Chapter Ten: The Rare Vein, Setting Sail for the Territory!

As Lin Mu established the camps for refugees and displaced persons, a system notification arrived. This time, however, it brought bad news:

"Ding!"
"System Alert: Lord Lin Mu, due to the construction of refugee and displaced person camps, your territory's public order and morale have both decreased by 60. Players are advised that if public order or morale remains at zero for an extended period, irreversible special circumstances may occur. Please take note."

Lin Mu was not overly surprised by the notification. He already knew this would happen; after all, refugee and displaced person camps are inherently chaotic and unsanitary places. If the refugees or displaced persons spawning within are not managed promptly, they might even cause damage to the village.

Currently, the only people Lin Mu could rely on in the entire village were Chang Yin and Feng Zhong. For the time being, the management fell solely to Lin Mu, Chang Yin, or Feng Zhong. With Chang Yin busy organizing the displaced persons, only Feng Zhong and Lin Mu were left to maintain order in the refugee camps.

Once the camps were constructed and upgraded, refugees and displaced persons began to spawn immediately. The quiet, spacious grounds soon filled with noise. Lin Mu and Feng Zhong each stepped into a camp to calm the people; a newly established village desperately needed these individuals for its development.

Since there were no cooks to prepare meals, the hungry refugees could not be offered a hot meal. They could only be appeased with words. As an experienced lord, Lin Mu knew the best way to handle newly spawned refugees was to set up a row of dining tables in front of the camp; a hot meal and warm water were the best ways to settle them once they appeared.

As Lin Mu, Feng Zhong, and Chang Yin managed the territorial affairs, the public morale and order gradually improved. Soon, they shifted to: Morale 48, Public Order 30. This was still quite low. The work efficiency of the villagers fluctuated in tandem with these stats. With morale at 48, the overall work efficiency was only 48%—a state of low productivity. Ideally, it should be above 90%, but that was just an aspiration.

Refugees emerging from the camps were typically gaunt and ragged, mostly consisting of criminals or the destitute, though some were escapees. Those from the displaced persons camps had a slightly better demeanor, though not by much; their clothing might be better, and some might even arrive with small bundles of belongings or entire families in tow.

Displaced persons were generally homeless people from the ranks of farmers, laborers, craftsmen, or merchants. The chance of special talents appearing among them was higher; it was not impossible to find a fallen imperial relative or noble. Lin Mu remembered such cases from his past life, where a disgraced aristocrat possessed unique craftsmanship—truly like finding gold in the dirt.

Once the camps were finished, Lin Mu called upon Feng Zhong, who had been patrolling, to help maintain order. Simultaneously, he took the system-provided food from the village council hall to distribute to the newcomers, hoping they wouldn't starve to death immediately upon arrival, as that would lead to unpredictable consequences.

The territory's food supply was meager. After settling these 149 displaced persons, plus the 11 already registered by Chang Yin, the population reached 163. The food wouldn't last long, so he had to arrange for people to gather wild fruits, while Feng Zhong would take the physically fit to hunt and collect meat.

Speaking of meat, it is necessary to mention an important setting in "Mythical World": the units of measurement. In "Mythical World," all material resources are generally referred to by "units." For instance, 1 unit of grain, 1 unit of stone, and so on. This "unit" is a generic term rather than a fixed value. 1 unit of grain usually represents 1 jin (half a kilogram), 1 unit of stone is 1 cubic meter, 1 unit of timber is 1 cubic meter, and 1 unit of iron ore is 1 jin. Furthermore, the copper, silver, and gold coins are also standardized: 1 gold coin = 100 silver coins = 10,000 copper coins.

...

After much effort, the day's newly spawned population was settled. Lin Mu arranged for some to collect tools for logging, others to gather wild fruits, and sent Feng Zhong out to hunt. Some were assigned to the newly built primary shipyard and primary fishery, hoping to produce fishing boats to catch fish from the river.

With a population of only a hundred or so, Lin Mu and Chang Yin managed things with ease and high efficiency. Lin Mu found himself with nothing to do and went to check the rewards from achieving the "Second Village in the World" milestone: the special mineral vein granted by the system.

In his past life, the honor of "Second Village in the World" had been claimed by a player from the European region. Now that he had snatched it first, he was eager to see what he had gained. Given the grand announcement, this vein had to be extraordinary.

Lin Mu had high expectations, hoping this would play a pivotal role in the territory's development. The vein was an open-pit mine, meaning it could be exploited without the complex prerequisites of digging a shaft. The dark, imposing vein was located northwest of the village. Lin Mu took five villagers with him to the site.

Once registered, these five villagers all possessed the "Primary Mining" specialty, making their extraction much more efficient. In player terms, having NPCs with such specialties was a significant "population critical hit."

