important thing in the [Development Strategy] page was the various [Territory Policy Cards]. These were 'edicts' issued by the lord, which could influence the priority of the villagers' work behaviors. They could also be seen as buffs affecting the entire territory, so their importance was self-evident.
However, the number of policy cards that could be used wasn’t determined by how many were in the pool but by the number of [Development Strategy Slots] available. Once selected, they couldn’t be changed in the short term, and each territory level only allowed one selection. In other words, changes could only be made when the territory leveled up.
This once again highlighted the advantage of clearing a Nightmare-level dungeon. Thanks to the 4/4 Prosperity of the Seed of Creation, Ye Bai had a whopping four development strategy slots to equip!
If she had only cleared a normal dungeon, her territory would have had just one slot.
For the initial Level 0 territory, there were only four policy cards in the selectable pool, so Ye Bai didn’t need to think too hard—she naturally equipped all of them into the slots.
[Hardworking and Enduring] All villagers have no need for entertainment, luxury goods, or personal hobbies.
[Pioneering Spirit] Villagers' basic needs decrease 50% slower.
[Thriving] Villagers' base loyalty and base happiness cannot fall below 60.
[Trailblazer] A suitable professional will join the territory.
Not a single policy card was useless, but if Ye Bai had only one slot, she would have chosen [Trailblazer].
As the policy cards were configured, another golden light flashed from the Tree of Creation.
The next moment, Ye Bai heard a commotion not far away, and within two minutes, a nimble and slender figure leaped gracefully out of the woods.
The newcomer was a beautiful woman who appeared to be in her early 30s, with brown hair and wearing a high-quality, form-fitting leather armor. Upon seeing Ye Bai, she pushed the goggles on her head up, revealing her brown eyes, and gave Ye Bai a bright smile:
"Hello, Lord. I'm Carrie."
Ye Bai, with a look of joy, quickly walked up to her: "Carrie, welcome!"
As the lord, within the territory, even without unlocking the [Appraisal] talent, Ye Bai could see the basic information of any villager.
With a thought, Ye Bai saw Carrie's basic information.
Character: Carrie
Identity: Villager of Baiye Village
Level: 40
Profession: Senior Engineer, Demolition Expert
Stamina: 100/100
Food: 100/100
Water: 100/100
Entertainment: -/-
Luxury: -/-
Personal Hobbies: -/-
Loyalty: 60/100
Satisfaction: 100/100
A Level 40 character was an absolutely explosive presence, even in NPC towns. In big cities, such a person would be a well-known professional mentor.
As for why a high-level professional like Carrie appeared in this Level 0 village, it was, of course, because Ye Bai had used the 'texture mapping principle' to place the initial territory next to a [Source Energy Crystal Mine].
The brilliance lay in the 'suitable professional' aspect of the [Trailblazer] card.
The term 'suitable' referred to matching a professional who could utilize the most abundant and valuable resource in the current territory.
A professional was a character who had mastered exclusive professional skills.
For example, although Ye Bai's current identity was a Divine Bloodline Holder and Lord, she wasn’t a professional. She would need to undergo a class change to become one.
Of course, there were distinctions between life and combat professions, but mastering life skills and becoming a professional were two different concepts. For instance, players could learn basic cooking, tailoring, and forging life skills in NPC towns, but these skills had levels, and initially, they could only produce ordinary white-tier items.
Only when reaching a certain level of proficiency, enabling the addition of extra attributes to crafted items and producing green-tier or higher items, could one be considered a professional.
Thus, under normal circumstances, others using [Trailblazer] would at most match a [Hunter] or [Fisher] type of professional, but Ye Bai matched a [Senior Engineer] capable of developing [Energy Crystal Mines].
At the same time, the profession system in the myriad realms wasn’t independent but had systemic connections.
For example, if a hunter aiming to reach an advanced level has poor archery skills, wouldn’t that be a joke? Therefore, apart from the lifestyle profession of [Advanced Hunter], there is usually a combat profession like [Archer].
So, the Carrie before us is not only a second-tier lifestyle profession [Advanced Engineer] but also has a first-tier combat profession [Demolition Expert].
In the early stages of city-building under normal circumstances, the [Pioneer] policy card is the most useless among all policy cards.
This is because the stronger the abilities of a professional, the higher their living requirements tend to be.
Loyalty affects how well the villagers carry out the lord’s orders, while satisfaction influences their willingness to stay. If a professional’s various needs are consistently unmet, their loyalty and satisfaction will drop rapidly. When loyalty hits zero, they will refuse to obey the lord’s commands, and when satisfaction hits zero, they will simply leave the village.
However, Ye Bai is clearly not in a normal situation. With the buffs from the other three policy cards applied, the factors affecting loyalty and satisfaction are completely neutralized—there’s no way for them to drop.
As long as the [Hardworking and Resilient] policy card remains active, Ye Bai only needs to meet the basic needs for food and water to keep an advanced professional ‘willingly’ working in her territory!
Carrie’s loyalty to Ye Bai is currently at 60, and her cooperation level is high. After exchanging greetings, she proactively asked Ye Bai, “What tasks do you have for me, my lord?”
Ye Bai pointed to the nearby source energy crystal deposit and said, “Carrie, I’d like you to help me mine the source energy crystals beneath this area. What resources will you need to prepare?”
Carrie looked surprised and asked, “My lord, are you certain there’s an energy crystal deposit there?”
‘Of course… otherwise, you wouldn’t even be here.’
The NPCs in the game *Boundless Realms* were already groundbreakingly intelligent for their time, and this fully immersive version made Ye Bai feel as though she was interacting with real people. Having experienced trading with thousands of civilizations in the Star Alliance, Ye Bai’s mental resilience and acting skills had improved dramatically. Since she couldn’t tell the difference, she decided to treat them as real people.
Adjusting her expression, Ye Bai replied to Carrie with a serious face, “Yes, I’m certain.”
Carrie glanced around the empty territory, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to trust Ye Bai. She nodded and said, “Understood. I can use explosives to blast open the mine. However, I’ll need you to assign people to dig the pilot tunnel and the blast chamber, clear the rubble… and finally, gather stones and clay to build a sealed stone wall.”
The materials Carrie requested weren’t hard to obtain. The most critical component, gunpowder, was something she could produce herself. For Ye Bai, the main challenge was the significant manpower required in the early stages.
Just then, footsteps approached. It turned out that the other eight villagers had arrived.
Ye Bai raised an eyebrow: Perfect timing!
The villagers, both men and women, greeted Ye Bai with a respectful bow.
“Greetings, my lord.”
“Welcome to Baiye Village,” Ye Bai replied politely, then added with a sincere tone, “Well, it’s getting late. Let’s get to work right away!”
“……”
It’s unclear whether the NPCs were cursing in their minds, but with an initial loyalty of 60, they all began carrying out the tasks Ye Bai assigned.
Ye Bai did some quick calculations. With the manpower of eight villagers, plus herself, and pushing things to the limit by postponing house construction, they should be able to meet Carrie’s requirements within three days.
As for why Ye Bai was in such a hurry to mine the advanced energy materials meant for later stages—
In a normal technological world, internal combustion engines require other mechanical technologies to function effectively. However, *Boundless Realms* is a fantasy world where low-level energy can’t power high-level items, but high-level energy can easily be compatible with low-level items.
Ever heard of… an internal combustion engine-powered hoe?
