"What's the good word boss man?" asked Frank as he entered the dining room. Scott looked up from his maps and charts to give him a nod.

"I'm just making a few plans for after we clear the resources from across the river," said Scott. His eyes left the big man and returned to the table. "There's a lot to do."

"Really? Like what?" asked Frank as he moved to sit at the table. "There's definitely a ton of stuff, but where do we even start?"

Scott stabbed his finger down atop a circled location on the map then slid it sideways and upward toward a nearby structure. "I should be using my system map for this, but these maps show more at the moment."

"That's right, you have some sort of faction map you can call up. It really doesn't show that much?" asked Frank. Scott's briefings on his abilities as a lord frequently involved explanations of his abilities. It was both odd and incredibly useful that he could acquire so much logistical support with such little effort.

"It's pretty basic. I can see twenty miles in all directions, which should be great. Unfortunately, only the places I have seen previously that are important to the system, and the stuff we own, shows up," replied Scott. "These maps aren't as cool but they at least let us see important locations in town."

Frank looked down to where Scott's finger stopped previously. "Isn't that the grocery store?"

"Yes. We need to make that the first non-residential place we claim. I can turn it into a system store. We would still have to buy things from it, but the faction receives twenty-percent of the income it generates," said Scott.

"Why only twenty percent?" asked Frank. "Won't we own it?"

"Yes, but the items sold there will be based on the level of the store, plus items we sell to the store for resale." Scott tapped the spot where the grocery store was located. "The other eighty-percent is claimed by the system but that same system provides items that we can buy whenever we have money. We also have the right to assess sales taxes that our faction will not have to pay."

Frank looked down at the map then shifted his eyes slightly south and to the west. "The grocery store is a pretty good distance away from us, are you sure that a closer building wouldn't be better?"

"The cost is reduced if we occupy a building for a month, right?" he continued.

"Absolutely. That's why I've considered a few other places." Scott tapped a spot near where Frank's finger currently rested. "If we had a working vehicle that needed fuel, this gas station would be the best stop. It's a convenience store, so it would be converted into a fuel station or a general store, both if we could afford it."

"Couldn't it just be run as a store even without the need for fuel?" asked Frank.

"Yes, but it's not a large building. The maximum store level would be lower," said Scott. "Though, I admit that it would be easy to claim and upgrade in the near future."

"Do we even need to claim a building through the system? Couldn't we just set up shop there and sell stuff we don't want?" asked Frank. "That would be the cheapest way, right?"

Scott nodded to him. "Yeah, and if we kept a steady supply of salvation crystals going it would be slightly safer than wandering the streets..."

"I sense a 'but' coming," said Frank.

"The problem is stock." Scott waved his hand back and forth a little. "I can buy stuff from the VIP section to resell, but everything else can be gotten at the shopping arcade by almost anyone. Drop items tend to suck in comparison."

Scott tapped the spot where the grocery store was located. "As expensive as it will be to buy, upgrade, and secure, this place should easily show the most immediate profit."

"Why? It's a bit out of the way, isn't it?" Frank looked down at the grocery store spot then back up to Scott.

"It is, slightly." Scott traced a line from the grocery store over to the city courthouse. "If we take this building next, we can install a government building. That will let us assess more taxes and even cite laws on our property that we could enforce with the system. More importantly though, look here."

Frank glanced at Scott then down to where he moved his finger next. "Hey, that access road... It leads right to—"

"The shopping arcade. Yes," said Scott. "When we own roads, they will be like other buildings. We can make it where monsters below a certain tier won't be able to enter the road area unless an actual war is declared on against faction."

"Won't they do that, though? You'd effectively cut through the entire town that way," said Frank.

"Damn right they would, and that's the point." Scott tapped the map where the shopping arcade was located. "This is a pretty central location in town. If we can get the East side of the river on lock down, and make this cut through town, we'll be in business. Look—"

Scott tapped the map a few times. "Stores, large homes, the police station, and two warehouses. Notice anything about them?"

Frank looked at the map but was uncertain of what Scott saw that he did not. "I guess they are sort of all in the same area, but sort of spread apart."

"Exactly, but it's better than that." Scott ran his finger along the map and pointed out roads and paths that connected each building to two of the main roads through town. "We could easily take these roads and link those buildings to our main faction building. All we would need then is enough people to clear and occupy the buildings in that sector. We would be able to claim the land East of the river, and this entire section of the city."

Frank's eyes widened. "That's... It's a third of the town, isn't it? How could be possibly manage that much space?"

Scott shrugged. "We need to build up our numbers. Priority one is supplies. The grocery store is a lot closer than the shopping arcade. Food won't be an issue and once other people, or even monsters, find out about it they'll use the services there."

"Won't they just try to take it?" asked Frank.

"Yeah. Someone will try it. That's where the need for more quality people comes into play." Scott poked a few places around the grocery store. "We occupy these places and fill them with about eight people each. Get six guards on the grocery store through the recruitment center. That'll put us at forty people to guard that resource. Plus they can lower monster activity in the area and gather supplies."

"This is going to get expensive," said Frank. "How can we afford all of that?"

"It'll be hard at first," said Scott. He took a deep breath then sighed. "Honestly, the lack of funds is the biggest issue. I can make a significant chunk of change when I hunt at night, but that is nowhere near what it will take to make all of this work."

Scott and Frank sat quietly for a moment while reality reasserted itself. The biggest bottleneck for their enterprise was money. They needed it for their gear, their rapid stat growth, and for pretty much anything of value in this world. The problem was the fact that it could only be acquired in small amounts through drops.

