Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 329 Territorial Power
Three days passed in a flash.

In these three days, Li Wei completed the construction of the upper and middle layers of the territory, and also paid some attention to the construction of the lower layer.

He didn't make any direct demands, nor did he make any grand pronouncements or empty promises. Instead, accompanied by Nelson, Lenos, Grant, and others, he visited each of the married families within the territory.

He offered his best wishes to these couples who still pursued love in this apocalyptic era, and praised the light of humanity for surely triumphing over the darkness. At the same time, he also expressed his apologies, noting that the territory's development still had many shortcomings. He promised that in the future, every family would be provided with a free house and the most basic living conditions, including water, electricity, and heating. These three things were his promise as the lord of the territory to all the free people.

But right now, words are no substitute for actions. He is willing to take money from the lord's treasury to provide every couple with a wedding allowance of 2 gold coins, and this will become a regular practice. In addition, every couple will receive an additional gold coin as a maternity allowance when they have a new child.

In addition, he instructed Nelson to establish a territory finance group within the Ministry of the Interior. As the lord, he would initially allocate one hundred gold coins as reserve funds for the territory finance group, and there would be a special fund invested every year thereafter. The responsibility for the quarterly settlement of free citizens, which was originally the responsibility of the lord, would be gradually, orderly, and steadily transferred to the finance group.

In short, it may be difficult to achieve results in the short term, but it can be considered as paving the way for the future, which can be gradually improved.

In addition to the upper, middle and lower levels, Li Wei also took charge of the selection of new recruits. A total of fifty new recruits were selected by him and organized into five combat squads. However, in reality, some of the new recruits were transferred to other squads, and the same number of veterans were drawn from other combat squads to serve as captains and deputy captains.

This method of veterans mentoring new recruits may cause a sharp decline in combat effectiveness in the short term, but after a period of training, combat effectiveness can still be improved.

And so, he took away the seventh, eighth, and ninth combat squads, as well as thirty couples and a total of one hundred novice mercenaries.

It's worth mentioning that the quota of thirty couples was not filled, because some of the husbands were already serving in Javier's Fifth Combat Squad at the Riverside Fortress, so Li Wei brought them all along this time.

Also, the three combat squads we brought this time—as long as they're married, in a family, or even in a romantic relationship, you can take any girl you fancy with you.

That's right, humanistic care should be implemented in all aspects.

Li Wei was determined to make the riverside fortress another strategic location in the territory.

In addition, cooks, blacksmiths, and engineers also had a share.

If you didn't know better, you'd think this was a division of family property, with the river fortress being the favored son and the territory headquarters being treated like a stepmother.

But things can't be viewed so simply.

The territory's main base is uniquely advantageous, as high-tech industries such as magic mines, temples of the gods, enchanted blacksmith workshops, and future magic potion workshops will all be located here.

Even once the northern fortress is repaired, several hundred acres of land can be cultivated here.

Liang Yuzhi is a permanent resident here, and with Zhao Xuanxuan also here, what is there to complain about being poor?
Moreover, it should be taking off next. It has the military strength, manpower, organization, faith, and rules. Under such circumstances, if Nelson, Lenore, and Grant cannot achieve a leapfrog development in the next six months and triple the GDP, what use are you to me?

Then I'm sorry, I have to close the door and let my second aunt out.

"You can keep two enchanted war chariots here, and eight electric buses. The rest will go to Riverside Fortress. Remember, don't let your guard down. Every second counts. Go all out. Learn from Thomas."

After leaving those words, Li Wei boarded the enchanted war chariot and led the way. Behind him, electric buses slowly started up, carrying more than two hundred people and a large amount of high-quality logs toward the riverside fortress.

At this point, there are still 600 people left in the territory's main base.

"Quack quack!"

Ah-Dai circled above the vehicle once and then flew away, signifying that it had just completed its reconnaissance, the road ahead was clear, and it was free to proceed.

This winter, Ah Dai has been incredibly busy, having already contributed four one-star crow hunting pets to the Riverside Fortress and eight more to the territory's main base.

Unlike players, free hunters can interact with crow pets once they reach three stars and have a destiny of 20. Through slow and gradual training, they can turn these little crows into their own hunting pets.

Without a pet card, you can't use many pet hunting skills.

But the problem is that they can really be used as scouts. These little crows can usually complete simple interactions with hunters within a one-kilometer radius, which is already a pretty good boost to their combat capabilities.

However, these little crows are prone to death and getting lost, and they seem to lack intelligence; these are things that need to be overcome gradually.

Anyway, with Ah-Dai around, they can keep bringing back mutated crows, mutated magpies, and the like.

Moreover, it seems that Ah Dai has recently been secretly training an elite group of raven-armed bodyguards?