Name: [Black Tungsten Iron Vein]
Grade: 3rd Rank
Feature: Metallic Mineral
Attributes: Open-pit high-quality vein, 83% ore purity, 2,000,000 units in storage.
Description: [Nuwa] rewarded this to the warrior who established the second village in the world. Due to the influence of the special territory, the overall attributes increased by 100%, causing a unique transformation into a high-quality vein, making it easier to mine.

Lin Mu checked the attributes and was stunned: 2 million units of storage—meaning 2 million jin of black tungsten iron! He wondered how many weapons and armor could be forged from this; it seemed the primary blacksmith shop would be quite busy.

This special vein was originally likely just a 2nd-rank ordinary open-pit mine. Through the territory's god-tier attribute bonus, it had transformed into its current state, with its storage capacity presumably multiplied as well. This was exactly why Lin Mu had been so desperate to build the second village.

Resource grades are ranked from 1 to 9, with 9 being the highest. Lin Mu thought of his planned methods for wealth accumulation, one of which involved weapons and armor. One of the most profitable industries in the world is weaponry; look at the United States, selling planes and cannons worldwide—it was no exaggeration to say that weaponry was one of their pillar industries.

The five villagers began to work. Once mined, the ore was transported back to the primary blacksmith shop. The shop currently had two primary blacksmiths capable of forging basic weapons like spears, swords, and knives, which would suffice to arm the villagers so they wouldn't have to hunt empty-handed.

Lin Mu returned to the village, called three villagers without specialties, and instructed them to transport the ore to the smithy.

Once settled, Lin Mu told the five primary miners: "You've worked hard. I'm leaving this black tungsten iron vein to you. Whoever mines the most and the best, I will promote to a foreman, and there will be rewards. Work hard!"

The five replied in unison: "Yes, My Lord! We will work hard. We only hope for a full meal." It seemed food was their best reward.

Lin Mu understood their situation and encouraged them: "No problem. After you finish, there will be hot food for you. Even if I go hungry, you shall eat, so rest assured! Also, watch your surroundings for wild beasts, though I've already ordered the guards to patrol and clear the area."

"Thank you for your benevolence, My Lord!" they bowed. Having a lord who cared for his subordinates was a rare blessing. The rhythmic "ding-ding-dang-dang" broke the silence of the plains, signaling that Lin Mu's territory had officially begun its operations.

When it comes to mines, it is worth noting the game's setting regarding resource extraction. In the China region of "Mythical Three Kingdoms," NPCs and players can only work within their own territory. If they work outside, efficiency drops, yields decrease, or, in more severe cases, they might desert. This is a protective setting.

Therefore, the area of a territory is a crucial attribute. However, Lin Mu did not need to worry about this. He knew that the range of his territory was "None," which he guessed meant "unlimited." In other words, his territory could be seen as just the village, or as the entire world. This meant his villagers could work in the wilderness without loss of efficiency or fear of desertion.

Lin Mu did not monitor them further, nor did he assist. As the lord, he had many other tasks. He left the manual labor to others.

Having received the system reward and understood its value, a joyful Lin Mu walked with a light step to inspect the other buildings. He headed south to the Yinglong River, where the primary shipyard and fishery were located.

The primary shipyard could produce primary or intermediate fishing boats. The primary fishery had a higher success rate, and while it could produce intermediate boats, they were more time and timber-consuming. Lin Mu ordered the seven NPCs in the shipyard to produce several primary fishing boats first so the fishermen could start catching fish.

The shipyard currently housed four primary shipbuilders—a "population critical hit" from the intermediate displaced persons camp, which, along with the five miners, was his greatest haul of the day.

Lin Mu checked the fishery. Lacking materials to make nets, they were using the ten primary nets provided by the system. The system was quite generous here, knowing players wouldn't have materials to make nets immediately. Ten nets required ten boats and twenty fishermen; with the shipyard's efficiency boost, they would be producing fish by the end of the day.

After appointing an alert leader for the fishery, Lin Mu felt at ease. The people of the Han Dynasty were generally honest and possessed one or two skills, whether as farmers, fishermen, or tailors. But due to the land annexation by aristocrats and gentry, many were displaced and homeless. This was the tragedy of the era and the contradiction of society.

After inspecting the other primary buildings and finalizing arrangements, Lin Mu returned to the village council hall. Only Chang Yin was there, processing the villagers' information. Lin Mu knew what he was doing; in his past life, he had struggled with the complex task of registering refugees to avoid errors.

He remembered that when he built his village in his past life using a Yellow-tier Village Building Token, the system-awarded civil official had only 5th-rank aptitude. They could handle basic tasks but were rigid and inefficient. Looking at Chang Yin, it was clear he was extraordinary.

Chang Yin had voluntarily requested to manage internal affairs, while Feng Zhong had taken charge of military defense. Both possessed outstanding intelligence and emotional intelligence.

Wait, he had forgotten to check their attribute panels. What a mistake. Lin Mu opened the territory panel to view the attributes of Feng Zhong and Chang Yin.