Chapter 28
【028】 Going on a Long Trip
Just as Gu Qing was puzzled, she quickly heard the doorbell ring. Seeing that it was Ulysses, she swiftly granted him access.
Ulysses stepped into the living room.
Upon seeing the scene in the living room, Ulysses couldn’t help but marvel internally.
The third floor of this village affairs center was truly more luxurious than anywhere he had ever seen, or rather, it was more suitable for living. The spacious area was so comfortable!
Even the two-story house he was currently living in wasn’t as comfortable.
Yes, Ulysses had already moved into a two-story house, but it wasn’t one he had bought—it was a gift from Gu Qing.
According to Gu Qing, with his meager salary, he couldn’t afford a two-story house, and to ensure that he, as the village chief, would be more dedicated to working for her, she provided him with housing benefits.
Ulysses accepted it and moved into the two-story house. He had to admit, the comfort of living in a two-story house was unmatched by the simple residential homes.
Just when Ulysses thought the two-story house was the best, the third floor of the village affairs center, the Lord’s personal space, once again refreshed his understanding.
There’s no such thing as the most comfortable, only more comfort.
“What’s the matter?” Gu Qing asked directly. If it wasn’t urgent, Ulysses wouldn’t have disturbed her.
“Following your instructions, we’ve released the news about the shops. As soon as the news was out, many people signed up and paid the deposit. This is the preliminary list I’ve compiled,” Ulysses didn’t waste time and got straight to the point.
With that, a list appeared in front of Gu Qing.
She began to review it from the top, and towards the end, she saw Ji Xiuwen’s name.
At this moment, Gu Qing seemed to have a slight understanding of her earlier reaction and Ji Xiuwen’s approval.
She couldn’t help but find it a little amusing.
It was only after hearing Ji Xiuwen’s plan that she started thinking about establishing a commercial street. She had considered it before, but the timing wasn’t right. Now, with sufficient population, money in residents’ hands, and an emerging wealth gap, the appearance of shops would not only help funnel some of the funds back into the territory but also activate the economy.
She had only mentioned the idea, and Ulysses had already planned everything. Gu Qing naturally entrusted the matter to him, only offering a small suggestion regarding the rental of the shops.
Gu Qing felt that the best decision she made after arriving in the territory was to delegate the village management to Ulysses.
A capable and loyal manager like him was truly a rare find.
“The auction and bidding for the shops will be entirely up to you. I’ll stay out of it,” Gu Qing quickly put the list away and said.
“Does the Lord have other matters to attend to?” Ulysses couldn’t help but ask.
“Isn’t there a team preparing to go to another territory? I’m planning to go myself and also get some training,” Gu Qing said directly.
Apart from the early days when she went out to gather materials and hunt magical beasts to gain experience, she had spent most of her time in the territory for its development. Although her experience and level were rising steadily, and her level was the highest in the territory, she knew it wasn’t enough.
As the territory continued to grow, along with the system’s mention of city quests, once she truly leveled up, this territory would definitely attract attention.
From what she had learned, not just small territories, but even large ones would eventually fall under the control of the Human Kingdom. In the future, she would have to deal with other territories, and if her strength wasn’t sufficient, even if the territory couldn’t be taken from her, it could still be sidelined.
So what she could do was develop along with the territory, making her strength match its growth. That way, no matter what happened in the future, she could maintain her influence.
This is unavoidable. Since she had already fallen into the territory’s trap, she could only work hard to fill it.
So, taking advantage of the stability of the territory, it was the perfect time for her to go out, increase her level, and also gather information about other territories. What she hears from others is never as real as seeing it with her own eyes.
“Go to another territory? The journey is long, and if something unexpected happens…” Ulysses couldn’t help but say.
The survival of the territory now relies on Gu Qing. If anything happens to her, the territory would cease to exist, and Ulysses couldn’t bear to think of the consequences.
“There won’t be any accidents, and I will bring either Bart or Alex with me. The territory we are going to is just a small town, and there are very few level 20 or above adventurers there. As for magical beasts, they pose no threat,” Gu Qing explained indifferently. “The most important thing is that I also need to use the resources I have to…”
She dared to make such a decision because she had already thought it through.
Seeing Gu Qing’s expression, Ulysses knew he couldn’t convince her. He opened his mouth, then finally said, “Lord, please be sure to take care of your safety.”
“Mm,” Gu Qing nodded.
She, of course, valued her own safety.
After that, Ulysses didn’t say much more. He excused himself and went back to his own business.
Rather than worrying, it was better to seriously complete the tasks of the territory and not make the Lord worry. The Lord’s origins were mysterious, and she had various special abilities. She would be fine, Ulysses told himself.
