That’s a great idea.
Chen Yu was stunned upon hearing this suggestion.
He hadn’t considered that angle at all.
He had always been focused on expanding his camp and designating an agricultural zone for self-sufficiency. He overlooked the fact that he could simply purchase existing resources.
Buying an orchard.
Preferably one with a mature harvest.
Chen Yu could then harvest the fruits himself, triggering greed critical strikes. Perhaps the bonus fruits acquired would even cover the cost of purchasing the orchard.
In doing so, he would also gain an orchard as an asset.
Management would also be relatively simple.
He could view the orchard as a branch company, dispatching key personnel from his camp and hiring some fruit farmers. It would then be roughly established.
“Little devil, excellent idea.”
Chen Yu marveled.
Seeing Chen Yu’s delighted expression, the little devil was taken aback.
What was going on?
It seemed Chen Yu was quite happy?
Honestly.
Her original intention wasn’t to offer Chen Yu advice.
In fact—
She simply wanted to mock Chen Yu’s commoner mentality, that purchasing resources wasn't as simple as wanting them; he would also need to manage them.
Chen Yu was currently nomadic, how could he possibly manage an orchard?
Yet, he was overjoyed.
“I’m crediting you for this,” Chen Yu said, tapping the little devil’s head. “Unfortunately, I’m tied up with other matters right now. Once I have some free time, I’ll secure a few orchards. For now, I have important things to attend to.”
Chen Yu, in a cheerful mood, hummed a tune and left, swinging his head.
The little devil, left behind, tilted her head.
Bang!
Before she could ponder further, she was again dragged forward by the invisible barrier.
“Chen Yu, are you trying to kill me? Slow down!”
Purchasing resources was indeed a good idea.
Chen Yu now had sufficient capital to experiment with this venture. The problem was, who exactly should he assign to manage the orchard chain.
Currently, his core personnel consisted of Kukka and his group.
They weren't quite suitable.
None of them possessed management talent. It was fine for them to work under his direct supervision, where he could provide guidance. But to have them lead others externally…
It would be difficult!
Furthermore, he currently had a mountain of tasks to complete.
If nothing else.
He at least needed to capture Black City.
However—
Once Black City was taken, his operations would expand even further. A city would inevitably require talent from all professions, and he was severely lacking in personnel right now.
“It seems I need to consider recruiting from the underground world.”
Chen Yu muttered to himself.
Regarding academic knowledge, Chen Yu wouldn’t arrogantly claim that outsiders could surpass all underground natives, but surpassing over ninety percent should be feasible.
He didn’t actually need exceptionally strong capabilities.
University graduates.
Or former elites from various corporations, as long as they were capable individuals, they would be within his consideration.
The only difficulty was how to conduct interviews.
“Camp Leader!”
A loud greeting pulled Chen Yu’s thoughts back.
He raised his eyebrows slightly.
He saw Ergou standing at attention and saluting him, with dozens of Blood Pill warriors around him, clad in their adventure gear, holding their adventure swift-wind swords and staring menacingly at the bound "food tickets."
Likely alerted by Ergou’s shout, the "food tickets" also turned their heads.
Upon recognizing Chen Yu as the newcomer, many of their faces changed.
“You must have had a tiring night.” Chen Yu murmured softly. To ensure the safety of these "food tickets," Ergou and his men had stood guard all night.
“Not tiring at all!”
Ergou’s face was beaming with smiles.
He was currently brimming with motivation in the camp, holding real power, and commanding a hundred or so subordinates, all of whom were Blood Pill warriors.
The militia also fell under his jurisdiction.
Command of the troops.
He could feel Chen Yu’s immense regard for him.
To repay Chen Yu’s favor of recognizing his talent, let alone staying up one night, even a month’s vigil wouldn’t elicit any refusal from him, as long as he could endure it.
“Are those food tickets behaving themselves?”
“They are!” Ergou grinned and said, “A few troublemakers tried to escape in the latter half of the night, but I caught them and gave them a good beating. They’re not daring to move now.”
“Is that so?”
Chen Yu glanced sideways.
Indeed, there were a few with bruised faces, and two had even lost teeth. They were all gathered around the crocodile orcs.
Noticing Chen Yu’s gaze, they instinctively lowered their heads.
“Heh heh, don’t hide.”
Chen Yu grinned and walked towards the crocodile orcs, with Ergou and a few Blood Pill warriors following closely behind, providing escort.
Arriving in front of the crocodile orcs, Chen Yu squatted down.
“You look rather familiar.”
“Chen Yu, you’d better let me go, or my brother won’t let you off!” the crocodile orc snarled, glaring.
Bang!
Before Chen Yu could even speak, Ergou swung his hand and smacked the back of the orc’s head.
“Speak respectfully to our Camp Leader, do you want to die?!” Ergou glared ferociously, flexing his biceps and triceps with his sandbag-sized fists. “If I hear another word, I’ll blow your head off directly.”
The crocodile orc instantly flinched, clearly quite intimidated.
“Hey, Ergou, be more polite to our precious guests,” Chen Yu chided lightly. Ergou, who had been fierce a moment ago, instantly wore a smile. “Ah, Camp Leader, you are absolutely right.”
Gesturing for Ergou to stand back, Chen Yu then looked at the crocodile orc with a smiling expression.
“Your brother, so you are indeed sent by that Big Crocodile. My assumption was correct. I thought it would take a lot of effort to get information from you, but I didn’t expect you to confess so easily.”
“Chen…”
The crocodile orc was about to speak, but noticing Ergou’s expression, he instinctively swallowed his words and changed his address.
“Camp Leader Chen.”
After speaking, he even glanced at Ergou subconsciously.
Seeing Ergou’s expression soften slightly.
He then let out a low sigh as if relieved.
“The night raid on your camp was indeed our fault. I apologize to you for that. However, I’ve been away all night, and my brother will surely be suspicious. If he sends people to look for me, it won’t be good for any of us.”
“Huh?!”
Chen Yu’s expression suddenly changed.
“What did you say?”
“I said, if my brother sends people to look for me…”
“The first sentence.”
“The night raid on your camp was indeed our fault,” the crocodile orc murmured. Chen Yu’s eyes widened. “You actually dared to conduct a night raid on my camp?”
“I…”
“Oh dear, I never expected this. You actually intended to ambush my base.” Chen Yu gasped and shook his head. “Originally, I thought about letting you all go, but now I can’t. You ambushed my camp, and I still let you go? Wouldn’t that make me lose face?”
“Camp Leader Chen!”
“Shush, stop talking. Have someone come to deliver the ransom.”