CHAPTER 174: FOCUSING ON INFRASTRUCTURES

The celebration started early, but ended way too late.

A part of it was due to their food and drink stocks increasing beyond their capacity.

Even after Xu Tao distributed all the SSR Storage Rings he had and split everything between the ring holders, they were still lacking in storage space.

Of course, they couldn’t leave the food out either way, as unlike within a Storage Ring that doesn’t let time pass, the food would spoil over time when outside. Thus, they could only consume the food before that happened.

And the main reason was because... they simply wanted to spread their wings even if it was just for a few hours longer.

Everyone was tired of their past lifestyle, living day after day unsure about their tomorrow. They wanted to change, if given the chance—though they wouldn’t dare voice it.

Those repressed emotions were released fully during the celebration.

A little brawl couldn’t be helped here and there, but nothing that needed enforcement in the end. They knew when to pull back, and when to stand firm, thankfully.

"Ugh..."

Xu Tao opened his eyes, staring around in wonder.

He was still at a table in the middle of the courtyard, with lots of bodies scattered around him. The smell was reminiscent of alcohol, and a hint of sour puke here and there.

"...I shouldn’t hold another celebration anytime soon." He sighed, shaking his head.

Although it was an effective way of letting everyone get to know each other, letting them do as they pleased every time could become a bad habit.

DING!

"Hmm?"

Just then, the Lost System popped another notification, drawing Xu Tao’s attention instantly. Reading it, he felt... baffled.

[

New Quest Generated: Let’s Upgrade the City!

Quest Details:

The current land you own has spread larger than initially expected. However, with the next additions, you’re now lacking in living space. Let’s use the Management Tab and upgrade the City!

Quest Reward:

1 Million Gold

]

The reward looked promising. After all, with the alchemic converter’s frequent use, he was already close to running out of gold. As such, Xu Tao planned to leave quietly, but...

"Mmm... Sir Tao..."

"My... Emperor..."

"Master..."

Just as he tried to stand, he realized that there were three girls grabbing his leg, making it impossible for him to move. Jehanne, Wu Zetian, and Yifa!

"You girls..." He sighed, before waving his hand, lifting them up gently with Sword Telekinesis.

"You should learn your drinking capacity properly. Drinking until you’re this smashed isn’t good for your image..."

Of course, he didn’t dare leave them in the open. Although there were other women lying around, sleeping on the ground, he couldn’t let the three suffer the same fate. Thus, he decided to carry them along as he walked back to the castle.

However, upon arriving, he didn’t really bother with them much. He just tucked them into a single bed and left, heading to the planning room alone.

"The Management Tab..."

Xu Tao opened the tab as soon as he arrived, noticing that a new entry had been added to it: City Structural Planning.

As soon as he tapped into it, the System’s screen shifted aside, becoming less obtrusive, while a new hologram appeared, filling the table in front of him.

"This is..." He sighed, observing the 3D image. "This is the current city’s design!"

He could see the primary wall and the secondary wall that had been added later on by Jehanne and the others. Not only those, he could even see the houses, the roads, the trees, free space, and so on. Everything was displayed without missing a single detail.

Apart from that, he could see the options [Upgrade] and [Modify] over the entire display.

"So, I just need to use this to upgrade the city?"

To test it out, he tapped the Upgrade button. As soon as he did, the entire city’s appearance changed. The walls became taller and thicker, with sturdier materials. The homes also evolved, becoming bigger and taller, able to hold more people at once. But at the same time, this caused the streets to feel tighter.

Curious, he extended his senses outside, but no changes happened. Xu Tao nodded, understanding that these changes would only be applied after he pressed the [Confirm] button at the end.

"I see... Then, let’s try Modify..."

As he pressed the other button, he... didn’t see any changes. "Huh? Did the image freeze?" Wondering, he moved his finger through the hologram and—

BLIP!

As his finger touched one of the houses, various options appeared on top of it: Reshape, Move, Upgrade, Degrade, Remove, Copy, and other tools that could simplify his work. Though to Xu Tao, such terms were more like magic phrases he had no idea about.

All he could do was to test each button one after another, seeing how they interacted with the items, and proceed with the planning.

"Hmm... I see... so this one is like this, then this..."

More than he initially thought, modifying the city’s structure felt satisfying. Changing the shape of the walls, adding new houses, fixing roads, and all other things. He worked nonstop until he finished a good enough structure for the entire town.

"Good!"

He nodded, double- and triple-checking the modified design.

The main difference he made was the general structure. Currently, the castle was at the southern edge of the city. This could be bad if they were besieged from all sides like last night.

So, to address this problem, he moved the castle to the middle and surrounded it with a small layer of walls. After that, he proceeded with creating another concentric wall around the first wall, marginally taller, delineating the Government and Business district.

This is the place where special buildings would be relocated.

After that, finally, there’s the Residential District, surrounded by the third concentric wall. This one was made tall and thick, ensuring that no monster could break it easily. The space between the second and third walls was quite wide, allowing for later additions of extra houses when needed.

Xu Tao stood up from his seat—but instead of heading to the kitchen or the dining room, he went to the second floor’s balcony, a place that overlooked the entire city.

"Then, let’s see how things change!"

Excited, he tapped the Confirm button at last, before staring out with full intent to watch how the buildings would transform...

"Wait..."

But the next moment, a bright flash exploded, searing his eyes with burning white light.

"Ugh! M-My eyes...!"

He groaned, almost falling to his knees from the damage. It was so painful that he felt like he had gone blind for a moment!

"S-Sir Tao! It’s an emergency!"

"Huh?"

Right as he was regaining his vision, Jehanne’s panicked voice reached his ears. He turned to where she was, barely able to open his eyes, seeing her panicked expression.

"Why? What happened?" He asked calmly.

"T-That..." Jehanne paused, as if unsure of what to say. "T-The entire city... suddenly changed after a bright flash!"

"...Ah."

Xu Tao sighed, realizing his mistake. "Sorry, that’s my doing," he admitted quickly.

As his vision returned, he turned to his handiwork and confirmed.

"Yep, this is exactly as I designed it."

He nodded.