Lord: My Shop Connects to Modern Times

When Lynn's group crossed the half-collapsed low wall, the environment before them was worse than he had expected.

There was no lord's castle, no one to receive guests, and hardly any complete houses, only half-collapsed frames made of stacked stones and wood.

Most of the roof was gone, leaving only a few dark rafters standing upright, pointing towards the perpetually gray sky. The so-called "streets" were filled with rubble and debris.

From behind the dark windows of those dilapidated wooden houses, and from the shadows of natural cracks in the rock walls, gazes lingered on them—vigilant, numb, and scrutinizing with suspicion.

Noticing the group of strangers, some residents gradually emerged from their houses.

Most of them were ragged and even more emaciated than the refugees Lynn brought, their faces etched with deep lines of long-term hunger and despair.

Several teenagers hid behind the adults, their eyes wide open, but lacking the radiance that children should have.

The residents of Gray Rock Town offered no welcome, no questions. Only a deathly silence filled the air as they stared.

Leon's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and his entourage instinctively gathered around him. The refugees huddled together nervously, watching the natives with unease.

Lynn raised his hand to calm everyone down, his gaze sweeping over the group of severely "malnourished" people.

"I am Lynn Cole, the newly appointed lord of Grayrock Town by the Empire," Lynn said, his voice ringing out loudly in the silence.

People looked at each other in bewilderment. No one responded; only the wind howled in the air.

"Phew—" Seeing that no one reacted, Lynn let out a long breath, then took out the imperial commission from his pocket and handed it to a follower:

"Go and put it in a prominent place in town."

Then he turned to the old man among the refugees and said:

"Joel, take the woman and child to that rocky hollow over there, clear out a sheltered spot, and settle them down there."

The two obeyed and did as instructed, while Lynn led the others to unload the luggage from the carriage onto the open ground of the square.

He instructed Leon and his maid Martha to set up an old iron pot in the central open space, start a fire, and boil water. He ordered that half a sack of rye flour be used. Then he turned and walked toward the carriage.

He climbed into the carriage, and the curtain fell. He closed his eyes and focused.

[Exchange: Basic Meat Supplement Pack.]

[Beep—Basic Meat Supply Pack redeemed. Public Opinion Value -50]

A flash of light, and a package wrapped tightly in thick oiled paper, slightly cool to the touch, appeared in his hand. He quickly stuffed it into the leather bag that was originally filled with miscellaneous items, grabbed a handful of small salt grains, and got off the car with a normal expression.

Back at the pot, the water was boiling. Martha was about to sprinkle in the rye flour.

"Wait a minute." Lynn stopped her, first sprinkling the salt in his hand, and then, under the questioning gazes of Martha and the others nearby, slowly opened the leather bag, took out the oil paper package, and untied it.

A small pile of neatly cut pieces of meat came into view.

The gazes of those around him had shifted from confusion to astonishment, but Lynn paid no attention and turned to pour all the pieces of meat into the boiling pot.

"Sizzle—." A rich and savage aroma of oily meat, quite different from the simple smell of roasted grains, suddenly burst open, forcefully crashing into everyone's nostrils along with the hot steam.

In that instant, the "dead silence" of the entire Grayrock Town seemed to be broken.

All those listless residents, who seemed indifferent to everything, suddenly came alive.

They turned their heads, their eyes widening frighteningly on their thin faces, fixed intently on the iron pot. The sound of them swallowing was incessant.

An elderly man with a limp was the first to be instinctively pulled out. He staggered a few steps closer, his voice hoarse and cracked: "Meat...it smells like meat?"

Lynn stirred the thick soup with a wooden spoon, not looking at him, and said, "Hmm. Come on over, everyone, get some things to serve."

There were no further calls to action. This statement was like the final release of all restraints. People, carrying broken bowls and tattered jars, gathered from all directions around the pot, their eyes burning with desire. The last vestiges of their wariness were crushed by their primal hunger.

Leon maintained the most basic order, while Martha's hands trembled as she began to serve the soup.

The first spoonful of the thick, meat-filled broth fell into the trembling, broken earthenware bowl of the lame old man. He almost buried his face in it, shoveling it into his mouth rapidly. The broth was scalding hot, but he didn't slow down at all.

The thin woman holding the baby received a slightly larger portion. She quickly drank a sip herself first, then carefully fed the cooled portion to the child.

Only the sounds of swallowing, sobbing breaths, and a brief but real peace brought about by food falling into an empty stomach remained in the square.

"Once the residents have eaten their fill, things will be easier to proceed," Lynn thought to himself.

This is the simplest and quickest step in building trust, and for this group of people, nothing is more substantial than a bowl of meat soup.

With each bite of the soup, public opinion points rapidly accumulated, and before anyone knew it, they had reached 671.

Seeing that everyone had almost finished eating, Lynn began to ask questions.

The residents told me that the lame old man was named Grim, and he was a miner from back then. The man with a scar on his face was named Bray, and he used to be a hunter.

They led the others to piece together the framework of Gray Rock Town piece by piece. But later, the town's mines dried up and collapsed, the wells became murky, and the land could not grow crops. Those who could run away all ran away, leaving behind about twenty people who could not run and dared not run away.

"Where are you staying tonight?" Lynn asked.

Gem smiled wryly, pointing to the half-collapsed wooden houses and the dark holes under the rock crevices.

"How can anyone live in a place like this?" Lynn shook her head.

He stood up and gave the following orders: Leon was to lead the men to clean up the debris that had fallen from the damaged houses, Bray was to lead the indigenous people to help, Joel was to lead the men to repair the low walls around the houses with stones and mud, and the women and children were to gather firewood.

The trust in the food got everyone moving.

Lynn then walked alone to the carriage. He closed the door and focused on accessing the system. [Popularity: 671]. He needed to resolve the issue of the shelter for tonight.

High-strength waterproof canvas, standard sleeping bag, 1 kg nails, 50 m thick hemp rope, and irritating animal repellent powder.

The things he needed nearly depleted his savings, leaving him with only a pitiful 64 points of public opinion.

But Lynn knew that this "money" couldn't be saved.

The exchanged items quietly appeared in a corner of the carriage. He mixed them into his luggage and carried them off the train.

Canvas was nailed to the largest gap in the house, immediately blocking the cold wind. Sleeping bags were given to a woman with a baby and a coughing old miner. Hemp rope and extra canvas were used to reinforce other drafts. Acrid powder was carefully sprinkled around the repaired low wall.

"My lord, what is this?" Bray asked curiously, noticing the pungent smell of the powder.

"Some herbal powder that keeps wild animals away," Lynn said vaguely. Bray wisely didn't ask any further questions.

As darkness fell, a campfire was lit. People gradually finished their work, and Lynn used his last bit of public opinion points to make everyone the same meat soup as lunch.

The money was all gone, but Lynn didn't feel any regret at all.

Watching everyone sitting around the campfire, munching on their meat soup and chatting, occasionally breaking into smiles, Lynn felt a surge of unprecedented satisfaction.

"Is this what collective identity is? It feels great..."