After the villagers had gone, Wang Yi took the [Construction Drawings for the Chaos Warehouse] from his backpack.
The 1 unit of wood and 10 units of crushed stone were in a pile. Wang Yi tossed the Scroll toward it, and something magical happened.
The Scroll shone with a golden light as the wood and stone vanished. In their place, the spectral image of a small courtyard rapidly materialized.
Three breaths later, a small courtyard, about ten meters long and ten meters wide, appeared before Wang Yi.
This courtyard was, of course, the Chaos Warehouse. From the outside, it resembled a small temple. It had a surrounding wall, a main gate, and a roof of green bricks and dark tiles. Inside was a yard, with a single building at the back.
Stepping into the courtyard put one within the Chaos Warehouse's effective range, allowing access to its management panel. Storing and retrieving items was as simple as a single thought.
Of course, this was a privilege only Wang Yi, the Chaos Lord, could enjoy.
'A high-tech courtyard!'
Wang Yi muttered to himself. He had Man Datou store the Golden Roasted Chickens in the Chaos Warehouse, where they only took up a single Storage Compartment.
'Time stands still inside the Chaos Warehouse's Storage Compartments. I can put food in there without worrying about it rotting or spoiling. This is great!'
Wang Yi murmured to himself.
That night, Wang Yi and Man Datou stayed inside the Chaos Warehouse. The conditions were spartan, so they slept on the ground. Fortunately, the temperature was pleasant enough that they could manage without beds.
The next day, at the crack of dawn, Wang Yi heard a cacophony of voices outside the warehouse courtyard. He got up to look and saw that villagers from Stone Village had arrived.
It was a group of nearly a hundred people, looking like a crowd of refugees. There were decrepit old men and whimpering toddlers carried on their mothers' backs. With eyes full of shock and longing, they fell to their knees just outside Wang Yi's territory and began to wail.
"Great Lord, please give us a bite to eat!"
"I'm from Stone Village too! I want some of that roasted chicken!"
"Give me roasted chicken, and I'll do anything you ask!"
"Huh? Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Where did this little courtyard come from?"
"It must be an Immortal Temple!"
"Where are the stones we moved and the firewood we gathered yesterday?"
"Could this lord really be an Immortal? Did he use the stones and firewood to conjure an Immortal Temple?"
"The roasted chickens are gone! They all disappeared overnight..."
The villagers clamored, creating a chaotic scene.
Man Datou walked out of the warehouse courtyard, yawning. He was not in a good mood after being woken up so rudely. Rubbing his eyes, he asked Wang Yi, "Master, should I give these annoying pests a beating?"
Wang Yi shook his head.
'In my mind,' Wang Yi thought, 'playing the role of a Lord is just a three-step process: survive, develop, and expand.'
'Right now, I have roasted chicken, a guard, a vehicle, and a warehouse. Survival is basically guaranteed. But development requires accumulating resources, and that means I need a workforce!'
'And where do I get a workforce?'
Wang Yi planned to use the Golden Roasted Chicken to attract able-bodied laborers from Stone Village for short-term employment. Once he was better established, he would gradually implement a system to rank them by loyalty.
"Big Head, I'll need you to act as security chief for a bit. Go get things in order!" Wang Yi said, pointing forward.
"Yes, Master!"
Man Datou was unfailingly loyal and obedient. He stretched lazily, then strode in front of the villagers and bellowed, "What's all this racket? Shut your mouths, all of you! Stand still and wait for the Master's orders!"
At his shout, the villagers immediately stopped wailing. They scrambled to their feet and stood obediently, trembling.
Wang Yi cleared his throat. He climbed onto the repeating crossbow tractor and introduced himself once more to the assembled villagers.
A moment later, Wang Yi quickly sorted the villagers into groups based on their age and physical condition.
There were 91 villagers in total.
Among them were the old, weak, sick, disabled, and young—those over sixty or under ten, who clearly couldn't do much labor. They numbered 12 in all.
