That evening.
After parting ways with Eula, Ying, as the host, welcomed Gong Qu and the others to stay in the Serenitea Pot.
Having settled things with Keqing, Gong Qu found himself somewhat of an outsider.
Using the excuse "I want to discuss some private matters with Keqing," she gave him a kiss and promptly kicked him out of the room.
Left with no choice, Gong Qu and the Gatekeeper returned briefly to the Minecraft world.
...
"Gatekeeper, hmm, it's rather awkward to keep calling you that. Do you have a proper name?"
The Gatekeeper shook his head.
Looking at the Gatekeeper's resolute and steadfast figure, Gong Qu was reminded of a certain draconic butler from a multiversal tale.
Moreover, the Gatekeeper's skills in both close combat and ranged attacks were impressive. Aside from being poor, which didn't really count as a flaw, he was the kind of warrior who could face down a dragon in battle if properly equipped.
"You'll be called Sebas from now on."
[Successfully named the Gatekeeper "Sebas"]
[No territory currently owned, unable to recruit settlers. Please establish a territory promptly]
It seemed Gong Qu's action had triggered some hidden game mechanic.
The Gatekeeper before him suddenly flashed with a golden light, and his character panel appeared:
[Name: Sebas]
[Class: Gatekeeper]
[Level: 50]
[Faction: None]
Well then, no wonder he could keep up with Gong Qu's 5-second-per-100-meter sprint.
So this was a level 50 NPC after all?
Gong Qu was sure Sebas hadn't had a level before.
But given his formidable skills, it made sense. It seemed that even ordinary villagers might have hidden levels, it was just that without a character template, they didn't show up.
Only when a lord recruited them or gave them a name would they gain a class template and reveal their level.
"If that's the case, then let's get started on this simulated colony content and establish a territory."
With his goal set, Gong Qu immediately crafted the core item: the Town Hall.
In the simulated colony mod, the Town Hall is built from seven wooden planks surrounding two building tools. Its design resembles a lectern, used to manage the various settings within the territory.
The building tools were special items in the mod, with a simple recipe: two sticks and one cobblestone, placed at a diagonal.
"A forest cabin isn't really suitable for a Town Hall, it's supposed to be a public hub for interacting with settlers, and privacy isn't much of a priority there."
"Daikaku! Come here!"
Roar!
A massive draconic beast responded to his master's call, thundering over with earth-shaking steps.
"Take me on a tour of the area."
"Roar!"
With the juvenile dragon from the overworld as his mount, Gong Qu easily surveyed the terrain from above, carefully studying the lay of the land.
From the forest cabin heading westward for several hundred meters was a wide river, spanned by a bridge Gong Qu had built. On the far side lay a vast plain.
The plain was dotted here and there with small hills and depressions, but overall it was perfect for livestock and farming, with a comfortably mild climate.
Though the Dragon Adventure pack added seasonal cycles, it didn't significantly impact temperatures.
As long as it wasn't a snow biome, there wouldn't be snow even in winter.
"The simulated colony territory starts with the Town Hall at its center, so if I want to have villagers working as farmers harvesting wheat, the Town Hall should be fairly close to the farmland."
Given the game's realism, Gong Qu stepped outside the mod's strict colony simulation logic to consider other activities villagers might engage in, like patrolling or education.
Originally, the mod only offered a few fixed jobs for villagers.
Their attributes were entirely random, and those attributes affected work efficiency, often leading to "useless" villagers.
Many players took drastic measures, culling these "useless" villagers and letting new ones be born to keep the settlement running efficiently.
But here, Gong Qu had no intention of going full dystopian overlord. Better to use everyone's abilities to their fullest.
Gong Qu spent about ten minutes scouting the plain.
Eventually, he chose a slightly elevated spot near his farmland to place the Town Hall.
Clang, clang!
After a flurry of hammering, a modest wooden building arose around the lectern-like structure.
[Please name your territory: ____]
"I'll call it Entara, which means 'The Eternal Nation.'"
[Territory "Entara" created]
Next, Gong Qu added Sebas to the settler roster.
Sebas' stats immediately updated:
[Faction: Entara]
[Loyalty: 100]
[Happiness: 100]
Typical of a zealot, these two stats were clearly locked at their maximum.
Gong Qu was quite satisfied. Honestly, being worshipped like a deity by this lot wasn't the worst thing in the world.
With the Town Hall built, the next step was to construct a builder's hut, settler homes, and so on.
Since the territory was just starting out, Gong Qu had to handle many of the tasks himself.
Once he had laid out the blueprints for a few buildings, Sebas had already rounded up some local villagers to join the settlement.
"Greetings, Lord. We've heard of your deeds and wish to join your territory," said one villager.
Gong Qu gave him a glance. The man's vacant expression was so uncanny that it nearly triggered Gong Qu's uncanny valley instincts.
"Alright. You'll be a farmer. Your job is to expand the new fields and harvest the wheat."
[Name: Robin]
[Class: Farmer]
[Level: 5]
[Faction: Entara]
[Loyalty: 60]
[Happiness: 40]
Compared to Sebas, Robin's shortcomings were obvious.
Ordinary NPCs just didn't cut it!
But an elite NPC guarding the gates of another world? That was something else.
"Looks like I need to fast-track my plan to form a Gatekeeper Squad."
Ordinary villagers were already starting to annoy Gong Qu.
Still, to free up his own hands, and Keqing's, and any other heroines who might appear in the future, he had no choice but to recruit more villagers. As long as he didn't overwork them, they'd stay happy, and productivity wouldn't suffer.
Besides, he didn't want to treat this world as just a game.
Otherwise, he could easily justify it with a casual "the villagers can tough it out," and these semi-sentient villagers wouldn't even be able to protest.
Once everything was set up, night had already fallen, the sky as dark as ink.
Fortunately, Gong Qu had no masochistic urges to increase the difficulty of his overworld, on Peaceful Mode, nighttime was simply darker, not dangerous.
Moreover, since confirming that Teyvat was connected to his old game account in this world, Gong Qu had an idea.
He'd bring along Zhongli, Raiden Ei, Venti, and Nahida to sweep through the overworld's ruins, as well as the Nether and the End, until he fully controlled this world and unlocked Creative Mode.
At that point, he wouldn't fear even the Aeons of Honkai Star Rail, much less Celestia from Genshin Impact.
Time to put this theory to the test.
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