Jason rubbed his eyes and walked out of the castle.
The roars of beasts in the wild countryside had kept him up all night.
"When I'm strong enough, I'll definitely clean up the surrounding area!" he muttered to himself, dark circles under his eyes.
"Good morning, my Lord!"
As soon as Jason stepped outside, he was greeted by Dilios, full of energy, with the other four Spartan warriors standing beside him, waiting outside the castle.
In just one night, the physical condition of the five Spartans had completely recovered.
It wasn't just about the Spartan training camp—they had extraordinary physical prowess to begin with, a result of their superior attributes as extraordinary units.
After a full night of rest and recovery, the Spartans were eager to fight again.
"Dilios, wait a moment before heading into battle. We have new recruits joining today."
After yesterday's battle, Dilios had reached LV4, which meant he could now lead 14 Spartans.
"Understood, my Lord!" Dilios nodded respectfully, then led the Spartans to an open space nearby to hone their combat skills.
Jason turned to the ten new citizens who appeared in front of the castle.
There were six farmers, two gatherers, a tailor, and a carpenter.
Jason surveyed their basic occupations with satisfaction.
At least none of them were slackers.
The tailor and carpenter seemed particularly useful at this stage.
The tailor could work with monster pelts to create rudimentary armor, while the carpenter could help mend buildings and craft basic tools.
"Let's keep them," Jason decided.
He remembered that he hadn't signed in today, so he quickly summoned the lord interface to do so.
[Sign in successful!]
[Congratulations, Lord, you have obtained 100 Tugua seedlings! (Common Crop)]
[Tugua Seedlings: A common crop, soil melons can be harvested every seven days.]
"Well... Eight farmers. At least two can be left for farming..." Jason sighed. "A good problem, I suppose."
He paused. Perhaps for other lords, Tugua seedlings might be a useful resource. But Jason was more focused on fighting, and soil melons felt a bit lackluster for now.
"Forget it," he thought. "Let's check out the discounts for today."
Opening the discount product page, Jason scanned through the options. There were still many products available, though most were out of his reach.
[10% off legendary quality equipment - Millennium Shield, original price: 240 million, current price: 24 million...]
[0.01% off Epic Professional Scroll - Phantom Blade Knight, original price: 62 million, current price: 620,000...]
[30% off excellent quality special building - Yan Xingjun Training Camp (LV1), original price: 360,000, current price: 108,000...]
The vast majority of these were still far beyond his budget.
Jason's goal wasn't to acquire high-end gear today. He was searching for something more affordable.
He quickly searched for [Population] in the window. The discounted items refreshed instantly.
Only a few options appeared:
[Random Ten Population], [Hundred Population], [Thousand Population], and [Special Occupation Population].
There were even three heroes available. Each hero was unique, and by purchasing them, Jason could gain a second hero follower.
Unfortunately, Jason didn't have the soul crystals to buy heroes.
The best deal was a 0.5% discount on 100 random citizens.
[Original price: 1,000 soul crystals, current price: 50 soul crystals.]
Jason had 70 soul crystals left after upgrading the Beacon and Spartan Training Camp.
That was enough to buy the 100 random citizens.
He clicked the [Buy] button.
The 50 soul crystals were instantly deducted, and a hundred people appeared out of thin air on the flat ground outside the castle.
Jason framed the selection, and their information panels appeared.
These 100 purchased citizens were at LV1, but unlike those called by the Tinder, their loyalty ranged between 60 and 100. Only about a dozen were "diehard loyal."
Jason wasn't too concerned about the loyalty for now. As long as their basic needs were met and they had a stable life, their loyalty would improve over time.
The occupations of the 100 new citizens were varied:
60 farmers
15 gatherers
5 tailors
10 carpenters
6 servants
3 cooks
1 housekeeper
Servants and Stewards were among the new occupations. Jason was particularly interested in these two.
He summoned the six servants.
The housekeeper was a well-dressed middle-aged man. The remaining six servants, four male and two female, were relatively young, though the maid's appearance was quite ordinary.
"Master?" the housekeeper said, bowing respectfully.
Jason nodded and said, "In the future, you'll be in charge of all the affairs of the castle."
"Understood!" The housekeeper nodded and led the servants into the castle to begin their work.
Next, Jason assigned ten farmers to the Spartan Training Camp and had the rest of the citizens get to work—cultivating fields, cutting wood, and gathering stone.
The territory was alive with activity.
Taking advantage of the time the Spartans were training, Jason opened the list of discounted products again.
After checking through hundreds of items, it took nearly ten minutes, but he finally found a suitable deal.
[Perfect Grade Architectural Drawings - Blue Mountain Workshop, original price: 230,000 soul crystals, discounted price: 230 soul crystals!]
The description for the blueprint read:
[The Blue Mountain Workshop is a renowned equipment manufacturing workshop in a parallel world. They are known for their high production efficiency, and the weapons they produce are of legendary quality. They have created legendary equipment, and their founders are well-respected.]
[If you want them to create high-grade equipment, you'll need to provide the appropriate materials.]
The Blue Mountain Workshop was a huge find. Though Jason only had 20 soul crystals left, he was excited by the possibilities.
He could create his own weapons!
With the materials he had in his warehouse, he was confident he could afford to build the workshop soon.
Although he was short on soul crystals for now, Jason knew he could earn more before the day ended. With fifteen Spartans now, there would be plenty of opportunity to earn them.
The doors to the Spartan Training Camp opened, and ten newly trained Spartans emerged.
Jason quickly checked their information. While there were no more heroes, two had combat sub-professions.
Ludo was a Spartan Longbowman, and Moen was a Spartan Spear Thrower.
These ranged attackers would be valuable assets.
Jason spent 15 soul crystals buying weapons for each of the new Spartans. With that, he was one step closer to building his dream army.