Chapter 717: Territory Policy

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation

Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Ever since they knew that the Islander was already an Epic-tier powerhouse, they felt that everything was just as it should be. After all, he was an Epic-tier. What’s the big deal about upgrading his territory to a Domain City?

Even if he were to upgrade to a capital or even a royal city now, they wouldn’t be surprised.

An Epic-tier powerhouse was enough to serve as the foundation of a kingdom.

Ji Chen naturally had no time to care about the ups and downs on the chat channels. At this moment, he was quite curious about the changes happening in his territory.

Apart from the expansion of the territory and the enlargement of the lord’s castle, upgrading to a Domain City brought about many additional things.

Part of it was the ability to construct more advanced buildings. Now, without the need for building blueprints, three-star buildings could be constructed, such as larger residences, advanced port docks, and large workshops.

In addition to this, a brand-new page appeared on the panel.

It was labeled “Policies.”

Ji Chen’s interest soared, and he clicked on it.

[Territorial Policies]

[Domain-level territories can enact up to one policy per domain, each of which will directly affect the development trend of the territory. Please choose carefully according to your needs.]

[Once a policy is confirmed, it cannot be changed for one month.]

[Military Policies]:

1. Militarization (100% faster cooldown for recruiting troops, but 100% increase in resource consumption for troop recruitment)
2. Full Preparedness (50% increase in production speed of war-related military equipment, 50% increase in construction speed of territorial defense buildings)
3. Universal Conscription (All residents are transformed into militia, with their level and tier determined by race and military equipment level. The territory will stop producing any resources.)
4. Maritime Dominion [Activated when the territory has a shipyard] (100% increase in shipbuilding speed, 100% increase in training speed for sailors and marines)
[Economic Policies]:

1. Commercial Circulation (50% increase in construction speed of economic buildings, 15% increase in commercial tax)
2. Colonial Exploitation (30% increase in gold and resource acquisition from colonies, sustainable for up to two months)
3. Age of Discovery (Easier development of new maritime trade routes, 30% increase in attractiveness of maritime trade routes)
4. Population Growth (50% increase in attraction of refugees, easier attraction of high-quality population)
[Agricultural Policies]:

1. Self-Sufficiency (40% increase in food crop yield, 40% increase in clearing and planting speed of food crop farmland)
2. Natural Economic Collapse (40% increase in economic crop yield, 40% increase in clearing and planting speed of economic crop farmland)
3. Infrastructure Expansion (100% increase in construction speed of agricultural infrastructure)
[Industrial Policies]:

Emergency Production (100% increase in workshop product production speed, gradual decrease in worker morale)
2. Quality Upgrade [Activated when having buildings like a blacksmith shop, research institute] (30% increase in technology research and development speed, 30% increase in industrial product quality)
3. Industrial Talent (Accelerates the training speed of craftsmen, increases the speed and probability of craftsman advancement)
[Heroic Policies]:

Talent Recruitment (Consumes gold and resources to increase the attractiveness of heroes to the territory to a certain extent)
2. Meritocracy (Increases the probability of hero birth within the territory)
3. Road to Heroism (Increases the probability of advancement for territorial heroes)
Five different domain policies were displayed on the panel.

Economic, agricultural, military, industrial, heroic… Ji Chen carefully examined them one by one, quickly understanding this new feature.

Overall, these policies had different effects in different situations. By using the appropriate policies that match the Lord’s current priorities, things could be accomplished with much less effort.

For example, the Military Policy “Militarization” was obviously used when war was imminent and there was an urgent need for troops.

Of course, such extreme policies were not always beneficial. With “Militarization,” the cooldown for recruiting troops was increased by 100%, meaning that it only takes 3.5 days to recruit a wave of troops, but it required twice the resources as the cost.

However, there were also some policies that did not require a cost but had relatively weaker effects, which were suitable choices during peaceful times.

“Each domain can choose one policy, with a total of five choices.”

After some thought, Ji Chen decided to select “Militarization,” “Colonial Exploitation,” “Self-Sufficiency,” “Emergency Production,” and “Road to Heroism.”

“Militarization” needed no explanation. It aimed to recruit as many troops as possible in a short period to resist demon attacks.

“Colonial Exploitation” increased the gold and resource acquisition from colonies by 30% within two months. Currently, under the Ocean Crown, there are three colonies: the Great Luminescent Sea, the Starshine Islands, and Fish Tail Island located in Lienhardt. However, only the former two could generate income, while Fish Tail Island still requires resources from the Ocean Crown for development.

During the two-month duration of this policy, it could provide the Ocean Crown with hundreds of thousands to millions of rare resources.

“Self-Sufficiency” increased food production. Ji Chen considered that if demons attacked, they would likely block the Stormy Sea and even the New Moon Islands, cutting off internal and external channels, including food supply routes. Therefore, it wa necessary to prepare for long-term defense.

It was important to be self-sufficient. Regardless of how demons were to attack from outside the island, as long as crops could grow normally on the island, there would be a continuous supply of food.

“Emergency Production” was about producing goods as much as possible within a limited time, selling them to exchange for resources. The concept was similar to the previous policies, all aimed at preparing for the upcoming war.

The effect of the Hero Policy was similar to a hero fountain. Ji Chen chose the “Road to Heroism.” If he could advance the tiers of several heroes during this period, it would be a huge gain.