As for Gu Qing, after making her decision, she immediately began organizing her warehouse.
In the intermediate warehouse, most of the resources had already occupied the space. It could be said that during the operation of the intermediate warehouse, it had nearly reached the critical point of overflowing multiple times. Fortunately, the increasing consumption by more people had prevented it from becoming completely full.
Although it could be upgraded to a high-level warehouse if it overflows, given the current situation of the territory, the existence of a high-level warehouse seemed a bit unnecessary. More importantly, having so many resources in the intermediate warehouse was not a good thing, converting them into copper coins was the best solution.
Having so many resources just lying around in the territory was a waste, especially considering that some of the resources were duplicates due to the regional characteristics.
A moment later, Gu Qing had almost finished sorting the resources she planned to take to other territories. The only problem now was how to carry them.
Her gaze inevitably fell on the backpack slots she currently had.
There were only 10 slots in the backpack, with a maximum of 999 items in each slot, totaling less than 10,000 items, which was far from enough.
Thinking this over, Gu Qing asked the system, 【999, can the backpack slots be expanded?】
999 System: 【Host, this is a restriction of the Doomsday System. I cannot change it.】
Gu Qing: 【Not possible? Or just cannot?】
999 System: 【Host, please don’t nitpick. ‘Not possible’ means ‘cannot’. If the main apocalypse system finds out, there will be trouble.】
Gu Qing: 【Whose level is higher, yours or its?】
Gu Qing remembered what the 999 System had said when it first spoke to her. It mentioned that each system was responsible for different hosts, which naturally meant there were different levels.
As for the 999 System, although its name was short, its ranking system was first by letters, then by numbers. This meant that after the letter rankings were finished, only then did the 999 system come into play.
999 System: 【Host, the main system responsible for civilization evolution must have a rank starting with the letter ‘A’. It is at the same level as the system responsible for me.】
Gu Qing paused upon hearing this. No wonder the 999 System seemed so timid.
【999, think about it. The main system of the Doomsday game is responsible for a subsystem count in the billions. If you make a little modification, it shouldn’t be noticed. Once you make the changes, after I sell these things, you can immediately revert it, right?】
Gu Qing continued to tempt the 999 system, as she noticed that it was “not possible” rather than “cannot.”
Since it’s possible, there must be a loophole. She had done similar things before while completing tasks.
The 999 system listened to Gu Qing’s words, feeling a little conflicted.
【999, don’t you think this is thrilling? After all, this is still a vacation world. We only need to stay here for three years. If you don’t agree, could it be that this world has some…】
999 system: 【…I’ll try!】
After hearing Gu Qing’s words, the 999 system subconsciously spoke up, feeling that her statement had a threatening tone.
Although the host had already noticed some of the tricks behind this, she still diligently carried out the tasks. Now, with her saying this, wasn’t it a threat?
In comparison, this small “violation” seemed something the main system would overlook and endorse.
Hearing the 999 system’s agreement, Gu Qing’s eyes darkened.
As expected!
But she had already known that pursuing this matter was pointless. It was better to use this to her advantage and profit from it.
That’s exactly what she was doing now.
Soon enough, the 999 system made its move quietly, and it didn’t realize that at that very moment, a stream of data slipped away right under its nose.
As a result, Gu Qing immediately saw that her backpack slots went from 10 to 100, multiplying by 10.
Looking at these backpack slots, Gu Qing quickly started to transfer the resources from the intermediate warehouse into her backpack.
Once everything was done, Gu Qing quickly contacted Bart and Alex.
In the meeting room, Gu Qing didn’t say much, but directly brought up the need for one of them to accompany her to another territory.
Before she could give her decision, the two looked at each other, then spoke in unison: “Lord, I’ll accompany you!”
Both of them were eager to have the task of guarding Gu Qing.
They respected her sincerely, and naturally, they wanted to stay by her side.
Gu Qing’s gaze shifted between the two, then she said, “Then it’ll be Alex.”
“Lord, why?” Bart couldn’t help but ask. Was Alex stronger than him? He wasn’t happy with the decision!
“Alex is more suited to dealing with people from other territories, while the territory needs you to protect it,” Gu Qing explained.
As soon as she finished speaking, Bart and Alex exchanged a glance before silently accepting her choice.
“Alex, I hope you can protect Lord properly.”
“Of course.”
The two exchanged a look, sparks of rivalry clearly visible in their eyes.
Their competition… never stopped.
Meanwhile, as the territory was busy preparing for the journey, far away in the capital of the human kingdom, someone had also set their eyes on this small territory that had successfully established itself on the map.