These crow-like bodyguards with swords can also be taken out of this world and added to the five-star pet card.

In short, the future looks bright.

"I just wonder how long this peace will last?"

Li Wei felt a pang of emotion; he desperately needed some peaceful time to develop.

"Now no one should want to raid our base anymore, at least not Socrates and Ron. They have both activated the hidden city-building quest, and the first thing they need to do is build their cities. Moreover, their territories are now divided into two, so they are already very busy running around."

"But Zhao Kewu didn't trigger the hidden city-building quest. Is it because he doesn't want to? Or is it because triggering the city-building quest requires establishing a knightly order first? That shouldn't be the case, right? It seems that as long as you bind a rare title to a territory, you can trigger the Divine Favor..." "And what about Hathaway? What is she doing? It's already February, and she has Lu Ziming, a five-star cross-border expert, by her side. How come her progress is so far behind?"

Li Wei pondered. Hathaway's strength was beyond doubt; she was even stronger than Scarface.

Their abilities are also outstanding; defeating the hidden boss of the second year and obtaining the rare title shouldn't be difficult.

However, there is no announcement for the entire territory in this stage. She has to eliminate other factions and merge a pioneer card to get the announcement for the entire territory.

"So if I'm not mistaken, we should know the outcome by the end of this month."

After thinking for a while, Li Wei's thoughts returned to the riverside fortress.

The location of this fortress is beyond doubt. To the south is a large river with abundant water, and to the north is a plain of more than a hundred miles. At the end of the plain are mountain ranges that run east to west.

This is consistent with the small town base and the territory's main base.

Base 369, too, is located deep in the mountains.

If we consider the river to the south as an east-west mountain range, then the three points—the riverside fortress, the small town base, and the main camp—form a corridor-like terrain.

Interestingly, this river is only one kilometer away from the riverside fortress.

It is only a few kilometers away from the small town base.

Li Wei's base camp was located about 15 kilometers away from the river in a straight line.

Once the fortress structure is complete, the territory's main base will be able to hold the eastern side, making it impossible for the enemy to launch a direct attack on the riverside fortress unless they attack from the opposite bank of the river.

Similarly, if the riverside fortress develops in the future, it will be difficult for the enemy from the west to make a deep incursion.

Especially with the coordination of raven reconnaissance and enchanted vehicle patrols, this area has been brought under Li Wei's strategic control.

It all depends on whether there's time for it to develop.

"I always felt that the Ice Duke was a minefield, and his exploration and utilization of chaotic magical particles was really logical and scientific, although it did not quite conform to ancient human ethics. But as long as these shackles are abandoned, there will be no limits to what can be accomplished."

"It's a pity I didn't have time to go east and see, I don't even know where the Ice Duke's lair is."

Li Wei sighed inwardly. There were too many things to do. Being a lord was really too troublesome.

He must have used up countless brain cells in the past three days alone.

Ok?
Li Wei suddenly glanced at the rearview mirror and saw that on the two buses behind them, the newly arrived mercenaries were waving to each other and greeting each other, their faces full of youthful romance.

They were even singing to each other, having a great time as if they were on a picnic.

But there's nothing we can do; these are all young people around 18 or 19 years old.

That was truly vibrant and energetic.

"It's okay, just think of it as raising a group of mascots."

Li Wei wasn't too upset. Last night, he read the book he was rewarded with for a while: The Basics of Combat and Warfare. It was a really good book, which systematically explained the daily training and combat skills of the four professions: warrior, ranger, knight, and spellcaster.

Of course, it's very boring, probably similar to the experience of a high school student reading a math book.

But Li Wei was really hooked. Many of the descriptions in the book gave him a sense of sudden enlightenment. It didn't mention that he could immediately reach the level of the Nine Swords of Dugu or the Great Shift of the Universe. It was basically about the simplest things: exertion, control, balance, stability, understanding of space, speed, and mastery of position.

In addition, this book also introduces the precautions and key points for two-person, three-person, five-person, and even ten-person combo attacks.

They are all the kind of things that are easy to understand, you can figure them out as soon as you hear them, and they seem familiar, but when you actually try them out, you will find that you are nothing.

It is truly an experience that only a master warrior with great wisdom, great ability, and exceptional skill could have written.

The thought that these novice mercenaries were learning from the same textbooks at the Lord's Academy in Ver City made Li Wei's eyes turn red with envy.

Of course, on second thought, it's actually the same.

Back in his hometown on Earth, which textbook he studied in school wasn't written by a famous author?
Mathematical formulas and theories, everything in physics and chemistry—which of them didn't originate from the hands of scientific giants?

Ah, back then I thought it was just an ordinary thing!
(End of this chapter)