Chapter 19

Ben was surprised to see the houses he constructed for his people all came with furniture, appliances, electric lights, and heating. They resembled a small cottage that you would see on Earth and reminded him of a place where people might spend their summer vacation in the backcountry somewhere.

The house rooms all had finished hardwood floors The walls were insulated, drywalled, and painted white with lacquered wood baseboards. All of the appliances in the kitchens ran off of electricity supplied by the Power Plant.

The sinks, toilets, and bathtubs were connected to the Water Treatment and Waste Treatment. Each room even had ceiling light fixtures with wall switches to turn them on and off. There was a small laundry room with an electric washer and dryer. Even though they did not have laundry detergent or soap they could still be used to clean their clothes.

'It is strange that there aren't any pipes or wires running to these houses. Somehow the system can connect the facilities to them.'

Ben asked the system how this all was possible. From what he was told each home had interconnecting formations under them that connected the homes to the Power Plant, Water Treatment, and Waste Treatment. It was similar to how the Lumber Mill could use a space type formation to directly deposit wood planks into the Warehouse pocket dimension.

When he brought the people over to see their new homes they were ecstatic. They couldn't comprehend how all these homes were built so quickly and Ben just passed it off as a special type of magic. He did not want to explain the system and how it worked to them. He thought it was better and easier to just keep this information to himself.

It took some time to teach them how to work the stove, and what the refrigerator was for. Ben explained how they did not need fires or candles to light the home at night or to use the furnace when it got cold. Now with a flip of a switch, the room was as bright as daytime or toasty warm.

He figured through trial and error they would learn how to set the proper temperatures on the stove and how long certain foods would remain fresh in the fridge. They already knew how to use the modern style bathrooms and the trash disposal was simple to use so they were not completely clueless with everything in their new homes.

The only thing he could think of that the houses may still need would be pots, pans, dishes, cups, and utensils.

He then left everyone to explore and get used to their new homes and went over to the Blacksmith. Through the Blacksmith interface, Ben used the custom menu to make the cookware, cooking utensils, cups, bowls, plates, forks, spoons, and knives.

The pots and pans were made of iron while the utensils, plates, bowls, and cups he decided to use silver. As these cookware and tableware items were being produced he went off to continue building.

Next on his list was to build the [Gym] he had wanted. Just north of the Bathhouse is where he chose to build it.

[Gym]: A place that provides free weights, weight stack machines, and cardio machines for public use. [Locked until: built steel mill - power plant - glass maker][requires: steel-stone-wood-glass]

Inside the Gym was a large selection of free weights, lifting bars, and benches along with weight stack machines that could work out every muscle group. In a separate rear room, he found rows of treadmills, stair-masters, and exercise bikes. The Gym also provided locker rooms with showers for men and women.

The Gym would need to wait for now even though he wanted to experiment and see what attributes he could raise, Ben had to finish building the rest of the structures on his list first.

Just north of the Gym was the spot, Ben chose to build a [Recreation Center]. This would at least provide some forms of entertainment for everyone.

[Recreation Center]: A place people can have fun playing card games, board games, billiards, listen to music or just relax. The Interface access to all visitors provides a list of all stored music and game instructions. Music can be broadcast throughout the recreation center or listened to in small listening rooms.

[Locked until: the first house is built]

Ben found the Recreation Center had a menu with instructional videos which provided rules and instructions on all the popular card and board games from Earth and even had a couple pool tables. You could simply touch the icon for the game you were interested in and a video would play telling the person how to play the game!

There were long tables in the center of the main room with rows of chairs for big groups to sit and play together. Along the outside walls were comfortable sofas and reclining chairs for people to relax.

In the back room, he found ten soundproof rooms not much bigger than a closet that people could sit in to listen to music without disturbing others.

A storage room in the Recreation Center had shelves that held dozens of popular Earth board games and a few he assumed may have been from this planet. There were sections of games for all ages and interests available for them to enjoy. He even found five chests that had toys, balls, building blocks, and stuffed animals to entertain children who were too young to understand the card and board games.

When Ben eventually left the Recreation Center, He went out of through the Gatehouse and down into the valley. He replaced the dirt road he made originally from the Gatehouse to the Farms with stone paved road and stopped it at the Farms.

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Next to the current Farms, Ben built a [Fish Hatchery]. Then he placed a [Farm] to grow spices and just a next to the Spice Farm he began construction of a [Flower and Dye Plant Farm].

[Fish Hatchery]: The fish hatchery can create freshwater and saltwater pools with suitable habitats to raise any type of Earth or Victus fish species.

[Farm]: Can grow: vegetables, wheat, rice fields, oats, barley, hops, spices, and peanuts. Also, can be used are Victus grains and vegetables.

[Flower and Dye Plant Farm]: Grows an assortment of flowers and plants used to make dyes from Earth and Victus. [requires: stone-wood]

Moving along and not waiting for the Fish Hatchery and Farms to be built, Ben crossed the street and placed down apple [Orchard] needed to unlock another building that he also wanted to construct.

[Orchard]: Can grow: apple, pear, cherry, peach, orange, olive, plum, almond, chestnut, pecan, cashew, fig, cocoa, maple tree for syrup, and native Victus fruits and nuts.

[Auto_Notice] [The system has advanced a level! System Level 8!]

When he was happy with the placement of the Apple Orchard he went just south of the Cattle Ranch and built a cotton [Plantation] and a hemp [Plantation].

The slaves that he had rescued until now had only been wearing dirty ripped tunics for clothes. These tunics looked just like a baggy rough cloth shirt. These tunics were just long enough to cover their groin areas. The slaves used an old discarded ropes tied around their waist to secure the tunics in place.

