Flatulence lightly shook his head and said with a sigh, "Ah, this game is so realistic and detailed that it almost made me use realistic capitalist thinking to tackle this issue. Shame on me, really."
"Thankfully, we have someone like Zhou around, with such a developed gaming mindset to remind me."
"Mr. Qian, Somersault, which of us is going to rent first?"
Since the four of them were well acquainted, they formed a group to work together, and the others didn't hear what Mr. Zhou said.
Sea Flip grinned and patted Flatulence on the back, "Brother Pi, why don't you and Mr. Qian decide who will go first? I have a chef gig, so I'm not in a hurry."
Grandpa Qian of Bone-Touching glanced at the two, "Actually, it's the same either way. I don't think we can finish building the Divine Hall in 24 days."
"Given the case, I think it's best to rent it when you can be online all day to maximize its utility."
After listening to Grandpa Qian of Bone-Touching, Flatulence shrugged, "I can be online all day today and tomorrow, what about you, Mr. Qian?"
Grandpa Qian of Bone-Touching shook his head slightly and said nonchalantly, "Aside from eating, drinking, relieving myself, and sleeping, I'm online all day. It doesn't matter to me, you go ahead."
"Alright then, I'll go first." Flatulence grinned at Grandpa Qian of Bone-Touching and went to accept the mission.
However, someone was faster than him.
Iron Black Pot quickly walked up to Fang Ka and spoke respectfully, "Mage Fang Ka, I'd like to borrow this axe for a day."
Fang Ka sized up Iron Black Pot and then handed the axe to him, "I'll leave it with you, you can use it till this time tomorrow, then I'll come to collect it."
"Okay, Mage Fang Ka." Iron Black Pot looked at his game panel where 1 Copper Coins had been deducted, feeling a bit heartbroken.
Just as he was about to say something, Flatulence rushed over and interrupted him directly, "Mage Fang Ka, can I reserve the use of this axe for tomorrow?"
Fang Ka was momentarily stunned, then took a deep look at Flatulence, "Oh, that's certainly no problem."
As soon as he finished speaking, he deducted the only 1 Copper Coins from Flatulence's panel, then looked at Iron Black Pot, "Tomorrow at this time, you can directly hand the axe to him."
Fang Ka thought Flatulence was quite promising, knowing to make reservations in advance, very perceptive.
So naturally, he could also implement a prepay system... and simply deducted the money in advance for the other party too.
Moreover, this saved him a lot of trouble, letting players handle the transitions among themselves.
At this moment, the other players present were all a bit stunned upon hearing what Flatulence said and Fang Ka's response.
Damn, what kind of gameplay is this? Missions can be reserved in advance?
Is this game too detailed and intelligent?
But just then, they all caught on, with several players rushing over, indicating their desire to reserve with Fang Ka.
Ka refused no one and applied the prepay system for all who approached, even arranging them in order.
Finally, there were 14 players who didn't move, unsure whether they were reluctant to part with the 1 Copper Coins, felt there were too many players making reservations, or thought the prepay method wasn't good.
But for Fang Ka, it didn't matter; these players could rent early or late.
Looking at Mr. Zhou, who was standing aside, Fang Ka then walked towards him.
Seeing Fang Ka coming over, Mr. Zhou was a bit surprised but still asked respectfully, "Mage Fang Ka, is there anything you need?"
Fang Ka inspected Mr. Zhou and then inquired, "Are your building plans finished?"
Hearing Fang Ka's words, Mr. Zhou thought Fang Ka wanted to inspect the building plans.
So he quickly ran to the side, moved a piece of wood, revealing the plans underneath.
Apparently, the piece of wood had been pressing down on the plans, covering up the half-bottle of ink and quill at the same time.
No wonder Fang Ka hadn't seen them earlier when he came over.
Quickly, Mr. Zhou brought the plans to Fang Ka, grinning as he said, "Mage Fang Ka, please have a look."
Fang didn't take the plans but said, "Since your plans are done, return the quill and the half-bottle of ink to me."
This wasn't because Fang Ka was stingy, but because resources like ink weren't plentiful in the Ancient Castle, and Mr. Zhou didn't have any paper, so these items wouldn't be useful to him.
Rather than waste them, it was better to reclaim them.
Of course, it wasn't just about taking things back, there was a +2 increase in favorable impression points for the counterpart.
This way, everything's good for everyone.
Mr. Zhou was pleased, and he hadn't incurred any actual loss.
Favorability can be boosted as much as you like, and reasons can always be found to lower it later.
Upon hearing Fang Ka's words, Mr. Zhou paused for a moment.
He began to think it over, feeling things weren't so simple.
Fang Ka shouldn't be stingy, since little things like that in the Ancient Castle wouldn't be in short supply.
Then why did the other party want these trivial items back? Mr. Zhou couldn't help but think that once the plans were finished, these two little items seemed useless to him.
Might this be a chain mission? A pre-mission linking to a hidden mission?
Because his plans were drawn well, perfectly completing the pre-mission, which triggered a follow-up hidden mission?
Thinking this, Mr. Zhou not only showed a smile on his face; he brought over the quill and ink to hand to Fang Ka.
"Mage Fang Ka favorable impression +2."
Seeing this notification, Mr. Zhou couldn't help giving himself a pat on the back internally.
Although the significance of Mage Fang Ka's favorability wasn't clear yet, just seeing the consequences of a decrease was enough to deduce 'Mage Fang Ka's favorability is important and has a big impact'.
Mr. Zhou felt he had gained a lot this time.
He exchanged pleasantries with Fang Ka for a moment, then once again started organizing the players back to work.
With that axe, Iron Black Pot worked even more fiercely.
He looked like a raging bull, an aura that even made Fang Ka sweat a little.
Everyone's efficiency in chopping trees increased significantly.
However, only about a third of the players were chopping trees; another third were directed by Mr. Zhou in making brick molds from the felled trees.
The remaining players began collecting yellow clay, adding water to mix and tread, allowing the clay and water to bind thoroughly and turn into yellow mud.
Once the yellow mud was prepared, these players started to use wood to create sheds and racks for drying the bricks.
This was because the molds filled with yellow mud needed air-drying and exposure to sunlight, while also needing to be protected from rain.
Once some racks and sheds were made, about half of those involved in making them split off, taking the completed brick molds and filling them with the yellow mud.
Then they used a type of fine but sharp leafy plant to shave off a layer on top, smoothing it level with the brick mold.
Subsequently, these completed brick molds were placed on the racks to air-dry and sun-expose. Once requirements were met, they could be placed in the kiln for firing.
At this time, Grandpa Qian of Bone-Touching was cutting trees with Flatulence.
Flatulence glanced at Grandpa Qian, unable to resist asking, "Mr. Qian, why didn't you go up to reserve with everyone else earlier?"
Grandpa Qian looked at Flatulence, then struck the tree before him with a heavy blow, speaking nonchalantly, "I'm available every day, so no rush."
"Even if I'm the last to borrow the axe among the 24 of us, it wouldn't be too late."
"Having 1 Copper Coins in the account looks much better than 0, and it feels better too."