Next were the children and some frail women, 18 people.
The remaining 61 people could be considered a proper workforce.
Wang Yi noticed that Zhang Dashan seemed to command some respect, so he called him aside. "You seem like a decent man," he said. "Starting today, you will be the captain of the Stone Village Production Team. You'll be in charge of leading your people in their work and will report directly to me. I'll pay you all in roasted chicken. Are you willing?"
"Me? The captain? I'm willing! Of course, I'm willing!"
Zhang Dashan's eyes lit up, and he was so excited he nearly dropped to his knees.
Wang Yi pulled him up before he could. "Go and tell the others," he continued, "that working for me is hard. I don't tolerate slackers. If I catch anyone lazing around, they're out immediately! At noon, come to me to collect the roasted chicken. I can promise you this: work hard, and you can eat all the roasted chicken you want! Understand?"
"Understood! Yes, I understand!"
Zhang Dashan nodded enthusiastically.
'Heavens, all-you-can-eat roasted chicken! This must be how Immortals live.'
The mere thought of that roasted chicken's flavor made Zhang Dashan's mouth water.
Wang Yi continued, "Also, I only need people who can work. The old folks and little children shouldn't be here. Tell their families to take them home."
"Right, right, I'll go make the arrangements!"
"As for today's work..." Wang Yi's eyes narrowed. "There are four tasks. First, cleanup. Tidy up all the chicken feathers, bones, and packaging in the area. Second, move stones into the courtyard—any size will do—and put them in a central pile. Third, move wood into the courtyard. If anyone can chop down trees, put them on that! The fourth task is to gather wild vegetables. I have a use for them! Got all that?"
"I've got it!"
Zhang Dashan was ecstatic. He gave Wang Yi a deep bow and hurried off to assign the tasks.
The man was thirty-three years old and a veteran resident of Stone Village, where his family had lived for three generations.
He was completely illiterate, with little worldly knowledge and no particular skills. The farthest he had ever traveled was to Kaiyuan County, over a hundred li away. He was an honest man, and with his wife, Yang Qinggu, and his son, Zhang Xiaohu, his family of three lived a relatively content life in Stone Village.
Zhang Dashan never imagined he would be held in such high regard by the "Lord," much less be appointed captain of the Production Team.
He secretly pinched his thigh and winced in pain. 'It's not a dream!'
"Tiger's Mother..."
Zhang Dashan turned to look at his wife, Yang Qinggu, who was gathering firewood.
The woman's face was slightly tanned, and her calloused hands snapped a dry branch in two. She looked up and broke into a wide grin at him.
The look in her eyes reminded him of one from five years ago, during the famine. She had been holding their son, wailing from hunger, and the look she had as she stuffed the last half of a bran cake into her own mouth was just like this one—so bright it could shine right into the bottom of a person's heart.
"Tiger's Mother! The Lord might not be an Immortal, but he's close enough! He made me the captain of the Production Team!"
"That's wonderful news, my husband! You'd better work your heart out for the Lord!"
"Captain Zhang!"
Zhang Lengzi sidled up, a dung basket on his shoulder, and bumped Zhang Dashan with a playful grin. "Hey, Captain Zhang! The ancestors of our Zhang clan must be smiling down on us!"
Zhang Dashan abruptly straightened his back, threw his head back, and bellowed, "Alright, everyone, listen up!"
All eyes snapped toward him. Even Yang Xiaobao, who had been biting his nails, flinched.
"Men! Grab your baskets and follow me to the north slope. Plenty of rocks over there! Don't any of you shame me! We have to be worthy of the Lord's roasted chicken! Anyone who hasn't carried ten baskets by noon... I'll beat their sorry ass 'til it blossoms!"
'At this moment,' Zhang Dashan thought, 'I must look just like my father-in-law, Yang Wanli, the chief of Stone Village. Hell, I've wanted to be this commanding for a long time.'