"You're some kind of noble now, right?" asked Frank curiously.

"Yeah, seems so." Scott looked to him. "Whatcha thinkin?"

The big man scratched his cheek with his thumb then said, "Well, didn't all those royal types in the past get hitched to improve the value of their land?"

Scott stared at Frank, his gaze flat and his lips slightly puckered into a duck mouth. "Ha. Ha."

Frank threw his head back and laughed in good humor for a moment, but then he wiped the joyful tears from his eyes and said, "Am I wrong, though?"

Scott sighed. "No. Not really. The system seems to be strongly encouraging me to do stuff like that since making alliances can allow me to eventually recruit non-humans as well."

"Yeah. I remember you mentioning that before." Frank chuckled a little then looked down at the map. "I wonder how much of that the monsters own?"

"All of it, or damned near it," said Scott. Before he could say anything else, though, Michael entered the dining room.

"Frank. Boss," said Michael with a polite head nod to each. "Dinner is about ready, though... Are you sure this is the right thing for a meeting between faction heads?"

"What day is it?" asked Scott lightly.

"Like I said earlier... it should be Tuesday," replied Michael.

Scott grinned at him. "Trust me. It's the right dinner."

Michael looked down at the maps. "So, what ya thinkin'?"

Scott gave him the highlights of his plan, followed by a reminder that they were still broke. Michael looked over the map with a critical eye then nodded. "It's a plan. We could reverse it and start with that gas station first, but..."

"We have a need for food, and no need for fuel at the moment," said Scott with a nod of his head. "I mean we could try fishing in the river, but good luck with that when ninety-percent of the town wants to eat us or marry me."

Michael chuckled at the last bit. There were similar problems with farming. If the faction had no interest in growing larger then a small farm plot could be made in the front yard. Even so, there was nowhere else to grow anything. The crops would be eaten, trampled, or stolen. They just weren't large enough to pull it off, yet.

"We could try hunting?" asked Frank.

"What would we hunt? Rats? Those giant eyeballs?" asked Michael.

"Well, those floating eyeballs supposedly taste like squid or octopus," said Scott. "I'd prefer not to eat the rats."

Michael started to say something, a warm smile on his lips, but Rachel rushed inside. The trio looked over expectantly.

"The uh... guests have arrived." Her cheeks were slightly red, and her eyes sparkled a little.

"They're here?" asked Scott as he rose from his seat. He looked down at the maps and charts then frowned slightly.

"We'll clean this up. You go greet our guests, boss man," said Frank.

"Thanks!" Scott nodded to him then followed Rachel outside. Frank and Michael shared a look then nodded. It was time to get serious.

Outside, Scott followed Rachel over to the gates. On the other side, two out of three expected guests had arrived. Rachel looked back and forth between them, her cheeks reddening. "So pretty..."

Scott smiled at her then looked back to the new arrivals. Brittani looked flawless as usual. Her hair was pulled back into a casual pony-tail. She wore dark mirror shades, knee-high boots, tight jeans artfully ripped along the thighs and at the knees, a white button down blouse, and a red leather jacket.

Brittani gave off the air of a young woman hanging out casually with her friends, but who also took the time to dress to impress. Various bits of jewelry and other accessories rounded out the ensemble.

The other arrival, Eloa, wore significantly. She wore a bright red corset with matching panties, a white pearl necklace, a garter on one thigh, and red stiletto heels.

Scott blinked at her then tried to hide his reaction. What the hell did she do, rob Victoria's Secret? She too wore bits of jewelry, mostly gold, to accentuate her positives. Her diminutive scales gleamed gently in the light even as her tail swayed back and forth.

"Ladies! Welcome to our home," said Scott with a smile.

Brittani and Eloa offered him pleasant smiles in return, but said nothing. Scott looked from one to the other, then awkwardly laughed a little. "You're both so... pretty."

"You noticed?" they asked in unison while they both simultaneously tilted their heads to the side.

Scott's eyes widened. Why were they acting so much alike at the moment?

An awkward moment passed while the duo stared at him. Finally, he managed to ask Brittani, "So, when is your friend coming to join us?"

"My guest is, of course, already here," said Brittani in a quiet tone.

Scott blinked at her. Slowly, he turned his head toward Eloa. The lizard queen raised up her right hand and waved her fingers at him in an elegant and cutesy manner. "I'm quite the popular, girl. Aren't I?"

Scott released a loud groan. He should have known it somehow.

Brittani and Eloa glanced at each other coolly for a moment then broke into soft laughter of their own. The look on his face was priceless.

He laughed nervously for a moment then something caught his eye. He looked back and noticed Rosa, Hana, and Cia were peeking at them from behind the wall of the gate. When they saw him notice them they made squeaking noises and pulled their heads back around the side.

Brittani giggled a little louder at that. "You have amusing friends. I don't see Harley, though."

"True. Where is your little friend?" asked Eloa.

"Harley was not looking," said Harley from the other side of the wall. "She is also an adult."

"I suspect that they didn't believe me when I said that you ladies were good looking," said Scott with an amused snort. The other girls were obviously surprised at the strange beauty of their dinner guests. Harley was just busy being Harley.

"Am I, really?" they asked in unison.

"Ah! Cut that out!" he cried excitedly. "You have to be doing that on purpose."

The awkward moment passed completely with that outburst. The trio began to laugh in true good humor. It was not long before they went inside and the gates were closed behind them.