After clicking the confirmation button, a mysterious force immediately descended upon the territory. The residents of the Ocean Crown all lifted their heads, feeling that something had changed, but they couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.

They could only vaguely sense that their beloved Lord had made a decision.

Ji Chen closed the panel and said slowly, “In the next period of time, the growth speed of food crops and the production speed of workshops will increase significantly. The resources brought from the Great Luminescent Sea and the Starshine Islands will also increase.”

Wilus, who hadn’t spoken, witnessed everything by Ji Chen’s side, and he was not surprised. Upon hearing this, he nodded immediately.

“I understand.”

He nodded slightly. “You go about your business.”

Wilus immediately responded, saluted, and left.

Ji Chen watched Wilus leave, then walked towards the northeast mountain area with his hands behind his back.

Since returning from the Northern Continent, Lainekel had been living alone in a small cabin in the northeast of the main island. Ji Chen had suggested that he live in the town together, but Lainekel refused for fear of causing panic and trouble.

This hero who had fought against demons for tens of thousands of years, endured countless tortures after being captured, and even after being transformed into a half-demon, half-human, still harbored great kindness towards humans and orderly civilizations.

Even though he longed to reintegrate into civilized society, he forcefully suppressed such desires.

His will was the most tenacious Ji Chen had ever seen. Perhaps there were many who were stronger than him, but Ji Chen believed that this extreme level of resilience in willpower was possessed by few.

Walking out of the densely populated area, through the industrial zone to the north, and following a winding mountain path, Ji Chen arrived at a gentle slope by the river, leaning against the mountain. Crossing the small stone bridge over the creek, a white-walled, blue-tiled mountain cabin appeared before him. A wisp of smoke lazily rose from the chimney, slowly merging into the sky, blending with the white clouds.

Flowing water, a small bridge, a cottage, and smoke.

It felt like a place where a hermit would reside.

However, what surprised Ji Chen was that not only Lainekel was there, but the Dragon Whale Hero Solidas was also present. The two of them sat in front of the house as if discussing something.

“How have the both of you been during this period?”

Lainekel and Solidas suddenly became aware of someone approaching nearby. Their hearts skipped a beat. They hadn’t noticed anyone approaching moments ago, and the voice they heard now felt like a ghost whispering right into their ears.

Subconsciously, their bodies tensed up.

But when they turned their heads and saw Ji Chen, they relaxed.

“Very well, thank you for providing me with such a place to stay.” Lainekel stood up, somewhat grateful. “Lord Ji Chen, why did you come here?”

Ji Chen walked up to them. “I wanted to ask some questions and also to see you. But why is Sir Solidas here too?”

Solidas, with exaggerated muscles all over his body, like a small giant, crossed his arms and grinned. “I was just bored and had nothing to do. Anina is busy again, so I came to chat with Lainekel.”

“Solidas, you have recovered from your injuries and extended your lifespan. Do you have any other plans?”

Solidas shook his head. “Not for now. After running around for hundreds of years, I plan to stay here and rest for a while. Moreover, demons are preparing to attack, and I thought I could stay and contribute. I wonder if you would allow…”

Ji Chen felt pleasantly surprised and smiled. “Of course, I appreciate your decision to stay and help the Ocean Crown.”

Having a legendary powerhouse voluntarily stay behind to help was naturally a great thing. He was more than happy about it.

Lainekel also seemed quite pleased. With one more like-minded companion who didn’t mind his friend staying behind, he wouldn’t feel too lonely.

Although the world was vast, there weren’t many places where he could find solace. If possible, he wanted to preserve this small piece of paradise, which, though not large, brought him some peace and tranquility.

Ji Chen quickly got to the main point of his visit.

“Lainekel, will the demons be restrained by the power of light?”

“Of course. Demons belong to chaos and evil. Their composition is made up of the most evil flesh energy in the world, a combination of many negative emotions,” Lainekel said. “For them, the power of light is like the most poisonous toxin, causing them great harm upon contact.

Tens of thousands of years ago, during the Divine War, the followers of light under the command of the Goddess of Light were extremely proficient in light magic and made great contributions to combating demons. This has evolved into… what is now the Light Church in the Eastern Continent.

Lord Ji Chen, is this what you want?”

“I want to see if we can cultivate one or two units with the power of light to deal with demons.”

Lainekel hesitated and said, “This may be a bit too late. Perhaps there isn’t much time left to cultivate a new unit.”

Cultivating units was possible; all major powers had the ability to do so.

But the problem was that creating a new unit wasn’t something that could be done on a whim. It required a significant investment of resources and time to possibly develop a practical new unit, rather than some useless unit.

Facing Lainekel’s persuasion, Ji Chen smiled nonchalantly.

“You don’t need to worry about this. I have my ways.”

Lainekel opened his mouth to speak but thought about Ji Chen being a Glory Lord, perhaps possessing special powers that he didn’t know about, so he didn’t say anything more.

Just now, he had witnessed the tremendous changes that had occurred in the Ocean Crown. How could such a large castle group appear out of nowhere? This kind of power couldn’t possibly be possessed by ordinary people.

But what shocked him even more was that this power seemed to be possessed by all Glory Lords as easily as picking cabbages.

Was this reasonable?