Chapter 12: With gold coins, he could summon more Angels

[Warehouse]

[Level: Low]

[Storage Capacity: 100,000 units]

[Next Level: Medium Warehouse]

[Upgrade Requirements: 1,000 units of wood, 500 units of stone, 300 units of iron ore]

…

"A storage capacity of 100,000 units should hold us over for now," Edward noted as he stored the dissected meat, along with hides, scales, and teeth into the Warehouse.

With the Warehouse, food like meat could be preserved indefinitely without worrying about spoilage or decay. This feature was incredibly practical and solved a pressing issue for Edward.

"After doing the math, I've got over 2,600 units of meat. Setting aside what the Goblins consume daily, there's still plenty left to trade for more wood, stone, and iron ore."

Units are the measurement standard in the Worlds' Floating Isles. Under the influence of the rules of this realm, food, wood, stone, and iron ore are all quantified in units. For instance, if dissecting a monster carcass yields ten pieces of meat, that's ten units, with each unit being identical.

The same goes for chopped wood and mined stone—there are no irregular sizes. While this might seem illogical and beyond scientific explanation, remember, this world is governed by supernatural forces, making the seemingly irrational, rational.

Edward then checked the information on his territory again.

[Territory]

[Level: Low-level Village]

[Lord: Edward]

[Territory Buildings: Lord's Hall, Wooden Houses, Warehouse]

[Spirit Field Level: 1]

[Prosperity: 165]

[Next Level: Medium Village]

[Upgrade Conditions—]

[Condition 1: Prosperity reaches 100 (Completed)]

[Condition 2: Must have buildings Warehouse, Fence, Watchtower]

[Condition 3: 1,000 units of wood, 1,000 units of stone, 1,000 units of iron ore]

…

"Before I knew it, I actually met the first condition for upgrading my Territory."

Edward's territory boasted a prosperity level of 165, well over the required 100 points for an upgrade.

"But I wonder..."

"How is this prosperity calculated?"

When in doubt, ask. Edward decided to communicate with the Worlds' Floating Isles.

Soon, he received a response from the Worlds' Floating Isles.

[Territory prosperity is related to the territory's buildings, population, public sentiment (hidden), economy, and other factors.]

[Constructing buildings, increasing the population, maintaining peace in the territory, and engaging in economic trade with external forces... all these actions can boost the territory's prosperity.]

The Worlds' Floating Isles then provided Edward with a more visual explanation...

The 141 Goblins that joined his territory today directly added 141 points to its prosperity, essentially one point per Goblin.

Constructing the Warehouse added another 20 points.

Additionally, Edward had four Angels under his command... totaling up to 165 points of prosperity.

"Who knew taking in those Goblins would have such perks."

Edward felt like he had been hit with a pleasant surprise.

Setting aside their low level, weak strength, and big appetites, using Goblins to boost the territory's prosperity was a pretty smart move.

After all, without enough prosperity, the territory couldn't be upgraded.

Edward then thought about those lords who randomly got low-level troops.

"Low-level troops have their advantages too—cheap recruitment costs, the ability to quickly form an army, and they also solve the issue of territory prosperity."

Of course, Edward wasn't envious.

His Angels were always spreading faith and recruiting believers.

If the troops were lacking, believers would fill the gap.

Solving the issue of territory prosperity was a breeze for him.

Moreover, when needed, believers could also be transformed into troops to charge into battle for him.

Edward closed the territory information template.

"The next step is to keep gathering resources and figure out how to get the blueprints for fences and watchtowers to prepare for the territory upgrade."

With that in mind, Edward opened the [Island Trading Platform].

He listed meat for trade in exchange for wood, stone, and iron ore while keeping an eye out for anyone selling blueprints for [Fences] and [Watchtowers].

The drop rate for equipment and blueprints in the Worlds' Floating Isles was notoriously low, so he considered getting them from the trading platform rather than solely relying on his Angel squad's monster kills.

Of course, if they could just drop, that would be ideal.

…

Time flew by, and soon it was evening.

Edward was still tirelessly listing meat on the platform.

Not only did he manage to trade for a hefty amount of wood and stone, but the Goblins' daily food consumption wasn't affected either.

This was all thanks to the Angel squad.

Throughout the afternoon, Edward's Angels hadn't returned to the Territory once; they were out in the wild, frantically hunting monsters. The corpses they collected were then transported back by the Goblins.

The Goblins warriors took care of breaking down the bodies.

The meat obtained was then listed by Edward on the [Trading Platform], and in turn, stored as resources for the Territory.

The whole operation was like a well-oiled machine.

"Looks like we're about set."

Edward glanced at the Warehouse's resource reserves.

[Meat: 1,350 units.]

[Wood: 1,080 units.]

[Stone: 736 units.]

[Iron Ore: 597 units.]

This was the fruit of an afternoon's labor.

He had already gathered more than half of the resources needed for the Territory upgrade.

If all went well, he could collect all the necessary resources by tonight, as there were still many monster corpses left to be processed in the Territory.

He had enough meat to trade for whatever resources he needed.

The only disappointment for Edward was that, despite waiting all afternoon, he hadn't seen anyone selling blueprints for [Fences], [Watchtowers], or even [Wooden Houses].

It just goes to show, the drop rate for blueprints was ridiculously low.

And it wasn't just the blueprints; the drop rate for equipment was also abysmally low.

Throughout the day, less than a hundred pieces of equipment appeared on the [Trading Platform], and they were snapped up the moment they were listed.

These were all low-level items, not fetching 'sky-high' prices.

The wealthy snapped them up immediately.

From start to finish, only Edward's [Snake Armor], priced at a whopping 3,000 gold coins, remained unsold.

"Some folks on the professional forums have mentioned that raiding strongholds occupied by intelligent beings could potentially yield a higher chance of dropping [Blueprints] and [Equipment]."

"I'll see how things look tomorrow."

"If conditions allow, I might send Virginia and her team to take on a wilderness stronghold."

Edward felt like the development of his Territory was being hampered by the low drop rate of blueprints, and he needed to find another way to get his hands on them quickly.

…

As the sky grew darker, Edward contacted Virginia and the others, asking them to return to the Territory.

The world outside was fraught with danger under the cover of darkness.

Bad luck could lead them into an encounter with extremely powerful wild monsters, potentially wiping them out.

Edward didn't want the Angel squad taking unnecessary risks.

After all, missing one night of hunting wouldn't hurt.

By tomorrow evening, the Angel squad should be strong enough to hunt in the wild.

"I wonder how many gold coins the Angel squad has collected?"

With gold coins, he could summon more Angels.

That was the moment Edward was most looking forward to.