[Plantation]: Available: coffee, tobacco, cotton, hemp, mulberry/silkworm, and sugar cane. [Locked until: two built farms] [requires: stone, wood]

With this cotton and hemp fields, he could now make a [Weaver] who could produce fabrics. Ben walked back up to the keep and built a Weaver right next to Glass Maker and set it to produce cotton and hemp fabrics in different colors and patterns.

[Weaver]: Produces fabrics. Many styles to choose from. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own products.

[Locked until: built hemp plantation or cotton plantation]

[consumes: hemp, cotton, wools, dyes] [requires: stone, wood]

Even though he had a Weaver it would not produce fabrics with color unless he had a [Dye Manufacturer]. With the addition of the Flower and Dye Plant Farm, the Dye Manufacturer was unlocked. He chose an out-of-the-way spot and built one so that he could produce colored fabrics.

[Dye Manufacturer]: Produces any color of dye from flowers and dye plants.

[locked until: built flower and dye plant farm] [consumes: flowers- dye plants- water]

[requires: stone-wood]

Now with a built Weaver producing fabrics with colors and patterns the [Seamstress] and [Tailor] were unlocked which he decided to build just south of the Weaver workshop.

[Seamstress]: Produces female attire. Can choose many selections from Earth and Victus. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own clothing. [Locked until: weaver]

[consumes: cotton fabric, hemp fabric, silk fabric, wool fabric, leather, plastic, nylon, rubber, gems, precious metals ] [requires: stone, wood]

[Tailor]: Produces Male attire. Can choose many selections from Earth and Victus or even design your own clothing. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own clothing. [Locked until: built weaver]

[consumes: cotton fabric, hemp fabric, silk fabric, wool fabric, leather, plastic, nylon, rubber, gems, steel, precious metals ] [requires: stone, wood]

The Seamstress was set to produce casual comfortable clothes from Earth styles for the women. He started production of cotton and hemp short and long sleeve tops, shorts, slacks, skirts, day dresses, socks, undergarments and even a couple of stylish hemp belts. All these clothes were made in different colors and pattern choices thanks to the Dye Manufacturer.

The Tailor was set up, in the same way, to produce casual comfortable clothes for the men in various colors and style.

With clothing now being produced, Ben moved onto the next build just south of the Seamstress. Here he had the system begin to the construction of a [Cannery]. The Cannery could can most of the food he would be producing. This way the people could store the food in their homes without it going bad after a few days.

It would also help in selling it. People from other cities that he sold to would also buy larger quantities of food without worry if the food wouldn't go bad before they ate it.

[Cannery]: Produces metal cans that can be used to seal just about anything you want. The cannery can use recipes to even make foods like stews, soups, fruit salads, mixed vegetables, pasta sauce, chili, chow mein, curry, sandwiches, and many others. It also comes with a custom design menu that allows you to design your own cans or choose what you wish to be canned. It is possible to stamp food names and logos on the cans or if you have a Paper Mill and Glue Factory it is possible to make labels.

[Locked until: built steel mill] [consumes: steel] [requires: stone-wood]

The new Cannery provided some impressive features. He could have it use the ingredients from the warehouse to make canned stews, fruit salads, soups, vegetables, and even items could be canned. If Ben wanted, he could even can resources or items if needed.

'Well, my money went quickly I only have 100g left. I have one thing left to build now that will help everyone out and it cost exactly 100g.' Ben thought as he walked north of the ne Recreation Center.

The last structure that Ben had to build was a Market that allowed people to access an interface menu to withdraw food and items from the Warehouse.

[Market]: A square shaped wooden structure with a small 10ft x 10ft courtyard. The market interface distributes food, clothes, items or anything you want your people to have. This market takes food and items you have selected directly from the warehouse. You can limit the amount of each item per day that a person can take from the market. [Locked until: built orchard]

The market was designed it seemed so that Ben could limit how much of each item was withdrawn from the Warehouse. It could also be set up to only allow them to withdraw the items that he chose to be displayed. This way people wouldn't take out wood, stone, or anything else he did not want them to use.

Ben set the Market up to distribute fresh and canned food along with the new clothing, cookware, and utensils. Now everyone had a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear and a place of entertainment.

With all the building done, for now, Ben was financially broke once again. He went over to Rayner's house and asked him to have everyone gather at the keep. He only had to wait for a few minutes for everyone to show up after being told to come over.

With everyone following along, Ben took them all through the new Gym, Recreation Center, and over to the Market. He took out the different pieces of clothing for both genders and allowed them to see what they looked like and how they were to be worn.

Once again the slaves were overwhelmed with emotions when they were told they could take any clothing, food or cookware they wanted from the market to keep as their own. Most of them had been wearing the same dirty torn tunic for years now and this was the only possession they might have ever been able to claim. Now they had been given a new home, clothing, endless amounts of food along with other items to stock their very own kitchens.

As they went along from one structure to the next, Ben explained what everything was and how to use it. When someone had a question he would patiently answer them so that everyone would know how these new technologies all worked. It took the rest of the day to go over everything, but they seemed to catch on and he felt everyone would be fine when he left on his next trip.

Now that the new homes came with decent beds and furniture, Ben walked over to the keep to get rid of the temporary beds, tables, and chairs on the first and third floors. Ben began to laugh looking at his now empty Keep. His people who were slaves were definitely living a better than him now. Here he is in an empty stone Keep while they are living in modern homes with kitchen appliances, running water, and lights.

'Haha... It doesn't matter anyway, I am hardly ever here and I will need to take off again once the Warehouse supplies build up some more.' He thought as he laid down on his bed to cultivate.